It's blog time once again, folks. I meant to do some blogging over the weekend, as the proverbial fan is a very dark shade of brown after this weekend... but I was busy apartment hunting and doing lease paperwork and such.
In slightly positive news, the Missouri Highway Patrol retracted a document in which they linked conservative groups with domestic terrorism. Mentioned by name were the folks (such as myself) who agree with and are active for the causes championed by Ron Paul.
The document was originally released last month by the Missouri Information Analysis Center. The name of this government agency sends chills up and down my spine, as thinking of it reminds me in too many ways of 1984. The agency is meant to be a collaborative "fusion center" for government agencies in Missouri and around the country when dealing with national security issues, namely militia movements.
The document suggests that domestic militias often oppose immigration, abortion, and federal taxes; it is "not uncommon", according to the report, to support third-party political candidates, such as Ron Paul.
Pardon me, but as an American citizen, I have a Constitutional right to make my voice heard. Just because my voice happens to find harmony with a political figure who, by modern standards, is neither Republican nor Democrat, that should not allow some asinine, privacy-violating government agency to associate me with terrorists. The political movement in which I am active does not condone nor does it encourage violent or aberrant behavior. It encourages it's members to grow support for the cause using the Internet and other resources to educate people. I reiterate, it's our Constitutional right to do so.
I know I'm not alone in this belief, because Campaign for Liberty called upon its members to peacefully make known their grievances relating to this document. It was subsequently retracted.
I mentioned how this particular agency reminds me of 1984. The government in this story controls everything, from the newspapers to the manufacturing. Everything is controlled and manipulated by the government. The book is absolutely horrifying, yet I see the real government of the United States heading right in that direction.
Take, for example, the proposed bailout of the newspaper industry. Yeah, you read that right. We've nationalized (read: socialized) the mortgage industry, the banking industry, a heaping chunk of the insurance industry, and the auto industry (more on that in a minute), and now we'd like the government to control the newspapers too. Well, perhaps "we" as the American public wouldn't like to see that, but the government probably would. Essentially, the government would allow the newspapers to become non-profit organizations with a bunch of tax breaks. So, the government offers the newspapers money (tax subsidies) in exchange for semi-nationalization of the industry. Does that scare anybody else? That's not too many steps away from our very own Ministry of Truth.
Sorry to all the journalists out there who work for newspapers, but the industry is dying and we need to allow it to do so. The industry has been going under for quite some time; it really has nothing to do with the current state of the economy. Simply put, why wait to read today's news in the paper tomorrow when I can just go online and find it right now? The news-reporting model of the newspaper is outdated and will never see a comeback in the age of the Internet and 24-hour news networks. I think the bigwigs in the industry realize this, but they are either too stubborn or greedy to let it happen. Alas, they ride the wave of companies requesting government bailouts and try to get their share of the pie.
Dominoes Pizza is currently running a line of commercials that show the CEO poking fun at companies who are looking for bailouts. while its jest is obvious, it's still sobering to be reminded of it every time Heroes goes to a commercial break.
In perhaps the most horrifying turn of events from the weekend, the Obama administration has forced Rick Wagoner to retire. For the unfamiliar, Wagoner was the CEO of General Motors. In a speech given at the White House over the weekend, Obama promised us that he is absolutely committed to the survival of the U.S. auto industry, but he feels the industry is not moving in the correct direction fast enough.
This comes after the announcement that GM and Chrysler requested, and were turned down for, additional bailout funds. As part of the original auto bailout approved by the Bush folks, the two automakers received a total of $17.4 billion in bailout funds - $13.4 billion to GM, $4 billion to Chrysler. GM requested another $16.6 billion and Chrysler requested another $5 billion. Obama said "no", a decision I approve of. He did, however, say that the government is now backing the warranties on all US-made automobiles. So, in reality, if you purchase an American-made vehicle (particularly from GM and Chrysler - Ford did not receive a bailout), you might as well be purchasing from the government.
Let's go back to the original statement though. Obama's administration has forced GM's CEO to retire and appointed a new CEO, who happens to be the old COO. They also appointed a new chairman of the board. In his speech Obama said, “Let me be clear: The United States government has no interest in running GM; we have no intention in running GM." Soooooo, all that forced reorganization stuff, that's not actually considered "running" GM? Do I have that right?
Like I've been saying since the beginning, while I agree that GM (and Chrysler, for that matter) is very much on the wrong course, it is not, nor should it ever be, the the place of the government to make hiring and firing decisions. That is so far beyond the scope of what the founding fathers had in mind in literally bewilders me that our country has come to this. Under the guise of "change," Obama is literally trying to take over the private sector. If the past has taught us anything, such a system is bound to collapse under the weight of its own greed and depravity.
What's more, the government is now bailing out the companies that supply parts to the American car manufacturers to keep them afloat. MagicMoney at work here, folks. We don't have it, but we're spending it anyway.
I'm going to derail this train of thought before I end up writing a novel. As always, I encourage all my readers to be more active in politics, because now it's more important than ever. Start educating yourself at the Campaign for Liberty.
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