Random Thoughts for August

Random Thoughts for August, 2014

Robert A. Hall

When a majority of Americans no longer willing to support America, but expect America to support them, we shall cease to be a free people. That day isn't quite here--but I can see it from my back porch.

As a Republican who voted against Obama twice, I think the talk of impeaching him is just dumb. Have we forgotten how the impeachment of Bill Clinton allowed the media and Democrats too picture him as a victim, saving his presidency? And today he is the revered elder statesman, having joined the rich one-percent through paid speeches. But no, on it goes. First, to convict Obama, even if the GOP wins the senate in November, you'd need at least 12 Democrat votes. No Democrat would vote to impeach, if Obama was caught raping a nun. They are dependent on the minority votes in their base; they would not care what the evidence was. Then if you convicted and removed him, there would be riots in the cities, with millions, maybe billions of dollars in destruction, and hundreds of deaths. That might give even very conservative Republicans pause. And after that settles down--and you foot the huge reconstruction bill through your taxes--say these two words: "President Biden." Not only would he continue Obama's policies, and provide even more inept and dithering leadership in the world, he would instantly be the Democrat nominee and likely front runner to be elected president in 2016.

When you hear someone say, "Life's too short to...," trust me, they aren't kidding. At 68, I've lived longer than 99% of the people ever born. Some memories seems long ago. But it all went in a flash.

For the privilege of living in a civilized society, we all acquire daily responsibility for small duties, which preserve the fabric of that society. Things like getting out of the way of emergency vehicles, not tossing trash on the ground, being polite and kind to strangers, not just folks we know, and avoiding crude and offensive public behavior. Unfortunately, each year in America, fewer people accept these duties--or care about them at all. Thus civilization dies.

Obama was so shook up by the downing on the airliner in the Ukraine that he had to schedule two extra fund-raisers and 9 holes of golf to calm down.

People condemn "enablers," those whose support and silence allow others to engage in drug abuse, crime, domestic violence and alcoholism. But the greatest enabler of these pathologies is the modern welfare state.

Going around the net, not original with me: Hamas is attacking. Israel is defending. Russia is invading. The Middle East is smoldering. Boko Haram is massacring. ISIS is conquering. Iran and North Korea are threatening. American cities are crumbling. Our southern border is dissolving. Our debt is skyrocketing. Americans are hurting. Our enemies are laughing. Obama is fundraising.

I think progressives, as usual, are starting to edge towards sacrificing Obama to preserve the progressive religion. That is, when progressive policies and principles lead to disaster, as they always do, they cannot admit the policies are wrong, but only that this was the wrong person or group to implement them due to incompetence, corruption or other personal flaws. But next time will be different. If Obama was not black it would have already happened. But one of the principles of the progressive religion is that black politicians--liberal ones that is--are sans blemish or flaw. Black conservatives are Uncle Toms, of course. Liberals know not only what everyone should do, but how all black folks should think..

Definition:

Chi-cag-o. sha-cog-oh Verb, Noun or Adjective. To ruthlessly acquire power and wealth through corruption of the laws. Examples: "He Chicagoed his way to $100M since he left office." "A Chicago Politician" "We can Chicago this one."

Rich is relative. Compared to most of the third world, I'm rich and the American "poor" are well off with cars, TVs, cell phones, AC, microwaves, etc. Compared to Hillary and Bill Clinton, I'm as poor as any deprived slum-dweller or third world subsistence farmer. But they don't compare themselves to me, but to the billionaire hedge fund managers they hang out with. Thus they feel deprived and resentful.

Obama ran on being for "change." Isn't Climate Change "change"?

Liberals are denying me access to Single Malt Scotch. Not one of them will pay for it for me. What? Well, because the Court says Hobby Lobby doesn't have to pay for birth control, liberals say that women are being denied access to birth control. So they should pay for my Scotch using the same logic. Nothing different between them wanting someone else to pay for birth control and me wanting someone else to pay for my whisky. (BTW, Hobby Lobby pays for 16 forms of birth control, just not the morning after pill for women who decided to have unprotected sex and, like Obama's mother, were "punished with a baby.")

I gave up my pipe about 15 years ago. I didn't inhale the smoke (like Bill Clinton), but was concerned about the elevated risk of mouth cancer. I figured when I got old and sick, and it wouldn't hurt, I'd take it up again. So I got old and sick--with a lung disease. God laughs.

And, along the same line, I wrote this quatrain many decades ago.

The worst of fates is dying slow,

The bitter dregs of mellow cup,

Better like Socrates to go—

I’ll take mine straight, and standing up!

