THE MOUNTAIN OBSERVER ON-LINE       

                                 ISSUES, PEOPLE, OBJECTS & POLICIES- CLOSE UP                           

                         Vol. 05                                              Issue 06                               Start July 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:

08/29/05  Hurricane Katrina rips into Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.  There will be people hurting.  JES

08/27/05  Simon Wiesenthal, 96, passes on in his sleep in Austria, a giant moral leader of the 20^th century.  May he finally rest in peace.   JES

08/23/05  My laptop has failed, and the short story is that on-line maintenance of this website may be delayed for awhile.   I am working on my desk top at home.    I will continue to write to back-up resources pending the ability to re-cover on-line maintenance.  That Maxtor external hard drive has saved my bacon.  JES

08/23/05  Article. III., Section. 3. of the United States Constitution states that "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. -------".   In our just causes against IslamoFascism, perhaps it is time for certain of our own citizens to be measured against this standard.  Every one of us, under the First Amendment of the same Constitution, has the right, indeed responsibility, to engage in responsible critique of our government's policies and actions.  However, this falls short of words and actions that have the effect of sabotage of our deployed forces by "giving them Aid and Comfort" to the enemy.  In a super-heated atmosphere of discussion, folks would be wise to consider their complaints in this regard, and those unwilling to do so should be held accountable.  The Democratic Party, and its media allies, in particular needs to engage in some serious self-examination.  Exactly whose side are you on?   JES

 On the Side:

08/22/05  The Mountain Observer awaits some informed comment from the inside on how Condoleezza Rice is making out with the reformation of the striped pants crowd at the State Department, a task surely more challenging than managing France.  She can only make things better.   JES

Serious Considerations:

08/19/05  We stand by helplessly watching Jewish anguish in Gaza, and next week, the West Bank.  There are those of us who think Israel has blundered, while at the same time recognizing that, from the outside, we have no moral authority to lecture on this matter.  So we are confined to simple observation, and silent prayer.  Through the processes of democratic institutions, otherwise hard to find in the Middle East, Israel has chosen a course of action in an attempt to "reach out" to the more reasonable elements of the Palestinian population.  It is an attempt that may prove fatal to the Jewish state, for by all objective historical reference, these gestures will not be reciprocated, but rather seized upon as weakness, provoking response opposite of that which is sought.  We beg for the assistance of a higher power.  JES

08/19/05  We watch with fascination the unfolding story of Able Danger, and the rapidly shifting positions of various members of the 09/11 Commission.   As I pointed out a year ago, the 09/11 Commission could never have been expected to function to its public charter under the political stresses of an election year.  However, our national security was, and still is, the real issue, and the facts will necessarily surface eventually.  We will be re-visiting the Able Danger issue from time to time as the Mountain Observer can come to be convinced of the details.  At this point I would not advise betting on the quality of the OJ Billyboy Legacy.  JES

                  Current Reading Recommendation:  

                        REAL ETHICS: RECONSIDERING THE FOUNDATIONS OF MORALITY

                            JOHN M. RIST                                                                                           

                            CAMBRIDGE UNIV                              304 PGS                            XXXX

Wall Street & Main St:

08/18/05  Allen Greenspan continues to talk about nudging up interest rates, fearful of inflationary pressures anticipated with a growing economy.  By all current measures, the only inflation out there right now is petroleum, no doubt to be reflected through the economy in the weeks and months ahead.  Mr. Chairman, continuing to burden the economy with rate increases to "fight this pending inflation" will do nothing of the sort.  Petroleum prices are what they are for reasons, including over regulation by the government, over which the Federal Reserve has no control.  These petroleum prices are functioning exactly as a tax increase would function, as an economic dampener.  The Fed's continued rate increases, another form of taxation, full consequences of which are months out, are like setting gas cans out before the fire.  What is coming at us as a consequence of all this meddling could be another recession.   It apparently has never occurred to the illuminati that one reason Walmart is so popular is that working stiffs can't afford anything else.  This is not to criticize Walmart, which is functioning predictably to faux market pressures designed by DC beltway Statist meddlers with too much time on their hands.   What really needs to happen is to have Congress slash DC government spending enough so that the expensive new bridge across the Potomac would otherwise be unnecessary.  And change Tax Day from April 15 to September 15.  Fat chance.  JES

Serious Considerations:

08/13/05  The President steps up to the plate and categorically states the obvious: that the United States has a military option with regard to the issue of Iran's nuclear future.  Unlike a certain recent Presidency, when a decision to exercise the obvious would not have been so obvious, this President has found it necessary, given the ambiguous signals of his predecessor, to further state that which ought to be obvious, which is that he will exercise the military option if left with no other choice.  His statement accomplishes two things at once.  Immediately, he is goosing the diplomatic process for a solution, which everyone would prefer.  He is also taking the United States off the table of those who believe that diplomacy can be effective if the primary trump card is removed.  Had the military option always and unambiguously been on the table, diplomacy perhaps could have already produced a meaningful result.  That, of course, has not happened, nor will it.  The belief by the Left that diplomacy can function in the absence of credible military force, which includes a willingness to use that force, prolonged the Cold War, and could be fatal in the face of Islamic Fascism.  The tragedy here is that Islamic Fascist leadership has been mis-led for so long by western left-wing kumbaya diplomacy, provoking Islamic notions of weakness that does not exist except in the hearts of Democrats that the world may have to learn this lesson the hard way.  It is the prediction of this writer that, sadly, that is the way it will be.   JES

08/08/05  The Mountain Observer now believes Israel has crossed a line, possibly of no return, and is in a lot of trouble.  Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resigned in protest over the planned pull-out from Gaza, and this writer believes he is right.  Israel is about to commit an act of national suicide.  It is a policy of feeding fish to the sharks, no different from those who propose an American pull-out from Iraq.  The blood will continue to flow, and there is no peace in sight.   JES

08/06/05  In our inventory of international relations needing to be healed, nothing quite equals our relationship with Vietnam.  Hurt and trauma continue to abound 30 years later.  We are in the process of concluding a military training program agreement with them now, perhaps the toe in the water of a future relationship that could prove very useful in the years to come in the building struggle to counter Chinese expansionism in Asia.  There is a long history of conflict between Vietnam and China; they actually had a brief war after we pulled out in 1975.  Currently, the Vietnamese are coming to us, not China, seeking a mentor for the solution to their enormous problems.  We should engage in measured response.  JES

08/05/05  At some point Iraq will have to assume full responsibility for its own security and political destiny.  Completion of the Constitution is supposed to happen by August 15 in preparation for submission to the general electorate this fall.  These are, perhaps, the most critical and delicate steps in the overall process of the democracy experiment in Iraq, and for that matter, the whole Middle East.  Our stake in the outcome is enormous, however the stake in these matters of the Iraqi people is even larger; life or death for many.  There are those who have criticized our entire effort from the beginning, choosing to be blind to the comprehensive nature of an IslamoFascist movement, decades in the building.  There are those who continue to argue that we had a choice in our decision to go into Iraq.   They were, and are correct: we had a choice.  That choice was to continue to ignore the problem and continue to persuade IslamoFascist thugs of our weakness, lack of resolve and complicity with the evil nature of their behavior, or to choose to take the issue to their own doorstep.  Thank God for the leadership of President George W. Bush, for regardless of how the new day in Iraq eventually resolves itself, a message has been sent to the entire world, and that message is, that with regard to thuggery, enough is enough.

We are properly pressing the Iraqis hard on the timelines for this summer, fall and winter.   We need to relieve our own forces in anticipation of looming trouble elsewhere (see 08/03/05 on China just below, for just one item on the list of concerns), but more importantly all Iraqis need to be disabused of the temptation of dependency, and the luxury of having an excuse not to act and resolve among themselves some very difficult issues at an early date.

It would seem that IslamoFascist thugs, and many American Democrats, are working very hard to witness our failure.   So it goes.   JES

Current Reading Recommendation:  

 JESUS IN BEIJING: HOW CHRISTIANITY IS TRANSFORMING CHINA AND CHANGING THE GLOBAL BALANCE OF POWER

 DAVID AIKMAN                                                                                               

 REGNERY                                             344 PGS                                        $27.95

  MODERN PHYSICS AND ANCIENT FAITH

  STEPHEN M. BARR                                                                                   

  NOTRE DAME                                        312 PGS                                        $30.00

Wall Street & Main St:

08/05/05  The President has signed legislation enabling the creation of CAFTA, or the Central American Free Trade Agreement.  My generic objection to this sort of thing has to do mainly with the spider webs of multilateral entanglement that inevitably impinge on our national sovereignty.  With regard to CAFTA, I am not yet sufficiently familiar with the details to know how much of an issue, if any, the matter of sovereignty is with this agreement.   As for the trade details themselves, it is clearly a step forward; reform of the sugar business long overdue.  What is really important, however, about this agreement for the USA, is that it will serve as an antidote to the creeping influence of Communist China on area economies, and the emergence of Venezuela's mercurial President Hugo Chavez as the new local thug.  JES

