Still Waiting for Answers

For those of us that are calendar-impaired, it is now nearly four months since the awful events at Benghazi, Libya unfolded, leaving four Americans, including our Ambassador, dead at the hands of Islamic terrorists. Were it not for this terrible toll suffered in conjunction by a total destruction of diplomatic respect and protocol. the lack of response by the American Government would be laughable.

While many Americans think that this chain of events certainly raises to the highest level of governmental concerns, the president has chosen to push what little responsibility he has taken down the chain of command. The head of the CIA has been sacked, but not for any malfeasance related to his responsibility for the Benghazi deaths. Apparently several mid-level State Department drones were fired, but on further investigation, it seems that they haven't really lost their jobs after all.

All of which leaves us with Hillary, who is still(?) head of the State Department. While she did accept "responsibility" albeit phoned in from Peru, she has gone from being silent to, as of late, being invisible as well. Her strategy here seems to be to keep running out the clock until her replacement is sworn in.

This strategy should come as no surprise to those of us who remember the Clinton White House years with its chains of unanswered questions regarding Whitewater and those Rose Law Firm billing records. Assuming that she continues to be a no-show at the Congressional hearings on Benghazi, there is really only one last touch stone left in this saga. Hillary obviously subscribes to the Leona Helmsley school of social responsibility which might counsel: Hearings? Hearings are for the little people.

So now, the last remaining question is the over and under on the exact date that Hillary will turn the final page on responsibility. This would be the date on which some intrepid questioner will ask herself about the 9/11/2012 fiasco. The response will be a quick look of disbelief, followed by something along the line: We've been over and over that and it is, frankly, old news. We think the American people want to turn the page and put that behind us. When this happens, the campaign for 2016 will have officially begun.



 

Give Up or Fight On?

Dr. Larry P. Arnn

It has occurred to us that in spite of the millions of words written about last month's election, we may be looking in the wrong place for answers to many of the questions it produced.

By structure, we were forced to chose between two individuals, each representing a political party, one of whom emerged victorious, but by a small enough margin that some now speak of the United States as a House Divided. While the Democrats have retained the Presidency and a majority position in the Senate, Republicans continue to lead the House. As we creep ever closer to the fiscal Cliff, the dividing line is at the same time both stark and obscured.

During the election. the Left hammered away at the Republicans' purported lack of empathy for the needy of America. The charges were colorful, but not helpful in that they steered attention away from the key issues as they created the illusion of an infinitely wealthy upper crust refusing to help those less fortunate. Millionaires and Billionaires became the bogeymen of the day. If only those fattest of cats would pay their "fair share", all would be well. Would that it be so easy. The Federal deficit is ballooning to the point that even a 100% tax rate wouldn't help for very long. The focus, as of late, has been on tax rates, but the real issue is runaway spending. "Tax and Spend" has morphed into "Spend, Tax, Borrow and Print More Money." We don't have to look farther than some of our European neighbors to see where this strategy leads.

For his first two years in office, The President's party had full control of both chambers of the Legislature.  This period of free reign, that is, free, to some extent of the normal checks and balances provided by the government's design, produced several blockbuster bills, that might have, had there been more balance, emerged in a more effective form, or, perhaps, not at all. In spite of the stacked deck, the Affordable Care Act was passed only through parliamentary shenanigans that would have impressed Houdini. Many of us are still not sure exactly what it does, or what it might eventually cost.  Yes, there were, and still are, serious concerns regarding health care, serious enough to merit open debate and discussion and perhaps some carefully crafted remedies.

During the same two-year reign, a massive federal stimulus bill was also passed. This Keynesian handout failed miserably in its stated purpose of stimulating the economy as it was tightly aimed at the Left's special interests. These two acts were the headliners in a spending spree which threatens to push the Federal deficit to astronomical levels, where amounts of less than a $ hundred billion are now considered rounding errors. The effects of unfettered deficit growth are both real and frightening.