So here I am battling a chronic, usually fatal disease, pulmonary fibrosis, since 2006. Not funny, God.

Nothing hits liberals so hard as the law of unintended consequences, especially when "the best and brightest" decide they should make economic decisions for the poor, dumb public.

I notice liberal elitists who defend the teachers' unions and the inner-city schools never send their kids to those schools.

Liberals tend (or pretend) that the bad behavior--drugs, crime, domestic violence--of the thugs in the lower class is due to oppression, poverty or circumstances and they can't control it, so they are victims, not responsible for their actions. But the thugs rarely do these things in from of the police or other authorities. So apparently they can control their behavior if the risk of adverse consequences is there. Conclusion: we need more and harsher adverse consequences for bad behavior.

If liberals get their way, "work" and "achievement" will be declared racist code words.

Personally, I think "bureaucrat" has become a code word for fascist.

And "Social Justice" is a code phrase for, "Hands up! Give me our wallet and no one gets hurt!"

"Restive" is media code for a country where they will kill you if you are Christian, Jewish or American. But mostly they kill local folks who don't agree with them 100%, even if they are the same religion and ethnicity.

"Youths" is European media code for "young, violent, Muslim thugs." "Asians" for Muslims.

"Insurgents" is a liberal code word for violent Muslims who oppress women, murder gays, execute anyone who leaves Islam, stone teen rape victims for "adultery," use children as suicide bombers, engage in honor killings, support child marriage that is little different than slavery, and consider children as legitimate military targets. Sometimes called "freedom fighters" by the more radical liberals.

I have to conclude that those folks who believe, "Things always work out for the best" just aren't paying attention.

I'm a big fan of the Redskins Football Team and glad they haven't given in to PC and changed their name. Oh, not the Washington Redskins. I'm not big on pro sports, but cheer for the Patriots when I do. I mean the Red Mesa High School Redskins--located on the Navajo Reservation where the fellow who started the complaints about the Washington Redskins lives. Go Redskins! http://rmusdhs.ss4.sharpschool.com/programs/redskins_sports

I've decided that the trick to staying married is letting go of small stuff. If you are neat and organized, and your spouse is a clutter-bug, better to let it go than expect that person to change.

There are no "do-overs" when you are dying. Get it right the first time. Start right now.

If there is anything worse than a know-it-all, it's a profoundly ignorant know-it-all, full of lightly adopted but deeply help opinions.

When they told Obama that Republicans were accusing him of running an imperial presidency, he said, "We are not amused."

The hard thing is not having a vision. It's getting others to share your vision and act on it.

The way civilization is declining, we will all soon live in bad neighborhoods.

I'm not entirely opposed to paying for birth control for liberals, if it means fewer liberals to screw up the future.

Do you think the reason that blacks make up 13% of the population, but have 40% of the abortions, is because the racists at Planned Parenthood think that keeps down the welfare rolls?

The liberal philosophy is that if you make good choices in life and someone else makes bad choices, you should have to pay to mitigate the results of their bad choices.

Funny how the left is "tolerant" of cultures that mutilate the genitals of young girls, stone teenage rape victims for adultery, allow men to marry fur women and divorce them at will, forbid women to work or get an education, allow child marriage, and execute gays, but very intolerant of Christians not wanting to pay for others' birth control.

I guess Obama thinks having part time workers, versus full time workers, reduces carbon--he's created so many of them.

Haven't heard much lately about the hundreds of young girls kidnapped and sold into sex slavery by Muslims in Nigeria. Didn't Michelle Obama's #BringBackOurGirls hashtag work?

In the coming post-American world being built now in Washington and at the universities, the compassionate and the kind will die. Only the utterly ruthless and hardhearted will survive. Some of them.

From my friend George: "You can make a lot of money by figuring out how to get people to remember the name of your alcoholic beverage." (I'm thinking, "Bob's Bad Booze." No?)

Telling a liberal that you believe Obama is incompetent, over-his-head and has made almost everything worse is like telling a member of the Westboro Baptist Church that you believe God loves Gays, and for the same reason. It challenges and offends their deeply held religious convictions. (I believe both, so I'm in trouble on both sides I guess.)

In this world, there are Must-Dos, Should-Dos and Like-to-Dos. For a successful life, do them in that order.

"Hi, my name is Bob and while I'm not an alcoholic, the way things have been going with me and with the country, I'm willing to learn."

Liberals believe that the great mass of people, being ignorant, must be required to live and behave as liberals believe is in the interests of the collective society--but not, of course, as the liberal elites live and behave themselves. This is why Barack Obama has no cognitive dissonance over depriving poor black parents in DC of the right to send their kids to better, private schools through vouchers, while he sends his kids to a better, private school.

