The 10 Best Sherlock Holmes Mysteries 7-19-2014
The Top 10 Film Noir Classics 7-7-2014
The Top 10 Surf Songs of the Sixties 6-28-2014
10 Awful, Terrible, Frightening Things That Are Going to Kill Us All (But Somehow Never Do) 6-26-2014
The Top 10 Influences that Made the Baby Boomers Who They Are 6-21-2014
Looking Back, What Are We To Make of Sgt. Pepper’s? 6-17-2014
The Technology That Led To Rock and Roll, Part 3 6-16-2014
Taking the Time Out to See 6-9-2014
The Technology That Led To Rock and Roll, Part 2: The Guitar Amplifier 6-3-2014
The Poor Man’s Ferrari 5-28-2014
What Exciting New Technology Led to Rock ‘n’ Roll? 2-21-2014
Art for Whose Sake? 5-19-2014
Monday, July 7, 2014
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Why What Obama is Doing is Bad, Bad, Bad
Progressives aren't pissed by what Obama is doing. That, itself, shows what is important to them as a group: Getting their programs in place no matter what the Constitution says and no matter what other citizens want and think.
But the damage being done to our Republic goes far beyond whether these "programs" are good or not. Programs, after all, can always be changed. But destruction of the very foundation of our Republic-- its laws, its governing principles, its taking power from any one man or group of men and accepting as bedrock that it belongs to us all -- "We The People" -- cannot be so easily undone.
As James Madison wrote: “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”
What Madison is saying is this: If you, or any person or group, favors what Obama is doing just because you/they think "it's good," or because you/they love to be able to say "hurray for our side!" -- than you/they don't love our Republic. No, nor do you love democracy. What you do love is tyranny.
But the damage being done to our Republic goes far beyond whether these "programs" are good or not. Programs, after all, can always be changed. But destruction of the very foundation of our Republic-- its laws, its governing principles, its taking power from any one man or group of men and accepting as bedrock that it belongs to us all -- "We The People" -- cannot be so easily undone.
As James Madison wrote: “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”
What Madison is saying is this: If you, or any person or group, favors what Obama is doing just because you/they think "it's good," or because you/they love to be able to say "hurray for our side!" -- than you/they don't love our Republic. No, nor do you love democracy. What you do love is tyranny.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Courts, Gnats and Camels
Today the country is all astir with arguments
about the Supreme Court's decision on the 'Hobby Lobby' case. And, of course, the
sky is again falling.
When I look at this the problem that I see has little to do with contraception, or even, for that matter, with abortion. The real issue is that very phrase "the Court decided."
Why should they need to? Why should we want them to?
At Mount Sinai the sons of Israel were given 10 commandments. Leviticus upped it to thousands. Rabbis later added what became the Talmud and Mishnah as people looked to them to rule on finer and finer points of law. Worship over time became the study and debate of their rulings.
Then came Jesus saying "You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" and went on to reduce the laws to two: Love God and your neighbor.
Then came the churchmen and it started all over again.
We have our Constitution. We have (or had) free will. Why debate what the robed ones say? I, for one, prefer discussing foundation principles, not their chosen gnats.
The more rules we make the more rules we'll need. And that'll leave us no closer to having a just, free, caring society. No, just a more litigious one with yet more gnats and more camels.
Gulp. Gulp.
When I look at this the problem that I see has little to do with contraception, or even, for that matter, with abortion. The real issue is that very phrase "the Court decided."
Why should they need to? Why should we want them to?
At Mount Sinai the sons of Israel were given 10 commandments. Leviticus upped it to thousands. Rabbis later added what became the Talmud and Mishnah as people looked to them to rule on finer and finer points of law. Worship over time became the study and debate of their rulings.
Then came Jesus saying "You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" and went on to reduce the laws to two: Love God and your neighbor.
Then came the churchmen and it started all over again.
We have our Constitution. We have (or had) free will. Why debate what the robed ones say? I, for one, prefer discussing foundation principles, not their chosen gnats.
The more rules we make the more rules we'll need. And that'll leave us no closer to having a just, free, caring society. No, just a more litigious one with yet more gnats and more camels.
Gulp. Gulp.
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