Thinking of the clerk's windows at the courthouse I am reminded of a Quote in German - "Schalter sind die Schließmuskeln der Bürokratie." (Counter windows are the sphincters of bureaucracy.) Wolfram Weidner
"If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world." — C.S. Lewis
"Intellectually I know that America is no better than any other country; emotionally I know she is better than every country”
-Sinclair Lewis
Thanks to all the Republican candidates who ran so that the voters could have a choice. To those that won Congratulations. To those who didn't win this time special thanks. Even in defeat you have contributed much to our cause. You required your opponent to moderate their message, explain their positions, and spendmoney on their own race instead of funneling it to more radical causes. I am proud of all of you.
“No tendency is quite so strong in human nature as the desire to lay down rules of conduct for other people.” William Howard Taft
“Progression is not
proclamation nor palaver. It is not pretense nor play on prejudice. It
is not of personal pronouns nor perennial pronouncement. It is not the
perturbation of a people passion-wrought, nor a promise proposed.
Progression is everlastingly lifting the standards that marked the end
of the world's march ...yesterday and planting them on new and
advanced heights today.” Warren G. Harding.
With the president in my back yard playing
golf, I am reminded of another President's thoughts on the game "By the
time you get dressed, drive out there, play 18 holes and come home,
you've blown seven hours. There are better things you can do with your
time." Richard M. Nixon
"The people are Sovereign. ... at the
Revolution, the sovereignty devolved on the people; and they are truly
the sovereigns of the country, but they are sovereigns without
subjects... with none to govern but themselves; the citizens of America
are equal as fellow citizens, and as joint tenants in the sovereignty."
John Jay, (1745 - 1829) first Chief Justice of
the United States
"Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are
responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States."
Ronald Reagan
"The political lesson of Watergate is this:
Never again must America allow an arrogant, elite guard of political
adolescents to by-pass the regular party organization and dictate the
terms of a national election." Gerald R. Ford
The things that
will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price,
safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the
get-rich-quick theory of life. TheodoreRoosevelt
If you accept President
Eisenhower's premise then the logical question that follows is "does our
sitting president have the supreme quality for leadership?" In
considering this question one might think about the lingering questions
about overstatement of credentials, Was he really a full professor of
constitutional law, Did he really serve as ... See More editor of the Harvard Law Review - without
publishing anything, Why have so many documents about his past been
sealed or placed beyond the test of scrutiny in the free press? One
might also think about the misrepresentation of a Supreme Court decision
in his State of the Union Address, Prompting the Chief to comment out loud
the "political pep rally.' and prompting Mr Justice Alito to react on
the spot.
Where can we find another Like Ike?
I'm amused by a friend who never misses an opportunity to rail against local conservatives that she considers "RINOS" then Gushes over what the Hollywierd wackos did at the Oscars and how good one or another LA Liberal looked in their "mutual adoration society" gown, or how great the latest Holywood metro-sexual movie was. OY!!!!!
November 4, 2009.
I'm delighted to see that New Jersey was not impressed with Mr. Obama's attempts to tell them how to think. There truly is "hope" for America. Congratulations to the Garden State and their new Governor.
I am dismayed by Mr Obama who won't understand how to deal with other heads of state and their families. Publishing photos of Spain's P M's children (an act illegal in Spain) detracts from America's business - like keeping IRAN nuke...e free, lowering trade deficits, isolating rogue nations. Yet Mr Obama loves to mug with Hugo, have his wife fondle a Queen, bow to a Saudi King, and cede America's leadership role.
Red Skelton's Pledge of Allegiance
It is very profound, from a man who only went to the 7th grade and makes no pretense otherwise. I was impressed by how Red's admission regarding his education was a symbol of the values on which our country was built. It would have never occurred to Red to lie about his educational credentials in order to convince people to believe him. He believed that the truth was enough and if it wasn't then people should not be convinced by a lie.
I always liked Red Skelton. Red was like the hardworking people that I grew up with. People who had worked with what the had and were proud of what they had. Red's pride in the America we had (even with it's faults) grew out of this humble approach, the approach that built America out of the wilderness, the approach that solved many of the problems of America, the approach which I believe is still the only way to really fix the problems of America.
Red's genius was in pointing out the truth in a way that made us appreciate the truth and chuckle at ourselves for pretending to be something more important than we actually were. although he wasn't from North Carolina his life was the embodiment of Esse Quam Vederi.
America could definitely use more Red Skelton's today.
