Note to Commenters

The first time you attempt to comment on this blog, you will be moderated. This cuts down on the amount of spam, but also allows me to gauge new folks.

I don’t generally block or delete any comments, unless they contain spam, have Privacy Act issues, or are threatening or racist in any way. You can view the rules here.

I will sum up for those of you who are in some way literacy challenged.

Blatant racism, threats against public officials or any statements similar in nature will be deleted.  Sorry, guys.  You’re free to think and believe what you want, but I have a job I love, and I’d like to keep it.  And additionally, my site is not your soapbox to advocate revolution, revenge against tyrannical public officials or vent ignorant rants against blacks, Jews, gays, veterans, hedgehogs or marmosets.  OK… maybe marmosets, because they’re creepy.  I don’t censor, but you endanger my job or my credibility with your tinfoil hat lunacy about government jack boots and black helicopters, and how you’d like to down Marine One with your homemade RPG, and I’ll delete your comments post haste.  Got it?

I’ve had to delete two such comments in less than 24 hours. So if you’re planning on posting more of the type of stuff I mention above, I would suggest you back the fuck off. I’m not going to allow this crap on my site. And it is my site. I pay for it. I write it. I own it.

I love dissent. I love a good argument. I love inappropriate language, especially if it’s creative. But you start spouting the kind of shit I’ve had to delete of late, and I promise you that you will not like the result.

I hope that’s clear.

Obama uses radio address to push anti-gun oppression…

So, Dear Leader used his weekly radio address to push abrogration of our Second Amendment-protected civil rights. He wants an ‘assault weapons’ (whatever that means) ban, a limit on magazine size, and of course, a national background check system. Yes, the same bill that the odious Jim Moran and the tools of Mayors Against Illegal Guns (talk about a misnomer!) pushed at the recent ‘gun violence forum’ here in Arlington.

“These ideas shouldn’t be controversial — they’re common sense,” Obama said. “They’re supported by a majority of the American people. And I urge the Senate and the House to give each of them a vote.”…  “Right now, we have a real chance to reduce gun violence in America, and prevent the very worst violence,” he said. “We have a unique opportunity to reaffirm our tradition of responsible gun ownership, and also do more to keep guns out of the hands of criminals or people with a severe mental illness. We’ve made progress over the last three months, but we’re not there yet. And in the weeks ahead, I hope members of Congress will join me in finishing the job — for our communities and, most importantly, for our kids.”

He keeps pointing out polls, as if a majority of uninformed citizens being in favor of such abrogation makes it right or lawful. Newsflash, Zero, these are the kinds of laws we, those who actually value our rights don’t plan to comply with. That’s why we have a Constitutional republic. It’s a check on unbridled majorities seeking to do harm to or oppress minorities. The left, and most ‘moderate’ sheep, seem not to grasp this concept (to be fair, neither do the religious ‘conservatives’ on the right) and think that 50% + 1 is a mandate to shred the Constitution. I can’t stress enough how terrifying that is. These people will not be stopped until the American people become educated on these issues, their agenda is exposed, and it’s made plain that gun owners will directly resist, unfortunately. Sack up, people. It may get ugly.

Year in Review – 2012 was… interesting

This year is about to end, and I’m not sure what to make of it. I still live in Arlington with Rob, Teeny and the Redhead. We still have two attention-whoring cats. We no longer have a hedgehog, but we do have a large, slobbering, farting dog!

I still love my job. I find it mentally challenging and stimulating. I love this house. I love my kids. I love Rob.  We have established a comfortable routine together. The kids adore Rob and think he’s the coolest thing since ice cream (ice cream they pilfer freely before he can grab some for himself). They have food fights at the table. They chase one another around the house and wrestle. They all make me smile.

I didn’t blog about guns too much in the beginning of the year. There were other things going on – primaries, in particular, occupied my time – mostly because I couldn’t believe the mass amount of stupid in the field of candidates we were forced to tolerate. To be sure, there were some things with which I agreed on all ends of the spectrum, but aside from Gary Johnson, I didn’t see anyone I could even remotely stomach in the White House. Our friend Ken Vaughn had decided to run for Congress, but in the end establishment “moderates” won out, and… well….

In February, we lost one of our own – Maj. Bob Marchanti, with whom I deployed to Kosovo in 2007, was killed in Afghanistan. I was filled with incredible rage for most of that month, and much of my writing reflected this anger that month. I look back on it now, and cringe a bit at how pissed off I was! This was exacerbated by fiscal issues, as I was trying to refinance the house – a most annoying and infuriating experience – and pay the bills, while my darling ex informed me that he was too poor to pay the bills he was required to pay by our divorce agreement, and asked me to take over those payments.

In March, I expended some electrons ridiculing the circus surrounding Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman, in particular, the theatrics of the CBC and Frederica Wilson’s unbelievable choice in hats!

I turned 41 in April. Did you know that? I don’t feel old. I feel great.

