The clothes don't make the country

Look in my closet and you will quickly realize I am not a slave to fashion. It is not that I don’t care how I look but I am dead certain that skinny ties and polyester are about to make a comeback. I just know it and I’d bet my entire Bee Gees disco collection on it. Perhaps this is why my wife insists on letting me know when TLC’s “What Not to Wear” is on; and it is on frequently.

If you’ve never been forced to watch this bit of reality TV, it centers around two fashionistas, Stacy London, a “carefully coiffed but still allows a hint of grey in her hair” babe and Clinton Kelly, neat dresser whose orientation is as debatable as nature versus nurture argument that very well might determine it, who descend upon an unsuspecting victim from the fashion police’s top ten most wanted list and destroy them in a form reminiscent of the drill instructor from the movie Full Metal Jacket only to build them up fashionably, socially and even on occasion spiritually.

The selected fashion don’ts are sent to New York where their entire wardrobe is tossed aside as unceremoniously as a High School Football star is dropped by the Head Cheerleader as soon as he’s no longer the starting quarterback. Unlike the ex-starter who’s only left with memories of the bus ride to away games, the newly de-clothed is given $5000 to buy a new wardrobe. They are given some very common sense rules that are to be followed not just during this shop fest but are heeded long term: Don’t buy cheap clothes, buy outfits that are multipurpose, dress for you body type and a few others.

The makeovers on this show are often more dramatic than a sky filling sunset viewed beside a dozen aging hippies and potential future subjects for the show from Mallory Square in Key West and the immediacy of this change, it happens in less than a week, can not be overlooked. And when it comes to fashion, you better not be slow. You see the person, or dare I set the stage for the rest of this post by calling them the foundation, is basically the same. They get new hair, new makeup tips and new clothes but the individual is the same. The change in attitude, professionalism and even in their ultimate potential is stunning.

In addition to this show on changing wardrobes, TLC features shows about decorating houses too. Sometimes, these shows feature the concept of Redecorating. Just like a child moving food around his plate while avoiding eating it, the redecorator changes your room by moving things you already own around your house to make it feel different. Being the cheapskate that I am, hence my avoidance of shopping for new clothes, I initially thought this was a pretty good idea. We could enjoy the new feel of a redecorated room without taking our precious savings from the starving banks in this time of financial need.

Unfortunately, it didn’t take long until I realized the sofa I was sitting on was the same old piece of crap with a spring in the cushion and wobbly back that was in the other corner of the room a week ago.

About now you are asking yourself, “What is the bald guy getting at with all this fashion and decorating talk?” Has he gone off the deep end and is about to start giving Martha Stewart like advice on ferns and fois gras? Hell, even Martha is talking with a turkey about politics on morning TV instead of about turkey.

Well the analogy should be about as obvious as the lies coming out of Barney Frank’s and Chris Dodd’s mouths to those of you paying attention. The Messiah of Change, in announcing his cabinet, is proving to be nothing more than a redecorator bringing in old furniture that was in style about eight years ago. If they weren’t in the living room of Washington already, they were in the next room and are definitely part of the same collection.

Voters may have voted against John McCain because they thought he would represent the third term of George W Bush. I don’t think they counted on getting a third term of William J Clinton. If indeed Obama does lead like the broken zippered bubba I, honestly, think we will make it through four years still in fashion. Unfortunately, and I never thought I would utter anything remotely like this; Obama is not like Bill Clinton; he's is cut from completely different cloth.

With the help of the media, dinosaur Democrats and weak kneed Republican cowards we are embarking down a road of government growth not seen since the New Deal. Hell, they aren’t even waiting for the coronation. Today’s announcement of $7.4 Trillion in government debt guarantees could be the new outfit that brings down the closet rod.

You see, the foundation of the economy of this great country of ours is sound. We have a few items that are a bit out of date. Definitely a few too many stuffed shirts with holes in their pockets that money seems to run through so fast they are constantly walking around looking for more. Let’s not try to hide our fat hips or short torso by piling on expensive thick overcoats of government regulation. Stuffing a purse with money and heading to Rodeo Drive to pile up a larger wardrobe is not the answer. We have plenty enough clothes in the form of oversight and political institutions. How about a diet instead of a larger size government and we need to clean out our closet.

Next time somebody says change has come to Washington, suggest they check their closet for that Nehru jacket and leisure suit and take them to Goodwill before they say another word.

S2

What is the sound of an invisible hand clapping?

