To all of you who have written me lately wondering whether I'm still alive, I assure you that I am.
Unfortunately, my personal life has become so complicated and busy that I have little time to pay attention to politics and even less time to blog. While I believe that the political health of this country is probably more important than it has ever been, the prospect of reuniting my family trumps that consideration. Besides, you people can do it just as well as I can, and usually better.
To those of you who care, the reconciliation process between my ex-wife and I seems to be going better than it was, but there are still things to be worked out, and we're taking it slowly, because to do otherwise would make the whole endeavor futile.
Princess, Bob, Echo, UAW Guy, and the rest...thanks for checking in. It means a lot. Your prayers are welcome.
I'm sure that I'll be back one day. Hopefully soon, but my family and my personal life will always take precedence over whatever I think about politics.
Rant at ya soon,
-The Exile
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Monday, January 09, 2006
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Thank You, All
Just to let everyone know that I haven't disappeared from the face of the earth.
I sincerely thank all of you for all of your words of encouragement and hope, not to mention your prayers. They mean a lot to me.
Forgive me for not keeping you posted, but blogging needed to take a backseat to what's going on in my personal life. I will try to post something of significance soon, but I have a lot of work to do if this is ever going to work.
To update you on the situation, we have made no decision. We have decided to take it slow and become friends and see if that works. We never did that the first time around. There are other complications, but they are of a rather more personal nature. In other words, none of your business.
The divorce wasn't completely her fault. Far from it. I have a lot to work on, too. It's going to take time and, being a single-daddy, that is one thing I have very little of.
Again, I thank you all. I need all of the support that I can get at the moment.
I sincerely thank all of you for all of your words of encouragement and hope, not to mention your prayers. They mean a lot to me.
Forgive me for not keeping you posted, but blogging needed to take a backseat to what's going on in my personal life. I will try to post something of significance soon, but I have a lot of work to do if this is ever going to work.
To update you on the situation, we have made no decision. We have decided to take it slow and become friends and see if that works. We never did that the first time around. There are other complications, but they are of a rather more personal nature. In other words, none of your business.
The divorce wasn't completely her fault. Far from it. I have a lot to work on, too. It's going to take time and, being a single-daddy, that is one thing I have very little of.
Again, I thank you all. I need all of the support that I can get at the moment.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Stay Tuned
You'll have to forgive me, dear reader, if my posting is a bit light in the days to come. There are big doings at The Exile's homestead.
It is somewhat personal, but let's just say that I may need to change my profile so that it no longer reads "single daddy". What's even more important is that my daughter may just get her mommy back. My ex-wife and I are currently in negotiations about getting back together.
I've always loved the woman, but she had some serious issues that she wouldn't deal with. She seems to have dealt with most of them now. I am extremely proud of her.
Blogging will have to take a backseat to working things out between her and I, but I will still be posting as often as possible. Even she can't shut me up.
It is somewhat personal, but let's just say that I may need to change my profile so that it no longer reads "single daddy". What's even more important is that my daughter may just get her mommy back. My ex-wife and I are currently in negotiations about getting back together.
I've always loved the woman, but she had some serious issues that she wouldn't deal with. She seems to have dealt with most of them now. I am extremely proud of her.
Blogging will have to take a backseat to working things out between her and I, but I will still be posting as often as possible. Even she can't shut me up.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Where Have all the Greenbacks Gone?
The next time that you hear a teacher whining about how little they're paid, or how they're spending their own money in the classroom, think about this:
Here in Minnesota we spend half of the state budget on education. Half of every dollar that i give to the state government in taxes goes to education. Half! When is it going to be enough?
That means that in this state we spend about $10,000 per child per year.
I went through my daughter's yearbook and counted the number of students per classroom. There about 20 in each class. The number is actually a bit hgher, but we'll stick with that for simplicity's sake.
If you multiply that $10,000 by the 20 students, you get $200,000 per classroom! $200,000 to run a room that's half the size of my house! Every year!
My daughter's school isn't that big. There are about 30 classrooms in it.
Multiply that $200,000 by the 30 classrooms, and this school is running on $6 million per year. $6 million! $6,000,000 to run this dinky little elementary school!
Alright, so let's talk about teacher's salaries for a moment.
Let's say that each of these 30 teachers is making about $45,000 per year (for working eight months out of that year, I might add). And we'll add 10 additional staff for secretaries, custodians, etc.
So if you take those 40 staff members and multiply it by $45,000 you come up with $1,800,000 per year in salaries for the employees of this school.
Subtract that from the $6,000,000 from above and you wind up with $4.2 million dollars that's unaccounted for.
OK, so where could that money be going? Granted, they need to charter school buses, And buy new books every few years. I'll even give them 10 administrators in the district office. It shouldn't take more than that to run this little school. Utility bills are a cost, but I know what it costs to run a building 4 times the size of that one, and it doesn't put a dent in $4.2 million.
But they have the physical building, they have the desks and chairs, they have all of the computers and AV equipment, all of the gym equipment, all of the playground equipment, I can't think of anything major that they need to buy.
And when you factor in the fact that most of the supplies are "donated" by the parents, you can't even factor that in. I put "donated" in quotation marks because, what really happens, is that you're sent a list of things that "your" child "needs", and when you bring the stuff to school the first day, the first thing they do is collect it all and put it in one big communal bucket for all of the kids to use. And I do use the word "communal" with full knowledge of the implication of that word. The school is, after all, crawling with Lefties.
(I bought the cheapest garbage that I could for the list, and then loaded Monkey Girl up with the cool stuff for her own personal use. Piss on them.)
You also have the parent volunteers, who do much of the planning of events and activities, so the school isn't paying for that, either.
And I'm sure that there are a few things that I've forgotten, so let's be very generous and give them half of that $4.2 million for expenses. That leaves $2,100,000 completely unaccounted for. Where's it going?
Easy. Instead of the 10 administrators that it takes to run the place (and that's being generous, too) there are probably 40.
They're using all of this money to hire unnecessary workers to jack up their union rolls, which buys them more clout in the Legislature, which gets them even more money to hire even more unnecessary workers to jack up their union rolls even higher, which buys them even more clout in the Legislature...and pretty soon half of every dollar sent to the government goes to education.
