“WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY AND HE IS US”

POGO

SOMETIMES it is fun to revisit something I wrote a number of years ago.  The following piece is from January 2011, some two years into the first Obama Administration when we were “only” 14 Trillion Dollars in debt as a nation.

Point of reference, from 1776 to 2009 we, as a country, went from no debt to 10 Trillion dollars in debt.  We went from approximately 10 Trillion Dollars in debt when Mr. Obama took office to 20 Trillion Dollars in debt when he left office 8 years later in 2017. 

Now, less than six years after that we are 30 – racing to 31 Trillion Dollars in debt and sort of paying the Visa with the Mastercard.  I think I see a pattern developing here. 

There is no way to even pay the interest on this debt without a lot of smoke and mirrors, like inflation.

Truly, the enemy is us and we simply lack the discipline to fix this.  Sad.

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BARBARIANS AT THE GATE

I have always had a special place in my heart for the 1971 Pogo Cartoon strip by Walt Kelly (1913-1973) in which our little hero returns from a kind of scouting mission to announce what he discovered about possible invaders. (I think I have that right –  its been a while).   Although Pogo (and Walt Kelly’s ) web site makes a point of not wanting Pogos famous observation to promote any one group or cause, I am sure he would have no problem with the observation that the enemy we most encounter is, as Pogo so astutely observes, ourselves.  I would very much  put myself at, or near, the top of any list I might compose.

I believe that we, as a nation are at a tipping point, or crossroads if  you prefer.  One of our nations  founders wrote (and I paraphrase)  that our democracy would last until the people discovered that they could vote themselves money from the public treasury.  A sort of  “Day of Reckoning”.

Maybe the question we should be asking ourselves it whether we as individuals, and as a nation, can again return to our nations roots and  practice self discipline, financial discipline and the willingness to postpone gratification of desires until we can pay for them.  Or, do we continue to demand instant everything and let our credit cards  and  Uncle Sugar (the government)  pay for it with borrowed money.

I am old enough that I can remember when Lyndon Johnson was President and promised us that we could afford both “Guns and Butter”.  In other words we could afford to fight and pay for the Vietnam War and at the same time launch a massive “War on Poverty” transferring our nations wealth to those in need.  I was thrilled at the time thinking that poverty would be eradicated,  there would be no more poor people and we would all live in a land of plenty.  President Johnson was wrong and I was wrong.  What we did was to acquire several Trillion (that’s Trillion with a T)  Dollars in debt while seriously damaging the family structure for millions of people. All with the best of intentions.  In the process we also created a whole sub-culture who became entitlement “junkies”.

As a nation we are now 14 Trillion Dollars in debt and that total is growing at the rate of more than a Trillion Dollars a year.  We are rapidly reaching the point where just paying the interest on the debt will consume an ever increasing portion of the nations annual tax revenue.  Do we have the remaining discipline as a people to make the hard choices and practice self denial  to halt and reverse this process?  I am beginning to doubt this.

On its present course this government wagon is one  I do not want to help pull.   I think I will work on a way to not participate!

January 29, 2011

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Something to think about.

Bob Bandy – June 2022

photo – eBay

WHAT IS AN ASSAULT WEAPON?

CALIFORNIA has declared war on legal gun owners.  Criminals and “gang bangers” get a pass.  Governor Newsome and his Merry Band of Gun Control Advocates would like nothing more than to seize all legally owned guns within the state.  Illegal guns owned by criminals would still be in circulation as the legal system in California turns even habitual criminals back out on the streets as fast as possible and they know where to get the guns they want.  The “Bad Guys” love gun control laws and unarmed citizens.

Two bills in the Senate and Assembly are ready for the Governors anxious signature.  Among other things these bills will make gun owners (except criminals), legal gun sellers and gun manufacturers liable for the misuse of any gun and especially what is popularly miss-labeled in the media as “Assault Rifles”.

California Senate Bill – SB1327 (Hertzberg) would allow private citizens to sue gun manufacturers, distributors and traders for dealing assault weapons, .50 BMG rifles or ghost guns. The bill is sponsored by Governor Newsom.

California Assembly Bill – AB 1594 Ting Firearms Civil Suits: Allows basically anyone to sue a manufacturer, wholesaler or dealer whenever a firearm is used to commit a crime.

The State’s real agenda is to bankrupt gun owners, sellers and manufacturer’s, not protect citizens.

