THE MOUNTAIN OBSERVER ON-LINE       

                              ISSUES, PEOPLE, OBJECTS & POLICIES- CLOSE UP                           

                              Vol. 06                            Issue 02                                     Start February 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:

03/30/06  Tom Tancredo for President.  Enough of Vicente Fox!  JES

03/26/06   Ok, that does it.  The size of the Left Wing demonstrations denouncing border and immigration reform currently being considered by Congress underscore how far out of control this issue has gotten.  So as of today, the Mountain Observer is now on the Tom Tancredo bandwagon for President.  Enough is enough; it is time to take back our country.   JES

03/26/06  The far American Left has slipped into such a level of sociopathic insanity over George W. Bush that it is dividing the Democratic Party between the true believers in the Secular vision of moral and intellectual relativism, and those who really know better, at least in terms of their own re-electability.   In American politics it has long been apparent that such a point of reckoning would eventually come to pass, however difficult it is for the conservative mind set to comprehend in the first place.  It is on this basis that an exercised debate over the impeachability of the President will ensue.  There is evidence that the American Heartland is much more alert to the subtleties of this debate, and its implications, than was the case in 1992 and 1996.  Who would have ever guessed that the day would come when apparently large chucks of the Democratic political machine would behave as kamikazes against our national founding principles?   JES

Wall Street & Main St: 

03/24/25  Referring back to my comments below (03/20/06) you may come to notice in the recent past, and the days ahead, certain public and private figures voicing what amount to disclaimers regarding the issues raised by myself and others.  As a matter of public responsibility, this is frequently proper; cautious perspective is in order, and inciting panic is not.  At the same time it is proper of you to examine such statements, considering sources and motivations, for serious intent or spreading frosting.   I would pay particular attention to comments made by a grand standing ex-Fed chief Allen Greenspan, whose personal "legacy" is on the line, Ben Bernanke, current Fed Chief, who may or may not know what he is doing, and John Snow, Treasury Secretary, for what ought to be obvious reasons.

It is further necessary to keep in perspective the fact that the economy is currently doing very well in terms of overall performance numbers.  The creative destruction occurring in Detroit, the airline industry, and other similarly situated fragments of past Stalinist economic adventures is a healthy development.  Today, any American who wants a job, and who is personally prepared to work, can find a job.  The dangers we are concerned with involve government policies of long and short duration, finding roots in the institution of Congress over many years.  The problem that concerns us is that the economy may be motoring along very well on too much borrowed money and too little real income.  Our concern is that high level (macro economic) policies, set by action or in-action, both monetary and fiscal, are evolving in combination to set up a perfect economic and political storm.  The on-going expansion of government and total debt commitments, the 35 year ongoing foreign balance of payments problem, the on-going failure to engage in real tax reform and budgetary control, are all symptomatic.  It has been the long term failures of Congressional buck passing, fiscal irresponsibility and oversight failure that have birthed a petri dish of risk to the dollar, and ultimately to the economy.  The past actions taken by long retired Senators and Congressmen are always deniable by a new crop held hostage to a fresh round of political obligations to donors and contributors always seeking their own piece of the pie.    JES

Serious Considerations:

03/23/06  Referring back to my comments below (03/18/06) I ponder on the timing of the government's decision to finally release this material [PRE-WAR IRAQI FILES] to the public.  For months many of us have wondered why the administration would withhold information that we were sure all along would bolster the President's case.  One reason, of course, would be the President's natural reticence at appearing to engage in a self serving political exercise that might deflect from the true policy import of the material.   One thing that the President's enemies have never understood about Bush is that, as a man of genuine principle, his actions and decisions have always been guided by what he sees as the responsibilities of his office as opposed to personal political calculation.  So it is that in the context of this understanding, I ponder on the timing of the release of these materials now; was it a calculated decision, or coincidental?  Whatever the real reasoning, the timing, I believe, will prove devastating to Democrats going forward into both new election seasons.  Like timed release medical capsules, the analysis and understanding of this material will work at the pace of a slow but steady boil on the continuing public debate over Iraq, al Qaeda and pre-emption into the Fall of 2006, and beyond.  Coupled with the developing public embarrassment of the major media over their leftist political tilt against the President, the drip, drip, drip of truth by the President's defenders is slowly forcing the wacko left to stand out in the Sun.  Perhaps the timing is not a coincidence.   Perhaps the President has finally come to a point of understanding that his domestic political enemies are just that; his domestic political enemies.  Perhaps he has come to realize that the lies and deceptions told about him, and his supporters, by the left, need to be surfaced, not in his behalf , but in behalf of the interests of a right thinking nation, and in recognition of what is properly owed the men and women of our military services for their service to the nation.  His "red state" support has understood this all along.    JES

