Phew. Don't worry. Janet will save the Homeland.

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano gave a press conference today that told Americans everything they needed to know about the competence and agenda of the Obamacrats. A stunning display of a person in over her head... excerpts below... here's the link to the full transcript for the regular patrons at Hugh Akston's Diner...

"As President Obama said this morning, swine flu is a cause for concern, but not a cause for alarm." So, let's see if I have this right. Spending gazillions of my money, my children's money and their unborn children's money, to pay off the liberal base, cripple another generation of Americans and turn America into a Commonwealth of Mediocrity is a cause for concern, but not a cause for alarm. Got it.

"As I said yesterday, I issued a public health emergency declaration." Wait a minute. Hold on. OK. I've got it. You issued an emergency declaration for which I should be concerned but not alarmed. Damn, this stuff is starting to sound like the opening scene of the next Patton-like movie. Can't ya see it? A big American flag with 51 stars (one for Mexico, of course), our hero, the Secretary of Homeland Security steps forward in her flats, salutes the teleprompter and begins her inspiring speech... "Now, I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by issuing health emergency declarations. And I don't want to get any messages about being alarmed. Leave that to the Mexicans. We are not alarmed - we are concerned. We will scan THEIR heat signatures, ask them how THEY'RE feeling, ask THEM if they need any help cutting through our barbed wire."

Q & A from today's press conference with Secretary Sieve:

Q: "So, how many inbound people have been referred to authorities."

Napolitano: "Don't know yet."

Q: "How does that work? Someone comes to the border inspection person and is coughing or displays some sort of symptom, is there a health professional right there to see them?"

Napolitano: "It depends on which port you are entering.... Generally speaking, they're referred to or put in another room. I don't want to use the word "quarantine" because, technically, it's not a quarantine, but they're put in a separate room.... if it's ascertained that they may, indeed, have the flu, they'll make a decision about whether they can go ahead and enter the country and go to a place to get taken care of or whether they need to go back home."

Yea, right.

Q: "I think, at the next level, at level four, that there are possible....parts of the border could be closed or increased border surveillance of people coming across. Is that something that has been discussed at this point?"

Napolitano: "Well, as I said yesterday, we're already doing passive surveillance at the border. [Editor's note: Probably some of the most passive surveillance in the history of surveillance...] And with respect to closing the border, again, you would close the border if you thought you could contain disease, the spread of disease, but the disease already is in a number of states within the United States, so the containment issues doesn't really pay out."

Q: "You say that it takes about three to four days for the symptoms to show up. So people could come in by air, not know they have it because symptoms haven't shown up, and they'll be able to walk right in? I mean, is there any - any contingency plans for dealing with that? How - you know, how would you - how would you deal with - with something like that?"

Napolitano: "Well, if people are sick and if you have the flu, you believe you have the flu, you have a fever, you have a heavy cough, we're asking people..."

Folks - the liberals keep harping about giving this administration a chance, but how many Americans will die needlessly because Secretary Bumblefutz can't act... she probably spent more time parsing, from the Bill Clinton school of "Is", the arcane subtleties of the difference between 'concern' and 'alarm' and between 'quarantine' and that friggin room over there into which people go in and never come out, than actually clamping down the border and keeping Typhoid Miguel from bringing his whole infected family into our neighborhoods.

Madam Secretary - do the job your are being paid to do. Put the political correctness on the shelf for the week and act. Uphold the Constitution that you swore to defend. Protect the People who have provided you a sliver of our sovereignty to act on our behalf. Do what's right, or get out of the way.

For those of you who think the Q&A above was made up... read the full transcript.

By the way, if you're interested in picking up some cool Galt gear, check out the following link:

AllJohnGaltGifts.com

The Pelosimobile

I stumbled onto this one on YouTube.... an absolute riot...

On 1/9/09, Stephen Moore published a piece in the Wall Street Journal entitled, 'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years. I enjoyed Mr. Moore's piece and submitted the following to The Wall Street Journal:

During his 22 November radio broadcast, John Galt states:

“Drifters and physical laborers live and plan by the range of a day. The better the mind, the longer the range. A man whose vision extends to a shanty, might continue to build on your quicksands, to grab a fast profit and run. A man who envisions skyscrapers, will not. Nor will he give ten years of unswerving devotion to the task of inventing a new product, when he knows that gangs of entrenched mediocrity are juggling the laws against him, to tie him, restrict him and force him to fail…”

First the immediate crisis of liquidity in September that required emergency measures to get us through this “temporary” crisis… then the immediate crisis of the viability of the Big Three auto makers that required emergency measures to get us through this “temporary” crisis. Yesterday President-Elect Obama stated :

"I don’t believe it’s too late to change course, but it will be if we don’t take dramatic action as soon as possible… We won’t get out of it by…relying on the worn-out dogmas of the past.

