Quote of the week

"['God Bless the U.S.A.'] is a country song. This is Brooklyn. This is not the country."

(Dina Rosado, president of the PTA for NYC P.S. 90, voicing her disapproval of the school's kindergarten class waving American flags and singing the Lee Greenwood classic near the school on Monday. A week earlier P.S. 90's principal, Gina Hawkins, barred the five-year-olds from performing the piece at their graduation ceremony, judging its lyrics "too adult" and offensive to "some people and cultures.")

I'd like to post this at work

(I clipped that image from page 26 of Two Faces of Communism, a comic book published in 1961 by the Christian Anti-Communism Crusade of Houston, Texas; the organization is still around today. In the first frame, dig the Commie foreman with the buggy whip.)

Let's not show this to Glenn Beck, ok?

Now that I have your attention (or Catholics' attention, at least)...

In 1947, as the Cold War dawned, the Catechetical Guild of St. Paul, Minnesota published Is this Tomorrow: America Under Communism! It's a graphic snapshot of the paranoia that marked those years.

The Roman Catholic church in the U.S. was most concerned about religious persecution, of course, but the Catechetical Guild used the comic's plot to weave a tapestry of fear -- racial strife, confiscation of guns, indoctrination in the schools, dictatorial rule and more.

Fundamentally, Is This Tomorrow collected everything that Liberty-loving post-war Americans were afraid of -- rightly so -- and ascribed it all to a bogeyman called "Communism."

If the Catholic guild's extremist strategy sounds familiar, it should.

In our own time, Liberty is under siege. Yes, the threats are real. Our challenge is to think critically about what we face, to separate facts from fears and to act in the best interest of the country we love.

[By the way, Pappy's Golden Age Blogzine has posted scans of all 52 pages of Is This Tomorrow -- click here.]

Posted: Condemned

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." (George Santayana)

Pause for prophecy

"Our Government should be entirely and purely secular. The religious views of a candidate should be kept entirely out of sight. He should not be compelled to give his opinion as to the inspiration of the Bible, the propriety of infant baptism, or the immaculate conception. All these things are private and personal. He should be allowed to settle such things for himself and should he decide contrary to the law and will of God, let him settle the matter with God. The people ought to be wise enough to select as their officers men who know something of political affairs, who comprehend the present greatness, and clearly perceive the future grandeur of our country."

"Our Government has nothing to do with religion. It is neither Christian nor pagan; it is secular. But as long as the people persist in voting for or against men on account of their religious views, just so long will hypocrisy hold place and power. Just so long will the candidates crawl in the dust -- hide their opinions, flatter those with whom they differ, pretend to agree with those whom they despise; and just so long will honest men be trampled under foot.

"Churches are becoming political organizations."

"It probably will not be long until the churches will divide as sharply upon political, as upon theological questions; and when that day comes, if there are not liberals enough to hold the balance of power, this Government will be destroyed. The liberty of man is not safe in the hands of any church. Wherever the Bible and sword are in partnership, man is a slave.

"All laws for the purpose of making man worship God, are born of the same spirit that kindled the fires of the auto da fe, and lovingly built the dungeons of the Inquisition. All laws defining and punishing blasphemy -- making it a crime to give your honest ideas about the Bible, or to laugh at the ignorance of the ancient Jews, or to enjoy yourself on the Sabbath, or to give your opinion of Jehovah, were passed by impudent bigots, and should be at once repealed by honest men.

"An infinite God ought to be able to protect himself, without going in partnership with State Legislatures. Certainly he ought not so to act that laws become necessary to keep him from being laughed at. No one thinks of protecting Shakespeare from ridicule, by the threat of fine and imprisonment."

(Robert Green Ingersoll, quoted from Section III of Some Mistakes of Moses, published in 1879)

In the midst of tragedy, scorn

"[The family of Jaylene Farrell, who died when a tornado struck Harrisburg, Illinois yesterday morning] want a song at her funeral that talks about praising God even through storms like this. And it just shows the incredible power of not general faith in something, but specific faith in Jesus Christ."

