Planet of the APES

In my last posting we talked about the Democrats and an APE bill that got shot down by a Republican filibuster. Well, APE is an acronym that I invented in a moment of sheer genius while listening to Sirius Radio during a Tuesday road trip.

So here it is. In keeping with the highest traditions of Robert Pratt and his Dust Storm Award and Mike Church who points out that "Liberals Say the most Damn Dumbass Things" I have identified the APE.

APE (Anti Patriot Extremist):

Those who deliberately pursue an agenda that is obviously against the best interests of the USA as a whole, or personal liberties. These are the folks that will spout constitutional platitudes without understanding that the power is vested in the States or People respectively. APEs can be identified by a yearning to control virtually every aspect of your life via ever bigger government and ever more regulations. APE doctrine holds that taxation is something to embrace and that failure to embrace being taxed indicates that you are stupid or socially awkward.

To positivily identify an APE look for any of the following:

• A burning desire to increase taxation on the rich while investing in tax free monetary vessels.
• A fervent belief that getting ahead is only for those of the appropriate social class and standing.
• Frequent references to the appropriate college or university where they received anti-American indoctrinations.
• The absolute belief that the individual is morally required to give up what has been earned to those who didn't earn it. This believe is firmly shackled to the policy of confiscation of assets if the earners don't agree with the moral requirement.

This is not an exhaustive list by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, if you like, hit the ol comment button and add your observations of APE like behavior.

Finally, beware an APE quoting the Constitution or Declaration of Independence. Just as the devil can quote Scripture, so can an APE pretend to revere the foundations of liberty in these United States.

Planet of the APEs moment for this week: Hillary Clintons abject public surrender to Barack Obama. True Americans can lose the fight. Real Americans can acknowledge the loss. But even in defeat, non-Apes won't compromise on principle and throw themselves with abandon to the other side. But this concession following such a bitter campaign merely shows that Roddy McDowell was right.

The Politics Of Oil

The oil wars in the nations capital are heating up. The Democrats in Congress have introduced two different energy related bills that the Republicans managed to kill. The first was previously blogged in an open letter to my senators. So, right up front I want to extend my thanks to Senators Kay Bailey Hutchinson and John Cornyn. They did what had to be done in order to make sure the APE bills didn't make it. By the way, the next post will answer just what an APE is.

For those that didn't understand the significance of todays Republican filibuster, an attempt by the Senate to demonise the oil companies was stopped. They wanted to impose a "Windfall Profits Tax" on Big Oil. The problem with that is that no matter what accounting procedures you use the ultimate truth is that corporations don't pay taxes. So, the WPT would have been paid by you and I at the pump.

To fully restate the (to some) obvious: Taxes are simply an expense associated with the final delivery of the service or product. If the material or labor that goes into making a widget goes up, so does the final price. Taxes are the same way.

The current crop of Democrats in the Congress doesn't seem to get it. I can only ask: Are they always this stupid? Or is this millennium a special occasion?

What can we do about it? First, educate yourself. Then educate your friends, neighbors, family members, and co-workers. Finally, maintain a close contact with your elected officials.

Good Luck.

In Opposition to S. 2191

Senator John Cornyn (R-TX)
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)

I am writing to strongly oppose passage in any current form of S. 2191.

This bill has taken unproven theories and elevated them to the status of holy writ and will prove to be disastrous to the economy of the United States and detrimental to our citizens fundamental liberties.

The immediate effect is to establish an even larger bureaucracy within a government not noted for being able to actually function in a swift, sure, or efficient manner. Creation of the additional agencies will be yet another step away from a republic and towards a European socialist state. In other words Senator, forget about states rights or the Constitutional mandate of a small central government where the majority of the power is wielded at the base instead of the tip.



Additionally, this bill appears to voluntarily give away our national sovereignty in regards to the International Emissions Allowances. This bill specifically subordinates our legitimate national interest to globalists and various special interest groups.

Rather than this yoke which will ship even more jobs to countries not shackled with such restrictions and administrative burdens we should be urging private industry to develop the technology to lease to the world at large. A reasonable team of dedicated conversationalists and industrial technology would create jobs and accomplish the mission.

