EckerNet.Com

Seriously, it was getting old about 30 seconds before he died.

When you’re on the same side of the debate as Chavez and Castro, you’re grievously wrong…and you’re sending a very alarming indicator of how you think government should work.

“We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the president of Honduras, the democratically elected president there,” Obama told reporters after an Oval Office meeting with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

Zelaya, in office since 2006, was overthrown in a dawn coup on Sunday after he angered the judiciary, Congress and the army by seeking constitutional changes that would allow presidents to seek re-election beyond a four-year term.

That’s all fine and good, except that it WAS legal and Zelaya appears to have done more than anger the other branches of government.  Basically everyone agrees that Zelaya tried to push for a national referendum, the military got all pushy and booted Zelaya out of the county.  Then the legislature appointed it’s president as interim executive instead.

Ok none of that is disputed.  Problem is most of the coverage, including Obama and Clinton’s version of the “facts”, leave out a lot of interim steps.

For example, in between the referendum and the military getting all pushy (or staging a coup according to Clinton), was the Honduran Supreme Court pointing out that constitutionally Zelaya doesn’t have the power to initiate a referendum, only Congress can do that according to Honduras’ Constitution.  Military and Congress agreed, so when Zelaya essentially flipped them the bird and did it anyway in defiance of a court order, the Judiciary instructed the military to protect the law and arrest Zelaya.

Also in between booting Zelaya and appointing a new executive, there was an emergency session of Congress, whom as prescribed by Honduran law, appointed their president as the interim executive.

Sure those are the boring parts of the story, but they are critical.  All the more reason why it’s a little alarming that Obama could simple overlook those and declare the whole thing illegal, which quite clearly the only illegal part is what Zelaya was trying to do.

Obama may be deceitful, vindictive and narcissistic, but he’s not stupid.  He knows what’s really going on just as well as anyone else.  The fact that he willfully chose to side with Zelaya despite the clear illegal acts he was trying to undertake is a little revealing.

Obama might be taking this BFF thing with Chavez to the extreme here, because he is essentially arguing that it’s okay for the Executive Branch to simply ignore a ruling by the Supreme Court.  That’s something that the Left repeatedly claimed Bush would do, and now Obama appears to be openly endorsing it.

Combine that with the double standard that appears to being applied when you consider how different the Obama administration has responded to both Iran and Honduras.   When the Iranians try to protest dictators rigging an election, Obama’s failure to support the protesters pretty much endorses the dictators.  When a leader tries to illegally force a dictatorship, Obama immediatly sides with other dictators by voicing support for the would-be dictator.

Together these two create a very chilling insight into how Obama thinks a government should operate.

[Crossposted at True North]

Considering some of the conversations and meetings I’ve had today, this quote by Douglas Adams keeps sticking in my head:

1) everything that’s already in the world when you’re born is just normal;

2) anything that gets invented between then and before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and creative and with any luck you can make a career out of it;

3) anything that gets invented after you’re thirty is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilisation as we know it until it’s been around for about ten years when it gradually turns out to be alright really.

In fact, I’ve wondered lately if Douglas Adams was actually mortal, and not really a living god here only to poke fun at us and amuse himself.  Admittedly, unless reports of this death have been greatly exaggerated, his expiration puts a bit of a downer on that theory.

Remember the old joke about how someone held a fight and hockey game broke out? I’m sure liberals and gun haters everywhere were pretty sure something akin to that was going to happen at Lake Harriet today, when over 70+ Second Amendment enthusiasts, most carrying a firearm of some variety gathered for their Fourth Occasional “Gun Rights” Gathering.  It was a chance to renew old friends and meet the faces that go with the names previously only known via email or message boards.

It was a chance to swap stories and gossip about upcoming news.  It was a chance to enjoy the fellowship of other Second Amendment enthusiasts.  It also meant over 50 firearms were in very close proximity, few of them concealed, for an extended period of time in a public setting.

According anti-Second Amendment loonies, like the Citizens For A Safer Minnesota, this should have been a recipe for disaster.  It was virtually guaranteed that the Wild West would break out.  Blood would run in the streets as guns started spontaneously going off by the very virtue of how dangerous they are.  Hell with the Transformers movie being recently released I’m sure all those firearms should have combined and transformed into a howitzer that would instantly level the entire Minneapolis downtown area.

Instead nothing happened….at least nothing that doesn’t happen every day.  Friendships were made and reinforced.  Laughs were shared.  Stories were told.  Fun was had by all.  And despite it being a very very busy day at Lake Harriet, the public around us were largely unmoved and unalarmed by the obvious presence of so many firearms.  From my observations the worst I say was a couple double takes and a few confused stares.  Otherwise people went about their day with no obvious alarm, despite this taking place in the liberal mecca of Minneapolis.

In short, in the hands of responsible law-abiding citizens a large conglomeration of guns failed to cause disaster or even incite panic.  I’m starting to think that perhaps guns themselves are not inherently evil and instead may simple be a simple tool???  Dare I think such thoughts.

Here’s an event some of you might be interested in:

What : Fourth Occasional “Gun Rights Gathering” Potluck BBQ
When: Sun June 28th, 2009 11am – Sun Jun 28 3pm
Where: Lake Harriet picnic area, near the Bandshell

A casual & friendly celebration of summer, outdoor cooking, and the human right of self·defense.  An ‘open carry optional’ event, in accordance with and in celebration of the Minnesota Personal Protection Act.

Location:
W 42nd St & W Lake Harriet Pkwy
Minneapolis, MN 55410
•Free street parking around the lake and in nearby neighborhoods
•Pay station in main lot, near concessions

A map of the location can be found here.