What drives me nuts as a military veteran is the labeling of rifles such as the civilian version of the AR-15 as an “Assault Rifle”.  Fact is, it may look more fearsome than other semi-automatic rifles,  but just like its more modest looking relatives it fires one, and only one cartridge each time you pull the trigger.  Same is true for a double action revolver pistol.  One trigger pull, one bullet.  Any military person, or others familiar with weapons knows that a true “Assault Rifle” is fully automatic and it is illegal for civilians to own a fully automatic rifle, pistol or machine gun.

To repeat…. The civilian version of the AR-15 is semi-automatic just like many other rifles and pistols of the same type.  The term “assault weapon” is a term used for political reasons by gun haters.

Having stated the above, any number of items can be miss-used to commit crimes of mass killings.  Every year more people are killed with knives than murdered with hand guns or rifles.

For your consideration, it is possible, and there are recent incidents of folks using a vehicle perhaps similar to the Ford Pickup pictured above, to run through a crowd killing and injuring large numbers of innocents.  So, using the Governor’s logic should it be possible to sue the seller of the truck and Ford Motor Company for manufacturing the vehicle?

How about if I use a Stanley Hammer to kill multiple individuals? Can you sue the hardware store who sold it to me and Stanley Tools for manufacturing same?

If someone uses a couple of gallons of Prestone Antifreeze to poison a family group should you be able to sue the auto parts store for selling it and the manufacturer for its misuse?

If I use two gallons of Chevron gasoline and burn down my neighbors house, can my neighbor sue Chevron Oil Company?

THE SUPREME COURT HAS PREVIOUSLY RULED THAT YOU CANNOT HOLD LIABLE THE MANUFACTURER OR SELLER OF A LEGAL PRODUCT FOR THE ILLEGAL USE OF THAT PRODUCT.

A gun is not just for hunting or killing.  It is for home protection and self defense as well as sport and competition shooting.  And, of most importance:

THE RIGHT OF INDIVIDUAL PRIVATE OWNERSHIP OF GUNS BY FREE CITIZENS IS THE FINAL BASTION AND LAST DEFENSE AGAINST TOTALITARIAN GOVERNMENTS AND SLAVERY AND THE REASON THE FOUNDERS CREATED THE SECOND AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION.

California has gone soft on crime and our streets and neighborhoods are becoming more and more dangerous.

Picture this.  You and your family are watching television.  You hear a banging on your front door and loud voices of armed men demanding entrance as they are breaking their way in.  Every second counts.  If you can call 911,  law enforcement is 5-15 minutes away.  The State of California has taken all your guns away.  What do you do?

Maybe you would like to support Governor Newsome and put a “GUN FREE ZONE” or “NO GUNS HERE” sign in your front yard see how that works for you.

Remember, criminals love unarmed citizens and gun control laws.

Think about it.

California is truly in the hands of a “Cereal Gang” of fruits, flakes and nuts.  Coddle criminals and disarm law abiding citizens.  At the state level they make these laws up based on “feelings” and emotions and not on common sense.  As Bugs Bunny used to say “What a bunch of Maroons”.

Bob Bandy – June 2022

Janet Yellen

photo iO.wp.com

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in Senate Testimony before Senator Tim Scott (R – South Carolina) stated that she believes free access to abortion is good for the economy.  Her message being that unwanted babies are a drain on economic resources and can add to inflationary pressures.

Fighting back sorrow and anger my thoughts turn to her logic.  If terminating unwanted babies because their care is a potential burden to society, where else might she look for savings?

• Consider the hopelessly drug and alcohol addicted living in filth on the streets and by-ways of our major cities.  The cost of public funds for maintaining them causes inflation and a heavy burden on society.  Should we “terminate” them?

• Able bodied working age adults who refuse to work and instead live on various government programs paid for by working taxpayers.  Their care and feeding no doubt is inflationary and offer further opportunity for Ms. Yellen.

• There is an element in the “Progressive” movement that considers our senior citizens a burden to society because of their healthcare and other needs.  According to one New York Congresswoman it would be better if they would just die off and relieve society of the cost of keeping them alive.  That should help with inflation.

• The State of New York does not allow the death penalty, except in the case of a near term, fully healthy, viable fetus in the womb of a healthy “mother to be” who decides the coming infant is unwanted and “inconvenient”, in which case it could be considered “good for the economy” if we terminate it’s life through abortion.

