Sunday, January 20, 2013

Truth and Fiction

> I just finished Bob Woodward's "The Price of Politics".

You are all too totally brilliant, as I have observed over the past ... almost 40 years. Well, most of you...

:-)

So let's please put on our thinking caps. Surely, if anyone in this nation can figure this out, we can.

We have hideous problems facing this nation, this state, this city, this neighborhood.

We need to change the rules:

Symptomatic treatments do NOT work.

We need root cause analysis.

Our society treats every problem in a simplistic symptomatic way:

      "Here, sorry it hurts, take an aspirin."

     "Oh, I'm sorry it hurts. Here, we'll cut it out."

Or perhaps slightly more sophisticatedly:

      "Oh, I'm sorry it hurts. Here is some rat poison I will feed you in moderate amounts for a hideous amount of time and we'll hope it kills it off before it kills you off."

Hello! Is there a doctor in the house?

Palliative care is, by definition, care intended to make you feel good, not actually cure you.

And only for a while.

And that is what this "Government" - Executive, Senate, HR, AND THEIR STAFFS - are doing.

Kicking the can down the road, playing on sympathies, distracting the (lower 60th percentile) from the realities of life.

Political Correctness.

This does not work in the end.

The human body is an amazing wonderment, as is the human mind. These measures work for a very short period of time, but beyond that they are disaster.

The patient always dies.

FACT.

Similarly, in things politic, symptomatic treatments, business as usual, do not work:

+ Cut spending, cut taxes
+ Increase spending, increase taxes
+ Ban all guns, ban no guns
+ Be nice, don't be nice
+ Sue each other
+ Sue the states (e.g., Arizona)
+ Gradualism (Obama's "23 point" approach: all feelgood crap, no substance) ...

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GIVE ME A FREAKING BREAK. There has to be another way.

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You CAN fire the principals, but you cannot, yet, fire their staffs, the true root of this evil;

if you fire the old man, the new man will inherit THE SAME STAFF!!!

And perpetrate more of the same incompetence, if not evil. (Has anyone watched "Yes, Prime Minister"?

So we need term limits, not only for the principals, but for their STAFF!!!

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Yesterday, with little detail announced by our illustrious media, the House Republicans have come up with a brilliant plan.

They are obviously listening to Bill Whittle:

"Stop playing their political games!!"

They have said,

"OK, we won't play your political game. We have the hammer, WE shall play a NEW game. Try THIS one on for size:

"I'll see your debt increase. For three months.

"But no more...

How's that for kind, courteous, temperate, objective, and rational?

"However, comma:

"In return for which I expect you to do your job as you have ALREADY SWORN UNDER AN OATH TO GOD to do. THE SINGLE SOLE PURPOSE FOR YOUR EXISTENCE is to PASS A BUDGET, which you have FAILED TO DO for the past FOUR years!!!

"So if you DO NOT DO YOUR JOB then YOU SHALL NOT BE PAID."

How's THAT for conclusive, hmmm?

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What person in their right mind can possibly argue with that:

DO YOUR JOB OR YOU SHALL NOT BE PAID.

How about THAT, Kemo Sabe?

Absolutely brilliant.

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Kind, courteous, temperate, objective, rational, and (most especially) conclusive.

Can anyone spell "Don't Tread on Me"?

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Now, this is the sort of kind, courteous, temperate, objective, rational, and (most especially) conclusive behaviour I expect from my employees (which they, all of them, including BHO himself, happen to be).

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So how can we extend that sort of kind, courteous, temperate, objective, rational, and (most especially) conclusive behaviour to discussions about the 2nd (or any other) amendment of the Bill of Rights?

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The first step is to DISAVOW Political Correctness.

For the rest of our natural lives.

Stop being nice. Start being honest. Tell the truth.

If necessary, be nasty.

Especially if they aren't listening.

The next is to understand that there are some people with whom you will never ever be able to argue successfully, so save your breath.

The best you can do is ignore them. The worst you can do is blow them away.

It's sort of like a divorce.

I have written off several. (Most closer to ignoring them than blowing away, except perhaps emotionally but it's somewhere in the middle. We can always talk about the weather. If they can't get it and won't listen then they are purposely trying to hurt me, so I don't need them...)

The best-seller book *A Conflict of Vision* by Thomas Sowell explores this phenomenon in great depth:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Conflict_of_Visions

and it is supported by over 105 studies, cited in the book.

So, I propose:

FACTS.

In short, if you haven't got the same original vision, you are pissing up a rope. If you cannot match your vision with that of another then any interaction shall be fruitless. So stop messing up your pants. The only solution is brute force.

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How to achieve brute force?

Again, be kind, courteous, temperate, objective, rational, and (most especially) conclusive in the public eye in order to reach out to the people in the hump:

     - the ones looking to the left at Pelosi and to the right at me.

The MIDDLE of THAT bell shaped curve.

There are lots of nice, kind, courteous, temperate, objective, rational, and (albeit perhaps not very) conclusive people in the middle of that bell curve. THOSE are the people we must reach. By being kind, courteous, temperate, objective, rational, and conclusive.

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Now, an interlude from our sponsor: An article of faith from Winston Churchill: "the American people will always do the right thing (but only after they have exhausted all other options...)"

(or words to that effect...)

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Winston_Churchill

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This was borne out by the actions of the House of Representatives on Friday afternoon. Absolutely brilliant. Lots of squirming and pants-wetting on the opposite side of the aisle. How can they parry THIS?

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One (almost) down. Now the next: the Second Amendment.

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This is war.

Do not surrender.

Do not be nice.

The answer is NO:

+ Balance the budget.
+ Uphold the Constitution.
+ Reduce the debt
+ The right to bear arms (including whips, knives, swords, clubs, and brass knuckles) shall not be infringed.

An AK-47 is an automatic weapon, arguably an "assault" weapon:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assault_rifle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK-47

An AR-15 is not:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AR-15

Sleep tight tonight, knowing that there is an armed NRA member near you. 

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