Gulfstream Dreaming

On Friday, House Republicans held a protest on the floor of the chamber after the Democratic majority decided to adjourn without scheduling a vote to allow offshore drilling, despite millions of Americans being overburdened by high fuel prices. Pelosi and her gang of clowns care nothing about what regular Americans think, preferring to dream of "saving the planet" from non-existent crises while flying in their gulfstream jets to chic vacation spots like Aspen and Hyannis Port.

Having none of it, Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) said: "This is not Pelosi's politiburo." Champagne Bolsheviks like Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama would have you pay higher gas prices for the sole purpose of assuaging their guilt-ridden consciences. And if you disagree, you should just shut up because they are doing it for your own good. What arrogance, what condescension. If the voters of this country decide to extend the Democrats' Congressional majority past this November, it will be proof that many, if not most of the electorate is simply stupid. But as H.L. Mencken once said, "Democracy is the theory that the people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard."

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The people of California are certainly getting it good and hard from their elected representatives at the state level. Based on junk science as flimsy as that warning of the "danger" of second-hand smoke, California's legislature and governor voted to impose a ban on trans-fats in restaurant food. From U.S. News and World Report:

California last week became the first state to ban trans fats in food sold in restaurants, the Los Angeles Times reports. Found in many oils and margarines, trans fats extend the shelf life of products but have been linked to clogged arteries, diabetes, and other serious health conditions.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, known for being health-conscious, signed the bill into law Friday. By Jan. 1, 2010, California's restaurants are required to use margarines, oils, and shortening that contain less than half a gram of trans fat per serving; deep-fried bakery products must adopt the standard by Jan. 1, 2011.

Bane had a few choice words about that on Thursday.

Fewer and fewer people seem to give a damn about liberty in this country. The retreat from liberty is most pronounced in the blue states, but the red states are hardly immune. Five years ago the San Antonio City Council imposed it's own ban on smoking in "public" places. I put public in quotes because I do not consider private business to be public establishments, despite what Tranzi ninnies insist. In the words of Wendell Phillips, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." And the price of utopia is always slavery.

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To date, the funniest bumper sticker I ever read was this one I saw on the back of a pickup truck ten years ago: "Keep Texas beautiful. Put a Yankee on a bus." A frustrating interaction with a colleague on Friday reminded me of that.

However, liberty-loving (former and current) Yankees like Tom Kratman, JW, and others reading this blog are always welcome in the Lone Star State. Just so y'all know.

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Sorry for the lack of posting lately, but with an entire semester being compressed into five weeks, I've been overwhelmed with grading and lecture preparation. Right now I'm reading A War Like No Other by Victor Davis Hanson, after which I'll re-read Tom Kratman's Caliphate. Rather interesting how the lessons learned by way of a Greek civil war over 2,300 years ago remain so relevant at present. Societies change, but human nature never does.