Memorial Day

Heroes




God bless all you people in the armed forces, present and past, living and dead, wounded and whole. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your service and sacrifices.

A Grateful Nation

Four Posts Today

Memorial Day

Plea for a Job

Chavez I Told You So

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

Plea for a Job

Help


I am desperately looking for a job now.




I of course am most qualified for a writing, editing, proofreading, technical writing, filmmaking or a professional blogging situation, but am willing to consider anything at this point.

I have an B.A. in English, an M.S. in psychology, a diploma in computer programming, and have held positions from registered stock broker to social worker to technical writer.

I prefer a job in the Los Angeles area or one on the Internet, but at this point I'm willing to relocate.

Rock

About Chavez, I Told You So

Free Speech

All of you Democratic and liberal apologists for Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, are you happy now? Are you beginning to see what a thug Chavez is? Cindy? Do you have eyes and half a brain?

Chavez passed the recent law allowing him to have dictatorial powers. Since then, he has been nationalizing oil, telephone, and other industries and there was nary a peep. He's also been playing games with the gold mining companies, refusing, for example, to give a permit to the Canadian Las Christinas gold mine for years. Is he getting ready to do his dictator thing again, stealing assets? Of course, all of this is for the people, right?

Now, he has gone too far, it seems, closing down a TV station.

This finally gives a clue to his people about what he is really doing. Bravo to the demonstrators!




Not only is he leading his country to financial ruin, he is taking away their freedom. Wake up, Venezuela! Wake up Redford, Fonda, and Sheehan!

Rock

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

History and


Healing

Note

In this article, I'm not necessarily taking sides. I'm just exploring the forces in play. Still, lessons can be learned.

Coming to Grips with a Flawed Legacy

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

is a book, published in 1970, written by Dee Brown, detailing the violent relationship between Native Americans and American expansionism.

I just saw the HBO miniseries based on the book, also entitled Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

There has been the usual criticism of such an enormous undertaking, which attempted to boil down this history of two cultures in conflict into a few moments and characters.

However, I give high marks to the miniseries. It's ridiculous to criticize it as an oversimplification, when it had to be made simple in order to be watchable. The same can be said of Roots, Pearl Harbor, or Flags of Our Fathers. Besides, I did not find this HBO special to be overly simplified. In fact, it attempts to present the complexity of the situation and the conflicts.

The Usual Liberal Interpretation of History

is: white Europeans are the evil monsters of the universe and the cause of all ills in the world.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

did not take this easy path, as it very well could have. The Indians were not presented as saints, nor their culture as the pristine ideal. Whites were not depicted as uncomplicated evil. There were men and women on both sides who were sincerely interested in the welfare of the Indians, and working, if naively, towards this goal.

Reality

Both sides bear some blame for what happened to Native Americans; and both sides are innocent.

The Indians themselves were warlike and expansionist, killing and conquering each other for land and bounty. The Europeans, though, just did this better than anyone. They developed the art of war to its highest form, and backed it up with a religious belief in the superiority of their God and Manifest Destiny.

click to show/hide the rest of the post

The liberal ideal now would be for the Europeans to have resisted building a country in America. The Europeans just should have left America in its pristine condition, without railroads and industry, and without the principles of land ownership and capitalism.

No matter how wonderful Indian culture was, and is, this could never have happened. There are forces bigger than any culture. The human race was meant to explore, expand, grow, and develop. This can't be stopped.

Manifest Destiny

If it isn't Manifest Destiny, it is what led natives from Tahiti to paddle to Hawaii 1000 years ago and impose their rule on the natives.

Liberal Mindset

Because they weren't white Europeans, though, these Tahitians are not called evil.

Property Rights

I realize that there are legal questions that do involve broken promises and the theft of lands, and so on. Yet, according to Indian history, they themselves did not have the concept of property rights. How do you reconcile a culture with no property rights and one that has property rights, when speaking about a specific plot of land?

Our courts have spoken, granting Indians the return of some lands, and compensation for other lands "taken." Plus, there is the casino thing.