"That is why I have moved quickly to work with my economic team and leaders of both parties on an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that will immediately jumpstart job creation and long-term growth. It’s a plan that represents not just new policy, but a whole new approach to meeting our most urgent challenges… It is time to finally change the ways of Washington so that we can set a new and better course for America."

Following this prelude, President Elect Obama proceeded to list the “new” spending plans with a promise that this “new” spending plan will be different in that it will “invest in what works”. An utter denial of reality. We are being extorted to deny what we think and know to be true and to believe the unreal. We are being extorted to suspend our reason and have mystic faith in “change”. We are being extorted to trust our lives to the new government.

Imagine, instead, if we heard the following yesterday:

“Stability and consistency of government policy being critical to the establishment of the trust necessary for every American to regain the promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the following policies shall be implemented by the incoming Administration:

• “The current tax system, including payroll taxes, and the IRS will be eliminated effective 1 January 2011, replaced by the Fair Tax Act. This act will eliminate the gross distortion in the market caused by the government and will reward production instead of consumption;

• “The sale of Health Insurance will be disconnected from employers and shall be sold in an open market similar to auto insurance, homeowners and life insurance;

• “Pet projects / pork-barrel spending shall be outlawed. No longer will people from Montana have to pay for construction of water slides in Florida.

• “Effective 1 January 2012, the United States will return to the Gold Standard”

Too much of the blame for the current state of economic affairs finds its roots in Washington policy to suggest that more of the same will prove effective. It is a denial of reality that we can “fix” the pain with another dose of government spending morphine in the short term to get us through this “temporary” rough patch. How many more “temporary emergencies”, typically created by government intervention, must we suffer before we realize that we need to take the long view? Or, are we simply incapable or unwilling to take the long view? Are we no longer capable of building skyscrapers?

Crossing the Rubicon

I wrote the following piece back on 10/26/08, admittedly from a dark vantage, and of course the Nashua Telegraph refused to run it...

Crossing the Rubicon (10/26/08)

In a chilling video I remember seeing several years ago, three young Bosnian men were being summarily executed by Serbians. As the first young man is shot, the correspondent narrates, “Note the equanimity and peace of mind of the boy on the left. He is already dead – and knows it – it’s just that the bullets haven’t passed through his body yet.”

I feel like that young man must have felt as we approach the coming election. Just as the young Bosnian knew his immediate fate, so do I. The election is already over, it’s just that the votes haven’t been cast yet. (Full disclosure – I am a republican, fiscal conservative and was a Romney supporter during the primaries).

On November 5th we will awaken to the realization that the Democrats will be in possession of the White House, the House of Representatives and a filibuster-proof Senate. Within two years it will have a Supreme Court that aligns with the liberal agenda. This unprecedented concentration of unchecked power will have profound and lasting impact on all Americans.

In an email entitled “Reaching 60” on 10/21, Hillary Clinton writes, “Sixty is the magic number. If we reach 60 Democrats in the Senate, then the days of Republican obstruction are over. With Barrack Obama and Joe Biden in the White House and a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish.”

She is correct. There will be no limits on the power of the Federal government until the election of ’10. Not since 1800, when the discredited Federalists were thrown out of office (with the exception of the Judiciary of John Marshall) will we have seen such a sweeping seizure of power in America.

Future historians will regard the Election of ’08 as an inflection point in American history. If, since FDR, we have been on an inexorable journey from one side of the river (capitalism, rugged individualism, personal accountability, upward mobility) to the other (re-allocation of earned wealth based on need), and we find ourselves already on the far side of the river, the Election of ’08 will signal the demolition of the bridges that could have brought us back to the America fought and died for by legions of our ancestors.

Americans will awaken on November 5th having crossed the Rubicon.

The rationale for every policy from November 5th onward will be based on “need”. Those that have a “need” (and can provide support to those in power – quid pro quo) shall be rewarded by the systemic taking and re-allocation from those who have earned this country’s wealth. Hard work and innovation will be rewarded with confiscation and vilification.

