us-first.us Blog

OK…it’s not, since we don’t have such a system of government here…and I don’t want us to change to a parliamentary system as they have…in Ukraine.  But, we can draw some analogies between their current situation and what has been going on over here as of late.

Their Constitution creates a divided government similar to our own, although the lines of demarcation and the associated checks and balances are not as clearly stated as in our own Constitution.  Their President Yushchenko — who has the constitutional authority to conduct their nation’s foreign policy — just as our President Bush has the same authority for the US — has been leading Ukraine away from Russia and towards Western Europe and NATO.  Their Prime Minister Yanukovich – a member of the legislative branch of government who does not have direct authority to dictate foreign policy — is pro-Russian and has been in a battle with Yushchenko over this and some other issues since taking office.  He has traveled abroad without the blessing of the president — just like Speaker Pelosi and some Republican legislators — and speaking other than the “official line” to other nations.

The final straw came when Yanukovich attempted to enlarge his majority in the Verkovna Rada (Ukraine’s national parliament) enough to override any presidential veto — but by means not specified in their Constitution.  To wit, Yushchenko exercised his constitutional duty and authority to dissolve parliament and call for new elections — to be held on May 27th.  As you might guess, this has thrown things into quite a tizzy over there…

Perhaps Speaker Pelosi and the rest of her legislative compatriots who are not abiding in the place assigned to them by the US Constitution should take a cue from events in Ukraine and get back in their place.  We will be electing a new president next year — let her and anyone else who believes that we ought to follow a different foreign policy than that being  pursued by our current president enter the race.  Or, let them yank on the purse-strings — which authority they do have and should exercise if they want to curtail any of the president’s policies.

(This particular article should not be taken as an endorsement of President Bushes foreign policy or as condemnation of Speaker Pelosi’s views on what our foreign policy ought to be.  Those are separate issues.  It is how she and her compatriots are attempting to get their views implemented that is at issue here.)

If we in these United States still had an actual president who puts US-First — that is what he would have told the Mexican president as he walked away at the start of being lectured about our being the cause of their people scrambling to run the border to get over here because it is such a stinking hell hole over there.  And on top of that, President Bush is their best friend here in their bid to allow more of their people to come and stay here.  Has anybody gotten around to whispering in El Presidente Calderon’s ear, “Quit being a dumb, stupid jack-ass!”.

Now, let’s get on with building that wall.  And, the next time some jack-ass compares it to the Berlin Wall, you remind them that the purpose of that wall was to keep people in — people were shot as they tried to scale it.  The purpose of our wall on the border with Mexico is to keep people out — we do not shoot at them as they try to make there way into our country.  Come to think of it, President Bush should have cut in on Calderon’s lecture and told him to stop squandering all them petro pesos that Pemex generates and start using them to build better lives for his people so that they don’t live in a hell hole that anyone in their right mind would want to flee..

Yahoo carried this news item today, in which the FBI is said to have admitted repeated violations of portions of the USA Patriot Act. My fellow citizens, we have some house claening to be done…

The FBI has broken the law by going beyond the extended powers given them by the USA Patriot Act passed after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. That law allows them to conduct certain kinds of surveillance within the US without needing to first obtain a public court order in the hopes that they would have an easier time breaking up future terrorist plots. We have not had any large-scale attacks since then, so it looks like the law has worked as designed. (We have had announcements over the years of various plots which have been broken up and people have been caught in what looked like practice operations.)

I view surveillance by the government with a very, very suspicious eye. Our Constitution was written by people with similar views, who held so strongly that government power must always be kept in check that they wrote the Second, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments to our Constitution and insisted that they be ratified along with the Constitution — or they would separate themselves from the emerging USA. The Patriot Act relaxes some of the traditional checks we have on government police power — for a set period of time. We are at war and need to protect ourselves from an enemy that walks among us — but we also must very carefully watch the people to whom we give such powers so that they do not become corrupted by that power. We are now at a time for testing, to see if we as a people still believe in protecting the freedoms which we talk about and think that the rest of the world should adopt. (I have dealings in Ukraine, and our State Department has just issued a report which states that there are some such abuses of power there — and I tend to agree with that report from my reading of English-language Ukrainian news sources.) It was a certainty that there would eventually be a misuse of power — to abuse power is the nature of people — including me and you. We shall now see whether those who broke the law are held accountable to the law as in years past. It has been over 30 years since the last large-scale incident — and it cost Richard Nixon the presidency and several of his underlings went to jail.