So the next time that you hear a teacher whining about their salary, or how they're spending their own money in the classroom, you tell them to quit whining to you, and go whine to their union representative.
If they'd quit playing politics, and start putting the money that we give them towards the causes that we give it to them for, they could double the teachers' salaries and cut class sizes in half.
But if they did that, they wouldn't be able to hire more unnecessary workers to jack up their union rolls. Like all good Democrat problems, no matter how much they whine, they don't want it solved. They just want more of your money.
Here in Minnesota we spend half of the state budget on education. Half of every dollar that i give to the state government in taxes goes to education. Half! When is it going to be enough?
That means that in this state we spend about $10,000 per child per year.
I went through my daughter's yearbook and counted the number of students per classroom. There about 20 in each class. The number is actually a bit hgher, but we'll stick with that for simplicity's sake.
If you multiply that $10,000 by the 20 students, you get $200,000 per classroom! $200,000 to run a room that's half the size of my house! Every year!
My daughter's school isn't that big. There are about 30 classrooms in it.
Multiply that $200,000 by the 30 classrooms, and this school is running on $6 million per year. $6 million! $6,000,000 to run this dinky little elementary school!
Alright, so let's talk about teacher's salaries for a moment.
Let's say that each of these 30 teachers is making about $45,000 per year (for working eight months out of that year, I might add). And we'll add 10 additional staff for secretaries, custodians, etc.
So if you take those 40 staff members and multiply it by $45,000 you come up with $1,800,000 per year in salaries for the employees of this school.
Subtract that from the $6,000,000 from above and you wind up with $4.2 million dollars that's unaccounted for.
OK, so where could that money be going? Granted, they need to charter school buses, And buy new books every few years. I'll even give them 10 administrators in the district office. It shouldn't take more than that to run this little school. Utility bills are a cost, but I know what it costs to run a building 4 times the size of that one, and it doesn't put a dent in $4.2 million.
But they have the physical building, they have the desks and chairs, they have all of the computers and AV equipment, all of the gym equipment, all of the playground equipment, I can't think of anything major that they need to buy.
And when you factor in the fact that most of the supplies are "donated" by the parents, you can't even factor that in. I put "donated" in quotation marks because, what really happens, is that you're sent a list of things that "your" child "needs", and when you bring the stuff to school the first day, the first thing they do is collect it all and put it in one big communal bucket for all of the kids to use. And I do use the word "communal" with full knowledge of the implication of that word. The school is, after all, crawling with Lefties.
(I bought the cheapest garbage that I could for the list, and then loaded Monkey Girl up with the cool stuff for her own personal use. Piss on them.)
You also have the parent volunteers, who do much of the planning of events and activities, so the school isn't paying for that, either.
And I'm sure that there are a few things that I've forgotten, so let's be very generous and give them half of that $4.2 million for expenses. That leaves $2,100,000 completely unaccounted for. Where's it going?
Easy. Instead of the 10 administrators that it takes to run the place (and that's being generous, too) there are probably 40.
They're using all of this money to hire unnecessary workers to jack up their union rolls, which buys them more clout in the Legislature, which gets them even more money to hire even more unnecessary workers to jack up their union rolls even higher, which buys them even more clout in the Legislature...and pretty soon half of every dollar sent to the government goes to education.
So the next time that you hear a teacher whining about their salary, or how they're spending their own money in the classroom, you tell them to quit whining to you, and go whine to their union representative.
If they'd quit playing politics, and start putting the money that we give them towards the causes that we give it to them for, they could double the teachers' salaries and cut class sizes in half.
But if they did that, they wouldn't be able to hire more unnecessary workers to jack up their union rolls. Like all good Democrat problems, no matter how much they whine, they don't want it solved. They just want more of your money.
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Odd...
Ever since I re-enabled my Blogger comments so that I could retrieve my old trolls ' comments for my Trophy Room, I have gotten no SPAM in my Blogger comments, even though I haven't turned on "word verification".
I used to get tons of it, which is why I went to Haloscan.
Not that it matters, but does anyone know why this might be? I'm a VB guy, I don't know much about web programming.
And I would suggest to anyone who's commenting, please use Haloscan (the comment link on the right, of course). Blogger's comments were only enabled to retrieve old troll's comments and they will go away again, eventually.
I used to get tons of it, which is why I went to Haloscan.
Not that it matters, but does anyone know why this might be? I'm a VB guy, I don't know much about web programming.
And I would suggest to anyone who's commenting, please use Haloscan (the comment link on the right, of course). Blogger's comments were only enabled to retrieve old troll's comments and they will go away again, eventually.
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Dear Santa
For Christmas I would like world peace, an end to hunger and want, and an extremely painful (and funny) death for all liberals.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Friday, December 02, 2005
Should Be Fascinating
I wonder if she'll blame it on the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy?
From C-SPAN:
"This week on 'After Words' journalist Mary Mapes explains her investigative story on George W. Bush's National Guard record that aired on 60 Minutes II. Her new book about the experience is titled Truth and Duty: The Press, The President, and the Privilege of Power. Ms. Mapes tells her version of the controversy over the segment, and the ensuing internal investigation at CBS that led to Dan Rather's resignation as anchor of "CBS Evening News," and her own dismissal. She is interviewed by Brent Bozell, founder and president of the Media Research Center."
Saturday, December 3rd, 8:00 P.M. ET
Replayed Sunday, December 4 at 6:00 pm and at 9:00 pm.
From C-SPAN:
"This week on 'After Words' journalist Mary Mapes explains her investigative story on George W. Bush's National Guard record that aired on 60 Minutes II. Her new book about the experience is titled Truth and Duty: The Press, The President, and the Privilege of Power. Ms. Mapes tells her version of the controversy over the segment, and the ensuing internal investigation at CBS that led to Dan Rather's resignation as anchor of "CBS Evening News," and her own dismissal. She is interviewed by Brent Bozell, founder and president of the Media Research Center."
Saturday, December 3rd, 8:00 P.M. ET
Replayed Sunday, December 4 at 6:00 pm and at 9:00 pm.