I’ll be there and so will a lot of other great freedom loving people….most of which just happen to be carrying a firearm.  According to some anti-gun people, the concentration of that many guns in such a small area should cause the world to implode into an instantaneous bloodbath.  Although the more intelligent of you will probably notice that part about “Fourth Annual”, which should sort of tell you a lot about that theory.

So come enjoy a fun potluck with some new people.  Chat with folks that share some common interests.  It’ll be a good time.  From what we’ve heard, it’ll be very well attended.

As Nancy Pelosi, Henry Waxman, et.al. ramrod their energy taxation bill (HF 2454) through the House of Representatives,  they are, as the Wall Street Journal puts it, “simply claim[ing] the bill defies the laws of economics.”

The Journal points out that the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis claiming a $175/year cost per household by 2020 is flawed because,  as  “[t]he CBO acknowledges this in a footnote: “The resource cost does not indicate the potential decrease in gross domestic product (GDP) that could result from the cap.”

The Journal continues:

The hit to GDP is the real threat in this bill. The whole point of cap and trade is to hike the price of electricity and gas so that Americans will use less. These higher prices will show up not just in electricity bills or at the gas station but in every manufactured good, from food to cars. Consumers will cut back on spending, which in turn will cut back on production, which results in fewer jobs created or higher unemployment. Some companies will instead move their operations overseas, with the same result.

The Journal concludes “Americans should know that those Members who vote for this climate bill are voting for what is likely to be the biggest tax in American history.”

So we have increases in regulation that make consumers not consume and producers not produce, PLUS, effectively the largest tax increase in history.  Both will tamp down the economy.  That’s probably good enough for a prolonged economic funk, but it lacks the secret sauce to make it a REAL DEPRESSION.

However, Daniella Markheim at the Heritage Foundation seems to be on to exactly the sort of secret sauce needed to spur the selling-apples-on-the-corner economy (emphasis mine) :

Of singular concern is ensuring that U.S. firms hurt by the higher energy costs that Congress itself mandates will face minimal competition from foreign companies not hamstrung by similar domestic policy constraints. Knowing that the costs associated with cap and trade will send hard-pressed U.S. consumers and producers to lower-priced imports, some legislators seem keen on trade barriers as the easy solution–thereby raising the costs of foreign products and making them less competitive in the U.S. marketplace.

Big tax increases, productivity crushing regulation, and impending trade barriers.  NOW THAT sounds like the economic policies that led the Great Depression to be great:  The hostility to business and regulations of the New Deal “Alphabet Soup” programs, the massive tax increases passed in 1932,  and the crushing impact of the Smoot-Hawley tariffs.

The supporters of this bill either don’t understand the lessons of history, or don’t care.

No, I don’t mean the guy puking in the other corner.  That’s Drunk Guy, my co-blogger-who-never-blogs….probably because he’s too drunk to do anything other than dry hump his keyboard.

We have a new addition to EckerNet, and he’s brave enough to use his real name….Pat Staley.  Although with a name like that who’d believe it was real?  I’m tempted to say all sorts of great things about him, but I’m an awful liar.  So once he figures out how these InterTubes work, he’ll probably be along with his first post.

Please do me a favor and understand that he’s new to this, so roast him over the coals as much as possible.  Thanks.

Some of the worst ideas started with the best intentions.  This probably ranks up there somewhere:

A buck-a-day — that’s the incentive being offered to young girls to keep them from getting pregnant.

The group College-Bound Sisters was founded at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro by Hazel Brown, a maternity nurse who thought too many teens were having babies.

Brown said she hopes the program, which pays $1 each day to 12-to-18-year-old girls, will keep them from getting pregnant. In addition to remaining pregnancy-free, the girls must also attend weekly meetings.

So they’re paying you NOT to get pregnant.  Okay I understand teen pregnancy is a problem and regretable, but is bribery really the answer??  And besides this sort of reminds me of that Chris Rock joke:

[People] always want credit for some shit they supposed to do. A [person] will brag about some shit a normal man just does. A [person] will say some shit like, “I take care of my kids.” You’re supposed to, you dumb motherfucker! What kind of ignorant shit is that? “I ain’t never been to jail!” What do you want, a cookie?! You’re not supposed to go to jail, you low-expectation-having motherfucker!

You didn’t get pregnant.  Congrats you’re not supposed to.  Condition our kids to expect reimbursement for stuff they are already supposed to do seems like a bad foundation on building a responsible adult.  What’s next, free soda for not committing arson??  Sure setting a good precedent for what they can expect in adulthood huh?

But it gets better.

Under the program, $7 is deposited into an interest-bearing college fund that the girls can collect once they graduate high school.

If a girl drops out or gets pregnant, her money is divided among the other girls still in the program.

So now they have incentive to screw each over too.  I have a feeling these kids are going to grow into very healthy well-adjusted adults.

You’re officially ruining the English language.  Pretty soon there won’t be an innocent phrase left.

There are some that can’t see a cigar as something other than a sexual device anymore (Thanks Clinton!).  And between Clinton and Mark Foley, political interns are now defacto hookers.  Living in Minnesota, I can’t tell you how many jokes I’ve heard about a wide stance (Thank Larry Craig).  Oh and if I hear the word teabagging one more time I may very well cram that person’s head into a teabag (Thanks CNBC).

And now thanks to Governor Happypants, “hiking the Appalachian Trail” is officially a sexual euphemism.

Just a week ago I had a conversation where someone was telling me about a trip they had taken and how much fun they had hiking that trail, apparently doing the entire trail in segments.  At the time, it struck me as an interesting and potentially worthy idea for a vacation sometime in the future.  Now if I had that same conversation, I’d have to wonder if he’s talking about his latest extramarital affair.