Yea Verily Yea

They guys that performed this routine, they were from an American Legion Post in my hometown.

Folks that are old enough may remember them from one of their eight appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show.  You can read more about them here.

Disclose What?

Former journalist and current commentator Campbell Brown recently offered some thoughts regarding the need to fully disclose any potential conflicts of interest for things that she writes these days.  Her bit of honesty was revealing, refreshing, and pretty damn funny.  I think she is inimitable.

So in the interest of full disclosure, let me share a few more potential conflicts (that are mostly with my husband). Hopefully this will satisfy those who believe I am his ideological twin. For the deeply offended, contact info below.

Dan likes the Jets. But we all know that Eli Manning is inimitable. (Jets fans can reach me at @campbell_brown via Twitter. Tom Brady fans, you can look up inimitable on dictionary.com).

Dan works in finance. I think the financial industry is EVIL, with the exception of my husband. (Goldman Sachs—see above Twitter handle.)

I support Simpson-Bowles. Dan is opposed to tax increases during an economic downturn. But we are working on this one in couples counseling. (Grover Norquist, please call Dan directly. He has some influence with me except when he doesn’t.)

Dan wants to try for a girl. I think two boys are enough. (See couples counseling.)

Dan is obviously voting for Romney. I supported Obama in 2008. This year I am voting for…

Some things we should be able to keep to ourselves.

Conscription Vs Volunteers

I also think there are prices too high to pay to save the United States. Conscription is one of them. Conscription is slavery, and I don't think that any people or nation has a right to save itself at the price of slavery for anyone, no matter what name it is called. We have had the draft for twenty years now; I think this is shameful. If a country can't save itself through the volunteer service of its own free people, then I say : Let the damned thing go down the drain!

- Robert Heinlein, Guest of Honor Speech at the 29th World Science Fiction Convention

American conscription died about a year after Mr. Heinlein uttered the above.  I am sure that this is utterly coincidental.

The truth is Mr. Heinlein's speech has been verified ever since.  American men and women, along with men and women from around the world, have volunteered to defend America from the forces of tyranny for nearly 40 years. We will never be without a national defense as long as we remain a nation with ideals worth defending.

So What Changed?

One of the facts about our federal budget is that federal revenues have remained pretty consistent at about 18% of GDP.  I didn't realize exactly how consistent that was!

Pretty much, revenue as a percentage of GDP hasn't changed since 1950.  Yet today we face some pretty serious budgetary challenges.  So what changed?

Spending.

Back in the 1950s, we fought global communism and won.  We sent men to the moon, and brought 'em back, too!  We built a national highway system.  We were able to be a real force for good in the world.

Today, military spending is the lowest it has been ever!

Now a reasonable discussion of spending priorities ought to leave many options open.  But one thing that should be crystal clear is that those options are being limited by our fantastic growth in social spending.

Sikh Temple Shooting...

...and how the media gleefully reported any military connection as if it were the single most important aspect of the story.  I know the is fake, but it perfectly encapsulates today's media.

The news desks of CNN, CBS, Fox News, and numerous other media outlets across the world reacted with glee today at the revelation that a mass-shooting gunman has military experience.

...

Prepping graphics reels with mixes of Army basic training and the Oklahoma City bombing, the media was truly excited to mold a narrative of a troubled veteran with PTSD shooting people because the Army made him a "cold-blooded killer."

"Right now, I’m working on pulling up his military records," said Davis Smith, a reporter with the New York Times. "I already pulled up something that said he fired a pistol and a rifle in Army basic training. Law enforcement says he used a pistol in the shooting, so it’s quite obvious that the military created this monster."

...

"During that period, we were at the height of the Bosnian War," said Martin Evans. "We were bombing villages and had troops overseas. It just must have been too much for him."

The shooter’s records so far do not show deployments to Bosnia, but when asked for clarification, Evans had to cut the TDB interview short so he could seek out a fake veteran to talk about the dangers of PTSD.

...

Graphics are already being distributed across the AP Newswire of his boot camp photo from 20 years ago for use in tonight’s stories - with the caption "Solder’s Extremely Delayed PTSD Results In Domestic Terrorism."

I would added a "humor" tag, but some times even the humour isn't funny.

Book Recommendation - Everything We Miss

Do you ever wonder what is happening when you aren't looking?  Do you suppose that tress might pull their roots out of the ground and begin dancing the moment that you look away?

How many times have you passed by a shrub so intent on your destination that you fail to notice the surprise...or horror...hidden by its leaves?  How many times have you wanted to talk to someone but hung up the phone instead of dialing?  How many times did they do the same?  Was it ever at the same time?

Luke Pearson has created a series of vignettes that suggest that more is going on around us than we routinely care to perceive.  He pushes the idea of "If I only...." so that the reader might consider a larger possibilities than the limited set that most of us perceive.

Mr. Pearson's "Everything We Miss" is certainly worth the time to read, and then the time to consider.

A Hole In One....Er Two!

For those that may have missed it, kudos to Condi Rice and Darla Moore for being named the first female members of the Augusta National Golf Club.  I think congratulations are in order for Augusta as well for admitting two such deserving individuals and for doing it on Augusta's schedule rather the responding to the vocal protests of a few years back.

It is important to do the right thing.  It is also important to do it the right way.  They took their time to find the right people that belonged in that organization.

While some Augusta traditions were...well...vile, others were certainly worth upholding.