Savage Republican

When we moved to the suburbs when I was 4, I remember going back to Minneapolis to visit Grandpa and Grandma. I remember on one visit looking south down Bryant Avenue from 24th Street and seeing that the elms on both sides made an arching tunnel across the street as far as I could see. And when I visited my grandparents over the years, I noticed the tunnel on all the city streets. And then Dutch Elm Disease struck. And the battle was on. But after much success, the battle waned until recently.
Today, I read this story www.startribune.com/stories/484/5499641.html . I noticed that this was true neighborhood activism. That the players went door to door to alert and inform their neighbors. They didn’t go to the Feds. They didn’t go to the state. They did it themselves. They did go to the Mpls. Park Board to encourage them to make a statement, but didn’t hit them up for money.
Good for them for what they’re doing and how they’re doing it.
Now, if we could get people to stop stealing from their neighbors by force of law to promote state welfare and all attendant ills and go about true welfare reform through truly compassionate means…

In case you thought the G8 was a waste of the attendees time, and your money:
www.fee.org/vnews.php?nid=7030

We heard about the London terror bombings and remembered 9-11. And I now hear some people snidely comment “That’s the best they can do?” I’m not so smug.Nor that arrogant. Always remember, these people are true believers and fully believe that killing non=Muslims is truly their god’s will.
Fox News had a special outlining the connection between Muslim terrorists and street gangs. One gang held out for special note is MS13, a very violent street gang originally out of El Salvador. It’s worth noting MS13 is no longer considered a crime problem but a national security problem. And today, I read in WorldNetDaily that a month after 9-11, George Tenet told the President that there was intelligence that at least two suitcase nukes were in the United States in the hands of Al Quaida operatives (www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45203 ). It also appears that the conduit was over the Mexican border with the assistance of MS13. And yet:”However, it is worth noting that Bush failed to translate this policy into securing the U.S.-Mexico border through which the nuclear weapons and al-Qaida operatives are believed to have passed with the help of the MS-13 smugglers. He did, however, order the building of underground bunkers away from major metropolitan areas for use by federal government managers following an attack.”
And the left only worries about the thermostat settings and properly handled Korans at Gitmo.

So, we have a budget deal.How wonderful. So, who won:
Oh, goody. The 9,000 non-essential state employees are back at work (well, not work, but employment).$900,000,000 in possible savings lost to the real workers in the state, the taxpayer.
Education (and I use term quite liberally-pun intended), so there is an increase the money wasted so little Michael and Matthew and Jessica and Ashley will be taught that evil white men founded America, the country that is responsible for all the world’s evil. The winners? The teachers union.
Minn Care-that wonderful program that you’ll notice that the taxpayer pays for by that 2.5% addition to the bottom of your physicians bill (a few years back my Mom (who is a widow) asked me what this 2.5% addition was at the bottom of her doctor bill. I told her. She said “I need to pay my own bill and for insurance and pay for others too?”) This part of the government is out of control and absolutely unsustainable according to the governor. The winners? Non-producers/takers in the state.
And a question to any and all the legilastors and Governor Pawlenty: What program was cut? And I mean REALLY cut? Eliminated? Not just spending not as much as was planned! With the fact that the state budget has more than DOUBLED from 10 years ago, there wasn’t a single program that could be eliminated? There wasn’t 10% of the non-essential workers jobs that could have been eliminated? None? Anyplace?
And the losers in all this? The taxpayers. The providers. The job creators and real wealth producers.
Wait a minute. There is ray of hope for the taxpayers…they got the re-opening of road side rest areas.
Note to all wealth creators, job creators and real workers-Be sure to stop at a road side rest area and leave a message about the budget deal.

P.S. Just read the article in Pravda on the Mississippi about the poor non-essential 9,000.
I heard someone who works in the private sector say that he’d never expect the legislature to argue for his job. Plus, he would never be assured that he would get his job back if he were laid off. And all the non-essentials knew they’d be going back too work. Not so with laid off employees in the wealth creation sector.
P.P.S.-From todays Pravda editorial proving that the left can’t spend it fast enough and no amount of money is ever enough “None of those things could be said about the skimpy budget that Pawlenty proposed six months ago. “

We had one of those sermons in church today that was designed to speak on multiple levels. The main level was relying on God for everything, but it is one of the sub levels that hit me the hardest. For months prior to the last Presidential election, you heard the arguements that put God on both sides of some pretty basic and divisive issues – abortion and homosexual marriage. Now before anyone gets their hackles up – I am not going to say either side is “right” or “wrong”, instead I am going to make so general observations on those that try to bend religion to suit their point of view. It was put to us in this manner, Christ’s followers are his sheep and those that claim to follow him but spend all of their time butting their heads against his word (twisting it to suit their current needs) are goats.

