American as Apple Pie

We are witnessing something that is as American as apple pie despite the attempts of various media outlets to portray it otherwise. The event is the mass protests against a government run health care system. Yet some find these town hall protests, heated as they are, to be “un-American” That was the term used to describe the protesters by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

They stated this in an editorial in USA Today. They specifically stated the the drowning out of other voices in protest was un-American. This is laughable. One of the hallmarks of a healthy Republic is boisterous debate and not a little passionate shouting. One doubts the Speaker would find much appealing in the rhetoric of someone like, say Samuel Adams. The Revolutionary War leader was a master of both fomenting passions against the Crown and using reasoned legal arguments against an ever encroaching government. He was also not above shouting down any opposition to the ideals of liberty. I suppose Mr. Adams would be unwelcome at a Pelosi town hall meeting.

I also found it interesting that some of the leftist MSNBC hosts have more or less suggested that it is only health care and the “AstroTurf” protesters should just calm down and go away. I am quite certain that King George III and Lord North probably said to the colonists “its only taxes”.

A divide has been revealed in America this summer. There is a growing realization that the government is swollen with both debt and laws to an untenable size. As a country we cannot continue the unabated spending and borrowing as we have over the last 50 years. Both Democrats and Republicans are guilty. Yet we now propose over a trillion in new health care spending on top of a Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security system that are virtually broke. Or national viability in the future depends on finding a way not to expand these government programs but to reduce them.

Yes I said reduce these entitlement programs. We must work to create a culture that is less dependent on government programs not more so. That is a real American solution. As much as possible these programs must be privatized. At the same time we must adopt a new (actually old) philosophy on the role of government. The Federal government of course will be of little help in this since it has no interest in reducing its own power base. It must come from the people and from a concerted efforts by the states to reclaim their constitutional powers that have been usurped by Washington.

Our children must learn this from us for no one else will teach them. Certainly not government school teachers. That is the one area the protesters at the town halls fail in. They do not advocate loudly enough for a real alternative to the continued grown of government and its intrusion into private life. They and we must loudly proclaim “NO MORE”.

Some may see this as utopian but I suppose the Founding Fathers were looked at the same way. When occasionally asked about future planning my advice is to plan for your life, retirement, and old age as if government did not exist. This is not only to prevent a catastrophe should entitlement programs fail but to create a culture that is able to adapt without directions from government. Most Americans today cannot imagine a world without entitlement programs but not so long ago they did not exist and yet our nation endured and prospered.

We must seek that again.

von Rum

A Cool Breeze Blowing

Walking the dog tonight I notice a cool breeze blowing. Normally this would illicit no thought except for the fact that it is July. Such a wind is rare in the Carolinas this time of year. That had me thinking how many other rare or strange things are swirling about these days and so I bring to you this group of oddities.

1. First we have had the recent passing of Michael Jackson. No one could have been surprised by this this. Nor could they have been taken aback by the media circus surrounding it. If the same level of attention was paid to the death of a soldier or a saint (of which he was neither) I suspect we would see a different world.

2. We have the case of Governor Mark Sanford of the South Carolina. The public political suicide of a rising star and possible presidential candidate is worth noting. What is not worth noting is the repeated public confessions of his indiscretions and sins which we need not know. That he is a liar and a cheat as well as a thief we are aware. With whom an how often we will leave to his poor wife and the Attorney General of South Carolina.

3. The economy and the stimulus package. I suspect that few Americans can yet grasp the implications of the money that has been spent and wasted. It is on a scale unprecedented in human history. Yet those who propagated this crime sit in office and find new ways to spend money they must steal from you, print from thin air, or borrow. Staggering is too weak a word. Despite (or because of) the Obama promises to save 600,000 jobs in early June, we just recieved news of a higher than expected June loss of 467,000 jobs following May’s loss of 322,000. I am sure the Obama administration has a neat, muddy, ambiguous, and empirically unsustainable argument for the fact that the $787 billion stimulus plan has been a conspicuous and historic failure so far. They always do. This train wreck of an administation is already worse that the previous monumentally bad eight years.

4. We commit more troops, lives, and fortunes to a pile of rubble called Afghanistan (which is little more than a geographic term). As Obama pours thousands more into this pointless war with a shadow enemy and no real strategic goal or necessity we go further down the road to an imperial occupier. With this goes the further erosion of the economy, liberty, and self reliance in the name of national security. In this the “liberal” Obama is no different from and perhaps worse that his “conservative” predicesor.

This 4th of July I hope we can all remember just what happened on that date. Not the date of D-day or 9-11 or anything else. We need to remember the sacrifice of safety, freedom, fortune and life that was made by those with no prospect of winning their liberty other than their courage and faith in victory. Beside that most of our modern perils fade into insignificance.

von Rum

Czared To Death

von Rum apologizes for his tardiness in posting.

