Main Street & the Mayberry Lifestyle

The television show Seinfeld, featuring the comedy of Jerry Seinfeld, has cemented its place in American Culture, with its iconic characters, usually involved something trivial (or as Jerry Seinfeld would say “A show about nothing”) but that usually happens to us at sometime in our lives. 

One of the later and I think most colorful, secondary characters added to the show was J. Peterman, the owner of his namesake business, where the main female character, Elaine Benish, is employed.  Peterman is portrayed as a verbose entrepreneur that sells high end clothes.  Portrayed by John O’Hurley, whose distinctive voice and diction made his portrait of the character, I assumed Peterman was just a figment of the screen writer's imagination.  But J. Peterman exists as does a company bearing his name and his wonderful essays are very much in character with ultra descriptive, somewhat approaching the verbose, almost catalog sales pitch descriptions O'Hurley's character gives on the show.

The real life J. Peterman has mastered writing and the art of description in a way that could be best described as the way an old school radio personality (e.g. Paul Harvey) could.  Using words, he paints a picture that even a blind person could recognize.  It takes someone with a VERY GOOD GRASP of words, to describe a scene in such a way that you don't need any visual interpretation "to see" what they are describing.

Here's a perfect example of the descriptive capabilities of Peterman (and maybe his staff) from the "Peterman's Eye" page of the J. Peterman website, simply entitled Main Street.

A 200-mile trip might take the average person six or seven hours. I’ve been known to do it in three days. That’s because I always take the alternate route, otherwise known as Main Street, USA.

With the collection of Home Depots, Wal-Marts and Targets lining the highways, you could be anywhere. But you always know where you are when you’re on Main Street, whatever the actual name of the street may be. I’ve also found that the nice thing about traveling on Main Street is that one seems to leads to another.

Unfortunately, some aren’t what they used to be.  But some are. In many towns, “the diner” is still on the corner where it has been for 30 years. There’s Sal’s Barber Shop, and now Sal Jr. has the first chair. The hardware store is a good place to talk about plaster screws for a few hours. There’s the local version of Starbucks, where you don’t have to pay $6 for a latte. And if you forget your wallet anywhere on Main Street, someone will send out an APB looking for you.

For more of the local color, you can look at those ubiquitous corkboards, with notes tacked to them announcing important things. Like the all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast at the firehouse. Or a church rummage sale. Or one man’s crusade to save the American Elm. That hardy breed of statuesque trees lined many Main Streets with a graceful, arching beauty – until urban development and a sudden epidemic took care of them.

If you dally too long on Main Street, you end up talking to strangers – who now feel like friends – and lose all track of time. Don’t worry. Just consider the $15 parking ticket as a contribution to an American way of life well worth preserving.

Some Main Streets are quite resilient. They’ve survived Sinclair Lewis’s “Main Street,” Grace Metalious’s “Peyton Place,” and Frank Capra’s “Bedford Falls.” People gossip everywhere. The only difference in a small town is that everyone knows whom you’re gossiping about – and that kind of makes it more intimate.

What really makes Main Street special is its intimacy. Even if you never lived near one, you feel it right away. And there’s a certain comfort in knowing that this is a place that hasn’t changed much.

For my next excursion, I have my eyes on the Lincoln Highway. About 3,400 miles, coast to coast. It has been called “The Main Street Across America.”

I’ve taken parts of it, but have never made the entire trip. Is there anyone out there who has?

The description of this non-specific place reminds me of the towns in which my parents grew up, that I visited to see my grand-parents.  There was the main drag.  It would have drug stores, banks, the county courthouse, gas stations at each end, a Liquor Store, Pharmacies and Grocery Stores on it.  Some even had the local Doctor's office on it.  There were usually Railroad Tracks parallel to the Main Street.  The towns weren't very "wide," with 5 or six streets paralleling each side of the main drag, before you got to the city limits.  They tended to be "long," stretching a couple of miles down that main drag, slowly fading into the rural surroundings.  Everyone knows everyone else.  Life seems to move at a slower pace.  And like my wife's family, when they moved across the mountain into western Pennsylvania, they were the "new folks in town" even when they had moved there 10 years ago.  

It seems magical, even mythical.  This was life for most of Americans many years ago.  Like the Legendary town of Mayberry, NC, there were the "characters" that made the town complete.  In my Dad's town, there was a World War II veteran, who'd get drunk and race his Twin-H Carbureted Hudson Hornet through the town.  There was the town Doctor, one of those medical geniuses, who decided NOT to be a surgeon, but Instead a general practitioner., His Nurse, was a single Mom, when it was scandalous to be one.  There were Successful Farmers, Mechanical Geniuses, and there was even the kid that thought he'd outrun the local Sheriff, only to find him in his driveway, nonchalantly talking with his Daddy on the side porch, as he pulled into his driveway.  There were revival preachers who held Camp Meetings to include the late James Brown (!!!) and friends and family who worked in the local Mill.  

It was a slice of America, served up with all of its goodness and hard times.  This seems like a good place to live and a place to which I'd want to retire.  And it will be, in the future. 

Blow Back: Decisions Always Hit the Fan. What Matters is Where You Are, WHEN the Fan Changes Direction.

