Tea Parties and the Mosque: Where is the Force?

Concerning the mosque controversy, some liberals and libertarians out there wish to demonize and/or chastise anyone who protests the mosque on the grounds that they are bigoted against freedom of religion. The mosque doesn't affect them they say, and true freedom lovers would get up in arms supporting the building.

Personally, I don't care whether this mosque gets built. If they have the local property right on that lot with the proper legal zoning permits and funding, then they may construct what they wish there.

At the same time however, I personally don't care if a bunch of so-called "bigots" as defined by mosque supporters gets uppity about it and protests. They have a right to be offended and speak their mind about a mosque that doesn't directly affect them. There is only one litmus test I have for the mosque protesters: Is there any kind of force involved?

Its not coercion until force enters the equation, be it direct physical violence or the implied threat thereof via legal interference. If Tea Parties manage to shut the mosque down via bad publicity alone, so be it. If they fail, so be it. Until they get violent, I am in complete respect to their enumerated rights of assembly and speech.

~David Morris~

The Case for a Pentagon Watchdog

Libertarianism is a political philosophy that is vulnerable to being labeled as "anti-military."

To clear the record, libertarians are very pro-defense in many the same ways as conservatives. They are not a strawman of weak-kneed commie pinko appeaser hippie pacifist types.

The thing with libertarianism is that its consistently anti-horsecrap when it comes to the government; even moreso than vanilla conservatism supposedly is. The military - God Bless the men and women in uniform - is still a part of the government. My father has retired career officers for friends, and they truthfully inform us that the higher in rank one goes, the more inefficient bureaucracy you will start to observe, particularly in the Pentagon.

Its not that libertarians are anti-military. Not at all. They are consistently anti-bureaucracy, and unlike straw conservatism, the Pentagon is not given a special pass. Here are some examples that make a case for why one should pay attention to big government. Even to one of the few arms conceded in having a justifiable existence.

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Boeing YAL-1

Projected Research Cost: 60 Billion.
Real Research Cost: 9 years overdue and $4 billion over-budget.

Cost per Unit: $700 Million+

Operating Costs: 92,000 per hour.
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A laser on a plane? With the sole purpose to shoot down missiles? At the cost of nearly 4 F-22s? Is there nothing better to do with that kind of money? More successful concepts of pilot training it can go towards?

Here are further samplings of how even the Pentagon proves to still be a Washington bureaucracy.

I have a sister in the Navy. I have a cousin in the Marine Corps. I'm proud of them. I do not have to be proud of their upper management accountants however.

~David Morris~

Job well done

Good job to the men and women of the United States Military.

It is in their hands now. We can only pray that they do not reject the opportunity of liberty America has given the Iraqi people. It was a rather expensive (in more ways than one) act of humanitarian aid.

~David Morris~

Awhile back, I asked if there was a single issue on which Obama stands with the vast majority of Americans.

Well, according to Gallup, it looks like I have have my answer for now.

At least he's good at racial relations. 52%. Touche and Bravo Mr. President.

~David Morris~

Concerning the Proposition 8 annulment by Judge Walker, I must say that I have a fascinating amount of mixed feelings within me, considering that part of me is conservative, while part of me is libertarian.

I've always reconciled any differences by preferring that civil issues be principally settled by the 10 Amendment of the Constitution; that "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

I don't like the government slinking around in controversial moral gray areas such as abortion, religious practices, or gay marriage. Hence, my first reaction to the California decision knee-jerked towards the fear that my favorite amendment had been usurped in a classic case of liberal judicial activism. In gaining some context however, I learn that Judge Walker is in fact more of a libertarian persuasion (appointed by Ronald Reagen in fact). To my surprise, what I find instead of a argument rooted in pseudo-psychology notions of fairness, is indeed a logical, valid and truly compelling argument that grounded in the Constitution of the United States, namely, the equal protection of under the 14th.

"...nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

After some research however, I've come to learn of where this argument of equal protection comes from as I better understand that what the conservative in me has long pondered: why are civil unions considered unsatisfactory for homosexuals. As it turns out, a civil union is not treated by the Federal Government in the same manner that a full marriage license is.

So I can somewhat see where the judge is coming from. Nonetheless, the lingering sense of distrust over a court taking sides in the debate still permeates, as I am sure it does for many constitutional conservatives in the nation.

~David Morris~

Another Tone Deaf Vacation

No surprise. After all, they do conduct themselves as though they were our rulers. Here is yet the latest example of the Obama's rendering themselves as unrelatable to the rest of the nation.

Seriously though, how many vacations do these people need? There was the Chicago vacation incident. The Air Force One over the Stature of Liberty incident. All the golf that was played while the gulf was spilling oil. It appears that these decisions to go play while the nation is in pain is made without any consideration for political capital.

~David Morris~

An EXCELLENT resource for Comparitive Obama Progress.

Discovered this wonderfully convenient flash by the good people at Gallup that enables you to compare each president's historical data in job approval, on a day by day basis. Very useful in allowing you to compare Obama to other presidents. Or any president to any other president, all the way back to Truman.

~David Morris~

Just how more corrupt can this congress get?

So, not only is Rangel on the ropes for his tax evasion, Maxine Waters also finds her feet to the fire on charges of swindling bailout funds in a manner that was biased towards assisting her husband.

Is it only just these two that are in trouble however? I would like to get further into the potential ethics problems of the democrats right now, if not short for time. Needless to say, I cannot imagine a more corrupt time for congress.

~David Morris~