(Pastor Aaron Smith of the First Baptist Church of Harrisburg, speaking last night to CNN's Erin Burnett. The arrogant cleric exploits disaster, death and grief to take a swipe at anyone and everyone who doesn't share his particular religious beliefs, reminding us that only Christians are capable of coping with tragedy.)

Faithful arrogance

"How can you have judgment if you have no faith? And how can I trust you with power if you don't pray?" (Newt Gingrich, during Tuesday's CNN Western Republican Presidential Debate)

Occupy à la mode

No doubt about it, those Occupy people have themselves a catchy battle cry -- "We are the 99%!" -- but no one really believes that a fragmented mob of idealists represents virtually all Americans. It's not even close to the truth, which makes the protesters an easy mark for ridicule well deserved.

Real numbers -- and by that I mean facts, backed up by polling or other research -- tend to make lousy slogans, even when the numbers themselves highlight something that may be, in one way or another, significant. To wit:

We are the 15%
...of Americans who profess no religion.

We are the 18%
...of Americans who believe that Pres. Barack Obama is a Muslim.

We are the 20%
...of Americans who admit to having peed in a swimming pool.

We are the 21%
...of Americans who pledge allegiance to the Republican Party -- coincidentally, the same percentage that identify their political ideology as "liberal."

We are the 24%
...of Americans who are unemployed.

We are the 32%
...of Americans who pledge allegiance to the Democratic Party.

We are the 36%
...of Americans who identify their political ideology as "moderate."

We are the 41%
...of Americans who identify their political ideology as "conservative."

We are the 46%
...of Americans who pledge allegiance to neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party.

We are the 55%
...of Americans who disapprove of the way that Pres. Obama is handling his job.

We are the 66%
...of likely Republican-primary voters who want the former Mayor of Wasilla to stay the hell out of the 2012 presidential campaign.

We are the 75%
...of likely Republican-primary voters who want someone other than Mitt Romney to be President of the United States.

We are the 77%
...of Americans who say that our country is on the wrong track.

We are the 81%
...of Americans who disapprove of the way that the U.S. Congress is handling its job.

Between the Tea Party & 'Occupy Wall Street'

"Half of the people are stoned
"And the other half are waiting for the next election.
"Half the people are drowned
"And the other half are swimming in the wrong direction."

(From "Gloria: Trope, 'Half of the People,'" Movement XV of "Mass: A Theater Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers" by Leonard Bernstein. This particular quatrain, the composer said, was a Christmas gift from Paul Simon. Bernstein's brilliantly caustic "Mass" premiered 40 years ago last month.)

Forty-eight hours (illustrated)

In yesterday's much-ballyhooed (but patently inconsequential) Ames Straw Poll, Rep. Michele Bachmann won a squeaker over Rep. Ron Paul. Stealing a piece of their thunder, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas announced that he, too, wants to be President.

Never mind what you hear from giddy conservatives -- neither development heralds the defeat of Pres. Barack Obama. So far Bachmann and Paul have polled poorly in a hypothetical matchup with the incumbent, and Perry will show that he's incapable of shedding the perception that he's nothing more (or less) than George W. Bush II.

Worse, and despite thumping the "Liberty!" tub, all three of these GOP hopefuls pander shamelessly to (so-called) "social conservatives" -- white evangelical Christians, mostly, whose ideology couldn't be more antithetical to Liberty.

Barely a week before declaring his candidacy, Perry led 30,000 in a "Prayer-Palooza" at a stadium in Houston -- a sitting governor keynoting a camp meeting. Even Paul, arguably dean of the small-government movement, has been sucked into the anti-libertarian abyss on abortion and other issues.

Considering the weak Republican field, this is not good.


"I may not be the gearhead I used to be, but I'm still plenty redneck."

Those aren't my words -- they came from my smiling wife as we sat along a curb in nearby Reynoldsburg last night, joining thousands of others to watch the annual Mopar Nationals "Brice Road Cruise."