I gather from progressives that I'm not qualified to have an opinion on global warming, because I don't have a degree in social work, art history or gender studies.

Progressives are often communists who don't know it. Maybe because they haven't yet resorted to coercion and mass murder to force everyone to follow their vision and do as told--for their own good, of course. Give them time.

There seems to be a rash of crashed computers and lost emails among federal employees--the folks who will be in charge of keeping your electronic health records.

Looking at the chaos they have made of the lands they control, you can see why more people all the time consider "Islamic Civilization" to be an oxymoron. There was a time, way back in 1960, when then-Christian Beirut was called the "Paris of the Middle East." Now it is the "Detroit of the Middle East."

The racist rumor that, in deference to their African American fan base, the Washington Redskins are going to rename as the Washington Darkies is NOT TRUE. But I think the Washington Zulus would be cool. The Zulus were a brave, proud and warlike people. With just assegai spears and cowhide shields, they destroyed a British Column with breech-loading rifles at Isandlwana. And even where the lost, they fought and died bravely. Have to have a serious mascot, of course, not a cartoon; maybe a fierce Zulu looking over a crossed assegai and shield. If the Cowboys, Vikings, Spartans, Trojans and Fighting Irish aren't offensive, the Zulus done right shouldn't be either. But, alas, the racial grievance industry is ever alert to be offended, so it would likely be futile to honor the Zulus as other warlike ethnic groups are honored by teams.

Saw a car in liberal Madison, WI with a Marine emblem and this bumper sticker: "I don't believe the liberal media."

I was going to buy a Ché tee shirt, but they were out, so I got a Reinhard Heydrich one instead. Almost as good.

There are two types of people: the hunters and the hunted. A large majority of the folks in any society are the second type. But if a civilized society doesn't have enough trained and brave men of the first type, the hunters from a less benevolent society will destroy the civilized society. This is known to progressives as "bad luck." Marines are hunters.

Liberals dream of a world of justice--and they will hurt anyone or commit any crime to get it. All for the "greater good," of course.

One of God's best gifts is a grateful and generous heart. If you don't have one, you might ask him for one.

Everyone knows that the unsustainable fiscal position of the US will catch up with us sooner or later. Unfortunately, with a debt of $17T and unfunded liabilities that may be north of $200T, "later" is likely to be here soon than you think.

I've come to believe that civilizations wear out and fall apart like old shoes. Ours is run down at the heels, with holes in the soles and broken laces. I fear it is going the way of all manmade institutions--and sooner than you think. After the tipping point, the collapse will cascade rapidly.

One of the iron laws of economics is that when behavior is rewarded economically, you get more of it, and when it is punished economically, you get less of it. Which is why parents, even liberals, give their kids financial rewards for things like good grades and withhold money for things like not picking up their rooms. And why a perverse incentive system at the VA, giving administrators bonuses for lying, produced lying. So if illegal immigrants get the message that they will get amnesty, citizenship, food stamps, healthcare, education and other benefits by coming here illegally, many more will come, and the system will be overwhelmed to the point of collapse, and we will not be able to help immigrants or our own poor and working class. You could probably take two or three illegals into your home and support them (but you don't, I bet), but a hundred? Five hundred? Your fiscal situation would collapse and they and your family would be destitute. The country is a much bigger system, but not infinitely bigger. Eventually the influx will go beyond our ability to provide even the basics, and everyone will suffer.

The constitution guarantees "equal protection under the law." Liberals think it also reads, "...unless equal protection interferes with something that makes us feel good, like diversity."

The government has to set a minimum wage because so many people have failed to acquire the skills, education, work ethic and/or experience that would make them worth more money on their own merits in the market place. It's just another way to buy votes by giving people something for nothing and making someone else pay for it. Of course, the real losers are unemployed black teens, who will never develop entry-level job skills because the jobs aren't there. But tough for them--there's an election to win.

We have stuff in our fridge that says, "Best if used during the Truman Administration."

However things go for me with the lung transplant complications or for our country with the slow-motion disasters of debt, illegal immigration, the Islamist offensive against civilization, the rise of China determined to dominate Asia, the efforts by Putin to reestablish the Soviet Union's control over eastern Europe, and the growing pathologies of the underclass--white, black and Hispanic--decaying society in not only the US but throughout western civilization, I will not be whimpering on the sidelines. I want to be in the ring, throwing punches as long as I can force myself back to my feet.

Live so that your life is a reproach to a corrupt and venal world. But maintain your humility--you are not without flaws and self-righteousness is not an attractive trait.

