Fundamental Principle

"The fundamental principle is this: No matter how worthwhile an end may be, if there is no constitutional authority to pursue it, then the federal government must step aside and leave the matter to the states or to private parties. The president and Congress can proceed only from constitutional authority, not from good intentions alone. If Congress thinks it necessary to expand its powers, the Framers crafted an amendment process for that purpose. But too often, rather than follow that process, Congress has disregarded the limits set by the Constitution and gutted our frontline defense against overweening federal government."

-- Robert A. Levy, Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

Don't Enlist

Finally, someone recommending the people take the power to end the war or fight it right – if there is such a thing or way. I pray everyday that the young men and women serving our country are keep from harms way. To bad the government does not – especially the madness on Capitol Hill.

Until the war ends, my prays will continue.

I also include another story about soldiers. Check it out:

http://countrycontemplative.wordpress.com/2007/05/17/soldiers/


From The Dilbert Blog:

Don’t Enlist:

http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/05/dont_enlist.html

By Scott_Adams on General Nonsense

I was reading an article about the newish armored vehicles with V-shaped hulls for withstanding IED attacks. Apparently no one has ever been killed by an IED blast in one of these particular vehicles despite thousands of encounters. The military bought 300 of them. They have 35,000 regular Humvees.

Does it seem like we’re trying hard enough to protect the troops?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-10-30-iraq-buffalos_x.htm

I realize it probably isn’t easy to build these special vehicles in mass production. And it’s absurdly expensive. But are we putting a war-level effort into increasing production capacity? I don’t recall seeing a story to that effect.

My recommendation to young people: Don’t enlist.

The majority of the country opposes the war in Iraq, but we don’t seem to have much power to do anything but wait out the clock. 18-to-21 year olds could end the war in six months. All they have to do is stop enlisting. In the short term, it wouldn’t have much impact on military capacity or the defense of the nation. But the threat of a future impact would shock the system and cause some sort of immediate action.

If young people want a career in the military, they could put it off a year, or at least until the government gets serious about building more IED-resistant vehicles. If enlistment drops to near zero, the government has to consider a draft. And it won’t do that because they have too many kids of their own who are draft age.

It’s ironic that people between the ages of 18 and 21 are the only American adults not allowed to drink. And yet they are the only ones who can stop the war in Iraq in the near term. Or if they prefer, at least cause more IED-resistant vehicles to be built.

That’s a lot of power.

The Assault On Reason

I am not a fan of Al Gore.
But this looks like an interesting book -- I am ordering a copy to read.

Time Magazine has an excerpt.
I found it easy to read and understand.
Just passing it along.

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1622015,00.html

Silly Studies

Wonder why we don't have a cure for cancer yet?
Maybe it is because federal bureaucrats waste funds intended for health research on silly studies.

Best Government Ever

From The Dilbert Blog by Scott Adam

Best Government Ever

When I try to imagine an ideal government, it looks a lot like the government of Taiwan. First, they’re democratic. That’s a good start. But the best part is that they have Jerry Springer-like fights in parliament on a regular basis. In today’s news, yet another brawl broke out in the Taiwanese parliament. This time it was over a budget bill.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18548294/?GT1=9951

Seriously, how cool is that?

Apparently this sort of thing happens all the time in Taiwan. A legislator objects to a parliamentary procedure and the next thing you know, the Minister of Shellfish is bitch-slapping him. A moment later, the air is filled with shoes, lunchboxes, and microphones. Can you imagine CSPAN’s ratings if we followed that model in America? I don’t think you’d be able to pry yourself away from the TV long enough to take a dump. You’d just sit there all day long with an adult diaper waiting for someone to sucker punch Teddy Kennedy.

Pause to consider how much you would pay to see Nancy Pelosi kick Dick Cheney in the nuts on national television. I’ll bet it’s a big number. Imagine that after she delivers the kick, Trent Lott flings a wing tipped shoe at the back of her head and knocks her off the dais. Now how much would you pay? Personally, I’m in triple digits already and the imaginary brawl has barely started. Can it get any better?

Yes, it can. Imagine that voters start preferring candidates who have kung fu skills. It makes sense, because if you are from Rhode Island, for example, you don’t want to watch your tiny congressman get his ass kicked over a highway bill. So you’d vote for a candidate who can take a punch and still hand out some pain.

Now imagine it’s the State of the Union Address and everyone but the secretary of dryer lint is in attendance. All hell breaks loose. There’s punching and kicking and kung fu levitating. Tell me you wouldn’t be interested in politics then.

I think we’d all agree that democracy is a better form of government than a dictatorship. But democracy plus punching is the best government of all.