THE MOUNTAIN OBSERVER ON-LINE       

                            ISSUES, PEOPLE, OBJECTS & POLICIES- CLOSE UP                           

                           Vol. 06                                  Issue 01                      Start January 01, 2006

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:

01/31/06   Congratulations United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. JES

01/29/06   It appears that what we have witnessed in Gaza this past week was an election that endorses a civil war.  Stay tuned.  JES

Wall Street & Main St: 

01/29/06   We think it is premature to crown Alan Greenspan as a genius.  Perhaps the issue can be better considered at a later date.  JES

Serious Considerations:

01/29/06  Expect Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to be confirmed by the full Senate this week, including by a handful of Democrats who know better, as Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. United States Supreme Court.   We still need a couple of more like him.  God Bless America, and President George W. Bush.  JES

Current Reading Recommendation:                                                                                                                                                                      

RIGHTS FROM WRONGS: A SECULAR THEORY OF THE ORIGIN OF RIGHTS     (2005)      AN AMERICAN LIBERAL, AS QUALIFIED AS THEY COME, COLLAPSES HIS OWN CASE UPON ITSELF.  IS IT ANY WONDER, THESE DAYS THAT THEY ARE ALL SO ANGRY?

ALAN DERSHOWITZ                                                                                                                            

BASIC BOOKS                                                                    261 PGS                                                    $24.00

Serious Considerations:

01/28/06  Certainly a new darkness has settled on the matter of Palestine and Israel.  Read the words of high ranking Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar, spoken only days ago.   "We have to go away from Israel and move toward all possible linkages with our Arab and Islamic brothers. Cooperation [with Israel] on the security and economic fields was a disaster for the Palestinians.  Resistance is a legitimate right of the Palestinian people, and we will not abandon it. There is no contraction between resistance and entering the [Palestinian] legislative council. We have declared a cease-fire, but the occupation [Israel} didn't appreciate it.  A one-sided cease-fire is not useful."  What, of course, the Israelis would appreciate is peace and neighbors not so disturbed as to insist on the destruction of the Jewish State.  Over the years the Arab world has successfully installed the idea that the Palestinians are homeless, made so by the evil Israelis, and failing to recognize the fact that Jordan, across the river, is 70% Palestinian.  Elections anyone?  That misses the point.  Now mix in Iran. The point is the destruction of Israel.  And so it goes.  JES

01/27/06  Updated Palestinian election results show that Hamas actually won a clear majority, 76 of 132 seats.  Fatah says they will not cooperate.  Those pretending to be "surprised" and "in shock" over the Hamas victory, should have known better.  Perhaps the positive of all of this is that now political leaders serious about peace will be forced to deal with reality.  JES

01/26/06  Congratulations are in order for the Conservative Party of Canada.  Stephen Harper's party prevails over the Liberals, returning sensible leadership to power after a 17 year drought.  We look forward to working with a friendlier Canada, as it ought to be.  For more details keep checking with www.cbc.ca/news   JES

01/26/06  Elections reveal Palestinian politics for the shambles it has always been as Hamas, in reality, prevails over Fatah.  Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party's narrow victory, given the reality of parliamentary politics, is a huge loss.  It was always a great stretch of imagination to attempt to do business with Fatah, but Ariel Sharon did his best, surrendering Gaza to do so.  However Palestinians reformulate themselves now, the objective remains as it has always been: the complete destruction of Israel.  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice points out that the U.S. position on Hamas as a terrorist organization has not changed despite the election outcome.  Sooner or later Israeli voters, and the world wide Diaspora, will need to recognize hard facts, and come to grips.   Binyamin (Benjamin) Netanyahu, where are you?

