Conservative Soup - food for thought

After a long and well deserved break, The Soup is back. Clearer minds have prevailed and the world could use a "dash of optimism". Who couldn't use a good bowl of soup?

~Milt

Even if he is innocent of the death of Jonbennet Ramsey, you have to love the fact that the major media is forced to expose freaks like John Mark Karr for what they are: sick sonsa-bitches!

Too frequently, we hear of his type getting a slap on the wrist for committing the atrocities that he undoubtly has committed...then getting defended by the liberal media as being victims themselves!

Let the peaceniks anti-capital punishment crowd defend this sick bastard!! Put him in a vise and squeeze the puss out of this sick freak.

Will

I’ve noticed that many bicycle riders do not obey traffic signs. They seem to be above the law when it comes to safety. This picture should slow them down.

~Milt

Have you ever noticed that a song always solves a problem in a musical? I have taken this practice and am applying it to real life. Imagine how bright and sunny every day would become. Try singing and dancing your way out of a speeding ticket or an IRS audit. Who knows, they might join in with you.

~Milt

As a follow up to my previous post, I am searching for some land to purchase in Northern Montana. I need at least 50 acres with a shack to live in. If a shack is not available, a cave will suffice. This will be part of my mental cleansing process. The acreage must have cellular access.

~Milt

With the birth of our twin daughters approaching, I am noticing that I am having trouble focusing on what used to be important to me. I feel like I’m taking on the “what matters to my family” approach in life. This is a good occurrence no doubt, but I tend to swing the pendulum too far at times. My attention to politics, baseball, world events, and ESPN is all but gone. Is this a pre-parental phase that men go through to focus on the upcoming challenges of fatherhood? Take the war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Israel for example, I’m tired of it. Not that I do not support freedom’s cause in the world, because I do, I’m just mentally exhausted over thinking about the world’s problems. I need to take a mental break and come back fresh for the elections in November. I’m still going to post on the blog at least weekly, but it will be a myriad of topics. Any thoughts?

~Milt

It’s easy to get down on the world today. With cable news and the local newspaper, I don’t have to leave the house for my daily dose of world condemnation. At times I throw my hands in the air in disgust with the mass hatred that has spread around the world. I have to wonder if we as humans have always had this much hatred for our brothers, or are we getting better at telling everyone about it. The Middle East has their television stations that are dedicated to spreading the word of hatred to every open ear. Is technology bringing us closer together and therefore nurturing this hatred even more. It is getting harder and harder to keep a positive attitude toward each other with all of the hatred floating through our airwaves.
I have turned to a new solution to cure myself of this pain, I watch Spongebob Squarepants. Spongebob is the ultimate envoy of peace. We need to have the UN send Spongebob into the Middle Hell and sit down with all of the hate groups. Watch an episode of Spongebob and you’ll see his diplomatic tongue in action as his hateful best friend Squidward tries to push Spongebob out of bikini Bottom. He deals with his money hungry boss Mr. Crabs in a very humble manner giving his 110% best to be the best fry cook he can be and he never asks for more money.
A loyal friend to Patrick and an open heart to Plankton, Spongebob is the nurturing presence we need in our lives. My solution for the hatred in this world, a 6 pack and some Spongebob. We should be dropping tapes of Spongebob in the Middle Hell and we’ll see who’s killing who in a week.

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea………..
~Milt

I attended a seminar yesterday morning about socialized medicine. The presenter was a very well informed MD that had all of the statistics demonstrating how bad our health care system is and how the corporate Executives are becoming extremely rich while everyone else is footing the bill. This might be true, in some ways. Some of his points were interesting and I would agree to some extent that our poor are underserved in receiving medical care. It's not the "poor" that get screwed on this deal, states like ours in the Midwest have one hell of a program for the "poor", it's the "working poor" that take it in the shorts. It's unfortunate for the families where both parents work for little over minimum wage and cannot afford to pay for employer provided healthcare plans.
Is a "National Health Plan" needed to provide coverage for all? I am strongly against this "fix" to the problem. This is another facet in life that should not be turned over to the government. The National Health Care movement is gaining traction, but is still a long way from being viable in my opinion. I have compiled my thought on why a "Canadian" health program is a bad idea:

1) First, you have to believe access to healthcare is a right not a privilege. (I'm not, sure where I stand on this.)
2) We will not have a successful tort reform policy with the current bill of lawyers in Congress.
3) Too many people are making too much money in this business=POWERFUL LOBBY
4) If Uncle Sam started paying the bill, reimbursement rates would fall, shareholder value would diminish, facilities would shrink, and R&D would dramatically slow. This is a chain reaction that would halt any economic growth in the future.
5) We do not need to pay another 5-15% tax on our income. (The wealthy would have an all-in tax rate of around 60% once state and local taxes are included, VIVA LE FRANCE!)
6) Massive layoffs, as the private insurers would no longer be needed.
7) Waiting lists for non-critical surgeries.
8) We would be more like FRANCE and CANADA!
~Milt

I'm feeling a little uneasy about the battles erupting in Southern Lebanon over the past weeks. I have this unsettling notion that Syria, Iran, and Al-Qaida forces are behind the Hezbollah attacks on Northern Israeli cities. Is this going to escalate into WWIII as Newt suggests? Is the under belly of the Middle East taking a stand against Democracy? Think about it; the United States has historically supported Israel since its birth in 1947, if we back Israel now, can we fight in three different countries at the same time (Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon/Israel)? The reality is; we are involved whether we like it or not. Iranian Hezbollah welcomes war with Israel and Uncle Sam.

~Milt

After a long absence, I am back in the kitchen brewing up some more dishes for CS. I hope we have not lost some regular traffic in our staleness over the past thirty days. I think Will and is ready to rock and roll and hopefully our Truth Pain friend from the Left Coast will contribute some interesting dialogue. Much has happened over the last month in the world, should make for some good bantor.

~Milt

I have recently transferred to another office within the corporation that I work. I will leave out the particulars, but I have moved to a mid-west college town that is extremely liberal. I feel like the guy who wore the suit to the casual affair. I really do stick out like a sore thumb. As I try to stay within the banker circles in town, I am quietly trying to soak in the new atmosphere and sift out the crap. Although alienated, I am trying to step back and discover what I can learn about these people for which I cannot understand. I'm not trying to say that being a liberal makes someone a "bad person", but the ultra-liberals are too much for me to comprehend. After observing my first anti-war rally on Wednesday this is a brief outline of my thoughts of how ultra-liberals think:

1) Although an ultra liberal will tell you how much they feel something is wrong or unjust, they do not take action to change it. Screaming and yelling seem to be the mode of choice for them.
2) No matter who you are, you cannot possibly be as intelligent and enlightened as an ultra- liberal.
3) I am a sellout to society because I have chosen a profession and choose to work for someone else for a living. I am a sheep that works for a corporation that wants to take over the world and make everyone else poor. (This is the 10 year college student version)
4) No one is at fault for their own personal mistakes. It is much easier to point the blame at others.
5) Republicans and Christians are to blame for most of the world's problems.
6) America is an oppressor that yields its power on innocent and defenseless nations.
7) Cutting your hair is frowned upon.

