Making a “Specter-cle” of himself

So, by now, the news that Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter has jumped ship from the Republicrat to the Demoblican party is fairly fetid.  This never really surprised me, because Specter had a pretty strict Demoblican voting tendency, anyway.  All the “filibuster-proof” chatter aside, the Demoblican Party already had a super-majority in the Senate anyway, what with Specter and Snowe and Collins from Maine.

No, the big change here is that the media on both “sides” [sic] of the aisle have something inconsequential to squawk about to their somnambulent legions of faithful voters.

Waitaminit — that’s not really anything new, either; they always obfuscate the really important issues [namely, how they continuously screw all of us over, how they keep stealing our money by taxation or inflation, how they constantly abrogate our freedoms, and on and on...] in favor of something unimportant but “timely.”

What shocked me in the entire episode was this quote from Specter in the increasingly irrelevant NY Times on April 28:

“I am not prepared to have my 29-year record in the United States Senate decided by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate—not prepared to have that record decided by that jury.”

Wow.  Just, wow.

I am not so much shocked by the content of the quote — it’s obvious to any casual observer that Specter is a coward unwilling to face up to his constituency — but I am amazed that he would be so brazen about his aims: to avoid being held ot account for his actions by those Pennsylvanians who put him in office in the first place!

Of course, you can guess my question here:  Where has “that jury” been for the last 23 years?

If you’ve never voted for Specter, take heart:  Chances are you have been rubber-stamping all your elected officials’ nefarious actions as well.  I mean, Specter has been in the Senate for most of my life — for five (5) Senate terms.  That means he’s been re-elected four times.  (And really, his voting trends haven’t changed much in that time.  He’s always been a moderate—read that “liberal”—Republicrat.  A “bridge-builder.”  A “maverick,” you might say.  Wait… there can’t be two “maverick“ Republicrats, can there?)

How many times have you gone to the polls and punched the ticket for the guy who was in office because “what choice do I have,” or because “he’s a bastard, but he’s our bastard”?

Pardon me for being blunt, but anyone who thinks there’s a credible difference between the “two” [sic] parties is either fooling himself, or is himself a fool.

I’m just sayin’.

[H/T VDare.com]

“Step away from the baby, ma’am”

From the “Are you frickin’ kidding me?” file:

Neglect charge alleges mom breast-fed while drunk (AP)

By JAMES MacPHERSON, Associated Press Writer – Tue Apr 28, 6:54 pm ET

BISMARCK, N.D. – A North Dakota mother has pleaded not guilty to child neglect after prosecutors alleged she was drunk while breast-feeding her 6-week-old baby.

Prosecutor Carmell Mattison says alcohol was not the only factor in the felony charge against 27-year-old Stacey Anvarinia, who appeared in court Monday. She is free on bond.

Mattison says the mother “wasn’t in a position to care for the child properly.”

Anvarinia was arrested Feb. 13 after police answered a domestic disturbance call at her Grand Forks home. The prosecutor said officers witnessed Anvarinia breast-feeding the baby and asked her to stop because she was intoxicated.

Her attorney David Ogren says no blood test was taken and the charge could be difficult to prove.

Okay, people, let’s get some stuff straight.

First of all, if drunkenness “was not the only factor,” why bring it up?  Anyone?  That’s right, because the prosecutor was going for the sympathy thing:  “That poor baby has an evil drunk for a mother!  Why, you just have to let the state take that baby away!” 

Nevermind that the state in general has a somewhat-less-than-stellar record of “taking care of” kids… unless you mean that in a Roger Cardinal Mahoney kind of way.

Second, what busybody tells a mother not to feed her child?  Because she seemed intoxicated?  No blood test?  No urine or breathalyzer tests?  Not even a stupid field sobriety test?  Just, “Step away from the baby, ma’am,” and toss her in jail?

Who else thinks the arresting cop(s) never had kids?

Where does this kind of abuse end?  Is Big Brother now a neonatologist?  What’s next, arresting pregnant women for eating at Burger King?  Gosh, it’s a good thing my seven-month-pregnant wife hasn’t acted on her craving for a margarita — I’d have to scrape bail together!

Please, people — you stand by while the government poisons the water supply “for your own good;” you say nothing while they listen in on your private phone calls; you let them set you up for future rights arrogation and abrogation.  Hell, you even let them tell you for whom to vote!

Stop the madness!

Take back your government!

…to coin a phrase.

“Swine Flu” and Border Insanity

So let’s make something clear when it comes to Swine “Mexican” Flu: maintaining distance between national populations simply doesn’t work. It’s alarmist. It’s quite probably racist in origin.

“Sealing a border as an approach to containment is something that has been discussed and it was our planning assumption should an outbreak of a new strain of influenza occur overseas. We had plans for trying to swoop in and knockout or quench an outbreak if it were occurring far from our borders. That’s not the case here,” [acting chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Richard] Besser told a telephone briefing of Nevada-based health providers and reporters. “The idea of trying to limit the spread to Mexico is not realistic or at all possible.”

“Border controls do not work. Travel restrictions do not work,” WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said in Geneva, recalling the SARS epidemic earlier in the decade that killed 774 people, mostly in Asia, and slowed the global economy. (AP/Yahoo!)

But, it seems, personal or “social distancing” does work :

“If it causes person-to-person transmission in the community in a virulent form, we’re going to have a problem,” said Dr. Brian Currie, an infectious disease expert at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.

In that scenario, public health officials would be called upon to enact voluntary plans that could keep people away from work, out of school and in their homes for as long as it takes to quell the threat of infection.

Businesses would be advised to let workers telecommute, [Ira Longini, a national flu expert and professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle] said. Sports teams would be encouraged to cancel practices and games and parents would be urged to keep small children at home, avoiding even playgroups and parks.

