Enlightenment Reactionary

⇐Senator John McCain in his moonlighting job's uniform.

I admit it. There are a lot of things that make me mad, the continued existance of mosquitoes for example, or that people can no longer see the irony of auto manufacturers building 4-door cars and calling them performance or sports cars. But these things I can take in stride if I have to. One thing I can't handle, however, is politicians and political activists beating me over the head with talking points, memes, and buzzwords; all the while calling it discourse or public debate. Any reasonably intelligent person should be able to see the words from the old poem: "What I tell you three times is true."

The next thing that angers me to no end is how few people met that criteria of intelligence. In today's Bizarro World, if it's in the MSM, then it must be true. I'm sure many of you have seen the video of John McCain, his bottom lip quivering in righteous indignation, denouncing those who stubbornly insist on calling his and his like-minded colleagues "path to earned citizenship" an amnesty. Why is his bottom lip quivering? Because he pushed all the right voter deception buttons—but the voters refuse to be deceived. Like frustrated lab rats desperately and repeatedly pressing the feeder bar in their cage, open-borders politicians keep pressing the same buttons, spout the same phrases, and invoke the same pious phrases that have always worked for them before. But they're not working now and, much like their lab rat counterparts, the only solution they can think of is pressing the "feeder bar" harder and faster. Yet strangely, our Senators are willing to consider just about everything except giving their constituents what they want.

I don't know about you, but I find it odd that a group of people, most of whom will gladly play the political whore for a 2% bump in the polls, are suddenly oblivious to the clamoring of that vast middle ground in American politics that they claim to covet so. I've been following American politics long enough to know that politicians of both parties will look you in the eye and tell you with a straight face that the 52% they garnered in the polls is a "clear mandate". If he garners a 55% majority, his mandate becomes "overwhelming".

Now here comes an issue, border security and immigration control, that has 63% support in the lowest poll that I've seen. I've seen some polls into the 90s. Native-born Hispanics support the issue at a rate over 70%. Here we have "political capital" going begging. It's like throwing away a "get into office free" card. At first, there seems to be only one answer, the folks we've elected into office are stark raving mad, but there is another answer.

That answer is that these politicians have bigger fish to fry.

Don, what the hell does that mean you say? It means, to use another fishing metaphor, that the good Senators and the President, are willing "to give up a little one to get a big one." So, here we have people who have been known to practically sell their souls to get a tepid endorsement from some obscure special interest group, turning up their collective noses at an issue that averages about 80% support nationwide. With those kinds of numbers, this is the political equivilant of shooting the goose that laid the golden egg or sending manna from heaven back stamped "return to sender". If these people aren't crazy as Margot Kidder in a hedge, then they've got something up their sleeves much more valuable than that, and that's the problem.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist, so I won't throw a lot of far-fetched ideas out their. I think we should, however, follow the old maxim and "follow the money." I've been looking for a new job for some time. I've had some setbacks and I'm willing to start over again. But I've discovered something I hadn't realized before. When I investigate "starting over" kinds of jobs I find that they pay the same or far more often, less than they did in the 80s. Further complicating things is that, despite the recent history of low inflation, prices have increased about 88% since the mid-80s. So those dollars, nominally the same, have in fact lost almost half their value. I'm beginning to wonder if that low inflation wasn't due to the genius of Alan Greenspan so much as the depression of wages across the board. I think this, along with cheap labor, is the dirty little secret of the open-borders cabal.

I recently got desperate enough to apply, literally, for a ditch-digging job, I had been reluctant to do so, not because of the work so much as the pay—$6.50/hr. It was a mass hiring at a temp agency. Practically everyone who walked in the door got a job—if you were a Mexican. For some strange reason, which I'm sure wasn't discrimination, black people and I were rejected. I'm sure it was a coincidence that the black people totaled about a dozen out of the 68 people in the room and I was the only Caucasian in the room. I never actually got interviewed, the man who took my application seemed to lose interest in me after he asked me if I could speak Spanish and I said no.

I found this to be a tad unfair. After all I was one of the few who didn't cheat on my aptitude test. I aced the test even with the distraction of a whole room full of people whining and moaning about the math test, which consisted almost exclusively of adding and subtracting two 2-digit numbers.

It's going to be a bloodbath come election time.

It doesn't surprise me that Rep William Jefferson of LA got caught with both hands, both feet, and possibly another appendage in the cookie jar. I'll admit it, that's what I expect Democrats to do.

What I don't expect, however, is for the Speaker of the House, one of our own, to appear instantly, almost as if he was teleported, in front of a microphone, denouncing not the corruption, but the gall of the Executive Branch in raiding Jefferson's office. Then going so far as to demand that the FBI not even look at the collected evidence and that they return it.