Wall Street & Main St: 

03/20/06  Gold prices continue to rise at the same time that long term interest rates remain low, even inverted with short term rates.  Something here doesn't add up.   The higher gold prices are a classic free market signal for looming inflation; the low long term interest rates just the opposite.   This is to suggest some major tinkering with the free market somewhere, and I have long suspected that two culprits are at work, perhaps locked in battle over our future.  On the one hand we have the Chinese, who have locked the value of their currency to the dollar while at the same time buying train loads of US Treasuries as the trade gap widens.   On our side, for approximately the same 18 years, we have had a Federal Reserve System so fixated on "holding down" inflation by various means, including interest rate manipulation, that the necessary free market signals that inflationary pressures should be sending have been suppressed.  Over this long period, real wages have been kept low, and artificially low interest rates have propelled unwise consumer spending.  During the '90s, I could never understand the equities market on free market terms, and behold the dot com/ technology bust finally happened.  Right now we have a lot of freaky stuff going on with real estate, including financing, and re-financing, that is totally irresponsible by classic yardsticks.  Don't blame Walmart, or even the Chinese.  Look at yourself in the mirror, with a picture of Allen Greenspan hung in one corner.   It seems that the hardest lesson we constantly have to re-learn is that there is no free lunch, and that every time you mess with truly free markets, eventually all hell will break loose.  This may prove to be the biggest national security problem we have.  We have allowed the Federal Reserve to manipulate us into a set up for disaster.   We have also allowed Congressional spending, and buck passing to the agencies, to run amok.    I invite you to copy this paragraph off, and also paste it on your mirror, and remember that I told you so when, as it turns out, you may need to shop for a tent.   Hint: also keep an eye on the fortunes of J.P. Morgan and Bank of America (key word: derivatives).  JES

Serious Considerations:

03/19/06  The State of California is taking over Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch, as Michael can no longer pay his bills.  It has been suggested that the perfect client might be Howard Dean's Democratic National Committee, perhaps with what's left of Air America in the guest house.   Not a bad idea, but the original problem remains: who will pay the bills?  JES

03/18/06  The vast trove of captured files from Saddam's Iraq are now being released by direction of National Intelligence Director John Negroponte to the internet.   Go to http://www.dni.gov/release_letter_20060316.html  Keep trying; it's very busy, and will be for months.  The warehouses in Baghdad and Dubai are stuffed, and the government finally had to admit that at the pace they were going (best guess, only 5% processed) it would take them years.  The new policy, totally unprecedented, is to ask for public help in translation and analysis.   Thank you Sen. Rick Santorum R-PA and House Intelligence Chairman Peter Hoekstra, R-MI for pursuing this matter with Mr. Negroponte.  Part of the government's problem has been finding reliable people who understand Arabic.   JES

03/13/06  We have been highly critical of much of President Bush's Conservative starved domestic agenda, save the tax cuts, however he has recently proposed a real winner in the health care arena.  This has to do with his proposed further development of Health Savings Accounts (HSA's.   Tax free.  Restore the direct relationship between patient and doctor.  Puts people back in charge.  Breaks down barriers to shopping insurance across state lines.  More flexibility in the employer / employee relationship on health benefits, including portability of policies, and much more.  I could have written this one.  These are real free market moves that eventually bring down costs.  The one key item that is missing is Tort Reform, as in pulling the plug on law suit abuse.   JES

