Questions, Thoughts, Ramblings

Would it not be cheaper to close down every VA hospital and simply give all vets a private insurance card, such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield?

It is pretty amazing how quickly protesting has moved from "patriotic dissent" to "angry mob" status. I am also amazed that President George W. Bush would wax philosophic about how great it is to live in a nation where people could protest the president freely. Otherwise his administration ignored them. The Obama Administration attacks protesters. It figures. They have not shown a good grasp of the American psychology yet, why start now.

Amazing how anyone can slam their opponents for taking a tactical page from their own playbook.

It is nice to see Republicans coming together to battle the biggest ideological threats to the American way since Governor Huey Long in the 1930s. Well, almost all Republicans.

Interesting how Facebook is down as of this writing. With most of the media in full damage control mode for Obama, it has become a great source for the latest outrages and a catalyst for organizing responses. Wonder if any of the Obama volk have turned us in yet for, as they put it, disinforming people?

The power to tax involves the power to destroy. When the government has a monopoly in some field, the manipulation of rates also has the power to destroy. Big periodical companies for some reason have to pay a lower mail rate now than small publications. Liberal magazines can keep their costs down while small conservative startups like Human Events may have to cease publication.

West Virginia does a poor job marketing state history for tourism purposes. We were the center of early frontier warfare. Our guerilla style Civil War history matches much better the experience of a large group who tend to be military history enthusiasts, veterans. We have structures in place from the early Industrial Revolution. The state needs a vision for tourism beyond "Wild and Wonderful." We certainly are that, but so are parts of surrounding states.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, repeatedly marginalized and humiliated by the Administration, sounded one of the few notes of a tough foreign policy yesterday. She said that the release of journalists did not mean that the US would abandon the six nation talks with North Korea in favor of bilateral negotiations. North Korea wants to speak with the US alone. American policy since Bush has been to include Russia, China, Japan, and South Korea in any discussions of North Korea's nuclear program. We will wait and see if Clinton's wishes here will be followed or if the Apology Tour 2009 continues.

It is still interesting that Obama feels a higher comfort level dealing with foreign dictators than the Republican Party.