After 7+ excruciating  years of Barack (the Destroyer of Class Mobility) Obama as President, the Financial Crisis, with its Bank Stress Tests, tightened Credit Policies and Zero Percent Interest Rates is still not over.  Those called Wall Street Banksters are still making money thanks to the Crony Capitalism.  Yet loans to those unworthy of credit because of past failures to repay debts are still demanded by many (who are racial minorities), claiming discrimination.  Small Businesses, the backbone of the Economy, the fertile place where Entrepreneurism becomes reality through hard work and most of the job growth and entry level jobs are created are starved for capital. 

With Barack (the Destroyer of the Middle Class) Obama as President, the middle class has been decimated by his policies.  We've watched as he intentionally has bankrupted the coal industry (for claimed environmental reasons) and forced all of the North American Class 1 railroads to look for other commodities as means to support base operations.  Say good bye to (middle class) Coal Mining and (high paying, upper middle class) Railroad Operations Jobs.  He dawdled on making a decision about the Keystone Pipeline, which would have shortened the pipeline routing of oil from the Oil Sands of Alberta and the Light Sweet Crude Oil of the North Dakota Bakken oil field (also for environmental reasons, which ironically, cause  both of these types crude oils to be shipped by rail, where the light sweet crude is far more likely to burn in an accidental derailment).  This killed off both Steel Mill jobs making pipe and Pipe Laying Jobs to include Welders, Pipeline Construction and Compression/Pump Station Construction Jobs.  All of these jobs were high paying, upper middle class jobs. 

The only real job expansion that we've had since Obama (the Destroyer of the American Dream) took over the office of President is in the Petroleum industry, specifically through the exploration and extraction of Oil and Natural Gas by Fracking.  And while he's tried to stop this, through prohibiting further exploration and extraction by American Companies in the Gulf of Mexico, prohibiting the further exploration and extraction on Federal Lands, the industry has been successful, until recently, when the new King of Saudi Arabia decided to "go to mattresses" by dropping the price of oil to levels that were below the cost of extraction in the United States (Good-bye high paying, upper middle class jobs for oil and gas workers).  As a long term strategy, this won't work, but employees have to live now, in the short term.

Additionally, President Barack Obama (The Destroyer of Hope) has found a way to confiscate water rights, putting additional financial pressure on both Ranchers (horse, cattle, sheep and goat) and Farmers (Family and Commercial).  Neither of these vocations has had great stability, due to weather and markets.  Each year's crops are a crap shoot, where the farmer or rancher plays the odds and prays for the best.  You've got to love the land (and probably your heritage as a farmer)  to do this job.  Entry cost barriers are high for the land and the machinery required to plow, plant, sew and reap.  It make a living, but you've got to love the life.

And Barack (our "leading from behind," Commander-in-Chief) Obama, has cut the Military budget to the point where the Military is shedding its current group of volunteer men and women soldiers sailors and airmen.  Young men and women who feel the call to defend their country and learn a trade no longer can enter the military, due to the budgetary cuts.  The forces have been shrunk to a point where readiness is questionable and exercises to teach readiness cannot be afforded, due to personnel or money.  We're losing patriots as well as the system that is generally the alternative to both college and apprenticeship (both union and non-union) into Middle class jobs.


But what he might consider to be his greatest achievement is Barack (the Destroyer of Freedoms) Obama's war against the culture.  He has turned Political Correctness up to a whole new level, accusing those who are against him of Racism and suing local Police Departments for "Civil Rights" violations, when any Black Person is killed by a white Police Officer.  He has bullied the Supreme Court into calling the Tax for failure to sign up for Obamacare, a "Penalty" that was unconstitutionally originated in the Senate.  He has Forced the American People to choose Obama Care, enriching Insurance Companies that provide "gap coverage policies."  He has Forced those who are granted Freedom of Religion to Go Against Conscience and comply with purchasing insurance that provides coverage for Abortion or to file suit just to have their Constitutional Right to Freedom of Religion protected.

Sir Isaac Newton's 3rd Law of Motion, states that "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."  I've found that this law is generally true in politics as well.

Albert Einstein is credited for having said  "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."


So with the ongoing destruction of the American Dream, the Middle Class, Class Mobility, Hope, Entrepreneurship, Entry Level Jobs, the Military and Freedoms granted in the Constitution, is there ANY SURPRISE that the supposed antidote to all of these maladies, Donald Trump is making huge waves in this year's elections?  He destroys Political Correctness with straight talk that is sometimes as crude as that of a Red Necked Blue Collar Worker.  His campaign slogan of "Make America Great Again," is the stuff of which American Dreams are made, harkening back to the Ronald Reagan's slogans of "Are you better off today than you were 4 years ago" and "It's morning again in America."

A few months ago, Democrat pollster, Pat Caddell spoke at the David Horowitz Freedom Center's 2015 Restoration Weekend.  In his Keynote Speech at the Opening Breakfast Pat said "We stand -- we have not even seen the chaos yet that is about to be unveiled.  Everything else has been almost a precursor to this.  And how it ends I do not know yet, but I want to give you the parameters of it.

