It's a Nanny State & The Professor Thing

Dear America,

"Official motto of the White House economic team: Those who can, do. Those who can’t, fantasize in the classroom, fail in Washington and then return to the Ivy Tower to train the next generation of egghead economic saboteurs. Life is good for left-wing academics. Everyone else pays dearly."

that's what she said.

That is what Michelle Malkin opened her column with just yesterday; hm. same day G was thinking the exact same thing.  Only, Malkin, far more polished in her delivery, backed up thoughts with names, numbers and data to string a mile long...for G, not so much. [insert smiley face here]  But gotta love it when, there she was, with Sean Hannity last night, explaining the "abandoning ship...going back to academics" theory on national TV -- hence, backing up the G thing hook, line and sinker.

Poking some kind of fun back on the lefties who come off "untouched and unscathed by reality" while living in their Keynesian house of cards, she keeps building up her case..."and we get told we're the morons!" she added, basically throwing down all her cards and showing Sean, along with the rest of his viewers, black jack.

good times. good times indeed.

Considering G was hopped up on everything free market yesterday, in the middle of her piece, Malkin said this:

"Goolsbee’s most recent “innovation”: the “White House White Board,” a weekly video lecture teaching everyone else how to hitch what remains of America’s free-market system to the wagon of the state and how much (or rather, how little) we should make doing it. He illustrated his grand interventionist strategy to pick and choose “Startup America” winners by drawing a trough of broken light bulbs (symbolizing entrepreneurial ideas) piling up in a “Valley of Death” because they lacked government support.

A comical choice of imagery given the Democrats’ enviro-nutty ban on incandescent bulbs. But I digress."

And speaking of digressing, nothing like starting off the day with one, eh.  This isn't exactly where I wanted to go this morning, but I just couldn't help myself.  My first thought of the day went right to sweet synchronicity rounding up full circle.  To read her full column, go here. 

so, from what remains of the free market to the remains on a day...what else...what else... oh right...now this is really neither here nor there, I mean, my gosh, the story came up from down under.  But did you hear about the new protectionism, specific to wildlife, showing favor expressly for a certain group, namely possums?


The way the story goes, domestic felines have a curfew; no more gallivanting around the neighborhood in the middle of the night, causing all sorts of mayhem.  Possums seem to be unable to hold their own down under, so again, the first thing environmentalists think of is scratching natural law and order, scrapping Darwin's survival of the fittest, in one giant leap.  And again, deciding for us, who deserves special privileges, special rights of passage and the like, posing one animalia against another even -- all while swiping the civil liberties of the domestic cat with one scratch.

Here's a bit of kitty kibble on the matter:

"There have been some 564 reported cat attacks on ringtail possums in the last year alone, making up the biggest part of total cat attacks on wildlife, wildlife protection agency WIRES said. 'It's a small thing to ask people to keep their cats indoors if it means protecting our native wildlife.' McKenzie said 'After all, they were here first, we've introduced domestic pets, so we have a responsibility to control them.' "

really?

How do we know if whether or not the possums started it?  I mean, is someone actually stalking the Sydney neighborhoods in search of cats run amuck, wreaking havoc upon the poor, defenseless possums?  I'm sorry, are we talking about Fluffy, Dingleberry, and Boo?  C'mon.

And seriously, if a possum can't seem to handle a little harassment from frick and frack, who is to say they deserve to be in the wild in the first place?  what a let down in the name of wildlife everywhere, eh.  Oh G is a heartless bitch this morning.

But really, I love wildlife as much as the next girl (as long as that girl does not subscribe to the philosophy and actions of greenpeace... most often an outfit controlling the rights of mother nature to the extremes) -- but this seems downright ludicrous. Perhaps the way to go might be to begin "domesticating" possums, ever think of that?  If they can't handle the real world, let's bring them indoors and treat them like babies.

Now, in my old neighborhood, not to be confused with my new neighborhood which is pretty much the same, we get possums, and raccoons, and rabbits, and what not -- sometimes even coyotes.  And the truth is, we seem to be losing more felines (proof is in the pictures taped to the sides of telephone polls...the sweet faces of lost Dingleberries pop up all the time).

How would might this group suggest we keep the possums in -- at night?  Because I have seen possums willing to take on small children in these here parts  (really)  (not kidding).

Here's a piece of advice handed down to cat owners in the wake of this assault upon the average possum (considering that there is no law in place to give them any authority to forbid households to let their cats out at night):

"Whilst the curfew cannot be strictly enforced, an education and information program to be sent out by the local government will propose that cat owners keep their pets indoors between dusk and dawn, monitor their cat's activities during the day and attach two bells to their collar."

attach two bells, they suggest...
that's gonna go over well.
they seem not to have a clue about how the typical cat ticks.