John McCain remarked that Obama now has more Czar’s than the Romanov’s. Sadly this is true.

Beginning with the Energy Czar under Nixon and the Drug Czar under Reagan, US Presidents have shown an inclination to create posts of all encompassing power answerable only to themselves. All have done it, though Obama has carried it to new heights.

We now have Czars of Drugs, Cars, Bank Bailouts, the Middle East, the US border, and most recently a Cyber Czar to being policing of the internet. In all there are over 20 of these appointed officials.

The most disturbing thing about them are their extra-Constitutionality. They are not subject to confirmation by the Senate as Cabinet members are. The Cabinet has traditionally been the seat of such oversight officers. These, along with the head of the CIA and the Pentagon officers have been accountable to Congress and as such indirectly to the citizens. The new Czarist officials are not similarly accountable.

This gathering of power into the hands of a few unelected and uncontrolled people answerable only to the President is a terrible precedent. It smacks of despotism and is nothing more than a further engorgement of the Imperial Presidency.

It has been argued that the Czars create more efficient problem solving because they are outside and above the traditional archaic bureaucracy in Washington. This is hogwash. The in fact create more bureaucrats and more turf wars multiplying the hands in the pot and the costs of each effort to solve anything. They are in fact the opposite of efficiency. The fact that many of them are also overseeing areas of American life never meant to be the prerogative of the Federal government is even more insidious.

Even the king of pork, Senator Robert Byrd D-WV has had the foresight to condemn the practice of appointing Czars. He wrote to Obama that the system, “can threaten the Constitutional system of checks and balances,”. He also complained that it gives the President too much power. The strange thing is that Obama complained about that very thing as a candidate. He claimed the Bush White House had used executive privileges to accrue too much power. He called for transparency. His hypocrisy in appointing all these unaccountable executives to their fiefdoms is staggering.

In less than five months Barack Obama has gathered to himself more executive power than George W. Bush could in eight years. Change has been called for and delivered. We have changed presidents from an incompetent quasi-liberal Bush to a skilled messianic socialist with, at best delusions of grandeur and at worst a despotic streak that threatens the Republic.

A century of steadily increasing the power of the executive branch of government at the expense of the accountability and oversight of the Congress has gotten us here. This combined with an election system that smacks of corruption and an insulated political class have created a gulf between life in America and life in Washington D.C.

This is the cause of the strange irony that as the power of the Federal government has grown our respect for and support of that government has dropped precipitously. In 1916 the greatest contact that most Americans had with the Federal government or Federal law was the Post Office. The respect for Uncle Sam was great because it was distant. When he is in your living room every day then he, like guests and fish, begins to smell. Familiarity does not breed contempt, it is contempt.

Hail Caesar!

Descent

Yesterday the Governor of North Carolina, Beverly Purdue signed into law an act prohibiting the smoking of tobacco in restaurants and bars in the state. For some this may seem a victory and good thing. For many in the state it is a betrayal and a criminal act.

At any rate for any reasonable observer who is concerned with his or her personal liberty this must be an ominous sign. One not need be a smoker either.

As this ban is set to take effect on 2 January 2010 we contemplate what other laws and trends are coming our way. Indeed which have already arrived by way of our state and federal governments.

It seems we are entering a period of the surreal. At a time in which state, local and federal legislation becomes even more “sensitive” and puritianical in drafting laws, these same bodies are increasingly immoral and ignorant of their role in this Republic.

A few examples. While wailing away at the dangers of public smoking legislatures nationwide and the federal government have adopted economic policies that will put our children into debt for most if not all their lives. Is this healthy? While pursuing mass mandatory vaccinations that could be leading to allergic and deep health issues the states also allow, encourage and in some cases subsidize the slaughter of millions of unborn children. If it is a matter of choice to abort a child why is it not a matter of choice for a parent to look after the children who are alive? The hypocrisy is staggering. While I do not advocate any parent leave their children to chance with childhood diseases, I also oppose them having these choices (if that is the word) forced upon them at the point of a gun by the state.

I continue. While demanding that property owners surrender the right to allow a perfectly legal act in their own businesses the state is schizophrenic in its application. By singling out only restaurants and bars that serve food it leaves a whole swath of public locations free. If this was such a dire health issue and beyond question then there should have been no difficulty in a total statewide ban in all public or even private places. If it was as bad as it is portrayed to be then state trucks would be plowing up tobacco fields as I write this and shutting down cigarette factories. But then, oh the horror, that would cost the treasury in these troubled times.

It seems any act, no matter how ridiculous can now be passed by wrapping it in one of two mantles. Those are “to protect our children” and “national security”. Both arguments are often as hollow as the souls of those who espouse them. We will ban any traditionally protected or culturally acceptable practice to “protect the children” yet send those who bravely volunteer for military service on fools missions in pointless wars to be killed in vain.