We have in this country two mindsets.  Well, we have mine, and then we have the mainstream political class analysis, mainstream media, and all the people who are so upset, because nothing they believe is coming true.  They start from a premise that there are only two parties, and that nothing changes, and that it is a totally divided country, and it is a matter of inches of what happens politically.

And then there is the new reality, which is, as I've said, a country which is not just in revolt, but something greater.  I am writing a piece right now announcing our results.  And I start with the story of saying -- in 1796, I think it was. Whatever it was, when the Bastille fell -- '89, I guess. Louis XVI was in Versailles and [Nicolas], his finance minister, came to him, who was supposed to solve all the problems, and told the king about the fact that the Bastille had fallen, and Necker told him that.  And the king responded -- is this a revolt?  And Necker sighed and said -- no, Sire, I fear this is a revolution." 

(Full disclosure:  I like Pat Caddell.  He may be the only honest Democrat that we have left.   More importantly, he's truthful and gives an honest view of what is really happen in politics, not the typical distorted view of politics from "inside of the Beltway.")

For the past 7 years, Barack Obama and the Democrats have insisted that they have had the only plan that was reasonable, viable and doable.   With willing accomplices in the Democrat Media Apparatchik, shilling for the ACA, the unpopular plan was forced down the throats of the majority unwilling American citizens with ample carve outs for Muslim religious preference (to HELL with you damned Christians), Congress (of course - do what I say, not what I do) and FREE healthcare for our undocumented immigrants.  Of course there's one little catch:  When you sign up for this mandatory health care plan, you must also voluntarily give the Government FULL ACCESS to YOUR BANK ACCOUNTS.  They decided to Bankrupt Coal and subsidize Wind and Solar Power, killing off many good paying jobs, in the Coal Mining Industry, the Railroad and even trucking industries.  They delayed the Keystone Pipeline decision for 6+ years until it was politically expedient (after the last Congressional Election that Obama would have to deal with) only to deny it, killing potential jobs at steel mills and pipeline construction companies. They've forced Forgive me, but this sounds awfully familiar.  It reminds me of when the citizens of Egypt came to Joseph in the 6th year of a 7 year famine

The old commercial by the Forestry Service had Smokey the Bear saying, "only you can prevent Forest Fires."  However, politicians have been only too happy to seed multiple fires, by ruling against the will of the people, hurting them economically and taking away their rights.

It only takes a spark to start a fire and in the tender box of a collapsing world economy, sparks need to be contained.  Pat Caddell is right:  The Revolution is here....  Caddell was candid that "...Revolution is in the air...."  He said "...I've done some research a little bit, again, inspired by Lee and some others.  And we had found the most amazing results -- the American people don't want a cultural war.  But as I wrote in the analysis, God help the one who starts it...." 

As political correctness has taken over and immigrants have not been forced to assimilate and blend into the culture, the citizens have had enough.  Blowback has changed the political narrative.  Forcing Blue-Collar Democrats out of the party, by favoring the agenda of the "Greeniacs" has decimated the middle-class and created the Trump Monster that threatens to devourThe question is "Will it a peaceful Revolution at the Ballot Box, or something much more permanent and even violent?" 

Guest Post=> City AM=> Dr. John C. Hulsman=> How the US Shale Revolution Changed the Face of Geopolitics

Today's guest blog post, How the US Shale Revolution Changed the Face of Geopolitics, comes from  comes from the British Website, City A.M.  

Some things are so obvious that we stare into the forest, missing the tree:  When you're not beholding to anyone for any reason, you can't be influenced by them.  So it is with the US and petroleum.  

When the US was not importing vast quantities of crude oil to use to heat its homes and power its industries, make electricity, fuel its transportation needs and support its military, it could choose its friends, instead of kissing its enemies asses, in the hopes that they'd continue to sell us a resource on which we'd become dependent.  So it became the latter, after we started to see slowing production of domestically produced oil in the 1950s, 60s and into the 70s, importing most of our petroleum needs.  We thought that we'd reached what some would call "peak oil" and scientific theories were predominately that the earth would soon run out of the resource that had literally come to power and lubricate our economic machine.  

We long suffered from having to bend to the will of those that supplied us what we needed and couldn't produce from within our borders.  We put up with their belief systems that are incompatible with the Freedom, in which we believe and base our society upon.  We hung out with despotic dictators who subverted the will and rights of their citizens, because we needed to purchase energy from them.  And it looked as if it would always be that way.

But adversity and the increased cost of imported oil allowed innovation to take hold.  Directional drilling was discovered and perfected for what appeared to be little to no apparent use, until hydraulic fracturing of typically shale rock formations allowed oil first and then methane gas to be released from that rock.  As the process became "refined," costs to directionally drill and fracture shale to release oil and gas deposits, heretofore trapped in rock were discovered to cost nearly what imported gas and oil cost.  Suddenly, over a period of about a decade, aided by governmental regulations that further increased the costs of importing oil into the US, the costs of "fracking" to produce oil and gas became VERY COMPETITIVE with imports of foreign oil. 