No Comment Necessary
"If the personal freedoms guaranteed by the constitution inhibit the government's ability to govern the people, we should look to limit those guarantees."
- Bill Clinton - speech, August 12, 1993
"We can't be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans."
- Bill Clinton - USA Today, March 11, 1993
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Merry Christmas, ACLU!
The American Princess turned me on to a great idea: send the ACLU a Christmas card!
Go here to get the address, then find the most religious card that you possibly can, and snail mail it to them.
Will it change their minds? No, they hate this country. But they have to pay somebody to open all of this stuff, which means that's one less person to challenge the American way of life.
And all of you fellow bloggers out there, spread the word.
Go here to get the address, then find the most religious card that you possibly can, and snail mail it to them.
Will it change their minds? No, they hate this country. But they have to pay somebody to open all of this stuff, which means that's one less person to challenge the American way of life.
And all of you fellow bloggers out there, spread the word.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Just a Quickie
On Michael Medved's radio show yesterday, I heard Senator Barbara Boxer say that she didn't care if some one who was pro-life was appointed to the Supreme Court, as long as they didn't "impose their personal views on the rest of us". She was, of course, talking about Roe v. Wade.
Well, first of all, that was a bald-faced lie. If you believe that Brabra Boxer really doesn't care if a pro-lifer gets appointed to the Supreme Court, please e-mail me. I have some investment opportunities for you.
And when the Left says that they don't want Conservative views "imposed on the rest of us", what they mean is that they don't want the government to do anything that Karl Marx would disagree with.
The bigger point, however, is: what the hell does she think that Roe v. Wade was if not the Leftist Supreme Court of the 1970's imposing their personal view on the rest of us?
If the Supreme Court were to get rid of Roe v. Wade, it would be doing nothing more than restoring the Constitution, at least in this case, to its original intention, which would be to turn the decision of abortion over to the states.
Contrary to what the Left always neglects to mention, abortion wasn't illegal in this country before Roe v. Wade. I honestly believe that there are hoards of liberal in this country who don't know that. It was up to the states to decide whether they would make it legal or not. And all of those blue states that the Left is so proud of would keep it legal.
If Roe v. Wade were overturned, all it would mean is that someone would have to drive for a few hours to get to a state that would give them an abortion. God forbid that we should inconvenience anyone who wants to vacuum a baby out of her womb! I'm kinda thinkin' that the baby may find it inconvenient, too. If it could speak it would probably say, "It's my body!" right before it was torn to pieces.
I don't care how you read the 4th amendment. There is no possible way to read it and find a right to abortion in it. There isn't even a "right to privacy" in it! Which is how the court, somehow, made legalized abortion a Federal right.
If that isn't "imposing their personal views on the rest of us", what is?
Well, first of all, that was a bald-faced lie. If you believe that Brabra Boxer really doesn't care if a pro-lifer gets appointed to the Supreme Court, please e-mail me. I have some investment opportunities for you.
And when the Left says that they don't want Conservative views "imposed on the rest of us", what they mean is that they don't want the government to do anything that Karl Marx would disagree with.
The bigger point, however, is: what the hell does she think that Roe v. Wade was if not the Leftist Supreme Court of the 1970's imposing their personal view on the rest of us?
If the Supreme Court were to get rid of Roe v. Wade, it would be doing nothing more than restoring the Constitution, at least in this case, to its original intention, which would be to turn the decision of abortion over to the states.
Contrary to what the Left always neglects to mention, abortion wasn't illegal in this country before Roe v. Wade. I honestly believe that there are hoards of liberal in this country who don't know that. It was up to the states to decide whether they would make it legal or not. And all of those blue states that the Left is so proud of would keep it legal.
If Roe v. Wade were overturned, all it would mean is that someone would have to drive for a few hours to get to a state that would give them an abortion. God forbid that we should inconvenience anyone who wants to vacuum a baby out of her womb! I'm kinda thinkin' that the baby may find it inconvenient, too. If it could speak it would probably say, "It's my body!" right before it was torn to pieces.
I don't care how you read the 4th amendment. There is no possible way to read it and find a right to abortion in it. There isn't even a "right to privacy" in it! Which is how the court, somehow, made legalized abortion a Federal right.
If that isn't "imposing their personal views on the rest of us", what is?
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
RSVP
In my post about the Left hating Wal-Mart (below), I challenged my latest troll to figure out why I would think that Liberals are incapable of grasping complex thoughts. Here is his/her/its answer. Following that is the real reason that I think that way.
You know, Nuoema, even if you hadn’t told me that you’re a college educated liberal, I would have guessed in a second. The first required course in Liberal Arts is apparently “Strawman 101”. It’s impossible to have a discussion with one of you without having your arguments dismissed as strawmen. Why? It’s just a cheap way of dismissing an argument as irrelevant so that you don’t have to argue a point for which you are have no good answer.
As far as “refusing” to associate with Leftists and Liberals, how do you know whom I associate with? Hint: the comment that you’re referring to wasn’t mine. You really need to pay attention. That is part of the reason that I believe that liberals can’t grasp complex ideas: lack of attention span. I call it Liberal Attention Deficit Disorder (LADD) and I posted on it not long ago.
Quite frankly, living in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area of Minnesota, it’s impossible not to be hammered over the head with the liberal viewpoint all day every day. Every media outlet in this area is far-left. Hugh Hewitt regularly cites the Minneapolis Star Tribune as the only major newspaper in the country that is actually farther to the Left than The New York Times. Most people wouldn’t believe that is possible. I assure you that it is.
Having grown up in this atmosphere, it’s impossible not to understand the Left’s point of view. Besides, it’s not very hard to understand, because it’s so simplistic. We’ll get to that in a minute.
You say that I don’t provide references to anyone articulating the positions I attack? OK, let’s take the Left’s hatred of Wal-Mart. Now where could I go to find a reference from someone who hates Wal-Mart? Hey! I know! How about this?
Now, unless a company is skinning puppies alive, don’t you think that the word “abhorrent” is a trifle strong when referring to a company’s business practices? I mean, if Wal-Mart’s business practices are “abhorrent”, what would we call “Uncle Joe” Stalin’s murder of 50 million people? We’d have to make up new words to get to that extreme. Oh, wait. I guess we wouldn’t. We could just call it Communism, or Socialism, or Leftism.