The news story about the violations of the Patriot Act states, “The nation’s top two law enforcement officials acknowledged Friday the FBI broke the law to secretly pry out personal information about Americans. They apologized and vowed to prevent further illegal intrusions.” An apology is not good enough — people need to go to jail!!! If President Bush, who’s handling of the terrorists I tend to support, was an active participant, he needs to be impeached like Nixon was. Those who apologize and are not made to pay for their actions eventually become the Soviet KGB or the Nazi SS. It has been stated that, “all evil needs in order to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” I have contacted the President,  and my Congressman and Senators to demand investigations and prosecutions. I will also ask the same of anyone else who will listen. I believe there will be prosecutions and jail time for some, but only if We The People demand it and do not rest until we have it.

What has this story about the Parliament of England have to do with us here in the US?  Ignorance, that’s what.  Ignorance about the system of government given to us by the writers of our Constitution.  The following statement appears in the article, “Legislators took an unprecedented step Wednesday toward ending an age-old tradition of allowing Britain’s non-elected elite to hold political power, backing proposals for an entirely elected House of Lords. … The move, which requires new legislation, would bring the previously unelected upper house in line with similar institutions, such as the U.S. Senate. … Campaigners lobbying for an entirely elected second parliamentary chamber claim only Lesotho — a poor African kingdom — has a system similar to Britain’s, allowing a mix of unelected and hereditary appointees to influence laws.”

The Senate of the United States, as created by our Constitution, did not enshrine the elite.  It enshrined the concept of federalism by giving the several, independent and sovereign states a say in the activities of the federal government which they and The People had created, and to which they had delegated certain duties and responsibilities of sovereign statehood.  Because that concept was not written well enough into the original document, the Tenth Amendment was passed to make it perfectly clear that the several states retained (or The People by pass-thru) all rights and duties not specifically delegated to the federal government.

This changed with passage of the Seventeenth Amendment, which provided for direct election of Senators — and the subjugation of the several states to the federal government.  It is instructive to note that major political subdivisions, analogous to our states, are still called ‘oblasts’ in countries of the former Soviet Union — translation: ’subjects’.

Thus, the writer of the article, David Stringer, has demonstrated his ignorance of our system of government by equating our Senate with the British House Of Lords.  If he is a Brit, he has an excuse for his ignorance, just as I am ignorant about many of the intricacies of the British political system and might well make an equally silly statement when discussing it.  If he is an American, he is without excuse.  Either way, I’m using the opportunity to [re-]educate my fellow citizens on the concept of, and the need to return to, a federal system of government by repealing the Seventeenth Amendment.

Imperative Mandate – the notion that elected representatives are to do the will of those who elected them — is incompatible with our republican form of government — and I would argue — with any form of representative democracy.

I have some personal dealings in Ukraine, and learned that they — that is, their national legislature (the Verkhovna Rada) — recently enacted this into their political system — with a healthy amount of opposition — as they try to figure out how to improve the way it operates for them. Not being familiar with this term, I did some research, to find that it means as I stated in the lead-in to this posting.

That is Ukraine — this is America. I also found that it is a major goal of at least the Green Party. Thus, it deserves to be discussed. This posting is not about the Green Party. Imperative Mandate effectively turns any form of representative democracy into a direct democracy. If we wanted to have a direct democracy, we could amend The Constitution to abolish the Congress and hold national referenda on every issue. I do not want that.

The Founding Fathers gave us a republican form of government — and they did not include Imperative Mandate either explicitly or implicitly. They envisioned that both Congressman, as representatives of We The People, and Senators, as representatives of each of the several states, would act as autonomous entities, rather than as walking pollsters. If We The People decide that we don’t like how our Congressman votes on our behalf, we have an opportunity every two years to replace him. Until the 17th Amendment changed Senators to being directly elected by the people instead of being appointed by the states, it was similar for them — if the state didn’t like how their representative in Congress was voting, they could refuse to send him back for another six-year term (and perhaps, although not explicitly stated, they could swap him out early for a new guy).

Individual representatives can ask The People to elect them upon, and if elected, operate with, Imperative Mandate. That is their choice and the choice of their electorate. But, when all representatives are bound by law to Imperative Mandate, then all room for innovation, compromise, and consensus is lost. The result is stalemate and chaos. When individual representatives can act according to their own conscience, then the will of We The People gets done relatively smoothly in the long run. As our collective ideas of governance change with time, those representatives who cannot abide it are slowly replaced by new ones who can. If some idea is a passing fad, then it will not immediately become backed by the force of law and do possibly irreparable harm to the Body Politic.

