What Have We Become?

I happened to run out to Target tonight. My wife is battling a flu (H1N1? Seasonal? Who knows any more?) and we were running low on Dayquil and those nice tissues with the lotion. She also wanted a movie on DVD to help fend off the boredom of being in bed all day. Plus my printer has run out of magenta ink, so it was time for a new set of cartridges. And we wanted some mailers suitable for sending out White House Christmas ornaments. Given the disparate nature of these odds and ends, Target seemed like a good place to go, since they have all that stuff.

There's a Target only about a block from us, so off I went. No problem getting everything. But . . .

Checking out, the girl at the register asked to see my ID before she would scan the Dayquil. I didn't see what she had in her hand at first, and when she asked for ID I said "For what?" Because many stores now try to collect information like your phone number or zip code for some obscure marketing purpose. When she told me she needed ID for me to purchase Dayquil, I was nonplussed. Couldn't quite believe it. I mean, it was one little box of "liqui-caps", twenty-four doses. It's not like I was trying to buy a case of the stuff.

If my wife hadn't been at home with a stuffy head, fever, and aches I wouldn't have bought anything at Target at that moment. The check-out girl said that it was the store's policy to ask for ID for anyone buying Dayquil (and presumably any similar over-the-counter cold medicine). Well, it's my policy not to support stupid people in the act of being stupid.

But my wife was waiting.

This is what we've come to. All the nanny-state nonsense we've had inflicted on us over the last few decades. Seat belt laws. Helmet laws. Red light cameras. Endless warning labels trying to cover every possible way people could hurt themselves by being idiots. "Zero Tolerance" policies. And now . . . now they want to see an ID before you buy cold medicine.

We are near the end of our run as a great civilization. The forces of stupidity are building, gentle reader, and this time there's no new frontier waiting for us to escape to. This time, we're stuck. We fight, or we surrender to the reality-impaired mentality drawn to the battle cry "won't someone think of the children?!?"

Housekeeping II

I've decided to remove the blog Little Green Footballs from the "Right Fringe" section of my blogroll. Why, you ask? Because in keeping up with the contents of that blog, it seems less and less like the proprietor, Charles Johnson, is a knee-jerk Republican shill and more and more like he's a common-sense conservative decrying many of the same things that I do.

Which is to say, the reality-impaired rhetoric coming from the increasingly-deranged far right as exemplified by the other blogs on there. I mean, Michelle Malkin is little more than a smaller, prettier copy of Ann Coulter these days.

So I'm replacing LGF with Powerline, at least until a better candidate presents itself.

Eight Years

Eight years ago. How do the years slip by so quickly?

Jerry Moran.

Angela Houtz

LCDR Vince Tolbert

Taken from us in the barbaric attack of 9/11. Taken too soon.

We remember.

Camelot's Last Watchman Departs

Teddy Kennedy has died. I honestly don't know how to feel about this. Ideologically, he was on the "wrong" side of a lot of issues to me, but he was a force to be reckoned with in the Senate. And some of his major accomplishments were landmark pieces of legislation, reshaping the social and political landscape of America for the better.

But Ted Kennedy was also a virtual poster boy for the "tax and spend" school of politics. And altho his record of service in the Senate is remarkable for its length and breadth, it also stands as an example of what's wrong with American politics, where people get in to Congress (either chamber) and take root. It's hard to credibly advocate for "fresh ideas" when you've been in the same office for four decades.

All other considerations aside, Ted Kennedy's passing marks the end of an amazing political saga, from his brother John F Kennedy's rise, to Bobby Kennedy's equally tragic story, to his own phenomenal career. Teddy was the last of his generation, the final sentry on the battlements of Camelot. The family scions now in public service just don't have the gravitas of the Jack/Bobby/Ted triumvirate. Somehow, the greatness of the Senate itself seems now diminished, as if a central pillar had been removed.

Fare thee well, Senator Kennedy.

Recently, In the News

Sonya Sotomayor has become the country's first Latino Justice of the Supreme Court. From what I can tell, her judicial record is unremarkable. Maybe in today's ultra-partisan soundbite-driven climate, "unremarkable" is the most we can expect.