The First Welfare State

One of the tragedies, though, for America and for its Native Americans, was the creation of the first welfare state. Well-meaning liberals of the time designed the reservation system, in order to be "good" to the Indians and give them their food, clothing, and lodging. It was the first paternalistic government program, and it included all the liberal philosophies. The government knew best what was good for the Indians. They should have Christian names, worship the Christian God, study Christian history and so on.

Gambling on the Future

The only turnaround for Indians in their post 19th century history has been the granting of unregulated casinos on their lands. This was not welfare. It is capitalism, and it is working for several tribes.

The Natural Forces

Whatever happens now, we must realize that solutions must be founded on the natural tides of history. We cannot turn back the clock. Even if we could, would the world be better off today if America was left in its former pristine state? No railroads, no industry, no property rights? What if the Europeans had been saints, and, while still creating a European system in America, had resisted the urge to "steal" lands? Well, and this must be emphasized again, then America could not have developed as it has.

It's not the "evil" Europeans that moved the human race forward. It's the nature of man himself/herself. The industrialization of America was going to happen.

Our Legacy

Though perhaps unjust and unfair, the Indian ideal remains with us in the thousands of acres of land in America granted to no one, owned by no one, earmarked as natural preserves. These lands are open to all. So, industrialization has occurred, and the preservation of pristine land has occurred.

The specific plots of land, though, that the Indians claimed as their natural homelands—were taken earlier from other Indians, by Indians. In the end, the game of musical chairs ended, and the Europeans landed on these lands, and crystallized the endgame into law.

Now, militaristic expansionism is no longer tolerated. Indians will no longer be invading new territories and claiming them for themselves. And Europeans have given up their imperialistic empire.

The Next Natural Tide

What is the next "tide of nature"? I suspect it's immigration, the burgeoning birth rate of Hispanics, and the browning of America. Now that the rule of law is in place, genocides won't work anymore. What is Nature telling us now? Expansionism is happening under the aegis of democracy. One force of Nature is the large Hispanic family, buttressed by Catholicism, supported by Hispanic culture. One political force is American liberalism, which wants all the Hispanics alive to immigrate to the United States, and for them to be fruitful and multiply. An opposing force is some on the conservative side, who want to preserve America as a diverse country, but with one language and culture.

Disappearing Diversity

Oddly, since America will one day be predominantly Hispanic, our diversity is disappearing.

click to hide most of this post

The Lessons of the Indian Conflict

No one can't get in the way of the nature of mankind.

Expansionism will occur, one way or another.

Solutions to the human misery caused by dislocations must be in sync with natural forces.

The welfare state doesn't work. Capitalism does.

The law is mankind's best attempt to be fair.

Violence will occur, and sometimes unfairly.

Part of this is because there are forces of nature bigger than the individuals or cultures involved. Then, though, after the violence, men and women must try to make sense of it all, and bring some fairness and compassion into the equation. The human race must do the best it can to balance the forces of nature with its natural inner yearning for fairness and compassion.

Relavance to Our Present Dilemma

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee shows the complexities of these issues. We must revisit these conundrums now in our handling of illegal immigration matters.

Rock

(*Wikipedia is always my source unless indicated.)


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Handicapping the Candidates

To My Dear Readers

I apologize for missing posts lately. The reasons have been computer and personal problems. For the moment, I have "adequately" fixed the computer problems. As for my personal problems, I am living through a dramatic crisis in my life. I will try to post as usual, but part of this is in the hands of God. I appreciate your prayers and concern. Still, we've got our contribution to the world to take care of as bloggers, so here finally is my next post. I'll get it posted barebones now, and be adding the links in it as soon as possible.


Hope

That Presidential Glow

Nothing is so important for the future of our country than whom we choose as our next president. The reason is that it is likely that both houses of Congress will likely remain in Democratic hands for some time. If the nation chooses a Democrat for president, we will have the danger of unchecked leftism. If the country chooses a Republican for president, we will have the same situation we have now—a sort of lame duck president, but who has at least veto power to stop Democratic excess. In either case, whoever occupies the Oval Office will partially determine the directions we take.

I've already reported on the first Democratic and Republican debates. I've now seen the second Republican debate.

Plus, I've watched the individual interviews of a few of the candidates on the Sunday talk shows. These appearances offer me the chance to amend my impression of a few of the contenders.

