Posse Incitatus

Coddling -- AND MASKING -- Children Harms Them

                                                                                                                                      Many of us have been saying for years that coddling children while they're in grade school and high school is doing them a disservice. Unfortunately, the coddling has continued into young adulthood, as many colleges and universities also try to shelter their students from the harsh realities of the real world.

If a child grows up in a participation trophy environment; if safe spaces, therapy dogs and cry rooms are provided along the way toward adulthood; if teachers and parents employ undue harshness against those who make an impolitic utterance or pick a fight with another student, the coddled wimps will grow up ill-prepared to deal with life as it is, not as they wish it would be.

News flash: There are assholes out in the real world. Some people will let you down or break your heart. Some will call you vile names. Some may be manipulators, liars, slanderers, layabouts, drug addicts, rapists -- even murderers. If you've been protected from getting your feelings hurt for years,; if you've never had someone screw you over and make you angry; if you've never experienced harsh criticism, you're in for a RUDE AWAKENING when you get out on your own.

After spending years in the wimp bubble, you may well be ultra-sensitive and fall to pieces when someone yells at you, insults you or trashes your reputation. It's rough out there! Best to develop a thick skin and a healthy skepticism before venturing out on your own.

This principle also applies to the human body's ability to develop an effective immune system to ward off bacterial and viral pathogens. In short, it depends partly on being exposed to the microbes and other pathogens. But obsession with masks, social distancing, lockdowns and "deep cleaning" (is that just a B.S. marketing term?) are preventing young people's immune systems from developing, thus making them more vulnerable when they go out into the world in a few years.

Dr. Eran Bendavid, a Stanford professor, penned a guest column in the Wall Street Journal a few days ago in which he cautioned about the damage excessive hygiene can do to children. He wrote that allergic and autoimmune diseases are far less common in communities with less hygiene. 

Excessive hygiene harms children in two ways: It makes them vulnerable to pathogens later on because their body never had to confront those pathogens; and it prevents a child's immune system from fine-tuning itself. The body must distinguish between disease-causing invaders and benign targets. Too much of an antiseptic environment makes one vulnerable to maladies including asthma, allergies, Type 1 diabetes and Crohn's Disease. 

What Dr. Bendavid refers to is known as the "Hygiene Hypothesis," and that's fine, as far as it goes. It's a school of thought that has been around for decades, but grown in prominence during the pandemic.

But here's another aspect to masking young children that raises serious questions: Don't the masks block facial expressions and muffle speech inflections and intonations? Communication experts have long taught us that the words expressed between two people are not nearly as important as body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice, among other nonverbal cues.

Children learn about interacting with other people and about how to function in the world just by communicating -- in the classroom, on the playground, at home, in the neighborhood. The masks distort and hinder this all-important psychological and social development.

In recent days, we've been hearing of more and more blue state governors backing off on mask mandates. Their talking heads on MSNBC and CNN will tell you "the science has changed," or the case numbers are down. In truth, they have zero concern for children's well being. What concerns them most are polls telling them that Democrats will get pummeled in November unless changes in policy take place.

Paraphrasing the age-old "money talks" saying, when it comes to the political class, polls talk.

Joe Biden: Vindictive Hater

In recent weeks, I've been thinking about the destructive, insane policies and statements by Joe Biden and his cabal of despicable pathological liars. Do they really believe what they're saying? Do they honestly think the American people fall for the bullshit? Do they sincerely think their failed policies will benefit the United States, and that they should double down on the insanity?

I suppose some of these true believers, who have been marinating in Marxist indoctrination for decades, really do believe the nonsense they are espousing. But I also suspect that a considerable number of them know it's a load of crap, but are doing it out of sheer spite and vindictiveness.

It seems that the petulant Joe Biden and many of his sycophant, cult-like followers, absolutely loathe the American people and American traditions, and -- pardon my crudity -- want to piss all over us.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the administration is in talks to offer immigrant families that were separated during the Trump administration around $450,000 a person in compensation. That's right: Biden wants to give $450,000 to law-breaking non citizens (in some cases, families would rake in nearly $1 million), despite the fact the United States is $30 trillion in the hole and millions of our own citizens are homeless, without healthcare coverage, and / or unemployed. I would be fine with giving that money to families of service members who gave their lives, such as the 13 soldiers killed at the Kabul airport in August, and also giving generous payouts to all American Veterans. But give to illegal aliens? NO!!!