I have no desire to pollute the atmosphere. I have no desire to take the risk that the unproven theories may prove true. Instead the Senate could take the lead in bringing together realistic experts to defend against the risk without destroying our economy, letting down the American worker, and selling our Constitution down the river.

I will look forward to your very public opposition to this bill and to those who are subverting our future. Sometimes it is better to fight the good fight and honorably lose than it is to appear pragmatic to “fight another day”. I will refer you to President Roosevelts’ comments:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

I Am Respectfully Yours,

MSgt Phillip E. Gwinn USMC/ret
Slaton, TX

Texas Finally Gets It Right

A bit of a while back I posted my shame that Texas has reached in and grabbed ahold of 400+ kids from their parents. I was ticked. And I have to say that I am glad that the Texas Supreme Court got involved.

SAN ANGELO, Texas -- The e-mail sent by a legal aid firm moments after a Texas Supreme Court ruling Thursday said it all - Supreme Court to CPS: Send these children home.
By a 6-3 majority, the justices agreed an appeals court was correct in deciding a district court judge erred in keeping about 450 children from a polygamous sect in state custody.
It said 51st District Judge Barbara Walther must vacate her April 18 order, made two weeks after a raid on the sect's west Texas ranch.
But key questions - when, how and under what conditions - still must be resolved, which could happen as soon as today. -- Source

But there are still a few sticking points that bother me. Please click to read more...

Even though an appeals court and eventually the state supreme court made the correct ruling, the agencies scared the hell out of me. I mean, a phone call from an unidentified caller triggered the raid. If one of my neighbors decides to make a call, who is coming to my door in the night? Fair Warning: I am trained, armed, and have the will to apply both.

And from an earlier edition of the same source (emphasis added):

Until women from a polygamous sect "unequivocally" identify their offspring, they have no standing to contest a judge's decision to remove the children from a west Texas ranch, state officials argue.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services contends in a court filing released today that FLDS mothers have engaged in a "conspiracy of silence" that forced the en masse custody hearings they now want to do over.
The document was filed in response to a petition filed with the Third Court of Appeals in Austin on behalf of 50 women from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
The state filing lists 468 children as being in custody, something a spokesman said today was a typographical error. There are 464 children in custody.
The mothers' petition, filed by Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA), sought to reunite them with their children as they work to comply with any service plan devised by the state.
But Texas DFPS argues the pleadings do not identify which children belong to each mother, which the women have "repeatedly declined to do" and calls into question their right to dispute the state action

The State removed the kids for being in danger of abuse. Obviously every parent was a suspect. And yet the state argued that application of ones 5th Amendment right to remain silent ... or am I just a nutjob with an unwarranted fear of the .gov?

Even though the court ruled that the state was wrong, conditions were imposed to get the kids back. This is about halfway down the article and continues from there.

A draft agreement released by CPS attorney Gary Banks earlier Friday said the parents could get their children back beginning Monday after showing identification and pledging to take parenting classes and remain in Texas.-- Source

This whole mess still stinks. But, it's better than before. Like it or not, the state still must comply with the Supremes. Hopefully the ongoing investigation will properly observe the affected Texans rights while getting to the truth.

Even so, I'd keep a weapon in plain sight.... just in case.

Conundrums?

A few questions that are bouncing about in my overactive brain housing group. Maybe y'all can help me out. IF nothing else it'll make for an interesting day of cogitation. Please click the link just below to read on...

On the 16th of May...

SAN FRANCISCO -- -- The California Supreme Court struck down the state's ban on same-sex marriage Thursday in a broadly worded decision that would invalidate virtually any law that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation.

The 4-3 ruling declared that the state Constitution protects a fundamental "right to marry" that extends equally to same-sex couples. It tossed a highly emotional issue into the election year while opening the way for tens of thousands of gay people to wed in California, starting as early as mid-June. -- Source

And with that the nation began to debate the issue again. And so, the conundrum for this issue is: If, as the California Supreme court asserts, Gay Marriage is a fundamental right: How can Polygamy be any different? After all both states of marriage are addressed in the same portion of the Constitution.