To paraphrase the adage: the longest blog post starts with a single word. This journey is going to be all over the map but in the end I am not sure it goes anywhere. Let’s just call it an extemporaneous trip of self-expression and free association. Speaking of trips:

I can imagine Adam Smith and Ronald Reagan on a road trip in Heaven. Returning from Hell after toilet papering Karl Marx’s house, they looked at their Atlas and Shrugged. Where did Capitalism go? They’d ask John Galt if they only knew who the hell he was.The United State’s slide toward an economy reminiscent of the stagnant government intruding and nearly socialist models of many European nations should come as no surprise. For years our state run institutions of higher indoctrination have been the home of wayward communists and leftist bomb throwers. They are Party places where state is praised as the savior of the poor and individual accomplishment is frowned upon. And God or Christmas, don’t even go there! Really comrade, do you expect someone who refuses to keep score in a little league game to teach that competition is healthy and that the free market works?


The much maligned free market does, in fact, work. What doesn’t work is government involvement in business. The papers, blogs, radio and television are now atwitter over the need to bail out the auto industry to stave off yet another in the increasing line of falling dominos on the road to financial and economic ruin. Democrats in the Senate are proposing giving the big three auto makers $25 billion dollars and are wooing weak kneed Republican Senators from the Rust Belt to their side. This money will not be free and it will not do anything other than lead us further away from the principles that made this country great: free market capitalism.

Money is control and Congress will demand of the big three that some control be surrendered for it. Concessions like management changes (Obama wants an Auto Czar – don’t you just love the word Czar?), salary concessions and a commitment to make the shitty little electric vehicles that nobody in their right mind would want to own. (Ed. Note: If the whiny deathtraps were any good or were wanted by people, the government wouldn’t have to force Detroit to make them; they’d be making them on their own to keep up with demand; although the Smart Cars do seem to be selling so someone). Once this camel’s nose is under the tent, it won’t be long until even more intrusion follows and as someone who just had to visit the DMV to renew a driver’s license, I know government run institutions run about as well as my dog does on an icy pond. Sure it is funny to watch but it is pretty sad too. The poor thing is way over his head and has no clue how to get off or what to do. Umm, I am talking about the government, not my dog.

More important in all of this is the fact government spending doesn’t work to stimulate private business. Don’t take my word for it. Much smarter minds than mine, besides being found on the kids panel of “Are You Smarter Than A 5^th Grader, have written on this here.

My fear is that the auto bailout is but the next step in our path to socialism. We are like the frog being cooked alive in a pot of slowly warming water. In the kind of creeping socialism espoused by Marx around 150 years ago, our toes and our country are turning red from the heat. Let’s hope the increasingly spiraling expenditures being touted now raise the temperature quickly enough to get everyone croaking in complaint instead of our freedom just plain ole croaking.

There is hope. George W, in his recent address to the G20 stated: “History has shown that the greater threat to economic prosperity is not too little government involvement in the market, but too much… Our aim should not be more government, it should be smarter government.''

“The answer is not to try to reinvent that system,'' Bush said. “It is to fix the problems we face, make the reforms we need, and move forward with the free market system.''

Well hooray, huzzah, woo hoo and an atta boy to the President. Good for him but it is about damn time! I guess it is better late than never but this kind of address smacks of a death-bed confession and a grasp for legacy with two short months to go in his eight year tenure. He and Republicans like him enabled much of this slide away from the capitalism he is now claiming to hold so dear. So long as it didn’t fall on deaf ears. But alas it most likely did.

For government may be the pusher of this “everyone is equal and society needs a political fix” drug, but we are the addicts. A not so wise blogger recently posted about the growing number of hungry Oliver Twists standing in line at the orphanage of Monkle Sam asking “Please sir, may I have some more?” in an effort to grab for themselves a bowl full of bailout. In fact, scroll down and you will find it and some relevant links.

When Adam Smith’s now out of sight out of mind theory of the “invisible hand” of capitalism was first coined, people were better than they are today. True champions of industry desired to build long lasting and socially, as well as financially, beneficial companies for the long term. Todays get rich quick at any cost and damn everyone else ideal is providing the fuel for the fire bombs thrown by the “we must restrain unregulated capitalism” crowd. Ideals and actions like those of AIG who, after receiving their 700 billion dollar goose to save them from ruin, decided to still pay bonuses and exorbitant salaries to avoid having their senior management leave. These are same senior managers whose decisions brought the company to the verge of this ruin. Yeah, we sure wouldn’t want them to leave now would we? The mortgage lenders who made loans to people they damn well knew couldn’t afford them (at the direction of the geniuses like Barney Frank in the House). From the parachutes of corporate executives all the way to the “I know I can’t afford it but I want it anyway” borrowers, the golden rule seems to be “give me the money now and I will worry about the future later”.