The air was thick with tire smoke. Some of the onlookers, many of them children, laid down patches of water on the pavement, hoping to lure a good burnout. Drivers were more than willing to oblige, a token police presence having little effect.

Either you get this sort of thing or you don't. We had a ball, and besides, dropping by the Brice Road Cruise was Mrs. KintlaLake's idea.

I married a redneck gearhead. Somebody pinch me.


Ohio's state flag appears on a new postage stamp, released on Friday. It's part of the "Flags of Our Nation" series and, since I'm a born-and-bred Buckeye, it's a source of pride.

Yet another harvest shot, this haul from midday today -- nine large cukes, five peppers, two Romas and five yellow pear tomatoes.

I'll end this roundup with the way our weekend began -- at the Huntington Park Hoedown, a benefit concert held Friday evening at the home ballpark of the Columbus Clippers.

We arrived at the will-call window just before the gates opened, fetched my media badge and my wife's field pass and made our way to the visitors' dugout to deposit my photo gear. Local solo artist Chris Logsdon took the stage first, followed by Jonalee White and her band. Both treated the crowd to typically great performances.

McGuffey Lane, by far our favorite local band (and the source of our comp passes, by the way), was next on the bill and didn't disappoint. My wife and I adjourned to the parking lot for a smoke after their set.

When we returned, the reunited Exile was onstage. Of all the acts, we figured, this was the lone take-or-leave proposition.

Boy, were we wrong.

I don't remember the last time I was as blown away by a performance. I mean, here was an '80s pop-turned-country band showing chops that had the show's other musicians gathering, awestruck, behind the stage. Exile's a capella rendition of "People Get Ready," the Curtis Mayfield classic, had the ballpark so quiet I swear I heard the outfield grass growing.

Seriously, people -- if you have a chance to catch Exile live, with all five of its founding members, do it. I promise you won't regret it.

Hoedown headliner Pure Prairie League, over five hours after their sound check, closed the show with a high-energy set, including three of my favorites: "Early Morning Riser," "Two-Lane Highway" and, of course, "Amie."

Photographically the night had me wishing for faster glass and steadier hands. But incomparable music performed in a great venue, on a clear summer evening that saw a full moon rise over the Columbus skyline behind the stage -- it doesn't get better than that.

'Fugetaboutit' of the week

"Ignorance is behind the criticism of Sohail Mohammed. The folks who criticize my appointment of Sohail Mohammed are ignorant."

"Sharia law has nothing to do with this at all. It's crazy. It's crazy. The guy's an American citizen who has been an admitted lawyer to practice in the state of New Jersey, swearing an oath to uphold the laws of New Jersey, the constitution of the state of New Jersey, and the Constitution of the United States of America."

"This Sharia law business is crap. It's just crazy. And I'm tired of dealing with the crazies."

(New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, responding to critics of his appointing Sohail Mohammed, a Muslim, to the state Supreme Court -- and by leaving no doubt what he thinks of Islamophobic nutjobs, probably sabotaging any shot he has at the GOP nomination for President)

Don't look now...

...but the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention is using tongue-in-cheek humor to educate a complacent public about preparedness.

Predictions that the world will end at 6pm tomorrow didn't deter the CDC from launching Zombie Apocalypse. (Ok, let's face it, those warnings of an imminent doomsday almost certainly played into the announcement.) The new campaign recycles familiar messages with a dose of fresh spin:

"You may laugh now, but when [a Zombie attack] happens you'll be happy you read this, and hey, maybe you'll even learn a thing or two about how to prepare for a real emergency."

Think about it -- this is coming from the federal agency that virtually wrote the book on gravitas. While it isn't aimed at the masses -- that job belongs to the Ready America joint initiative -- Zombie Apocalypse has a shot at reaching more citizens about the need to prepare.

I mean, if comic books are good enough for the U.S. Army, raising the whimsical prospect of reckoning with the Living Dead might just wake a few civilians from contented slumber. If it does, that's a good thing.