Best Wishes
Mark Delk
Obama's Politicization of the Justice Department
Earlier today a friend sent me photos form Hitler's rise to power. I was struck with how much many of Hitler's settings resembled Obama's back-drops. Then a few minutes later a friend from the Washington Times forwarded a copy of an editorial to me about the Justice Department.
A few days ago I sent out a note regarding the Obama Administration dismissing a case the Justice Department had already won against a hate group called "the New Black Panthers." More and more evidence is amassing that he reason that the case was dismissed is because this "hate group" likes Barack Obama and is willing to serve as his own personal "brown shirt" group.
More details have emerged in this matter and it is clear that the Administration has inappropriately used political influence to impact the administration of justice. This isn't just a case where a liberal U.S. Attorney was moved or replaced (the Democrats cried bloody murder against President Bush for that). This is a case where the President interfered in a specific case where thugs helped him get votes so that he could be elected.
Most Americans don't have a clue about just how close Obama is getting to the tactics Hitler used. The President's paramilitary thugs are intimidating voters and then getting a pat on the back for it. When a career U.S. Attorney prosecutes them for their criminal conduct and starts the process that will protect you, your civil rights and mine the President' henchmen step in and get the mater "taken care of." In this case the thugs felt so secure that they didn't even respond to the allegations allowing the Justice Department to win by Default. The Default strategy is important here. It is as if they were advised not to respond or participate because responding or participation would open the door to discovering connections higher up. It also suggest that they knew "the boss" would take care of them if they kept their mouths shut. They did as they were told and he has taken care of them.
Tell your friends, encourage them to protect themselves and others before the thugs come to their home.
The text of a Washington Times Editorial (and the link to it) appear below
The Justice Department's claims about why it dropped a voter-intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party and two of its members are offensively hollow. The bad decision clearly was the result of purely political considerations overriding the unambiguous facts of the case, the law and the judgment of career Justice Department lawyers.
In a July 13 letter to Rep. Frank R. Wolf, Virginia Republican, Assistant Attorney General Ronald Welch wrote that the department dropped the charges "because the facts and the law did not support pursuing those claims. That decision was made after a careful and thorough review of the matter by the Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, a career employee with nearly 30 years experience in the Department."
What Mr. Welch didn't mention was that the official, Loretta King, had made the decision only after consulting with her boss, Thomas J. Perrelli, a political appointee who raised more than half a million dollars for then-candidate Barack Obama during the 2008 elections. He didn't mention that Ms. King herself is hardly a nonpartisan figure, but somebody well-known for her Democratic leanings.
On Friday, Hans A. von Spakovsky wrote on the Heritage Foundation's Foundry blog that Ms. King "is in a political position under the Vacancy Reform Act and was appointed by President Obama. I worked with her for four years when I was in the Civil Rights Division. She talked about resigning when I was there to run as a Democratic candidate in Maryland and is as political as any political appointee at Justice."
Ms. King's primary colleague in overseeing the case was Steven H. Rosenbaum, chief of the department's special litigation section. He donated $500 to Mr. Obama's campaign last year.
Those three officials first overruled the considered judgment of Justice Department career lawyers Christopher Coates, Robert D. Popper and J. Christian Adams, along with former Acting Assistant Attorney General Grace Chung Becker. Then they overruled two top attorneys at the department's Appellate Division. Appellate Chief Diana K. Flynn wrote on May 13 that the case was so strong that it should be pursued "unless the department had evidence the court ruling was based on unethical conduct by the government." No such evidence existed, and Ms. Flynn noted that a judgment against the defendants would be important in order to "prevent the paramilitary style intimidation of voters."
So we have three heavily politicized, Democratic-leaning senior officials overruling, without substantive explanation, the six lawyers who had studied the case most closely. They did so on behalf of a defendant, Jerry Jackson, who was an elected Democratic official in Philadelphia and an official Democratic Party poll watcher even though he was an active member of a group, the New Black Panthers, that has been identified as a racist hate group. And they did it four days before municipal primary elections in Philadelphia, in time for Mr. Jackson to serve again as an official poll watcher despite having had a judge issue a valid default judgment against him for a civil rights violation.
"When you politicize the Justice Department, it's really scary," Mr. Wolf told us last week. He's right.
In today's Hendersonville Times News a letter to the editor discusses Bev Purdue's "Power Grab" The text of which appears following these comments.