Long time no blog, eh? Seems like I never have the time any more. All the amazing stuff going on since my last entry and not a word. Watching Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress drive deficits into realms even George W Bush never imagined has been interesting. Government over-reach continues apace. Now they want to enact health care reform, but typically for our gubbermint they want to do it in as ill-considered and ham-fisted a manner as they can. And the Republicans, bless 'em, have adopted the Democrats' political playbook from the late 90s/early 2000s: their whole strategy seems to be pointing across the aisle while yelling "you guys suck!" Yeah, that worked out so well for the Dems, you might as well try it.

Sarah Palin has resigned the Alaska governorship for reasons best described as "unclear". Or maybe "idiotic", but what do I know?

The economy is showing signs of recovery, but it's juuuuuuuuuuuuust a wee bit early to be celebrating victory, I think. The structural problems that led to the mess have not remotely been addressed, banking and finance types continue to give themselves huge bonuses for being incompetent, Uncle Sam has prevented some big companies from going under - thereby preventing the market from learning the proper lessons from its folly - and all in all, the other shoe has yet to drop. Yeah, buddy.

This is all very superficial, I know, but my time and motivation is lacking these days. Watching the abject foolishness going on in Washington has, frankly, left me stunned.

Oh well, at least the press has its priorities straight.

Or not.

Memorials Come 'Round Again

Another Memorial Day. Another reflection on those who've gone.

Angela Houtz

Lieutenant Commander Vince Tolbert

And Jerry Moran

Taken from us on 9/11. We remember.

Special thanks to Anthony Candelori, serving in Afghanistan with the US Army. Come home safe, Antny.

Torture

I have an online acquaintance at Wordforge who has summed up my feelings on the issue of torture much better than I could have myself. Posted here for your edification are his words:

I'm a vet, I've been thru SERE, and I'll tell you straight up that waterboarding is torture. Is it SEVERE torture? Depends on how afraid you are of drowning, I guess.

I'll probably get flamed for this but I'll say it anyway:

It is immoral to torture prisoners, period. Ben Franklin once said that those who are willing to sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither, nor with they have either for very long.

When we torture a prisoner, even someone who RICHLY deserves it, we lower ourselves to the moral level at which they operate. It doesn't matter if we're 'only' waterboarding them and they are cutting off heads on Al Jazeera. There is no 'moral equivalency' when it comes to this sort of thing. In my view, freedom loving, God fearing Americans are better than this. "Outsourcing" prisoners to our ME 'allies' so they can be severely tortured represents a level of moral cowardice that is beyond the pale- worse than conducting the torture ourselves and taking responsibility for it.

We have a choice to make as a people: we can hold the moral high ground above our enemies, or we can become the very thing which we despise. Does that position mean that Americans may face an increased risk? Yup. Guess what? We're strong enough to handle it- that added risk is the price of freedom. People are oh so quick to say 'freedom is never free'. They're right. Sometimes being the good guy means you assume a greater degree of risk than the person who lowers themselves to the level of scum. The ends do not justify the means. Torture is wrong, and ultimately it just serves the purpose of our enemies.

Honor, Courage, and Commitment to the High Road. Not just watchwords or empty slogans, but the very principles by which our nation will endure or fall.

Recent revelations in the documents released by the Obama administration put a very troubling face on the conduct of our government. I'd given up on George W. Bush long before this, but the apparent decision to condone such tactics . . . this is not how Americans should behave.

I have a code, corny as it may be, by which I try to live. It goes thusly: Let us strive every moment of our lives to make ourselves better and better to the best of our abilities so that all may profit by it. Let us think of the right and lend our assistance to all who may need it, with no regard for anything but justice. Let us take what comes with a smile, without loss of courage. Let us be considerate of our country, our fellow citizens, and our associates in everything we say and do. Let us do right to all - and wrong no man.

The more pop-culturally aware among you may recognize this. If you don't, well, I won't spoil it for you.

Now I don't mind if our troops have to smack a bad guy around a little to get him to sit down and be quiet. That's kinda what soldiers do. But once a bad guy has been captured, rendered combat-ineffective, or (ideally) surrendered, there's no call for barbaric treatment. That's what those guys do, like when they saw people's heads off with dull knives in front of a video camera while praising God. That is not, should not, can not be what we do. And besides, the bulk of the evidence seems to indicate that results obtained via torture are not trustworthy. There are better ways.

And that's all I have to say about that.