And if it doesn't, hell, at least it's different.

Seven days to go...

Mark your calendars: Judgment Day begins one week from today.

According to Harold Camping -- a notoriously incorrect preacher, a guy I've called a "doddering nutjob" -- on May 21st,

"There's going to be a huge earthquake. It will be an earthquake far greater than any earthquake that has ever happened before."

Exactly five months later, Camping says,

"The whole world will be completely annihilated. It will completely disappear."

I have a question: If the world is gonna end in October, why the hell did I bother paying my income taxes?

Those of us who check "other" when asked to identify our religious affiliation aren't buying the snake oil Camping is selling, of course. It's amusingly fascinating nonetheless.


I wasn't surprised to learn that at least one enterprising atheist has turned Christian prophecy to his financial advantage. It's more than a little disturbing, however, that Eternal Earth-Bound Pets USA claims more than 250 customers on its books.

Unfortunately, it's a little late now to come up with my own Judgment Day money-making scheme. I'm just relieved that I didn't buy the extended warranty on this computer.

Nutjobs & nonsense

"If [Pres. Barack Obama] was a shoo-in for re-election, Osama bin Laden would still be alive today. There would have been no need to undertake the mission." (Rush Limbaugh, to his poodles-- er, fans)

"I am sorry, but if you believe the newest death of [Osama bin Laden], you’re stupid. Just think to yourself -- they paraded [Saddam Hussein's] dead sons around to prove they were dead -- why do you suppose they hastily buried this version of [Osama bin Laden] at sea? This lying, murderous [U.S.] Empire can only exist with your brainwashed consent -- just put your flags away and THINK!" (Cindy Sheehan, who really is "sorry" -- just not the way she meant it)

"Of course, [Pres. Obama] made his announcement right in the middle of Donald Trump's 'Celebrity Apprentice' show. Of course, that was just a coincidence." (Judson Phillips, Tea Party Nation, who has yet to meet a conspiracy theory he doesn't love)

"The free world, particularly the United States, has a right to make sure Osama bin Laden is really dead. Every American has a right to walk right up to bin Laden’s corpse and view it. We are entitled to know for a fact that the witch is dead. No shroud for dignity’s sake, please -- bin Laden’s naked, bullet-riddled corpse should be put on display in lower Manhattan for all the world to see. The entire body should be digitally scanned, inside and out -- and made available for everyone to take his or her own picture." (J. Michael Walker, via Andrew Breitbart's Big Peace, giving fuel to the "deathers" movement)

"So why did [Pres. Obama] announce the [assassination of Osama bin Laden] like he was reading the dictionary? You know the answer. It’s because his speech wasn’t so much aimed at Americans. He was being careful of how the 'Arab Street' would interpret his remarks. Any hint of gloating or happiness might be rubbing it in the face of some of the crazies in the Arab World and heaven forbid we get them upset! How dare we Americans look like we’re celebrating his death! The travesty of it all! Give me a break. Isn’t it time to stop catering to thugs?" (David Brody, Christian Broadcasting Network)

"Maybe I should have read Proverbs 24:17 before I wrote that.

"Proverbs 24:17 says: 'Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice.'

President Obama actually lived by that important biblical verse by the words and tone he used. I did not and for that I apologize. While I do believe that his remarks were measured so as not to cause more commotion in the Arab World, I got a little caught up in the euphoric celebrations of the evening. The Book of Proverbs got it right and therefore so did President Obama. Pulling out the Bible is the best thing you can do and I wish I had done it sooner." (Brody again -- yet another right-wing ideologue caught with his politics wedged uncomfortably between his religious beliefs)

Must-see TV

Last night my wife and I watched the CNN special, "Unwelcome: The Muslims Next Door" -- and we shuddered.



I can't say how complete or balanced CNN's reporting was, since I don't live in Murfreesboro. I can say, however, that the citizens opposed to the mosque are, in my opinion, an embarrassment to Liberty.

