Thanksgiving - It didn't have to be this way

I've had one hell of a Thanksgiving with family, friends and co-workers. 

It didn't have to be this way.  There is little or no difference, in terms of geography, between the USA and Venezuela. 

Venezuela is now controlled by socialist idiots.  The USA, while under nominal control of a socialist idiot, has some protections in place that protect us from his worst totalitarian impulses.  We're doing ok, while Venezuela has run out of oil and coffee, despite being a major exporter of both. 

Here's why. 

In 1775, the great Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet called "Common Sense".  In this little tract, Paine advocated complete independence from Britain.  I've probably posted the first paragraph on Facebook 50 times.  We are not the state.  The state is not society.  Enjoy. 

SOME writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.

I'm also a fan of the second paragraph.  Please indulge me.  I'm going somewhere with all this....

Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one: for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries BY A GOVERNMENT, which we might expect in a country WITHOUT GOVERNMENT, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer. Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built upon the ruins of the bowers of paradise. For were the impulses of conscience clear, uniform and irresistibly obeyed, man would need no other lawgiver; but that not being the case, he finds it necessary to surrender up a part of his property to furnish means for the protection of the rest; and this he is induced to do by the same prudence which in every other case advises him, out of two evils to choose the least. Wherefore, security being the true design and end of government, it unanswerably follows that whatever form thereof appears most likely to ensure it to us, with the least expense and greatest benefit, is preferable to all others.

Yeah.  A necessary evil at best.  You get Barack/Bush/Boehner at worst. 
These are the words that started the American Revolution.  Government is NOT society, and government is a necessary evil.  That's the difference between the USA and, say, Ecuador. 

Please stay with me.  Words (and mission statements) are important. 

Here's the preliminary throat-clearing from our Declaration Of Independence, the document where we told George III that we didn't need his help to survive and prosper.  Most of what follows was written by Thomas Jefferson, with editorial help by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin.  It would be another 100 years or so before these sentiments were applied to 1) black males and 2) women.  These guys were doing the best they could with the light they had to see by:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Ok, that's all good.  We're going to set up a government with the idea that Life, Liberty (freedom) and the Pursuit of Happiness (alcohol, the ability to make lotsa money, sex, rock and roll, and ridiculing Al Gore) are important.  We're still missing something.....

Here's the U.S. Constitution. 

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

I'm not a fan of that little flourish about promoting the "general welfare".  It's been the source of a lot of mischief on the part of our government.  Hell, Stalin, Chairman Mao and the Nazis all thought they were promoting the "general welfare". 

But let's move on....  the main point is that our organizational by-laws state that the purpose of our government is to secure "the blessings of liberty". 
End of f***ing story. 

I like it. 
I like it here in Texas. 
Every other nation is in 2nd place. 
Hell yes. 

1) Leave me the hell alone as much as possible. 
2) Leave everyone else alone as much as possible.  I really don't know what's best for you, and vice-versa. 
 
Put those two rules in place, and even though you might occasionally elect a Rooselvelt, Johnson, or Obama, you will probably prosper. 
Nothing else matters for the prosperity of a nation. 

I've had an awesome Thanksgiving weekend so far. 
No matter where you live, I hope you have also.  (Yeah, I hope you've been able to celebrate an American holiday.)   You have a right to it. 

Happy Memorial Day ! (30 years later edition)

I LOVE this video, which I found on Harper's site.
When I first started buying KISS 8-tracks in the late 1970's, my father had a good time making fun of the makeup and the costumes.
My mother just made faces, and said she couldn't believe I was enjoying that mess.
Various youth ministers (Hello, Danny White !) warned that KISS had satanic influences, and that there were documented instances of demonic possession during KISS concerts. 

Thirty years later.....
Here's KISS bassist and Lead Growlist Gene Simmons entertaining the troops, and leading a singalong of The Marine's Hymn, The Caissons Go Rolling Along, Anchors Aweigh, and Off We Go Into The Wild Blue Yonder. 
He's backed up by the Marine drum and bugle corps. 
Simmons closes the patriotic medley with "God Bless America".  (Kate Smith made the song famous, but she's dead.  Do you think Gene Simmons will ever be known as the "God Bless America" singer?  Naw....It will never happen.) 
Anyway, this is a fun video.  It's funny how much difference 30 years can make.   
Hope you like it, and have a good Memorial Day. 

NO AID OR COMFORT TO THE ENEMY, NO WAY !

I'm probably as patriotic as the next person.
I think that we in the U.S. probably have the best system of government, as long as we don't convert it into a feed trough for friends of our upper level government employees.
I stand up for the National Anthem, and sing loudly.
I learned a long time ago that declaring perpetual allegiance to a concept is a bad idea. Anyone wanting you to stand up and recite a pledge is probably manipulating you. That's why I don't like the idea of a "pledge" of allegiance to a flag, or any other kind of loyalty oath.
Our national monuments are better than anyone else's national monuments.
I appreciate veterans.

Then there's this:

This is a trailer owned be Central Transport, a "Less Than Truckload" freight company. All of their trailers have the same flag and slogan on the back door.

(One other thing I believe in, and this comes from being a Boy Scout....if you're going to put the flag on something, you're supposed to keep it clean. And if you're going to fly the flag, and the flag gets tattered, you're supposed to take it down and burn it. If the right-wingers ever get their way, the driver of this truck will be prosecuted for flag desecration. Freakin' filthy. )

Now let's get to the point. I need for someone to explain this slogan to me, using little bitty words that I can understand.

"Support Our Troops Whenever We Go...."
Are the people at Central Transport encouraging us to support our troops whenever we go to war? Whenever the CT trucks are rolling? Whenever we go....potty?
This is vague, and needs clarification.

"No Aid of Comfort To the Enemy - No Way!"
That first sentence was a masterpiece of clarity compared to this one.
Are Central Transport drivers occasionally asked to attend housewarming fundraisers for Osama bin Laden? Are the CT freight terminals surrounded by Al-qaeda operatives who want to come inside for coffee and donuts? Do ABF, Estes, SAIA, and YRC sometimes try to make a fast buck by shipping nukes into Afghanistan? And Central Transport doesn't want any part of it?

I'm just wondering.