HALF-FULL REPORT 07/09/10

Las Vegas.  It’s good to be here at Bally’s in Vegas among several thousand pro-freedom folks at Mark Skousen’s Freedom Fest.  It’s also creepy that right across the Strip from Bally’s, Zero is at  Caesar’s as I am writing this. 

He gave a fund-raising speech for Lost Harry Reid last night (7/08).  Believe it or not, his very first words of the speech were "Si, si, puede" – the chant in Spanish of illegal aliens, meaning "Yes, yes we can violate America’s laws and live off the American taxpayer with impunity" (then become citizens and vote to keep Dems in office in perpetuity).

He delivered the classic Marxist argument for socialism.  Vote for Dems like Harry Reid, for if you vote Republican:  "You’re on your own.  You don’t have health care?  Too bad, you’re on your own.  Young person born into poverty, can’t afford college — tough luck, you’re on your own. That was their reigning philosophy.  They might call it different things — the Ownership Society, or laissez-faire, or whatever, but this was their philosophy."

In other words, either the government takes care of you, or you’re on your own, and you’re too stupid or helpless to take care of yourself.  The great genius economist Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973) explained the phony dilemma, that Marxists are always claiming only two choices:  the government’s plan for you or no plan with dog-eat-dog chaos.  But that’s a phony choice.  The real choice is:  whose plan, government bureaucrats’ or yours?

Then Zero proceeded to ridicule "Harry Reid’s opponent" (never uttering her name, Sharron Angle) for wanting to "privatize Social Security and Medicare," the two programs that are bankrupting America the most by an order of magnitude, and actually claimed that "if she had her way," Nevada families and small businesses will pay higher taxes.

The Las Vegas Review Journal eviscerated Zero’s speech this morning in an editorial entitled, Mr. President, Your Economic Policies Suck.  Nevada has the highest unemployment of any state in the US, while Zero’s "main economic goals," the LVRJ says, "seem to be the punishment and prevention of capital formation and business growth."  You should read the entire editorial.

Meanwhile, yesterday morning, Sharron Angle spoke to us.  She’s a teeny little thing, five feet in heels.  She’s no Sarah Palin in polish, fire, and charisma – but she did say she’d vote to abolish the Department of Education among many other federal programs and agencies, and to "deregulate, lower taxes, give businesses some breathing room to do what they do best which is create jobs… real jobs that can only be provided by the private sector, because government doesn’t provide jobs."

Her heart and values are certainly in the right place, but her campaign remains amateurish, she’s not ready for prime time, and she’s up against a ruthlessly experienced pro.  She may yet win because Reid is so despised.  Just how much is seen by Reid’s son Rory who is running for Nevada Governor – as simply "Rory."  His website and TV ads don’t mention his last name.

***
There’s so much going on here at the Freedom Fest.  Mark Skousen is to be congratulated for making it such a success.  This annual conference is a place where conservatives and libertarians can get together and collaborate on what they agree on:  economic liberty.

Stick to that, and libertarians really contribute to freedom.  When they don’t, they often wander off into strange weeds, like anarchism.  I got into a discussion with a self-proclaimed "libertarian" here who wanted to know why, if I was so anti-Big Brother, I wasn’t an anarchist.

"Because anarchism is an ultimate anti-capitalist political philosophy," I answered. 

He was carrying a laptop.  He started to say how crazy I was when I told him, "I’m going to follow you around and when you’re not looking, steal your laptop.  You better not complain, since for an anarchist, the concept of theft doesn’t exist.  Ownership and property rights are legal concepts.  Without a government enforcing a rule of law defining what constitutes ownership of property, no one owns anything – there is only physical possession.  I now possess your laptop, therefore it’s mine.  Capitalism requires property rights which cannot, by definition, exist in an anarchist state of affairs." 

The argument ended there.

***
One fear you’ll hear expressed here – as well as on the TTP Forum – is the Dems planning an orgy of fascist legislation during a "lame duck" post-election session, as described in the Wall Street Journal today (7/09).

This fear is way overblown.  There are several reasons why. 

First, if the Dems couldn’t get their unpopular legislation through during regular session, why would they be able to get it through during a compressed, month-long lame duck?

Second, there will be only so many Dems tossed out of the 111^th Congress – a lot of them will be returning in January for the 112^th .  Why should they go along with the disgruntled last-hurrah-losers and face really unpleasant retribution from the incoming Pub majority – like no hope of getting any of their bills passed or office reassignments to top floor closets in the Canon Building?

Third, even if a lot of fascist garbage does get lame-duck passed in the House, Senate passage requires 60 votes to break a filibuster.  The Dems don’t have 60 votes.  There will be no RINOs during a lame duck.  Scott Brown or Snowe-Collins from Maine will be just as totally infuriated as every other GOP Senator.  Every last Dem lame-duck attempt will die in the Senate if it doesn’t die in the House first.