A few lessons should be inserted at this point:

1. Theories that are "generally accepted as fact" aren't necessarily true.  While they may appear to have been true from the limited perspective that scientists may have had when the theory was published, technology can reopen the theory for debate or refutation.
2. Hardships are often the catalyst that brings new ideas and technologies to fruition.
3. Economic Hardships are often lessons for us to learn to be more diligent with our finances and to "waste not, want not" with our finances.
4. Never believe that a new technology, for which you don't have current use is actually useless.

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Monday 8 July 2019 4:37 am

How the US shale revolution changed the face of geopolitics

 

John Hulsman

Dr John C. Hulsman is senior columnist at City A.M., a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and president of John C. Hulsman Enterprises. He can be reached for corporate speaking and private briefings at www.chartwellspeakers.com.

In theory, we all know that major technical revolutions change and fundamentally disrupt the face of the world we live in. 

In practice, analysts of all stripes are too often glacially slow to realise this process when it is at work, let alone what it means. 

These events (such as the advent of the mass-produced automobile and the personal computer) transcend their technical importance, having profound social, economic and even geopolitical ramifications – consequences that are far too often seen decades after they have actually come to pass. 

The shale revolution is the latest case in point. 

One of my proudest analytical moments came during my glorious first stint with City A.M., when we, from very early on, not only saw that the shale revolution was real, but that it was bound to overturn both the global energy market, and, equally importantly, the world of geopolitics.

There is nothing that has come to pass in the years since this claim was boldly stated in this newspaper that leads me to change our initial (then unheard-of) assessment. 

Hydraulic fracturing, commonly called “fracking” – the process of injecting liquids at high pressure into subterranean rocks, widening existing fissures, and far more plentifully extracting oil and natural gas – has been such a technical game-changer. 

It has transformed the US, by far its leading exponent, from a long-term energy mendicant into the largest producer of oil in the world, in the blink of an historical eye. 

By contrast, hapless Europe has been loath to follow the American example, as environmental fears have overcome its desperate need for new energy sources. It remains the energy beggar that the US was just years ago. 

US energy production has increased an eye-opening 140 per cent since the shale revolution took flight in 2008. In 2018, US crude oil production rose by a stratospheric 30 per cent, with natural gas production also up fully 12 per cent. American oil production reached an all-time high of 10.9m barrels per day last year. 

These startling numbers simply don’t lie; the shale revolution is alive and well and here to stay. 

Saudi Arabia, alarmed by the ramifications of the shale revolution, has tried to contain America’s disruptive presence on the global energy market scene. 

First, the Saudis attempted a variation on what I call the “Rockefeller strategy”, following in the footsteps of America’s nineteenth-century energy titan in driving prices down by over-producing (at a loss) to try to force new competitors into bankruptcy and out of the market. 

But the Saudi gambit backfired spectacularly, amounting to a serious self-inflicted wound in a country that needs oil prices to be around $80 a barrel to balance its bloated budget. 

Shale production has proved to be far more price sensitive than old, fixed-rig dominated Saudi and Russian energy production. It can be turned on and off at a fraction of the fixed-rig price like a water faucet, depending on the global energy price. Fracking rigs shut down when the Saudis over-produced, only to restart as the price inevitably edged upwards.

Going in the opposite direction has not worked very well, either. Present Opec and Russian production cuts, while leading to a global energy price increase, have bequeathed to the Americans greater market share. 

In ramping up production, the US has kept a ceiling on global oil prices. It is not too much to say that the shale revolution has left the US, and not Opec or Russia, with the potential to become the global energy swing producer – a change of gargantuan proportions. 

The geopolitical ramifications of the shale revolution are as profound as they are ignored. Shale means that the US must focus far more of its attention on its own backyard. For if Mexico, Canada, and the US work in unison (as the new USMCA trade pact makes possible), the dream of North American energy independence is possible. 

Gone should be the days of over-worrying about the Middle East (except as an offshore balancer), a major strategic windfall for an America determined to turn its attention to Asia, where much of the political risk and reward will be in the new era. 

There, great power rival China finds itself far more dependent on energy production outside its borders, a very real handicap in the emerging superpower competition with the US. 

The shale revolution is a major reason for America’s basic strategic realignment away from the Middle East and towards Eurasia in our new multipolar era. Its importance simply cannot be overstated, and demands understanding. 

Main image credit: Getty

City A.M.'s opinion pages are a place for thought-provoking views and debate. These views are not necessarily shared by City A.M.

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And so, while we once had to "walk a fine line" between our allies with whom we shared values and traditions and the despots with whom we traded our money for oil, we're now unencumbered by our need to trade with those who wanted our riches and chose to try to hurt and suvbjectigate our will for the sake of their oil riches.  We are very much like a man who's had to live his life by a tight budget, while being in debt and raising a family and paying for a house, who suddenly finds himself flush with more money that he can spend, as his children fledge their nest, and the house is paid off.  We have choices in what we can do with the extra cash on hand.  

