I can hardly describe the blind side that struck me with the announcement by the Obama administration that they would ignore all convention and open up the legal decisions of the previous administration to prosecution. I had not heard of this happening in any other past transfers of power in this country or in any other country with a stable democratic tradition. This was unprecedented and represented something akin to what happens in banana republics and following military coups.

This threat directly assaults the political stability of the country and the much admired smooth transitions of power that take place here following our elections. A weakening of this tenant, particularly in these hyper-partisan times, is quite dangerous and the administration is playing with revolutionary fire. Just to hear their representatives talk about the possibility, and to not automatically dismiss it with a laugh at the insane concept, send shivers down my spine. This is the absolute worst thing I see going on at the moment in the midst of a plethora of worst things. For stability and crucial civil transitions of power these actions cannot be contemplated by any administration. The precedent that these decisions could set would be quite destructive and represent a slippery slope to French Revolution style anarchy.  

Should this become the norm or acceptable behavior only the dishonorable and corrupt will be interested in serving a new administration and even then, they would be constantly fearful of any decision that they are called upon to render. In the not so distant future this precedent could be used to go after judges that upheld Roe vs. Wade, for instance, should a sufficiently emboldened right wing administration attain the Executive Branch.

The insidiousness of this potential action is compounded by the targeting of unsettled legal opinion which a sufficiently large portion of the American public is far from being in lock-step agreement with Obama on, Nancy Pelosi style revisionist history notwithstanding. The culpability of the media in this situation, just the latest example of abdication from our “fourth branch of government”, would leave little non-violent recourse left for the substantial number of countrymen that hold opposing beliefs and a stark sense of injustice. Simply claiming something is something else, loudly and often enough with a large enough chorus, is not enough to make it so.  

There must be a general consensus before any thoughts of retribution can be even entertained. By muffling the opposing opinion the media and majority politicians do not allow this debate to take place and further disconnects a significant portion of the governed from the governing authority. This is not a good thing in any society and the Obama Jacobins are threatening to take us too far down that wretched road. For this specific issue, the idea that water boarding is unequivocally torture remains a matter of much debate and, as the Speaker of the House is coming to realize, the political dance is hard to sustain when the tune of the country changes, or appears to change. To attempt to prosecute good-willed members of a previous administration in the service of their government, for their honest and thought out legal opinions on a murky topic is the height of political arrogance and a tyrannical abuse of power.

This treachery of the current majority over the past majority sullies America’s sterling political tradition for no good reason other than to yield to rabid partisans. The global economy may be in shambles, nuclear Pakistan basically in the midst of a civil war, and deadly transnational viruses are running amok, but I am most fearful for the future of our nation from these prosecutorial threats. This would be like Thomas Jefferson arresting and executing, as criminals of the state, George Washington and Alexander Hamilton for any perceived excesses from their suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion. Potical retribution in this manner is a path that should never be contemplated if we value at all our stability and tradition.

From 10:45 PM .5 degree radar slice.

The latest from the Storm Prediction Center (SPC):

VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS /AOA 2500 J/KG MLCAPE/...SIZEABLE CLOCKWISE
CURVED LOW LEVEL HODOGRAPHS /PER DYX VWP/ BENEATH MORE THAN ADEQUATE
DEEP FLOW ALOFT WILL PROMOTE RAPID SUPERCELL DEVELOPMENT IF A STORM
INITIATES.  VERY LARGE HAIL WILL BE A DISTINCT POSSIBILITY...INCLUDING
THE POTENTIAL FOR TORNADO/S...ALONG WITH DMGG WIND GUSTS.

From SPC Mesoscale Discussion:

...ALTHOUGH DEEP LAYER SHEAR IS SOMEWHAT MARGINAL...SFC-6KM
VALUES ON THE ORDER OF 30KT...INSTABILITY IS BECOMING QUITE
IMPRESSIVE AS LAPSE RATES STEEPEN IN EXCESS OF 8 C/KM...YIELDING
MLCAPE VALUES ON THE ORDER OF 4500 J/KG.  IT APPEARS THUNDERSTORMS
WILL EVOLVE IN THE NEXT FEW HOURS ALONG ADVANCING COLD FRONT/DRYLINE...
WITH DEW POINTS NOW WELL INTO THE UPPER 60S IT APPEARS THERMODYNAMIC
PROFILES WILL COMPENSATE FOR WEAKER SHEAR AND SUPPORT AT LEAST A
RISK FOR TORNADOES WITH SLOW-MOVING HP SUPERCELLS.

From Day 1 Convective Outlook denoting Moderate Risk for DFW:

DISCRETE INITIAL STORM DEVELOPMENT PROBABLY WILL GROW UPSCALE INTO
A SIZABLE STORM CLUSTER PRIOR TO NIGHTFALL.

Go see the latest radar.

According to this page from pegasusnews.com out of Dallas, TX:

Richard Zavala, Director of Parks and Community Department is quoted as saying, “The Tarrant County Health Department, in the interest of public health and safety, has declared that all outdoor public gatherings must be cancelled.”

Outdoor activities? Not indoor shoulder-to-coughing-shoulder events? Etc. Etc.?

I think a certain Director of Parks and Community Department missed Flu 101.

“Frooti Tootis”.

Candy from the movie theatre. Little, gummy, fruit-flavored candy.

Is there a missing “e”?