Wall Street & Main St: 

01/25/06  With all the good economic news, I hate to sound a negative note, however, the Mountain Observer remains troubled by Federal Reserve rules that allow, and seem to encourage, the re-financing of mortgages as a way to clear up holiday debt spending.  It seems to us this is merely throwing gasoline on a firestorm of real estate valuation appreciation that will be ultimately unsustainable.  Sort of goes with the get rich quick mentality of casino gambling and government lotteries that has befogged our culture.   So we have a Congress that will not stop spending, a "Conservative President who will not use his veto power, both, who will not control our borders or address balance of payment issues, and a Federal Reserve that allows refinancing of holiday debt with low interest mortgages.  All of this from a GOVERNMENT that has trained generations of Americans that GOVERNMENT knows best and is your protection of last resort.  Am I alone in sensing a problem here?   JES 

Serious Considerations:

01/24/06  The 2008 Presidential election cycle has begun, and watch the press begin to push John McCain for the Republican slot.   It is a kiss-ass relationship.  JES

01/24/06  Broader segments of the Conservative press are now saying what I have been saying for a long time.  The problem with Bush's poll numbers are largely a reflection of problems he has had with his own base.  He keeps running away from his base, and it is costly to him.  When he comes back, all too briefly and infrequently, his numbers go up.  "Moderation" is at odds with leadership, of which he is capable.  One would think that after 5 years, he would catch on, and tell Brent Scowcroft, and Vicente Fox, to go fishing.  Yesterday, in Kansas, he did well.  He was himself.   JES

Current Reading Recommendations:                                                                                                                                                                      

1453: THE HOLY WAR FOR CONSTANTINOPLE AND THE CLASH OF ISLAM AND THE WEST

 ROGER CROWLEY                                                                                                                             

 HYPERION/MIRAMAX                                                            320 PGS                                                $25.

A THRONE IN BRUSSELS: BRITAIN, THE SAXE-COBURGS AND THE BELGIANIZATION OF EUROPE

 PAUL BELIEN                                                                                                                 

 IMPRINT ACADEMIC                                                              384 PGS                                                $49.00

Serious Considerations:

01/21/06  Osama bin Laden offers the U.S. a "truce" in Iraq and Afghanistan.  This is not worth the President's time.   Vice President Dick Cheney says "We don't negotiate with terrorists, I think you have to destroy them", and he is absolutely correct.  The only problem here is the fact that the Vice President found it necessary to respond at all, standing as testimony to the effectiveness of al-Qaeda's intellectual penetration of the American Democratic Party and American "Liberalism".  And that is a real problem.  Those who legitimize this as a discussion are arguably giving aid and comfort to the enemy.  That a "truce" has been offered is a sign of their weakness, whoever "they" are.  Has Osama bin Laden registered as a Democrat, or has Dick Durban signed up with al Qaeda; which way is it?  It's getting hard to tell the difference.  Are Democrats renting rooms to would be al-Qaeda terrorists?  Is that their real fear of the NSA?  Real Americans will press forward.  JES

Wall Street & Main St:                                                                                  

01/21/06  The market takes a serious dive.  It's immediate strength after the first of the year has been wiped out, and it is clearly the result of instability in the Middle East.  The market is reading events concerning Iran's threats to Israel coupled with it's determination to proceed with it's nuclear program as a serious threat to the smooth delivery of oil; more bluntly a prediction of military action.  I think the market's got it right.  Our decades of foreign oil dependence, and coddling of IslamicFascism, is about to catch up with us.   JES

Serious Considerations:

01/21/06  Independent Counsel David Barrett, trapped by years of Congressional political maneuvering and Liberal court manipulation, has finally been able to get his report released, but highly redacted.  Officially this concludes the investigation of the shenanigans of Henry Cisneros, Clinton era Secretary of Housing and Urban Renewal.  Nobody cares about that any longer.  The real issue, and hold up, has to do with possible allegations and charges against, and about, the IRS, DC governments favorite cop and predator, too hot for the culture to handle.  Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley R-IA has been fighting essentially a one man war to get this report released, in its entirety.  He has not given up. Every American taxpayer should continue to pay close attention.  JES

01/21/06  U.S. Rep Rick Renzi R-AZ recently wrote a note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice complaining about Mexican military incursions into the United States apparently providing armed escort for drug and alien smuggling operations.   He demanded "immediate diplomatic action".  Now you see, folks, this perfectly demonstrates how the Mountain Observer is set apart from the DC culture.  I would recommend that the resources should be available on the border to shoot back, with deadly force after a single warning to "halt".  Where is President James Polk when you need him?  Chase the bastards back deep into their own Sonoran desert to Chihuahua.  Then diplomats can sit down for an honest discussion, if we choose to do that.   JES