The wise man continues to live as if he still had debt, but saves the extra capital for a time of need.  He usually spends more for pleasure, but  eventually passes on what savings amount he didn't use to his heirs.  I would hope that our leaders will look at this situation and the new position we find ourselves in and seek wisdom to make the right choices for our country in the future.  However, as our representative republic gets a new Presidential Administration about every four to eight years policy tends to be transactional rather than strategic.  Current leaders may go in one direction while future leaders might decide to go in a direction that is quite different.  All we can do is to choose wisely and hope and pray that who we've chosen for our future leaders, represent our values.

Guest Post=> Doctor Walter Williams=> The Burning Platform=> Were Confederate Generals Traitors?

This is an older Opinion Column, written by the renowned Columnist Walter E. Williams, Ph.D. way back in June, 28, 2017.  It's still important to me though as a Southern Partisan, a History Buff and as a fan of all things having to do with the "Civil War."  

You see, the United States, a rebellious, break-away colony of Great Britain, only became a great nation because of the Civil War.  Until that time, we were just an outpost too far away to defeat and control.  The US was England's Vietnam, a war that cost them lives and resources, which only diminished their power and put them on the slow path toward oblivion, which they've nearly reached, with the final nail in their coffin being the inability to leave the European Union.  It's only when we were willing to fight each other and die (killing a significant part of the country's male population) over who we were as a country, that other countries began to understand that we were serious and a force to be reckoned with.  But I digress.

Some say that "History repeats itself," while others say  "It doesn't repeat, it rhymes," between the past and present.  Which ever statement is more correct, the study of History is important and it should be studied,  as by understanding it, we can hope to recognize and avoid mistakes that others have made.  And while a small very vocal minority demand that we eliminate ALL TRACES of the scourge and shame of slavery on America as a nation, do they really believe that we, as a nation couldn't ever forget and couldn't go there again (with a different social, demographic or ethnic group)?  And though, once again, I restate that the Civil War was not fought over slavery, the winners of the war, in order to justify illegal actions from defying the Constitution and declaring war on the states that withdrew from the Union to what would be considered war crimes to include theft, arson, and defacto murder (by taking all of the food southern citizens had, with the effect of starving the remnants of families) in the looting and destruction of farms by union Soldiers, during Sheridan's campaign throughout the Shenandoah Valley and Sherman's march to the Sea through Georgia and into both South Carolina and North Carolina, the winners of the conflict got to write the history, covering up their actions at the expense of those who rebelled, fought and lost or died.

So without further ado, I preset Dr. Walter Williams view on whether the Generals of the South, who defended their homelands against enemy invaders, were in fact traitors and deserve to have their statues removed, destroyed and relegated to the dust bin of history.

Were Confederate Generals Traitors?

Guest Post by Walter E. Williams

My “Rewriting American History” column of a fortnight ago, about the dismantling of Confederate monuments, generated considerable mail. Some argued there should not be statues honoring traitors such as Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis, who fought against the Union. Victors of wars get to write the history, and the history they write often does not reflect the facts. Let’s look at some of the facts and ask: Did the South have a right to secede from the Union? If it did, we can’t label Confederate generals as traitors.

Article 1 of the Treaty of Paris (1783), which ended the war between the Colonies and Great Britain, held “New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, to be free sovereign and Independent States.” Representatives of these states came together in Philadelphia in 1787 to write a constitution and form a union.

During the ratification debates, Virginia’s delegates said, “The powers granted under the Constitution being derived from the people of the United States may be resumed by them whensoever the same shall be perverted to their injury or oppression.” The ratification documents of New York and Rhode Island expressed similar sentiments.

At the Constitutional Convention, a proposal was made to allow the federal government to suppress a seceding state. James Madison, the “Father of the Constitution,” rejected it. The minutes from the debate paraphrased his opinion: “A union of the states containing such an ingredient (would) provide for its own destruction. The use of force against a state would look more like a declaration of war than an infliction of punishment and would probably be considered by the party attacked as a dissolution of all previous compacts by which it might be bound.”

America’s first secessionist movement started in New England after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Many were infuriated by what they saw as an unconstitutional act by President Thomas Jefferson. The movement was led by Timothy Pickering of Massachusetts, George Washington’s secretary of war and secretary of state. He later became a congressman and senator. “The principles of our Revolution point to the remedy — a separation,” Pickering wrote to George Cabot in 1803, for “the people of the East cannot reconcile their habits, views, and interests with those of the South and West.” His Senate colleague James Hillhouse of Connecticut agreed, saying, “The Eastern states must and will dissolve the union and form a separate government.” 

This call for secession was shared by other prominent Americans, such as John Quincy Adams, Elbridge Gerry, Fisher Ames, Josiah Quincy III and Joseph Story. The call failed to garner support at the 1814-15 Hartford Convention.

The U.S. Constitution would have never been ratified — and a union never created — if the people of those 13 “free sovereign and Independent States” did not believe that they had the right to secede. Even on the eve of the War of 1861, unionist politicians saw secession as a right that states had. Rep. Jacob M. Kunkel of Maryland said, “Any attempt to preserve the union between the states of this Confederacy by force would be impractical and destructive of republican liberty.” The Northern Democratic and Republican parties favored allowing the South to secede in peace.

