Jul

26

The Mad Dogs of Empire

Filed Under Conservative, Foreign Policy, History, National, Patrick J. Buchanan | 1 Comment

Major General Smedley D. Butler wrote in his book WAR IS A RACKET, “Out of war nations acquire additional territory, if they are victorious. They just take it. This newly acquired territory promptly is exploited by the few – the selfsame few who wrung dollars out of blood in the war. The general public shoulders the bill.

And what is this bill?

This bill renders a horrible accounting. Newly placed gravestones. Mangled bodies. Shattered minds. Broken hearts and homes. Economic instability. Depression and all its attendant miseries. Back-breaking taxation for generations and generations.

For a great many years, as a soldier, I had a suspicion that war was a racket; not until I retired to civil life did I fully realize it.”

The quest for empire and political hegemony and the tenacious grip to keep it at all costs is much the same as perpetual war. The same select few grow politically powerful and profit from it. To a sane man they seem glassy eyed and greedy to the point of madness. They lie ceaselessly about the merits of their cause and their so-called victories. If that isn’t enough, they create new emergencies and enemies, which are more often than not imaginary. To maintain their spell over the masses which are always the most naive and fearful they talk of patriotism, collective sacrifice, national greatness, and the glory of military service in far off lands.
They seem oblivious to the enormity of the expense of occupations of foreign lands and of military bases long rendered needless. No monetary cost or sacrifice is too great to maintain their grip and it is rarely themselves that shoulder any of the cost or sacrifice.

I think Pat Buchanan is spot on this piece, if there was an Honorable Exit From Empire— 10,000 rice bowls would be broken.

Jul

24

TSA Police State

Filed Under History, National | Leave a Comment

Former slave and black American writer Frederick Douglass once described traveling as a free man. “Any one having a white face, and being so disposed, could stop us, and subject us to examination.”
Times have changed Fred, now it doesn’t matter what color their face is or ours, and the TSA being so disposed can stop us all and subject us to examination, even more humiliating than what they would force upon a suspected runaway slave in your time.

Jul

21

Ron Paul on Faith-Based Currency

Filed Under Economics, Federal Reserve, Ron Paul | 1 Comment

Ron Paul’s Texas Straight Talk Column
July 21, 2008

The Latin term “fiat” roughly translates to “there shall be”. When we refer to fiat money, we are referring to money that exists because the government declares it into existence. It is not based on production or earnings, and not backed by any commodity. It is solely based on trusting the government. Fiat money is exchanged in the economy as long as there is faith in the government that issues it.

Some are blaming the recent shakeup in the markets to “whining” or financial fear-mongering, which misses the whole point. History has shown that fiat money, or “faith-based currency” always fails, because when governments claim this power, they always behave irresponsibly

READ ON

Jul

21

Perhaps you missed the celebration

Filed Under National, War On Drugs | 1 Comment

Nothing succeeds to survive like a failed government agency and its unconstitutional mission. Of course if a government program were ever successful it would issue it’s own death sentence—no more budget, no more pensions, permanent layoffs, shuttered buildings, a public auction of all its assets. Just the thought gives me a warm feeling inside as a taxpayer. Well…back to reality. Another year, another plunder of the economy by a parasitic petty dictatorship.

35 years of drug war failure

By Bill Steigerwald
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, July 13, 2008

Belated birthday greetings to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The DEA, which Richard Nixon created in 1973 and charged with the impossible but politically useful mission of winning the “all-out global war on the drug menace,” turned 35 on July 1.

So, how’s its track record after 35 years of difficult, often dangerous drug-war-making? If the DEA were a heroin addict, it would have overdosed on its own incompetence by age 6.

Despite its failures and the harm it’s done to American society, however, the DEA has done more than merely survive. It’s become a typically bloated, self-preserving federal bureaucracy whose power, budget and continuing existence bear no relation to its performance.

READ ON

Jul

16

Tom Woods at the July 12th Revolution March & Rally

Filed Under Ron Paul, Thomas Woods | Leave a Comment

Jul

16

Tom Woods at the July 12th Revolution March & Rally

Filed Under Ron Paul, Thomas Woods | Leave a Comment

Jul

13

Ron Paul: July 12th Revolution March - Where’s the MSM coverage?