01/18/06  Frankly, the Mountain Observer has really not been impressed with the Republican leadership in either the House or the Senate since 2001.  Too much kiss-ass with Democrats, and not enough hard knuckled political business.  Especially after 2004, the excuses got tired.  Now along comes opportunity, in the House, in the person of John Shadegg, R-AZ.  We are scheduled to find out on February 2nd whether or not the Republican caucus is serious about starting over with itself.  There are lot of us out here who are just plain fed up with the DC culture and business as usual, Democrat or Republican.  I have been tearing up and throwing out "surveys" for years.   It's all just plain stupid.   You people know what we expect: GO DO IT.  JES

01/14/05  After Alito, we need at least one more qualified Conservative on the bench.   Then, perhaps, we can begin to see the signs of stare reversalis  -- the Sohmer doctrine that unconstitutional mistakes need to be fixed.   JES

01/14/06  I have not addressed the subject of California, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, for a long time.  There has been no need to do so, as things have worked out essentially as I predicted back in October of 2003 in this very same Mountain Observer [Ref: 125 LETTER 03-08 ].  I repeat here exactly what I said at the time, following Arnold's successful campaign against Grayout Dufus:

"Well, well, well.  As I previously predicted, Arnold Schwarzenegger (barring further intrusion by the courts) is going to take the helm in California.  As you may surmise from my previous comments on this matter, I think it remains to be seen how this is actually going to work out.  Where do I begin?   Some facts:

1)      Arnold is not a Conservative, he is a very talented, and well intended, hustler.

2)      The L.A. Times is not a newspaper, it is a leftwing political rag.

3)      After OJ Billyboy, Democrats can’t condemn Arnold, and Republicans can’t excuse him.

4)      The California Legislature is still what it was, a domestic version of the French National Assembly.

5)      The southern border with Mexico is still wide open.

6)      The people of California, through the agency of Grayout Dufus were destroying the state. Now the people of California are proposing to fix the mess, sort of, maybe, they hope.

7)      Upon taking office, an immediate freeze on hiring and a cancellation of all planned and pending pay raises would signal seriousness, including judges.  I don’t expect that to happen.

Questions to be answered:

1)      Can some combination of political will be realized that will permit the tax cuts necessary to staunch the hemorrhaging of business out of the state?  That is what is required.

2)      Can some combination of political will be realized that will accept the even greater cuts in spending necessary to balance the budget and work out the deficit?  That is what is required.

I am, shall we say, skeptical.   I am not persuaded that even Arnold really understands what needs to be done, let alone able to accomplish what needs to be done even if he understood.  California Republicans have now really set themselves up big time.   Tom McClintock, stand by.   Going into 2004, I think Carl Rove should regard all this with great caution. There is a reason why Conservatives are always skeptical about great bursts of democracy.  We shall see.  In all of this, there is one definite positive; the pending recovery of the national economy [which may help]."

Since that time the Terminator successfully promoted an additional 3 billion dollar obligation on stem cell research to pursue objectives of dubious scientific and political value, and has utterly failed to pursue reforms necessary to preclude a repeat of the great California energy crunch of 2002.   Now he has allowed the California Teachers Association (CTA) to make a monkey of himself with the defeat of 4 reform propositions following an absurd political strategy.    The common thread throughout his tenure has been his belief in the power of his own "fantastic" self, as if he could talk and charm all the Lefty's into political submission.   In none of this has there been any philosophical consistency other than Arnold showing off.   His response to all of this is to haul on board as "help" an additional claque of Lefty's.   This is what happens when you find yourself stuck in bed with the Kennedy's.   The Terminator, having tried to play in the middle, is a traveling train wreck, and so is California.   Like a Phoenix, Tom McClintock is still standing by.     I pray for California.  JES