All the while the traditional protections of privacy and liberty with a balance of community interest are being subverted. Not in the interests of the community against the individual as some argue, but in the interests of the state. As the power of the states grows over our lives our respect for and use for that same state diminishes. I wonder at which point a critical mass will arrive.

No wonder you can wander into any bar, restaurant, park, farmhouse, outhouse or doghouse and hear people rail against the government. It is no longer our government but we are still the governed.

Rum Review: Captain Morgan Spiced Rum

Yes you read that right. Von Rum who prides himself on top shelf rums has delved into the realm of Captain Morgan. Yet there is no shame here. This is a well established and very successful rum that, for good or ill has become a part of the American psyche of rum.

With the spirit of A Little Captain in Ya here we go.

Captain Morgan is a medium brown liquid whose aroma screams of vanilla, vanilla, vanilla. If this is spice then so be it. It tastes of vanilla and sugar with little of the dark molasses of rum at all. At 70 proof it is lower than standard rums at 80-100 proof but nonetheless respectable. The warming rum burn is there but so is a soothing sweet essence in the taste. Vanilla shines through. This is true in it’s most tried companion cola and lime, as in other drinks. This sweetness makes Morgan acceptable in various fruit concoctions as well.

While over hyped at college parties and the like von Rum finds Captain Morgan quite enjoyable. With ginger ale and a squeeze of lime as a refresher drink it is superb. With that it is a very good flavoring rum for mixed drinks without being too overpowering and without spending too much. Captain Morgan may have its detractors but in the cocktail world it has its place and should be recongnized.

Three out of five cigars.

Do make this a staple of your rum bar, for any and all mixing.

von Rum

Rum Review: Cruzan Mango Rum

von Rum is not normally a fan of heavily fruit flavored rums but this one deserves review. We were inspired to try this one by a cocktail from the Mai Tai Bar in Daytona Beach Florida on the beachfront at the Hilton Hotel.

The view was terrific as was the cocktail. One of the ingredients was Mango Rum and as Cruzan is the premium brand in this genre I assume this was the ingredient used.

This clear rum is 27.5% ABV which is about average or slightly above for a liqueur, which this actually is. To the nose you get a strong sense of ripe mango aroma. The taste is no disappointment on mango either. It is of very ripe sweet mango, certainly too cloying for sipping. As a flavoring for cocktails though it is excellent.

This rum is terrific in fruit based cocktails or just with fruit juice. For a tiki bar setting or any of your summertime cooler drinks Cruzan Mango Rum is an excellent choice.

For its kind I give it 4 of 5 cigars.

von Rum

Rum on the Rocks

Well here we are back again in the foothills of the Appalachians far away from the warm sun and waters of Florida. All things being equal I would rather still be laying under a palm tree. Alas time flies when you are having rum.

It seems that little has changed during my absence. While the stock market has improved, you can’t tell it on the street. Unemployment is still up. Home values still continue to plummet. Swine flu has created a paranoia and the Taliban is wrecking havoc in Pakistan. Other than that things are just fine.

Coming up a couple of new rum reviews and more commentary on our wonderful state of affairs.

Rum on the Beach

For this coming week the daily dose of Rum will have to come from a bottle as von Rum will be on the beach. I bid you all a wonderful week with little worry, much joy and something refreshing to watch the sun set with.
I am sure there will be more than enough incompetence, foolishness and a parade of knaves in the news to entertain you while I am gone.

Cheers.

von Rum

Shooting Blanks

I had some reservations before yesterday’s nationwide Tea Parties in protest of government growth, spending and taxation. I still have them. While it was an inspiring site for so many thousands to come out in support of sane government it was also too little, too late.

I say this because despite the impressive turnout, excellent coverage by Fox News and honest message, no one was listening. I mean no one in that no one who matters. Make no mistake, the masses do not (Thank God) govern this country. Elected officials and special interests do and they were not impressed.

The weren’t because two things were missing from the parties, timing and sacrifice. The timing was months too late and in the wrong places. This should have taken place before the election last November as soon as the intentions of the Bush Administration to begin the insane bailouts became clear. It could have taken place even earlier than that to protest Bush’s bloating of the Federal Government as well but that is another topic.

Coming as it did in April 2009 the party was too late for the last election and too far from the next to have much impact there either. Politicians react only to local and immediate threats to their seats. Only a concerted effort to turn out that kind of crowd and response against incumbents in close proximity to an election can have great results. As it is Obama is safely ensconced in the White House for nearly four more years and the next Congressional elections are around seventeen months away. Too far for the abysmally short American memory.