In some cases, people could be advised to stay 6 feet away from others in public, said Longini, who has built elaborate computer models that demonstrate how infection slows when such plans are implemented.

In severe situations, people may be told to stay 3 feet apart to avoid the infectious spray of droplets when someone coughs or sneezes, Currie said.

He was part of three teams of researchers commissioned by the federal government to study intervention strategies and published the results last year.

“The least stringent scenarios cut the epidemic by half,” he said. “The most stringent cut it by two-thirds.” (MSNBC)

Got it? People transmit disease, not borders. Allowing people to cross borders has no net effect on international disease transmission. Even if they’re infected with… the… disease… you’re… trying… to… stop….

Huh?

Kathy Barton, a spokeswoman for the Houston Health and Human Services Department, said Wednesday that the child had traveled with family from Mexico to Brownsville in South Texas. The child became ill in Brownsville and was taken to a Houston hospital and died Monday night, she said. (AP/Yahoo!)

It would appear that the first non-Mexican victim to be claimed by this burgeoning international pandemic is… a Mexican.

I don’t want to detract from the fact that this toddler’s death is tragic. I have a daughter a few months younger than this 23-month-old, and I can’t imagine losing her. Or, for that matter, my four-year-old daughter, my three-year-old daughter, my unborn son, or my pregnant wife.

My concern is that these wrong-headed, strictly PC moves by our “Dear Leader” and his cadre of incompetents could lead to exactly that.

[By the way, the BBC has an interesting--if alarming--look into what the future could hold, largely from residents of Mexico City.]

A Call to Action

Here is a famous speech before the Continental Congress, which I have updated to address the current situation.…  Originally given 234 years ago, it is amazing how relevant it is today.

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death

March 23, 1775

By Patrick Henry

No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy [citizens] who [are content to ignore the implications of the current course of our nation]. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those [people] if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The question before the [people] is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at the truth, and fulfill the great res-ponsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly [rulers].

[My fellow Americans], it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the numbers of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst, and to provide for it.

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the [federal government] for the last [several] years to justify those hopes with which [we] have been pleased to solace themselves and the [country]. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received?

Trust it not, [for] it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our [airwaves] and darken our land. Are  [laws] and [regulations] necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, [please]. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which [tyrants] resort. I ask [all of you], what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can [anyone credibly] assign any other possible motive for it? Has [Washington] any enemy, in [any] quarter of [this country], to call for all this accumulation of [“security”]? No, [certainly], she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the [federal government] have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? [Friends], we have been trying that for the last [several] years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, [please], deceive our-selves. [Friends], we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the [Courts], and have implored its interposition to [expose] the tyrannical hands of the [President] and [Congress]. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the [government]! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation.

There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free–if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending–if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained—we must fight! I repeat it, [friends], we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us! They tell us, [all], that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a [federal agent] shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength but irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? [Friends], we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature [has] placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our [government] can send against us. Besides, [friends], we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up [allies] to fight our battles for us. The battle, [friends], is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, [it has become obvious], we have no  [choice]. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard  [in] the [halls] of [Washington]! The war is in-evitable–and let it come! I repeat it, [friends], let it come.

It is in vain, [friends], to [extenuate] the matter. [Some] may cry, Peace, Peace–but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the [east] will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that [people] wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

Just something to think about.

National Health Care — Coming soon to a doctor’s office near you!

For all those proponents of nationalized health care ala the Sun King Obama, please read on:

3 Veterans Affairs patients test positive for HIV

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — The Department of Veterans Affairs says three patients exposed to contaminated medical equipment have now tested positive for HIV.

The VA said Friday initial tests show one patient each from its Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Augusta, Ga.; and Miami medical facilities has the virus that causes AIDS.

The cases include one previously reported at an unidentified facility.

The patients are among thousands getting tested because they were treated with endoscopic equipment that wasn’t properly sterilized and exposed them to the body fluids of others.

The VA also said there have been six positive tests for the hepatitis B virus and 19 positive tests for hepatitis C at the three locations.

The agency says there’s no way to prove patients contracted the illnesses at its facilities.

Politicians–and people pushing an agenda–keep crying “foul” about our health care system. “It’s ridiculously expensive,” they say, and they’re right. But the reason it’s so costly is not the doctors [not directly; see below]; it’s not just Big Pharma [though that's part of it].

The biggest reason health care is so insanely expensive is because the market is not allowed to function in this area. Between government regulation of health care [largely in the form of subsidies: Medicare/Medicaid, areas where there is also a pre-existing model of national health care], and third-party payers [insurance companies, for the uninitiated... FULL DISCLOSURE: I work for one, though not a consumer insurer], there is no market signal for price determination. I don’t feel the brunt of the cost of my visit to the doctor, only the copay or deductible payment. Because of this, I don’t try to bid down the price of care; my portion of the bill is minuscule, so what I see is a reasonable price for whatever care I get. The doctor then gets subsidized by the federal and/or state gummint, and the insurer also gets subsidized [Have you ever seen a state legislature that wasn't largely populated by insurance agents or lawyers who got rich off of them? Moral hazard, anyone?]

And everyone either has or needs insurance now–total care insurance, not just catastrophic care like it used to be–because of confiscatory marginal tax rates. Employers had to increase benefits because marginal tax rates would tend to consume any raises they paid out before their employees could spend them. This was necessary, in its turn, because of FED-sponsored inflation [prior to 1913 and the Federal Reserve Act, increases in the cost of living and standard of living occurred only due to actual advances in real income; for the past 40 years especially, the cost of living has increased as both the standard of living and real income have declined. Fiat currency is EVIL] But that’s another topic for another day.

Back to the original topic, if you think VA medical care is not entirely illustrative of central planning, you’re right.  AMTRAK is another great example.  Has it turned a profit in, like, ever?