THE MOUNTAIN OBSERVER ON-LINE       

                                   ISSUES, PEOPLE, OBJECTS & POLICIES- CLOSE UP                           

                             Vol. 05                                              Issue 04                           Start May 01, 2005

A FREEWHEELING CONSERVATIVE COMMENTARY DEDICATED TO THE DEFENSE OF FREEDOM, THE NEXT GENERATION, AND THE WAY THINGS OUGHT TO BE.   TO UNDERSTAND THIS NEWSLETTER, IT IS NECESSARY THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO READ AND TO THINK.

Updated occasionally on this website when I decide to do it.                               

 J. E. Sohmer   Jefferson, CO  Flyover country, where the air is thin, the heavens bright, and the hunting and fishing are good.

Serious Considerations:

05/29/05  You cannot imagine how hard I am laughing right now about what has just happened in France.  I have maintained for years that this stupid European Union was a fraud and a hoax; how many times have I pointed out that nationalism trumps ideology every time.   So it is that French voters have rejected a French signature on the EU "constitution".   Ordinary Frenchmen are understandably more concerned about being overrun by cheap labor from the east, disrupting their personal lives, than the hyperventilating of Jocko Shearock about an Anglosphere invasion.  People who have bet on the Euro as a currency have done so blinded by visions of an Europe that is a farce.  On an economic level, there is no way that this traveling train wreck can pull itself together without some serious reforms of the welfare state that are now politically impossible.  On a political and social level, European elites have paid tribute to Islamic fascists and rejected the Church.   They spend nothing on defense, and everything on the economic plunder of what little is left of private property and enterprise, fascist economics collapsing upon itself.  Europe is rapidly falling into the dust bin of history, hope left only in the recently liberated eastern countries that know a thing or two about statism of the real variety.   In our own country, Conservatives are concerned about similar domestic trends, and that is much about what this website is all about.  JES                               

Wall Street & Main St

05/22/05  A concern about real estate valuations that I have voiced for many months (years?) appears to be gaining some mainstream attention.   The 1990's speculative bubble in "growth" equities, mainly tech driven, collapsed during 2000, 2001.  Subsequent Bush tax cuts provided the foundation for a gradual but powerful economic recovery, in spite of the negative burdens of the "war on Terror" and unstable oil markets.  The financial markets, meanwhile, have displayed a healthy caution, more inclined to rewarding "value" rather than "growth".  So it is that a frustrated "investor" generation, spoiled by the casino mentality of the 1990's, seems to believe that they have discovered real estate as the new "growth" substitute, even affecting the management judgment of Fannie May and Freddie Mac.  Historically, real estate has generally tended to be a sound long range investment.  What is recently disturbing are the rates of run-up, and the levels of valuation compared to levels of sound buyer qualification.  Adding further to the concern will be a natural market tendency to find room for the expansion of the input costs of development, construction, marketing and finance, to be accomplished under a false umbrella of final end market sustainability.  I submit that there is a "house of cards" quality to the whole matter.  Decisions to purchase today should proceed with great caution, and skepticism.  JES

Serious Considerations:

05/21/05  Many of us wonder about the recent flirtations of the Bush family with the Clintons, and are bothered.  However, consider the political calculations.  OJ Billyboy's top priority in life is to be loved by others, and the resurrection of his own "legacy".   To be courted by this President must be an irresistible temptation, but requires moderation of left wing silliness.   What does the GOP get in return?  In terms of support for wild-eyed Democrats, OJ Billyboy stands castrated, and the divisions within the Left are further aggravated.   What might this mean for Hillary Rodham?  As things currently stand, no Democrat presidential candidate in 2008 can think of winning without rejoining the many splinters on the Left.  Hillary is confronted with the need to juggle, and to fool all of the people some of the time, or is it some of the people all of the time?  As the old "mainstream" media continues to collapse, her best bet may be the electoral empowerment of felons.  We shall see.  JES

05/21/05  Saddam Hussein is caught with his pants down, and the little old ladies at the ACLU are in a twit.  God save Katie Couric's innocence.  JES

05/16/05  Very shortly, headlines will re-appear concerning renewal of the Patriot Act, and much demagoguery will ensue from predictable sources, attempting to mis-lead the ill-informed about what's really at issue.  To make a long story short, The Mountain Observer supports the renewal of the Act, as is, including the retention of its sunset provisions.  JES

05/16/05  The Courts dispense with the executive and legislative branches, which willingly accede, which is to say that the law evaporates, to be replaced by court decree.  The message is that with the disappearance of the law, we are all free to get away with whatever we can, undiscovered by judges.  All this, of course, fits perfectly with the creed of intellectual and moral relativism, the rubber Constitution, abortion, affirmative action, and the moral equivalency of Christians, thugs and dictators.  Harvard should be proud of itself.   Meanwhile, it should be remembered that as an unintended consequence, "nice people" cause wars, civil or otherwise.  JES

 Current Reading Recommendation:

 THE VAST LEFT WING CONSPIRACY: THE UNTOLD STORY OF HOW DEMOCRATIC OPERATIVES, ECONOMIC BILLIONAIRES, LIBERAL ACTIVISTS AND ASSORTED CELEBRITIES TRIED TO BRING DOWN A PRESIDENT - AND WHY THEY'LL TRY EVEN HARDER NEXT TIME.

