Hallelujah's and Football

The “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s Messiah has always stirred me. His work is a sobering reminder of a person’s attempt to define God’s majesty and glory. I’ve heard the work performed by quartets and massive choruses. I’ve witnessed instrumental as well as vocal renditions. All of them have moved me, inspired me and led me to seek a deeper understanding of the concept Handel was seeking to transmit. Every time, I have concluded that if a flawed human can imagine something so glorious, the reality must be far greater…omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence. My response is usually limited to a tearful “Wow.”

One of the timeless clichés from the world of football is the inspired coach of the underdog team reminding them that their upcoming opponent puts their pants on “one leg at a time” just like they do. He attempts to stir his team by illustrating that their adversaries are human just like them. They may be larger, faster and more skilled (perhaps better coached?), but in the final analysis are merely human and fallible. So, you may ask, what on earth do hallelujahs and football have in common? Simple answer, dear reader, the common denominator is the career politician.

Whenever a career politician opens his or her mouth, she/he believes that the political version of Handel’s mighty work is transmitted to the audience. In reality the typical political speech more closely resembles the football coach’s pre-game cliché-ridden rallying cry. The politician’s ponderous pronouncements lack the grace and awe of Handel’s masterpiece. They are filled with clichés, suppositions and bromides that are lacking conviction and do not reflect reality. Yes, sometimes we laud the speaker’s style or flowery message, but we know deep within that most of it is bologna (baloney for my fellow Buckeyes) that will turn rancid in the light of day. Handel captured a tiny but glorious glimpse of the bigness of God, but our political speakers appeal to our fallen nature. Freshman and sophomores may buy into the coach’s shtick, but the juniors and seniors who have been clobbered in past years are cynical, skeptical or indifferent.

Newbies to the political scene are susceptible to the politicians’ songs. Just witness how each generation of young voters seems to swoon for a new vibrant leader. Later, as the truth becomes apparent, they find their fervor oozing away, and they view the next new leader with jaundiced eyes. Coaches are important. They deal with the day to day grind of preparing and planning for the team to perform at its peak. If the team plays at its uppermost level, the coach and team can take some level of satisfaction from the contest. No matter how stirring or exciting the coach’s pregame speech may be, it will not outlast the rush of early adrenaline. Only practice, preparation and planning can persist beyond the adrenaline high.  Our political coaches lack the intelligence, commitment and integrity to subject themselves and us to the rigors of pregame preparation. They merely utter the talk and head for the parking lot believing that we will react as if we had heard and felt the “Hallelujah Chorus.”

Their pep talks fall flat as more and more citizens are moving into their junior and senior years of political watching and activism. We are waiting for the internal and eternal truth of the Messiah  to move us as we search for methods to eclipse the banalities of the political class. The truth is that Truth doesn’t arrive in pre-game rah-rah’s. Even a magnificent movement like the “Hallelujah Chorus” contains but a glimmer of Truth. For us to discover the truth about human dignity, human potential and all-too-human government, we must seek the truth from the Source, internalize, follow it and share it with others. We cannot find the truth in others. They may not know it, or they may dismiss it. Trust no political careerist to lead us to the truth. They haven’t practiced, prepared or planned for it. Besides, most career politicians couldn’t recognize the truth if they encountered it…it’s an alien concept for them.

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WTF Government?

Last Friday I had the honor of sitting in for Pastor John Jones on “Eye on Education” ( www.wspd.com  click “podcasts” then “Eye on Toledo” for 6/24/2011). John is a man who understands the jots and tittles, ins and outs and plusses and minuses of the local school systems. I do not, but as a former college teacher, I thought that we might explore education from a somewhat different perspective. We explored the function or purpose of education and had a lively discussion with our callers. Also on Friday, I wrote one of my best columns (immodesty alert!) called “Death and Taxes” about the insanity of the estate tax ( www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com  ; click on “Death and Taxes” in archives). These two Friday events were the beginning of this column’s germination.

WTF…what’s the function of government and every action undertaken by government? On a philosophical plane we can explore the function and necessity for certain government activities by studying the Declaration of Independence, The Articles of Confederation, The Constitution of the United States, The Federalist Papers, the Mayflower Compact, the Magna Charta, various State Constitutions, The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798-99, and other nuggets in the historical record. The underlying theme through many of these documents is the writers, debaters, Founders and Framers sought to protect individual liberty above all else. They were willing it seems, to countenance any number of social outrageousness in order to preserve inalienable, God-given rights for individuals.