I have already rocked the boat in town as I am not hiding my personal beliefs that contradict all of these views metinoned above. I am already known as a deer killing maniac to a few because I enjoy bow hunting. I can't wait to hang my first deer in my side yard this fall! I'm looking forward to some of the conversations I will be having in the coming years with my neighbors, co-workers, and new friends. Hopefully, I can help them ease their pain and give them a healthy serving of conservative soup.

~Milt

This is really a companion piece to Dardin's excellent "When the good of the party trumps the good of the nation". Dardin's post hit some points that I feel so strongly about that I felt compelled to do something more than leave a comment to it.

To start, I also consider myself more Libertarian than Republican. Actually, I view "true" Conservatives as the same. The problem is that the Conservative (or Right-Wing) moniker has been attached to many questionable agendas. For example, many Conservatives are considered racists to the degree that if you are a racist, it is assumed that you are a right-winger!

One of the points of Dardin, Milt, and Will's "Conservative Soup" Blog is that it is based on our individual values and not a party line. The one thing that draws me toward Libertarianism is the fact that the party is value-based (much like this Blog of our's). The foundation of minimal government intervention into the lives of Americans. Neither Dems or Repubs can make a claim that their platform can be boiled down to a one-sentence essence such as this (my favorite example of this fact is the Republican change of stance on term-limitations since gaining Congressional power). By definition, a Libertarian would cease to be a Libertarian upon a similar change of stance. Interesting thought.

The idea of "Conservative v. Liberal" is starting to give me pause now. As I view the world, I don't merely filter my thoughts based upon whether my view is "Right or Left". I try to insert a little "right or wrong" (no, that doesn't mean that I think Left equals wrong!). Many would think my many of my beliefs are Left. I just think they are right: I do believe we have a responsibility to help the poor of the world (I just believe that it is an individual responsibility, not the government's). I believe we need to be responsible stewards of our environment. I believe that all races and genders are equal. I believe that killing is wrong (but, sometimes unavoidable in order to ultimately save lives). The common thread is love and compassion for God's creatures. Hatred leads to division. That's not Left, Right, Conservative, or Liberal. It is just...well, correct.

Should we rename Conservative Soup? Good question.

Will

We can thank God (and the U.S. military) that this monster did not survive the blast. The world will now be aleviated the need to endure another trial mockery (read: Saddam and Milosevic).

The death of al-Zarqawi (and hopefully a few of his minions) will undoubtly save many more death of innocents. No trial, no witnesses, no fearful judges, no delays...only justice.

al-Zarqawi had already been sentenced to death TWICE by the country of Jordan (a supporter of the war on terror).

Some even claim that he was too violent even for bin Laden.

Good riddance...and I am glad you got to see the American soldiers that helped you leave.

Will

Stay tuned for my series about welcoming Mexico as the 51st State. This should be a real hoot. I will cover cheap tequilla, donkey accidents, worthless currencies, and vacation hot spots!

More to come...

~Milt

There ain't no good guys,
There aint no bad guys,
there's only you and me,
and we just dis-agree...

-Dave Mason-

The past few weeks in bloggerland have been somewhat depressing. Those with whom I've had the pleasure in communicating with can testify to our common theme of the moment,.. the insane "absolute-ism" that exists in the political discourse. No liberal wants to give a conservative credit for anything, no conservative wants to get caught dead agreeing with a liberal, etc. Why does partisanship trump the better of the nation? why do we each feel that EVERYTHING our platform stands for is better that what YOURS stands for? How can it be that we dis-agree on 95% of everything... is it that difficult to give credit to opposing views when they show you a better path than your own?

Take foreign policy. Libertarians believe in virtually no foreign policy intervention whatsoever. An almost Wilsonian credo to our platform. If Hitler incarnate were to rise in the halls of the Kaiser's palace my party would say "Screw you Europe, you're on your own, its not our problem". There is a troubling absolute-ism to this issue that makes me think not everything in my party makes sense. I think most of us can readily agree that although we agree with a majority of our own partisan platform, the rest is just appeasement for the fringe elements that help us in the primaries,.. at least that is my view. Why not be honest then? Example, I am fully for a woman's right to choose and never talk about the subject as it is polarizing to the 12th degree, but that does not mean that the casual view of late term partial birth abortion is something I subscribe to (save the slippery slope argument, I know it..). For reasons of my own and that I choose not to share that's where I draw my line. There HAS to be a point that we as people can say, "Although I am a loyal partisan, my party is out to lunch in this issue and I do not support this or that"...

So in order to fully whip my own self, cleanse my own soul, and flog my own beliefs I offer you 3 things I DON'T fully or partially agree with within my own Party. There,.. I said it! (is this what AA meetings feel like?.... ) All of these are taken from the issues page of the libertarian party home page. My comments are in blue. (http://www.lp.org/)

1. Ending Welfare
"None of the proposals currently being advanced by either conservatives or liberals is likely to fix the fundamental problems with our welfare system. Current proposals for welfare reform, including block grants, job training, and "workforce" represent mere tinkering with a failed system. It is time to recognize that welfare cannot be reformed: it should be ended.We should eliminate the entire social welfare system. This includes eliminating AFDC, food stamps, subsidized housing, and all the rest. Individuals who are unable to fully support themselves and their families through the job market must, once again, learn to rely on supportive family, church, community, or private charity to bridge the gap"
(Although I agree in principle with this ideal, practically speaking we know there in no way in hell this will ever happen. I wish my party would come to a practical solution that is palatable to all and not seem as draconian. My Girlfriend almost had a heart attack when I sent her this...)

2. Reform Education
"There can be no serious attempt to solve the problem of poverty in America without addressing our failed government-run school system. Nearly forty years after Brown vs. Board of Education, America's schools are becoming increasingly segregated, not on the basis of race, but on income. Wealthy and middle class parents are able to send their children to private schools, or at least move to a district with better public schools. Poor families are trapped -- forced to send their children to a public school system that fails to educate.It is time to break up the public education monopoly and give all parents the right to decide what school their children will attend. It is essential to restore choice and the discipline of the marketplace to education. Only a free market in education will provide the improvement in education necessary to enable millions of Americans to escape poverty"
(Again, I think there is enough education spectrum and diversity of thought so as to make public schools, charter schools, private schools, home-schooling and other methods co-exist and not pee on each other as if they are afraid of loosing their political or union clout. Education as a whole should trump our individual career agendas, not the other way around)

3. Immigration:
"We welcome all refugees to our country and condemn the efforts of U.S. officials to create a new "Berlin Wall" which would keep them captive. We condemn the U.S. government's policy of barring those refugees from our country and preventing Americans from assisting their passage to help them escape tyranny or improve their economic prospects"
(I love my party, but they are freakin' nuts in this issue! For a party that is for fiscal discipline and strong individual responsibility they sure act as if I love paying taxes for the caring of every refugee who can make it here,... I sure as heck dont!)

Now, If I can just get a Democrat and a Republican to tell me what 3 items on their platform are full of it, we may yet save ourselves from ourselves. This Libertarian man did not vote for Mr. Bush, but if I think pragmatically (and close my eyes really tight...) and look at every thing he has done, I find some things that I can applaud and hail as noteworthy in his tenure as President,... and believe me, its not that hard. It just takes loving your country more that you love you party.