This is, hands down, the most outrageous and loony policy I have ever heard of in my entire life. Just when you think the chaotic shit show of the grossly incompetent and buffoonish Biden administration cannot get any worse, it does. Will we even have a country left by the time November 2022 rolls around? I'm not so sure.

Once again, misinformation and faulty reasoning are being used to justify an idiotic policy. Thousands of children were supposedly separated from their parents and endured unspeakable trauma as a result, say the whiny leftists and media jackals. I've said it before and I'll say it again: In most cases, it wasn't their parents who helped them break the law by illegally crossing our borders. It was paid coyotes, drug dealers, sex traffickers, or gang bangers.

News flash: When you break the law, bad things happen. Someone who gets busted for drunk driving or leading police on a high speed chase would undoubtedly be traumatized if he got into a scuffle with police, was thrown down on the pavement and handcuffed, then hauled off to the slammer. But does that trauma, remorse and regret entitle the accused to a fat payout from Uncle Sam? To far more money than most Americans' can declare as their net worth? Of course not!

Let's just take this one step further to illustrate the sheer absurdity of this policy. The PC term "undocumented immigrants," a euphemism to avoid "illegal alien," is usually stated in the context of non-citizens who don't have documents to show they're entitled to be in the United States (e.g., a green card or work visa).

But it goes way beyond that. Many of the indigent coming from Third World hellholes don't even have verification of their names, ages and place of residence from whence they came. Data bases, record keeping and the rule of law are sketchy and rudimentary in many of these godforsaken nations. Counterfeit documents are easy to come by and carried by many of the illegal immigrants. My point being that even if the harebrained scheme the Democrats came up with were to be enacted, it would be extremely difficult to determine who's really eligible for the money. It would be an administrative nightmare. But harsh realities never stop the Democrats from coming up with asinine ideas. 

So this leads me to my conclusion, which is summarized by the headline. Even the naive fools of this horrendous administration aren't stupid enough to think this proposal will fly. They just did it to poke conservatives in the eye. Out of sheer spite. Joe Biden is a self-serving, narcissistic, soulless, nihilistic sociopath who has contempt for millions of Americans. The same can be said for many of the cretins who work for him. Nothing else could explain such utter stupidity.

Progressive Apocalypse Now

About 4 1/2 years ago, I posted a blog titled "California Screaming," commenting on how illegal immigration, high taxes, and a tangle of nanny state regulations were destroying the Golden State. Long-term drought was worsened by environmental regulations that created severe water shortages among farmers. Homelessness and poverty were worsening.

Well, things haven't improved at all since 2015. In fact, they've grown worse. Taxes have continued to rise, and gasoline prices have spiked, in large part due to strict EPA regulations. Sanctuary cities were bad enough, but a few years ago, former Gov. Jerry Brown pushed through legislation making California a sanctuary state! Talk about bad policy on steroids. The homelessness, crime, drug abuse and rising housing prices that had been most pronounced in larger cities have spread to other areas of the state.

But California's woes go far beyond the feces and heroin syringes littering San Francisco streets, and the homeless encampments near downtown Los Angeles where typhoid fever, typhus and tuberculosis are thriving due to deplorable conditions including human and rat feces, and rodents running wild.

Wildfires and the aging infrastructure of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) have not only destroyed entire communities (See Paradise, Calif. Camp Fire of November 2018, which killed 85 people); now the state's residents must deal with deliberate power blackouts not unlike what Venezuelans endure under the criminal and corrupt Nicolas Maduro regime.

It's been proven that numerous wildfires, including the Camp Fire, were started when high winds blew down PG&E power lines, igniting nearby dry brush and branches. The deliberate power outages are a precaution to prevent such fires -- and also a safeguard against additional liability lawsuits. Swamped by such lawsuits filed by homeowners and businesses devastated by wildfires, the utility already has filed for bankruptcy protection.

PG&E, because it serves one of our nation's largest states (geographically as well as population-wise), owns a vast network of aging infrastructure. Just because the population density in northern California is sparse doesn't mean the utility can avoid the high cost of running electrical lines hundreds of miles over challenging mountainous terrain to serve far-flung communities.

In some cases, PG&E transmission poles and related equipment are literally a century old.  You see, the utility has spent so much time and money complying with progressive mandates on diversity, renewable energy and electric vehicle charging stations, it has shortchanged vital upkeep and maintenance of the power grid. Taking care of infrastructure also includes trimming encroaching branches that are a fire hazard. Too, the state of California has mismanaged its forests, and concern for wildlife habitat seems to supersede practical clear cutting or controlled burns of deadwood that could prevent large-scale, destructive fires.