OK. Now let’s get to the heart of the matter: why I believe that those on the Left can’t grasp complicated ideas. Man, this is going to be a long post! I hope I didn't offend you by saying "man".
I’ve posted about most of these things over the months, but this is a good place to put them together in one spot.
It’s been said many times that the people on the Left “think with their emotions”, and it’s true. But it’s even worse than that. They have no logic whatsoever. They can’t see cause and effect. The logical progression of events stemming from their ideas is beyond them. They are simplistic.
Well, I guess I’d better give a few examples. Where to start?
Unions
The View of the Left (TVL):
A) Union workers make better wages and have better benefits than the average worker. That is good.
B) Unions protect workers from bad working conditions. That is good.
Further thinking is unecessary, because arrogantly standing up for these "little guys" makes me feel good about myself, even if it harms "the little guy" in the long run, as we shall see.
The View from the Right (TVR):
A) When companies have to pay for higher wages and benefits for their employees, that cost is passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices.
When prices get high, not as many people buy the product. They’ll buy a less expensive product from overseas.
When the company making the product is selling fewer products, they don’t need as many workers, so Americans lose their jobs.
B) 100 years ago, when companies really were abusing their employees and making them work in unsafe conditions, unions were a good idea. Now, however, the government takes care of keeping employees safe. The mere mention of OSHA sends waves of panic through companies.
Companies are so heavy regulated in regard to employee safety, hours and working conditions that unions have nothing to do with working conditions anymore.
From there, we can jump directly to:
Minimum Wage:
TVL: Higher wages for low-level, unskilled employees are good.
TVR: When an employer has to pay higher wages, they have less money to hire more people and/or give better benefits. They also have less money to put back into the company so that they can grow and hire even more employees.
Minimum wage jobs are a place for people to start out and gain skills, which they can use to command higher wages. That’s where I started when I was a kid at $3.35/hour.
The vast, vast majority of people don't stay at minimum wage for long. Most of the people with minimum wage jobs are kids just starting out. If you're at minimum wage for more than a year, you're just not trying. Period.
Regardless of what the Left will tell you, the economy is humming along. Minimum wage jobs are hard to come by only because they're not very common. Most positions pay more than minimum wage to start, because employers are competing for even relatively unskilled workers.
Which brings us to our next point:
Competition
TVL: Competition is bad because it hurts people's self-esteem if they don't have the skills to compete. That's bad.
TVR: Competition amongst people is as old as the human race. Hell, it's older than the dinosaurs. If the Left truly believes in Evolution, you'd think that they'd encourage competition. After all, what is "survival of the fittest" if not competition at it's most basic level?
The Neandertal died out because he couldn't compete with Homo Sapiens. If there were a Liberal around back then, we would have heard screams of "discrimination!" and "bigotry!".
When one's self-esteem is harmed, it makes most people work harder to make sure that it doesn't happen again. Unless you're a Lefty. Then it just makes you a victim.
There are countless other examples, but I need my beauty sleep, so let's wrap it up by going back to where we started.
Wal-Mart
TVL: Wal-Mart pays low wages, doesn't treat its employees well and kills small businesses. That's bad.
TVR: Wal-Mart pays what it can and gives what benefits it can, while still keeping its prices low.
Nobody is forced to work at Wal-Mart. If they don't like it, they can go out and find another job. That's the beauty of Capitalism. See "Competition" above.
As far as "Killing Main Street" is concerned, there hasn't been much of a "Main Street" for many years before Wal-Mart reared its "ugly head". As I've posted before, it's the romanticism of the Left. "Main Street" is what a bunch of people a bunch of people who hardly ever get out of the inner city envision as "small town America".
Simple concepts? Yes.
At least to people who think logically and can reason beyond the point where they feel good.
To Liberals who don't like themselves very much, who are insecure, who just want to feel good about themselves, thinking beyond their simplistic points is counterproductive. Hence they have trained themselves not to think beyond that point.
Why do you think that they hate Conservatives so much? It's because we're confident, we're self-assured. To coin a phrase, "We don't need no stinkin' village!"
All that they want is to feel that they are helping "the little guy". Whether their efforts are helpful or not is immaterial. It's all about how their efforts make them feel. More often than not, their policies hurt the very people whom they're trying to help. But do they rescind those policies?
Never!
Because that would mean that they were wrong. And to admit they were wrong would hurt their self-esteem, which is what their so-called causes were all about in the first place.
Anyone see the vicious circle here?
So, Nuomena, there's your answer. The simplistic views of the Left can be summed up in a soundbite. The views of the Right take some explaining.
At first glance, the views of the Left look good. If you delve deeper, which the Left never does, they are obviously flawed.
And now, this is the point where you take one, or if you feel daring, two of my points and obsess over them, instead of responding to my larger point.
Let me help you. I know that it's difficult, especially for one who thinks that they are so "terribly" educated such as yourself. Blather.
The real point is, the Left never thinks beyond the point that it makes the individual feel good about themselves.
Wanna argue?
As far as why I would believe that the Left is incapable of understanding complex ideas, let's try something: why don't you try to figure out why I think that way? It's really pretty easy, but it takes some thinking.
Because you refuse to associate with leftists and liberals, so your only knowledge of 'the Left' comes via the strawmen arguments of other conservatives? I've certainly seen no indication that you actually understand any point of view that might be held by someone who calls themself a liberal or leftist, nor have you provided any references to anyone articulating the positions you attack.
For example, I'm not big on Target, either. I prefer to shop local -- the farmer's market, the local grocery and hardware chains, goodwill, that sort of thing. Given that the economy of the region I live in is already so denuded, though, a lot of the time it's hard to find locally-owned stores that have what I'm looking for. Until I have some reason to think Target's business practices are as abhorrent as Wal-Mart's, I'll choose the former over the latter if that's what things come down to.