Publius of Protect and Defend wrote a Posting of a subject that I think needs bearing. What if our southern neighbor countries were all of European descent and culture?, and were mostly Caucasian?.... What if Europe itself was there and not Mexico....Think of the possibilities and ramifications as it applies to today's socio-politics. Is it really Illegal immigration most of America is harping about? or is it the TYPE of illegal aliens we don't approve of?.... Would the cross-border problems of health, drugs, language etc be as blatant? or would they be more palatable...I'll shut up now, read the piece and make up your own mind...

The US-led coalition of nations is meeting in Vienna today to have "dialogue" about the cessation of the enrichment of uranium by Iran. Iran's Foreign Minister is open to "dialogue" as long as Iran does not give up its "nuclear rights". I'm curious where these talks are going to lead the world. Iran is a known aggressor-nation that harbors terrorists and openly preaches about the destruction of Israel. What type of incentives can this group of nations offer Iran that will appease its hatred of the West and non-muslims in general? At least we know that with Condi at the helm of these negotiations, we will not end up with an Albright solution of billions of dollars in aid and continued proliferation as the Clinton Administration did with North Korea.
I applaud President Bush with his attempts to diplomatically solve this problem, but what happens if Iran will not budge? Are we, as a nation, prepared to take action or sanctions if necessary? Military action is not out of the question, especially with our troops in the Region.

~Milt~

Here at Conservative Soup, we work hard to provide insightful commentary on issues that we feel are important. The recent addition of Dardin Edward has expanded our contributing staff to the "left coast" area of California. I would like to thank Will and Dardin Edward for their hard work and thoughtful bantor. More importantly, I would like to salute Will with his passion to CS as the founding member. Will, I hope you're having fun on the beach and drinking away any concerns you might have.

~Milt~

Our Founding Fathers have to be rolling in their graves right now. The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads in part by stating:

No person shall be . . . deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

In Kelo et al V. City of New London et al, the Supreme Court upheld (5-4) the City of New London's expansionary plan to "take" the land of private owners and turn it over to a local developer to improve the area for the city's benefit. A passage from the concurring decision is written below:

(b) The city’s determination that the area at issue was sufficiently distressed to justify a program of economic rejuvenation is entitled to deference. The city has carefully formulated a development plan that it believes will provide appreciable benefits to the community, including, but not limited to, new jobs and increased tax revenue. As with other exercises in urban planning and development, the city is trying to coordinate a variety of commercial, residential, and recreational land uses, with the hope that they will form a whole greater than the sum of its parts. To effectuate this plan, the city has invoked a state statute that specifically authorizes the use of eminent domain to promote economic development. Given the plan’s comprehensive character, the thorough deliberation that preceded its adoption, and the limited scope of this Court’s review in such cases, it is appropriate here, as it was in Berman, to resolve the challenges of the individual owners, not on a piecemeal basis, but rather in light of the entire plan. Because that plan unquestionably serves a public purpose, the takings challenged here satisfy the Fifth Amendment . P. 13.

This type of judicial logic used by our left friends on the bench has to be stopped. It reminds me of a bunch of wealthy Aristocrats, drinking tea, looking over the city below discussing how they can make it better by bulldozing the low-income areas and building condos for their cousins to live in. What do you think Buffy? This precedent gives way for any government entity to exercise eminent domain by using a "comprehensinve plan" developed to Economically rejuvenate a depressed area.

With many of the industrialized urban areas in the Midwest's cities becoming a ghost town, private property owners need to be concerned about what "County Gov't Joe" wants to do with your property while he is driving home to the suburbs. With Comprehensive Plans becoming more popular within small communities (<20,000), this issue will become ever increasingly dangerous. This nation was founded, and blood has been spilled, for private property rights. Have we traded King George for County Commissioner Steve?

~Milt~

Using the war on terrorism for political gain began immediately during the days following 9/11. Many public figures began expressing their fear of the inevitable U.S. retaliation. They hoped for patience and understanding - thoughtful reflection - before American action. They insisted we seek to understand why radical Muslim groups hated the United States rather than to recognize their evil ways and against them. Nightly, we heard the "intellectually superior" tell us that we needed to reflect on why these groups wanted to see Americans die and that we were wrong in wanting to defend ourselves. This was where the politicizing the war on terror began.

On United Flight 93 over Pennsylvania, a group of American heroes were about to save the lives of hundreds (or perhaps thousands) of other Americans by sacrificing their own. These heroes left an indelible mark when they fought that evil aboard that plane. They took immediate action to eliminate them. The call of "Let’s roll!" has become synonymous with bravery and heroism. While they certainly regretted that innocent women and children were about to die in their heroic efforts, they brought the plane down in a fiery crash that will always be etched in our minds. I can remember a strange sense of relief (and immence pride) when I learned that the heroes on board that flight foiled that evil plot. How would this have played out if there was a protest to American defensive action aboard Flight 93?

What if there were other Americans aboard the plane blaming our leaders in Washington for the radicals that high-jacked that plane? Would the rest of the passengers stand idly by and watch the plane hit the White House or perhaps another building full of innocents? What would happen while the passengers reflected on the highjacker’s hatred for us? Would that not strengthen the resolve of the terrorists and make their mission more achievable?

Those of us that despise war and long for a more peaceful world need understand that what happened over Pennsylvania is much the same as the war on terrorism. It is regrettable that innocent people have died, that American soldiers have said "Let's roll!" only to die in their own fiery crash. But, we have not initiated the decision to do battle in Iraq and Afghanistan any more than the innocent victims of Flight 93 boarded that plane with the intention of having it dive into a Pennsylvania field. Those that blame American first are giving the terrorists more resolve and their missions more achievable.

The Blame America First Crowd began chanting protests of American Imperialism because of our movement to eliminate the Taliban. Their cries have grown louder as we have moved into Iraq. Now with every American set-back in Iraq, their shrillness is almost unbearable.

President Bush, at worst, made a public relations mistake by placing so much emphasis on the weapons of mass destruction -although those fears were legitimate, his mistake that would provide more ammunition for the "Blame American First" crowd and for the those that want to terrorize our nation when those weapons were found to be missing. Note: the terrorists had no weapons of mass destruction on 9/11. They improvised.

On 9/11, how many of us would have predicted nearly five years without a terrorist strike within the borders of our country? Scantly a few, I am sure. These anti-American groups have gravitated to Iraq to fight our way of living. However, this time, they have been met with Americans with the arms to beat them.

Will

"It's time for us to rebuild a New Orleans, the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans. And I don't care what people are saying in Uptown or wherever they are. This city will be chocolate at the end of the day. This city will be a majority African-American city. It's the way God wants it to be. You can't have it no other way."
New Orleans Mayor - C. Ray Nagin

Ray Nagin's acceptance speech had the usual politico-speak of "togetherness" and "no black or white" but a one-color New Orleans. To the credit of both candidates, they did keep things fairly clean during the course of the election process. But saying that New Orleans "would once again be a chocolate city" back in the days after Katrina, and then pandering to the non-black citizens that were annoyed at his "chocolate" comment, is another example of two distinct ironies in American Politics.