The writer makes some excellent points but is un-informed about the gravity of the situation. It's worse than she knows. If she knew the rest of the story I believe that she (and the rest of North Carolina) would be calling for Bev's impeachment.
True enough Bev made the Power Grab to take over the Department of Education - But looking at the rest of the story shows us a dark side of our Emperor/Governor.
Bev wants unbridled control of the large "pot of money" which is supposed to pay for our children's education. Bev wants control of the funds that most Taxpayers are willing to pay.
So what is Bev's history in Dealing with "education funds?"
Let's look at the State "Education Lottery." Bev has been intimately involved with those funds.
Bev Purdue not only raided the funds for the "education lottery" she is the person who is responsible for establishing the fund. To set up the fund she used trickery and chicanery. She cast the tie breaking vote after she called the NC senate into session late at night. The Senate had recessed. The two critical opponents of the lottery were unavailable (one in the hospital one on his honeymoon.) These two elected representatives believed that setting up a large pot of money which would be taken from the states' least educated voters and kept by the state (ostensibly for education) was a bad idea. Bev nonetheless called the midnight session, pushed the "education lottery" through and cast the tie-breaking vote. Although North Carolina's constitution requires revenue bills (taxes) to be read three times on three separate days - Bev just called it something other than a revenue bill so she could ram it through in the dark of night while the elected representatives of North Carolina were in the hospital or on their honeymoon.
As an aside it is important to note here that in every prior attempt to pass the "education lottery" everyone agreed that it was a revenue bill and was subject to the requirement that it be read on three separate days and voted on three times. This Constitutional requirement goes back to the idea of "taxation without representation." So did Bev get sued for he attempts to trample our constitution - You bet. But at the Court of appeals a political hack who has been voted out of office MULTIPLE TIMES and re-appointed by Governor Easley and other Democrats said if you call a tax an assessment then it no longer becomes a tax- The case is presently under consideration by North Carolina's Supreme Court.
So did Bev have raiding the fund in mind when she set up the fund? - Actions speak louder than words and Bev's actions have spoken.
She set up a fund under one pretense. When she was specifically questioned about her intention to raid the fund she solemnly vowed that she would never raid the fund. She got elected as Governor - Then she raided the fund.
Bev's next step was to set up an "education Czar" so that she could micro manage the Department of Education - Even though the people had elected their own Representative - June Atkinson a proven leader in this area.
Thanks heaven our Supreme Court slapped Bev's hand on her "education Czar" power grab. Let's hope they slap her hand on the way the Lottery was passed (and then raided) as well.
One might ask why Bev's focus on an Education Czar?
Well it's simple - Education is the one area where folks will consent to pay more taxes. When Bev wants to raise taxes the Education Budget is cut. The pork projects are left intact, The cries go out we have to raise taxes so we don't have to cut education. In reality there are plenty of pork projects that could be cut, if education were a priority. Again actions speak louder than words.
Bev was the Lt Governor and presided over the Senate. Her Power Grab isn't really too different from the Legislature's attempts to stymie the State Auditor - Les Merritt. You recall then Lt Governor Perdue and Democrat Speaker Jim Black's didn't want State Auditor Merritt to look into legislator's conduct. Speaker Black went to jail and there were also questions about Bev's children getting preferential treatment following a car wreck. Later the Legislators passed a bill to limit Auditor Merrit from looking into their conduct. Blue Cross Blue Shield was sponsoring Martin Nesbit's family's Race car while Martin was in charge of the Legislative committee that oversees insurance companies. Les Called "foul" the legislators (including Bev) told Les to shut up and then appointed their own committee to cover things up.
The Letter to the Editor is as follows:
To The Editor:
I fully admit that I know little about the day-to-day duties of Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson.
However, I feel that if Ms. Atkinson was elected by the people of North Carolina to fill this position, there is no reason for Governor Perdue to arbitrarily create an overarching public education executive to perform those duties, making Ms. Perdue responsible for how the public schools educate 1.5 million students. I find her decision just one more reason to decide in MY mind that the people of North Carolina made a poor choice last November.
What I find particularly offensive is the fact that she "wants the responsibility for education but didn't want to spend the time and effort to change the Constitution." (I'm quoting from the July 16 Times-News but the emphasis is my own.)
This whole episode smells bad. In fact, it strongly reminds me of our President and his "czars."
Lou Ellen Lewis
Hendersonville
##################30##############
Best Wishes
Mark Delk
How the Russians Must See Us...