Ayn Rand was prophetic in her analysis and prediction of how the takers would, well, take. Yes, the heroes in her novels were all about doing what was in their own self-interest; objectivists as her philosophy describes them. And, at the core of capitalism it is self-interest and success that is the fuel for the economic engine. But it is not self-interest at the detriment of others. Unlike a little league game where someone does win and someone does lose (at least when a score is kept), in an economy everyone can be a winner. A rising tide will raise all boats so long as someone isn’t putting holes in other’s hulls in an effort to sink their ships to raise the water level. True capitalists succeed through honest effort, providing goods and services better, faster, cheaper and on their own while providing jobs to hard working individuals. These people shouldn’t be punished. Takers, seek the easy road and handouts in order to get ahead. These people and companies shouldn’t be rewarded. I don’t think, like in Rand’s novel, the forward thinking, creative and productive members of society should segment themselves in some inaccessible mountain valley. They, and all of us, need to reign in the takers, distributionists and “share the wealth” crowd before it is too late.

A couple things need to happen to get us on the right track. One thing is to get government out of the way. Are the auto makers too big to fail? I don’t know but if they do, so be it. Another thing is for all of us to realize there are more important things than our own selves and short term gain. Is it a purpose driven life we should seek? That is up to you. All I know is that if we turn ourselves over to the religion of government, we are all damned.

At least we can go by Karl’s house and watch him clean up the TP.

Whew.
S2

The fat lady tipping Justice's scales seems about to start singing.

In the 6 days since Barack Obama has been elected President, the news has been filled with unbiased reports of Republicans running around claiming the end is near: this is the end of conservatism, the end of the free market and the end of America as we know it. While it is true there may soon be a Chicken Little in every pot under the new “New Deal” Obama administration, cooler heads have reassured us that the foundation of our nation is stronger than a Hatian school and one man won’t be able to change all that much. I too have expressed that I have more fears than Polygamist bride on her pre-arraigned wedding night that the Obama/Pelosi/Read trifecta of socialist wannabes are about to launch us down the road to a farm where all we will have left is chicken feed.

Most of what I am fearful over are things that, once changed, can pendulum back under subsequent administrations. That is assuming we will have other administrations. There is already a movement for an Obama national holiday. Soon after his consecration, I mean coronation, I mean inauguration we might well see the repeal of the 22nd amendment to allow him to extend his rule permanently.

I don’t have much concern that Obama will rule more than the maximum allotted eight years. My money is that he will go “four and out” like Penn State did against Iowa all too much last Saturday to be replaced by a resurgent Reaganesque candidate. Yes, I too have Hope! So, honestly, how much irreversible damage can be done? Where the damage can be done is in an area that both the press and candidates avoided for the entire campaign.

Turn your eyes to the Holy Ghost of our governmental trilogy; the Supreme Court. Possessing neither the grandeur of our messianic new leader nor the all too human like visibility of the all-knowing Congress, the Supreme Court is behind the scenes and kept out of sight and out of mind. They sit dark robed in the Star Chamber-like Federal Courthouse and dole out decisions that none can overrule. They are the highest authority in the land. They’ve the ability, if you believe the left, to elect a president. They’ve the ability, if you believe the right, to set child molesters free.

The current composition of the Supreme Court is as balanced as an anal retentive accountant’s checkbook. A single new conservative judge could provide the needed vote to overturn Roe vs. Wade. A new liberal judge could provide the impetus to again ban capital punishment and provide late term abortions on demand (including partial birth).

An activist court at this level could do more irreparable damage than the Japanese National Sumo team at an all you can eat buffet. Issues near and dear to a conservative’s heart like partial birth abortion, stem cell research, gun rights and freedom of expression may be brought before a soon to change court that will bear as much resemblance to the current one as a Biggest Loser winner does to their former self.

There is every indication that during Obama’s first term, the vacancy sign to this permanent residence could go out for as many as three rooms. Four justices are in their 70’s and Justice Stevens is 88.

President Obama will nominate for these positions barristers whose values he admires and whose opinions he shares. Having a Democrat controlled House and Senate means these nominees will be approved faster than Exlax laden feed goes through a diahritic Goose (our should I say chicken?).

For the past few years, judgeships all over the country have been held up by Congress because the appointments were made by George Bush. The floodgates are soon to be open and a plethora of nominations from Obama will flow through. These appointments will have the ability to shape our society for many years to come.

Lifelong appointees to the Supreme Court definitely will shape our country. Am I concerned? You bet.

I suggest a prayer for the health and welfare of those currently on the bench. May they serve a long time.

S2