If you are a regular reader of this column, you have probably noticed that I believe all candidates for public office should pass a litmus test for personal freedom. If they fail to discuss the primacy of individual as the foundation of our communities, state or nation, they have, in my view, forfeited their opportunity to earn my support. Assuming that a candidate survives the scrutiny and wins election, I would expect the newly-elected official to view every governmental action through the complementary prisms of liberty and constitutionality. Why anyone with a brain and a conscience would seek office, campaign vigorously, win, take the oath and ignore the very foundations of our republic is beyond my feeble comprehension. Candidates and office holders should be routinely reminded that they serve the free people of the republic. They weren’t elected to the post of Santa Claus, but to protect our liberty and our rights.

Taxes: What is the purpose of this tax? Is it Constitutional? Does it defy my oath? Is it unnecessarily limiting the freedom of our people, or is it punitive? Is this tax or fee absolutely required for our government to perform its Constitutional mandate, and will this tax be administered as justly as is humanly possible? All taxes will have a sunset of no more than 5 years. All taxes will require a 2/3 majority to be levied.

Spending: Does this appropriation comply with Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution? Is it needed or absolutely necessary? Does this spending create or enable some unconstitutional overreach of government? Will this expenditure generate a new long-term obligation that will bind the hands and limit options for the future? What measurable outcome based on hard data do we expect from this line item? Do we have the funding for this? All spending will sunset with the expiration of the budget cycle in which it was appropriated. (Zero-based budgeting).

Regulation: A liberty-respecting officeholder WILL NOT give carte blanche regulatory power to unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats. Each new law with a regulatory component must meet Constitutional muster and be written specifically to address the exact problem or over sight that precipitated the legislation. All regulations will be reviewed by the appropriate Congressional Committee for economic impact and viability every two years and shall sunset after ten years.

Legislation: Is it Constitutional? Is it moral? Does it imperil individual liberty? Each legislative initiative must be limited to one specific item….no omnibus bills except for the annual budget. Does this bill strengthen the republic by advancing the cause of personal freedom? Does this bill infringe on ANY inalienable right? Does this bill unconstitutionally place a mandate on states, local governments or individuals? All laws will sunset after 10 years.

This is not an exhaustive list, but any public officeholder who truly loves liberty will consider these questions before submitting a bill or voting for one. Really, What is The Function of government, of this bill, of this spending or of this tax? Liberty, Constitution, function and purpose should be the templates for governing. Finally, What is The Function of career politicians? Are they necessary or desirable? Why have them?

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Hot Stuff

This column is not about man-made global warming, Lady Gaga or other cultural fictions. If you receive as many email threads as I do, you know there are a myriad of issues confronting our nation…many of them could be categorized as “critical.” As you glance at your “control panel of life,” you see an array of “Hot Buttons” demanding your attention. Your fertile fragile mind goes into critical-issue overload as you consider where to direct your limited resources and energy. Fire the Fed. Eliminate EPA. Arrest the AFT. Cull the Congress. Surround the Statehouse. These are just a few of the burning firestorms that compete for your attention.

All of our problems associated with a too-large, out-of-control government condenses to one overriding issue…individual liberty. Everything that government does to us, for us or permits to negatively affect us, to some degree, undermines our freedom and our abilities to choose for ourselves. We can engage on all these fronts or affronts simultaneously if we had the resources and the committed activists. We do not. Not only will we encounter the full force and power of a government in preservation mode, but we will also have to defeat the legions of progressive drones that benefit from government (our) benefits. Liberty is the underlying and unifying principle that addresses every government, social and cultural abomination.

Government’s focus for legislation, regulation or rulemaking is targeted towards groups. Some are viewed favorably and others are considered undesirable by government analysts. No one person conforms to every aspect of every group to which she belongs, therefore it seems likely that one can exhibit tendencies that are government approved while also seeming to endorse some of the unfavorable attitudes, beliefs or practices. Following through, everyone is potentially an opponent of the government or a resister if your profile identifies you as sympathetic to an outlier group. Every individual (or at least most of us) can, at some point, be defined as a “threat” of some sort. Although government prefers to regulate for groups, it will not hesitate to prosecute or harass individuals. Despite their lacking minds, hearts and souls, governments do recognize the value of individuals…particularly those who defy them.