One: They forget that at times, things they say in the heat of the moment comes across as dumb and Ill-spoken. To make things worse, those very same words are hypocritical in the very end,..to say the least.
Two: That the American media gives a free pass to Black and Latino politicians who blatantly say divisive and racially charged remarks. Imagine if Mitch Landrieu would have been the Mayor of a mostly-caucasian town and would have mouthed that "This city will be a Vanilla City once again".... The press would have beat him to a pulp, the Black Community would have demanded his resignation, streets would have burned, liberals from coast to coast would have had Cry-in's, Blogger's-ville would have called him a racist supremacist and Jesse Jackson would have been mugging for every camera in sight. Go ahead and tell me that I am exagerating.

Just as society should nail to the wall any non-black public servant who makes a remark like that, so should we give no quarter to our Black American brethren who insert foot-in-mouth with such elegant aplomb.

This, and other events like this, are a constant reminder that "America the beautiful is also (at times) America the blind" (I've blatantly plagiarized and somewhat edited that line from the late ABC anchorman Frank Reynolds)

Man, this blogging world can get serious in a hurry. I've been doing this regurlarly for about a month and a half and already I've aged a few years and care more about things than I care to care about... did that make ANY sense to anybody? So in the interest of adding a measure of levity to an otherwise bombastic posting, I offer this.

Isn't the Glen Beck show cool? As a self professed news and web junkie I love the Cable talk shows. Chris Mathews (fast, insightful, pitbull determination, but too much fawning over Theresa Heinz-Kerry), Keith Olberman (VERY good, leftist view nonewithstanding... talent is talent), Bill O'reilly (I liked him more a few years ago before he gave Falafel a bad name...) Lou Dobbs (love the show, and even more since he's been on the illegal immigration wagon-train). I think they all have something to offer if you look past your own prism glasses.

But lately, I'm hooked on the new CNN Glenn Beck show. I never liked his radio show (and they did cancel it here in the Bay Area for low ratings), it just never worked for me. But on TV, I get him. His pieces are diverse, he's very engaging and has a self-depracating way to which I can relate. Not to mention he did a rare thing,... got me to tears with a piece on a Soldier who adopted an Iraqui Orphan with cerebral palsy,.. yep, I was ballin' like my 5-year old with a boo boo. It's good to know that even in this age of media cynicism that a pragmatic man such as myself can be paralyzed in emotion by a good story.

Thats it. Tomorrow I'll be back for my regular Magna Carta-length postings.

If you read any of my postings you know what side of the fence (no pun intended) I veer towards in the immigration battle. This started as a broad posting about solving the immigration problem as a whole, but then I had an epiphany. keep it simple and they (the stubborn ones) will come.

Top 5 reasons why I changed my mind about the fence (I can do that, right?)

1. The imagery. I know, I'm wussying-out here, but I can't wrap my frontal lobe to accepting the Statue of Liberty saying "Bring me your weak, your hungry and your tired" while at the same time building a massive wall to keep those very mentioned out, regardless of the legal implications. Keep reading. My logic will make sense in a few more paragraphs...
(Note: The full posting can be seen by clicking on the contributors link -Truth-Pain- and visiting the TRUTH-PAIN blog)

Hey UAW, just as you keep whining about unfair outsourcing of manufacturing jobs to less developed nations, Honda is planning another $455,000,000 dollar investment in the United States. Does anyone see the irony in this? Our "foreign" auto makers are starting to produce more vehicles domestically than GM and Ford.
Click below for details.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060517/BUSINESS/605170501AID=/20060517/BUSINESS/605170501

~Milt

No bloated speech this time, nope. I'm keepin' it simple for everybody.
If we are really going to have a color blind, race blind, creed blind, religion blind, gender blind, venetian blind, blah blah blah society, then we have to eliminate the prefixes that POINT to those very things, no? I mean look, I'm not a white guy so I have no Dog in this fight, but why do we have "Black History Month" and not "White History Month"? Why is there a Congressional Black, Asian and Latin Caucasses but not a Congressional White Caucass?.... Did caucasian people just show up in Copenhagen in the year of our Lord whatever and just take over the world without some semblance of cultural path? Why is no White history taught in schools? (I know, I know, the usual raping and pillaging of the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons don't make for good bed time stories.) Is it because it is the default of our conciousness that most history is "white" and therefore it would be redundant to have a history of its race in a cultural context? I've not heard one, ONE thing that can make a caucasian person go "yes I am proud to be white" (why does that have such a negative undertone?). Why are white people so scared of their God-given race? guilt? political correctness? When in history did pride in the caucasian race dowspiral into denoting a supremacist ethos?...
I was in a party a year ago, where some of my latin friends and I were bantering back and forth and we all toasted to the "good life of latinos"... whoopee!.... everybody cheered and toasted like good little politically correct girls and boys... even my white friends. Then I (being who I am..) asked one of them, "C'mon, make a toast!, doesn't your caucasian butt have anything cultural to celebrate?"...... Silence. Its as if the Temple Curtain had been torn. A few nervous laughs here and there... but you get the picture. The horror in my friend's face of trying to say something,... (yes dangit, we are still buddies.)
I said this story to make a point. These pre-fixes and suffixes are going to get us all torn to pieces. African-American, Latin-American, Dixie-Americans, Franco-American (sorry, couldn't help it)..... its as if just saying "American" by its deviled lonesome lacks some cultural authority that compels us to add something in it for further identification.
My parents are Puerto Rican, so is most of my family, with a good dose of French, Italian, Jewish, and Spanish,.. you name it. We are mutt central. Make no mistake, I am proud of my heritage, but I don't feel the need to wave it like a standard in anyones face. I am an American. Pure and simple. No pre-fix on my citizenry. I was born here, served here and I proudly buy into the American Ideal of "One nation under God, Indivisible". How in the hell are we supposed to keep bying this "lets all work together" crap when we add a diferentiating pro-noun at every turn?
Lets take a moment and really think about what is it that we really do when we surround "American" with this and that. Pride is great. Feeling good and honoring your ancestors and the world and culture of your parents / family is a tradition no one should forget or discard. Just put a fore-thought to it the next time you say with pride, I'm "Mexican American" or "Italian American" or "Canadian American" (ok, forget that last one...). What are you really saying?, that being just "American" is not good enough?
Having said that, If we cant beat them? join 'em. If we are not going to be blind to the pro-nouns and racial divisions, then let's extrapolate political correctness to its full logical conclusion (Liberals can exit right about now, your feelings are about to get pulverized).
I want every NBA team to have 2 token white guys (hey, affirmative action, right?). I want White people to feel free to wear "the Race" t-shirts, just as latinos wear "La Raza" ones. I want the bad cowbows on TV to wear "white hats" sometimes (why should black hats have all the fun?) Cinco de Mayo? Asian pride day? Gay pride parades? Cool, no problem. I want 5th Avenue White Boy pride day!. I want....... (ok, my point has been made ad-nauseum I think).
I'm done (I guess I was kidding about the bloated speech part), back to your regularly scheduled programming. Let the bashing begin. Don't hate me because I'm beautiful :)
(want to read an interesting article on white guilt? click below)http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110008318

If you want another reason for lessening U.S. reliance on foreign oil, here it is.

