Tag: Politics

Layers of Protection

I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you this but the political process is not an effective means of changing the system. Welcome to the universe, it’s a harsh place that doesn’t care about your hopes and dreams.

Politicos mistakenly believe that if they can get the right person in the right office that the system can be changed for the better (here “better” means whatever political aspirations the politico has, not what is actually better by any sane definition). But it’s a naive belief. Politicians are only one layer in a multi-layer system that has been built up over the centuries to protect and expand the State.

Take something as simple as a sheriff’s office. You might think that electing the right sheriff will get all of the bad apples in that department fired. Were the sheriff the only layer of protection that could be the case but even a county sheriff’s office has multiple layers of protection that ensure the State’s expropriators are protected against the consequences of their actions:

A northern Minnesota sheriff’s office has been ordered by a labor arbitrator to reinstate a deputy back to the force after being fired for a 2015 DUI conviction, according to public records.

Mahnomen Count Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Ohren and his union, Law Enforcement Labor Services, Inc., successfully fought the firing, leaving county officials angered and forcing the sheriff to find a non-investigative role for him.

Today, despite his driving record, Ohren is transporting jail inmates around northern Minnesota in a sheriff’s vehicle, not being assigned to respond to 911 calls or crimes due to his credibility being subject to question should he ever have to testify in court.

While Ohren must blow into a breathalyzer before he can start his car going to and from work, the deputy doesn’t have to when he is driving on county time.

In this case a sheriff’s office fired a bad apple but Minnesota’s law enforcer’s union stepped in, fought the firing, and managed to get the bad apple reinstated. Here the union acted as a second layer of protection for the officer.

This complexity is rampant within the State. It ensures that no single individual within the system can make any meaningful changes. It also means that electing the right person to the right office won’t accomplish anything unless that person intends to expand the State (because then they’re working with the various layers of protection, not against them).

When people hear the phrase “A system of checks and balances.” they believe that those checks and balances are meant to limit the power any politician has. In reality those checks and balances are against any forces that would threaten the State’s power.

The Hierarchy of Symbols

Another day, another stupid political controversy. This time the controversy involves that symbol everybody loves to lose their shit over, the flag of the United States of America. Donald Trump tweeted that he thinks flag burners should be punished, which is yet another position he shares with Hillary Clinton. As expected, neocons have been jumping for joy at his proposal.

The nation’s skycloth is a symbol and as George Carlin once said, “I leave symbols to the symbol minded.” I’ve never burned a flag nor do I worship it. Another symbol of the United States of America is the Bill of Rights, which is a list of amendments that granted temporary privileges. The very first amendment states that freedom of expression is a protected right. So what we have here is an argument over which symbol sits higher on the Hierarchy of Symbols.

What takes precedence, the nation’s skycloth or the list of temporary privileges? I don’t really care what anybody’s answer to that question is but I feel that it’s important to clarify what people are actually arguing about.

Cognitive Dissonance

Fidel Castro’s death really brought out the cognitive dissonance.

He was a communist so the leftists love him even though he rounded up homosexuals for “reeducation” and had a very iron fist attitude when it came to crime in that he liked to execute “criminals” in mass.

He was a communist so the rightists hate him even though he rounded up homosexuals for “reeducation” and had a very iron fist attitude when it came to crime in that he liked to execute “criminals” in mass.

Calexit

One of the most fascinating results of the election is how the two political camps in this country have switched roles. Opposing the president, the need to restrain the State’s power, and secession were the topics of the Republicans for eight years. Now the Republicans are happy as can be because their guys are in office and the Democrats are talking about opposing the president, the need to restrain the State’s power, and secession:

In 2018, the issue of whether California should secede from the union could come to a head.

Yes California Independence Campaign, a fringe political group that calls for the state to become an independent nation, filed a proposed ballot measure with the Attorney General’s Office on November 21, The Sacramento Bee reports.

If it garners the half a million signatures required to appear on the 2018 gubernatorial ballot, the measure would strike language from the state constitution that would help clear a path to secession.

I know this won’t go anywhere but I’m going to allow myself to dream a little here.

I’ve often said that if any state started to become serious about secession I’d probably move there and help out. California is an exception to that sentiment though. Of all the states in the nation California is probably my least favorite. Freedom is all but illegal there. However, I still fully support California’s secession. Removing the most statist state from the United States can only be beneficial for those of us living here. So I’m willing to help move efforts along in any way I can outside of moving there.

Another Good Mayor

Speaking of townships that have their heads screwed on right, a town in Kentucky also elected a dog as mayor:

On Nov. 8, the small town of Rabbit Hash, Kentucky, elected a leader everybody can get behind: a dog named, wait for it, Brynneth Pawltro.

The pit bull was declared mayor in a landslide victory, receiving 3,367 total votes and beating out a unique group of furry and feathery candidates, including a cat, a chicken and a jackass.