The Bible consists of many different styles of writing – instructional, narrative, historical and poetic. You would not read a poem with the same mindset that you would read an instruction manual, nor would you read a historical tome with the same mindset that you would read a narrative story. One of the “instructional” passages states that a follower of God should not commit murder. To me that seems to be pretty straightforward, basic instruction – don’t murder other people! Which is why it stuns me to see people who profess to be Christians who try to twist Scripture to justify murdering another human being – whether it be abortion or killing abortion doctors!

The main point of the sermon was “what are you after?” Are you following Christ’s path for inner peace or the world’s peace (or a piece of the world)? Are you joyful in his eternal path or are you looking for utopia today? Are we desiring Christ’s companionship and approval or are we desiring the world’s approval and companionship? In the long run – that is what we Christians have to figure out for ourselves. Are we in it for the world’s approval or His? WWJD is a nice little marketing scheme, but think about it. What we know about Jesus we can find in the New Testament. According to that, would Jesus approve of the abortion of a “pre-born” child or would he be one to fight for that child? His Word has the answer. Would Jesus support gay marriage? Again the NT gives you a pretty clear picture of what He sees marriage as being?

You can’t be Catholic and support abortion the Pope says. What say you? Are you a sheep or a goat?

I don’t know how many of you remember the recent IBM ads with Knights of the Round Table.
There is one where it’s acknowledged that there is a grievous threat approaching the kingdom.
King Arthur asks what weapon shall be used? A consultant addresses the king and suggests a catapult. When asked what ammunition shall be used, the consultant heaves a large bag up onto the Round Table that jingles and jangles. Arthur looks at the consultant and asks with an incredulous tone “You propose to throw money at the problem?” “Precisely” says the consultant. Arthur puts his head in his hands.
And once again, we see the lefties in control of the G8, including GWB, where they propose to throw money (other peoples money, your money, taken by force) at the problem of African poverty. Now, never mind that nowhere in history, especially recent history is there ANY evidence that giving someone else’s money to poor strangers has ever alleviated poverty.That they admit as much as they are being told by long hair aging millionaire hippies to forgive/cancel debt from development loans that never worked and the development didn’t happen, despite the fact that the plan was that they would create a paradise of development and the loans would be paid back with interest! Matter of fact they, and all such programs, only make the victims of government largesse poorer (namely the wealth creator, the worker and job creator). And by recent history, I would have hoped that GWB would have said to the G7, in that light Texas drawl,”Look y’all. We over there in good ol’ America have found that in the $6,000,000,000,000 War on Poverty that, well, poverty wins. All the money, and all the programs in America just haven’t changed human nature. Dang it. We’ve had the same success passing laws about day light savings. But, we don’t get anymore sunlight.Dang it again. All we can do is take from sunrise and give to sunset. It just don’t work. Seems it hasn’t worked in any of your countries either. Y’all know, seems to me that every single plan we’ve ever come up never works. And yet, we keep coming up with them there plans. And we keep promising that this new plan, or any new plan, will be the one that works. And also will cure all the problems that the old one, all the old ones, didn’t. Or the problems that the old plans created. Ya know, these plans and us, well they kinda remind me of Lucy and Charlie Brown and a football. Y’all remember Peanuts? Oh. Didn’t get that comic in the Sunday funnies in your country, did ya? Well let’s try something else other than what those rich music hippies over there are proposing (By the way, anybody know where and when they’re giving up their millions for African poverty? Anyone know? They aren’t? Oh.). Private enterprise seems to work well. Hey, isn’t that the way those ol’ music hippies made their millions? Private enterpirse? Free markets? Seems free enterprise does work. At least if you’ve got a Fender Stratocaster or two and a few millions watts of amplification. Free enterprise? As long as we in the government stay out of the way. Whaddaya think guys?”
A wonderful analysis is G8-Socialist Gospel at www.thomasbrewton.com/ .
Also, what is the largest source of foreign aid? www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1435769/posts The source will surprise you. Then again, maybe not.