Travel with me into the dusty bins of your conscious memory. Before you became alarmed and active in the effort to place a leash on government weren’t you dimly aware of the “crackpots” and “cranks” who were prophetically issuing warnings of government abuses? Were you aware of the contrarian who attended all the school board or council meetings complaining about everything? Do you recall how our elite masters marginalized the disputants…first by ignoring them, then with knowing looks with the other audience members, and finally by not allowing them to approach the microphone? Add to the council and the school board the expanded power of the state or national government, and the mere denial of the opportunity for dissent morphs into active squelching or intimidation.

Governments at all levels recognize the power of an individual who will not be denied. That is why they go to such extremes to deny the soapbox or the megaphone to dissenters. For example, do you wish to have a rally on the local village square to protest some local outrage? Do you need a license? Must you hire “security.”? Free speech for those who object….is expensive. But Charlie, you say, “we cannot have all those crazy loons shouting their half-baked conspiracy theories in front of our children. “ My response is that the “marketplace of ideas” is a right to work shop, not a closed one. So far, we have no national union regulating speech particularly the dissenting kind. All those “Hot Buttons” that you’ve identified must, at some point, be addressed by the people. If we do not enjoy the full fruits of our personal freedom, those issues will NEVER be fully addressed openly and honestly. Government will control the agenda, and you or I will not be on it. Individual liberty is the only worthwhile tool for handling the Hot Stuff. Liberty is like a muscle…..exercise it….now.

As an aside that illustrates the premise of this column: Rod Blagojevich was charged and tried for doing what multitudes of politicians do every day. They didn’t like him or his style. Justifiably so, but he should have hundreds or thousands of loving cell mates from the political world.

Comment:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com      or    www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

Swifty Sez

A mere 12 generations have passed since the great Irish satirist, Jonathon Swift, used his pen to entertain and skewer the elites of his era. Today, we are fortunate to have as our guest his great……great grandson, Knotso Swift.

“Back in the day (circa 1700) when my ancestor was sharpening his quill to mock the power structure, there were approximately 600 million inhabitants on this fragile globe. Today, we have nearly 8 billion humanoids populating this precariously provisioned planet. Egad, people, stop the profligate reproduction! Cease the happy bunny-hop in the sack! No more profuse propagation of non-productive progeny preventing the planet from its purposeful potential! Stop it, say I! Unrestrained breeding and bountiful babies will be the bane of our beautiful earthly ball. Have you no shame? All these mewing mini mouths must munch too much meal while many more mark their meager hours making more munchkins. It never ends, I tell you, it never stops, but it must stop. Sure my predecessor was wrong about the past, but now is today.”

My response was”Huh?”

Professor Swift continues: “This growth of population is placing too much strain on our limited resources here in the once-proud United States of America. That’s why the President appointed me as “Government Overseer of Population” Czar.”

Me: “You are the G.O.P. Czar?’

Swifty: “Clever isn’t it. Those lame brains will be sooooo happy that the President is “reaching across the aisle” that by the time they figure it out (Ron Paul and Jim DeMint are a little worrisome), our task will be well underway.”

Me: “Just how do you propose to accomplish your nefarious scheme of massive U.S. and global population control or reduction?”

Swift: “It’s already under way. “Universal Government Healthcare” (UGH) is the first step. We can allow the sickly and the old to accelerate their expiration dates. In other words, we will select the unfit for “transformation” to “zero cellular function.”  Also, UGH will insist that all women of fertile age receive an annual anti-procreation injection. The elites or chosen ones will be injected with a placebo so that they will breed and give birth to offspring who are the best, brightest and most worthy of protection. We understand, of course, that some element of the species must be propagated to be preserved.”

Me: “Sort of like your own little Endangered Species Act for our inbred rulers, eh?”

Swiftless: “Our view is that it would lead to a brave new world.”

Me: “Hold on, Dr. Knot, Huxley has the primary grip on that little moniker.”

Swift: “Ah yes, well actually we’re calling it the “Brave Order of the New Globe. B-O-N-G.”

Me: “Uh….I’ve some liberty-loving friends and cohorts who might resent your use of that acronym. It’s very special for them, and they don’t want goons like you to destroy it.”