In the wake of recent wildfires, tens of thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate parts of California. As a result of the blackouts, businesses including stores, restaurants and wineries have lost thousands of dollars worth of meat and other refrigerated foods that spoiled. Other businesses lost considerable revenue simply because they had to close down for several days.

The execrable and insufferable progressive governor, Gavin Newsom, has bashed PG&E for greed and mismanagement. (Progressives never acknowledge that many of their own policies cause problems -- it's so much easier to flog the corporate bogeyman.)

“It is infuriating beyond words to live in a state as innovative and extraordinarily entrepreneurial and capable as…California…where we are seeing this kind of disruption,” Newsom told the Wall Street Journal.

No, Gavin, what's infuriating beyond words is the chaos, havoc, destruction and suffering wrought by progressive policies created by naive dreamers who often don't understand what it means to run a business or how the private sector economy works.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Left to its own devices, California will eventually become Venezuela. Meantime, there's a whole lotta sufferin' goin' on.

 

 

Hoops Madness, and Owning Up to My Wrong Prediction

Don't think I've forgotten that I predicted Meeeechigan would beat MSU in the Big Ten Tournament championship game last Sunday. I apologize to the MSU Spartans for underestimating them. They're like the "Little Engine that Could"... they just keep finding a way to get the job done, even if they are struggling with injuries and haven't had much rest.

Before I get into the NCAA Tournament, a few observations about Michigan State's three victories over the arch-rival Michigan Wolverines. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I was in a sports bar in Orlando with my brother and his wife when the Spartans went to Ann Arbor and beat MEEECHIGAN on its home floor before what appeared to be thousands of highlighters bouncing up and down. (There's a reason I like to jokingly proclaim: "M-GO-YELLOW!")

In that game, MSU was ahead by 2 at the half, and got behind by a maximum of 6 in the second half before winning 77-70. Nearly two weeks later, in a March 9 tilt at the Breslin Center, Michigan led by as much as 12 in the first half, but MSU ended up winning, 75-63. A similar dynamic played out in the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago on March 17. Michigan led by as much as 13, but MSU rallied from behind and won, 65-60.

Even after getting swept by their rivals, Michigan players are thumping their chests and bragging about how they could win it all... Some things never change. Including unhappiness with the way the NCAA Selection Committee seeds teams for the tournament. MSU, after winning the regular season conference championship and the Big Ten Tournament, and after having more wins against quality opponents than almost every other Division 1 team, got seeded a No. 2. Worst of all, the Spartans were placed into the same bracket as prohibitive favorite Duke, a team that boasts a veritable NBA starting lineup.

In other words, it will be much harder for MSU to make the Final Four than Michigan, which is in the same bracket as Gonzaga, a No. 1 seed albeit one that fattened up its record against inferior opponents in a conference that is not on the same levels as the big guys (Big Ten, SEC, ACC, et al...) The insufferable Michigan fans will be even more unbearable if they make the Final Four and MSU does not. But I suspect Michigan's inconsistency on offense and occasionally ice-cold three-point shooting are going to be their demise long before they reach the Final Four.

As for today, MSU plays fellow Big Ten squad Minnesota, whom the Spartans throttled 79-55 in early February. This game won't be nearly so one-sided, as the Golden Gophers have improved since then and it's on a neutral court. I still see MSU winning by at least 10 points and advancing to the Sweet 16. As for Meechigan, I think they can also take care of business against a good but not great Florida Gators team. I believe the Skunk Bears will win a close one today, but I don't see them winning again once they're in the Sweet 16. We shall see.

IZZO BLOWUP -- MSU Coach Tom Izzo really got in the face of freshman forward Aaron Henry during Thursday's game. Red-faced, wagging his finger and screaming like a madman, Izzo's tirade made rapid rounds on social media and was the topic of many sports talk shows. The predictable reaction from leftists and MSU haters was that Izzo ought to be ashamed of himself; it was disgraceful; he's another Bobby Knight and soon will be choking players and hurling chairs across the room. But Henry himself said it's no big deal, and many of Izzo's former players said that's just the way Izzo is. Often his rants take place in practice or in the locker room, not on camera. Most who played for Izzo say it wasn't easy, but they're glad they did, and they credit him with making them better players and better men. So Izzo is like a walking, talking Marine Corps boot camp. If the lefties don't like it... well, why don't you go make some participation trophies, eat some tofu and listen to NPR. Leave Spartan hoops to the rest of us!