Will

Not too long from now, my wife and I will be enjoying the role of new parents. I have tried to keep the news off of the blog, but I cannot hold it in any longer. With this new responsibility in life coming quickly, I have started to take the time and ponder about what type of father I want to be. I was fortunate enough to have two loving parents and grandparents into my early twenties and want to provide the same type of open atmosphere I was able to enjoy. I am also fortunate that my peers are strong family men and women and I have been able to learn from them. Here is a quick list of the things I believe are important for a father to teach his children:

1) Place God first in their lives.
2) Setting boundaries so a child knows that being a parent comes first and that sometimes, I will not be their friend.
3) Be mindful of my opinions; as I do not want to unknowingly push my individual beliefs upon my children without opening them to others. (Political, social, and personal beliefs).
4) Provide unconditional love and nuturing of a child.
5) Help them experience different cultures in life and be a guide to help my children understand how people are different.
6) Let them become their own person, but instill into them the morals my wife and I hold.


~Milt~

The dictionary describes Compassion as "Deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it".

After a discussion with my beautiful girlfriend this weekend on a particular posting in my blog, a simple question, or series of questions arose in me. Who is more compassionate, someone who gives someone a meal to eat? or someone who teaches them to cook? Someone who grills a homeless person a nice fish? or someone who teaches them how to fish? Someone who keeps giving the poor just enough not to die? or someone who teaches them how to get out from under society's dependency?

The left and Right, Democrats and Republicans have been fighting for the right to wear the "compassionate" label forever, but who is trully more compassionate? Are they both? Is there not a possiblity that both philosophies are a form of compassion?

The left believes the State is better prepared and morally obligated to care for most of society's social needs. The right believes in less interference and social programs, and setting the right freedoms and economic conditions for rugged individualism and self-reliance. Health, Education, Welfare, Food Stamps, Housing for the poor, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Prescription Drugs and a littany of other programs are increasing in use, not diminishing. There will come a day when the incentive to be an earner, or entrepreneur will give way to surrendering to the mantra of cradle-to-grave care mentality. Why can't Government work together like in the 90's when a Republican House and a Democratic White House passed welfare reform and saved the program? Because the good of the political parties has trumped what is good for the Nation. Period. No rocket science needed in the argument.

It behooves us, to encourage those persons who are on the Government Dole, -and are there for the sole purpose of abusing the system-, to get off the couch and live the American Dream. The system is ripe with abuse and systematic faults that actually encourage the remaining in the status quo and does not provide realistic motivation to get up and move on with a productive life. Compassion should not be measured by how much social services a particular segment of the populace gets. Compassion should not be measured by how many years of welfare the State has provided you or me. Compassion should be measured by the totality of effects. Compassion (in my view) is a combination of tough love, firm incentive programs to be a productive member of your Country (for those able to do so), caring and providing assistance for those of obvious need, and the teaching of our children from birth that the greatest gift this country offers is the ability of each of us to thrive on our own, without the dependence of our neighbors tax dollars, and the political party's give-aways.

A common goal is good, a common ideal for Americans is worthy of study and discourse. But unless we all agree on what is an appropriate limit to the level of "compassion" from the state, we will be nothing more than another Canada, Sweden, Denmark, England, France et al. Systems that though noble in intent to some, are slowly imploding due to the staggering cost of social engineering. Maybe the idea of getting 50-70% of your check taken by the state for the "common good" is ok with some, but there is an equal or greater number who think the state should be limited in power, scope and lastly in its responsibility of "compassion".
I am open for discussion...

Read the latest complaining from the media about tax cuts for the rich and, one might believe that the wealthy in our nation have been given an unfair break. The blog of famous Harvard Professor, Dr. Gregory Mankiw, points out that this isn't the case. The following is a nice summary of that fact:

"What I found is that the average tax rate for the top 1 percent was below the current 31.1 percent rate for 10 of the 11 years from 1982 to 1992. It reached a low of 25.5 percent in 1986. For better or worse, President Bush has not come close to reducing tax rates for the rich to the levels they achieved after President Reagan cut taxes.One might be curious how that the tax rate on the lowest quintile--5.5 percent in 2005--compares with historical data. The CBO data show that this tax rate has fluctuated since 1979 between 5.2 to 10.2 percent. Federal taxes on the poor at now near the low end of their historical range."

In summary: the rich are being taxed more than during the prior 20 years and tax rates for the poor are at near historic lows! Not exactly what the media clap trap has been portraying! Nearly all economists agree that taxation has a constrictive affect on the marketplace...thus, lowering taxes has an expansion affect. If Bush would like to match the sharp expansion that followed the Reagan administration, further cuts are needed - not the contrary. Follow that with spending cuts (unlikely with the current administration and elected congress, I am afraid) and, you have a formula for increased economic health for the greatest number of Americans.

Will

If I were king for a day...

I feel like a hypocrite. In one blog exchange awhile back, I was begging a fellow blogger for solutions and not just the hot air of complaining... then, after thinking about it, I though, "well aren't you the hypocrite!, what the hell kind of solutions have you ever proposed.... for anything!"So here goes. I will try to solve everything my way, one thing at a time. Issue by issue, and topic by topic, a "pithy" summary of the world according to Spock the Libertarian.

Solution 1: The federal budget
This is a pretty big deal. How do you fix a multi-trillion dollar matrix into such a humble blog.... hmmm, what to do?...
Well, my ingredients are as follows. A healthy dose of the Libertarian Web page "issues" tab ( http://www.lp.org/issues/issues.shtml), my own sprinkling of "outside" thinking, and enough draconian cuts to make the Ginsu Knives Company make me their poster child.

Step 1) Empower a fully independent consulting group with the power to fully investigate EVERY instance of overlap of jurisdiction and budgeting in the entire Federal Budget. Sort of like the 911 commision but with specifics and details. Pay them 40-60 million dollars.... whatever it takes to do will pay itself in billions down the road. Then force Congress to follow up on all recommendations to the letter, their own districts be damned.

Step 2) Empower a second fully independent commision to cut the fat off the military. Tough subject since I am a veteran and supportive of the men and woman in uniform, BUT... why do we need 13 aircraft carrier groups, 1500 or so military installations here and abroad and half our forces in places (South Korea, Germany, Bosnia) where they are but a symbolism? We can make it a leaner, meaner and able unit without the cold war thinking or cold war budget.

Step 3) .... and now for the trick that both Democrats and Republicans will hate me for. (and thats a trick..) the Cabinets departments. Dept of Education? gone. Just a fat layer of unfunded mandates. Who says States dont know what the individual needs of their citizens are? You ever read Lincoln's writings? there was no dept. of education back then and tell me if any kid today can write in such florid and metaphoric ways. Savings:64 billion/year. Dept of Energy? gone. Let the private companies that run nuclear power plants deal with nuclear waste disposal (with Federal oversight). The can do it better and cheaper. Savings: 22 billion/year. Dept of Labor? gone. It is not the Federal Gov's job to train or look after anybody's employment, only to provide the atmosphere and economic conditions to thrive in whatever you choose to do. I know, how insensitive of me. Read the damn Constitution. The only "living, breathing" thing about it is that its in a vacuum frame in the national archives. Besides, private enterprise can recruit, train, and make employment development PROFITABLE for a change (hence, taxable .. for all the fiscal libs out there). Savings: 54 billion/year. NASA? gone. I am the idealist too... but if NASA was privatized like the postal office was it would have been way ahead of the current curve and investing in real-life needs and not trying to look and see if there is life in Vulcan. Let Boeing and Lockheed take it over. Savings: 17 billion/year. Other Independent Agencies? gone. Savings: 28 billion/year.

