I majored in Economics and minored in Political Science. I admit that I did far better academically in Political Science than Economics, mainly because I found the material fascinating.
So I admit that it was embarrassing many years later to learn about the Gag Rule not from my formal education in Politics, but instead on The West Wing -- that liberal reshaping of America in which an "egg-headed" liberal runs the United States and all conservatives are sexist, racist, homophobes bent on destroying the Bartlett Administration and America through sheer blundering. If I am revealing my political persuasion too much, you'll have to forgive me.
The West Wing was designed to take current issues and expose them on the weekly program, so perhaps I am being a little too hard on myself when Aaron Sorkin has an inside track to these issues.
I am a veteran of the United States Air Force and a father. As such I believe our citizens owe their freedom to those right now fighting overseas. Not only that, I believe that our young men are all potentially draftable to defend our way of life. However I also believe that our freedom of speech and our freedom to protest are invaluable to our independence and part of what makes us the greatest nation in the history of the world.
As such, the practice of supporting abortion overseas through public funds (TAXPAYER MONEY) is an absolutely insidious and evil practice. While there have been those convicted of tax evasion for refusing to pay taxes that go toward a war or military spending (which I can respect despite being a veteran), this is the precise opposite. I never knew that the government even conducted this practice, and there are MILLIONS opposed to EVER paying for this.
This specialized Gag Rule is the Presidential Order barring the discussion by State Department officials and taxpayer funding of groups overseas to provide funding for Abortion as part of "Reproductive Services" predominately in Third World countries, where people cannot afford medical services.
Barack Obama promised to remove this specialized Gag Rule, and to restore Partial Birth abortion the moment he became President. Now that he has has taken the Oath of Office (and flubbed it), he has the authority to create an Executive Order that reverses the Gag Rule. This means (if you are a taxpayer in the United States), that whether you are against Abortion or ambivalent about it nationally but against it personally, YOUR MONEY is being used to "provide reproductive services" to drastically poor and uninformed people living in a Third World country. Don't believe me? Please feel free to look it up. Oh, and watch in the alternative media for an announcement sometime this week. It is very likely that the main stream media will not want to say a word about this particular Executive Order, as they want to protect Obama for as long as they can.
This one time, I have to thank Aaron Sorkin, Martin Sheen, and Rob Lowe for telling me more about the underside of American policy than the university that was supposed to educate me.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Do not forget De Tocqueville - No bailouts!
The United States is enduring a credit situation and the beginning of a new administration in which the president-elect thinks we need billions to bailout several industries.
At this penultimate moment, we can repeat the mistakes of the FDR New Deal -- which we are still paying for with Social Security and its continual drain on our gross national product -- or we can allow the free market to do what it has always done, which is to allow entrepreneurs to create, stimulate, alter, and clear markets.
Although there are probably thousands of famous quotes about the United States from both famous and not so famous people, I thought our current situation was best described by Alexis de Tocqueville nearly 200 years ago:
"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money."
"The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults."
The United States is the greatest nation in the history of the world not because of its government, but because of the faith, hard work, generosity, and dedication of its people. Let that not fail during these difficult economic times. We cannot bail out every industry, so we should bail out no more industries. The banks were the first mistake and the auto industry the second. The state governments and the newspapers need to cut their spending, and that should be the end of it.
At this penultimate moment, we can repeat the mistakes of the FDR New Deal -- which we are still paying for with Social Security and its continual drain on our gross national product -- or we can allow the free market to do what it has always done, which is to allow entrepreneurs to create, stimulate, alter, and clear markets.
Although there are probably thousands of famous quotes about the United States from both famous and not so famous people, I thought our current situation was best described by Alexis de Tocqueville nearly 200 years ago:
"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money."
"The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults."
The United States is the greatest nation in the history of the world not because of its government, but because of the faith, hard work, generosity, and dedication of its people. Let that not fail during these difficult economic times. We cannot bail out every industry, so we should bail out no more industries. The banks were the first mistake and the auto industry the second. The state governments and the newspapers need to cut their spending, and that should be the end of it.
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