I've heard some Mormon acquaintances say that it isn't enough to not engage in wrongdoing, but that one should avoid even the appearance of wrongdoing. If anyone needs to follow this dictum, it would be elected government officials. I've seen Denny of TV and he looks frantic. I hate to say it, but the terrified look on his face is nearly enough reason to subpoena his office.

I hope it is all a coincidence.

Against my better judgment I've decided to wade into the "Da Vinci Code" minefield. I've been a little surprised at the intensity of passion on both sides, especially those on my own side of the political and social spectrum. I suspect the failing there is mine.

I'm a science guy, so I tend to be a little skeptical in the first place. Combine that with an inborn and fierce independent streak, exacerbated by parents who insisted on dragging me kicking and screaming to a Southern Baptist church a minimum of 3 times per week, add a dash of Objectivism from the Ayn Rand books I discovered in my early 20s, and you wind up with a religiously indifferent person at best.

Not that I'm devoid of any religious or spiritual impulse, far from it. I just have never been able to classify it before just recently. My studies of the Founding Fathers brought Deism to my attention and I'm inclined to believe I've probably been one since I was a toddler.

My take on The Da Vinci Code? It's a damn fine book and (surprisingly) Ron Howard managed to turn it into a damn fine movie. I've liked all of Dan Brown's books with the possible exception of Digital Fortress, which I found to be a bit of a snore. I really don't see why Jesus would be any the less amazing if he had married and had offspring. People act as if he would have been doing something nasty and shameful. I don't see it.

To me the reaction to the book and movie is amazement. The same sense of amazement as when the Muslim world went berserk over those even so mild Danish cartoons. I'm surprised that a gazillion anti-Da Vinci Code books have been written. Standing on the outside looking in I'll tell you this: It looks like fear. Besides, Dan Brown has done something my parents and a half-dozen or so screaming Southern Baptist preachers could never do. They made religion interesting to me. I've likely done 95% of my life's religious study only since I read Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code

My final analysis? Lighten up people, we have bigger fish to fry.

Ted Kennedy proved the old adage, "even a stopped clock is right twice a day." During a speech on the floor he ridiculed the proposed (now partially passed) border wall, saying it was impractical and unnecessary. Instead he suggested a "virtual" wall which would be cheaper, less inflammatory, and much more secure. I have decided to extend this principle by paying my taxes with virtual payments, obeying federal law with virtual compliance. I won't be doing these things in the physical world, but we're way beyond the physical world anyway.

It's my understanding that the Kennedy family is going to apply this principle in sexual matters. In the future, a woman passing out and slumping over in her seat will be considered "virtual" consent. At least they won't have to whack her in the head with a golf club.

⇐The Bravest Man In France Encounters A Troop Of Girl Scouts Selling Thin Mints.

Never say that nothing surprises you anymore. My morning coffee went spurting out of my nose like a carton of elementary school milk when I learned that the Dutch solution to the troubles of Ayaan Hirsi Ali was going to be stripping her of her Dutch citizenship and shipping her out of the country. I find myself thinking that instead of creating a European Union they should just dissolve all their borders and declare the whole place to be France. This is one of the most appalling cases of blaming the victim I have ever seen, or a simple case of hoping to be eaten last.

The cowards of Europe seem to have forgotten there are worse things than death and some of those things are already there, wearing mangy beards and in desperate need of a shower. I'll let others speculate on the cause, but even though I've never been there, it is apparent to me that Europe has been philosophically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually stripped clean. If they are so keen on being colonized I suggest we do it ourselves. That would be better than letting a mob of 7th Century intellects get their hands on 21rst Century technology. France alone is brimming with nuclear power plants and weapons.

Maybe they're waiting for the US to come save the day. After all, we've spilled blood in 2 European wars already. Maybe that was a mistake given an old saying I was once told: Do something for somebody once, it's a favor. Do something for somebody twice, and it's your job.

Newsflash! This just in. Ted Kennedy and sons have now opened a driving school. On a side note, the bodies of 3 drowned Salvadoran illegals were found in the trunk.

As a further example of the ongoing national decay, I submit the following: I just called the Texas Workforce Commission to ask them a question. The recording told me that I needed to press 2(!) for English. If you need me, I'll be in the back weeping inconsolably for my country.

I admit it. I just don't get the mania over American Idol, Survivor, Next Top Model, or any other such show. I've watched a couple of episodes of most of them, usually not by choice. Mostly I've observed incredibly shallow people with delusions of adequacy transparently plotting against one another. I find them less exciting than watching paint dry.

