The Obama Democrats see a society in which ordinary people cannot fend for themselves, where they need to have their incomes supplemented, their health care insurance regulated and guaranteed, their relationships with their employers governed by union leaders. Highly educated mandarins can make better decisions for them than they can make themselves.
That is the culture of dependence. The tea partiers see things differently. They’re not looking for lower taxes; half of tea party supporters, a New York Times survey found, think their taxes are fair. Nor are they financially secure: Half say someone in their household may lose their job in the next year. Two-thirds say the recession has caused some hardship in their lives. But they recognize, correctly, that the Obama Democrats are trying to permanently enlarge government and increase citizens’ dependence on it.
And, invoking the language of the Founding Fathers, they believe that this will destroy the culture of independence that has enabled Americans over the past two centuries to make this the most productive and prosperous — and the most charitably generous — nation in the world. Seeing our political divisions as a battle between the culture of dependence and the culture of independence helps to make sense of the divisions seen in the 2008 election.
— Michael Barone, Washington Examiner, Tea parties fight Obama’s culture of dependence
Month: April 2010
Quote of the Day – Economy Just Like WWII Edition
Believing that a crisis is a useful thing to create, the Obama administration — which understands that, for liberalism, worse is better — has deliberately aggravated the fiscal shambles that the Great Recession accelerated. During the downturn, federal revenues plunged and spending soared. And, as will happen for two decades, every day 10,000 more baby boomers are joining the ranks of recipients of Medicare and Social Security, two programs with unfunded liabilities of nearly $107 trillion.
In the context of this concatenation of troubles, the administration’s highest priority was to put an enormous new health care entitlement on the welfare state’s rickety scaffolding. – George F. Will, If VAT, Ditch the Income Tax
Quote of the Day – TamNation Division
We have guys with their jockeys full of Semtex buying airline tickets with cash, and the feds are busy getting spun up about bubbas in Mossy Oak angry about taxes. Way to keep your eye on the ball… – Tam in I feel so… so… dangerous!
In Celebration of Earth Day . . .
I would REALLY like to win the next Powerball lottery drawing, because for Earth Day I’d REALLY REALLY like to celebrate by purchasing my version of the Ford EarthFucker™ – the SVT Raptor:
411Hp, 14MPG.
I like my rather sedate 2006 2WD Toyota Tundra, but I REALLY WANT this truck.
Unfortunately, the Tundra is paid for, and I am not interested in making payments on a new vehicle.
Thus: I must win the lotto.
UPDATE: No one won the Powerball drawing Saturday.
Wednesday, then!
Vermont Carry
Governor Brewer signed the bill.
Beginning some time in June, I believe (90 days after the legislature adjourns the current session), any non-prohibited person in Arizona may carry a concealed firearm without a permit. This includes visitors from other states.
And now there are three.
Far out!
WANT
I Guess I Need to Start Shopping for a Stainless-steel Colander
U.S. military warns of oil production shortage by 2015
The U.S. military thinks we’re one step closer to peak oil, the point at which oil demand will forever outstrip oil supply, and therefore we’re one step closer to fighting over the last rusting cans of gasoline like so many scraps of meat. On the plus side, we’re also one step closer to finally equipping our cars with superchargers and massive gas tanks rigged with explosives a la Mad Max and his archetypal peak-oil sled, “the last of the V-8 Interceptors.”
RTWT. (h/t Glenn)
I hope my M14 comes in by then . . .
Your Moment of Zen – Icelandic Sunset Edition
Europe should be getting these for a while:
(Click for larger)
We might get some global cooling out of it, too, even though volcanoes produce massive amounts of “greenhouse” gasses.
The Taurus Paperweight
I’ve had a couple of inquiries about the Taurus that I bought, and then shortly later traded in last year. BAG day 2009 I bought a 605 2″ barreled, blue, snubby .357 revolver. It sat for a few weeks before I had a chance to take it to the range. I actually loaded it up and put it in the console of my pickup for a while, even before I tried it out on the range.
I was later reminded of a scene from the film The Ghost and the Darkness:
You went into battle with an untested weapon?
Thankfully, I didn’t.
On that first trip to the range I brought both .38 Special and .357 Magnum loads. Factory loads. I haven’t handloaded .357 in a while, and I pretty much never load .38. The first cylinder of .38’s went fine. On the second, the lockwork locked. Solid. On the second shot.
I had a revolver with three live rounds in it, and I couldn’t fire them, and I couldn’t get it to open up.
The three fired rounds looked fine. The projectiles hadn’t backed out of the cases or anything, the mechanism was just LOCKED. I suspected the “safety” lock, but I had the key, and THAT wasn’t it, or at least I wasn’t able to use the key to clear the problem. I ended up taking the gun home and DISASSEMBLING it. I blew it out with carb cleaner, in case something was loose inside the lockwork, I lubed everything lightly, reassembled, and it worked fine – empty.
Another trip was made to the range. Again .38’s were loaded. On the second round, it locked up again. By playing with the cylinder and hammer I was able to fiddle with it and get it unlocked. I loaded up some .357’s. ONE round, and it was locked up. I was able to get it open, but I was DONE with it. A five-shot revolver that only goes “BANG” at most TWICE is useless.
It sat on my desk in paperweight mode for quite a bit while I debated either returning it for warranty repair, or trading it in. I finally decided on trading it in. Hey, it was hardly used!
Once the trade was agreed to, I told the dealer about the problem. “You can’t trade in a defective gun!” he said. “Why not? You sold it to ME that way!” I replied. We agreed to knock $50 off the trade-in value for them to handle the warranty return, and I came home with a (perfectly functional) Kel-Tec PF9.
I don’t think I’ll be buying another Taurus.
B.A.G. Day
Today is B.A.G. day – “Buy a Gun” Day. B.A.G. day was created by blogger Aaron back in 2003. I’ve participated many times. In 2004 I bought a Makarov. 2005, a S&W Model 60. 2006 brought a Winchester ’94 in .45 Colt (a month early, but still. . . .) I missed in 2007, but in 2008 I bought a scope instead of a gun. Last year I bought a Taurus revolver. (Got rid of it, too, traded it in on a Kel-Tec PF9 that actually goes ‘BANG’ every time I pull the trigger.)
This year? Well, this year I’m still waiting for my Ted Brown M14. He has the receiver. He’s expecting the barrel shortly. The stock is on order.
And still I wait . . . .