Northern newspapers editorialized in favor of the South’s right to secede. New-York Tribune (Feb. 5, 1860): “If tyranny and despotism justified the Revolution of 1776, then we do not see why it would not justify the secession of Five Millions of Southrons from the Federal Union in 1861.” The Detroit Free Press (Feb. 19, 1861): “An attempt to subjugate the seceded States, even if successful, could produce nothing but evil — evil unmitigated in character and appalling in extent.” The New-York Times (March 21, 1861): “There is a growing sentiment throughout the North in favor of letting the Gulf States go.”

Confederate generals were fighting for independence from the Union just as George Washington and other generals fought for independence from Great Britain. Those who’d label Gen. Robert E. Lee as a traitor might also label George Washington as a traitor. I’m sure Great Britain’s King George III would have agreed.

Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at George Mason University. To find out more about Walter E. Williams and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com

Political Dynasties in America

A friend, whose political leanings are similar to mine, recently sent me this video  about the 4 families that control California.  The video came from Info Wars (Please ignore the advertisement at the end of the video). 

I said a couple of years ago, Alex Jones doesn’t look like such a kook and lunatic anymore.  I am not kidding….  If you can wade through the commercials, yelling tirades and the rest of his Bull Shit, Alex Jones and the Info Wars crew has done the American Citizenry a huge service and favor, exposing the swamp and giving the people a reason to awaken from their slumber and to vote against Hillary Clinton and to (temporarily end that Dynastic Political Family).

Way back when I was in college, I took a singular Political Science Class, not because I ever wanted to be a politician, but because of general interest.  Most citizen voters are unwilling or unable to spend the time to research each politician's positions on issues, in order to vote for their best (economic) interests.   One of the key factors in being a successful politician (and success is defined as being elected and then being re-elected to office) is NAME RECOGNITION.  It's interesting to see and understand these families that find a way to control politics in an area turning into a county and then a state.  The really good politicians, good being understood as being able to establish name recognition and build a Base that goes outside of state and regional areas, to achieve re-election.

In the video, I was familiar with Nancy Pelosi and her Dad, Mafioso Kingpin “Big Tony” D’Augistino.  I even vaguely remembered Pat Brown, but did not realize he was Jerry Brown’s Dad from California.  None of this surprises me or should surprise anyone that’s ever paid attention to politics involving Democrats and Liberal Republicans.

For your Consideration, I present just some of the  “Political Families (Dynasties)” in our lifetime:

• The Clintons of Arkansas to include President William J. "Bill" Clinton and his carpet bagger wife Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and their daughter Chelsea Clinton Mezvinsky, who was a political commentator-reporter for NBC News.  Note:  I'll call any elected Senator or Representative who did not live in the District or State before they were elected. 
• The Bushes (all the way back to) Senator Preston Bush, President George H.W. Bush, Governor and President George W. Bush and Governor Jeb Bush are perhaps the most successful American Political Dynasty, but not the best known
• The Alaska Murkowskis (father Frank and daughter Lisa), 
• The Kennedy’s, John, Robert, Ted, and John Jr.
• The Cuomo’s of New York to include Mario, Andrew and Chris (who is doing his duty in the Media Apparatchik Wing of the Democrat Party)
• The Landrieu’s of Louisiana, to include Mitch and Mary
• The Gores of Tennessee, Senator’s Albert Gore and his son Albert Gore Jr.
• The Senators Dole, Bob from Kansas and his second wife Elizabeth, the carpet bagger Senator from North Carolina
• The Jacksons of Chicago to include Community Organizer “the Reverend Jessie Jackson” and his now convicted Congressman son Jessie Jackson, Jr.
• The Pauls, Congressman Ron of Texas and his son, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky
• The McCains of Arizona, after the mercifully late Senator John McCain tried to make a deal where his second wife Cindy would serve out his (literally) expiring Senate term to become an incumbent and his daughter Meagan who is a media celebrity opinionist
• The Harrisons, to include William Henry Harrison and Benjamin
• The Roosevelts to include Theodore and his nephew Franklin Delano Roosevelt and
• The Adams, to include Presidents John and his son John Quincy

There have always been the "elite" citizenry in America.  The First Families of Virginia were socially, monetarily and influentially powerful.  Virginia is said to be the Mother of Presidents and the number of presidents who were born there bear that statement to be true.  

The American Political Dynastic system was altered by Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, who understood that the power now lies more in the Media Apparatchik and (unelected Government) Administration wings of the Democrat Party than in the candidates them selves.  

George Washington was a very shrewd politician, who after two terms as President went back home and became a citizen farmer, mirroring what he did as Commander in Chief of the Continental (Rebels against England) Army.  But more over, he Refused to take the job as “President for Life” when it was offered to him.  He set a precedent for how one should serve in office, a precedent only broken by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  

The American citizenry considered that breaking the precedent was such an important issue that the since Roosevelt, individuals and families have been pushing against that precedent, starting with the third term election of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  The 22nd Amendment of the Constitution was created and then ratified, because FDR was elected to a third and fourth term, breaking the tradition set by George Washington, to return to private life, after serving two terms as President.

There are citizens who now believe that term limits need to be expand, in order to limit the career politicians in our state capitals and in Washington, D.C..  They make a compelling case about the stagnation and the politicians voting against "the will of the people."  