We shall have the opportunity to see Imperative Mandate in action in Ukraine over the coming weeks, months, and perhaps years. If my analysis of what they have done to themselves is correct, I hope that they see this and take corrective action before it’s too late. As is usual when people do dumb things to themselves, this was done by party bosses who wanted to keep the elected members of the party “in line”. The proper way to do that is how we do it here — The Party withholds its dollars from them in the next election. We all know that the Almighty Dollar is the Mother’s Milk of politics — when the tit dries-up, the baby dies. It can get a little messy, but it usually works. Sometimes not — Democrats last year decided that Vermont’s Joe Lieberman wasn’t properly towing the line, so they put their dollars on his rival in the primary, who beat him. Lieberman had the last laugh (at least so far) — he ran as an Independent and beat Ned LaMont in the general election to retain his seat in the Senate.

(Bend Over — Here It Comes Again) — Soon to be released, “Last Of The Bohicans”.

Referring to these two stories:

The first details how our National Guard, instead of using the guns We The People bought for them, with which they’re to protect us, instead fled from a bunch of intruders who, after firing on them, then made their way [back] into Mexico. We haven’t heard a word from El Presidente Bush on this one, yet. Come one — come all — please don’t hurt us too badly as you F us. We love you. The farm is all yours.

The second story notes that some great think tank in Mexico wants to hand out GPS units for free to all who wish to head north towards the Land Of Promise. That way, if they run out of water, food, or in some other way get into trouble, they can call upon our Border Patrol to come bail them out of their illegal predicament. Again, El Presidente Bush is silent, instead of saying something like, “Go ahead…issue them! We’ll just use them to find and deport all your sorry, illegal asses all the more quickly.” Don’t worry Pedro, Maria, or Achmed — we’ll come get you, and help you out — and even hand over some cash to help you get started in your new life here. And, to make sure that you understand our compassion for you, we’ll even prosecute any SOB Border Patrol agent who thinks otherwise.

In 1958, W. Cleon Skousen, special agent to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, published “The Naked Communist”. In 1963, an excerpt from that book, listing the 45 goals they have to communize this country, was inserted into the Congressional Record. Read them here, and then see the connection for yourself. “Wake up, thou sluggard!”

Yes indeed, I whole-heartedly support the notion that the proprietors of The Heart Attack Grill (Tempe, AZ) and Eye-Candy Haircuts (Tulsa, OK) have the freedom to choose how to run their businesses in pursuit of their happiness.  In both cases, state agencies are at the forefront of efforts to make them change their business plans or to close their doors altogether.  In the first case, a state agency says that the owner  may not advertise that his waitresses are dressed-up as nurses because they are not, in fact, licensed nurses.  Duh?  As an adult of average intelligence, I know that and don’t need the state to insult my intelligence.  In the second case, a state agency doesn’t like the fact that I’m going to be staring (and maybe even drooling) at my hair stylist’s cleavage while I’m getting my hair done.  Like most men — or at least those who haven’t yet been de-balled — I just happen to like looking at a woman’s cleavage.

The owner of The Heart Attack Grill has chosen to serve all comers, while the owner of Eye-Candy Haircuts has chosen to serve only men over the age of eighteen.  If men don’t like to partake of heart-attack cuisine while women are present, his business will suffer.  If women wish to partake of [female] eye-candy as they have their hair done, let another entrepreneur serve that clientele.  I certainly don’t want to go into a place frequented by a bunch of dykes — and they might not want to frequent a place which serves Neanderthals like me.  We all have choices.  That’s the beauty of America — and why it has worked so well for so long. 

In neither case are the ladies who have chosen to work at these business forced into their skimpy outfits.  They are told (if they haven’t already figured it out for themselves) at the time of their application for work what will be required of them if they wish to be employed there.  In neither case are illegal activities allowed on the premises, i.e., “You may look all you want, but you may not touch.  If you can’t keep from touching, please don’t come in.” It works for me. 

If it doesn’t work for the business owners, they’ll try something else.  On a moral note…should they be operating as they do?  No.  But, this is not within the purview the state to decide.  It is for the men’s wives to “lay down the law.”  It is for our religious leaders to start doing their job properly — which will result in a change in our collective morality so that such business practices will cease to be profitable — and then such business practices will be ceased.

Remember prohibition?  We’re still suffering from all kinds of ills because of that failed effort.  On the other hand, there exists example after example throughout British and American history of bars and taverns closing their doors due to lack of business — and not from intervention by the state — after a spiritual revival in the land.   

According to this story, our laws are just too darn tough…sending more people to prison in raw numbers and per capita than any other country in the world. Really? I don’t dispute the numbers; but, let’s not be so quick to pin down the ’cause’ for this condition.