All the savings for 10 years would go towards paying off the national debt (in an Al Gore type of "lock box".... ok, so im kidding..). After that (and hold on to your pantyhose socialists).... would go towards major and permanent tax cuts to further capital investment, spur economic growth and freedom of personal fiscal choice.

Once all this fat is gone, we add a constitutional ammendment that says the Federal Goverment cannot live on more than 10% of the GDP (thats half of what it is now). If 10% is good enough for God.... it should be good enough for Governance.

Man that was easy.... :) Now if only the States and local Gov's can get with the program.....

Pessimists need not apply...
One of the reasons you don't hear too much good positive news on the cable shows, the network news and (my least favorite) self-important blogs, is because negativity sells. Sensationalism catches the eye. With sex, drugs, political scandals, blow-hards on the left and right, and flying human limbs coming at you in HDTV quality, ...heck who needs good news? Who wants to hear about the good of a Mother Theresa, the men and woman of our military building schools in Iraq, or pro-bono lawyers doing good work for the less fortunate when you can have 4 pandemics-a-gettin', 3 tornadoes-a-destroyin', 2 suicide bombers-a-flyin' and an Illegal in a pear tree (uh... picking them of course).
Well, not being one to shy away from ruining the day of the "Hate America" crowds here and abroad, I humbly submit to you my top ten reasons why America Rocks!
(DANGER: continuing this read may give you fuzzy feelings, happy joy-joy smiles and a severe case of optimism. We are not responsible for changes in your perspective or voting habits.)
(Note: This posting may be read in full at my own blog. Click me on the contributors link :)

A Dozen Ways to Support Our Military

National Military Appreciation Month includes Loyalty Day, May 1, VE Day, May 8, Military Spouse Day, May 12, Armed Forces Day, May 20, and Memorial Day, May 29. Learn what you can do to show your support by going to http://www.nmam.org

Will

A simple but worrysome concept has been festering away in my gray matter and to be honest, the more I think about it the more my disbelief increases. Sometimes the most complex things in life are caused by a simple and universal truth. Take the voting participation for example, and its cause/effect on our entire lives. Richard Nixon gave the term "the silent majority" gravitas in the 70's. A term to what he thought were people supporting his foreign policy action but not verbally expressing it like the media and peace movement was. This is a different silence; and while not an expert on the moribund system we call our electoral system, I've reached a few conclusions.
(contributor's note:... like the topic so far? in order to save valuable "soup" real estate, and this being a lengthy piece, I invite you to finish the read at my blog site. Enjoy!)

...the peace crowd should be crying for a world economic sanctions against Iran. Unfortunately, most will likely wait until military intervention is inevitable - then, will claim U.S. impatience. The difficult decisions need to made now so that future deaths can be averted. But, some would rather wait to blame America (or Israel) first.

Will

INTELLIGENCE FAT
(Miss Moneypenny certainly would not approve of this...)

Can anyone tell me why in the world the US needs 15 intelligence agencies?During the confirmation hearings for the new and latest goverment fat layer -the Director of National Intelligence-, I was astounded but not surprised to learn that John Negroponte would be the "Czar" of 15 intelligence agencies. Fifteen!

This is the official Government site for the intelligence tree (http://www.intelligence.gov/1-members.shtml). I count 6 for the military branches, 2 for in-country law enforcement, 4 for cabinet level directorates and 3 for James Bond stuff. Call me stupid or naive but just looking at this list has me of the opinion that there HAS to be severe overlapping responsibilities here, .... am I alone on an Island on this one? I would love to see what percentage chunk of the Federal Budget these 15 prima donnas takes in.

Lets cut the fat. I am fully for a strong, prevalent and take-no-prisoners policy as to intelligence gathering ability. But this largesse has been built through years of inter-agency squabling, military branch rivalries and territorial peeing. Its time to start consolidating these agencies into real-world efficiency entities. You keep hearing of inter-agency bickering and turf-protection... are you kidding me? Are we not all on the same team? Are the military branches not in the business of working together in a wondreous ballet of cooperation? (I know, I know.. but you get my drift).
Somebody CALIBRATE me on this please ...... (Will?... Milt?.... what say you?)
Dardin Edward

Does anybody else believe this is a shot straight at the Dems? Who else would Bush nominate besides someone Joe Biden specifically does not want?

~Milt~

P.S. Nice to have you on the CS blog Dardin Edward!!!

In general, I have little argument with W’s foreign policies. My only disagreement with the war in Iraq is that we didn’t invade soon enough to procure the weapons WE ALL know were there. I assure you that Bush will include this regret in his first autobiography. Domestically, I disagree with the extraordinarily high level of spending for which this administration cosigns. Also, I believe that there are other domestic policies that seem to be motivated by appeasement of his party opposition.

This article, by one of our country’s most respected economists, explains the foundation of three Bush objectives to improve the American standard of living. They relate to the much revered Adam Smith's Invisible Hand as described in his 1776 book "The Wealth of Nations". It includes the reasoning for the war, tax and tort reform:

“Little else is requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice: all the rest being brought about by the natural course of things." - Adam Smith

Bush should take note that not all Americans understand the grounds for his actions as this material is not widely distributed. As such, he has a huge obstacle in regaining the confidence of the American people. But, as Ronald Reagan suffered from popularity woes as his presidential years waned, I believe that history will record a different story of the Bush presidency than that currently being blurted by the big media outlets. Unlike Reagan, the single consistent frustration that I have had with our President is that he seems completely disinterested in communicating his cause directly to the people. This will make for an exceptionally difficult learning-curve for the American people.

Will

"Mexicans are doing jobs not even Blacks are willing to do"
-Vicente Fox, President of Mexico-

I think he has it half right. Talking to a Black buddy of mine, I got this little diddy, and I quote: "Damn right you won't see me bent over picking ANYTHING... think of the imagery, Man... the cotton fields.... if I owned the farm thats one thing...."

Interesting notion and one that I had not considered,.. the imagery of things still in our collective souls. Are migrants the "slaves" of today? Is it our fault that a entire race or group of people has virtually taken over the manual labor at the bottom of the pay-scale totem pole? picking veggies and fruits, day-laborers, janitorial services and lawn mowing services? Asians did the same thing during the great Asian immigration of the 20's and 30's. They virtually monopolized the laundry services on the west coast.... is this something we can control? Do we want to? Is this something we should be concerned about? or is this simply an unexplained inertia that has a life and ebb of its own...The truth is, we as Americans of all races and creeds have crept up the food chain in our self-imposed expectations. Ask most kids nowadays, what do you want to be when you grow up? I dare you to find one that says "Gee, I'd love to pick Strawberries for a living...." This is not to say tilling the earth is in any way demeaning. This country's agriculture sector feeds the world. Sure they get a ton of subsidies, but that is another topic on its own. We teach our children to aim higher, to have it better than we ever did,... Engineering, Law, Medicine, Technology. In our eyes, to be a manual laborer is to fail. That is not a indictment of honest work, but a reflection on the levels we have set for ourselves as the greatest nation and economic power in the world. But for a simple poor person from a third world country, the idea of making $10 an hour bent-over picking berries is a blessing from God,... they would never make that back home. One man's junk, is another man's treasure. The cycle of life. I don't blame my buddy's emotional response. During our music gigs together he has told me many stories about the Black plight of his ancestors...... so maybe ol' Vicente Fox has it right, but it doesn't just apply to the Black community. All of us, White, Black, Asians, Latinos, Natives,... have set the bar a little higher than the 3 foot high tomato vine.Capitalism in its purest form is devoid of emotion in its efficiency.
Dardin Edward (Brother Will, care to add?)