You know, Nuoema, even if you hadn’t told me that you’re a college educated liberal, I would have guessed in a second. The first required course in Liberal Arts is apparently “Strawman 101”. It’s impossible to have a discussion with one of you without having your arguments dismissed as strawmen. Why? It’s just a cheap way of dismissing an argument as irrelevant so that you don’t have to argue a point for which you are have no good answer.
As far as “refusing” to associate with Leftists and Liberals, how do you know whom I associate with? Hint: the comment that you’re referring to wasn’t mine. You really need to pay attention. That is part of the reason that I believe that liberals can’t grasp complex ideas: lack of attention span. I call it Liberal Attention Deficit Disorder (LADD) and I posted on it not long ago.
Quite frankly, living in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area of Minnesota, it’s impossible not to be hammered over the head with the liberal viewpoint all day every day. Every media outlet in this area is far-left. Hugh Hewitt regularly cites the Minneapolis Star Tribune as the only major newspaper in the country that is actually farther to the Left than The New York Times. Most people wouldn’t believe that is possible. I assure you that it is.
Having grown up in this atmosphere, it’s impossible not to understand the Left’s point of view. Besides, it’s not very hard to understand, because it’s so simplistic. We’ll get to that in a minute.
You say that I don’t provide references to anyone articulating the positions I attack? OK, let’s take the Left’s hatred of Wal-Mart. Now where could I go to find a reference from someone who hates Wal-Mart? Hey! I know! How about this?
Until I have some reason to think Target's business practices are as abhorrent as Wal-Mart's…
Now, unless a company is skinning puppies alive, don’t you think that the word “abhorrent” is a trifle strong when referring to a company’s business practices? I mean, if Wal-Mart’s business practices are “abhorrent”, what would we call “Uncle Joe” Stalin’s murder of 50 million people? We’d have to make up new words to get to that extreme. Oh, wait. I guess we wouldn’t. We could just call it Communism, or Socialism, or Leftism.
OK. Now let’s get to the heart of the matter: why I believe that those on the Left can’t grasp complicated ideas. Man, this is going to be a long post! I hope I didn't offend you by saying "man".
I’ve posted about most of these things over the months, but this is a good place to put them together in one spot.
It’s been said many times that the people on the Left “think with their emotions”, and it’s true. But it’s even worse than that. They have no logic whatsoever. They can’t see cause and effect. The logical progression of events stemming from their ideas is beyond them. They are simplistic.
Well, I guess I’d better give a few examples. Where to start?
Unions
The View of the Left (TVL):
A) Union workers make better wages and have better benefits than the average worker. That is good.
B) Unions protect workers from bad working conditions. That is good.
Further thinking is unecessary, because arrogantly standing up for these "little guys" makes me feel good about myself, even if it harms "the little guy" in the long run, as we shall see.
The View from the Right (TVR):
A) When companies have to pay for higher wages and benefits for their employees, that cost is passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices.
When prices get high, not as many people buy the product. They’ll buy a less expensive product from overseas.
When the company making the product is selling fewer products, they don’t need as many workers, so Americans lose their jobs.
B) 100 years ago, when companies really were abusing their employees and making them work in unsafe conditions, unions were a good idea. Now, however, the government takes care of keeping employees safe. The mere mention of OSHA sends waves of panic through companies.
Companies are so heavy regulated in regard to employee safety, hours and working conditions that unions have nothing to do with working conditions anymore.
From there, we can jump directly to:
Minimum Wage:
TVL: Higher wages for low-level, unskilled employees are good.
TVR: When an employer has to pay higher wages, they have less money to hire more people and/or give better benefits. They also have less money to put back into the company so that they can grow and hire even more employees.
Minimum wage jobs are a place for people to start out and gain skills, which they can use to command higher wages. That’s where I started when I was a kid at $3.35/hour.
The vast, vast majority of people don't stay at minimum wage for long. Most of the people with minimum wage jobs are kids just starting out. If you're at minimum wage for more than a year, you're just not trying. Period.
Regardless of what the Left will tell you, the economy is humming along. Minimum wage jobs are hard to come by only because they're not very common. Most positions pay more than minimum wage to start, because employers are competing for even relatively unskilled workers.
Which brings us to our next point:
Competition
TVL: Competition is bad because it hurts people's self-esteem if they don't have the skills to compete. That's bad.
TVR: Competition amongst people is as old as the human race. Hell, it's older than the dinosaurs. If the Left truly believes in Evolution, you'd think that they'd encourage competition. After all, what is "survival of the fittest" if not competition at it's most basic level?
The Neandertal died out because he couldn't compete with Homo Sapiens. If there were a Liberal around back then, we would have heard screams of "discrimination!" and "bigotry!".
When one's self-esteem is harmed, it makes most people work harder to make sure that it doesn't happen again. Unless you're a Lefty. Then it just makes you a victim.
There are countless other examples, but I need my beauty sleep, so let's wrap it up by going back to where we started.
Wal-Mart
TVL: Wal-Mart pays low wages, doesn't treat its employees well and kills small businesses. That's bad.
TVR: Wal-Mart pays what it can and gives what benefits it can, while still keeping its prices low.
Nobody is forced to work at Wal-Mart. If they don't like it, they can go out and find another job. That's the beauty of Capitalism. See "Competition" above.
As far as "Killing Main Street" is concerned, there hasn't been much of a "Main Street" for many years before Wal-Mart reared its "ugly head". As I've posted before, it's the romanticism of the Left. "Main Street" is what a bunch of people a bunch of people who hardly ever get out of the inner city envision as "small town America".
Simple concepts? Yes.
At least to people who think logically and can reason beyond the point where they feel good.
To Liberals who don't like themselves very much, who are insecure, who just want to feel good about themselves, thinking beyond their simplistic points is counterproductive. Hence they have trained themselves not to think beyond that point.
Why do you think that they hate Conservatives so much? It's because we're confident, we're self-assured. To coin a phrase, "We don't need no stinkin' village!"
All that they want is to feel that they are helping "the little guy". Whether their efforts are helpful or not is immaterial. It's all about how their efforts make them feel. More often than not, their policies hurt the very people whom they're trying to help. But do they rescind those policies?
Never!
Because that would mean that they were wrong. And to admit they were wrong would hurt their self-esteem, which is what their so-called causes were all about in the first place.