08/05/05  New job creation continues to accelerate.   JES

Serious Considerations:             

08/03/05  It seems that the USA may be finally waking up to the challenges poised to us by still Communist China.  The Mountain Observer has seen this coming for years, and after September 11, 2001 began to make the point that our necessary distractions in the Middle East would only be viewed by the Chinese to an opportunity to facilitate their own skullduggery in the Far East, indeed around the world.   And this is exactly what has been happening, referred to occasionally by this writer, but otherwise generally ignored.   It seems now, however, that the whole Chinese enterprise is coming into focus, even for the heretofore blind, including American "Intelligence".  If you are still clueless about this issue, start paying attention.  It might even help to study old issues of the Mountain Observer.   JES

08/03/05  When the Senate returns to "work" after its summer recess, it will take up the issue of confirming Judge John Roberts to the Supreme Court.  Expect to see a display of Liberal mental illness.  For example, do not be surprised to hear that the good Judge, if confirmed, will pose a threat to toads and trees.  It is a sign of the times that certain folks are more concerned about such things than they are about such American founding principles as a citizen's right to life.   JES

08/01/05  The President acts and John Bolton is now U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, as it should be.  The Mountain Observer is delighted.  Reportedly, his boss Condoleezza Rice has been tipping the Department of State upside down, years overdue.  Now it's Mr. Bolton's opportunity to wade into the mess at Turtle Bay.  My kind of guy.  JES

07/30/05  Chicago politics, or the national model of how Democrats run big cities.  Believe it or not, the corruption in city hall has gotten so bad lately that public discussion has begun to poke above the surface of a Republican challenge to the Daley Jr. Administration.   Looking down from Above, or up from Below (it is unclear to those of us still here in this life) one wonders at the thoughts of Richard Daley Sr.  These sorts of problems are not supposed to happen in Chicago, only New York.  Stay tuned.  JES

07/30/05  So it would appear that the Irish Republican Army has finally come to its senses.   We shall see.  Somehow, to this Observer, it seems a bit of a stretch to imagine that Gerry Adams, leader of Sinn Fein, has just been overwhelmed by a fit of Kumbaya.  It is true that throughout history there are many examples of people in conflict who get sick and tired of the whole mess, and just quit.  While there may be something to that explanation here among the Irish at large, there may be more to it.   In the case of Gerry Adams, we have an individual who feeds on the nectar of power, publicity and celebrity.  Having been coddled in the American White House during the 90's, more recently, in the wake of further gratuitous atrocity, he has been pointedly snubbed by George W. Bush.  The IRA, as an organization, has also a more general public relations problem in the wake of recent terrorist attacks on London.  Could it be that the politics of terrorism is losing whatever marginal appeal it ever had in the British Isles?  Time to re-evaluate ones political strategies and goals.  Perhaps Mr. Adams can find new celebrity in re-creating his image as a peacemaker.  Don't laugh.  Expect Hollywood to make a movie.  JES

07/30/05  Comments on the newly passed energy legislation:  In an age of political standoff, it seems that the path of least resistance to any political "progress" is to bundle together at least the main components of everyone's wish lists, with very expensive results to further burden the future.   Aside from the fact that the political standoff exists only in the minds of certain testicularly challenged Republicans, and therefore it exists, the consequences are that to correct policy error in one vital area, we do so at the price of enhancing error in another.  The fact is that the single most effective way to correct our dependence on foreign sources of energy is to end the national paranoia over nuclear power.  There are, of course, other marginal alternatives.   However, the error in this legislation is to monkey with free markets, when correct policy would be just the opposite, which, in fact, was the thrust of the legislation on the nuclear issue.  I would point out, for example, that force feeding the markets on the growth of corn may be negatively antagonizing two long range trends. First, there would appear to already be strains on the capacity of vast underground water aquifers that have enabled our spectacular high plains production for many years, and everyone in the industry knows this.  Second, in the years immediately ahead, the world will witness an explosion overseas in the productive capacity of grain, lessening dependence on American production.  American farmers will be straining to hold on to their existing markets.  American producers will argue that future loss of foreign grain markets is cause enough to encourage production for an expanding energy market, and, at face value, they have a point.  However, it seems to this Observer that the case needs to be made in the context of free markets and not on the backs of taxpayers.  Aside from certain unsettled technical issues surrounding ethanol as a fuel, there are questions about the cost of production v. the market value of the product.  Apparently, recent studies have shown that there is a considerable BTU deficit in the production of ethanol, an issue best settled by the absence of government intervention.  If ethanol is correctly part of the solution to our energy problems, it needs to be proven in a free market, as does every aspect of this discussion.  JES.