Maybe it’s Latin?

The world may never know.

In either case, none of this stopped me from eating them.

White People Problems

I just saw a guy here at the grocery store with one polo under another; yielding the infamous “double collar”. I didn’t know that was really a legitimate fashion option. I’m still not convinced.

It seems like every day we hear a report on another few hundred billions of dollars proposed as either a spending bill from Congress, bank rescue plan, or some new ill-conceived attempt at stimulus. Yet, unemployment continues to worsen and consumer spending remains flat-lined. The Democrats in Congress and our still wet behind the ears President, in my most favorable analysis, seem intent to follow a central planning motif in hopes of solving this crisis. Anyone who understands how Capitalism works and appreciates the lofty heights of success that it has fostered over the past four decades knows that the current crisis will only further deepen or linger far longer than necessary thanks to these anti-market measures.

Alan Greenspan has recently theorized that our current troubles stemmed from the unbridled success of Capitalism on a global scale that led to the sharp snap back, like a caterpillar bunching up in the middle as it marches along, that we are seeing now reaping such woe. A proper understanding and appreciation for this success is necessary to see us through this world-wide economic hiccup with limited long term damage. Lacking such, though, the Democratic efforts are likely doomed to failure. Accordingly, the Republicans (or anyone willing to take up Capitalism’s sagging banner) need to offer a consistent message, criticism, and solutions that would serve first and foremost to bolster the marketplace and thus the engine of Capitalism. All that we are enduring, even the bailout missteps, can be overcome through the bounty that periodically floods this country from a growing economy.

Every dream that the President and the nation have for the future of America (and for that matter the world): missions to Mars, massive infra-structure improvements, universal broadband, a space elevator, a missile shield, etc. all will be possible via the Crosses-like revenue brought in by a dynamic and growing private sector/market based economy. As the undisputed leader of the world economy, now mostly through our consumerism and high tech innovation, we hold the keys to global liberation and liberalization as market/export driven middle classes sprout up even in rotting dictatorships. It is this rising middle class, like the one that was surging in China before this current crisis, that is destined to foster true political change, democratization and global harmony. I see this as our country’s responsibility to the world and as such it must be consistently and competently articulated by the loyal opposition party and our pundits.

With each failure of Democratic policy and ideology there must be a constant drumbeat of cheery market based answers until we successfully build a consensus through the nation. We must not be sidetracked by marginally important issues like deficits and union rules. Our air time in the mainstream media is precious, fleeting, and not to be squandered by a mixed message. The deficit and freedoms in the work place are worthy issues in normal times, but the desperation that will soon result from the Pelosi-Reid-Obama failures need to be answered succinctly and uniformly. Simply put a growing private sector economy will cure all that ails us and, in turn, the world. We need to project a uniform attitude of quiet confidence that comes with our Capitalism restoring solutions.

Representative Ryan from Wisconsin has put forth a reasonable start for a Republican alternative, one that lowers the barriers to job creation and risk taking. These principles have been the fuel and bedrock foundation for American style Capitalism from the very first, before we were even a nation. His plan and principles, particularly cutting marginal tax and corporate tax rates, need to be loudly echoed by all Republicans blessed with any air-time.

The economy is like a giant deciduous tree with millions of branches and leaves of all shapes, sizes, sturdiness and health. The leaves represent the simple beauty of individuals coming together in a mutually beneficial agreement exchanging labor (physical, mental or the financial equivalent) for a means of compensation (monetary, stock, or merchandise). As these transactions are fostered the whole tree grows and becomes healthier with new trunk branches sprouting up and spreading out to meet the needs and desires of the marketplace. The role of government should be to guard the health of this tree and not threaten a single leave in any way. Now income and corporate tax at any levels does threaten these leaves, branches and trunks, probably to an unacceptable extent for encouraging productivity.

A better means of funding the needs of government would be a consumption tax combined with a rigid ban on any income based tax. Unfortunately, the course being pursued by the administration and Congress via higher taxes foolishly further weakens the tree just when it is dealing with a politically induced illness. That is why the Republicans needs to be the source of the medicine that will nurse the great economic tree back to health. We must make sure that the nation will turn toward our free market ideas when they sour on the alternatives. I believe that this is possible, despite the poor economic schooling generations have received and continue to endure, but only if our message is a clear, unanimous, and unambiguous one.

So, what is it with pickup trucks and Confederate flags? I suspect you can break the folks that use these stickers down to two groups: ignorant assholes and racist assholes.

Ignorant assholes: these are the people who believe faux history told over Natural Light and Marlboro’s. History that includes wild claims that the Civil War and Confederate succession were not at all, or even just a small part, the result of a debate about the rights of states to allow slavery. The willingness to believe this likely stems from the excitement that they think they may have just discovered some secret way of circumventing a high school education: drunken myths. The Confederacy’s own Vice President Alexander Stephens said that slavery was the chief cause of secession in his Cornerstone Speech shortly before the war. Only after the war did this coward, and another coward - Confederate President Jefferson Davis - switch from saying the war was caused by slavery, to saying that states’ rights was the cause. And this is what ignorant assholes still cling to today.

Racist assholes: although a very redundant title, I wanted the word “asshole” in both categories. These are the people that know that slavery was at the root of the succession, and war - and still insist on showing support for the flagship assholes of a very insidious chapter in American history: Slavery.