In May, Rob and I went on our annual vacation to Las Vegas. We got much needed rest, and Gary Johnson got a much deserved presidential nomination from the Libertarian Party. WIN all around! Rob and I continued to point out why Ken Vaughn is a different candidate – a candidate Virginia’s 11th district should have voted for in the June primaries – but to no avail.

June primaries came and went. Establishment candidates swept on both sides of the political aisle. We had a huge storm that temporarily turned Arlington into a third world shithole and made the Redhead temporarily believe in the Zombie apocalypse.  June was the month I also installed a DONATE button. I hated to do that, but my bills were getting out of control, and my ex not only swindled me out of $7700, but also refused to help pay for his kids’ medical and dental expenses. Ya gotta love that!

July was awesome! In July we adopted Tucker – a big, drooling, slobbering, furry, loveable Teddy Bear of a Saint Bernard. He quickly became part of the family, and we quickly learned to leave the room whenever he passed gas. There was also a shooting in an Aurora, CO movie theater that set the wheels in motion for another assault weapons ban – because (SAY IT WITH ME!) we NEVER LET A CRISIS GO TO WASTE! We also discovered that the media are assholes for trying their damnest to connect the Aurora slaughter to “right wing” violence and the TEA Party. OK – not really a revelation. More of a confirmation about what we already knew.

August was the month of election coverage, where frothing fundamentalist fruitcake Todd Akin tanked not only his candidacy, but also the candidacy of Richard Mourdock, who is also a social conservative, but not nearly as batshit crazy as Akin, who saw it fit to question the legitimacy of rape victims’ claims, because apparently, according to this renowned medical expert, the body has a way of rejecting babies conceived in situations of “legitimate rape.” Akin refused to go away, much like a bad case of the herp, which made Mourdock’s comments about pregnancy – even one that is a result of rape – being God’s will, sound much crazier than what it actually was.

The stupid came out really strong in September with Hollytwits initiating a campaign for the current president and Republicans wondering why a) they still can’t get anyone other than SOCONS and NEOCONS to get excited about their candidates, and why there were dancing vaginas at their August convention. In the meantime, our Ambassador to Libya and three other Americans got slaughtered in another September 11 terrorist attack that the administration claimed wasn’t really terrorism, but Muslim butthurt over some obscure movie that no one had ever heard of until a bunch of animals killed our Ambassador and the administration decided to blame the movie even though Libyans tagged this as terrorism like hours after it happened. Um.. yeah. Oh, and I did a CNN interview on current politics. That was fun.

October was… meh. The third debate between Obama and Romney was dull. I took a trip to Europe and somehow managed to avoid the Superstorm that pummeled the East Coast in which a tree apparently fell on our house, but managed to cause no damage whatsoever

We had Elections in November where President Obama won another term, and the Republicans were left scratching their heads about what went wrong. The CIA Director’s penis was in the news.  A lot.  And I discovered that no matter what I say or do, I’m a racist, because I don’t support the current administration’s policies. Oh well.

Now it’s December, and the worst, most hideous slaughter in recent history took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School . And as most of us grieved and wept, gun-grabbing assholes exploited the murder of children to push their political agendas.

So get ready for 2013, people! It’s going to be quite the ride!

Happy New Year!

Good riddance, Bill Bolling.

We won’t miss you. Right out of the gate in his withdrawal announcement, he whines about the switch from a primary to a convention. Never mind that he was nominated for Lieutenant Governor twice at conventions. Never mind that he and McDonnell helped engineer the previous vote of the State Central Committee in favor of a primary specifically to give himself an advantage against Cuccinelli. Never mind that his political director, Marissa Pugmire, a Utahn Romney hack from the 2008 campaign who glommed onto Bolling after THAT ended in defeat, was openly dancing around at the SCC meeting after that vote was taken.

Then he plays the victim, talking about how the evvviilllll conservatives robbed him of “his turn” and Cuccinelli should have waited. Newsflash, Bill: EVERYONE KNOWS YOU AND MCDONNELL RECRUITED JOHN BROWNLEE  TO RUN FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL IN 2009 AGAINST KEN CUCCINELLI. You’re not fooling anyone. Ken has NO obligation to you at all. Stop whining.

Also, quit speaking as if the nomination was your personal sinecure. “…late last year Mr. Cuccinelli unexpectedly announced that he intended to challenge me for the Republican Party’s nomination for Governor.” As if you were the incumbent. This business with the establishment politicians lining backroom deals about who will run for what and/or wait their “turn” in exchange for support or whatever needs to end immediately. Ken Cuccinelli is everything you are NOT. Genuine. Popular with grassroots. Conservative. Unafraid to stand on principle.

Your weakness and pathetic petty jealousy were in plain view, when, less than 12 hours after your huffy little withdrawal statement, you did an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch earlier today and left the door open to a third party gubernatorial run, after demanding party unity behind YOU from conservatives:

His withdrawal notwithstanding, Bolling still believes he is the best person for the job, and appeared to leave the door open, albeit very slightly, to a possible gubernatorial bid as an independent candidate should a groundswell of support propel him back into contention.