07/23/05  Re: The President's nomination of Judge John G. Roberts Jr. to the Supreme Court, and Objections raised by Ann Coulter.   Ms. Coulter, your concern is well understood by every reasonable Conservative, and one must acknowledge the possibility that time might prove you right, but I would guess not.   While the Mountain Observer would have preferred a more ideologically forthright Conservative candidate (such as Janice Rogers Brown, or even yourself), I think we have to allow for the fact that we are witnessing a very elaborate game of political chess, and acknowledge that the President and Karl Rove are very good at this.  The strategy for accomplishing success with this nomination has to be taken in context with additional opportunities that are probable and or possible through 2007.  To begin with, it now appears safe to say that the current nominee, from our perspective, is clearly an improvement over Judge Sandra Day O'Connor.  In addition, he is squeaky clean (the source of your suspicions), setting up the Gang of 14 for a test of their filibuster "agreement".  Should the Dems be so foolish as to exercise the "exception" option of this agreement, they open up a perfect opportunity to scuttle the whole thing (the 7 GOP members of this group will split among themselves; we only need 2) and the filibuster rule itself for judicial nominees.  If the Dems can find enough sense to see the writing on the wall, they will let this one pass, Roberts will be confirmed, and we will realize a marginal improvement in our position on the Court.  In the current situation it would be to our benefit for the Dems to go stupid.

Next in context, consider the issue of the Chief Justice.  To begin with, I refer you to my comments on 07/05/05 (this letter, see below), expressing a theory which continues to be viable.  When this issue will come to life remains to be seen, but it is only reasonable to expect it will happen before the end of 2007.  At that point, a decision will have to be made as to whether or not to advance a current Associate Justice to the position of Chief Justice, or whether to go straight in from the outside.  Too much to speculate about at this time, except that how the current confirmation process plays out might be significant in the strategy, again referring to my comments on 07/05/05.

Finally, there is the distinct possibility that 1 or 2 more current Associate Justices will choose to take the retirement dive before the end of 2007.  So we are witnessing a complex political struggle, which for the Far Left is a game of life or death, and so far, so good.  However, at the earliest opportunity, it will be necessary to kill the filibuster rule on judicial nominations.  How much easier this would be if all the GOP Senators had balls; too many don't.  It is necessary to quote the Secretary of Defense: "--you go to war with the Army you've got."  Ms. Coulter, I love you.  JES

07/21/05  In Canada, Belinda Stronach, quiet friend of OJ Billyboy, jumps ship from the Conservative caucus to the Liberals.  I warned you about this broad several weeks ago.  JES

07/20/05  Yesterday the President announced his nomination of John G. Roberts Jr., 5th District appeals court judge, to the Supreme Court.   Today, in reviewing comments and information from a variety of well informed sources, it would appear that the President has hit a long ball right out of the park.  Needless to say, that dastardly Karl Rove must be responsible for plotting this criminal venture against the American people.  The problem for Liberals is that lots of evidence suggests that the American people, by a widening margin, are demanding exactly the type of judge on the Supreme Court that Judge John G. Roberts Jr. appears to be: A strict Constitutional originalist, inclined to interpret the law, and not create it.  The man appears to have impeccable credentials, and Liberals will find it difficult to explain to the public at large any negative votes  JES

07/20/05  Regarding the ongoing Middle East rain dance between Israel and the Palestinian "Authority", which has never displayed any authority over anyone except the long suffering common folks of Palestinian ancestry, the latest version of this fandango appears to have collapsed.  Frankly, I have never understood the wisdom of surrendering anything back to the Palestinians in the absence of their correcting their own internal turmoil first.  Nothing has changed except the passing of Yasser Arafat; otherwise it is still the same old crowd.  Where is Benjamin Netanyahu when you need him?  He has had it all exactly correct for years.  JES

Confession:             

07/19/05  I've been on "vacation" for about 2 weeks working on my cabin, the near future home of The Mountain Observer, in Jefferson.  It's coming along well, which is a good thing, because the old RV trailer that has been my home for over 15 years has just about been beat to death by the elements.  So now, back to work on the road.   It was good, briefly, to enjoy some camaraderie with some neighbors, cowboys, small business people and retirees alike, whom I would like to join more permanently, perhaps next Spring.  As I left, the County Fair was in full swing, and the hay season will begin about mid August, 1 cutting only.  JES

Wall Street & Main St

07/09/05  The good news: Unemployment nationally is down to 5%, according to the Department of Labor.  Last month the economy created 146000 new jobs.

