I thought about this all day Friday, after watching the big finale on TV….I liked the speeches at the RNC convention.

Rommney did a decent job. He said many of the right things. He stirred up the faithful, who were going to vote for him anyway. His sermon to the choir was an outstanding success.

But…..

He had no passion, no drive, and no fire in his belly. Ryan had a lot more, and Rubio rocked the house. Not Mitt though. I was, to put it bluntly, underwhelmed.

He didn’t convince me that he isn’t a different brand of statist.

He’ll repeal Obamacre and REPLACE it? With what? A different brand of Socialized Medicine? Rommneycare instead? Dude, really.

I didn’t hear him say a lot of things:…..

No promise to reduce the size of government. No promise to change the way we do government.
No promise to get rid of any government agencies. Not one. Not one single 3 letter agency. Or even reduce their size and reach…. ATF, DOE, Dept of Education, Interior or DHS or TSA or EPA (Especially EPA!) etc. No promise of fewer regulations for businesses. No promise of greater freedoms for the US Citizen. No promise of fewer (or lower) taxes.

I didn’t hear him say anything about the border, or illegal immigration. Or security for this country and the citizens who make it great. Nor any pro second amendment statement from him. Really, I heard a bunch of words but no meaning.

No, what I heard was an empty suit promising that we need him and his brand (R) of statism rather than the brand (D) we already have. Yes, it’d be nice to have Obama and his ilk gone from the White House….But I never heard Mitt tell me why he was going to be better. How he would fundamentally change the direction that this country is going. Yeah, he mentioned debt reduction, but never said how…..Higher taxes rather than reduced spending? AFAIK, he hasn’t said.

So I really don’t know why I should vote for Mittens except for the fact that he isn’t Obama. I really would rather vote FOR someone rather than AGAINST someone else. Why should I vote for Mitt and just get a different heel on my neck? A different hand holding the whip. A different way to spend my money on different people and companies and sectors of the economy and a different way to  reduce my freedoms. A different brand of statist? We already tried that last time, and got GWB, who never vetoed any spending and grew the size of government…admittedly less growth than Obama, but still a great deal of growth…and spending and debt. Let us not forget that he gave us the DHS and the TSA.

Seems to me that the shit tastes the same no matter if it is on a sandwich made from rye or white and what kind of cheeze on the shit sandwich makes little difference either. …..It’s still a shit sandwich. And shit is shit. Which is the choice we have here. Shit on rye or shit on white. But still shit.

So really, aside from “anybody but Obama” why should I cast my vote for Mitt? Do you really think he’ll do less damage?

Fail. 


So they are doing work at an interstate exit I have to drive past on my way to work.


Normally, not a big deal, except that this morning, one of the stoplights was not working. The drivers entering the intersection were, actually, doing a pretty good job of dealing with it, pretty much treating the now uncontrolled intersection as if it were a  4 way stop. Traffic was flowing pretty good, but still…


I pulled out my cell phone and called the Indiana State police 800 number. No joy, I kept getting connected to Indianapolis rather than the closest post.  “No big deal”, says I, “I drive right past their office and can stop and let them know….”


So I did.


I pulled into their lot and, just to be sure that I was legal, disarmed and walked into the office. Good thing too.


A snarly looking man opened the window and said “What do you want?” ….Nice greeting. Oh well….


“Just thought that I’d let you know that the stoplight is out about a mile from here…..West side of the highway. Maybe you can call someone?”


“Nope. Call County. We don’t deal with that.”

“Perhaps you could call them? I don’t have the number…” I suggested.


“Nope, You call ’em”


With that, he closed the window and walked away.  Nice. I successfully restrained myself from knocking on the window to ask him why he was being a total dick or other such questions, and walked out the door


So I left the building, googled the county I was in for the Sheriff’s number, called it, and let them know that the light was out. The dispatcher was polite, thanked me, and said she’d inform the right people. 


When I drove past the area about an hour later, the lights were working again. Seems that the County folks take their job seriously.


Now: the Indiana State Police no longer “Serve and Protect”, but their mission statement is:

1. The protection of life and property will be our primary focus.
2. We will uphold and defend federal and Indiana state constitutions and enforce all laws.
3. We will address crimes and offenders with diligent, conscientious and proactive initiatives.
4. We will ensure public safety on our roadways with vigorous and directed traffic enforcement.
5. We will assist the public and all police agencies at any time and in any manner possible.

So I have this employee. Nice kid. Nice guy overall. He works hard for me, and does a decent job.

But he never has any money. Always broke, always behind.

Today, he asked me if it was legal for the ATM at the convenience store to charge $5 for each transaction. He was complaining that they had just raised the charge from $4.

I asked him why he didn’t use the banks ATM, as that should be free.

“Too far out of my way.” he replied. “I gotta go 6 blocks off my route to work…that takes 10 minutes. makes me late for work”

“Leave earlier”, I replied.

“I just hate having to spend $5.00 every day to get my money,” he said. Ignoring the suggestion.