Anyone see the vicious circle here?
So, Nuomena, there's your answer. The simplistic views of the Left can be summed up in a soundbite. The views of the Right take some explaining.
At first glance, the views of the Left look good. If you delve deeper, which the Left never does, they are obviously flawed.
And now, this is the point where you take one, or if you feel daring, two of my points and obsess over them, instead of responding to my larger point.
Let me help you. I know that it's difficult, especially for one who thinks that they are so "terribly" educated such as yourself. Blather.
The real point is, the Left never thinks beyond the point that it makes the individual feel good about themselves.
Wanna argue?
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Conspiracy in a Box!
Have one of those annoying left-wing moonbats on your Christmas list? Not sure what to get them because everything offends them? Well, they’re going to be offended no matter what you get them, so you may as well have some fun with it!
Introducing…International Conspiracy in a Box!
Yes, now your moonbat can make up their own International Conspiracy theory just by using the parts supplied in this kit!
The kit includes:
Introducing…International Conspiracy in a Box!
Yes, now your moonbat can make up their own International Conspiracy theory just by using the parts supplied in this kit!
The kit includes:
Buy yours now for only three low payments of $19.95!
Batteries not included. Somebody will be required to assemble it for them.
Also try the Vast Right-wing Conspiracy in a Box!
And be sure to wish them a Merry Christmas! They hate that!
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Wal-Mart Hatred
About 9 months ago, the parent company of the company that I work for was bought out by the grocery retailing giant, SuperValu. Because we manufacture refrigeration equipment, and SV isn't into manufacturing, SuperValu really didn't want our company, but we came along for the ride because we had no choice.
Well, as it turned out, our biggest customer, Wal-Mart, is a competitor of SuperValu, and they wouldn't do business with us anymore. We had to lay off about 40 of our employees, which was half of our workforce.
Now, if I was your typical Wal-Mart hating Lefty, I'd blame it on Wal-Mart. I don't blame them. The essence of Capitalism is competition. No sense in putting money in the pocket of your competitors.
The real point is, because we lost Wal-Mart, there were 40 people who were unemployed. And these were realtively high paying positions.
When the Left thinks of Wal-Mart, it sees nothing but people in blue smocks who are working (willingly) for low wages in the stores. Anything beyond that is too complicated for them.
The Left, being unable to see the next step, doesn't see the people who are building these stores, furnishing them, putting in the electrical, plumbing, HVAC, refrigeration and everything else that it takes to make these stores run. They just hate Wal-Mart.
As I've said before, I don't think that it's a coincidence that they hate Wal-Mart, which was founded by Sam Walton, a very religious man, but they seem to have no problem with Target, which was founded by Minnesota Democrat, Senator Mark Dayton's family.
I managed to keep my job, because there aren't very many people out there who can fix, literally, anything and/or coordinate the people who can do what I can't. I'm the guy who keeps the shop running. Luckily the management in my company was smart enough to realize that. Arrogant? Maybe. But I've never met a good Maintenance guy who wasn't somewhat arrogant. If you don't believe that you can do anything, then you can't. And when you are required to know how to fix a machine that you've never seen before, you'd better believe it.
The rest of the people in the shop are also relatively skilled. The welders, the electricians, the plumbers...these are pretty well-paid jobs. And when Wal-Mart went away, so did many of the jobs.
SuperValu is in the process of selling us off, because they realize the damage that they've caused to our company, and they are truly sorry about it. Which is something else the Left would never believe. Corporations, in their minds, intentionally hurt people, or just don't care.
The sale should be done any day now, and then we can get back on track with our original plans, which include doubling the size of the shop to about 180,000 square feet (which is going to make my job incredibly interesting) and hiring about 100 more people. And that's just the start.
All thanks to Wal-Mart.
Well, as it turned out, our biggest customer, Wal-Mart, is a competitor of SuperValu, and they wouldn't do business with us anymore. We had to lay off about 40 of our employees, which was half of our workforce.
Now, if I was your typical Wal-Mart hating Lefty, I'd blame it on Wal-Mart. I don't blame them. The essence of Capitalism is competition. No sense in putting money in the pocket of your competitors.
The real point is, because we lost Wal-Mart, there were 40 people who were unemployed. And these were realtively high paying positions.
When the Left thinks of Wal-Mart, it sees nothing but people in blue smocks who are working (willingly) for low wages in the stores. Anything beyond that is too complicated for them.
The Left, being unable to see the next step, doesn't see the people who are building these stores, furnishing them, putting in the electrical, plumbing, HVAC, refrigeration and everything else that it takes to make these stores run. They just hate Wal-Mart.
As I've said before, I don't think that it's a coincidence that they hate Wal-Mart, which was founded by Sam Walton, a very religious man, but they seem to have no problem with Target, which was founded by Minnesota Democrat, Senator Mark Dayton's family.
I managed to keep my job, because there aren't very many people out there who can fix, literally, anything and/or coordinate the people who can do what I can't. I'm the guy who keeps the shop running. Luckily the management in my company was smart enough to realize that. Arrogant? Maybe. But I've never met a good Maintenance guy who wasn't somewhat arrogant. If you don't believe that you can do anything, then you can't. And when you are required to know how to fix a machine that you've never seen before, you'd better believe it.
The rest of the people in the shop are also relatively skilled. The welders, the electricians, the plumbers...these are pretty well-paid jobs. And when Wal-Mart went away, so did many of the jobs.
SuperValu is in the process of selling us off, because they realize the damage that they've caused to our company, and they are truly sorry about it. Which is something else the Left would never believe. Corporations, in their minds, intentionally hurt people, or just don't care.
The sale should be done any day now, and then we can get back on track with our original plans, which include doubling the size of the shop to about 180,000 square feet (which is going to make my job incredibly interesting) and hiring about 100 more people. And that's just the start.
All thanks to Wal-Mart.
Woo Hoo!
A new nasal spray aphrodisiac for women that works in minutes may soon hit the market, according to a Local 6 News report.
Doctors said women who used the drug PT-141 in test studies felt a tingling or throbbing followed by a strong desire to have sex immediately after spraying their noses.