Isn't that domestic cat abuse?  wouldn't a couple of bells announcing their every move cut a cat's psyche right in two, emasculating whatever natural tendencies they happened to be born with as one of God's beautiful creatures?

and this may sound over the line, but wouldn't this be like telling a gay or lesbian student to wear a letter across their chest in school, announcing who they are on the inside, and to back off, long before they've even had a chance to say hello?  I mean, what you are asking a cat to do here is wrong.  What gives you the right to decide how to level the playing field -- and assuming the field is full of land mines only blowing up one side?   For isn't the real world a place where we all have to get along...even in conditions that might test our very souls, if not, our outright ability to fight for what we believe and who we are?

Maybe, why stop at bells and whistles calling out all cats, how about we have possums sit down and watch a video like "It gets better" while we're at it.

And call me stupid if I think possums could probably do a better job at adapting, or move to higher ground.

But again, throwing the risk of repetition against the wind, how do we not know for sure that it was the possum who stuck it's tongue out in the first place?

I would also be remiss if I did not ask the age old question:  Is Fluffy really capable of taking down a wild animal like a possum?  My bet goes to the feral kitty sitting there in the corner, looking like the Cheshire cat.  Can you say gill tea? 

so no. my two cents today did not remain inside American borders.  shoot me. throw me in a cage. leave me for dead.  whatever.

but if need be,  I can make a course correction right now, on the fly, if you like... 

Survival of the fittest is a good thing, it makes us adapt, and expand, and take action -- to protect and guide and manifest a magnificent future.  It is a very American ideal, indeed.  It is an idea not intended for wussies, or should I say pussies, as the observations of today chime in in the back of my head (who are we kidding, it was just a couple of bells).

WE, as a country, used to teach all our youngin' how to hold their own -- getting better at it as time went by -- generated by the top down (ergo from mom and pop, people of authority, our leaders...).  Kids understood their place -- and how to work awfully hard to get out from under parental control and make their own way, albeit in a warped give me liberty or give me death kind of way.

But somehow, in the last thirty or forty years, we have shifted -- going against the natural Darwinian flow and teachings surrounding our duty to raise self-reliant, able-bodied, rootin' tootin' kids ready to take on the world -- these days, we are raising a bunch of fluffies with a social cause ringing around their ears.  Yes, extreme G lives and reigns.  But think about it, here in America and down under, the social justice agenda is replacing a beautiful industrial life in a dog-eat-dog cat-scratch-fever kind of way.

With good intentions (I'm sure...say that with some attitude please) our political correctness has enabled scores of protectionists, environmentalists, fascists, marxists, social justice-ists, to control the population.  It always starts out small and grows.  First, it is adding a just couple of bells around our neck, but pretty soon, we are locked up in cages (but only at night).

I am not happy with things down under with this whole goodbye kitty police state.  And it has taken me by surprise, really; for, of all places, you would think the great Outback would choose Darwin over Code Pink Hello Kitty any day of the week.  The thing is, considering evolution by the hundredth monkey effect seems to be in full force, this doesn't bode well for the rest of us.

here we go. there we go. it's all the same thing on this incredibly stupid day.  are you ready for a cat fight?

Make it a Good Day, G

speaking of which, did you know we are engaged in a fourth war?  covert ops, they say.  In Yemen.  oh yes, and you lefty's thought you had found yourself an anti-war anti-imperialist golden child  -- thing is, he just doesn't tell anyone about it or get congressional approval.  that's all.  may I suggest you write your congressman.   but really now, can I get a chorus of "whiskey tango foxtrot" for the president?

Dear America,

so day two of spring break found me and my girl tooling around the design district, Cedros, in Solana Beach -- and spending nearly two hours in just one place called The Leaping Lotus (and yes, I totally dig the continuation on a theme from yesterday's two cents).

And chatting it up the entire time, she told me a story from a documentary she watched on the Discovery Channel over the weekend, detailing life of a family from a remote Himalayan village, where basically the children had to venture a long, dangerous trek to school with their father each year (and yes, the commute happened not on a daily basis, but as an annual ritual worthy of the risks).

For six months out of the year, the children attended a school miles away from home, and in order to get there, they packed up for a nearly a week's journey, along with their father, to travel the icy crevasses and steep countryside of the region to finally arrive at a small school house in the middle of nowhere; this would be home for the children until another six months passed, and their father came back over the river and through the woods for their return (yes... just a simple afternoon pickup, indeed).

Whenever I catch glimpses of other children around the world, getting an education, having pencils and paper and school books, is accepted like a gift from God.  Have you noticed that?


Without saying a word, captured in the eyes of every child, comes this light beaming from ear to ear, in utter gratitude for the opportunity to learn something.  While many of ours, in stark contrast, bemoan an afternoon of homework, fight every second of the way off of Facebook, and cling to any and all I Pods to get them through it.

As I mentioned a few weeks back, I discovered a local, homegrown patriot, writer, and businessman from a Community  Essay in the paper: "Reading and the Public Good" by Craig S. Maxwell.  And even though his trade is officially a bookseller, there was nothing self serving in his remarks whatsoever.