MUELLER REPORT -- The Robert Mueller witch hunt is concluded, but so far we don't know much about the content of his report. However, many media organizations are reporting that Mueller does not recommend any more indictments. To use Van Jones' famous phrase, it's a nothing burger. I'll have more to say about this after details are released.

 

Ignorance is NOT Bliss!

It cannot be emphasized enough that stupidity and apathy, although plagues upon society, pale in comparison to ignorance as far as the damage done. Frankly, there aren’t that many purely stupid people, but there are those whom the Creator did not endow with much intelligence. Bless their hearts, as the southerners like to say.

Regrettably, the United States has tens of millions of ignorant people. The ignorance of history, Economics 101 and the U.S. Constitution are appalling. Many people don't even know what the three branches of government are! This probably explains the leftward tilt of both political parties, and the sudden romance young people are having with socialism.

We knew for decades the Democrats were too much into big government, nanny state nonsense. They subscribe to what President Woodrow Wilson advocated a century ago: the administrative state. Supposedly brilliant experts will formulate, dictate and regulate policies affecting Americans in virtually every phase of their lives. The upshot, according to this school of thought, is that the elitist “experts” know better than we do how to run our lives.

For a while there, Republicans pushed back reasonably hard, and emphasized that large federal deficits will prove our undoing at some future date of reckoning. But in recent years, the GOP has been mostly spineless, and has gone all-in for blowout spending. The spending may not be going toward the same constituents (i.e., voters and prospective voters) as happens with the Democrats, but it’s still excessive spending. The liberals were right when they castigated the GOP for corporate welfare, but in truth, it was hypocrisy. For they, too, are fully on board the gravy train.

Alarmingly, the Democrat Party is tilting toward full-fledged socialism. Many of its millenial supporters, brainwashed and indoctrinated by leftist professors in the cesspool of academia, are gung-ho. Because they don't understand basic economics, the individual liberties held dear by our founding fathers, and the way heavy-handed government has literally resulted in genocide and mountains of skulls, they're all in for trashing capitalism. Critical thinking? What's that?

Climate change is a prime example of useful idiots, aka dupes, agreeing to give up their liberty for some pie-in-the-sky higher cause. (Never mind that we could stop driving all of our vehicles and shut down all of our industries forever, and China and India would continue to pollute wantonly -- with negligible effect on the climate.)

Recently, left-wing Canadian author and commentator Naomi Klein wrote an essay about destroying capitalism and the notion of private property as a means to promoting and supporting policies that will prevent a supposed catastrophe wrought by climate change.

Like many brainwashed leftists, Klein doesn't realize that capitalism has raised the standard of living of literally billions of people worldwide. Air conditioning, affordable automobiles, jet airplanes, computers, radio, TV, the Internet, cameras, quality housing, myriad medical instruments and procedures, wonder drugs... The list goes on. Sorry, liberals, but freedom and the profit motive benefit humanity more in a couple of years than communism / socialism have in a century-and-a-half.

You can be ignorant and spout off to your heart's content. But if your political opponents have an ounce of cajones, they'll get in your face. And your ignorance won't be bliss; it'll be the source of chronic strife.

 

The Left Rears its Ugly Head....Again and Again....

Arrogance and smugness are bad traits of politicians on all points of the political spectrum, but these undesirable qualities, sprinkled with a tendency toward the profane, definitely seem more prevalent among the leftists.

Last weekend, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave an interview on "The Capitol Pressroom," a PBS radio program. He stated that "extreme right wing" conservatives who favor the Second Amendment and oppose abortion and gay marriage are not welcome in New York state.

“Who are they?” the governor asked in his annoying, nasal voice. “Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that’s who they are and they’re the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York, because that’s not who New Yorkers are.”

The millions of New Yorkers who are pro-life, favor the right to own firearms and oppose gay marriage would beg to differ. Just because New York is a blue state doesn't mean it has no conservatives. And those conservatives, who pay taxes just like everyone else, certainly do not want a left wing Democrat governor defining who New Yorkers are. This is just one of many recent examples of haughty behavior from insufferable liberals.  (If I were to respond like a typical lefty, I'd call the governor an intolerant bigot and a "hater.")