I agree with my colleague, Savage Republican, and I won’t blog on for days about London.I’ve been to London and Great Britain twice. It appears that all my friends are safe, but scarred. I remember my own feelings on 9-11. Other than shock, I was angry. No, that’s not accurate. I was furious! I even tried to enlist.The Brits are our closest friends. An attack on them is an attack on me and my friends.
And I also agree with Savage Republican in substance about the left-they don’t get it, ever!
The first mouthful of hate they spilled out was “It’s GWB’s fault. Iraq. That’s why they hit London!” etc.I heard James Lileks last night on Hugh Hewitt (5-8, AM1280 The Patriot). He made the point that the radicals on the left forgot that OBL, in 1998, came out for war on America because of UN sanctions on Iraq (hey, wait a minute. Who was President again in 1998? Oh, that’s right. He was distracted because of the vast right wing conspiracy uncovered by the smartest woman in the world, his wife, the Co-President.).And so, if we didn’t invade Iraq, and Saddam were still running rape rooms with 12 year old girl victims, and his sons were still torturing national soccer players for losing, and there were many more billions in the food for oil scandal (that makes Enron look like a lemonade stand operation), that if ALL these were still in effect (and you never, ever hear the lefty pukes saying they’re glad these horrors are gone) that there would never ever be another bombing. Ever?!?!
And OBL was convinced that America would flee at any confrontation thanks to the cut and run we did in Somalia in 1993.Hey, wait another minute..who was the President in 1993?
And so, MR. and Msssssssssss Lefty, why the bombings in Bali? Why 9-11? Why the first WTC bombings (who was the President then?)? Why the embassy bombings in East Africa(who was the President then?)? The Cole bombing (who was the President then?)? What was the impetus for all these bombings?
The left’s hatred for Bush shows so wonderfully how they have no reason, no logic. Ever.Their hatred for Bush passes their desire for anything else, including defense…other than getting rid of GWB. It would appear that this hatred has no end, and I would hope that it continues, as it would even eclipse their desire for self-preservation. Should life be so good.
This shows why these people, at any level (national, state, local) can not be allowed to even put their fingers, let alone their hands, on the levers of power.

I didn’t plan to blog on London for days.
I was instead worrying about my fellow workers in London (so far it appears none were injuried) and privatly admire the courage of the English people. But what I heard on local radio in MN forced me to at least make one comment.

As I was driving yesterday evening, I was searching for a station and scan stopped on Air America.
What I heard next was in some ways surprising and in other ways, I guess, what I expected.
After a quick (and unfunny) fake news headlines, Garafalo started her show talking about the bombings that morning (or afternoon) in London.
Her whole opening monologue was about how self absorbed we white anglos were. That people died all the time in Africa and Middle East. That the criminals who did this, if you want to call them criminals or terrorists or freedom fighters, are no different then the ones who are killing people in the Middle East and Africa everyday. And the fact that people are dying from bombs or from …

And here we get to part were are liberal friends just don’t get it …..

People dying from bombs or from the neglect of the G8 who are meeting ..
She then went on to start her show.

So there we have it again.
People who target civilians and plan the attack for the time when most people are in the area of the bombs are the moral equivalent of you and me, because we are not giving money to the corrupt governments of Africa who are slaughtering there own people.

And the left wonders why they continue to lose.

More later…

I had the opportunity to be on a conference call with several of the leadership of the Minnesota Republican Party today. The subject of the call – officially – was the partial government shut down and the state of the negotiations. Governor Pawlenty was on the call to tell us about the progress (or lack thereof). We were not two minutes into the call when the real subject of the call (to me) became apparent. To me it appeared that the call was a set up for a bomb that is about to be dropped on us. The Governor spoke about how tough it is for “us” to get things passed with a closely divided government and how compromises are going to need to be made – short term compromises – in order to get this crisis resolved. Now, I will readily admit that I am still trying to digest the information that was dispensed today and I am certainly not attempting to put words in the Governor’s mouth, but it a)sure sounds like a compromise is imminent and b) the base is not going to like it.

There is certainly nothing that I can say about todays sad news out of London that has not already been said, other than to say that the people of London are in my prayers tonight! Prime Minister Blair has a tough road ahead of him and he will certainly need our prayers as well.