 BYRON YORK  

 CROWN                                                  288 PGS                                     $26.95

05/13/05  Newt Gingrich is rapidly finding his own way to the bottom of the dung heap with his waltz with Hillary.   It is absolutely amazing how personal ego can warp personal judgment.   Sorry Newt; forget 2008, or national elected office for anything ever again.  Our assessment of you in 1996 was correct.  JES

05/13/05  The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, passing around much ego pleasing grumbling, finally clears Ambassador John Bolton for a full Senate floor vote.  Back on 03/10/05, I said as follows:

 "There are few public policy decisions that do not include some level of compromise or political calculation.  It has been almost perpetually confusing to Democrats, and the broader American Left, that the Bush Administration tends to be pretty honest and straight forward about its acts and intentions, tending to function on principle rather than the polls, a mindset not common in Washington or the Coastal States.  Real Americans in the heartland can wheel and deal better than anybody else, but generally with a sense of fundamental integrity rooted in a moral base.  So it is that, in addition to the substantive content of any issue at hand, that the Mountain Observer assesses Administration policy initiatives, choices and decisions for quality and lasting soundness.  An almost perfect current example of my point lies with the intellectual and moral integrity of the Bolton appointment (see 03/09/05 previous).  It occurs to me that it is time to establish a Mountain Observer (MO) certification of 100% compliance and agreement with MO policy and moral standards, which will be hereafter known as the Bristlecone Award (BA).  Accordingly, the first such declaration goes to Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice for promoting John Bolton as our next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations."    

Attention Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. D-DE: It is precisely the Ambassador's willingness and educated ability to "ream a new one" which qualifies the man to the United Nation's post.  My greatest fear is that he will be restrained by our "nice guy" President.  JES

05/11/05  The Mountain Observer needs to extend recognition of the fact that of all the radio talk show hosts out there, (and the Mountain Observer is able to, and does, monitor dozens) Rush Limbaugh remains the most effective, articulate and intellectually collected one on the air, compared to anyone else.  This is not to say he is always articulate and intellectually collected; it is to say that within the genre, he is the best.  I make this point because his communicative skills may very well make the difference in a battle being played out in the Senate.  This week, Rush is spending a lot of time not talking to you and me, but directly to a handful of Senators much in need of being out-gassed of personal ego.

This week, in the Senate, the political tensions of the not-so-submerged American Civil War II are focused like a laser on the matter of the "Constitutional option" (as Conservatives see it), or "nuclear option" (as Liberals see and report it).  At issue, to cut to the chase, and given the political balance in the Senate between those of Conservative vs. Liberal inclination, is the issue of whether or not to allow the full Senate an opportunity to vote up or down on the President's nominees for federal judges.  The outcome of this fracas is likely to have consequences in the balance of political power in Washington DC for years to come, which is the cause of the contentiousness.   Both sides are heavily invested.  JES

05/11/05  The fate of John Bolton stands as a primary test of wills in the same conflict.  There is much at stake.   JES

Wall Street & Main St

05/11/05  The ubiquitous courts that rule our lives have finally given a green light to United Airlines to terminate employee pension plans.   While this is tough on employees, it will also be tough on taxpayers.  Such is life in a sea of economic semi-fascism.  In a free economy, United Airlines would have been history years ago.  With this ruling by the court, months over-due, you can expect other large traditional carriers to run to the same honey pot.  As water runs down hill, eventually free market forces prevail, and cannot be stopped by any union contract or Statist public policy or law.  In this context, I have no sympathy for grown adults who planned their retirement around such a pit of quicksand, and who should have known better, and as a taxpayer, I object to footing the bill for corporate failure.  Auto industry employees, take note.  JES

05/08/05 Could it be that the Federal Reserve is coming close to cranking interest rates up a notch too far?  The purpose of these rate increases is to preemptively check inflation, which initially may have made some sense, but the expanding economy itself, it seems to this old goat roper, is more likely to check inflation, as it continues to develop, without any artificial help.   The last time old Allen Greenspan went on this sort of tear, in 2000 thereabouts, it seemed to help fuel a downturn.  Take it easy, guys; you keep overdoing your moves.  The economic expansion we now see developing is not going to fuel inflation, but check it, by raising the goods available relative to dollars.  Rather than raising interest rates, the Fed would be better advised to cool it on printing money.  Where is the old gold standard when you need it?  Where is MILTON FRIEDMAN  when you need him?  JES