It was as if he was making his own last ditch effort to awaken the citizenry of the changes this country has afoot: forewarning us on the over-saturation of our childen's minds and time with "electronic gizmos;" burying their anti-social, yet with a social network twist, heads into a gadget of one kind or another, and hardly surfacing for a genuine hello, good morning, how are you today? And the reading of a good book, the good book, (or just one like "The 5000 Year Leap" perhaps) -- anything worthy of a lesson in morality, substance, vision, or of value -- fuggetaboutit.

Throughout the entire read he makes a splendid case wrapped around ideas steeped in our history, and for me, one sentence stands out above the rest: "America's essence is identical with self-rule."

It's as if we fail to recognize our duty and delight, being born of such privilege and all.

we all fail; for if one of us goes down, we all go down, right?  Isn't that how our president thinks of it...isn't that how collective salvation works?
For if we exponentially take that number of one and track it over time, decades of ignorance and bliss overwhelmingly suffocating knowledge and constraint, with apathy reigning over ambition, especially with our young seedlings for tomorrow stuck in a box, we slowly begin to lose the memory of the original thought.

Future generations become lost as we methodically, and yet strangely haphazardly, brush away the markers beholden to the greater good and our purpose under heaven; we extinguish all semblance of a path straight and narrow; as gratitude morphs into a viscous combination of entitlement, self interest, and taking it all for granted...who needs to pay attention to the things that made America great anymore, when we can be one great big dysfunctional global nation...

I can assure you, if every parent in America, literally and figuratively,  truly led their children "to school and back", much like that Himalayan papa, half of our issues would simply resolve themselves. Of course, if our schools became think tanks for truly higher learning -- welcoming all thought, reason, debate and discussion -- delving into the greater understanding as to why America is what it is, how we got here, who we are and jut who were, in fact, the thinkers and the visionaries back behind our foundation, what made America so different in the first place, and just maybe, in the last -- perhaps then we might very well create, and make, more children exceeding expectations in every way possible (math and science included).

Responsible SELF RULE does not come about by accident or by luck or by Facebook.

Mr. Maxwell adds a lengthy quote from John Adams, and here I will lend you part:

"...Be it remembered...that liberty must at all hazards be supported.  We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure and their blood.  And liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right, from the frame of their nature, to knowledge, as their great creator, who does nothing in vain, has given the understanding and desire to know."

Right now, ignorance is bliss in America; we got too much, for too little, on borrowed time with somebody else' dime...and on top of that, we don't even make things anymore, much less strive to manufacture smart kids ready to work in the real world, fully prepared, after years of study, propped up with even a general sense and sensibility of the America who came before.  even presidents can miss the exquisite details.

Tonight, we will have a president promote -- for the second time in two months -- his budget for 2012 Take Two...   hmmm what will he say?

We spend too much, there is that.

No department will be immune to making some cuts, 

all ideas are on the table... 

but, you know, with Bush's two wars and a recession later, 

we need to have the wealthiest Americans pay even more, 

for it simply isn't fair 

for anyone to think and grow rich any longer in America...

even the debt ceiling will have to be raised for the 75th time, 

even though, 

I for one, 

was against raising the limit when a young, unseasoned Senator...

yes, after I grew government by more than ten percent, 

it is time for reform -- 

never you mind that my unfunded, unconstitutional, 

trillion dollar health care package has yet to hit the market, 

never mind that, what I propose here tonight, 

flip flops on the Bush era tax cuts 

only reinstated just a few months back;

never mind that I said all-of-the-above energy resources are warranted 

-- I change my mind about drilling for oil in America -- 

I am thinking twice about nuclear in the wake of Japan's disaster 

-- and come one way or another, 

I will nudge, oh so gently, all Americans to change 

their driving habits and more,

and perhaps buy a hybrid built for two...
and never you mind what the Other Debt Commission suggested,
it is time for a new Debt Commission to be put in place,
a commission who truly understands how to reorganize for America...

fundamental transformation of America will not be easy

we must all do our part

...but considering my salvation rests on your salvation,

and vice versa, 

we have work to do, 

and again, it will not be easy.  

But let me be clear...

redistribution of the wealth is the only way out, 

going against everything America is, was, or ever will be, 

is the order of the day;

and what we must do my fellow Americans,

is lead, after China, of course, into the new age, 

for the magnificent global economy is just waiting for us to show up!

Marking new paths of innovation,

and returning to a time when our schools, our children,

truly lead the world again in math and science again...

this is who we are.  

This is what we need to do to compete with the rest of the world.

What I will not do, is change my mind,

the trajectory is in stone, 

this is what we must do.

For in the end, 

the end will justify the means.

One love, y'll

One Nation, One World,

it is one way, or bust, over everything we know and love.

It is for the betterment of the whole.

This is what makes us who we are.

This will be what saves us in the end.

This is what our destiny 

and winning the future is all about.

God Bless you

and God Bless the United States of America (s)

Played world wide, tweeted, on Facebook, 

with YouTube hitting 3 million country strong within 20 minutes

Because that is just who we are today.

make it a good day, G