Many in both the government and the media are quick to point to the Republican-led House as the fly in the ointment. We would rather argue that the House is performing the exact role for which it was designed in demanding fiscal responsibility. John Boehner, for all his barnacles, stands as a colossus against  this rush to fiscal perdition.  Checks and balances are not just quaint antiques. Yes, the President won re-election, but the office to which he was elected was President, not Emperor. We suggest that he might dust off his constitutional law text books while he vacations.

A tip of the hat to Dr. Larry P. Arnn , president of Hillsdale College, for his comments in a recent radio interview with Hugh Hewitt. Click on the link to read a transcript as presented in the December issue of Hillsdale's publication, Imprimis. Dr. Arnn does an excellent job of putting the constitutional concerns stemming from the results of the November election into historical context. His resounding answer to the query: "Time to Give Up or Time to Fight On?" is a resounding call for a redoubling of effort by all right-thinking Americans.

The Shores of Tripoli

The Marine Hymn is a piece of music that quickly stirs up our patriotism. And while the lyrics are  familiar, their meaning sometimes becomes dulled by time for many of us. Just over a month ago, a United States Ambassador and three other Americans were brutally killed in Benghazi, yet another city in the tiny country of Libya, located just a few hundred miles east of Tripoli. These terrible events have brought the meaning of an old and familar refrain front and center once again.

As if the pain of losing four of our own is not painful enough, the fantastic charades being carried on by the O Bama administration has added an additional measure of torment to the grieving families and friends of these fine men whom we pray did not die in vain.

Writing in the National Review web site,  Missouri Republican Senator, ROY BLUNT, who sits on the Senate Select Committee on Inteligence, provides a concise review of the government's mishandling of the aftermath of this tragedy. If it weren't for the horrific nature of the attack and murders, the bumbling cocophony of explanations being put forth, as late as last night's debate, would be great comic theatre. This president and his band of political operatives, has a lot to answer for.

Finally, our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to Barbara Doherty of Winchester, MA, at the tragic loss of her son Glen, one of the former Seals, killed in the Benghazi terrorist attack on 9/11/2012. Glen was much too good a man to have his death tarnished by the amateurish ineptitude of the O Bama government.

R.I.P. Glen

Slaves, An Untold Story

Throughout the annals of human history runs a dark vein recording the epic of man's inhumanity to man. While some of these horrors are better known than others, the concept of human slavery seems to have been with us since earliest times. Today, not only do we continue to deal with the long-term effects of this heinous practice, but there is ample evidence that slavery continues in various parts of the world.

Our friend Doug Mitchell has produced a marvelous book, Slavery, an Untold Story,  that in just its few hundred pages provides an incisive study into a subject that most of us would like to forget, and, we suspect, would like to think, is no longer practiced.

In the first part of Slavery, Mitchell traces the saga of Isaac Logan, a young Massachusetts sailor, serving aboard his family's merchant fleet in 1740. During a stopover in England, he is kidnapped and taken to Barbados and sold into the slavery-based sugar plantations. When he gets the chance to "escape" to a British navy ship and quickly learns that the forced labor of slavery comes in many forms. As we continue to follow Isaac's travails, we not only see the industrial brutality of the west African thugs who capture and sell their countrymen to the slave ships, but also, the many other routes into slavery including the jails of Britain and the troubled areas of Ireland and Scotland. Most of us think of slavery in terms of black Africans brought, as slaves, to the southern U.S. States, where the practice would one day nearly destroy our country. Sadly, the reality is much broader in terms of who is pulled into slavery's greedy maw, and where those slaves end up.

The second part of the book finds a present day Boston newspaper attempting to publish a declarative study of slavery. Owned by the descendants of Isaac Logan, the discussions around the editing table examines many of the issues still being dealt with as a result of slavery. When the newspaper sends reporters to Africa to do further research, they find that the practice of slavery, thought by many to be an evil of the past, is alive and well in parts of dark continent. The experience of one of the reporters is especially gruelling as it brings the modern face of slavery into startling focus.