They showed themselves to be nothing but an ignorant horde of fear-mongering bigots. I'm deaf to any whining about "media bias" -- these fanatically Christian xenophobes bring shame on their community by their own words and their own actions. The irony is that the First Amendment allows for their idiocy, at the same time that they insult our nation's most essential founding principle.

CNN will re-air the report this weekend.

The week's notable quotes

For a news junkie like me, the past several days have been the proverbial candy store. A few quotes stood out -- and you may be surprised to see that Caribou Barbie isn't even on this week's radar.

Xenophobes, your table is ready
There's a lot to like about Mike Huckabee -- his folksy eloquence, his humor and a number of his more thoughtful positions. He won't get my vote for President, should he run again, because he also reminds me that we must never elect a cleric to that high office.

All the same, he's always struck me as a refreshingly different kind of politician -- until yesterday, that is.

Earlier this week Huckabee asserted that Pres. Barack Obama was raised in Kenya, later claiming that he "misspoke." I believe he's way too smart for that, but I gave him a pass anyway. Continuing to backpedal on talk radio yesterday, however, he said,

"...I do think [Pres. Obama] has a different world view, and I think it's in part molded out of a very different experience. Most of us grew up going to boy scout meetings, and you know, our communities were filled with rotary clubs, not madrassas."

Like I said, Huckabee's a smart guy. It's laughable to argue that he dropped the M-bomb innocently -- without a doubt, he invoked it to fan right-wingers' reflexive fear of all things different. (Read: all things not Christian, all things foreign, especially all things Muslim).

See, Mike Huckabee wants us to know that Pres. Obama spent part of his childhood in another country (Indonesia, not Kenya), in another culture -- therefore he's un-American and unfit to lead. But by appealing to irrational fear, Huckabee exposes his own unfitness.

He'll have a lot of xenophobic company on the 2012 campaign trail, of course, and fearmongering is bound to draw predictably mindless crowds, but I can't imagine any thinking person buying his brand of unfiltered bullshit.

(By the way, it's worth clarifying the makeup of Huckabee's broadcast audience yesterday. He was speaking on American Family Radio -- not Family Radio Worldwide, which is run by über-fearmonger Harold Camping, the doddering nutjob who preaches that the world will end on May 21, 2011. I realize that I may be highlighting a distinction without a difference, but there it is.)

I must've missed civics class that day
Rick Santorum, the former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, wants to be the next President of the United States -- maybe. Recently liberated from a FauxNews contract which prohibited him from appearing on competing networks, on Wednesday he did an interview with CNN's John King.

King asked Santorum if he subscribes to some conservatives' call to table (temporarily) social issues like abortion rights and gay marriage, in order to devote more attention to righting our national economy. From Santorum's response:

"...America is a moral enterprise. I mean, we are a people who believe in certain things and want to see a society in a certain way. We have common shared values. And those values are morally based."

A moral enterprise? Funny, I was taught that the United States of America is a representative republic with democratic moving parts.

Santorum is a Roman Catholic hammer. If he doesn't make every single issue look like some kind of moral nail, he loses his gimmick -- along with his base and any shot he might have at the Oval Office.

When he speaks of we, of certain things...in a certain way, he doesn't speak for me. He equates, arrogantly and incorrectly, Catholic doctrine with American morality [sic]. And by doing so, he's taken a swan dive off of the list of presidential candidates I might consider.

Truth? Or consequences?
Felipe Calderón, President of Mexico, came a-calling at the White House yesterday. During a press conference that followed the high-level meeting, a Mexican reporter asked the U.S. president if (essentially) he'd be willing to use his veto power to block laws upholding the Second Amendment to the Constitution.

I swear I'm not making that up. Pres. Obama answered, in part,

"Well, the Second Amendment in this country is part of our Constitution and the President of the United States is bound by our Constitution. So I believe in the Second Amendment. It does provide for Americans the right to bear arms for their protection, for their safety, for hunting, for a wide range of uses. That does not mean that we cannot constrain gunrunners from shipping guns into Mexico. And so we believe that we can shape an enforcement strategy that slows the flow of guns into Mexico, while at the same time preserving our Constitution."