And the Left says there is no God!
I can see it now:
"Honey. does this smell bad to you?"
Anyone shocked? Class? Anyone?
The government schools aren't infested with Left-wing Moonbats shoving propaganda down our children's throats. Just ask them.
Notice that the AP writer says that the teacher was taking digs at the "extreme right". The question didn't say anything about the "extreme right", it said "Republicans". I guess to an AP writer, they're synonymous.
Also notice the old liberal fallback position of, "they took it out of context!" Sorry, pal, there's nothing to take out of context there. It was an attack on President Bush and Republicans. Period.
Well, lookie here, a link to the school's website. Whattya know? How did that get on my blog? I'd hate for anyone to use it to register their displeasure with the left-wing moonbat teacher or anything.
Hey, look! There's another one! That one appears to be an e-mail link directly to the Principal of the school!
UPDATE: a comment from my new buddy Phantom Driver:
Why am I not surprised?
BENNINGTON, Vt. -- A high school teacher is facing questions from administrators after giving a vocabulary quiz that included digs at President Bush and the extreme right.
Bret Chenkin, a social studies and English teacher at Mount Anthony Union High School, said he gave the quiz to his students several months ago. The quiz asked students to pick the proper words to complete sentences.
One example: "I wish Bush would be (coherent, eschewed) for once during a speech, but there are theories that his everyday diction charms the below-average mind, hence insuring him Republican votes." "Coherent" is the right answer.
Principal Sue Maguire said she hoped to speak to whomever complained about the quiz and any students who might be concerned. She said she also would talk with Chenkin. School Superintendent Wesley Knapp said he was taking the situation seriously.
"It's absolutely unacceptable," Knapp said. "They (teachers) don't have a license to hold forth on a particular standpoint."
Chenkin, 36, a teacher for seven years, said he isn't shy about sharing his liberal views with students as a way of prompting debate, but said the quizzes are being taken out of context.
"The kids know it's hyperbolic, so-to-speak," he said. "They know it's tongue in cheek." But he said he would change his teaching methods if some are concerned.
"I'll put in both sides," he said. "Especially if it's going to cause a lot of grief."
The school is in Bennington, a community of about 16,500 in the southwest corner of the state.
Notice that the AP writer says that the teacher was taking digs at the "extreme right". The question didn't say anything about the "extreme right", it said "Republicans". I guess to an AP writer, they're synonymous.
Also notice the old liberal fallback position of, "they took it out of context!" Sorry, pal, there's nothing to take out of context there. It was an attack on President Bush and Republicans. Period.
Well, lookie here, a link to the school's website. Whattya know? How did that get on my blog? I'd hate for anyone to use it to register their displeasure with the left-wing moonbat teacher or anything.
Hey, look! There's another one! That one appears to be an e-mail link directly to the Principal of the school!
UPDATE: a comment from my new buddy Phantom Driver:
We passs thru the People's Republic of Bennington (or Bummington as wel call it ) 4-6 times a year on the way to the Live Free or Die state of New Hampshire (home of NO sales or income taxes).
It's full of the debris known as stoners, hippies,bums, moonbats, etc. Folk songs played by stoners on street corners, etc. etc.etc. Backpacks, flowerpower skirts, it's the 60's revisited, even down to the Flower Power 60's ILLEGAL FM radio pirate station in town.
Why am I not surprised?
Friday, November 25, 2005
I Got Mine, Piss On You
Back in the late 1960's you couldn't get out of bed without hearing a song about "freedom". There were dozens of them, and they were played constantly. That's because the youth on the Left back then were obsessed with freedom. They were free to do anything that they wanted to, including treason, but somehow they thought that they were being oppressed.
The whole freedom phenomenon went away, not coincidentally, at about the time that the military draft was ended. It went away for 25 years, but magically showed up again on the day that President Bush was elected.
On that day, the Left once again started whining about freedom: "Bush will take all of our freedoms away!" "Bush is trampling on our freedoms!" And my favorite, "Bush is trying to stifle my freedom of speech!", which is usually pronounced on nationwide talk radio shows where, literally, millions of people may be hearing it. At least if they're on a Conservative show. If they're on Air Unamerican, then maybe a couple-of-dozen people may hear them.
The Bush administration has had six years to shut down freedom of speech. and he hasn't succeeded. If he's to be accused of being 'incompetent', maybe it should be on this.
Let's look at the concept of freedom as viewed by the Left and the Right.
The Left is worried about freedom only in the sense that they, personally, may lose their freedoms. Like the selfish little children that they are, they got theirs and they couldn't care less if anyone else gets any.
The Left likes to demean Americans for having been lucky enough to be born into this rich country and, supposedly, not earning those riches. Well, they were lucky enough to have been born into a country where freedom is a birthright. They certainly didn't do anything to earn it. In fact, they've done less than the vast majority of people in this country have to earn their freedom. Many times they've also actively tried to take them away.
They certainly can't grasp the fact that spreading freedom throughout the world not only helps this country, but also all of the people that we help to live in freedom. That's too complicated for them and doesn't fit into their "more me now!" mindset. It's definitely not worth dying for!
Again, they got theirs, why should they fight to help other people enjoy those freedoms?
The Right, on the other hand, sees the bigger picture, as we always do.
Yes, freedom is an individual thing, but it's so much bigger than that. The whole concept of freedom for an entire nation of people is what gave this country the confidence and the drive to become the richest, most powerful and most benevolent country the world has ever known.
We on the Right also realize that spreading freedom not only helps us, but helps the people we free. Free countries do not make war on each other. Free countries trade with each other, which benefits both.
We also realize the amazing sacrifice that millions of people have made to keep this country free. While the Left smirks at anyone who uses the phrase, "Freedom isn't free", the Right knows that it's a simple truism. It's apparently still not simple enough for the Left to understand.
I have never, not once, heard one Lefty give a direct response, when confronted with the fact that the miltary that they hate so much, is what gives them the right to hate that military. I've seen hundreds of them confronted with that fact, and they always change the subject; even faster than they usually do when confronted with uncomfortable truths.