In recent months a couple of teachers' unions -- in Michigan and Wisconsin -- have defended tooth-and-nail two dirtbag teachers whose transgressions were disgraceful.

In the small northern Michigan town of Rose City, math teacher Neal Erickson was fired after he was convicted of raping a male student over three years, from 2006 to 2009. He was sentenced to 15-30 years in prison. The Michigan Education Association is going to arbitration to try to force the West Branch-Rose City school district to pay Erickson a $10,000 severance buyout. Adding insult to injury, several teachers wrote letters to a local judge in support of their pedophile colleague. Moreover, one school board member sat with the supportive teachers and Erickson's family when the scumbag was sentenced.

Now on to another nauseating display from one of our esteemed "educators"...

In Wisconsin, Andrew Harris, a science teacher at the Glacier Creek Middle School in suburban Madison, was fired for viewing porn on school grounds and trading it with others. The local teachers union was able to get Harris reinstated with $200,000 dollars in back pay. The union spent about $700,000 on legal fees. Your tax dollars at work!

Think about it: Does a convicted pedophile deserve ANY kind of severence pay? Would you want a pervert who abuses school equipment by viewing and transmitting porn to be teaching your kids? Of course not, but the teachers' unions dug in their heels with a fierce determination for both of these dirtbags, demonstrating that power, money and sickly pride trump common decency and respect for others in the minds of left-wing ideologues.

These are the kinds of stories that deserve closer attention from the public. These are the types of incidents that low information voters don't know or care about, either because they have chosen to be apathetic and ignorant, they are addicted to sucking off the government teet, or they believe the distorted stereotypes of conservatives that the corrupt media perpetuates with its tainted reporting. 

And there's more...

Down in Texas, which seems to be a culture and world all its own, the darling of the left-wing media is Wendy Davis, famous for her abortion filibuster last fall in the state legislature during which she wore pink sneakers that were pictured all over Twitter and other social media. (The Twitter hashtag #standforwendy was a busy one!)

Ms. Davis is a candidate in the Lone Star State's gubernatorial race, and her opponent, Attorney General Greg Abbott, has been paralyzed and in a wheelchair for 30 years. It seems Davis, whose personal veracity has come into question of late due to extreme embellishments on her resume, has a gaggle of tasteless supporters who are badly lacking in class and common decency.

A video has surfaced depicting Davis supporters as having fun with the fact Abbott is in a wheelchair. And lest we forget, Ms. Davis claimed it was Abbott who was behind revealing her dishonesty about her supposedly "self-made" background, and chose to state that Abbott "has never walked a mile in my shoes." Classy.

And then there's Florida Democrat U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who on Wednesday's anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court ruling on abortion wished Roe v. Wade a happy 41st “birthday” because of her “commitment to protecting women’s rights.” It doesn't take a genius to spot the irony of that idiotic statement. "BIRTHDAY"? Really? For an anniversary that commemorates the butchery of 55 million fetuses, courtesy of vacuum hoses and saline solution? This is beyond the pale. I'd be willing to bet that 95 percent of abortion supporters don't know who Margaret Sanger was, or that she was a vile, racist eugenicist.

Speaking of abortion, worthless commediene Sarah Silverman, whose schtick would make a drunken longshoreman blush, recently came out with an ad in which Jesus Christ is sitting munching popcorn with her and gives the thumbs-up to abortion. Breathtaking sacrilege, to say the least.

I could go on a lot longer, but ought to wrap this up... No sense regurgitating the numerous vulgar and nasty attacks on Sarah Palin from the likes of Martin Bashir and perpetual potty-mouth Cher. They're out there, but I'm not going to wallow any further.

There is a stark ugliness to the progressive mindset and many who call themselves progressives. A cold, soulless and expedient nature in itself is bad enough. But accompanied by unbridled conceit, it's insufferable.

The most alarming thought for conservatives is not so much the fiscal ruin that will befall our nation if the progressives continue to make inroads in K-12 education, academia, the news media and government (as bad as that scenario would be). It's the condescending, smug know-it-all attitudes of the leftist elites regarding their misguided statist policies, in conjunction with their cancerous, nihilistic social agenda that could well destroy this nation. There is absolutely no time for complacency or overconfidence. We're in for the fight of our lives.

The true significance of the Chris Christie bridge thing

Most of the pixels being wasted in the blogosphere are focusing on the political aspect of Chris Christie's staff allegedly closing bridge lanes as political payback.