One of the areas where Mr Obama promised change was in how the United States interacted with other governments.
He has delivered on his promise that things would change. Unfortunately the change is not what the American people were lead to believe.
Under Mr Obama's leadership, foreign dignitaries feel free to snub the President, foreign Newspapers feel free to mock us - unfortunately their mockery has a strong basis in truth. Saudi Kings expect our president to bow. Iran felt no compunction to respect the voice of it's people and felt free to shoot them in the streets.
Here in America the un-employment rate is growing at the fastest rate in recent memory - Even faster than the rate which Mr Obama condemned President Bush for "causing."
Attached please find an Article from the English edition of Pravda and a video link that illustrates how the Russian Governments officials view Mr Obama.
The Pravda Article was forwarded to me by a friend and I have not verified the authenticity or origin of the article. The points raised are valid and as such there is no need to verify it further.
Best Wishes
Mark Delk
Letter to the Editor...
You have heard the saying "where there's smoke there's fire." Well recently there has been a lot of smoke centering around a joint meeting of the Swain and Graham County Boards of Commissioners.
A flurry of E-mails has revealed a striking distinction between the County Commissions of Swain and Graham County. The contrast in mind-set and methodology of business practices of the two boards is striking.
The episodes started innocently enough when word leaked out of a joint meeting between the Republican Graham County Commissioners and their Democrat counterparts in Swain County.
Swain County resident Mike Clampitt began to ask questions of the Swain County Board of Commissioners: What is to be discussed? Is there an Agenda? Can you provide details about the meeting?
The Swain Commissioner's responses (Mike's elected representatives) were nothing short of stonewalling and playing dumb.
Mike, a retired firefighter, persevered in finding out what spark was generating so much smoke. When stonewalled he persisted all the more, believing that the stonewalling was evidence of some wrong doing. His inquiry eventually reached the Graham County Board of Commissioners. (Keep in mind that these Commissioners aren't Mike's elected representatives . Graham County Commissioners had no obligation to provide information to Mike who is a Swain County resident.) In vivid contrast to the Swain County Board, Graham Commissioner Steve Odom was open, up-front and honest about what was to be discussed at the meeting.
On July 15th (after I sent an e-mail) I received a call from a representative of the Swain County Commission. At first the caller denied knowledge of the subjects to be discussed. When confronted with the fact that Graham County had posted an agenda for the meeting, the caller back-peddled. The call ended with the representative of the Swain County board questioning my political affiliation.
So what is to be discussed at this joint meeting?
It appears that for quite some time Graham County and it's Republican Board of Commissioners has been treating it's neighboring county better than the Democrat Commissioners of Swain County. Graham County has been providing EMS and other emergency services to remote parts of Swain County, (while receiving none of the tax revenue.) Graham County would like to "adopt" or annex these parts of Swain County which Swain County was unable or unwilling to serve. This would mean that Graham County would receive the taxes collected from these areas.
The residents of both Swain and Graham County have a right to know about these discussions and to see and hear their governments discuss the situation. The citizens have a fundamental right to participate in that discussion - in the meeting, in the free press and in the exercise of their freedom of association and speech. This right to see government in action is a substantive right and a cornerstone of Democracy. To effectively use this right, citizens must be given a meaningful notice of what will be discussed, when it will be discussed and where it will be discussed. Citizens should never be interrogated concerning their political affiliation when they ask legitimate questions.
Graham County Commissioner Steve Odom is to be applauded. He gets the importance of open government in Democracy. The Swain County Commissioners need to re-examine whether they are doing the job for which they were elected. Finally Mike Clampitt deserves the support of every citizen in Swain County for the thankless job he has undertaken.
Best Wishes
Mark Delk
Just a note about the Bank Bailout with an analogy to the U.S. Department of Energy established during the Carter Administration
The DOE was formed for a very simple reason. At the time "everybody" thought it was very appropriate.
The Department of Energy was instituted 8-04-1977 "To lessen the United States' Dependence on foreign oil." A laudable goal, I think we will all agree. Thinking back on the historical context it seemed to make sense. Remember the crisis with the long fuel lines? People were panicked wondering if our economy could withstand the crisis. Remember the worries that we were being held hostage by Arab nations who weren't very friendly to us? There was that situation where Americans actually were held hostage - but that's another matter- isn't it?
What else happens in the tragedy of Shakespearian proportions?