Fourth, there will be so many tens of thousands of angry TeaPartyers surrounding the Capitol Building and flooding into Congressional offices they will put the Fear of God into the Dems during a Fascist Lame Duck.  The session won’t last long and will be shut down within days.

Yet it may be a good sign the Dems are planning this last act of retributive desperation – for it means they are not counting on a the sort of ace-in-the-sleeve October Surprise speculated upon in This Is No Accident, Comrades.

Word is that Rahm Emanuel is indeed pushing for some sort of pre-election catastrophe, but cooler Dem heads advocate letting the Pubs win, then blame all the economic woes sure to come in 2011 on them, while preventing them from passing any legislation that would improve the economy.

Give up power in 2010 temporarily to regain it in 2012 – that’s their argument, pointing to the two irrelevant interregnums in 1946 and 1952, when the GOP gained a small House majority only to lose it in the following election.

Call it the Dems’ Sour Grapes Strategy. Let’s hope it prevails over Rahm.

***
Here’s some good news:  SecDef Robert Gates has chosen Marine Four-Star James Mattis to replace Gen. David Petraeus to head CentCom, US Central Command.

Mattis is the best of the best.  A lot of folks, including TTP’s Jack Kelly, think he’s even brighter than Petraeus, and that takes nothing away from Petraeus’ world-class smarts.  Combine that with his deep in-the-dirt experience in Iraq and Afghanistan – then factor in his nickname:  "Chaos."  Mattis is cool.

How cool?  On his first deployment to fight in Afghanistan in 2005, he said,  "You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn’t wear a veil.  You know, guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway. So it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."  That cool.

It was Mattis who engineered our military’s victory over Al Qaeda in Iraq and the pacification of Anbar Province by skillfully implementing the USMC motto:  "The Marines – your best friend, your worst enemy."  That’s the combo that works in the Middle East.  Gates has made a great choice.

***
These days, when the Zerocrats are on an ever more maniacal fascist rampage, from suing Arizona for protecting its border to changing NASA into a Moslem outreach program, it’s important to keep perspective.  This is still America, after all.  So by comparison, look at Venezuela.

Not long ago, Venezuela was a prosperous place with an educated people ready to step into the First World.  Now it’s just about toast as a country.  Here is an analysis by a Venezuelan insider who fled his country this week:

"The situation in Venezuela is quickly spiraling out of control.  Chavez is showing signs of desperation.  Fear of nationalization and confiscation is forcing more Venezuelans to immigrate and send their assets abroad. This is pushing the country towards the brink of collapse. There is only one recommendation – liquidate all Venezuelan positions before it is too late.

"The notion that PDVSA (government oilco) bond holders can gain access to the company’s international assets, such as the CITGO refineries, is pure fiction. The risks in Venezuela are huge, but they are getting worse.  Social tensions are on the rise. Although Chavez continues to enjoy the support of 50% of the population, he is creating an environment of class warfare-which could end up destroying the country.  It’s time to sell everything in Venezuela and get out."

Will we ever reach this stage?  Yes, it’s possible.  But how probable?  We won’t find out November 2^nd.  We’ll find out somewhere around a year later.  2011 is the make or break year for America.  It will be "the end of the beginning" of America’s resurrection engineered by a New Republican Party infused with TeaParty constitutionalism, or it will be "the beginning of the end" with the Pubs wimping out to demagoguing Dems.

2011 will be one long Fight for America.  Gird your loins.  Lock and load.

***   
I’ve got to get back to the Freedom Fest.  Any TTPer (like Julius) who is here – please post your impressions of what you learned on the Forum. 

So let’s close with something impressive and happy – by a fellow TTPer.  Paul Rosenberg, "prosberg" on the Forum and founder of Cryptohippie.com, has written a wonderfully informative and inspiring book, The Words of the Founders. 

Paul has read not just the books written by America’s Founders, but their voluminous correspondence.  Out of all of it, he has mined 570 gems of their actual words on some 200 subjects.  All of them are illuminating and fascinating.

These are the real words of our Founders on the Bill of Rights, character, commerce, the corruption of the Republic, equality, forms of government, governance, liberty, the militia, the people, public credit, reason, and so much more – plus what they thought of each other.

Jefferson, for example, in a letter to friend, recounts how during a dinner with Alexander Hamilton, he told Hamilton that the three men in history in admired the most were Bacon, Newton, and Locke.  Hamilton replied, "The greatest man who ever lived was Julius Caesar."  Whoa.

Paul has done the work of real patriot.  I encourage you to get his book.  The Words of the Founders speak to us today.