THE MOUNTAIN OBSERVER
Vol. 2                                       Issue 5                                                   12/01/02

A FREEWHEELING CONSERVATIVE COMMENTARY DEDICATED TO THE DEFENSE OF FREEDOM, THE NEXT GENERATION, AND THE WAY THINGS OUGHT TO BE. READER DIALOG ENCOURAGED.

Produced occasionally when I decide to do it.

J. E. Sohmer, P. O. Box 129, Jefferson, CO 80456

Flyover country, where the air is thin and the hunting and fishing are good.

***************************************************************************

SECOND AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."     (It's not about hunting ducks.)

***************************************************************************

Blowing off steam:

The election results show that at the end of the day, heartland Americans have prevailed and properly understand the nation's priorities. Looking forward, however, the heartland is under a severe cultural assault by a pagan multi-cultural fifth column. Conservatives have a consistent and structured philosophical framework to offer based on the original intent of the authors of the Republic. Once again, in this election, Liberals sank in the swamp of intellectual and moral relativism. The American people will continue to have to choose.

It is a season of conspiracy theories, both left and right.  It is not the charter of the Mountain Observer to advance the propagation of undocumented conspiracies.  This is proudly a right wing American Nationalist Conservative journal, clearly open to ideas that are "off the reservation," but I insist on some evidence that would pass (conservative) judicial muster.  Without some level of academic standard, all of this would be a waste of time.  That is the way it has been, and that is the way it will continue here.  We frequently refer to ideas that are "on the edge," but I am cautious about distinguishing speculation from facts.

The point of this speech is to deal with all of the current clamor over the American Patriot Act and the Homeland Security legislation with respect to the impact on the foundations of the Republic.  It has been my contention all along that Congress, for decades, has been irresponsible about the process and the substance of doing its duties.  It is a given in the Washington circus that when the Executive bureaucracy screws up, as it has become plainly evident that it has, Congress always assumes the self-righteous high ground in its criticisms and then accomplishes "fixes" that

only make matters worse--and usually larger.  Such is the nature of large central government.  So it is that in these two hastily erected legislative packages it is inevitable that there be huge mistakes made which will take years to correct.  Was it therefore a mistake that they were passed and signed?  Under the immediate circumstances, no.  What is necessary, is that we do go back and correct the errors as they are identified without grinding our wheels on conspiratorial theories as to

why the errors were made in the first place.  Are these sorts of things hard to undo?  Well, yes.  I have been about chronicling a whole list of errors we have made for decades.  As for assaults on the 4th Amendment, for example, we have the RICO laws, and hardly anybody bats an eyelash.  What I think is going to happen eventually is that there is going to be a true Constitutional crisis and that we may have to start over.  But the American people aren't ready for that discussion yet, and it is the American people who are sovereign.  Meanwhile, today, our enemies are inside the gates, thanks to both Executive and Congressional failures, which have been supported by constituents--and we are forced to purge a disease from within.  Can we survive all this?  Perhaps not, but Marines landing on Tarawa in 1943 did not have the time or the luxury to contemplate those issues, notwithstanding the typical SNAFUs.  Nor do we have time to indulge in the distractions of unfounded speculations about the motives or agenda of this Administration.  There is a clear distinction between constructive observation and speculative intellectual sabotage.  Like pornography, you recognize it when you see it.  Let's try to keep our heads on straight.

Omissions:

I am guilty, as too many of us are, of failing to acknowledge more frequently what has been obvious for years.  Strategically, Turkey, a secular Muslim state, is a key regional ally--so important, in fact, that I would regard it to be as important as Israel.  We would be less than candid if we failed to recognize that post Saddam an issue will arise with respect to the Kurds.  However this is handled, I think we need to make a priority out of respecting Turkish sensibilities while recognizing that the players in the region will have to sort that one out, and that it would be a grave error for us to attempt to impose a solution.  That would backfire.

Bush Score Card:

            Good Job:

You got your Homeland Security Department on your terms with the unions.  Now you have to show us that this massive new bureaucracy will actually work.  I am not holding my breath.

Not So Good:

You got old Trent Lott's attention about getting on with acceptable Homeland Security legislation during the lame duck session, but you need to get him out of that leadership position or you will come to regret it.  Trent is too much of a southern gentleman, more comfortable sipping mint juleps.