The bad news: 24000 manufacturing jobs were lost, leaving manufacturing employment at a 55 year low: 14.27 million, numbers made worse if one takes into consideration population growth over the same period.  A more detailed examination of the data makes clear that these jobs are being exported.   Average wage increases continue to fall well short of the rate of inflation.  Meanwhile, cheap imports are helping to fuel certain consumer spending activities that continue to enable foreign purchase of US debit, and in the case of the Chinese, arms against us.

So it is that certain segments of the population are doing well, and others are not.   None of what I have said here actually is news to anybody who has been paying attention: this has been going on for about 20 years.  Nobody with the power to do anything about it seems interested, satisfied with a false prosperity.  We are selling away the nation.  JES 

Current Reading Recommendation:

 RED STAR OVER HOLLYWOOD: THE FILM COLONY'S LONG ROMANCE WITH THE LEFT

 RONALD & ALLIS RADOSH                                                                    

 ENCOUNTER                                                292 PGS                            $25.95

Serious Considerations:             

07/09/05  To be effective, it is important for Conservatives to recognize the need to defend, advance and re-capture for the country, as best possible, the vision and the principles of the founders, as distinguished from a return to the past in the absolute sense, technically impossible.  It is also necessary to be careful, and clear, in our use of words, so as to make sure that we are saying what we actually mean to say.  It can be tough.   JES

07/08/05  Our sincere regrets to the citizens of London for their  losses yesterday morning.  Now the great debate will rage over Iraq policy.  It should not, because there is only one answer; thugs must be confronted.  There will be those who blame the Bush policy of pre-emption, specifically as applied to Iraq.  This viewpoint is a reformulation of the years old pacific policy of submission to terror and evil that came to an end on September 11, 2001, at least for most Americans.  There comes a point in time when one must realize that enough is enough, and that to fail to confront terrorism and lawlessness becomes an evil of a different sort.  But why Iraq?  Critics focus on the WMD issue, which was in fact a real issue, however incorrectly calculated by an intelligence apparatus suffering from years of deliberate neglect and cross-wiring by those inclined to subvert America to socialist experiment.   As the final statements of the Duelfer Commission make clear, the final chapter on WMD has still not been written (one needs to read it all).  However, WMD, and the bogeyman of oil, are distractions from the core discussion about our real reasons for Iraq, articulated by President Bush from the beginning.  The long run fix to the problem of Islamic Fascism is to turn around the political culture of the Middle East, a daunting task to be sure.   This was the real central premise of taking on Iraq, which in the context of history and strategic inventory, was the right "log" to pull from the pile to start the unraveling, and it is working, in spite of George Soros and his friends.    Now the British need to decide if they are willing to engage in appeasement and submit to terrorism, or continue to support confrontation of the problem.  The appeasement tactic was tried by the British once before in1938, and it didn't work.  The Mountain Observer and Tony Blair have very different views on many political questions, but on this one point, his leadership of British policy in support of our efforts in Iraq has been excellent, and appreciated.  We recognize the difficulties this has caused him domestically, and we would hope that this London bombing experience will lead the British people back to a firmer understanding of what is at stake.  As of this date the matter remains unclear.  JES

07/05/05  On re-building the Supreme Court.  The mainstream punditry expresses confusion over who has, and who has not, retired from the Court.  The Mountain Observer has a theory concerning what may be going on.  Chief Justice Rehnquist certainly is eligible to retire, but he has not, yet.   Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announces her retirement, not really a surprise to anybody who has been paying attention.  I suspect that the Chief Justice, noticing the recent behavior in Congress over the confirmation of judges to various Courts of Appeal, and the politics surrounding the filibuster, has wisely concluded that to place two Supreme Court confirmation requirements before Congress at the same time might result in a political compromise not healthy for the Court.  That is to say, to trade a Lib for a Conservative, when the focus ought to be on judicial qualification.   Going by his record on the bench, one might even surmise that the Chief Justice would personally prefer the elevation of judges who are consistently focused on reading the Constitution, and ruling on the law, a novel notion in this modern day.   So I suspect a calculation.  Let Congress take on the matter of confirming the President's nominee to replace the Associate Justice.  Once confirmed, next up, Rehnquist.   We shall see.  JES

07/04/05  Happy birthday, America.   Our prayers go out to those serving overseas, and at home, that more birthdays will follow.  JES

07/01/05  Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announces her retirement. Hurray!  Now what will the President do?  Pray not Gonzales.   JES

                                                                   God Bless America

                                                                    Jim                         

                                                                    American Nationalist Conservative

                                                                    Jefferson, CO 80456