And this isn’t the first time the town has elected a dog for mayor:

This is the town’s fourth canine mayor, with the first, a mutt named Goofy, taking office in 1998. A black Lab named Junior followed a few years later. In 2008, the same year Obama was elected, a border collie named Lucy Lou, belonging to Kayser, earned the title.

Many people claim political offices, such as mayorships, should be respected. But the position of mayor, like all political positions, is a joke and should be treated accordingly.

There are also benefits to having dogs, cats, and other nonhuman animals in political office. While human schemes tend to be very grand animal schemes tend to be very peaceable. Their schemes tend to be sneaking some of the food from your table when you’re not looking, getting a treat, and convincing you to play with them. Those schemes are benign compared to human schemes such as forcefully transferring other people’s wealth to themselves, coercing everybody else to follow whatever plan they deem best, and either kidnapping or killing everybody who doesn’t do as they’re told.

How Every Election Should End

I’m seldom pleased with the outcome of an election. Once in a while a township has its head screwed on right and elects a dog to fill a political office and sometimes a human is elected and then immediately jailed:

A state representative from Hooksett, Dick Marple, was arrested and re-elected on the same day.

Republican State Rep Dick Marple was sitting outside the Hooksett polling place with his own campaign signs Tuesday morning when a Hooksett police officer recognized him. Marple had an outstanding bench warrant for his arrest because he had not shown up at an October court date.

When a politician runs for office they’re actively trying to become a member in a criminal gang. That being the case, it’s only fitting that politicians who win should be arrested.

Secession is Good for the Soul

One of the most amazing things to happen because of this election is the significant shift in paradigm. Suddenly a great many of the people who were once advocates of big government are seeing the dangers of a big government. Many of the people who were against guns now want to purchase a gun and learn how to use it (I’ve even had a few formerly anti-gun friends contact me for lessons, which I’m happily willing to provide). And many of the people who were angry at Texans who wanted to secede are now advocating for California to secede.

Personally, I’m pleased as can be with this paradigm shift. I’ve often said that if a state ever became serious about secession I’d probably move there to help. California is an exception to that though. California represents everything I hate about government, which is also why I still fully support its secession even if I’m not willing to help directly.

Perhaps some good will come of this election. If Trump’s opposition suddenly find wisdom in learning both online and offline self-defense, opposing government power grabs, and supporting secession the entire nation could become a better place.

Abolishing the Electoral College

Hillary’s supporters, like Al Gore’s supporters before them, have learned the hard lesson that the popular vote doesn’t determine who the president is. Now many of them are demanding that the electoral college be abolished.

Personally, I think eliminating the electoral college and allowing California and New York to select the president is foolish. I also think any system that tries to make 320 million people agree on a single figurehead is futile. Were it up to me, and eliminating the office of the president wasn’t on the table, I’d opt for a presidential selection system based off of Thunderdome.

But I’m always willing to make a deal. I will agree to supporting the abolition of the electoral college if its supporters will agree to a policy that states that if a plurality of voters don’t vote we won’t have a president for four years.

Deal?

Sheriff Arpaio is Out

There wasn’t a lot of good news from Tuesday’s election. One of the two fascists managed to take the White House and now a single party controls all three houses of the federal government. However, there was one piece of good news. The fascist thug Joe Arpaio is no longer a Sheriff:

PHOENIX — Sheriff Joe Arpaio, an enduring symbol of Arizona’s unforgiving stance toward illegal immigration, lost his bid for a seventh term on Tuesday, effectively ending the career of perhaps the most divisive law enforcement figure in the country.

In the end, Sheriff Arpaio’s bid for re-election as sheriff of Maricopa County was undone by Latino voters who responded to his hard-line position on illegal immigration, which included workplace raids, frequent traffic stops and harsh talk.

That’s certainly worth celebrating.

“Rioting”

Supporters of Team Blue are unhappy and a handful of them have taken their anger to the streets. Yesterday 200 to 300 people protests in St. Paul, for example. Supporters of Team Red, obviously unhappy about the fact that supporters of Team Blue aren’t taking their beating silently, are saying that Clinton supporters are rioting.

There seems to be some confusion about the term riot. A few hundred people marching down a street with signs in hand isn’t a riot. A handful of people torching a few cars isn’t a riot. A group of people smashing windows isn’t a riot. A riot is when you have entire sections of cities falling into violent chaos that is so severe that local authorities can’t do jack shit about it.

To understand what a riot is one should take a stroll down memory lane. The riots that occurred in Los Angeles in 1992 are a good place to start. For six days parts of Los Angeles were effectively war zones. Things were so bad that store owners armed themselves with rifles and stood atop their businesses to defend them from marauding rioters. Civility had broken down entirely.

Unless Clinton’s supporters manage to reach similar levels of destruction calling their actions rioting is a gross exaggeration.