The targets in the first year will be the obvious “villains” of the liberals – Wall Street, Big Oil, Big Pharm, Big (fill in the blank). But what Americans have not thought through is what the Government will do when it has wreaked havoc on the biggest producers among us and “still” can’t understand why the country is dysfunctional. It will go after each of us. It will try to make us all into the cripples that are dependent on the government.

When “need” becomes the basis of claims against what we each earn, so long as there is a person who makes $1 less than you, your income is not safe. When Americans realize that THEY are the targets of the government’s next re-allocation scheme, it will be too late. After all, whom do we think will determine “need”? Within four years we will reach the goal of “fairness” that the current mob demands and that Obama seeks (it’s a good thing to spread the wealth around) – we will all be equally miserable and poor (except, of course, for those in Washington).

Yes, we are dead; it’s just that the bullets haven’t passed through us yet… unless we do not provide our consent on Election Day to our very extinction.

Craig Powers

Atlas Shrugged - The Prequel

One of the reasons I started this blog was the frustration I felt see letter after letter rejected by the local newspapers. So, while some of the next few posts may be dated by a few months, I think there messages are as timely today as the day I pecked them out on my keyboard. Enjoy...

Atlas Shrugged - The Prequel (12/6/08)

For those of you grasping for an understanding of the tumultuous and seemingly contradictory times in which we live as 2008 draws to an end, the answer is much closer than you may be willing to admit.

We are writing the unwritten story that is the prequel to Ayn Rand’s 51-year old apocalyptic epic Atlas Shrugged.

As Rand taught in Atlas Shrugged, contradictions cannot exist. As Rand writes, “A is A”, “A cannot be not-A”. We can claim that ‘A is not-A’ but saying so does not make it true. To claim “A is not-A” is simply a lie – the language of idiots, brutes and tyrants – not the language of free, honest men and women.

The government tells us that if we take money from those who produce the most and give the money to those who produce the least (in other words, the “Stimulus Package” of 2008) then our problems will go away. Of course, as we know, the “Stimulus Package” did not “work”, because of the moral contradiction inherent, but unchallenged, in its premise.

A society does not create wealth through consumption; it creates wealth through production. Our government fed us the unchallenged lie that we can consume our way into prosperity. When in the history of the planet has a society ever consumed its way into prosperity?

The other contradiction in the original stimulus package is the definition of what defines “success”. What was the desired effect of the “Stimulus Package”? To consume our way into prosperity? We know that to be false. No, the true purpose of the “Stimulus Package” was for those in power to take money from a group of people that has few votes and give that ill-taken loot to a group of people that has more votes.

When viewed within this context, there is no contradiction. Our politicians took, at the point of a gun, earned money from those who produce most and gave this unearned loot to those who produce least (or not at all) to buy their votes. There is no other explanation that does not contain a contradiction.

The initial “Stimulus Package” is all the more sinister due to its secondary and tertiary effects. First, the precedent is set that the government possesses the power and moral right to take (at the point of a gun) earned income from one American and give it to another. Obama said, “it’s a good thing to spread the wealth around”.

Less than a year after the first “Stimulus Package” our politicians are tripping over each other to give the money earned by one to anyone with a tin cup (the bigger the tin cup, the better).

Secondly, the government looters demand the fruit of production but vilify those who produce it. Who are the greatest “villains” in the eyes of the government, media, and, I dare say, Americans under the age of 25? Big Oil and Big Pharmacy. We demand oil products and miracle drugs like crack addicts and then crucify the CEO’s of the companies that produce the products we demand most in sham kangaroo courts called Congressional hearings. Do we not see the contradiction here?

The Big Three auto manufactures, with their $34B tin cup, make good cars (and to argue otherwise is immaterial) but do so at a price that Americans have been unwilling to pay.

Congress, this week, entertained placing further demands, at the point of a gun, upon my money to force a purchase of automobiles from Detroit that I refused to buy in the free market. Upon what legal or moral basis do we allow this?

Pelosi, Reid et al will claim that the Big 3 situation represents a potential calamity for all Americans if the Big 3 are allowed to fail. It is a lie. The political class is willing to give my money to the Big 3 in order to pander to the unions and to provide a quid pro quo for political contributions. There is no other conclusion that does not contain a contradiction.

18 months from now, the failed economic policy of wealth re-distribution that we are witnessing today will have only accelerated the destruction of the freedom of honest Americans.