Swift: “Whatever. Our mission is to prove that government is the solution and the answer for all of humanity’s woes…overpopulation being the most pressing one.”

Me: “So you and your fellow masters of the murderous mandate manipulate mankind’s massive numbers to a more manageable meaningful amount. Is that how you see it?”

Swiftrod: “Why, yes, well put. We believe that...”

Me (interrupting): “What about all the advances that people have developed over the centuries to allow more people to live quality lives? At one time most humans were required to farm or hunt just to survive. Today that’s not the case. Haven’t you considered the adaptability of people while you devise your madcap schemes for “our own good?”

Swift: “True, true but now we are reaching the point of great concentration and mass of people despite our tentative efforts…”

Me (interrupting, again): “Whoa! By “tentative efforts are you referring to birth control and abortion?”

Swifty: “To a degree, but also to our efforts at expanded warfare, mutant strains of pestilence and, of course, UGH…Universal Government Healthcare. We are well underway, and we will save mankind.”

Me: “By killing most of them? Aren’t you aware that the original Jonathon Swift wrote SATIRE? His suggestion that poor babies be eaten by the wealthy was an effort to illustrate how immoral the elites are. Don’t you see that? How many genes were lost in the past 12 generations…how many brain cells have atrophied?”

Swift: “I assure you that it wasn’t satire, and we are serious.”

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Death and Taxes

The old saying goes “the only two certain things in life are death and taxes,” and the clowns in government make it a daily double. The estate tax represents government’s ultimate indignity. As they lower your cold dead body into the ground, the greedy clutching hand of government reaches into your pocket and extracts your wallet. They examine the contents with glee then tell your heirs to “keep the change.” Your heirs, the products of your loins, your emotional investments and the subjects of your love must handle the heart breaking tasks of putting your affairs in order while the gluttonous breath of government cascades all around them. The results of your lifetime of risk-taking and hard work are distributed among strangers…bureaucrats, the slothful and the needy. And it is not your desires that matter…Big Brother and Nanny State make the call and pass out the goodies. Your “estate” diminishes to the value of a rental plot in a backwoods Alabama trailer park. Those you left behind must scramble to “fire sale” your assets so that when the tax collector arrives, his sack can be filled with the plunder reaped from your lifetime of labor. That’s “fairness” in the lexicon of oppressive government.

Government represents the greatest of necro-carnivores. My advice to you is not to die. They are waiting for the moment of your untimely demise so that they can squander whatever they can coerce or squeeze from your grieving loved ones. Live forever and drive the bastards crazy. Much has been written about the “death panels” in the negligent health care legislation that was passed last year. If you have a sizable estate, you may hear these melodious tones from your local health care overseers: surgery…denied; medicine renewal…denied. If you are a person of means, you may have a permanent “DNR” tattooed on your forehead. Government’s insatiable appetite for your money will not be denied, and you will be admonished to go quietly for the good of society.

What is the purpose of the estate tax? In fact what is the purpose of any tax? This question should be asked and answered before any confiscation of your labor or property. So, what is the purpose of the estate tax? To punish the wealthy? To redistribute wealth from those “who won life’s lottery” to those who never played the game? To generate income for a specific purpose? To acquire easy money from those who are unable to resist? What is the ACTUAL purpose of the estate tax? Let’s take this query one step further. What are the moral and constitutional justifications for levying the estate tax? Personally, I’m not dead….yet, and the estate tax is no more obnoxious in my view than are hordes of other schemes the government employs to steal our wealth. I chose to write about this particular offensive maneuver because in most jurisdictions within the United States, molesting a corpse is a crime. Much of the tax code that has been adopted in our nation during the past century reeks of criminality. It seems as if the tax code were designed to punish the producers and reward looters. Clearly Ayn Rand witnessed the early abominations in the system and anticipated the later ones.

In a system that honors freedom and protects liberty the tax code should exist solely to raise the necessary revenue for basic constitutional functions. The present system is a convoluted maze for social engineering. Layer after layer of penalties, surtaxes and progressive rate increases are countered by exemptions, subsidies and deductions. The mountainous collection of tax rules, laws and regulations is an unconscionable assault on individual liberty and property and is generally indecipherable and oppressive. Tax law defines the limits of government force that can be used against the citizens. In our present code there appear to be no limits. Every breathing resident is at some level of risk, and even death is no escape from the ravages of the tax collector. RIP.

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