While I believe that term limits, by Constitutional Amendment, might increase the turn over in both houses of Congress and all of the federal District, Appellate and Supreme Courts, this is only half of the problem.  We would also have to implement a set of term limits that would limit the service of career administrative positions.  This has become increasingly important with the manufactured scandals designed to thwart Donald Trump or cause him to resign his election as President, involving the Departments of Justice, The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agsancy, and the National Security Agency.  Reaching back, before the election of President Trump, the Internal Revenue Service was weaponized to thwart the efforts of conservatives to elect conservative leaning politicians that would thwart the Obama Administration's agenda(s),

Guest Post=> Melanie Phillips=> The Onslaught on the American Border

Quick Question:  Do You Support Open Borders?

If you answered yes, are you willing to do this?

This issue simply boils down to 3 things:

1. Property Rights
2. Covetousness and
3. Manipulation of a socio-economic people group in order to achieve an ends

So, to elaborate:  

1. America is owned by her citizens, whose birthright is through her American Citizen Parents.  It has been paid for and is currently being paid for by those who gave or giving their lives, time and worth:  Members of the Armed Forces, Dead or Still Living, Citizens who've dedicated and risked their lives to keep us safe serving in the Police, Fire, Rescue, and Medical professions.  Even those who serve in the local state and federal government and the rest of the population that pays taxes own the right to citizenship.  With Citizenship, we have the right to Invite anyone we deem "worthy" to enter and apply for citizenship.  We have the right to exclude ANYONE, based on A) Threats to Society (e.g. Health Issues, Criminal Background, or following any Cultural Belief System that we deem Incompatible with our culture), B)Education Level:  America is THE LAND of OPPORTUNITY, but you've got to work to make use of that opportunity.  We don't want any more Free Loaders:  We have too many already.  If we allow you to come to America, we expect you to Make your own way, not to leech off of the largess of Citizens who are making their own way.  If you want to come as a Refugee,  and apply for Asylum, we reserve the right to determine if you are endangered and the right to Reject you - for any of the above reasons.
2. The American System of Capitalism is the greatest system in the world (although it's losing some of its luster on the upcoming generations).  In Capitalism, there is no promise of equality of outcome.  Some people will make more than others (some make exponentially more than others).  It is just the way it is.  There is no guaranteed way to be successful.  That's not considered to be "fair" by those who aren't motivated to keep trying and want the lavish lifestyle that they think they deserve.  They love money and all of the things they believe it can buy to make them happy.  They want what they see others having.  Isn't this Covetousness as described in the Ten Commandments?  The wisdom in the Bible says that this is wrong and sinful.  Additionally, many of these same people want to force the rich to "trade places with them" and experience the poverty they've experienced.  That's foolish in and of itself, as most of the people who are rich are smart and shrewd enough so if they had to start over again from nothing, it is likely they'd end up at least as well off as they were before starting over.
3. In my lifetime (aged 57 in 2018) we've had Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty, with its "free" Welfare, Food Stamps, Medi-Care and Medic-Aid.  Rent Assistance, and Earned Income Tax Credits also became available as the age progressed.  It was all supposed to be a temporary (as in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) hand up, not a permanent hand out, with families making enough money to no longer need assistance.  However, it doesn't work that way, as when the family approaches the level where assistance ends, when it ends, they actually make less total money.  Additionally, our society has advertisements that say (from Value City Furniture) "I want it all.  I want it all.  I want it now.  And I want it all." or "You deserve a break today...."  Poverty Pimps (e.g. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton among others) at one time may have preached "You are somebody!" but have since taken their message to new lows, telling the economically poor that they are being discriminated against.  President Barack Obama, the Community Organizer, turned State Senator, US Senator and President of the US worked very hard in poor communities to stir up sentiments against the rich, all the while accusing anyone that was against his Communist Agenda of Racism.  His $8 Trillion Stimulus and were claimed to help end the 2nd Great Depression

Additionally, the poor in countries want in on the American Dream and think nothing about breaking our laws and violating our sovereignty to get in and get a job.  This hurts the least skilled and the poorest citizens.  Additionally, there are those within the citizenry who'd like nothing better than to collapse the government

THE ONSLAUGHT ON THE US BORDER

OCTOBER 29, 2018 MELANIECARAVAN, IRAN, LATIN AMERICA

There are now three waves of central American migrants aiming to force their way into the US across the border.

As reported here by JE Dyer, the first group was temporary halted by a Mexican police barricade.  Mexican authorities offered the migrants asylum, jobs, and an array of social assistance programs. When they refused them, the police took down the barricades and the migrants resumed their trek.

On Sunday afternoon, the second wave from Honduras reached the border with southern Mexico. The Mexican border guard requested entry in an orderly manner.

“The men at the front began to throw rocks, and rushed to attack the border gate.  According to news media on-scene, the attacking men broke down a gate and at least 100 of them were able to push through it.  An unknown number of people were injured in the resulting scuffle. A 26-year-old Honduran migrant reportedly died of a head injury, which some outlets are saying was the result of being hit by a rubber bullet from the Mexican guards”.