Doug Mitchell writes with insight and clarity as he manages to bring a subject that most of us wishes locked into the far past into a stark, present-day focus. The one thing we found wanting was a bibliography of his sources. He has whetted our appetite and we would have liked to have some guidance as to where to seek more information.

Do yourself a favor and read this book. You will find it interesting and thought-provoking.

Click HERE to order a copy

Thomas Sowell on the Presidential Electorate

Writing on the selection of Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney's running mate in realclearpolitics, Thomas Sowell puts his finger on an interesting point regarding the electorate who will select the next resident of the White House:

"This election is a test, not just of the opposing candidates but of the voting public. If what they want are the hard facts about where the country is, and where it is heading, they cannot vote for more of the same for the next four years."

The chilling aspect of this observation, is the vast number of Americans who are prepared to do just that and demand a blind continuation of those spending programs, driving the deficit growth, that if left unchecked will threaten our American way of life, including those very programs. Paul Ryan brings, among other things, an expert grasp of fiscal reality. Whether enough people are willing to believe these facts remains to be seen. Ironically, the biggest challenge facing the Romney-Ryan ticket will be to convince enough voters to accept the stark truth. This will be no easy task.
As Sowell continues:

"There are no doubt voters who will vote on the basis of believing that Obama "cares" more about them. But that is a faith which passeth all understanding. The political mirage of something for nothing, from leaders who "care," has ruined many a nation."

It's a Romney - Ryan Ticket

A sleepy Saturday morning in August, what a great time to make some history.  By selecting Paul Ryan as his running mate, Mitt has helped cast the choice facing the American electorate as one of the clearest and best-defined in many years.

Those looking for more of the cliche-infested, blathering rhetoric emanating from the current administration will have to look elsewhere for more of the same. Paul Ryan brings a razor-sharp mind and an encyclopedic familiarity with the financial and economic intricacies of modern government. In case you haven't been paying attention, these are the skills that our current fiscal miasma is in dire need of.

The opposition is bound to label Paul Ryan as a cold, non-caring conservative. But while conservative he may well be, it will be his intimate knowledge of government finance that will help reverse the gloomy trend towards deficit-dominated socialism. he recognizes the fiscal realities necessary to ensure the viability of our American way of life.

There will be ample opportunity to drill down into the bedrock of the new ticket. The drive-by media will, I am sure, be playing catch up on this news, probably just on time for the Sunday papers and talk shows. In the meantime, it's back to our Saturday chores. Well done, Mitt

LET AMERICA BE AMERICA AGAIN

After months, if not years, of increasingly rancorous attempts to vilify the American system of capitalism, the president has inadvertently framed what is becoming a major defining point in the upcoming election. With his now infamous, "You didn't build  that" rant against American business, he has highlighted one of the basic tenets of the radical left in attempting to identify the public sector as the primary driver of economic prosperity.

With this preposterous assertion, the president, singing from a hymn book borrowed from Elizabeth Warren, has highlighted the spongy foundation on which his limited knowledge of economics is built. The charge of trickle-down economics is a know-nothings' swipe dismissing centuries of contrary experience that it takes a strong and vibrant private sector to generate the wealth that not only provides the funds for social programs, but also provides the economic ladder that has allowed generations of industrious Americans to accomplish personal success.

Click on the link below and watch Scott Brown's ad which documents the long-standing success of an America which promises only that all will have the same opportunity.

Do we want to continue to provide opportunities for all, or do we want to slide into the financial and cultural morass exhibited by the late Soviet union and, more recently, the formerly great European countries now facing the real possibility of bankruptcy caused by their out-of control socialism.

The answer is clear, Let America continue to be America again.

LET AMERICA

A Pleasant Diversion

Politics got you down? It seems as though no matter what your position, at least half of the voters seem to be on the other side. Perhaps it's time to step back for a moment and enjoy a little beauty for the mere sake of it. And this from a Spanish bank. 

CLICK HERE

Don't worry, the election will still be there when you are finished.

Town Meeting

"When, in some obscure country town, the farmers come together to a special town-meeting, to express their opinion on some subject which is vexing the land, that, I think, is the true Congress, and the most respectable one that is ever assembled in the United States."