This is the way we are these days - the substance of the charge isn't as interesting as the contortions used to evade it.  While the media is of course harder on a Republican governor than it would ever be on a Democrat (got to protect one's own, of course), the treatment is actually quite similar.

"How will he respond?"

"Will the voters buy it?"

"Will this hurt his presidential campaign?"

Nowhere in the mix is there a discussion of what this says about the politics of today.  As someone with far too many years in electoral politics, I am here to tell you that Chris Christie's petty, smug and vindictive staff is the rule, not the exception in our political class.

This is who those people are.  This is why they go into politics.

Time was, failure was met with a demand for accountability.  Governments fell and careers ended over lapses in judgement or even bad luck. 

Nowadays, all one need do is hold a contrite press conference, weep convincingly (or appear outraged, as appropriate) and it's all good.

To put it another way, scandals used to be about what actually happened.  In Benghazi, a US ambassador was murdered.  That used to be a big deal.

Nowadays, scandals are about how poeple manage them.  Do they say the right things?  Has the coverage been favorable?  Are the polls showing any movement?

Writing at PJ Media, Richard Fernandez has been talking about the steadily eroding design margin of western civilization.  This casual attitude toward the actual offense is a large part of it.

When the margin was narrower, fools simply could not be trusted.  Gen. Curtis LeMay's alleged formulation:  "I have neither the time nor the inclination to seperate the incompetent from the merely unfortunate."  One mistake was enough.

For a generation that was farms blow away into dust and lived through the carnage of two world wars, this approach made sense.  For people 70 years removed from the danger, it seems harsh and archaic.

Maybe it is.  Maybe civilization is strong enough to withstand unlimited levels of idiocy.

On the other hand, the capital city of a major industrialized state just went without power for a week because its municipal utility has been systematically robbing the infrastructure budget to cover transfer payments.  The largest city in the same state is now bankrupt.  Perhaps the margin isn't as big as we thought.

There is a tendency among historians to think in terms of centuries, but the dividing lines do not always line up with the calendar.  This was noted somewhere in the blogosphere earlier this week (I forget where) - that the 19th century didn't really begin until the overthrow of Napoleon in 1815 and the 20th didn't commence until the Great War began in 1914.

This trend actually goes back farther than that.  One could argue that the death of Louis XIV in 1715 ushered in the 18th century proper, and that the beginning of the Thirty Years' War in 1618 ushered in the 16th century.

That being the case, we may be living in the final years of the old 20th century, waiting for the world crisis that will bring on the next epoch.

Indeed, I sometimes think we are living in 1914.  We are secure in our prosperity, smug in our global trade and distracted by emerging and new entertainments (back then it was silent films and records).  And of course our leaders were far to enlightened to make a gross miscalculation that would shatter the fabric of civilization itself.

Just like their leaders were.

Haiti Earthquake Fallout is The Kobayashi Maru for U.S.

Right now, the events happening in Haiti are very disturbing. The U.S. military is on shaky ground at best and that has nothing to do with aftershocks. The international community is blaming the U.S. government for not letting the Médecins Sans Frontières' planes land, but that isn't what is happening on the ground.

The U.S. is following the orders of the Haitian government because of the sensitive history between Haiti and the U.S. The international community, okay France, is accusing the U.S. of an occupation of Haiti. The U.S. is trying so hard not to appear as occupiers to the point we are afraid of stepping on Haitian government toes and taking control of the situation.

So, where are we? That would be stuck between a rock and a hard place.

If our military backs out, then the U.S. isn't doing enough to help the Haitians. If we do what the Haitian government wants, then we are aiding an unjust governing body that doesn't really care about the lives of the Haitian people. If our military ignores the Haitian government and takes complete control, then that's an occupation.

This operation is a no win scenario.

We should let the international community handle the negotiations with Haiti. We should let the U.N. tell the Haitian government it can go to hell because help is on the way.

Think about this from a cold, calculated standpoint:

You have no real concern for the people of your country. As long as food, water and medical supplies are scarce, the people are not concerned with how the government frakked up because they are desperately trying to survive. As a Haitian government official, you know that refusing to let MSF land will be blamed on the U.S. and any criticism will be directed away from Haiti because right now the world is reacting to the catastrophe. And when all of these Haitians die and all of the aid money is processed, it is the Haitian government that stands to gain the most.

If you think it will be passed on to help the people of Haiti you have no comprehension of the political dynamic and corruption in Haiti.

Just read what the Haitian people have to say, not what the press is feeding you during this frenzy.