"Part of that job is to enforce the laws that are already on the books more effectively. Part of it may be to provide additional tools to law enforcement so that we can prevent the shipment of these weapons across the border.

"But I do want to emphasize -- and I emphasized this privately with President Calderón -- we are very mindful that the battle President Calderón is fighting inside of Mexico is not just his battle; it’s also ours. We have to take responsibility just as he’s taking responsibility. And that’s true with respect to guns flowing from north to south; it’s true about cash flowing north to south."

First, let's give our president credit for hitting the right rhetorical notes in those first two paragraphs: stand by the Second Amendment, enforce existing laws. That said, to my ears it almost sounded like if he weren't the President, he wouldn't be bound by the Constitution and might take a different position.

I remain wary (to say the least) of his stated commitment to an individual American citizen's right to keep and bear arms. Never mind his words -- his record doesn't inspire confidence.

As for the U.S. taking responsibility for murderous Mexican narcotics cartels, well, that's where I get off the presidential train to Tijuana. The history of U.S.-Mexico cooperation [sic] is indisputably one-sided -- we give, they take. We export taxpayers' money and they squander it. While the American economy sputters and stalls, the Mexican government shamelessly begs for more aid -- and gets it.

It's not isolationism to take an unapologetically aggressive approach to securing our borders, to spend more of our dwindling resources on bolstering our own nation. And even if it is, I'm proudly isolationist.

Someday we'll thank them

As most observers predicted, today the U.S. Supreme Court announced its ruling that the First Amendment to the Constitution protects the right of the Westboro Baptist Church to conduct their hateful protests at funerals of our nation's war dead. And in this citizen's opinion, the high court acted exactly as it should have.

Justice Samuel Alito was alone in dissent. In his minority opinion, he crystallizes all arguments against objectionable speech:

"Our profound national commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case."

That situational, emotional appeal is a poor constitutional case for "abridging the freedom of speech."

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the eight-judge majority. His opinion concludes,

"Westboro believes that America is morally flawed; many Americans might feel the same about Westboro. Westboro's funeral picketing is certainly hurtful and its contribution to public discourse may be negligible. But Westboro addressed matters of public import on public property, in a peaceful manner, in full compliance with the guidance of local officials. The speech was indeed planned to coincide with Matthew Snyder's funeral, but did not itself disrupt that funeral, and Westboro's choice to conduct its picketing at that time and place did not alter the nature of its speech.
"Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and -- as it did here -- inflict great pain. On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker. As a Nation we have chosen a different course -- to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate. That choice requires that we shield Westboro from tort liability for its picketing in this case."

As much as I loathe Westboro and all it represents, there may come a time when my speech -- or yours -- offends the sensibilities of a majority of Americans. On that day, we'll be grateful that this court, this time, stood for Liberty.

Four freedoms & seven steps

Staying on the beam about World War II-era culture here, today I'll take a look at a wartime leader's wishes for the world, and also how our government pressed citizens to help hold back inflation. One can tell us a lot about how we landed in our current fix, while the other exposes our refusal to do what it takes to get out.

In his 1941 State-of-the-Union address, less than a year before the Empire of Japan struck U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor, Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt enumerated what he called "four essential human freedoms":

1. Freedom of speech & expression
2. Freedom of worship
3. Freedom from want
4. Freedom from fear

Here was the President of the United States articulating not freedoms but aspirations. His first two points are enshrined in our Constitution, which protects opportunity; the third and fourth "freedoms" are not.

FDR's vision is seen by many as defining the core principles of liberal political ideology. Some consider his "Four Freedoms" speech as tipping America in the direction of socialism. There's little doubt that it laid the foundation for the United Nations.

I could make a value judgment about each of those effects -- and if I did, it wouldn't be pretty -- but instead I'm going to focus on more practical matters.