                Henry David Thoreau, 1854

The Town Meeting form of government has been around since three-cornered hats and knee britches were in fashion and many still see it as the purest form of democracy. While it might not work too well in resolving complex national, or international issues, it can be very effective in making decisions about how a community deals with funding its schools and providing other essential town services.

Writing in the Globe South section of today's Boston Globe, Correspondent, Michelle Bolton, surveys 42 southern Mass communities that currently use the town meeting format. The article's title, Town Meeting No Longer a Big Draw, provides a not-so-subtle hint at its conclusions.  Thirty five communities use an open town meeting format which allows all citizens to participate, while the other seven use a representative form in which elected representatives carry on the business of town meeting.

The big problem seems to afflict the open format and it involves getting enough citizens to attend so as to satisfy local quorum requirements. Frantic last minute efforts are sometimes needed to gather the minimum number of voters. Are voters just too busy, or is our old nemesis, apathy, rearing its ugly head? The knee jerk reaction is a call for a different format, perhaps where a mayor and a city council to  make all the decisions. While a case might be made for such a change possibly providing increased efficiency, the loss of direct voter participation is unlikely to ever be regained.

Plymouth is one of the towns with a Representative Town meeting, where a body of elected representatives serves as the Town's legislative branch. In order to accommodate population growth, to a current total of 37,692 registered voters,  the voting precincts were recently re-drawn and an additional precinct added, bringing the total to fifteen. With nine Town Meeting Members representing each precinct, there are now 135 eligible voters at town meeting. It should be noted that any registered voter may also speak at TM.

While we would have liked to have had a more robust voter turnout, the May 12th election was spirited as it included, in addition to the Town Meeting Reps, two hotly-contested races for Selectman and Planning Board. In our precinct, there were fourteen candidates for nine seats. All nine of those elected are available to precinct voters through phone calls, emails and casual interaction. Experience has shown that many voters avail themselves of this access. In addition, informational caucuses are held prior to town meeting to provide in-depth analysis of warrant articles. It may not be a perfect system, but it provides direct contact and accountability between voters and the Town Meeting Reps with ample opportunity for two way discussion.

This November, we will be electing, among others, a new U.S. Congressman to represent our newly-re-cast district. It is generally estimated that congressional candidates must raise well over a 1$ million for this campaign. Moreover, once elected it will be extremely difficult to pick up the phone and engage the new congressman in a meaningful dialogue, and we doubt that you will run into him at the local market.

Is the Town meeting perfect? By no means. But before we throw in the towel, we need think long and hard about the alternatives and what we might be giving up in terms of direct accountability with our elected officials.

New Beginnings

Fortunately, for many of us, life is full of opportunities to restart an effort that might have gone a bit off track. Or to coin a phrase, we are allowed to hit the Reset button. Rationales for inaction and procrastination are legion and, frankly, not worth discussing. So, we begin anew.

Mitt Romney has all but nailed down the Republican nomination, and , friends, this is a very good thing. When the current White House resident was elected, we looked to an old saw for comfort: If the US could survive the Carter presidency, we could survive anything. How naive were we? Carter's ineptitude was, for the most part, quickly remedied. The damage that our current Chief Executive has wrought might not be so easy. Our fiscal house is not just in disorder, it is a shambles.

When asked a few months ago, who he would select as president, a friend stated that he wanted someone who owned a calculator and knew how to use it. Furthermore, he wanted someone who had run an organization, even if it was only a scout troop. Hyperbole? Perhaps, but given the mountain of debt accumulated in the past three years, not especially.

Mitt Romney has the skills and experience to bring order out of the chaos and put the country back on track to deal with its many challenges. Once this is done, we can begin dealing with some of the important social issues.

And, finally, a note to the MSM:  How important is the so-called issue of likability? First of all, Mitt is a very charming and likable guy, but just how important is this quality in and of itself?

Finally, on a local note: The Voters rejected the Meals tax increase in the January special election.