When I first heard about Survivor I was intrigued. The idea of an endurance contest in exotic locations under extreme conditions was a good one I thought. Later, I found out that the winner would be determined, not by actually winning, but by having the other players vote each other out of the game. I did, and still do, find this to be one of the stupidest premises for a television show ever. A high school popularity contest is still a high school popularity contest even if it's taking place in the tropics.

There is too much going on right now to justify the majority of the nation passing its time with this mindless crap. Naturally, a lot of these folks spend their non-TV time bitching about how the country is going to hell in a handbasket.

And while we're at it, what's with things like the Weather Channel and the Food Network? What's next? The Scenery Channel? The Breathing Channel? The Paint Drying Channel?

I watched the president's immigration speech last night, much to my apolitical wife's chagrin. I found it odd that the president had the temerity to proceed to explain the border problem to us in great detail as if he had just discovered it and couldn't wait to bring us up to date. I also find it odd that he seems to expect an "atta boy" for the few half measures he's proposed, seeing as how a frustrated and angry American public has been trying to ram it down his throat for going one six years. I'm disappointed to see a man I voted for engaging in such a cynical attempt to avoid dealing with the problem by duping the easily swayed, also known as swing-voters, unfortunately, if history is any guide, it will work like a charm. Bah!

It pains me to say this, but the Left is right on the soda machines in public schools issue. But before you get my lynch rope let me say this. As usual, when they are right they are right for the wrong reasons.

First, I'll remind you that I took a stab at teaching as a midlife career change after I suffered a brief twinge of altruism. (I'm all better now, thank you.) When I went through school there were no vending machines and it never occurred to me for a moment there should be. Going to grab a Mountain Dew was the rationale being many a trip off school grounds during school hours. On campus vending machines would have just screwed that up. So when I walked into a public high school for the first time in 20 years and I saw cokes and candy at the ready, I thought something like, "That'll never work."

I'll level with you, the health concerns of the nanny state are all legitimate. We've become a disgustingly obese people and I don't exclude myself from that. (I really need to spend less time at the keyboard.) The problem is that the fattening of America was a gradual enough phenomenon that we don't realize how fat we've become. If you can, take a group class photo from about 1976 and compare it to one from 2006, the comparison is rather stark. Not to long ago my wife and I were complaining about how disgustingly slim a person was. When he went by I noticed the label on his jeans, 34X32, the size I was wearing when I was first told that I was getting pudgy. In addition to that there is the dental health angle. But, however valid these reasons might be, they miss the best reason off all.

Any teacher that has tried to teach the post-lunch high school student should know what I'm talking about. After your little charmers have by-passed the cafeteria and snack bar, which they'll do out of pure teenaged contempt for nutrition, they head straight for the vending machines and load up on sugar, caffeine, and if they're sneaky enough, nicotine.

When they arrive in your class they are bouncing off the walls. They are like little acne factories possessed by evil spirits. It can't be described, it has to be seen. Attempting education under conditions like this is an exercise in futility. Then comes the next phase, gradually insulin and the liver work their magic and the students begin to calm down. Of course an sugar spike leads to a sugar crash and by the end of the day your room is filled with unconscious students who can't keep their eyes opens for more than a few seconds.

So, I'm against having vending machines in school because it's not conducive the main mission of schools, which is educating the students. I know that doesn't seen like the mission, but some of we teachers were subversive enough to try it.

(Note: This post is closed to comments from my wife. Love ya honey)

It’s a pity that we don’t teach rhetoric in school anymore. Not too long ago it was considered one of the 7 constituents of a good classical education. These days not much is left of that curriculum and what is left has been bled dry by pseudo-enlightened teaching methods.

I’ve taken a course on rhetoric, which was helpful, but I’ve learned the most about it by countless hours of pondering mind-bendingly inane pronouncements trumpeted by people who should have known better, and the enthusiastic and unbelievably uncritical acceptance by all the nodding heads in attendance.

The best working definition of rhetoric that I’ve come across is as follows: The art and science of persuasion. Note that word: persuasion. This has nothing to do with logic or logical argument whereby, if properly done, one arrives at a correct conclusion. Rhetoric is convincing someone that some conclusion is the correct one whether it is or not. Considerable rhetoric has been expended talking teenage girls out of their virginity in the backseats of cars. Just about any abandoned single mother struggling to get her life back on track will tell you that going along wasn’t the correct conclusion.

It’s been a long road for me, but I’ve figured out our adversaries well enough that I can spot the flaws in the reasoning and their rhetorical legerdemain fairly easily. However, I see many good folks around me struggling with the Left’s tricky arguments, then shrugging their shoulders and going on, leaving the asinine pronouncements unchallenged. For all our good qualities, American’s lack of ambition toward intellectual rigor is a serious national flaw. One that scares me more than a little.