A third group is now setting out from El Salvador. “One young man held up a handy, professionally printed map of migrant routes through Central America and Mexico for a photo op.”

There has been much speculation about who is funding this prospective invasion across the US border. I have read several theories but have yet to see a convincing account. But I can’t help noticing a familiar pattern.

For Dyer goes on: “At the moment, the military troops are being dispatched solely for logistical support to the Border Patrol.  Clearly, however, the Border Patrol by itself won’t be able to mount the entire response if there is a coordinated, asymmetric attack by the migrants at the border.  Presumably any tactical border defense effort will be coordinated between the U.S. and Mexico; we can reasonably hope that no situation will deteriorate into the use of “military” style force against lightly-armed migrants.

“(They may be lightly armed, but that doesn’t mean they can’t hurt anyone.  No soldier or Border Patrolman is obliged, and none should be, to simply accept injury or death from flying rocks, or small arms the migrants may be carrying surreptitiously, because of an asymmetric force situation.  That said, not one of the men and women in uniform at the border wants to kill people”.

Remind you of anything? Like this?

Yup: this central American onslaught on the US border looks rather similar to the Gazan onslaught on the Israeli border. Similar optics: poor, downtrodden “refugees” using force of numbers and their own “defenceless” bodies to pit themselves against the firepower of the army of an “oppressive” state in order to storm illegally and (in Gaza) murderously into someone else’s country.

Now let’s look at some dots that might be joined up. Here is evidence by Emanuele Ottolenghi about the way Iran and Hezbollah have been radicalising thousands of Latin Americans to become a hotbed of anti-Americanism and a forward operating base for Iran.

During his confirmation hearings as Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo also noted that the “toxic crime-terror nexus” in Latin America, largely driven by the Lebanese Hezbollah group, “is fueling both the rising threat of global jihadism and the collapse of law and order across Latin America that is helping drive drugs and people northward into the United States.”

“It is thus facilitating their efforts to build safe havens for terrorists and a continent-wide terror infrastructure that they could use to strike U.S. targets,” he warned.

There may well be various different bodies behind the migrant onslaught. Trump tweeted that “criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in” with it. Of course he was duly bawled out for racism, imbecility, dog-whistling, racism, yada yada. Of course he couldn’t possibly be reflecting intelligence information he had received. Ya think?

Vice-President Mike Pence told Fox News: “What the president of Honduras told me is that the caravan was organized by leftist organizations, political activists within Honduras, and he said it was being funded by outside groups, and even from Venezuela”.

Hamas runs Gaza. Hamas is trying to storm the Israel border. Hamas is supported by Iran. Hamas has its own deep ties with Latin America.

Coincidence?

Advice to New Parents

Your child is beautiful child.

As a parent with 20 years of mistakes under my belt, I can offer you my best wishes, hopes and very little advice:

• Love your child.  Your number 1 job is to love your child
• Time with them shows them that you love them.  "Gifts and toys" can't make up that difference.  
• Love their Mom or Dad. 
• Children learn by example.  My Mom would say "little pictures have big ears."
• Discipline only in love.  Never discipline them when you're angry.
• Be "one" as parents.  Children will play 'Divide and Conquer' pitting one parent against another.  Never undercut his Mom or Dad. And if either of you undercut the other (trust me-you will), never discuss it in front of the child.
• Have a sense of humor.  In the early 1960's, Art Linkletter once had a show called Kids Say The Darndest Things.  It's true.  Go with it and laugh. 
• EXCEPTION:  Never laugh at (bad) unacceptable behavior, no matter how funny it is (actions speak louder than words and laughter is an action that signals acceptance/approval).
• Kids need boundaries.  Set rules and be consistent and constant.
• Enjoy the adventure.  You're now a parent, so relax and look for the good and discourage the bad.
• Help them find themselves.  Your child will naturally have talents that can transfer to a vocation.  Help and encourage them to find a place in the world that uses their natural talents in their future.

I hope these thoughts encourage you.  This is a stage of life that you "never get through" - ONCE A PARENT, FOREVER A PARENT.  You always want the best for them.  But remember, your "best wishes" for their lives probably won't be their best wishes (hopes and dreams).  Don't "impose" your will or wishes on them.  Just keep them from hurting or killing themselves or others

Find a true friend who is a parent and ask them for advice or just to listen, when you need to vent.

If I could do this (and I NEVER wanted the responsibility of being a parent), you can do this (probably with greater success than I've had).  They will change your life - for the better.

Finally, believe it or not, the time is fleeting.  Make the most of the time you have.  One moment you're carrying them home after their birth and it seems that suddenly:

• They're walking, 
• They're talking, 
• They're learning, 
• They're going off to school, 
• They're graduating, choosing a career, 
• They're getting a job
• They're finding the partner that puts the stars in their eyes, 
• They're getting married
• They're making their own nest, 
• They're mastering what they do for money and 
• They're having their own children

Although your being a parent is never over and it looks overwhelming, you can get through it.  Each stage is a challenge physically, emotionally and mentally.  You will think this is the hardest thing I've ever done.  Then you will graduate to another harder task.  Take comfort in what you just achieved and brace yourself for the next step.  You'll make it.  It will have changed your life - for the better.