The Unrelenting and Mindless Power of Government

One man's weed is another man's salad.

A Keyser pastor, I won't mention his name, intentionally allowed high stands of chicory to grow at the edge of his yard along the sidewalk. Chicory is considered by many to be a weed, but the pastor explained how the roots could be ground into a decent coffee and the shoots used for salad greens. Over and above that, he simply appreciated the beauty of these plants with almost silver stalks and lovely small flowers. Did it look different than other yards? Certainly, but who cares. It is his yard.

Apparently the city cares. Cars speed up Main Street and drug use is rampant. Therefore the city has to go on weed patrol and threaten to cite individuals who choose to allow a few to grow in their yard. He complied and cut the flowers down, but the situation is absolutely ridiculous.

First of all, it is a waste of taxpayer money to even use up the time to cite an otherwise well maintained yard. How can the city complain about shrinking budgets and even think about raising taxes when it uses its resources on this kind of garbage? Real criminals are out there, but we have to pay the city to harass preachers for what they choose to grow in their yard. The bigger issue is the loss of freedom. You don't lose freedom all at once, but in little slivers here and there. They count on the idea that it is more inconvenient to fight city hall than to assert one's right to grow a few harmless plants.

It all lies in the interpretation. What is a weed and what is useful? When did we grant the city the right to decide for us what is useful and what is ugly? The same danger lies in the enforcement of litter and cleanup ordinances. Government should never pass judgment on aesthetics. Most people may not like the commode used as a planter, but it is that person's right to use it as such. Not to mention the possibility that they could claim that it is art and get it protected by the First Amendment.

In cases where the public health is not directly threatened, no government should judge for the public what an individual decides to put in their yard or what they allow to grow in their yard. Government is the same in all times and places in that it is always mindless and relentless. Only a government properly restrained by the law can be trusted. Give government the power and they will use it badly in almost any situation.

Sheep and Wolves

One of Blackstone's most memorable legal maxims is that the sheep ought not be left in the care of the wolves. This idea drives much of our legal thought and policy because it represents common sense. You cannot leave the vulnerable to the whims of the predator.

Which brings us to Charles Minimah. The Republican Party selected Charles Minimah as its nominee to ensure that West Virginia elections remain as fair and free of corruption as possible. Minimah has a strong track record as an effective businessman and community leader. State GOP laders know that he will continue Betty Ireland's zealous commitment to fair state elections. Minimah also wants to make voting as accessible as possible to the handicapped, elderly, and others.

If Charles Minimah is the shepherd to our more corruption free election process, the Democratic Party represents the wolf. They selected a young anchorwoman with an attractive face, name recognition, and a commitment to the Democratic Party as their nominee. Certainly some of them long for the bad old days before Secretary of State Ireland took office and elections were easier to manipulate. She has in four years erased almost all of the cometary vote and Minimah will continue to prevent West Virginia's deceased from playing a role in the political process. Put the inexperienced candidate with close ties to the Democratic machine into office and our clean elections will be placed in jeopardy.

Elect Charles Minimah because we must not allow our elections to be in the hands of predators that want to manipulate them.

Vacationers and the $4 gallon of gas

I had heard the stories of how people are skipping vacations because of the high price of gas, even talked to people who were not vacationing because they tallied up the price of gas and it would cost too much. I expected less traffic this weekend when I drove to Va. Beach area, but that wasn't the case. Since I have family living in Richmond, Va and Newport News, Va, my wife and I have been regular travelers of that route for the last two years. Traffic was at least as bad if not worse for our trip than in prior years. I don't know the statistics of visitors to the beaches this year, but if my extra 2 hours of traffic delays yesterday are any indication, beach vacations are as popular as ever. My hotel had not reduced it's cost to attract customers in a dwindling vacation market, on the contrary, they were booked to capacity as were all the other hotels in the area. When I thought about this long and hard I realized that even though gas prices doubled in the last year or so, compared to the cost of the trip, it wasn't a big increase. Not big enough to cancel plans or to skip driving to Newport News for a family members wedding. My minivan holds about 20 gallons of gas. So a complete fill-up adds about $40 compared to $2 per gallon gas prices. That tank of gas could get me there and almost back home. So my gas price may be $40-$50 higher than in previous years. My hotel was $250 for two nights, and I spent over $150 on meals and the customary round of pre-wedding golf. That was a 48 hour trip. Had we gone for an entire week, our budget would have been around $2500 and the extra $50 in gas wouldn't even be noticed.