The goal of ensuring "freedom from want" has bankrupted America. Domestically it created a "social safety net" and a parasitic entitlement culture. Globally it made us the world's bank, cop and philanthropist, at the expense of stability and solvency here at home.

"Freedom from fear" is the ultimate expression of government-as-parent. (See the illustration by Norman Rockwell, above.) Integral to the constitutional provision "for the common defense" is the bearing of arms -- collectively and individually -- and yet the fourth of FDR's "freedoms" has been used to support the gutting of military readiness and the wholesale disarmament of citizens.

Humans aspire to happiness, and certainly we'd be happier free from want or fear. The Declaration of Independence acknowledges "the pursuit of happiness" among our "unalienable rights" -- not the achievement of happiness but its pursuit.

Independent humans are satisfied with opportunity. We'll do the rest on our own, thanks.

During the wartime years of the 1940s, Americans had roughly 40% more purchasing power than there were goods available to buy -- a prescription for runaway inflation. After watching prices jump by more than 60% during World War I, the federal government was determined to avoid a repeat performance.

It instituted rationing, price controls and other measures, all promoted by posters, ads and events. Central to the "Help US keep prices down" propaganda campaign were seven steps that ordinary citizens could take:

1. Buy only what you need.
2. Don't ask more than you must for what you sell.
3. Pay no more than ceiling prices.
4. Pay taxes willingly.
5. Pay off your old debts -- all of them.
6. If you haven't a savings account, start one.
7. Buy and hold War Bonds.

From our perspective, a few of those suggestions ring of common sense -- be frugal, save money, get rid of debt. A couple of others -- don't overcharge, don't overpay -- fly in the face of today's pseudo-capitalism. The remaining two won't sit well with neo-cons mindlessly committed to reducing taxes.

The government wants to raise my taxes? What, and I'm supposed to pay them cheerfully? And the feds want me to buy War Bonds, too?

Yes, actually, to all of the above. The reasons were both patriotically sound and fiscally responsible.

The Greatest Generation knew that supporting the war effort meant supporting the revenue-generating measures required to pay for it, distasteful and difficult as that may have been. Second, increasing taxes during wartime was intended to be a pay-as-you-go strategy -- squaring the national ledger as money was needed and spent. And third, reducing American consumers' purchasing power was an important anti-inflation by-product of higher taxes.

That wasn't sinister -- it was smart. The feds' scheme worked, too, by most historians' accounts, holding World War II inflation below 25%.

Today our nation is crippled by ideology. The left has abandoned constitutional principles for entitlements and the illusion of safety -- the government will provide. The right has forsaken the role that sacrifice plays in patriotism, acting as if representative taxation is antithetical to freedom.

If we don't learn from our history we are, in a word, screwed.

More thoughts on Tucson

Several days removed from Saturday's events in Tucson, I'll offer a few opinions and observations.

First, the shooter bears the blame for his crimes, period. Whatever his defects, whatever his influences, he alone is accountable.

Second, there's no justification and no defense for the shooting. Anyone who crosses the line between explanation of murderous acts and apology for the murderer casts doubt on both their sanity and their humanity.

Likewise, the fusillade of accusations and counter-accusations flying back and forth across the ideological divide is absolutely baseless. Oh, there's no question that the likes of Bill Maher and Caribou Barbie (to name just two) exercise their First Amendment rights with few facts and breathtakingly poor judgment -- as Robert Green Ingersoll said of revival ministers,

"They did not know much, but they believed a great deal."

Blaming homicide on the Tea Party or guns for schizoid paranoia, however, is shameful political opportunism.

(Incidentally, a spokeswoman for the former Mayor of Wasilla claimed yesterday that those crosshairs over Rep. Gabrielle Giffords's district were, in fact, "a surveyor's symbol." The Queen of Denali didn't cause the deaths in Tucson, of course, but c'mon now -- does anyone with a lick of common sense actually believe that bullshit?)