05/08/05  The American automobile industry has had about 40 years, since the original Honda Civic washed up on our shores, to wise up about allowing itself to be held hostage to extortion by the unions who have steadily demanded wages and perks out of all reality to the real value of the product.   Back in the 1950's, old "Engine" Charlie Wilson, who ran General Motors with an iron fist, observed that "What's good for General Motors is good for the USA".  He was right.  What has not been good for General Motors since then has been for management to surrender to the mob.   That is the problem GM, and Ford, and Chrysler, face, shamefully, today.  They did it to themselves.  JES

Serious Considerations:

05/08/05 Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers who actually love their kids.  Pray for the rest.  JES   

 Current Reading Recommendations:

 ONE NATION UNDER THERAPY: HOW THE HELPING CULTURE IS ERODING SELF-RELIANCE  

 CHRISTINA HOFF SOMMERS & SALLY SATEL (OR, HOW THERAPISTS CONFUSE THEMSELVES WITH GOD)

 ST. MARTIN'S PRESS                               320 PGS                                         $23.95

 THE COLLAPSE OF ZIMBABWE IN THE WAKE OF THE 2000-2003 LAND REFORMS

 CRAIG RICHARDSON

 EDWIN MELLON                                       172 PGS                                        $99.95

 THE CUBE AND THE CATHEDRAL: EUROPE, AMERICA, AND POLITICS WITHOUT GOD

 GEORGE WEIGEL 

 BASIC                                                           224 PGS                                        $23.00         

Serious Considerations:

05/05/05  Re National ID cards: Congress is debating a national set of criteria for states to enforce on the issuance of driver's licenses.  Upon deep reflection, the Mountain Observer supports the strongest legislation possible.   The Libertarian (Jeffersonian) corner of my Conservatism rebels, but my hard (real) Conservative side prevails, recognizing the imperatives of national security and regretting our national failure to properly manage our borders.  Of course, some personal inconvenience and burden, and burden on state budgets, will ensue (perhaps an example of where federal re-imbursement is appropriate).  I am under no illusion about the direction in which this sort of thing leads, however neither am I am under any illusion about where failure to do this is currently got us headed.  We need to deal with the real world as it is without wearing rose-colored glasses.  In the long run, the real fix is control of our borders.   JES

05/01/05  Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Mountain Observer has maintained that the greatest international threat to the United States, going forward into the new century, is China.  I now believe that the nature of that threat has evolved into what may be more accurately described as a challenge, rather than a threat.  At the same time, it is now clear that the actual direct threats are multiple, having in common an actual lawless terrorist quality that is forcing a severe readjustment of our military and intelligence configurations.   The real direct threats today seem to have in common the "ideology" of IslamoFascism born of Wahhabism, supported by certain states not quite willing to consider civilized behavior, and frequently encouraged by others generally outside the Anglosphere orbit.   However, I digress from the focus of my point here, which is China.

Shortly after the September 11 attacks, I expressed concern in these letters that the properly prioritized distraction of issues in the Middle East would compete with our necessary attention to China, and mischief would ensue.   Actual events have proven the correctness of that concern, and the mischief is manifest is the straits of Taiwan.  The buildup on the mainland side of the straits is accelerating, and China's naval capacities continue to grow, with Russia's help, including a submarine based missile capacity capable of hitting our country directly.  The Chinese strategy with respect to Taiwan is to intimidate the ROC (Taiwan) into surrender, and the military component, to be credible, includes the need to neutralize the capacity of the American fleet and political will to directly accept the military threat.  While their ability to neutralize the American fleet any time in the near future is dubious, their ability to erect the credible threat of direct attack upon our cities is real, and with it the political willingness of Americans to defend Taiwan.  An additional part of the strategy is wearing down the Taiwanese themselves.   There is a growing political constituency on the island that seems tempted to exchange freedom for trade.  We, ourselves, have enabled the Chinese buildup by tolerating a trade deficit for many years that has funded the weapons.  There is a positive to the trade issue, however, and that is the growing dependency of the Chinese on American engineering standards and practices.  However, they have a larger problem, which is the fact that political freedom is non-existent, and time is running against those who will not let go.   So it is that the Chinese themselves are hung up on the horns of a dilemma as to choosing between the benefits to themselves of trade, or going to war, and furthermore, at what point North Korea becomes more of a liability than an asset.   It is not clear how all of this will eventually play out, except that it is clear that the United States need not display "provocative weakness" only to invite ill-advised temptation and adventure on the part of mis-informed Chinese generals.   JES.

                                                                   God Bless America

                                                                   Jim                           

                                                                    American Nationalist Conservative

                                                                    Jefferson, CO 80456