This is how you get things done - Page 20

Now you have me intrigued. Please tell more about your conversations with the Soviet refugees. What motivates them to mourn the country they chose to leave.  I have this vague idea through books only, there is a collective romanticism in relating as a survivor heritage. 

The American culture showcases the opportunity of the individual, that has been the world's hope by the oppressed and underprivileged. If, or rather as some here say, when, we get to that point it is impossible to deliver on that, as a reality any more, then Moons will probably get his bonfire. However, isn't that what we instill in our kids through education? Doesn't that count as a valid culture construct in the same way as being born into a collective ideal defined by geography?



 

However, isn't that what we instill in our kids through education?

Depends on the education, the education and education orientation of the parents, and the extent to which the parents involve themselves in their children's education.  My wife and I raise our children to think.  There is a difference between knowledge and indoctrination.  So you obtain this knowledge, training, and a skill-set of one sort or another, which often applies to the what.  The HOW and the WHY is a different story entirely.  What is the value, where is the value, and how valuable is it?  We believe in choice and freedom, and so the answers to these questions may be different from one individual to the next.  IMO, what's important is we all recognize that these are indeed questions as opposed to foregone conclusions. I don't even like to think about the number of people who have lived entire lifetimes without asking and/or answering these.  In terms of opportunity for the individual, questions regarding the natural rights of man invariable enter the conversation.  Many would assume this to be a straightforward elementary concept, when in fact, it is at this point where we only begin to crack the book on philosophy.  Oh that word! But consider:

"The man who has no tincture of philosophy goes through life imprisoned in the prejudices derived from common sense, from the habitual beliefs of his age or nation, and from convictions which have grown up in his mind without the cooperation or consent of his deliberate reason." - Bertrand Russell.

On this I will only right now offer that many factors come into play here.  For you or I and some others, one difficult issue regarding "the natural rights of man" may reside in that place where we reconcile the differences between our rights before men and our supposed or assumed rights before God. 

The Russians.  I have a little story to tell you.  It involves a Russian, a book, and a Soviet coin.  Until the day this happened I had only knowledge of the Soviet mind, but lacked understanding.  I'll PM you soon.  Remind me if I forget.

Supreme Court refuses to hear case regarding the legality of the NSA's surveillance protocol.  If you can wrap your head around just how significant this is, you may just have an understanding of how much trouble we are in. 

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/judge-questions-his-role-in-nsa-case-100003.html?hp=l3

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2013/nov/24/defense-bill-caught-congress-political-divide/

Defense 625 billion, half?

Our representatives playing nicely with one another as usual while milking the sacred cow.

You know, when it all went down, Reid's "nuclear option", I was so sickened that I didn't post anything, anywhere.  Really, it was something that neither the GOP nor the Democrats wanted to touch, for fear of the backfire on future sessions of Congress in which the majority role is reversed.  Not only was this wise for that reason alone, but it was also well in keeping with the idea of our Republic, which protects the rights of both the majority and the minority. That article you referenced, explains another problem with the current landscape in Washington.  The recent trend of legislation being passed without significant deliberation that involves a certain measure of transparency.  Obama pressured Reid to affect a moment of political silence on a Senate Bill so as not to influence what are now being reported as "secret meetings" with Iran.    You want to talk about a slippery slope.  SMH.  This ladies and gentlemen, is government gone rogue.  Not that the GOP wouldn't capitalize of the current dysfunction to the same extent that the liberals are, but by definition, the damage during a period such as this is absolutely more far reaching with the progressives, who believe that more and more pervasive legislature is the answer to all of humanity's problems.  It's going to be a bumpy ride. 

After we have brought the cow in and fed it, they milk it dry, and we are left with only the pile of shit while they enjoy cream.
Rogue is putting it mildly, definitely dysfunctional, possibly criminal, perhaps totalitarian.
The cure always goes back to the money...that's the source of the disease.

After we have brought the cow in and fed it, they milk it dry, and we are left with only the pile of shit

Yes, turned out like a $ 2.00 whore in need of a fix ( or trimmings of pop culture).

I think those guys , all of them in DC pay a lot more than that ...LOL

Maybe the Secret Service gets discounts...not sure.

To me, the most dangerous idea coming out of Washington right now is not any particular law like Obamacare; it’s the attitude behind it, the belief that our constitutional form of government is not to be respected. President Obama has brought to the forefront this attitude with his recent declaration that he’s not going to wait for Congress to act, that he will do whatever he can to advance his political agenda, even if Congress disagrees. His latest iteration of his willingness to act unilaterally is to smugly warn he has a phone and a pen, an intimation that he can simply make something happen all by himself:



There is something called the “rule of law.” It means no one, not even a president, can rule by his own decrees. He is just as accountable to the law as any other citizen. America never gave its assent to the concept of divine right of kings, whereby a ruler believes he is in office by direct approval of God and can therefore do whatever he desires. If I remember correctly, the Constitution set up a limited government overall and a carefully defined role for the chief executive. I don’t recall a monarch being mentioned at all. President Obama acts as if he has never read the document. Perhaps he reads it differently:


Battered, bruised, and generally ignored as it is, the Constitution is still supposed to be the supreme law of the land. The royal “we” is not found within it.

                                                                                                                                        -K. Alan Snyder, PhD.  

 

Carlin,

I am sure you are well aware that all/most Presidents have used executive orders in the past. This by no means by passes the legislatures duties and responsibilities to enact laws. Something they seem very incapable of doing being there is a very large group of obstructionist house members, members who aren't willing to compromise to move legislation to the president. They are paid to do a job like pass laws and spending bills and not hold everything up because they want to have a TEA PARTY. Instead of blaming it all on Obama, blame it on the ones holding up the countries business a business they are sworn to carry out. Funny Democrats are more willing to find a common ground than most of the Republicans.