Capitalism is void of emotion but, it is efficient in its purest form. And, this is an example of efficiencies. Whether it is equitable is another argument.

The fact remains that these kind and grateful people truly understand the value of being an American! I have a feeling that if each of us were dropped across the border tomorrow, we would happy to take "lesser" jobs to regain our citizenship. Of course, I feel bad that it is nearly automatic that Mexican immigrants will take these types of jobs. But, the fact is that they may not even be employed in an economically deprived Mexico. The fact is that each of us have the ability to reign in the U.S. and, the immigrants know this! Their potential is only limited by their imagination. Brother Will

KOOL AID MAN KNOWS NO POLITICS...

You've heard the phrase, havent you? "You're drinking the Hannity Kool Aid!", or the Limbaugh or this or that... What does it all mean?It means opening up our pie holes really wide, digesting without prejudice what anybody, any book, any talk show or any news blog shoves down our throat and finally taking it all in as truth beyond reproach.
It is human nature to preach to our own choir, to associate with like-minded individuals, to listen and learn from entities we admire and to see ourselves in the image of that which we most yearn to be like. But when does this become a self-fulfilling prophecy of one's philosophy? Are we really enlightened by just listening to the sounds of our voices? or does it behoove us as a people to at LEAST consider opposing viewpoints no matter how across-the-grain to our own preference they may be?. This is my yoke in life. As a self-described libertarian information junkie I do two things as daily ritual. One is easy because I love it, ... the other is like walking on glass on my way to a backstroke swim in volcanic lava. An example of my daily dose of mental food.
I jump to the CATO institute's web page and various government, military and independent news journals for updates. A quick scan of MSNBC, FOXNEWS, CNN and DRUDGE REPORT to see if I missed anything while I slept. During my mid-day break at the office I stroll into some hi-tech and music sites for my right-side-of-the-brain snack, as well as other more specific information places that give me deeper insight into whatever it is that interests me that day.... Finally, for dessert I have a heavy "favorites" list I gauntlet through which enforces and re-enforces my beliefs, my credo,... as Neal Boortz says, my daily dose of the church of the painfull truth.
But then, it happens. Like a monster coming out of the closet when all is dark and quiet..., at around 9pm comes the dreaded homework,... doing the other side of the coin. Reading up on websites, blogs, journals, opinion commentary... all of which are diametrically opposed to everything I believe and hold as my mantra. Why do I go through this torture? Don Rumsfeld's favorite word,..to CALIBRATE.
Reading extremest agendas, far left or far right diatribes, and socio-liberal op-ed's, give me conviction. If I am afraid to calibrate my beliefs agains what MAY be a logical counter-point to my own idea, then my idea is not in very firm soil. If I am afraid to navigate the blogs of hate, racism, fear-mongering and socialism, then I cannot in truth calibrate the status of my moral spine.Such tasks are not easy,.. I read blogs all day and in most of them, you look at the far right column where they pop links to THEIR favorites sites... and its all drinking the KOOL AID, listening to the echoes of that which they already believe. Anchoring their shaky (or strong)beliefs with yet more of the same.
I encourage my fellow conservatives here at the "Soup", to venture out into the land of the unknown. You don't have to "embrace diversity"... you only have to acknowledge its existence, respect that it has a right to share the opinion spectrum with yours, and -if at the end of the day-, you are of the same mind,.... you can say , "thanks but no thanks",... I've decided NOT to embrace YOUR idea of diversity. But you will be a better person because you have CONSIDERED thoughts that diverge from your own.
There is a saying.."that which does not kill you makes you stronger". To know the ingredients of soup that is not in your kitchen is to be a better cook for your own recipes. Sometimes we should stop drinking the Kool Aid of choice... and get a little TANG instead. We may hate the taste, but coming back to our favorite dish will be all the more rewarding.
Dardin Edward

(Contributor's note: I am happy and honored to be given the opprotunity to contribute to Conservative Soup. My name is Truth-Pain...... release the hounds!)

A DAY WITHOUT AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT!
(can we have a few more of those,... maybe a month?)

Round two of the Banana Republic, I mean the illegal immigration marches concluded last week. A few observations.

1. Does anybody know that a specific section of the Mexican Constitution makes it "high crime" to be in Mexico illegally and is punished by up to 2 years in prison? Hmmm, I wonder if anybody in Washington has mentioned that. Probably not. They are all making the electoral math for the elections of 2012, when many of these "undocumented" will run to the polls and vote for whomever gives them the most social programs. Not a judgment mind you, just a historical fact.

2. Mexico's southern border (with Guatemala) has been a target of Amnesty International for repeated "flagrant" acts against their neighbors to the south. Translation: The Mexican Army has the authority to shoot and kill any poor sucker getting caught waltzing across the border. A nice hypocracy by the Mexican junta considering they have epileptic seizures at the thought of our border patrol rounding up their citizens when they just happen to waltz into our neck of the woods.

3. If the marchers where boycotting to show their economic effects, why did they not boycott using the following services as well: Our hospitals: So that they don't keep going bankrupt under the sheer weight of having to serve so many un-insured and undocumented persons. Our public schools: So that MY kid isn't in an over-crowded room, in a classroom with a teacher who has to say every other word in Spanish, this retarding everybody's progress. Government housing: Such as HUD programs, that most of them get, and that are about to collapse here in California due to system abuse and volume. Working in the manual labor sector of the economy: Therefore not artificially depressing the labor rate so that it makes it possible for any American or LEGAL resident who has paid his dues with years in service and experience to compete in the work-place.

4. It just occurred occurred to me that if we all cut our own damn grass and pluck the weeds out of our yards, nearly a million illegal aliens would have to go to Canada and look for work there, that is if the Canadians let them in. After all, THEIR goverment is not as migration-friendly as the press will have you believe.

5. Every time you pull into "Homes" Depot and pick one of the day laborers for some task, you are feeding the fuel that keeps them coming back. Simple mathematics. Eliminate the magnet and motivation to cross the border and you eliminate the majority of the problem.

Lastly, on the day of the march I drove to a McDonald's drive through, and horror of horrors,... Somebody spoke to me in English! A day without an illegal Immigrant was so nice, that I am requesting the organizers of the march make it a 365 day a year thing.
A disclosure: I am Latino, my girlfriend is Latina, I am tri-lingual and I don't have a racist or bigoted bone in my body. I served my country in the military, I've been a registered member of both major political parties (don't ask me why...) and if you carve me up, my blood would drip the colors of my flag. My thoughts on this topic is driven by clinical thought, not emotional shrill.

Typical Washington duplicity... Headlines for the past 5 years have included Democrats and liberal media-types blaming the President for high oil prices. They claim irreparable harm has come unto Americans paying extraordinarily high prices at the pump. Now Democrats and the liberal press are calling for the heads of the corporate oil giants as their profitability sky-rockets along with escalating oil prices.