01/12/06  The inquisition of Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. by the Senate Judiciary Committee is over, and Democrats have again exposed themselves for who they really are to the public at large.  This is important, because it is events like this that shape the results of future elections, the consequences of which will continue to shape the courts.  So what we have seen this past week is the contrast between a highly qualified, highly intelligent and judicially experienced nominee of integrity, and the ravings of a pack of wolves lead by Democrat Party Ethicists:

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-MA, The Swimmer and Senate expert on water-boarding,

Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-NY, who steals social security numbers for personal investigations,

Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-IL, , Cheerleader for Lenin, Stalin and Pol Pot,

and Senator Joseph Biden, D-DE the plagiarist.

You see, Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr's. "crime" is that he personally is a Conservative, the danger of which is that he might rule on the law and the Constitution in the originalist sense, foregoing policy instruction and social engineering, the art form of Liberal activists.  This leaves our Democrat ethicists, and the raving mob that supports them, apoplectic.   It's all sort of fun to watch.  The good Judge will be confirmed.  We need a couple more like him.  JES

01/12/06  The medical misfortunes of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon have left the country in a political turmoil, far too complicated for anyone to sort out predictions for the future.  A list of issues is stranded for early attention.  On an international level, two matters stand out:

a). Israel's relationship with the Palestinians, and how best to proceed.

b). How best to proceed regarding the recent threats by Iran in the context of ongoing Iranian nuclear development activity.

These are hard issues that need to be addressed.  The clock is running and will not stop.  Yes, the United States has vital national interests involved.   JES

01/11/06  Well, so now the rat has come out from under the rock, too self invested to let the opportunity of publicity escape.  One Russell Tice, burrowed deep in the National Security Agency, admits to being the leaker to the New York Times on matters concerning our intelligence war against IslamicFacism, foreign and domestic.   It seems his security clearance was revoked last May, and cut off from his sources, perhaps he was concerned that his train ride into the sunset would foreclose his golden opportunity to preen before the cameras.   A review of his comments to ABC News reveals that the NSA was actually doing its job quite well, which is basically the substance of his complaint.  "The mentality [at the NSA] was we need to get these guys, [al Qaeda types] and we're going to do whatever it takes to get them".   Well, golly gee wizz, let's hear it for the NSA!   Now let us watch the New York Times and ABC News try to sell Mr. Tice as a hero to Red State America.  Similarly situated elsewhere in the world, Tice, at this point, would have found himself pushing up daisies, but in this country we put a priority on the civil rights of citizens, even traitors.   JES

Wall Street & Main St:                                                                                  

01/10/06 Perhaps a reluctant equities market is beginning to move.  The popular flagship Dow Jones Industrial Average yesterday closed at 11012, a 4 1/2 year high.  The broader based (and I believe a more meaningful) Standard & Poor's 500 index finished at 1290, also a 4 1/2 year high.  Finally, the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite Index made 2319, last seen February, 2001.  With unemployment hovering at, or below, 5%, and GDP running at an annual rate above 4%, Conservatives have once again demonstrated the power of tax cuts.  Left to be dealt with is the matter of our national balance of payments problem, in reality a political problem, the solution absent a consensus.   As the same with a porous border, American political leadership of both major parties is too comfortable with the status quo.  JES

Serious Considerations:

01/07/06  On both a secular and a theological level, Pat Robertson's comments are out of line.  Concerning Arial Sharon's medical condition as punishment for withdrawal from Gaza, there is no evidence that Pat Robertson has any more insight into God's thoughts on the matter than I do.   As a practicing Catholic, I can say that Mr. Robertson is theologically over stepping his bounds, imagining himself to be something he isn't.   He is straining my patience to avoid a public (divisive) commentary on certain matters that separate Catholics from Protestants regarding theological understanding and secular strategy.   On a secular level, his judgment with respect to timing, human dignity, and politics, both foreign and domestic, is atrocious and counterproductive to the larger objectives of Conservatives here on Earth.  By itself alone, this disqualifies his theological credentials to speak on matters secular.  There have been several of these Pat Robertson incidents lately that are simply not welcome by Conservatives serious about getting some serious work done.  I am compelled to be blunt: Mr. Robertson, until you are able to understand the discussion, do everyone a favor and just SHUT UP.   JES