Terrible--or even worse:

            I need to be very clear with you about your economic   policy with respect to spending, taxes, and trade.  It is anemic.  The country is choking to death on high

            Federal spending, high taxes, and a balance of payments problem.  If you do not get out your veto pen on spending, it may cost you the next election.  We need a serious across the board tax cut in addition to elimination of capital gains.  You also need to measure trade in terms of gross reciprocity, i.e., a dollar in and a dollar out.  Finally, if the country wants to continue its decades long experiment with Keynesian economics, the next time around it would be perfectly logical to choose the real thing and vote for Democrats again.  How many times do we have to run around this barn?  Republicans need to provide the nation with some intellectual leadership and moral courage.  I am not optimistic.

Sir, with all due respect, I must tell you that I am 100% behind Rep. Tom Tancredo with regard to the amnesty issue.

Wall Street & Main Street:

            See above, and go read the 13th Amendment.

There are a lot of positive and healthy signs appearing in the market, but I am not quite convinced we are out of the woods yet.  My primary area of concern now is our level of dependence on the "global" economy, which is far from healthy.  Japan, Germany, Brazil, and Argentina are basket cases, and of course these failures will have at least regional undertow effects.  To the contrary, war in Iraq could have the effect, after a brief spike, of systemically lowering oil prices.  Anyway, caution is still advised.

I keep coming back to the tax thing and to the destruction over the years of our freedom and our economy, all of which have been caused by the Federal income tax.  With respect to the ’90s stock market bubble--and yes, my Libertarian friends, it was a bubble--get your heads out of the sand.  I continue to argue that the matter got beyond the ability of the Federal Reserve to manage, except on the margins.  Perhaps the fundamental problem was a tax code that through the double taxing of corporate income had the effect of distorting incentives.  So it was that corporate managers were encouraged to borrow (bonds) as opposed to finding new investment funding in the equities market (stocks).  The market itself put a premium on high market stock price appreciation as opposed to income growth.  Until the bubble burst, people forgot to consider examining P/E ratios or the relationship between stock prices and the market value of the underlying assets.  Who wants to pay double taxes on annual dividends when the tax liabilities of long-term capital gains can be deferred to a later day?  This worked until the real value of the long-term capital gains came to be questioned.  The bottom line is that a slavish response to the political contours of an intellectually corrupt tax system, in my opinion, caused

this whole mess.  It can never be "fixed," and it must be terminated.  The United States needs neither a Federal Income Tax nor a Federal Sales Tax to fund its legitimate (read: Constitutional) functions.  There are totally adequate options, but the hook is that the market value of politicians, lawyers, and Democrats would be severely diminished.  I can only hope that someday that bubble, also, can be pricked.  So it goes.

As Conservatives, we must be making some progress with Libertarians because I now see Larry Kudlow talking about God and the need to have and follow some rules.

I shudder when I hear Libertarians enthuse about the World Trade Organization (WTO).  It and NAFTA will sooner or later really, really, really be captured by the left, as was the United Nations.

It's open season on large corporations, and while I have my own list of problems in this area, one point needs to be made very clear.  Aside from culpable criminal behavior on the part of individual officers and directors, the behavior of corporations needs to be assessed from the perspective of imposed restrictions.  For example, when corporations relocate their headquarters overseas to avoid taxes and seek cheaper labor, it is a very rational response to American tax laws, over-regulation, and an un-competitive labor environment.  The corrective response to these problems should be to remove the incentive to relocate overseas by relaxing the conditions that drove them away, not beat them over the head.  A positive approach to these issues--an approach that would enhance a friendlier business climate right here in the USA--would bring many of them back, together with the tax revenues and the jobs. The voluntary free flow of capital investment, a corollary to private property rights, is the bedrock of our freedom--or at least what's left of it.

Neither do you get certain problems corrected by threatening punitive lawsuits.  The sorry history of the superfund for environmental cleanup comes to mind.  Constructive results are more likely to follow positive incentives. Tort reform and the marginalization of the American Trial Lawyers Assoc. is a very high priority with me.

Ad Nausium:

I have a problem with American troops being issued boots made in the Peoples Republic of China.