Leaving the jargon aside for the time being, I’ve noticed two things that people on the Right/Conservative/Libertarian side need to watch out for. First are false dichotomies, or taking something that has to be considered as a whole and splitting it into parts that can’t stand on their own so as to knock them down more easily. Second is the flip-side of the first. Taking separate elements and deliberately conflating them so as to use valid (maybe) criticisms of one to drag down the other. All of which brings me to my point. Racism, culturalism, nationalism, and any other number of –isms are frequently entirely separate issues that need to be considered, debated, and accepted or rejected as separate entities.

Conflating racism and culturalism is one of the biggest problems today and a current favorite rhetorical tap dance of the Left. The Left insists on treating these as two sides of the same coin making it impossible to condemn one without condemning the other. This, of course is insane in general, and never more insane than when it is applied to the United States.

Racism against Hispanics? Hispanics are not a race. The word itself has traditionally meant Spanish-speaking, thereby referring to a linguistic group as opposed to a genetically similar group of people. A conveniently forgotten fact is that Spain, the source of Spanish, is a Western European country, further west than England, the source of the “Gringo” language. Spaniards are Caucasians.

What about Latinos, as in Latin America? Well, what about it” In Latin America ethnicities range from pure Caucasian (who are the elites that run the show and own just about everything), through pure Amerindians, through Mestizos (mixed race people) to black folks. Besides, I’m not so sure we should call it “Latin” America. After all, for the Amerindians, they didn’t pursue anything Latin, it came and conquered them.

What about Islam? The same principal applies. Racial Muslims range from the whitest of Caucasians in Eastern Europe, a relic of Islamic imperial conquest, to the darkest of Africans on that continent. Islam is not a race; it is a fascist ideology masquerading as a religion.

When I try to explain the difference to someone, I usually use a computer analogy. Culture is to race as software is to hardware. Despite what poverty pimps and professional grievance-mongers may tell you, racism is all but beaten and progress is still made everyday. If the Republican Party is the Party of hate and the status quo, why are so many of them begging a black woman to be their presidential candidate in 2008? Why did Walter Williams, a famous and distinguished black economist, go on the radio and announce to white liberals, “You’re forgiven, you can stop acting stupid now”?

You would have to have been living under a rock to avoid people of minority persuasions that have long since disproved the “hardware” theory of racism. I have met people of all races who are significantly smarter than I am, and I dwell on the lonely fringes of the right side of the bell curve.

So what is the crucial difference? Software. Or as it applies to human beings—culture. Millions of people want to immigrate to the United States to partake in its freedoms, material wealth, and opportunities. Sadly, many of these folks no longer want to assimilate. In fact, they consider it an outrage that they would be expected to do so. Rather the existing culture is expected to change to accommodate their presence. In essence they expect this country to load their cultural “software” over our own. All this reminds me very much of my experience teaching in a rural school. Frequently, parents would move there hoping to get their children away from the bad big city influences. More often than not, those children were the big city influences. I recall one girl in particular who lasted only 4 days before being arrested for dealing cocaine.

So, what does this all mean? I suppose somebody has to have the guts to say it, so I will. Mexicans, your hardware is fine, just as good as anybody else. Your software, on the other hand, sucks. When you come here, legally of course, check your cultural baggage at the door.

There’s an old saying that says something like, “If the people knew what it was that they wanted, they wouldn’t want it.” The same applies here. If American culture is swamped and displaced by Mexican culture, or just about any other for that matter, in 10 years this country will be a “has-been” like France. In 20 years it would be a Third World nation. Then who would the rest of the world “borrow” money from then?

...and six months after being exiled to that barren wasteland they had established the worlds 3rd largest economy, 4th largest military, and the best medical system on the planet. After seven months hordes of uninvited "guests" swarmed into the new republic claiming that the Republicans had tricked them and taken all the jobs with them. (And for the love of God, somebody slap that smug smile off of that bitch's face.)

Just heard Geraldo Rivera pick sides. He was at one of the criminal invader jamborees and I guess he decided to stick with "his people". He came out against the better part of the immigration reform and warned against "making enemies of these people". He then chided America to "stop treating them as criminals and start treating them as the honored guests that they are". Yes, that's right, now they're honored guests and we're being lousy hosts. I had more respect for Geraldo when he was cracking Al Capone's vault. This is going to be a long struggle.

I'm watching hundreds of thousands of criminals on TV as they march through the streets of various cities demanding that their opinions be heard. I find it odd how few people seen to be hip to the fact that if you're here illegally, you're not entitled to an opinion on the subject. We don't let people who forge checks march in the streets demanding the legalization of "creative graphology". So, why are we bowing and scraping to these folks?

Hmmm, let's see. NO WORK, NO SCHOOL, NO SALES, NO BUYING...Hey! NO CHANGE!