03/10/06   Dubai Ports World, it is announced, is pulling out of the American component of it's ports proposals.  Perhaps Sheik Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and emir of Dubai, has quickly recognized, and is coming to terms with, the political vulnerability of his own position.  He does have assets to protect, and a broadly based American political tantrum, based more on instinct and emotion, not necessarily on fact, will perhaps yield some positive results in the region, and perhaps even with China in laying down some honest markers on the limits of American indulgence.  However, it is not all an American win.  The Republican party in Congress showed the world cowardice (nothing else was expected of Democrats), and it can be expected that international investors will review their portfolios.   Meanwhile, the security of American ports remains the same open issue, with or without Dubai Ports World.  The failure to act in a timely manner on a list of issues (e.g., the Patriot Act) by American administrators, regulators and Congress itself, is evidence that we are our own worst enemy 4 1/2 years after 09/11.

Having been rescued by Dubai itself from our own ridiculous behavior, there is great opportunity here for ourselves to follow up with much constructive diplomacy, subsequent to much needed repair, not only with the UAE, but regionally, and in the Far East.  It is possible that our recent excellent agreement with India (thank you President Bush) on nuclear cooperation was a positive development working in the background.  If we could only get the sweetcakes out of the Department of State and the CIA.  Meanwhile the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and others in the Arab world, must deal with us, on both market and security collisions, and very shortly, we must deal with Iran on the issue of their nuclear adventure.  Sometimes good thing happen accidentally, but be ready to switch to cash.  JES

03/09/06  Statements emanating today from the Royal family controlling the United Arab Emirates framed as threats, rather than attempts to persuade, throw gasoline on the fire at the wrong time.   The Mountain Observer, and most real Americans generally, do not respond well to threats by foreigners, in particular those dependant on our presence for their own survival.  In the context of past and continuing UAE financial support of declared terrorist organizations, apparently ongoing since 09/11, (precise sources and recipients  still unclear), these comments open the door to an interpretation of events as conscious UAE subterfuge of ourselves, although a firm conclusion on that point may be premature.

They may have oil, but we have the biggest market, and we are in a position to shop, especially if we can get American Democrats to green light domestic drilling (a day dream).   The Emirs have made a tremendous investment in the physical infrastructure of the UAE, both to market their product and to live well, a life style all threatened by IslamicFascist terrorists about them aroused by association with the West.  The UAE Royals are in the same position as the Saudi Royal family, and both either err in the belief that their more militant brethren can be indefinitely purchased, or that a common vision with militant Islam, in the end, is a holy priority.   From our perspective, it is a distinction without a difference; the welcome of American sailors and the purchase of Boeing airliners begin to appear as a Trojan Horse, possibly insincere.   A mutual failure to cooperate on the ports deal is too bad, because there was an opportunity for all parties in the deal to work toward a more forward mutual relationship.  However, like the Turks early in 2003, who now confront a more hostile Europe, the UAE Royal family will now find itself boxed in.  As of this writing, desperate last minute efforts are ongoing to rescue the deal, however, in view of the comments by the UAE Royals referred to above, I am now convinced that it would be an error to proceed.

In the background of this discussion, two general issues hover:

First, there is the matter of Globalization and free trade.  Our own Elites, most especially the Libertarian components of the Republican Coalition, have failed for a long time to recognize the belief by a broad segment of the American population, from Left to Right, including more genuine Conservatives, that unqualified "free trade" was a ticking political time bomb right here at home.  This has been an issue of major concern to the Mountain Observer, and frequently commented about herein (Elsewhere for more detailed discussion).  In a climate of general disagreement, frustration, obfuscation and lack of action regarding the management of our own borders, perhaps our Libertarian Elites in the White House, Congress, K Street and a thousand Board Rooms have never recognized the depth of anger that has gradually manifested itself over a number of years.  The tendency has been to simply dismiss skeptics of "free trade" as self interested obstructionists and, horrors, protectionists, concerned only about their own pocket books.   Now the fact of the matter is that the Mountain Observer believes very forcefully in genuine international free markets, subordinate to our national security interests, including a balanced domestic economy.   As I study further the domestic political reaction to this "ports deal", I have come to sense that my frustration on our management of "free trade" and our balance of payments may be a significant component of a broadly shared frustration on this issue.