• In the same State of New York,  if a young man who is a racist and murderer kills 10 innocent people,  the most punishment for his crime he can receive is life in prison. There the taxpayers will support him for maybe 50-60 years at a cost  of perhaps 80-100 Thousand Dollars per year.  The cost of his incarceration no doubt contributes to inflation.  How about if we just do a “post natal” abortion on him?  There seems no  logic in keeping this killer alive but terminating the life of the near born infant.

Excuse me, but what the hell are we doing to ourselves?  Where are our values?  I seem to remember a Commandment that says “Thou Shalt Not Kill”. 

Consider the richness and joy the very young and the elderly bring to our lives.  Should we consider their lives expendable if they become inconvenient, a burden or no longer wanted? 

Are we as a people just careening down the road to our own destruction as a nation and society?

If we pursue Ms. Yellen’s train of logic, we must consider where this kind of thinking has led nations in the past.

History from 1941 brings to mind a regime that sought a “Final Solution” to an unwanted population whom they considered harmful and costly to their society.  Does the name Heinrich Himmler ring a bell?  During the Holocaust the German economy seemed to “boom” for a couple of years. 

I do not suggest and do not believe Gas Chambers and mass Crematoriums are in her thoughts, so perhaps Ms. Yellen would instead lead us down the Soylent Green path where unwanted citizens can receive a kind of “Post Natal” Abortion and be turned into Soylent Green Protein to feed the drones of what is left of society.

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“Let Them Die And Decrease The Surplus Population”

        Ebenezer Scrooge – Charles Dickens’ – A Christmas Carol

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Think about it.

Bob Bandy – May 2022

Saul Alinsky

The following is reprinted from the Herald – Whig

I would suggest you study the 8 items on the list in the following article and find any one of them not currently being pursued by the “Progressive Left” in America today.  We are well along the road to Socialism as I write this.  You might want to print this out and post it where you will see it as a constant reminder.  Also share this with your friends and family.  

Bob

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Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Rules to create social state alive and well today

photo credit – Philadelphia Trumpet April 2022

Big Government – Big Pharma – Big Media

As pointed out in the Philadelphia Trumpet article,  the Covid Pandemic, while a disaster for tens of millions of ordinary Americans, was a money making bonanza for a select group of those in power. 

Think of them as members of America’s Oligarchy.

Dictionary:  An oligarch is one of the select few people who rule or influence leaders in an oligarchy—a government in which power is held by a select few individuals or a small class of powerful people.

LIVING IN AN OLIGARCHY

American Oligarch’s include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Powerful members of the media including:  Google, Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, the “Mainstream” Media, Print, Television, Internet and others.

2. The current Political Administration including the Office of the President and various powerful Agencies like: The FBI, Department of Justice, Secret Service, Central Intelligence Agency, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Department of Defense, Department of Energy and a “laundry list” of other agencies, most/all of which have become Politicized and no longer feel bound by the U.S. Constitution or the laws levied on the rest of us.

3. The “Military Industrial Complex”  Which includes not only the Military but also manufacturers and distributors of the weapons of war and related materials.  Extremely profitable Industry when those Government Contracts come your way.

4. Major Corporations and their C.E.O.’s.  Include in this group Major Banks and their officers.

5.  The Federal Reserve Board and system which along with the Treasury Department have the authority to print endless amounts of “deficit” (phony) dollars, regulate interest rates and cause inflation.

Ad nauseum.

Historically, whether it is a Pandemic, War or Natural Disaster, “Bad News” is not bad for everyone out there.  If you are one of the few select people in power, it can be downright profitable.  An opportunity to make obscene amounts of money while acquiring ever more power.

During the recent Covid Pandemic Pfizer (and other Pharmaceutical companies), made Billions of Dollars in profits and are still doing so.  All being paid for by some 5 Trillion (deficit) Dollars in spending by our government.  In the process we are finding out some unknown number of Millions (Billions) of those dollars were diverted to Golf Course and other “Pork Barrel” projects in Congressional districts across the county to enrich various members of Congress through their “Government Contractor” (and other) supporters.  “Follow the Money”.

Blood and Treasure

The meaning of this phrase all too often signifies the “Blood of those who serve creates Treasure for those who produce the means of destruction”.