To reinforce a point that I made on Sunday, our constitutional rights carry consequences. And again, it's not about assigning blame -- it's about taking responsibility. Suppose you tuned to your favorite AM frequency today and heard this:

"This radio program is entertainment, people, not gospel. These are opinions -- my opinions. If you agree, great; if you disagree, that's your prerogative.

"Sadly, some of you out there aren't playing with a full deck. You have a small brain and no life, you're a hammer in search of nails, and you take my hyperbole way too seriously. You'll twist my words into a call to violence -- I know that. It's a consequence of exercising my free-speech rights, but I won't be silenced just because some of you are as dumb as stumps."

That'd be refreshing, now, wouldn't it? I'm not holding my breath.

Today's political wind carries the foul odor of repressive legislation, typically ill-conceived laws that could impose limits on speech and disarm law-abiding citizens. Fact is, if laws could prevent violent crime, the tragedy in Tucson never would've happened.

Here's another fact (or, to be accurate, a prediction): Gabby Giffords will become the next Jim Brady. Take that to the bank.

Finally, the Westboro Baptist Church plans to picket the funeral of the nine-year-old girl who was murdered in Tucson. Granted, the First Amendment gives me the right to express my less-than-fond wishes for God's Assholes. For the moment, I'll exercise judgment instead.

Contrast & correction

Bob Marshall is a Delegate to Virginia's General Assembly, a Republican and a raging homophobe who places a higher value on irrational taboos than on the U.S. Constitution.

On Monday, as Congress lifted the ban on gays serving openly in our nation's armed forces, Marshall told Richmond TV station WWBT,

"If you've got ground troops -- and those are the ones who are most adamant about this -- disturbed because the person in the foxhole next to them may decide to sexually assault them under certain circumstances, that's going to distract them from an enemy across the field."

Marshall is drafting a bill to keep gays out of the Virginia National Guard. Like many other (so-called) "social conservatives" he casts himself as freedom's friend, but his own words expose him as a fearmongering fraud.

The evil of bigotry will exist until the last human breathes a last breath. Most bigots act out of mindless fear, often grounded in tradition or faith that seeks to impose personal beliefs on others.

Bigotry is antithetical to liberty.

Fortunately, a bright, libertarian and indisputably constitutional line was drawn this morning when Pres. Barack Obama signed the repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Here are several excepts from the President's remarks:

"No longer will our country be denied the service of thousands of patriotic Americans who were forced to leave the military -- regardless of their skills, no matter their bravery or their zeal, no matter their years of exemplary performance -- because they happen to be gay. No longer will tens of thousands of Americans in uniform be asked to live a lie, or look over their shoulder, in order to serve the country that they love."
"There will never be a full accounting of the heroism demonstrated by gay Americans in service to this country; their service has been obscured in history. It's been lost to prejudices that have waned in our own lifetimes. But at every turn, every crossroads in our past, we know gay Americans fought just as hard, gave just as much to protect this nation and the ideals for which it stands.
"There can be little doubt there were gay soldiers who fought for American independence, who consecrated the ground at Gettysburg, who manned the trenches along the Western Front, who stormed the beaches of Iwo Jima. Their names are etched into the walls of our memorials. Their headstones dot the grounds at Arlington."
"I say to all Americans, gay or straight, who want nothing more than to defend this country in uniform: Your country needs you, your country wants you, and we will be honored to welcome you into the ranks of the finest military the world has ever known."
"For we are not a nation that says, 'don’t ask, don’t tell.' We are a nation that says, 'Out of many, we are one.' We are a nation that welcomes the service of every patriot. We are a nation that believes that all men and women are created equal.
"Those are the ideals that generations have fought for. Those are the ideals that we uphold today."

With that, we're a better nation today than we were yesterday. We're better because a law that flouted our founding principles is gone from the books. We're better because our military's code of honor has one less exception. We're better because we, as a nation, embrace the service and sacrifice of gay Americans, as gay Americans -- past, present and future.

We're better because bigotry lost this round.

It's about damned time.