Well - enter stage left - lots of well meaning "progressives." Enter stage right the conservatives who question the wisdom of big government punishing American companies as a way to encourage energy independence. The cast in this tragedy mirrors the cast of King Lear. The fool who advises the king "perhaps your child Cordelia who speak temperately and honestly is the child who truly loves you" is dismissed because - of course he is a fool. King Lear banishes the conservative Cordelia and places the scheming sycophant daughters in charge. Then - well you'll have to see the play.
Back now to the DOE - the progressives thought our country might not survive the crisis without a government agency to "help." The fools who questioned the wisdom were dismissed as conservative kooks who everyone knew back then were just, well, kooks. And so the Department of Energy sprang full blown from the brow of Zeus.
President Carter pushed for something called the "windfall profits tax" and American Oil Companies were taxed because they made a profit. (Foreign companies which were not subject to the jurisdiction of the IRS were not taxed in this manner.) The theory went something like this - since there is an oil crisis and oil prices have gone up we need to punish the bad guys who are making a profit - We will tax them and use the money to "help!"
Now it's 32 years later -2009
Let's see how well Washington did with the very laudable goal of reducing our dependence on foreign oil.
I guess our dependence on foreign oil has disappeared - right? I guess the tax on oil American Oil Companies solved the crisis - right? I guess the Department of energy has developed other sources of energy that have replaced foreign oil - right?
Oh well I'm sure the Department isn't very expensive - right? The budget for this "necessary" department is"only" $24.2 BILLION A YEAR!!!!! The Department of Energy has a "mere" 16,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES, AND APPROXIMATELY 100,000 CONTRACT EMPLOYEES!!!! All working for 32 years so they have obviously solved America's dependence on foreign oil - right?
Oh well - never mind.
Now we are in the midst of another "crisis" and we need a government agency to "fix" it. We are going to turn the U.S. Banking system over to them? We already see the Congress trying to divide up and steer the 700 billion to their Congressional Districts.
Oh by the way - Is the show about "House Flippers" still popular on TV? I guess we really do need to loosen credit standards so that we can help these poor folks out.
I'm sure that Chris Dodd and the other folks who got VIP treatment for Countrywide will get Chuck Shumer, Barney Frank, Fannie May and Freddie Mac right on it.
Does anyone want to watch Hamlet. I think the ending might be a little happier.
Best Wishes
Mark Delk
Is There A Doctor in the House...
By now you have probably heard the Joe Biden comment "We Misread How Bad the Economy Was."
I find this remark peculiar not merely because the massive size of the "stimulus" (I mean really if you could borrow your way to prosperity wouldn't a debt of this magnitude be the panacea?)
Joe's comment is also peculiar because Joe usually attributes to himself anything successful that he actually does read. That's probably the reason he didn't take sole credit for the Healthcare bill or the Stimulus bill - because no one (other than Rham, Obama's other, power brokers, ACORN and a select number of the left wing wacko's) were actually given a chance to read those bills. Certainly no-one who had ever been in congress read either (except perhaps Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.) Nancy probably read them while she was not being talked to about Gitmo and water-boarding by the CIA.
Perhaps there is much truth in Joe's statement - They did "misread" how bad the economy was - It wasn't as bad as they thought (until they passed the Massive Stimulus bill and sent everyone into anaphylactic shock or at lease a panic about how the massive amounts were going to be paid back.
I once heard a physician who had overdosed a patient state " we misread the body surface area." OUCH! - Who needed those kidneys and that liver any way?
Putting aside (for the moment) the absurdity of borrowing your way to prosperity - anyone with any common sense should know that too much of anything can kill you. There is a difference between a therapeutic dose and a toxic dose. You have to know how to read the country's body surface area to determine the proper dose.
It is as if Elvis' Doctor or the person who determined the dosages of sedatives given to Hollywood stars was also determining the size of the stimulus package. Now Biden and Rham are wringing their hands saying why won't the economy wake up? But instead of pushing the Narcan to counteract the mistake they are urging Mr Obama's Spin Doctors to administer some more Dipruvan to kill the pain.
I think Mr Obama and Mr Biden need to have their heads examined by a really good physician. Perhaps they will sign up for a good doctor under the new health care bill.
Is there a doctor in the house?
THE CONTENT OF THIS WEBSITE DOES NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT THE OPINION OF THE OWNER ... At least that's what my lawyer told me, but he was drinking pretty heavily at the time so...
COPYRIGHT HARDIN REPUBLIC, LLC 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. All Rights Reserved.