We rarely think of it in total cost terms. My wife shops for the lowest price on gas. But even a 10 cent savings per gallon only saves us about $2 or the cost of my cup of coffee on a fill up.

Guess what the most popular vehicle on the road was...not just an SUV, but Chevy Suburban and Ford Expedition sized SUVs. The super-SUVs. And reasonably so, the space makes your drive more comfortable, and the extra large gas tanks makes it so you don't have to stop to fill up en route. My sister-in-law drives a Hyundai Tiburon and had to stop 2x in her trip from Western PA to Va Beach to fill up. When you have kids in the car, stopping is a 20-30 minute ordeal, not to mention the possibility of sturring up a fight or interrupting a movie. So the large SUV may add $100+ to your gas bill, but having space (with kids that translates into peace and quiet) and saving 4-5 stops and 2 hours of travel time is worth a 4% increase to the vacation budget. With the extra space, one can bring your own beach equipment, bikes, etc. which will save money and time over renting this equipment upon arrival. The benefits seem to outweigh the extra cost of gas and neither the low gas mileage nor the $4/gallon price tag seem to have slowed down vacationer traffic.

Gary Howell's remarks at fundraising event

Gary Howell, candidate for the State Senate from the 14th District, addressed both Democrat and Republican attendees at a fundraiser held in Tucker County last week at the home of former Delegate Debbie Stevens. You can watch and listen to his remarks here.

Obama's Campaign Called Arrogant By Democrats

Apparently Democrats on Capitol Hill and in their party's organization have already had their fill of the presumptive nominee Barack Obama.

This comes as the latest in a series of Obama related problems that have plagued the campaign. The New Yorker magazine, an extremely liberal publication, produced a cover with Obama wearing a turban, his wife sporting militant black attire, an American flag burning in the fireplace under a portrait of Osama Bin Laden. Prior to this, Jesse Jackson threatened to relieve Obama of a sensitive part of his anatomy. CNN recently called joint appearances with Hillary Clinton the "Disunity Tour." The proposed "dream ticket" could prove a nightmare now. Select Hillary and risk more personality conflicts while alienating more moderate Democrats. Fail to select Hillary and they have her outside the tipi causing trouble inside instead of inside the tipi aiming outwards. Now congressional Democrats blast the campaign for not helping with fundraising or even communicating with them. Some have voiced complaints about Obama using a new venue for his acceptance speech.

Meanwhile John McCain continues to push forward as a calm and reasonable voice. He has deftly created a policy identity independent of President Bush while supporting the general ideas behind current policy. Obama's backwards pronouncements on foreign policy have caught up with him as McCain trotted out again his opponent's bizarre desire to invade our Pakistani ally. Obama also continued the tired mantra about the United States losing the war in Iraq in a time in which even moderate anti-war protesters realize that we have almost achieved our objectives.

The polls show that Obamamania has drastically cooled. McCain, according to Newsweek, had fallen fifteen points behind as little as two weeks ago. Now they are in a statistical dead heat. This resembles the election of 1984 when Walter Mondale held a tremendous lead over incumbent Ronald Reagan until the summer. Liberals tend to fare worse as elections draw closer and voters start to consider real world issues instead of dreams.

As long as John McCain stays on issue and keeps to the high road while aggressively pushing his ideas, he should win easily in November.