Secondly, there is the issue of what makes mohamed tick?   What makes mohamed tick is the deeply held genuine belief that God is not only on mohamed’s side, but that positive martyrdom in the course of destroying the infidel will be rewarded in Heaven.  It is necessary to point out to clueless Secular Western Know-it-Alls, that this belief system, embracing suicide bombers as heroes of the Faith, is a total inversion of what is left of the Judeo-Christian perspective on these matters, which goes a long way to explain the Islamic hatred of Israel and contempt for Christianity.  The moral equivalence is not between Islam and Jews and Christians, but between Islam and clueless Secular Western Know-it-Alls in a common rejection of serious Jews and Christians.  To be sure, it is an interest by accident, not purpose, against serious Jews and Christians, as it is against clueless Secular Western Know-it-Alls that IslamicFascists are most preoccupied over the various issues of cultural decadence.   JES

03/05/06  The time has come to make some adjustments to the War on IslamicFascism.   We are in the midst of a domestic political collapse for the President's strategies, to date, that at times have been confusing, inconsistent, and poorly presented.  At the core of these policy concerns is Iraq.  On the Bush side of the ledger the problem has been a mission creep, both forced by events on the ground, but also, and I would argue primarily, by unrelenting domestic political stabs in the back.   Simply put, al Qaeda has been successful in mining the politics of the American Left to subvert our efforts in Iraq.  There were also problems with our original assessment  as planned, (intelligence corrupted, partially by a longstanding internal policy war with ideological overtones) of the task to be faced post Saddam, whom, I must point out, is still a player.  The President's original assessment of the need to take out Saddam Hussein preemptively was correct in the opinion of the Mountain Observer.   Today, there is no reversal on my part in the wisdom of that decision.    I must also remind readers that the WMD problem remains to this day, not that WMD did not exist, but where did it go.  That remains an open issue. (Elsewhere for more detailed discussion).  Moreover the original list of justifications for our pre-emptive action was much larger, and most significantly included the now well established fact that the Saddam regime was very well hooked up with al Qaeda in a common goal to subvert the West in general, and the United States in particular irrespective of their mutual differences.  (Elsewhere for more detailed discussion).  It is on this basis, as a direct threat to our national security, that this American Nationalist Conservative has always supported this President, not the grander goals of neo-conservatives more exercised with nation building in a Western image.  (e.g. Go to Letter 241 05-07 then go to 09/25/05.)   I have never objected to the idea of building republican democracy in Iraq in principle, except that my residual skepticism has been muted by a priority of supporting a President in the face of outlandish, and I believe actionably subversive speech and activity on the part of the American Left.  Selling freedom is not a bad idea, within the practical limits of the moment, and unfortunately for our side those practical limits have been defined by domestic political duplicity and ignorance, willful or otherwise, and otherwise subject to the Patty Hearst Syndrome of falling for your would be captors.

So it is in the opinion of this writer, that two issues have arisen at the moment that give immediate pause concerning the Presidents current strategy which has come to lean too much on carrots which IslamicFascists regard as weakness, and incomprehensible in their world view of  God's call for jihad against the West without compromise.   Weakness, real or imagined, is provocative to the thug mentality with which we are at war.   

The first has to do with the Dubai Ports World deal, which in my judgment, at this point, may or may not be the right thing to do, but in the apparent political untenability of a very poorly presented proposal, incoherent opposition has been aroused.  (Elsewhere for more detailed discussion).  The second issue has to do with the rapidly approaching need to attack Iranian nuclear war waging capacity.   There is not much time left, and in the opinion of the Mountain Observer, all other options have been exhausted.   There is no issue with our own military capacity for the job; our military is entirely capable of taking on the assignment right now, save for the fact that our bunker busting bomb technology is not quite as far along as it could have been had Congress acted on additional Bush funding requests in this area in 2002.  Now we are faced with the reality of the need to act, not only to neuter Iranian capability and pretense, but to re-establish internationally American seriousness about defeating the greater theater of IslamicFascism as a threat to ourselves.