In a recent interview with the CEO of Exxon-Mobil, Matt Lauer even asked if Exxon-Mobil had a "duty to the American public" to return a portion of its profits in an effort to relieve them of the burden of high fuel prices! Yes, we have typically seen this in a capitalistic system, haven't we? A group of shareholders standing idle as a company returns its dividends to the public in a display of goodwill.

Ironically, it has been the same Democrats that have successfully placed a multitude of taxes on each gallon of gas you purchase! Especially hanous, Democrats sat silently - only a few short years ago - when Al Gore proposed that the U.S. should tax gasoline sufficiently to artificially raise gas prices to $5.00 per gallon. The motivation? To save the environment.

The American public is squarely against government intervention in such an affair. I think I may have shrieked when I heard of Gore's insane energy tax plans. Restricting the energy market by virtue of taxation has many extremely detrimental effects - not only on the economy but, on the power exerted by a government with unbridled taxing power. However, in that mixed-up mind, Gore was partially correct in his assessment: higher energy prices lead to innovation.

In the Midwest, we are witness to increasing oil price's effect on research into alternative energy sources. Here, new ethanol production plants are being established at a VERY rapid pace. Within 60 miles of my home, there are as many as 16 proposed production distilleries. This has the potential to turn the agriculture states into the next Texas.

I celebrate as I consider the effects that high oil prices have had on conservation, environment, economy, and (perhaps most importantly) reduced reliance on middle-eastern oil. Most importantly, I can rest assured that the government fat-cats were not the beneficiaries!

Will

Dardin Edward joins Conservative Soup! Let's see...a Catholic, a Libertarian, and a Quaker walk into a bar...

Milt and Will

...and we DON'T CARE! And to all the Leftists that jumped all over the Limbaugh story: The Right Wing bashing will be merely a fraction of the hate-mongering, opportunistic, venom-spewing that comes from your side of the aisle. Stick to the issues...personal attacks only prove how small you really are.

From comments:

People should be able to disagree without CRYING! That is what personal attacks are: adult crying. Anger is nearly always the result of fragile little egos.

The GOOD thing is that usually means that even THEY feel like they cannot win in the arena of ideas. Thus, the defensiveness that motivates their actions (and also the lack of solutions that they have to offer).

Will

The Left and Osama celebrate!
Congratulations Anti-Capital Punishment Crowd...this poor excuse for a human being, who is not fit to walk on the same earth that his victims did, will live (at least until some prisoner, whose family member was killed on 09/11, gets ahold of him)!

Funny though (well, it would be if it weren't so sad)...there won't be much fanfare from the Left about Moussaoui's court victory. More hypocrisy, of course. Folks, you can be compassionate to the cruel. But, you can also be cruel to the compassionate.

Will

After years of artificially raising the cost of automotive parts production, the UAW continues to shoot itself in the foot. Don't get me wrong, management has done its part in this company's demise. But, to continue the threat of strike while your employer is on its last leg?? You DESERVE to lose your job...move to France where they can't fire you (oh, I forgot, France isn't letting anyone in!).

You are threatening to ruin our country's economy. There are plenty of people willing to work for market wages. Maybe some our left-wing friends know some illegal aliens that would appreciate the opportunity.

Will

Darfur: up to 2 million without homes and hundreds of thousands dead

There is no monetary gain for U.N. member nations; no advancement of U.S. interests...only a chance to end human suffering. The word needs to get out about the atrocities. Hopefully, we will see some conviction on the part of our leadership. We need to save the innocent.

Will

Revised:

After reading a comment from our friend Dardin Edward, I revised this to better reflect its intended message.

This writing is actually geared toward the pseudo-Christians that he speaks of (and that represents a HUGE portion of those that go to church every week). Those people break nearly each of the ideals mentioned in the following paragraphs with reckless abandon.

The damage done to Christianity has been perpetrated mainly by those pseudo-Christians that claim to be doing the Lord’s work by condemning others - then, turning to commit even worse atrocities themselves!

Hypocrisy abounds inside the church walls causing the state of Christianity to be a major concern. Children abused, wars waged, people murdered and wholesale destruction of societies by people claiming to be Christ-like - what a joke! I am appalled by the damage they have done to my religion.

Today's Christians could benefit from a refresher course of Christ's word and the spirit in which he spoke them. The sins of Pride, Hypocrisy, and Judgment of Others were three overwhelming themes of Jesus Christ’s message (beside the obvious, of course! i.e. "the way to the Father is through the Son"). All three of these have to do with our relationships with others.

I found the following biblical passages especially appropriate:

Pride: social status, boastfulness, absorbed in one’s self, vanity
Roman’s 12:6 let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other (MSG)

Hypocrisy: preaching one way (especially in the name of the Lord) and behaving in another - THIS is taking the Lord’s name in vain
2 Corinthians 4:2, We keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God (MSG)

Judging Others: finding behaviors disagreeable and condemning as "most abhorrent" Luke 6:36-6:38 Our Father is kind; you be kind. Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, and criticize their faults--unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don't condemn those who are down (MSG)

A passage that deals with all three?:
1 Thessalonians 4:9 Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other (NIV)

Today's Church of Followers would be better tuned to the real meaning of Christ-like if they would follow these disciplines. Don't get me wrong, I do not think for a second that I'm faultless in these. But, by recognizing my faults, I will be stronger.

Will

My "Easter" post has apparently ruffled some feathers! In an April post entitled "A Common Conservative Evangelical Blunder", this Mark Shea fellow has a bit of an issue with my factual writing regarding the pagan roots of some Easter traditions. It is worth the read - and the 60+ comments are even better. By the end, the readers discuss the merits of medicating one another to soothe their nerves!
Will

Congratulations to ExxonMobil for another strong performing quarter. I'm sure the employees, shareholders, and executive management members are being rewarded handsomely. But this is not a blog about unfair oil profits, instead I want to give a blogging middle finger to the whiners and big governement proponents that think the US government should increase its control over private enterprise. If you really want to see higher gasoline costs, let's remove the incentive for the american oil companies to produce at a net margin of only 8.2%. The banking, health care, and professional service industries all exceed this net margin by industry average. This is a dangerous slope to start down if we are going to target big corporations for making "unfair" profits. What is an "unfair" profit anyway? The last time I checked, we were still a capitalist nation, but not for long.

All of this talk makes me want to become a Libertarian. Very limited government, just enough to keep us from killing eachother and prevent foreign invasion. But then again, maybe we should tax or seize the oil companies. Yeah, that's a great idea. I'm sure the government wouldn't do us any wrong. We could have an entitlement program for gasoline. We could call it the "Big Three Security Plan". This way we will rightfully be "owed" our fair share of gasoline at a price Americans want to pay, $0.00. I'm sick and tired of hearing the complaints of people about gasoline prices. Especially those who drive a $40,000 vehicle and cry uncle when it costs them an extra $1,000 to drive it. Guess what, you made the decision to buy that vehicle, you chose to live in the suburbs, and you were the one keeping up with the Jones's.

This hurts me to say this, but Western Europe has it right. A workable public transportation system and limited suburban development. OOOUUUUUCCCHHHHH, that did hurt. Not that I am advocating the US to aspire to be Europe, but they did all of this because gas has been $3.00+ a gallon for years. What are we going to do about it? If you don't like the current situation, do something about it. Change your behavior or become an innovator and promote alternatives.

~Milt~