They don't have an answer because there is no answer! Most normal people would stop and think about why they can't come up with an answer, but these aren't normal people. I'm sure that they just think that they missed that part when their leaders were telling them what to say.
Freedom of the people was an amazing concept 229 years ago. We of the Right still think that it's amazing, and we're willing to fight to keep it and give the gift of freedom to others around the world.
The Left takes it for granted because they have their freedom. To hell with everyone esle.
The whole freedom phenomenon went away, not coincidentally, at about the time that the military draft was ended. It went away for 25 years, but magically showed up again on the day that President Bush was elected.
On that day, the Left once again started whining about freedom: "Bush will take all of our freedoms away!" "Bush is trampling on our freedoms!" And my favorite, "Bush is trying to stifle my freedom of speech!", which is usually pronounced on nationwide talk radio shows where, literally, millions of people may be hearing it. At least if they're on a Conservative show. If they're on Air Unamerican, then maybe a couple-of-dozen people may hear them.
The Bush administration has had six years to shut down freedom of speech. and he hasn't succeeded. If he's to be accused of being 'incompetent', maybe it should be on this.
Let's look at the concept of freedom as viewed by the Left and the Right.
The Left is worried about freedom only in the sense that they, personally, may lose their freedoms. Like the selfish little children that they are, they got theirs and they couldn't care less if anyone else gets any.
The Left likes to demean Americans for having been lucky enough to be born into this rich country and, supposedly, not earning those riches. Well, they were lucky enough to have been born into a country where freedom is a birthright. They certainly didn't do anything to earn it. In fact, they've done less than the vast majority of people in this country have to earn their freedom. Many times they've also actively tried to take them away.
They certainly can't grasp the fact that spreading freedom throughout the world not only helps this country, but also all of the people that we help to live in freedom. That's too complicated for them and doesn't fit into their "more me now!" mindset. It's definitely not worth dying for!
Again, they got theirs, why should they fight to help other people enjoy those freedoms?
The Right, on the other hand, sees the bigger picture, as we always do.
Yes, freedom is an individual thing, but it's so much bigger than that. The whole concept of freedom for an entire nation of people is what gave this country the confidence and the drive to become the richest, most powerful and most benevolent country the world has ever known.
We on the Right also realize that spreading freedom not only helps us, but helps the people we free. Free countries do not make war on each other. Free countries trade with each other, which benefits both.
We also realize the amazing sacrifice that millions of people have made to keep this country free. While the Left smirks at anyone who uses the phrase, "Freedom isn't free", the Right knows that it's a simple truism. It's apparently still not simple enough for the Left to understand.
I have never, not once, heard one Lefty give a direct response, when confronted with the fact that the miltary that they hate so much, is what gives them the right to hate that military. I've seen hundreds of them confronted with that fact, and they always change the subject; even faster than they usually do when confronted with uncomfortable truths.
They don't have an answer because there is no answer! Most normal people would stop and think about why they can't come up with an answer, but these aren't normal people. I'm sure that they just think that they missed that part when their leaders were telling them what to say.
Freedom of the people was an amazing concept 229 years ago. We of the Right still think that it's amazing, and we're willing to fight to keep it and give the gift of freedom to others around the world.
The Left takes it for granted because they have their freedom. To hell with everyone esle.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Aiding and Abetting
For those of you have never read this interview with North Vietnam's Colonel Bui Tin, you really should. It shows just how much our enemies depend on the Left (including the MSM) and their protests to win wars.
Here are a few quotes, but you should really read the whole thing.
In other words, they prolonged the war and got more of our soldiers killed. The Left is doing the same thing today.
United we stand...
It certainly worked with the likes of Walter Cronkite and the rest of the Left, who immediately made it out as a huge North Vietnam victory. However, even the Left's allies in North Vietnam knew the truth:
We almost had them defeated, but the Left forced us to withdraw, causing millions of unnecessary deaths when the North Vietnamese took the South. And they think that they're the compassionate ones.
If you think that the terrorists of today are paying any less attention to our politics today, you're deluding yourself. But the Left is great at doing that.
This interview cannot be read without coming to the conclusion that the Left was aiding and abetting the enemy back then, and they are doing it again today. Period.
And that is the definition of treason.
Here are a few quotes, but you should really read the whole thing.
Every day our leadership would listen to world news over the radio at 9 a.m. to follow the growth of the American antiwar movement. Visits to Hanoi by people like Jane Fonda, and former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and ministers gave us confidence that we should hold on in the face of battlefield reverses.
In other words, they prolonged the war and got more of our soldiers killed. The Left is doing the same thing today.
Those people represented the conscience of America. The conscience of America was part of its war-making capability, and we were turning that power in our favor. America lost because of its democracy; through dissent and protest it lost the ability to mobilize a will to win.
United we stand...
Q: What was the purpose of the 1968 Tet Offensive?
A: To relieve the pressure Gen. Westmoreland was putting on us in late 1966 and 1967 and to weaken American resolve during a presidential election year.
It certainly worked with the likes of Walter Cronkite and the rest of the Left, who immediately made it out as a huge North Vietnam victory. However, even the Left's allies in North Vietnam knew the truth:
Q: What about the results?
A: Our losses were staggering and a complete surprise;. Giap later told me that Tet had been a military defeat, though we had gained the planned political advantages when Johnson agreed to negotiate and did not run for re-election. The second and third waves in May and September were, in retrospect, mistakes. Our forces in the South were nearly wiped out by all the fighting in 1968. It took us until 1971 to re-establish our presence, but we had to use North Vietnamese troops as local guerrillas. If the American forces had not begun to withdraw under Nixon in 1969, they could have punished us severely. We suffered badly in 1969 and 1970 as it was.
We almost had them defeated, but the Left forced us to withdraw, causing millions of unnecessary deaths when the North Vietnamese took the South. And they think that they're the compassionate ones.
We had the impression that American commanders had their hands tied by political factors. Your generals could never deploy a maximum force for greatest military effect.
If you think that the terrorists of today are paying any less attention to our politics today, you're deluding yourself. But the Left is great at doing that.
This interview cannot be read without coming to the conclusion that the Left was aiding and abetting the enemy back then, and they are doing it again today. Period.
And that is the definition of treason.
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