Barack O Mania

I'll start with Barack Obama, whom I saw on a few programs. I have to admit that he came across as quite bright. Plus, he is smart enough to stop sounding so exclusively liberal.




He even stated that he is conservative on some issues.

I'm not listening so much to the crafted positions of the candidates, which can be changed depending on the weather. Rather, I am looking for reasonableness, insight, and candor.

One thing I admire about Barack is that he does not use his ethnicity—neither for advantage, nor as an excuse. For example, he states that if he loses the run for the presidency, it won't be because of his race. It will be, and I am paraphrasing Senator Obama, because "I didn't articulate my position clearly and passionately enough for people to vote for me." Bravo!

In addition, Barack is sounding and looking presidential. Nothing he said on the War in Iraq, nor on the economy, sounded unreasonable.

Yes, he remains a liberal, but he's not a liberal I fear. I can start to relax with this guy.

I probably won't vote for him, but at least I'm beginning to feel that he won't ruin the country, as I believe Hillary would.

The Second Republican Debate

I was pleased to see that several of the Republican candidates did better than in the first debate. Of course, they say that Rudy Giuliani won this round, especially with his justified anger at Senator Paul, who implied that the United States brought on the 9/11 attack on itself. Rudy showed his commanding self. He did not, however, win over the conservatives of the party. For example, Bay Bucanan was on the talk shows dissing Rudy as a candidate not suitable for the Republican Party.

John McCain was commanding in this second debate also. He too, though, is not a conservative favorite.

Mitt Romney was pretty good too, and is a conservative favorite, although I guess that his Mormon religion is hurting him with some. He remains the most photogenic candidate, as is his wife; and very articulate.

Hard corps conservatives are waiting for Newt and Senator Thompson to enter the fray.

Handicapping the Race

If this were a horse race, I'd give the following payoffs.

For the Democrats:
Hillary 2 to 1
Barack 4 to 1
Edwards 12 to 1

For the Repulbicans:
Rudy 2 to 1
Mitt 3 to 1
McCain 4 to 1
Fred Thompson 8 to 1
Newt 20 to 1

Just a Guess

Hillary/Barack beats Giuliani/McCain in the general election.

However, Thompson/Mitt beats Hillary/Barack.

What do you think?

Post Coming Tomorrow

Lotta stuff going on. I will get the article out tomorrow. Thanks for checking in.

Plus, I promise to visit this week my favorite blogs.

Rock

Left and Right Turns

The Political Pendulum

The

Right Stuff

Veering Left

The country veering most left at this time in history is Venezuela, with Hugo Chavez going forward with his goal of a "classless society." All the Marxists are cheering him as he nationalizes oil companies and banks, and forces other companies into agreements that will guarantee social benefits. On the one hand, his goals are quite noble. He seems like he is truly trying to help the people (as much as any dictator can and still fill his own pockets). On the other hand, he is outright stealing from companies that came in with agreements and contracts which he has now nullified. The question is, who in the future will invest in Venezuela? If you owned a private company, would you gamble your hard won assets on whether Hugo will honor any agreement you sign with him?

Just as with Castro, Mr. Chavez will find that stealing from companies now will make him a hero short term, but will deprive the people of millions of dollars in the long run. The growth of his country will suffer due to his bad relations with the world.

Marxism has been tried, Mr. Chavez, and it doesn't work.

Veering Right

One of the countries that is veering right at this time is, surprise, surprise—France! I can't believe it. The French have elected a conservative over a socialist, Nikolas Sarkozy. He is going to get tough on immigration, be kind to business, and try to lower taxes. Let's move to France! In addition, he wants to improve relations with the United States.

Don't be surprised, also, if another country known for leftism veers right in the coming years. Fidel Castro is rumored to be in his last days on earth. His brother, Raul, appears to be much more friendly to Western nations, and to capitalism. What will Hugo say? Cuba will explode with growth if this shift happens.

France and Cuba veering right? Are we living in a dream?

Veering Left

Sadly, while France and Cuba might be heading in a positive direction, we, the United States of America, are one of the countries veering left. On the rise are the Marxists of the Democratic Party.