United Entitlement Workers (UEW)

I’m only joking.  There really is no such thing, but judging from recent utterances and actions of labor leaders, the entitlement mentality is alive and well.  This being Labor Day, it’s an appropriate time to take stock of the labor movement and labor unions in the United States.

First, let me acknowledge that labor unions have played an important role in leveling the playing field between workers and management.  There was a time when industrial and business owners could get away with exploiting workers, making them work long hours in dirty, dangerous conditions for low wages.  Child labor was common.

Labor unions’ activism and involvement in the political arena helped bring about landmark legislation such as the Clayton Act, Wagner Act, Railway Labor Act, and various reforms prohibiting child labor.

But the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction.  You could see it coming as far back as the 1970s, as the Big Three automakers increasingly began offshoring production and using robotics in their plants.

Some UAW locals had a reputation for being more militant than others.  Flint, Michigan, was already going rapidly downhill when General Motors decided to shut down the massive Buick City complex in 1999 and move most of its operations elsewhere.  The city is but a shell of its former self, and the UAW Locals are partly to blame. 

The union’s obstinance in contract negotiations, plus an inordinate number of line workers who decided to use alcohol and/or smoke pot during their working hours back in the 1970s and 1980s, helped seal GM’s decision.

These days, public employee unions are growing in membership and clout while the UAW wanes.  Increased automation and computerization in manufacturing, plus the Big Three’s plunging domestic sales, are far more responsible for the UAW’s slide than NAFTA, despite what the demagogues say.

What’s amazing — or on second thought, maybe NOT so amazing — is the intransigence of public employee unions in giving up some benefits or chipping in more for their health care costs.  All of this while unemployment is sky-high and the economy continues cratering.  Two examples that come to mind are State of Michigan civil service employees, and Detroit’s city unions.

Michigan and Detroit are facing major budget crises.  Both need desperately to restructure, but to do so will be difficult.  Michigan is led by a spineless governor (Jennifer Granholm) who is in the vest pocket of unions.  Until just a few months ago, Detroit was led by a mayor and city council that kowtowed to unions. 

Now, fortunately, former NBA star Dave Bing is at the helm, and the self-made millionaire has stated he'll do what it takes to right the city's finances, even if it means he's a one-term mayor.  He’s delivered an ultimatum: He will lay off 1,000 of the city's 13,000 workers in the next few weeks and also needs the unions to take a 10 percent pay cut to help shrink Detroit's $350 million budget deficit.  Otherwise, come Oct. 1, the city could fall into receivership.

Predictably, the militant unions have resisted.  At a recent demonstration, union members waved pickets stating, "Mayor Resign Now" and "No Pink Slips." The Detroit News quoted AFSCME Local 207 President John Riehl as saying, "We know this isn't a battle just for the unions, but for our city. This is the battle for Detroit."

Umm, yeah, John, it is a battle for Detroit, but not in the way you think it is.  It is a battle to keep Detroit solvent, not to preserve city government as a jobs program.

Meanwhile, in Lansing, Gov. Tinkerbell plans to use Obama stimulus funds to plug part of the FY 2010 $2.2 billion deficit.  But don't be surprised if she and the Democrats try to force another tax increase down the throats of long-suffering Michiganders.  Democratic House Speaker Andy DIllon, to his credit, proposed a reform program to save millions of dollars by reducing the gold-plated health insurance benefits enjoyed by 400,000 Michigan employees.  Unions and even his fellow Democrats are castigating him for this as they remain delusional about the severity of Michigan's fiscal condition.

City of Detroit and State of Michigan union members, as well as unionized rank and file across this great land, can whine all they want about having to grant wage concessions, be furloughed for unpaid days off, and contribute more toward their health insurance premiums and co-pays.  But they really ought to be grateful they have jobs.

On Labor Day 2009, there are PLENTY of white-collar workers with far more educational achievement than the majority of those union members who are OUT OF WORK and have slim prospects for finding a good job.  They would give their eye teeth to have the opportunity to give up some wages or have a greater amount deducted from paychecks for health care.  But you cannot make concessions if you don't even have a job.

No Free Lunch

Where to begin? The health care debate is picking up steam, and I fear the twin panaceas of “single payer” and “universal health care,” both Trojan horses of the first division, will suck up millions of gullible Obama-ites.

Trying to address health care in a blog is like trying to analyze the Civil War in a Twitter post. A 150-word, or even 1,000-word essay is hugely inadequate.  One may as well try to get an online PhD with a 486 on a dial-up connection.