Notice that, after the election, all press coverage disappeared with respect to the Haitian boat people who landed just before election day.  Could it be that this reportage was entirely co-incidental?  The desperation of Democrats to expand their voter base may have achieved new levels of creativeness.  But, thankfully, it didn't work this time.

Also notice that while a new contract was yet to be worked out, the west coast ports were "back to normal" moving containers two days after the election. Thirty or so days before the election, union slow-downs essentially forced the port operators to impose a lockout. (If you can't get the work done, how can you justify the expense of keeping the gates unlocked?)  There has been much very credible insider speculation that it was the deliberate purpose of the unions to further dampen an already weak economy in support of Democrat political interests, at least in California.  Democrats always have a vested political interest in the appearance of capitalist failure, and sometimes it is useful to manufacture that appearance. 

In this case, true or not, effective or not, by two days after the election, the container backlog had disappeared, Democrats own California, and the substantive issues of the contract dispute remain unresolved.  Go figure. To add to the mystery, as of November 24 a tentative settlement has been reached on a 6 (not 3) year contract.  (Now they love each other.)  It is clear that on the west coast the union runs the docks.  If Mexicans were really smart, they would assess their west coast port capacities.  Surely the Union Pacific would cooperate.  Years ago Halifax, Nova Scotia and the Canadian National took advantage of a similar opportunity.  However, it all raises the question of exposing the national economy to the vulnerabilities of dependence on a "world economy," coupled with national security implications.  I am old enough to remember how submarines can be used, and that has not changed.  As for stevedores, during WWII, east coast docks were run by an Italian Mafia which put a premium on their loyalty to America and proved to be among the most patriotic of civilian groups.  Today, on the west coast, could we be assured of similar behavior? 

I would suggest that it is possible that most foreign objections to a war with Iraq are linked to hopes for a payoff. Now President Bush's good friend Vicente Fox has gotten into the act.  It is a curious fact, perhaps a relic of the Connecticut connection, that the Bush family carries on this habit of being too nice to our rivals, both foreign and domestic. Vladimir Putin is another case in point.  The primary survival instinct of nations is not to commit to permanent international alliances but to recognize their own permanent national interests.  Both Putin and Fox, whom I respect as Nationalists, are very cagey about this, and it is a subtlety that appears to escape the President's recognition, Texas barbecues notwithstanding.  This is also what is wrong with all the United Nations’ kissyface.  Anyway, that is the opinion of this cynical old American Nationalist.

If Al Gorbachev runs again and chooses Hillary as his running mate, perhaps Tipper should insist on a large life insurance policy--and be prepared for very high premiums if Al should actually win.

Before we are done with this War on Terror, we will also need to ditch the Saudis and their oil.  I am sick and tired of these duplicitous little lizards.   Bug juice (Raid!) anyone?

The Nobel Prize Committee has totally perverted the represented purpose of the prize: Jimmy Carter joins Yassar Arafat in winning the award as George W. Bush is purposefully and publicly snubbed.  Norwegians need to go sit in the corner.  The prize, of course, was established years ago by Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in a fit of Progressive guilt, and we can now clearly see where that train of thought leads.

For years I have pondered upon the motto of revolutionary France: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.  These three philosophical outlooks simply don't mix, at least not without the persuasion of a large statist hammer. It is perhaps not coincidence that the arrogance of French intellectuals resonates with American Liberals, who dependably share a blind spot for honesty.

            Real red-blooded Americans drive American-made pick-ups.

Prediction:

There is no help in sight for the congenitally deranged perspectives of Liberals.  It will remain an ongoing debate as to whether it is best to contain them or preempt them, but I think on an individual basis, white flags should be honored. Conservative compassion, however, should not extend beyond innocent dupes.  Whoever said I wasn't a nice guy?

Heartland rebellion update:

          We have only just begun.

CURRENT READING RECOMMENDATION:

THE WAR AGAINST THE TERROR MASTERS: WHY IT HAPPENED. WHERE WE ARE NOW. HOW WE'LL WIN.                MICHAEL A. LEDEEN

            ST. MARTIN'S PRESS              262 PGS                       $24.95

God Bless America

JIM

            JIM SOHMER   

            AMERICAN NATIONALIST CONSERVATIVE

            JEFFERSON, CO 80456

                                                                      IN GOD WE TRUST