THE MOUNTAIN OBSERVER

Vol. 3                                                   Issue 7                                                09/01/03

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.

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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:

I have previously made my thoughts about the so-called mid-east “Roadmap” very clear; it will not work.  Israel needs to be cut loose to do what needs to be done to crush their tormentors once and for all.  Then, and only then, can one speak of peace.  That is the way of the world.  One of the most serious dangers for the President with respect to the “Roadmap” is that there will come a point in time when he arguably will have to accept some responsibility for the continued bloodshed.  We are not there yet, but we are getting close.  It should be clear, by now, to all, that you cannot negotiate with terrorists.  You must kill them, without hesitation or equivocation or ambivalence.  Israel has the right to security and its own existence, in peace, which probably requires a full occupation of the West Bank.  The Palestinians have their state.  It is called Jordan.  The U.S. State Department is on the wrong side of the War on Terror, and has repeatedly mis-served too many presidents.

The State of California is crash landing.  This is serious, because of the impact on our national economy and culture.   In the July 1, 03 Letter I wrote the following: “---   and, yes, as for California, it continues to race toward third world status for a host of reasons.  Thirty eight BILLION dollars in debt, and counting, frequently in Spanish.   That Gov. Grayout Dufus is now likely to be the object of a recall vote is fine, but it begs the question as to who will replace him, and, in any event, still leaves in place a left wing legislature.  Watch for suppliers to begin to go unpaid this Fall (1903).   In the private sector this is called bankruptcy.  Rob Meathead Whiner’s solution: raise taxes.”

Well, now it is official.   Gov. Grayout Dufus is now the object of a recall election, and although he will try his level best to blame “a vast right wing conspiracy”, and Enron, portraying himself as the victim, the truth is that the Governor and the Democrat Establishment of California have done it to themselves.  As a matter of raw politics, it would have been better for Conservatives to have had no recall, but rather let California continue to sink.  However Californians, understandably and properly, have rebelled.  Enter Fake Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, like Fake Republican Michael Bloomberg in New York; Arnold is, perhaps without he himself even realizing it, but a Trojan horse for the final desperate scream for survival of “California dreaming”.  If this recall actually happens (In the Ninth Circuit, you can’t take anything for granted), the outcome is unpredictable.

            1). The Governor may not be recalled.  This is, after all, California, illegal citizen voters and all.

            2). If the recall effort succeeds:

a). Cruz Bustamante, Lt Governor, wins and further advances the recapture of the state by Mexico (he will not separate himself from La Rasa) as he calls for more tax hikes.

Running beneath the banner of “Recall No, Bustamante Yes”, he is well positioned for a possible win.

b). Schwarzenegger wins, and a Republican label is affixed to what will turn out to be the status quo.  Let me be frank.  Schwarzenegger does not know what he is doing and Republicans should not be snookered.

c). Tom McClintock, the only qualified candidate in the race, wins and touches the brakes.  Taxes must be cut.  State hiring needs to be frozen and reversed, and State spending needs to be slashed.  Schwarzenegger understands none of this and hasn’t any idea as to how to connect the dots.  If the consequences of all of this were not so serious for the rest of the country one could laugh.  What is going on in California today is the worst of slapstick comedy.  President Bush, stay away from it.   At some point Conservatives will have to pick up the pieces.  Meanwhile, wish Tom McClintock the best, but expect disappointment.

Bush Score Card:

            Excellent:

Iraq: You are doing fine.  Steady as she goes.  Many people, some willfully, do not understand that by its very nature this effort requires heavy ongoing improvision, constantly reviewed, for the long haul.  We have no choice but to prevail and succeed, but the result will not be in our image.   Iraq is clearly the key to dismembering Islamic Terrorism and setting up some remote possibility of peace in the Middle East, but you must allow the Israelis the same freedom of action.

You have cut American industry loose from the stranglehold of the EPA and wacko lawyers.   Perhaps now we will see some investment in modern and more efficient equipment, long overdue.