The second shortcoming of the Tea Parties was a lack of sacrifice. Thousands of people gathered at the Alamo to wave flags and hear Ted Nugent play sounds more like a summer concert than it does a political protest. While inspiring, and indeed heartening that so many Americans care enough to show up and express themselves thusly it is of no avail because it involves no sacrifice. They took a few hours off work, some of them. That was it.

This must be contrasted with the Boston Tea Party. This was a direct action protest that involved trespassing (boarding the ships) and destruction of property (the tea). Those involved were in serious danger if forces of the Crown laid hands on them. Fortunately for them they were in friendly territory.

They made a sacrifice that did only emboldened Parliament in the short term but it was a powerful statement that made England take notice. It also strengthened the colonists resolve to resist further acts of Parliament that they deemed illegal and contrary to British custom and law.

Today’s Tea Parties while visually impressive, have no consequences. No sacrifice is made by the protesters and due to its awkward timing between elections there is no immediate concern for elected officials. Little risked, little gained.

What I have said may be construed to advocate more radical action on the part of the protesters. I have said nothing of the sort. All I have done is contrast the two eras and actions called Tea Parties and pointed out the likely consequences of the current ones.

What I would call for though is a two front approach by those who would like to have our Republic back and sanity in government. First is do not quit the Tea Parties or the online organizing. Keep it up and plan it for times more strategically suited to influence those in office. Second prepare a better statement than simply “lower taxes, lower spending”. While a good general statement it is devoid of real plans or actions. Those who wish to tax and spend this country into irrecoverable debt have plans. Do you? Without a more comprehensive set of ideas, say a real change in the tax code to something like the Fair Tax, you are all gravy and no meatloaf. Make as many good plans as you have rallies and you will win.

If some sort of fiscal sanity does not take hold on this government then you can forget the tea and bring lots of rum.

von Rum

Are you a threat?

The Department of Homeland Security seems to think you might be a threat to the United States. Well at least many of you. You may not know it of course. Or you may. At any rate your beliefs may drive you to terrorist and criminal activity. This tendency of yours must of course be monitored closely and vigilantly. We can’t take any chances now can we? Who are you? What is it you believe that makes you such a threat? Well lets see.

According to a report released by DHS there is a possibility of a rise in “rightwing” extremism over the coming years. The traditional triggers are cited. These include economic instability, threats to constitutional rights including the 2nd Amendment, threats from foreign powers, numbers of unhappy veterans returning from war and a rise in racial tensions following the election of Barack Obama. None of this is a surprise.

A couple of things stand out though. At the end of the first paragraph describing the scope of the report it says, “Federal efforts to influence domestic public opinion must be conducted in an overt and transparent manner, clearly identifying United States Government sponsorship.”
Funny thing is that I was under the impression it was the public that was supposed to influence the Federal Government, not the other way around. This seems to be an insidious statement of the political intentions and goals of the Department of Homeland Security. I may read to much into that statement. Then again I may not.

The next rather disturbing item is definition given in the report as to whom threats may come from. The report defines rightwing extremist groups as composing the following:

“Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly anti government, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.”

On the hate oriented groups in this definition I have no argument. On the “anti government” part I have more of a problem. Does this mean that states-rights groups or traditional federalists that stand for the Republic as it was founded are now lumped in with neo-Nazis and Timothy McVeigh? If I think education should be directed at the county or at most state level rather than by the Department of Education am I a potential terrorist that must be watched? If I am concerned about attacks on the Second Amendment and therefore “stockpile” ammunition for fear of its limited availability am I plotting to blow up a Federal building? This seems to be what the report implies.

More disturbing though is the last group, those dedicated to a single issue such as abortion (pro-life) or immigration (pro-enforcement and border security). By leaving this definition so broad then suddenly the Minutemen are likened to skinheads and Klansmen. More frightening is that it could just as easily be construed to include the Southern Baptist Convention or the Roman Catholic Church for their unequivocal and vocal stance on abortion. Will DHS be camped out in churches or take to monitoring their websites? Where does this lead?

The report cited no specific threat and needlessly repeated itself to reach nine pages length. Its very vagueness though is the problem. By painting with such a broad brush then many, nay most, groups and individuals who consider themselves conservative (or reactionary) but have no part with any extremist group are nevertheless corralled in with them. If Homeland Security is unable to draw a clear distinction between a housewife protesting abortion on a street corner and an anarchist anti-government group we are in trouble and too much power is in hands who know not how to wield it.

The very nature of a Republic is the restriction and diffusion of power. In that this Homeland Security report is antithetical to liberty and responsible use of force. It cites a problem that could be real yet defines its sources so broadly that they could be construed by law enforcement to be almost anyone. The report is part of a trend that is disturbing and may be a self fulfilling prophecy.

von Rum