01/06/06  Powerful Washington D.C. lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty on January 3rd to federal charges, including conspiracy, mail fraud and tax evasion, particularly involving Indian tribe casinos.   In exchange, his cooperation with authorities was obtained in their ongoing investigation of a number of members of Congress into possible charges of corruption, both Democrats and Republicans.    With less than a year to go before Election Day, lots of folks are headed for the tall grass.   You see, the alleged misdeeds may or may not be, technically, violations of the law, and nothing that hasn't gone on for decades involving Democrats and Republicans, simply difficult to explain to folks back home in terms of the now stressed mores on Main Street.  In an age of billions of government (yours and mine) dollars afloat in DC, it has not been that hard to slide favors to individuals who have, shall we say, been aggressively supportive in great measure of those who dispense what counts, or to misrepresent the actual value of your services.  Again, technical violations of the law may be elusive; after all, the culture now under investigation wrote the laws, and while they may be crafty, they are not necessarily stupid.

Now all this brings me to a central point of this web site.   It is the long standing belief of The Mountain Observer that the gravest error in American politics throughout the entire 20th century was the adoption of the Sixteenth Amendment, explicitly authorizing the income tax.   This took place in the context of a period when the Supreme Court had already been, at least partially, cut loose from its Constitutional moorings.   Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, cynical existential product of the War Between the States, was clear early on with his observation (I paraphrase) --"that the Constitution means only what nine Justices says it means on a particular day".    With the creation of the income tax system, the tools of chicanery were at hand.   Add FDR, top down collectivism, and a legal system run amok.  Congress learned early on the fine art of vague legislation, details to be left to bureaucrats, regulators, lawyers and judges.  From this petri dish of power and influence grew politicians drunk on self importance and influence; by way of example I am reminded of a certain fellow from West Virginia by the name of Byrd, the perfect prototype of the legal thief in the public till, possible only with the willing complicity of his constituents.  But then, by now, the private sector has been well trained in the art of paying ransom to, and seeking the favors of, a government enabled to point guns and threaten jail to those otherwise unwilling to pay a "fair share" of their taxes.  The art of forcibly taking from some to distribute to others, for the right price, under the guise of high minded public policy has been well tuned.  Inevitably this witches brew of easy money and easy morals gave birth to the Lobbyist, legal and registered, of course, and some wonder why today we have a federal system self obligated to trillions of dollars in debt and financial liability exposure.

So it is that certain congressmen, Senators in particular, advance notions of "campaign reform", with the announced purpose of getting "money and influence" out of politics, inevitably at the expense of the First Amendment.  (It seems to work well on camera).   Hypocrisy aside, The Mountain Observer finds this notion to be something on the order of instructing all the cows in the world not to fart.  Elsewhere on this web site I have gone into a greater level of detail about what, and how, to deal with the Sixteenth Amendment (Get rid of it, and all forms of direct taxation).   Meanwhile, we should eliminate all laws and regulations that attempt to restrict the financing of political parties and campaigns while at the same time requiring full and immediate exposure and publication of donations above a very low arbitrary limit.  A free press, including the internet, can take it from there.  However, all of this is a "band-aid" on the real problem, which is big central government run amok, made possible by an income tax that is an octopus about the throats of the citizenry.  What we need to do is to find our way back to the Constitution, and it's original intent.  It is possible that this will someday require bankruptcy, lots of it, public and private.

Now as for Mr. Abramoff, I have no feeling of sympathy for him, except that I would insist that the justice system should proceed according to the law, where ever that might take us.  I am more concerned with the thoroughness and completeness of justice in these matters than I am about whose political ox gets gored.   Let the chips fall where they may.   JES

01/01/06   Welcome to the New Year.   JES

                                                                   God Bless America

                                                                   Jim                           

                                                                    American Nationalist Conservative

                                                                    Jefferson, CO 80456