“I think this does give me the opportunity to be more of an independent voice on a lot of the issues facing Virginia today,” Bolling said.

“I think there are Republicans who have concerns about Mr. Cuccinelli’s candidacy and Democrats who have concerns about Mr. McAuliffe’s candidacy, and there are probably a lot of independent voters who are looking and saying, ‘Is this the best that we can do?’ So we’ll just have to see how that campaign unfolds over the next few months.”

Do us all a favor, Bill. Get lost and stay there. You can start by resigning right now, since your party obviously can’t count on your loyalty with this kind of tantrum the first time things don’t go your way.

Lars Christiansen On The Danish Experience With Socialism

So, last Tuesday, I attended a very interesting lecture at the Heritage Foundation. It was given by a leading investment banker in Denmark, Lars Seier Christiansen. He is the founder of Saxo Bank. The bank still operates in Denmark, although Mr. Christiansen has since moved to Switzerland. More on that later. Yes, I know i should’ve posted this last week. I’m a blog slacker.

Morton Blackwell, one of the heroes of the fight at the Republican National Convention against Ben Ginsberg and the rest of Romney’s cronies, came out and gave a brief introduction of Lars, and told us that we were about to hear what socialism really does to a nation. He wasn’t kidding.

One of the first things Mr. Christiansen pointed out was that when you go so far as Denmark has down the path of socialism, it’s almost impossible to go back when so many become dependent on government handouts. Too many will be looking to get their ‘fair share’ of the loot, and will resist any real efforts to roll back the welfare state. He wryly obsetved that this was perhaps not the most friendly environment for an investment bank.

Next, he gave us a bit of background on his homeland of Denmark. It’s a monarchy, the oldest in Europe, with a standard Westminster-style parliament. If a party wins 2% or more, they are entitled to representation in the parliament. This creates a system where, much like many others of its type, minor parties can hold disproportionate power. There are eight parties that are represented in the parliament, so it is nearly always the case that a large coalition of parties is needed to build a majority. The worst news is that of these eight parties, only one could be described as right-wing in sense; the others express no interest in rolling back the welfare state at all.
Denmark had the highest taxes in the world, until recently being passed (barely) by Zimbabwe(!). The Danes also have the smallest private sector in the West, and one of the largest public sectors. Outstanding combination, no? As a consequence, even the most socialist politicians understand they need capitalists to generate revenue, but view them as very distasteful, sort of a regrettably necessary evil.
He also spoke about a very supervisory tone to Danish society. Hotlines where you can call and see if someone is cheating. Any payment above $1500 can’t be paid in cash. I am NOT making this up. Tax authorities wield exceedingly wide powers. For example, they can intern any kind of private property without court order,  and demand documents. This is not allowed to authorities imvestigating terrorism. Most Danes actually believe that anyone who is rich and successful cheated somehow. This is due in part to the makeup of the Danish parliament. It has almost no one with any appreciable amount of practical private sector experience. Many powerful goverment ministers are under 35, and very, very far left. Only 1.8 million of almost 6 million Danes are not dependent on the government. That’s staggering. And of course, everyone scraps for any entitlement they can get, due to the insane tax rates. Only 28,000 Danes make over a million krones ($150,000 or so). Massive envy and suspicion of these people.

Tax reform and government reform efforts are largely symbolic. “Tax reform” apparently means growing the PUBLIC sector. Six of the eight parties participated in this latest charade. The absolute furthest left party supports abolishing military and police and nationalizing the largest Danish companies, of which Maersk Shipping would be the most recognizable to Americans.

Politicians have walled themselves into having to promise more and more entitlements. Blue collar voters largely support “right” parties. This has all happened since 1960, when Denmark had a tax pressure lower than Switzerland, where Lars moved a few years ago, because of the insanely confiscatory and invasive Danish government. Since 1960, things have gone horribly wrong. No party has incentive to run on a small-government rollback platform,  so he doesn’t see how reforms will happen for a very,  very long time. They’re uncompetitive even with other socialist EU nations, due to high wages and lower productivity. Many young Danish people are leaving, and he figures they’re on the road to where Greece is now.

More fun facts: Property taxes average 3% of the full value of your home ANNUALLY. RIDICULOUS taxes across the board. Insane green taxes. Total tax pressure for upper middle class, he estimates at 80-85%. And he doesn’t see how it can be reformed, with everyone dependent on the government. He worries that we’re (the United States) headed in this direction. He emphasizes that it is NOT a system to emulate. He thinks it will collapse Europe-wide, bit by bit. Also, Euro politicians love the US going more socialist, so they can point it out when arguing against European pro-liberty advocates. He says we need to turn it around, before it’s too late. You can turn around freedom, but not democratic socialism. He believes it’s paramount to nurture free market values at home and in schools, and that may not be possible soon. He thinks European integration has been horrible due to mandates from Brussels, and erosion of national sovereignty, as evidenced by European politicians like van Rompuy.

So yeah, let’s not do that here. The man knows what he’s talking about.