If you are out of work and voted for Obama, you should not be able to collect unemployment on the grounds that you are voluntarily unemployed.

I was saddened to read of the death of James Garner at 86. Bret Maverick and his brother, Bart, were my favorite TV characters. In 1965, I found a used paperback, Poker According to Maverick, in a bookstore for a quarter. (Used copies on Amazon are $10 now.) And for the next year, I made about 25% of my income from poker. Of course, with what they were paying PFCs that was in a nickel game, quarter limit.

I think the most common problem in western civilization is that everyone is time starved. Even a retired sick guy like me.

Being vague is not the same as being wise. See "hope and Change," or "We are the ones we've been waiting for." Too many learn this too late.

Those of us worried about the establishment of a new caliphate can take comfort in the historical fact that three of the four "rightly guided" caliphs, the immediate successors of Mohammad, were assassinated in 29 years. If that is Islam's "golden age," we can expect the same from the new one.

We should fund caring for illegals by a special 25% tax on lawyers' fees and professors' salaries. That should change a few minds on the left.

On Memorial day, I almost became a Democrat. But they put me on a breathing ventilator and I pulled through.

Despite zero evidence of religious violence from them, secular liberals tend to look at Christians the way many people look at moderate Muslims. They are fine, but bear watching as they could "go jihad" at any time.

Given the results in western civilization over the past 20 years, where the "best and brightest" no longer seek public office and we have a civilization in decline, I'm inclined to think that democracy is no longer worth the lives of our best young men and women fighting for it. But it is worth fighting, either militarily against the armed jihad or politically at home, to protect our people from oppression by religious fanatics who want to impose their beliefs on us by force or by the every-more-coercive, growing statist government advocated by communists, socialists and progressives.

Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not has now franchised locations in Iran, Syria and Iraq. The local branches will be called, Mohammad's Believe-It-Or-I-Kill-You.

You join the Army, Navy, Air Force or Coast Guard for a temporary period. You join the Marines for life. Done right, it's a life style.

A liberal is someone who believes in diversity of ethnicity, gender, national origin and sexual orientation, but absolute conformity on thought and world views. Or else.

Sure, I'd like to live forever, but unfortunately it turns out I come from a long line of dead people--everyone of my ancestors has already died. Guess I'm next in line at the checkout counter. but at the store I always get the slow line, so...

Obama comparing himself to Lincoln is like the late Senator Robert Byrd (D-KKK) comparing himself to Republican Martin Luther King.

The mantra in schools and throughout our modern, declining society, is "don't judge," and "don't be judgmental." But people who are not judgmental are the natural prey of sociopaths and evil-doers. If you can't make good judgments about people, you are likely to be a victim. Maybe even an accessory

Most democracies in the world do not live up to America ideals--including ours. Institutions run by flawed people are always flawed. Which is why the checks and balances, like the separation of powers, established by the founders, were so important--before the growth of the imperial presidency, now in its full flowering.

When I was a kid during the summer, I left the house in the morning, had lunch at whatever house we happened to be at, and usually obeyed the rule, "Be home by dinner." (That was when families ate together in the evening.) After dinner, it was, "Be home by dark." Kids today are monitored like criminals in a half-way house, less they stray too far.

Q: If retirees who paid in are taxed on Social Security benefits, why shouldn't welfare benefits also be taxed? A: Because the Democrats would then hire bureaucrats to collect the tax, and increase the benefits to cover it.

A job is not done until you clean up the mess you made. Someone tell Obama--and he's not the only one, on both sides of the political fence.

Get the collection! My “Random Thoughts” from 2008 through July, 2013 are now collected in this book: The Old Jarhead's Journal: Random Thoughts on Life, Liberty, and Leadership by Robert A. Hall

http://www.amazon.com/Old-Jarheads-Journal-Thoughts-Leadership/dp/1490500162/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373907206&sr=1-1&keywords=Old+Jarhead%27s+Journal

The Old Jarhead’s Journal is a collection of Random Thoughts on politics and life and Conservative Political Essays, mostly published on the author’s blog, including the essay “I’m Tired” which went viral on the Internet in 2009, “The Hall Platform,” “This I Believe,” and “Why I’m a Republican.” While they will be of interest to conservative thinkers, they are collected here in book form as a service to readers who wish to give a copy to favorite liberals and watch their heads explode. All royalties are donated to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.

*****

Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam Veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate. He is the author of The Coming Collapse of the American Republic. http://tiny.cc/g02s4 For a free PDF of Collapse, e-mail him at tartanmarine(at)gmail.com. Hall’s eleven books are listed here: http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-book-published.html