Pockets of violence will crop-up as frustration devolves into despair. A new special police force will be established due to the “temporary emergency conditions” and firearms will be banned “for the public good during these trying times.” High profile cases of “greed” will be brought, not before rump Congressional Hearings but in front of Federal District Courts.

Production levels will drop precipitously as we continue the policy of consumption vs production and continue to vilify those who produce most. We will tax the biggest producers at unheard of levels “due to these temporary emergency conditions” and because the highest producers “don’t need” money nearly as much as the useless.

At least 52% of Americans believe that they are entitled to that which they have not earned. Until we have at least 50% of voting Americans stand up and say, “I am entitled to no more than that which I can produce as valued by those who would pay money for my products”, then there should be no mystery as to where America is headed. Ayn Rand documented that journey in 1957.

Craig Powers

Going Galt

Today I mailed a copy of Atlas Shrugged to President Obama, in the hopes that he will realize that we know what he is doing and that he will be held accountable. There is a nationwide campaign (click on the link to the left) to mail copies of Atlas Shrugged to our dear political leaders to let them know that their days in power are numbered if they continue on the perverse, disingenuous course they have set.

The "leaders" of our national government, and many of our state and local governments, are frantically working to cripple America and Americans as soon as possible. After all, cripples will forever be dependent on the table scraps from the national government and will forever be less inclined to vote for any candidate who speaks about individual responsibility, property rights, hard work, fiscal prudence, freedom and liberty.

Just as Ayn Rand taught that there can be no contradictions, it is only within the paradigm of "how can we cripple America before it catches on?" do the actions of the Obamacrats not produce a contradiction.

Spending our way to prosperity... increasing our taxes to stimulate us... respecting private property by taking ownership of private companies...by forcing companies to take federal "assistance" and then telling the companies how to run their businesses...

I am reminded of the wonderful line from Atlas Shrugged utter by Wesley Mouch, but words that very easily could come from the mouths of any Obamacrat: "The (Obama) Plan will reconcile all conflicts. It will protect the property of the rich and give a greater share to the poor. It will cut down the burden of your taxes and provide you with more government benefits. It will lower prices and raise wages. It will give more freedom to the individual and strengthen the bonds of collective obligations. It will combine the efficiency of free enterprise with the generosity of a planned economy."

Ayn Rand wrote those words 52 years ago but we are now hearing them, in some form, everyday from this cynically, corrupt and dangerous administration.

It's time for all us of to Go-Galt.

Below is my letter to President Obama

Dear President Obama:

As a US citizen, I am extremely concerned about the direction in which you and the Congress are leading this country.

The contradictions in your policies with both your campaign promises and with the principles that have made this country so great are deeply disturbing. Many of my constituents here in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, many of whom voted for you last November, have experienced a similar pattern of emotional response to your socialist policies. Hope gave way to wonder which gave way to rationalization, which gave way to disbelief which gave way to anger which has now, finally, given way to action. We will not be enslaved by your ambitious agenda.

The utter disregard you have displayed for private property, the proper role of government and the importance of job creation has not been missed by this nation’s voters. You have not only implemented policies that look to seize the fruits or production (higher taxes on the country’s most productive elements) but, now, with your takeover of AIG and GM (Government Motors) you are seizing the means of production.

Your disregard for the right of the individual to set the direction for his or her own life, and to retain the products of his or her own efforts, is generating a rising tide of resentment among the more productive members of society, which is fermenting into deep discontent, as witnessed by the recent flurry of Tea Party protests across the nation and by the outcry of numerous political commentators.

Banks across the country are desperately trying to give back the TARP money it wants off its books because of the demands your gang are placing upon them – yet you refuse to accept the taxpayer money back. Both Secretary Clinton and Mr. Emanuel displayed “the consciousness of the king” when they stated that they didn’t want to “waste” the opportunity of the current economic crisis. I need no other data to understand your true, socialist, motivations and will actively work to educate my fellow-countrymen to the risk your policies pose to our country.

The nature of our current problems and the consequences of these problems were identified by Ayn Rand in her novel, Atlas Shrugged, and that prophetic novel foretells a bleak future for us all should we continue along our current path. I am enclosing a copy of that book with this letter in the hopes that you will read it, take its message to heart, and that you will ultimately stop the damage that is being done to our country. Should you not “get out of our way” you will forever be known as President “Thompson”.

Sincerely,

Craig S. Powers
31 Cedar Street
Hudson, NH 03051