Filed Under National, Ron Paul | 5 Comments

At least eight to ten thousand people descend on Washington D.C. for the Revolution March yesterday. You would think the U.S. mainstream media would have been all over such a big story.
Checking the major news web sites this morning revealed this coverage of the Revolution March & Rally:

cnn.com - ZIP (The most popular story this morning was “Dealing with jerks at your gym”)
abcnews.com - NADA
msnbc.com - NOTHING
cbsnews.com - ZILCH
foxnews.com - GOOSE EGG

Oh wait Press TV, an Iran based news service covered it.

Jul

12

Once, they owned the world; now the world owns them

Filed Under Economics, Federal Reserve, Global, National | Leave a Comment

Outstanding article by Bill Bonner at The Daily Reckoning. I don’t know about you but I’m sick of being hornswoggled by big government and the FED.

THE BIGGEST TRANSFER OF WEALTH IN HISTORY
by Bill Bonner

This week began with alarm bells. First Bridgewater Associates broke the glass and pulled the handle; it said the conflagration in the credit markets might lead to losses four times higher than previous estimates - at $1.6 trillion. A lot of money - even for someone who lives in London.

Bridgewater helpfully pointed out that this was just the beginning; the world would lose an additional $12 trillion in foregone credit. When the going is good, each ounce of a bank’s share capital grows into as much as a pound of credit available to borrowers. But when the cycle turns, the shrinkage takes your breath away. Remove a dollar from a bank’s balance sheet and you wipe out a ten-spot of credit. Bad news for people in Britain and America who are accustomed to living off of credit. Bad news for their economies, too. Without access to the fire hose of easy credit, the consumer economy goes up in smoke.

To give you an idea of the scale of a $12 trillion problem, the entire U.K. economy generates only $2.8 trillion of output annually. The U.S. economy - at $13.8 trillion - is only slightly bigger than the anticipated damage.

READ ON AT THE DAILY RECKONING

Jul

9

Ron Paul on Real Change

Filed Under National, Republican Party, Ron Paul | Leave a Comment

If you have visited Ron Paul’s congressional web site recently, you may have noticed the great new look and features there. His weekly articles are now in a blog with commenting enabled. Most other congressmen would probably fear reader comments.

Ron Paul’s Texas Straight Talk Column
July 7, 2008

Real Change

One reason people are unhappy with the way politics and governments operate is that people who run for office are known to “say one thing and do another.” Thus, we have the call for “change.” Candidates for high office make frequent use of that word. Even our House Republican Conference’s recently released slogan highlights that word.

Yet, bringing about change is easier said than done. The American people are aware that government is broken and must be fixed. They will demand more than lip service as our problems become more severe.

READ ON

Jul

9

New Book: Who Killed the Constitution?

Filed Under History, National, The American Revolution, Thomas Woods | Leave a Comment

A dynamic duo of history, Thomas E. Woods Jr. and Kevin Gutzman co-authored a new book, Who Killed the Constitution?: The Fate of American Liberty from World War I to George W. Bush. If you are like me and want to delve into one the most heinous murder mysteries in the history of liberty, you can’t wait to find out who done it.

An introduction by Tom Woods:

Who Killed the Constitution?
by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

Today is the official release date for Who Killed the Constitution? The Fate of American Liberty from World War I to George W. Bush (Random House/Crown Forum), the book I wrote with Kevin Gutzman, the New York Times bestselling author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution.

In a sense, our book states the obvious: the United States government today is restrained not by the Constitution but simply by a sense of what it can get away with.

But ours is not the standard right-wing lament about the emasculation of the Constitution at the hands of liberal judges, though such judges receive in our pages none of the superstitious reverence Americans are taught to have for the judiciary. (Mencken once described a judge as merely a law student who graded his own examination papers.) To the contrary, we suggest that all three branches of the federal government, either separately or in collusion, have been responsible for turning the Constitution into just a museum piece, and that conservatives and liberals alike have much to answer for as well.

READ ON


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