Our political leaders (Oligarch’s) keep getting us involved in various wars (Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, others).  The men and women who serve our nation do so with honor and at personal sacrifice.  Too often they must pay a price in blood and crippling injury and many with the ultimate sacrifice of their lives (50,000+ Americans lost their lives in Vietnam alone). Having said that, the Defense Contractor “Oligarch’s” made Billions of Dollars in profits.  Ever heard of the “Military Industrial Complex”?  “Follow the money.”

In the process of leaving Afghanistan, because of political miscalculation and the failure of leadership, the Taliban were “gifted” an estimated One Billion Dollars (probably a “low ball” estimate) in military hardware paid for by the American Taxpayer. “Follow the Money”.

Fire, Flood & Earthquake

The same goes for Natural Disasters.  Only one example (one I have used before) out of many, the Haiti Earthquake in 1993.  The U.S., and other countries, pledged Billions of dollars in Reconstruction Aid.  Several Billion of those dollars were “flushed” through the Clinton Foundation.  Very little Reconstruction was done but those Billions ended up in somebodies pockets – friends of the Clintons or ??.  Again, Bad News for Some is Good News for others.  “Follow the Money.”  

But not to pick on just the Clinton’s,  this happens over and over and over.  Hugh amounts of money are allocated and much of it just vanishes “poof” into a more and more corrupt system that enriches the few and does all too little to help those most in need.

Social Justice and other “Causes”

When Black Lives Matter were at their height of activity,  Billions of Dollars were pledged and spent by government agencies and major corporations to aid the cause.  Except for some money that can be traced to mansion purchases by the leaders of the organization, can anyone point to improvement in the lives of the poor black citizens they were pledged to help?  How about Chicago, Baltimore and other major cities that are home to ghettos and struggling people of color.  “Follow the Money”.

The above are only a few examples.  There are countless others.  Right now, the U.S. and other governments are funneling Millions and Billions of dollars in an effort to help Ukraine.  I am not opposed to helping the Ukraine in their effort to expel the Russian invaders.  Still while my heart is with the Ukrainian people, others will make a lot of money from producing and shipping the armaments and other help to Ukraine.  The cause is no doubt just, still one needs to “Follow the Money”.

America has its full share of Oligarch’s including the Super Rich, like George Soros, and our “Ruling Class”.  Where else can a person with no real job resume become a Senator for many years, a Vice President and later President, all on a “Public Servants Salary” and be worth Millions and Millions of dollars.  And this story is repeated over and over in our Congress and Senate.

The name of the game is corruption on a massive scale and some get Oligarch Rich in the process.

Russia is not the only country with Oligarch’s.  Under other names virtually all countries have their share and we “common folk” must live in their shadow.

The best way to identify them is to “Follow the Money”!

“For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.”  I Timothy 6:10

Bob Bandy – April 2022

The following article reprinted from the Philadelphia Trumpet – March 2022 – by Joel Hilliker is one of the best Synopsis of exactly what America has done, and is doing to itself that I have read anywhere.  It is both eye opening and a frightening piece of carefully documented concise, articulate commentary on the subject.   Bob

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photo: google

THE GREATEST NATION ON EARTH?

FACE REALITY: YOU ARE NO LONGER IN IT.

By Joel Hilliker – January 19, 2022

Do you believe America is the strongest country in the world? It’s time to open your eyes: You are living in the post-American world.

The United States has enjoyed the world’s largest economy for about two lifetimes. But depending on the measurement, China has already surpassed it, or is about to. It is building a sprawling trading network that encompasses more than 140 nations. Recently, it signed an agreement with virtually every nation in Latin America and the Caribbean that helps it replace the United States as the region’s top trade partner. The plan covers almost all aspects of life, from learning Chinese to mining to exploring space, for more than 680 million people in 33 countries—and is plainly aimed at taking over America’s backyard.

Such are the deals China is securing that enable it to flood the world with inexpensive exports and thus amass mountains of cash. This wealth it reinvests in foreign countries, then uses this as leverage to gain control of their resources and infrastructure. China is building a global empire, quickly and relentlessly. Meanwhile America, opposed to tyrannies but war weary, relies on economic weapons, freezing regimes like Russia, North Korea, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Venezuela and Cuba out of diplomacy and trade. China, itself a tyrannical regime, is happy to welcome them as they rush into its arms. It just signed a “comprehensive strategic partnership” with Iran that will flood the Islamist terrorist state with cash, as well as providing military training, weapons development and intelligence sharing that could upend the Middle East’s balance of power.