So I will not attempt to cover all the bases, but will focus instead on the dynamics of supply and demand, the philosophy of personal responsibility, and the fiscal and budgetary ramifications. Tort reform, insurance deregulation, electronic records, and other matters can wait for another time.

The fiscal & budget part is so cotton pickin’ easy, I’m going to make fast work of it and move on to the next item. Put simply, we cannot afford for Uncle Sam to take on another massive entitlement when it is already drowning in a sea of red ink and has gargantuan unfunded liabilities stretching from here to the next galaxy.

One of the many things I disliked about George W. Bush was his expansion of the Medicare program to include a prescription drug benefit for seniors. I’ve always thought it outrageous that ALL seniors are eligible for Medicare, regardless of income. But beyond that, Medicare, like most other government programs, costs FAR more than was ever projected, and has widened its scope enormously since its creation in the 1960s. It is rife with corruption, fraud, and mismanagement. It is living proof that “single payer” = fiasco policy.

So, Uncle Sam has unfunded liabilities for Medicare and Social Security totaling in the 10s of trillions of dollars during the next 50 years or so; the national debt is $11 trillion and climbing; annual deficits are out of control; and Bush decided to take on MORE entitlement spending? And now Obama and others are talking about putting the government entirely in charge of guaranteeing universal health care?

That would be like me running all of my credit cards up to the limit, gambling away the mortgage money, blowing all my savings on fancy vacations and fine dining, and then going out and buying a Corvette Stingray. Stupid; reckless; insane; idiotic; suicide. That’s what I think about the government taking another bite when it is already choking on its first few bites.

Now on to supply and demand. To put it simply, health care is a finite resource. There are only so many doctors, nurses, physical therapists, et al, to serve a growing population of 300 million-plus. You cannot wave a magic wand and suddenly provide high-quality coverage to everyone.

I know from speaking with former co-workers in Ontario that Canada’s universal health care forces some patients to wait months for routine tests or outpatient surgery. Some of them, if they can afford it, travel to the United States for more immediate attention. But many just accept their fate.

The $64,000 question: How is “universal health care” defined? How extensive is it? Does it include tummy tucks, aroma therapy, Botox treatments and contraceptives? Or is it far more basic?

The old joke goes, “You could pass out aspirin and Band-Aids to everyone and you’d have universal health care.”

This is simply meant to illustrate a point: We’ve got to clarify our terms so we are at least debating apples vs. apples. Currently I suspect the various parties quibbling in this debate might as well be speaking different languages. I don’t believe they’re understanding each other.

Lastly on this point, the finite nature of health care providers — personnel, facilities, equipment, and dollars — begs greater personal responsibility. The provider network can be expanded over time (provided the money is available and health care resources are used more wisely).

This segues us into individual accountability. If people help pay for some of their health care, and use it responsibly, the providers’ end will respond accordingly. More demand and sufficiently large payments (i.e., more market-based rates rather than arbitrary, bureaucratically-imposed reimbursements intended to constrain costs), WILL lead to more doctors, nurses, hospitals, clinics, and the like.

Think of it this way: When you take your car in for an oil change, new tires, or a new muffler, your auto insurance company doesn’t reimburse you for the maintenance, does it? No. You need to figure routine maintenance, insurance, and gasoline into the cost of owning a vehicle, along with the monthly bank note.

Health care is not a God-given right like the air we breathe. It is a valuable commodity that we should be willing to pay for if we are able to. In the days of government-imposed wage freezes, employers began offering health coverage as an incentive to attract and retain employees, and companies get tax breaks for providing such coverage. This is a convoluted system.

Let me propose something that might feel like a cold slap on the face to entitlement lovers: The cost of health care insurance and some expenses such as routine check-ups, flu shots, and dental cleanings and X-rays, ought to be paid by the consumers. People need to consider health and dental costs as a budget priority, just like groceries, utilities, the rent, and a car payment.

Many of the alleged 45 million people without health insurance are young, healthy, and could afford to pay for their own insurance, but elect instead to spend it on things like a car payment, nice apartment, or fancy clothes. It’s a question of how you set your priorities.

For those who cannot afford their own health insurance or treatments because of long-term unemployment, old age, health issues, etc., I am all for a safety net, as I’m sure the vast majority of Americans are.

I will have more to say about health care in the future, but do not believe in posting excessively long blogs.