Your persistence with North Korea in getting them to sit down with four principle regional players, in addition to ourselves, has been accomplished, with the result that they have now made their jingo threats before the collective audience.  No wiggle room left, or opportunity for Chinese denial.  Now it is high noon, and the Chinese will have to make choices.  Keep the heat on high and do what you must do.

Not So Good:

I think you are wrong with the “Roadmap”.  It is premature and based on false premises.  However well intended, you are prolonging the pain and suffering, promoting false hopes, and fuzzing up the moral clarity of the War on Terror.

What is going on in Afghanistan?  Perhaps the silence is constructively deliberate.   Perhaps a key to this puzzle can be found in Tehran, about which discretion is currently advised, which would help explain the silence, but I am concerned.  I know there are infrastructure issues that are currently working against the definition of any central Afghan authority; however there are also deep historical cultural issues that do not support optimism.  Certainly the problems in Pakistan do not help.  I hope someday our guys on the ground who are continuing with the dirty work get the recognition they deserve.  Perhaps, as I would hope and suspect, you know a lot that you are not free to share.

Terrible--or even worse:

Domestically, I don’t see how all your “compassionate conservatism” is getting you anywhere.  It’s all going to cost the taxpayers billions, and is aggravating an unnecessary deficit problem that could have been mitigated with your veto pen.   I’m sure your father has talked to you about being “kinder and gentler”, but at some point you need to decide whether or not you are a Conservative or a Collectivist.  You keep rolling over for votes that will never happen, and tempting me to look elsewhere.  For some of us the jury is still out, and some have given up.

Wall Street & Main Street:

The economy is beginning to lift, as it ought to, under the laws of supply side economics following the tax cuts.

Of course, this is the last thing Democrats want to see happen, so watch the press try to ignore it for as long as possible.  Imagine being so invested in failure.

The power outage on the east coast again demonstrates the need to unshackle the private sector.  There is no shortage of desire on the part of power utility executives, or investment bankers, to upgrade plants and transmission lines.  The barrier to improvements and construction of new capacity and enhanced reliability, has, for years, been the political interference of NIMBY’s and environmentalists.  Recent moves by the Administration to ease restrictions will help, but so would tort reform.  Meanwhile, residents of New York City and Long Island should recognize that they placed themselves last in line when, years ago, at their own insistence and at great expense, Governor Mario Cuomo (D-NY) torpedoed a good-to-go nuclear plant on Long Island.  It is difficult to find sympathy.  Attention Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Fake R-NY): Simple physics: The transmission of power is occasioned by “line loss”, which is to say the farther you are away from the plant, the less efficient, more vulnerable and expensive it all is.  You are wagging the dog’s tail, and you have no one to blame but yourself.  Get a life.  Meanwhile, the President’s concern with this has to be the implications for our vulnerability to terrorist attacks domestically.

Caution to those of you who would look north of the border for cheaper drugs: prices controls don’t work.

Ad Nausium:

It now appears that the Democrat Bowel Movement for selecting a candidate for President is extruding two possibilities:      

a). Howard Dean, a far left commie/Lib throwback to the ‘60’s.

b). Hillary Rodman OJ Billyboy, a far left commie/Lib better able to disguise herself, and hence a greater threat, but occasionally also known as unable to control her PMS fits in public.

Some of the best political entertainment of the coming season will be to watch how The New York Times, the Official Paper of the Democrat Party (All the News that’s Fit to Subvert), manages to intellectually slither through the primary war about to ensue.  So it is that the internal Party struggle will continue between the communist faithful on the far left and those who fake it, or won’t admit it, under the Clinton tent.  I have previously questioned the patriotism of many on the Left, and will continue to do so.  Those who condemn traditional American values either act out of genuinely subversive conviction, or promote that result out of simple ignorance and intellectual confusion.  There is a case to be made for elements of Liberalism, in its 18^th century sense, which are now part of the Conservative mix.  Sad  to say, the Democrat Party has come to represent those who are so generally mired in moral and intellectual relativism, and international collectivism, that they can no longer be trusted with national security, or, for that matter, the security of our school rooms.  But commie/Libs take heart.  You have the option of moving to France where, I understand, their public health programs are particularly strong, especially in the heat of summer.   You would fit right in.

Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg calls attention to the fact that in recent decisions she has deferred to the rulings of international courts in assembling her own decisions.  She should be applauded for her honesty.   However, in so doing, she has violated her sworn duty to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.  On the face of the facts of her own admission she should be impeached, and furthermore be found guilty of treason.

Meanwhile, in Montgomery Alabama, Judge Roy Moore has got it exactly correct, and it seems that in spite of the baying of the mainstream Liberal press, three quarters of the American people understand and agree.  That the 10 Commandments monument would be removed from public display was a given; the American Liberal establishment could tolerate nothing less.  Notice, however, that it was not removed from the building, and the matter remains unresolved.  Lawyer loving Liberals are playing with fire, and they clearly don’t understand the implications.   Meanwhile, the courts give every possible degusting speech and activity a free pass under the 1^st Amendment while they continue to crush out the Judeo Christian legal foundation of the Republic and the Constitution.  The poison of Marbury vs. Madison continues to pollute.  It is now clear that the one single failure at the Founding was to not more clearly and definitively constrain the jurisdiction of the courts.  There will come a point in our history where this issue will need to be addressed, one way or another.   Thomas Jefferson had pertinent thoughts on this matter.

Those who object to Judge Roy Moore’s strategy, as a matter of law, have got it all backwards.  American law finds its foundation in the Constitution, which finds its foundation in the Declaration of Independence, English common law and tradition through 1775, and ultimately the Ten Commandments.  That is historical reality.  Congress is not in a position to alter or void the Ten Commandments, nor are the Courts.

Conservatives all need to get behind the new Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) initiative now before Congress.  Marriage must consist of one man and one women, of the homo sapiens species, without equivocation, contrary opinions on the United States Supreme Court be damned.  This is of the highest priority.

Back during the ‘50’s it was possible to look at anyone and determine their sex (x or y) in an instant.  This is no longer true, and while one hears various explanations, I think the problem is invariably in the suspect’s brain.

Political Targets: 2004, or ASAP

Every Liberal in sight.   In my wildest dreams we would witness the total destruction of the Democrat Party.  Republicans are getting pretty good at representing the interests of the Left, and we do not need two left wing parties.   What the country needs is a Conservative Party on the Right to lead it out of the wilderness.   

Homeland Security: A Running Log of Required Corrective Actions:

What we need is someone who knows how to build fences on the borders, and a government that respects the ultimate ability of real Americans to stand guard over internal security matters.  We do not need a TIPS program.  We do need some sensible profiling, and a national concealed carry standard.

Prediction:

While by no means a “slam dunk”, Gov. Grayout Dufus is out, and Arnold Schwarzenegger is in.   The comedy will continue.  Keep in mind that California historically has been the trend setter, known to some of us as the race to the bottom.

Heartland rebellion update:

Alabama Judge Roy Moore has provoked an issue that has accumulated over many years, and that will not go away.

CURRENT READING RECOMMENDATIONS

1.)  BREAKING FREE: PUBLIC SCHOOL LESSONS AND THE IMPERATIVE OF SCHOOL CHOICE

            SOL STERN                                                                 

            ENCOUNTER BOOKS                            248 PGS                                   $25.95

2.)  TREASON: LIBERAL TREACHERY FROM THE COLD WAR TO THE WAR ON TERROR

            ANN COULTER                                                

            CROWN FORUM                                   355 PGS                                   $26.95

3.)  THE COMPANY: A SHORT HISTORY OF A REVOLUTIONARY IDEA          

            JOHN MICKLETHWAIT & ADRIAN WOOLDRIDGE        

            MODERN LIBRARY                               227 PGS                                   $19.95

                                                       God Bless America

                                        JIM

                                                      JIM SOHMER           

                                                      AMERICAN NATIONALIST CONSERVATIVE

                                                      JEFFERSON, CO 80456

                                                            IN GOD WE TRUST