Quoting from the article, “A U.S. Justice Department report released on November 30 showed that a record 7 million people — or one in every 32 American adults — were behind bars, on probation or on parole at the end of last year. Of the total, 2.2 million were in prison or jail. … More people are behind bars in the United States than in any other country. China ranks second with 1.5 million prisoners, followed by Russia with 870,000. The U.S. incarceration rate of 737 per 100,000 people in the highest, followed by 611 in Russia and 547 for St. Kitts and Nevis. In contrast, the incarceration rates in many Western industrial nations range around 100 per 100,000 people.” So, the numbers appear to add up…

All cultures are not created equal. Each one results in different patterns of public and private behavior. Alexis de Tocqueville said of us in 1832 after visiting the US the previous year, “America will be great as long as it is good. When America ceases to be good, it will cease to be great.” When the Constitutional Convention of 1789 had adjourned, a woman is reported to have inquired of Benjamin Franklin as he came out of the hall, “Sir, what kind of government did you give us?” To which it is said that he replied, “A republic, Ma’am…for as long as you can keep it.” Our republic operated well for over 175 years, and we were the envy of all.

Now look at us. Drug and alcohol abuse are at epidemic levels. Our adults are abusing our children, and our children are killing each other. Our lawmakers are forever on the take and selling us out to the highest bidder. Our media is not just biased as it always has been, it now pushes-out outright lies and acts so impudent when caught in the act. (Bias is not a bad thing. I choose to write about what interests me. If it doesn’t interest me, you won’t read about it here. That’s bias.) We now tolerate open homosexuality — no society has ever done that and remained around for long to revel in it.

Our republic, and the laws which we have written for ourselves, are founded on us being able to exercise self-control. That used to be a hallmark of our culture. That trait has been replaced by instant gratification. We’re no longer ‘good’. Mr. de Tocqueville told us what would come next. Anyone care to disagree that we are no longer ‘great’?

When self-control is not a trait of a culture, as is the case in most of the world, laws either do not address the ’small stuff’, or they’re simply not enforced. Our old judicial system has not yet gotten into synch with our new culture. That is why so many of my fellow citizens are in jail. (They’re not all my fellow citizens, as the article neglects to report that as many as 30 percent of federal inmates may be here illegally. I’ll bet the farm that similar numbers are found in state prisons.)

I don’t care what the ‘experts’ or the rest of the world thinks about the size of our prison population. In the short term, we may have to relax our laws. But, in the long term, my hope is that we return to being a ‘good’ people.

The Republican-controlled Congress has adjourned and gone home — and none too soon. Who, back in 2001, when they took control of both the House and the Senate, would’ve seen in their worst conservative nightmares the spending and intrusion into our everyday lives that we’ve seen in the past six years. The Patriot Acts aside, and similar measures aimed at conquering the spread of radical Islam, the purposes with which we can agree, although some of the methods are certainly open to dispute.

Yes, those wonderfully conservative Republicans gave us:

• A $40 billion expansion of the Department of Education budget, with an attendant increase in its meddling into how we locals educate our children
• McCain-Feingold “campaign reform”, a horrific censorship measure more aptly titled “The Incumbent Protection Act”
• “Faith-based” disbursement of tax-funded welfare services, rather than the reduction in taxes to allow the faithful to have more of their hard-earned money with which to do their own charity work as they best see the needs
• Additional socialization of our health care system under the guise of reduced-cost prescription drugs for seniors
• The refusal to deal with the flood of illegal immigrants, except to try to reward them with work permits now and citizenship later for having broken our laws in getting here and continuing to break our laws once they’ve gotten here
• The acceleration of Ross Perot’s “giant sucking sound”, as our manufacturing and technology infrastructure is dismantled and sent abroad

And, last, but certainly not least, in returning to the Patriot Acts, the military portion of the war on Islamo-fascism has been “fought” with both of our hands tied behind our back and our legs shackled together at the knees. Instead of sending in the Air Force to cut the enemy to shreds and then the Infantry in to collect up all the pieces and put things back together in our image, they sent in the Infantry to get cut to shreds by the enemy and the Air Force in to pick up the pieces of our soldiers after the enemy has turned the place into their image. We won’t even begin to discuss the diplomatic side of things…

Well, it looks like the next two years will finally give us conservatives what we expect from a Democrat Congress and a RINO in the White House. At least, this time we’ll not be disappointed by what comes out of Washington, DC. We’ll also get to see how the Democrats deal with their DINO’s — perhaps we ought to start taking notes.

One of the latest supposedly American bastards who do not put US-First: Colin Powel.