“How much do you get every day?” I asked.

“$20” he answered.

“So you spend $25 a week to get $20 per day?” I asked. “25 % of your cash for ATM fees?”

“Yep”

“So get a $100 on Monday, and save the charges. That’s saving you $20 a week”

“Can’t do that…if I did that, I’d spend it all in one day”.

Some people just screw themselves. He’s spending $25 per week to have access to his $100. Because he can’t control himself.

And he wonders why he is always broke. 

Seems that George Zimmerman gets a new judge.

Good.

I still don’t know if he is innocent of murder, or just having defended himself. I haven’t heard enough facts to make a decision. And I realize that, and am waiting to hear the facts.

And that is the difference between me and Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. .

I, personally, think that the Judge Lester should be removed from the bench as unsuitable to adjudicate anything more than parking tickets.

Or perhaps a bigger subsidy.

Whatever. The Volt still isn’t selling. So they are “temporarily halting production“.

Gee, who would have guessed that the public doesn’t want a cramped, sluggish, expensive car with a 15 year payback (based on fuel savings to catch up with the price you (over) paid vs any other mid sized sedan) that rides poorly and has little cargo room?

Who’d have thought?

Because, after all, only police should have guns…..

Even the Times covered it.

Had this been a concealed carry holder doing his thing as a private citizen, wounding 9 (nine!) bystanders, the hue and cry would be incredible. The private citizen would be castigated and likely charged.

But it was cops…who “had no choice” and who were “heroes”. Who wounded (and/or killed) 9 bystanders.

Nice shooting there, boys.

What due process?

Dude expressed an opinion on his Facebook page. Maybe a bit radical, maybe what others might perceive (if they squint real hard) as a threat. But was there any real threat?

And gets, not only arrested, but incarcerated.

No due process, no trial., no bond. Held against his will until the agents of the state say he is OK, and he is taught to not say things which people find offensive. .

What happened to the First Amendment?

This could be you, or me, or anyone who has an opinion that the State doesn’t like. I actually don’t agree with much of what he has said, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the right to say it…Or is it only things which the State’s minions agree with which are acceptable?

Soon he’ll be given anti-psychotics and sent to a reeducation camp counseling.

Look: Facebook may not be the appropriate forum, but the dude does have the right to free speech. And the right to not be held against his will unless the State can prove that he is a threat, having the means and motivation and INTENT. Can they prove he does have these things? If so, bring him to trial. Or let him go. 30 days? Really? How about all those SEIU/AFSCME/AFL-CIO folks who advocated violence….Gonna pick them up too?

Half the blogs I read, and this one, have published things which the State might find offensive.

When “they” come for me, are you gonna speak up? How about the next guy, and the next, and the next….Until they come for you and there is no one to speak for any of us?

Hey, it’s been nice knowing you.

To my fellow bloggers:
I’ll save a spot on the bench in the camp so you have someplace to sit when they bring you in too. Bring beer if they’ll let you.

**************************************************************************************

Update: It appears that the justice system (even under Eric Holder) actually works, (if slowly).

(better story HERE)

When he is released, he should sue each and every person involved. And, if nothing else, use the governments own tactics against them, and tie them up in court and cost them money, even if he has no chance of winning due to any immunity clauses. (not that they should apply here anyway, but that is another fight for another day) I’d donate a few bucks to THAT legal fund.

But not if you are a private citizen…

Seems that the ATF doesn’t like it when citizens step on their turf and sell weapons and ammo to Mexicans.

So all I have to do to be exempt from laws (especially federal firearms laws) is to get a government job?

Look: I don’t doubt that this is illegal, immoral, and just plain wrong. But if you are going to charge anyone with this crime, then you should charge everyone who does it with the crime. Especially the “Conspiracy” part. Especially with Holder and the management of the ATF.

Were I them, I’d argue that if they are charged, then it violates the Fourteenth Amendment.

ETA: I mean, the Feds set the precedent, right? They even give special treatment to some managers who do this sort of thing (HT Instapundit)

Sometimes you can, Same people are able to forgive, even the murder of a parent.

Me, I’d keep the hate alive, and find the skills and the means to hunt down each and every one of the slimy motherfucking murdering bastards. Starting with the murderer Lon Horiuchi and working up through his masters bosses, and then, if there I were still able, to all of his co-workers that were there for the siege and the coverup.

Yeah, I know that the family got 3+ million dollars, and likely just wants to get on with their lives and that revenge won’t bring Vicki Weaver back….But it’d sure as hell make the next guy think before he acted. While I am not advocating it, I want to point out that having dead feds would be a lesson for the rest to behave properly. Institutional memories and all that you know…

It’s about time that it happens again…the folks at Ruby Ridge are all mostly retired, and that leaves the next generation of agents, which has not seen the horror, ready to abuse the citizens they are supposed to serve.

Forgiveness will not prevent that.

I think I’ll go dig out my copy of Unintended Consequences and re-read it.