The Debates

I watched both the Democratic and Republican debates. The Democrats all admitted they will raise taxes, increase regulations, force the color green on the world, and decrease world security by marginalizing the war on terror. I could barely force myself to watch. Yet, the country seems dead set on electing one of them.

No wonder. The Republicans were pro-business, but lacked vigor. They were not as passionate as they should have been either about Iraq or the war on terror, with the possible exception of McCain. They appeared meek and back to cowering in Panderland. All of them paid homage to Ronald Reagan, but there wasn't a Ronald among them. The only thing they appeared passionate about was religion. Pardon me, but I don't think faith is the issue. I don't want a president who is pastor-in-chief. I want someone passionate about winning the war on terror, and helping capitalism live and thrive. Let's keep church and state separate.

The Sad State of the Right

Fire in the Belly

I'm not even impressed with Newt anymore. He is "waiting," before he decides whether to run, and on the talk shows he sounds so green he could be Al Gore's brother. I'm not happy with Fred Thompson either, the great conservative hero. He's not in the fight yet either. Like Newt, he's "waiting."

A president needs fire in the belly. If you're not absolutely sure you're the man, or woman, then don't bother running. The U.S. will never elect Newt now. He's demonstrated he doesn't want it badly enough. I doubt they'll choose Thompson either. He's too late, cancer or no cancer.

Weak

Especially weak on the dais was Rudy Giuliani. He still is the frontrunner, but he'd better turn in better performances than this debate if he wants to win. He must come across as a giant, not as a meek defender of his pro-choice views. He's got to get back to the lion he was post 9/11.

A Fair Performance

McCain gave the best account of himself among the Republicans. He had some fire and he distinguished himself with his zeal on the War in Iraq.

Presidential Aura

Looking for the Glow

I try to look for the presidential aura in candidates, and I'm not sure I see it yet in anyone. I cringe when I imagine Hillary back in the White House. I don't see Obama ready yet to make sophisticated decisions. My stomach turns when I think of demagogue Edwards as president.

Yet, I don't see the presidential aura surrounding any Republicans either. I pray they start connecting to their personal power and the supremacy of truth. It can still happen.

Seeking a Leader

It's still early, but I'm looking for a leader that can stop this country's disastrous lurch to the left.

Thank God for France. Vive la France!

Rock

(*Wikipedia is always my source unless indicated.)


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Some Things Just Burn My Ass

(Contributed by Sarge Charlie, at the preceding link.)

What and old soldier thinks....

Four years ago yesterday, the headlines were “Commander in Chief lands on USS Lincoln”, since that time the media and the political opponents of the President have besmirched this action as phoney, and grandstanding. Maybe so, but I saw it differently. I saw a president willing to meet the returning warriors and just say thank you. If that is political grandstanding then it is good grandstanding. This old soldier swelled with pride when that jet landed on the deck of the Lincoln, tears swelled in my eyes when I saw a man as important as the President of the United States willing to take the time to say thanks. A small thing, hell no, the effect this had on moral of the military forces of this country was overwhelming. Anyone who cannot understand that needs to stand the post, walk in harms way, suck it up when someone is trying to kill you, then you will understand.

Fast forward four years, the Congress passed an Emergency Funding Bill, a surrender bill, last Friday, April 27, 2007. Purely for political gain, the Congress sat on this most important piece of Legislation that they have produced in today’s Congress for four days so they could further besmirch our President. It was a truly shameful attempt to destroy the moral of Americas fighting force. What the hell is wrong with these people, are they cowards, or worse, traitors, we have men and women in harms way and while Senator Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. smirks while uttering the words “we will shove this down the presidents throat.” I consider the source and try to ignore what he said, but he is a candidate, trying to be President of the United States. I will not say what I would like to shove down his throat.

This crap is not funny folks, it is serious and deadly, soldiers are in harms way, they need what they need, and we should give it to them, no strings attached. What is happening is shameful, truly shameful.

And that is what I have to say about that.

The Monster

My article this week got "eaten" by my computer. When it rains, it pours. Everything went wrong. I was up all night repairing the drives and software. Anyway, I'll have the article re-written, or a new article, sometime this week--at least by Sunday I assume. In the meantime, I'll try to visit some of my favorite blogs.

This is a momentous time.

Take care.

Rock