The Snarky Files - Euripides' Views on the Week (May 11)

President Barack Obama declared that his nomination for a justice of the Supreme Court would be chosen for empathy, apparently meaning empathy toward liberal causes such as gay rights, same sex marriage, abortion, and other such social engineering issues that define modern US politics. Cartoon appeared at Townhall.com by Michael Ramirez.

The Snarky Files. Snarky means several things. I prefer the definition of "sharply critical." Here's my take on some news stories this past week. No real news here, just snark.

Waiting for More Pressure?
Five days after passing a bill allowing same sex marriage in New Hampshire, the state legislature still has not sent the bill on to Governor John Lynch for him to either veto it or sign it into law. No one knows why the delay but I have my suspicions, which center around a concerted gay activist drive to ensure the bill is passed at any expense. Gay activists have set up phone banks to inundate the governor's office with calls in favor of the bill. The voices of marriage supporters have been buried by the constant phone spamming organized by gay activists. This is the same technique that modern liberals use on internet comment sites and bulletin boards to spam any opposition clean off the comments section.

Will the loud whiners succeed in neutering marriage in New Hampshire with these techniques? Is gay activism the face of modern democracy?

Protestations
Last week, the Oklahoma state house passed a bill declaring state sovereignty from the federal government. Citing the completely ignored 10th Amendment, the bill, if passed and signed, would

tell Congress to "get back into their proper constitutional role.” The resolution states the federal government should "cease and desist” mandates that are beyond the scope of its powers.

This comes on the wake of Texas' bill that verified it's sovereign authority according to the 10th Amendment. As the Texas governor put it:

“I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state,” Gov. Perry said. “That is why I am here today to express my unwavering support for efforts all across our country to reaffirm the states’ rights affirmed by the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I believe that returning to the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution and its essential 10th Amendment will free our state from undue regulations, and ultimately strengthen our Union.”

Here's a question. If last month's tea parties were irrelevant, according to the mainstream media, are the actions of state legislatures protesting the high cost of the federal government also irrelevant? If not, it's a good bet that something is rotten in Washington and the tea parties are indeed expressive of American dissatisfaction.

It's the Economy, Stupid
While Obama puts on a brave face and ignores the economy for awhile (hoping it will go away, I'll venture), and while the mainstream media paints rosy pictures of success, there are many indicators that the recession is getting worse.

• Consumer credit fell at the fastest pace in 18 years. Credit debt fell $11.1 billion last month, proving that even if the federal government doesn't understand overextended borrowing, the American consumers do. (Breitbart)
• Nation-wide unemployment soared to 8.9 percent. Never fear. The federal government took on over 60 thousand temporary employees as a means of mitigating unemployment. I presume when the numbers look better for the current administration, those 60 thousand will quickly be out of a job. Or maybe they'll be sent to work for the US post office. (Reuters)
• Even the White House has to admit that employment recovery may not happen until next year. (NY Times)
• Obama suggested shaving off $17 billion in federal expenses. That new "savings" amount adds up to less than one-half of one percent of the total deficit. That kind of "savings" can't even compete with the debt interest the government pays because of this year's budget. (Reuters)
  

I don't want to be a prophet of doom and gloom but here's an analogy to our current debt spending:

Say your family isn't making enough money to make ends meet. Rather than make substantive changes to your "standard of living," you decide that you'll spend your way out of your problems in the hopes that future income will increase. You start using credit cards to maintain your current standard of living. It seems a lot easier to spend than cut back, especially since you have all sorts of new toys you want to buy. In fact, because of borrowing, your standard of living actually increases for a time. Not to worry, your income will catch up, and you'll easily pay off those debts. You feel no current accountability, because the problem is solved here and now, not in some foggy, unforeseeable future.

What's wrong with this scenario? All of us know, we know that this type of spending with no regard to consequences will eventually fail. How is it that we keep applying Keynes' failed theory again and again to public spending without coming to the same conclusion?

Carrie Prejean Update
Miss California USA's title is still on the line. Pageant officials say that Miss Prejean's job is at stake because of her modeling photo where she appeared topless. We all, of course, know that the real reason pageant officials threaten Miss Prejean's position is because of her remarks in support of marriage. (Breitbart)

When will the rest of the US wake up to the fact that gay activists are treading all over the 1st Amendment in the name of homosexual legitimacy? How can the country stand when speech itself becomes regulated, and those who do not say the right things according to the establishment are punished?

Rush Limbaugh Should Just Die
I'm not a big fan of Rush Limbaugh. I am not a big fan of talk radio in general, from either side of the political fence. However, I think that Wanda Sykes' joke about Limbaugh was way over the top and I think the White House correspondents' and Obama's reaction only exemplify how far out of touch these folks are with the majority of Americans. These folks completely lack any understanding of conservatism and the important role conservatism plays in the political dialog.

The perpetually-befuddled Keith Olbermann even saw Sykes' jokes as over the top. Yet he still does not understand the reason why Wanda Sykes' jokes are in poor taste.

Here's a clip from Olbermann's show. I want you to notice that, while disagreeing with Sykes on her poor jokes, Olbermann and Richard Wolffe (of MSNBC) are completely out of touch with reality. As a side note, I did find Obama funny with his self-deprecating humor. Olbermann is correct is showing us that humor as a way for Obama to remain likable, while still screwing up the country.



Due Process
My last story show us what unrestrained power leads to in any government, even our own.

I do not like the Patriot Act. Given the mental state of Americans after 9/11, we can understand the Patriot Act, yet we did not fully understand the dangers it created. My conservative roots tell me that once power is granted to government, government will never relinquish that power, except through violence.

Republicans were all gung-ho to pass the Patriot Act, thinking that George W. Bush would apply the law only in the most altruistic sense. Yet, they failed to think ahead of what would happen when the next guy, in this case Obama, inherited that law. Even if Obama uses the law wisely, the power behind it is still there, waiting to be abused. What about the next guy in office? Will he have the restraint to not abuse the power of the law? By allowing the Patriot Act to be passed, we gave up some freedoms for the sake of safety.

Now this sort of thing happens:

Around 10 p.m. on March 5, [Annette] Lundeby said, armed FBI agents along with three local law enforcement officers stormed her home looking for her son. They handcuffed him and presented her with a search warrant....

Ashton now sits in a juvenile facility in South Bend, Ind. His mother has had little access to him since his arrest. She has gone to her state representatives as well as attorneys, seeking assistance, but, she said, there is nothing she can do....

"We have no rights under the Patriot Act to even defend them, because the Patriot Act basically supersedes the Constitution," she said. "It wasn't intended to drag your barely 16-year-old, 120-pound son out in the middle of the night on a charge that we can't even defend." (WRAL.com)

It does not matter what this child may or may not have done. His constitutional rights of due process have been violated because of the Patriot Act. Remember what Ben Franklin said, "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." It looks like the Patriot Act proves Franklin was correct.