No small part of the President's political problem has been the accumulation over time of a series of matters, exaggerated, distorted and pushed to the political limits by an arguably subversive MSP (main stream press, also arguably no longer mainstream in the red states).  Specifically this includes, at a minimum, The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, ABC, CNN, and their children about the country.  The matters of grave concern to the Leftist ideologs include "domestic spying"  (the President is on very firm legal and Constitutional ground), Guantanamo Bay, where our only error has been to be too nice and not beat the crap out of people, and  the "mis-handling" of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, blown all out of proportion.  Of graver concern to most of the political spectrum has been the lack of seriousness about correcting our own border problems, held hostage, in part, by the perceived priority for cheap labor.  The President has also hurt his cause by a failure to think twice about the issue of profiling, a necessary tool of intelligence and security administration.  All of this, justified or not, has built to such a level of distraction from our real priorities that rational dialog among ourselves is in a near terminal state.

I am with the President on the War on IslamicFascism, however, I think we need to review policies and make some adjustments that re-prioritize our own national security and curtail the impulses of coddling that can only be misinterpreted as weakness by our enemies and invite dependency by our friends.    JES

03/04/06  On the United Arab Emirates / Dubai Ports World deal, clearly this has turned into another Harriet Miers moment for the President.  There are good solid arguments for the deal to proceed, and there are a host of unanswered questions as to why it should not.  The original error in the handling of this matter was a failure on the part of Homeland Security to not, early on in it's existence, to put a leash on the processes of the now famous Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which has been around for years.   This is the same bureaucratic empire that winked at the Chinese takeover of port operations in Long Beach CA. during the early 90's, about which the current Left Wing complainers complained not a peep.  As everyone over the age of 21 knows, committees are not designed to make sensible executive decisions, and this one certainly has no charter to steer American foreign policy.  That job belongs to the President and his Cabinet.  There should have been a very high level sign-off on the deal.  So it came to pass that the President got blindsided.  So where to go from here? We need to re-establish parental control at the top.   There are real pro's and con's to this deal, and if it goes ahead it should be with a list of security and policy qualifications, generated by the President, not Congress.  That would be a short term fix.   A long term fix would include an in depth examination of what is preventing, or not appealing to, American investors, in these port operation contracts.  I do not know the answer to that question.  We need to find out and remove the barriers and the disincentives.   Meanwhile, the President's casual attitude toward border security in general, coupled with a reluctance to profile, has gotten in the way of sound policy development, and set the wrong tone with the public at large for selling whatever virtues do exist in the newly proposed port arrangements.  JES

03/01/06  On the United Arab Emirates / Dubai Ports World deal, there remain some serious questions to be answered.

    1). Where is the money coming from, and where will it be going?

    2). Why is it that American investors appear to be so disinterested in these port investments in general ?  Is there a premium to be paid above and beyond reasonable market value that functions as a disincentive to normal free market considerations, and if so, wherein lays the value of that premium ?

It is entirely reasonable that there is a general public uproar about all this, and it is long overdue that folks have gotten curious about the same process that resulted in a similar result with the Chinese in Long Beach, CA., several years ago.  The Mountain Observer's concern is not racist; the concern is about the day to day governance of these operations in the hands of those who may not have friendly intentions toward the United States.  Now the fact of the matter is that all Arabs are not our enemies.  Not a few are our friends, quietly begging for our support, and risking their lives so doing in a sea of monstrous terrorist inclination.  Furthermore, not a few, less interested in philosophical debate, are more interested in material benefits.  In our struggle with IslamicFascism we need to exercise great caution about throwing the baby out with the bath water.  We have a very similar problem with the Saudis, Egyptians, Jordanians, the Pakistanis, and so on.  It is not a time for rash conclusions.   Patience and consideration in the area of foreign affairs is not historically an American virtue, especially when our soldier's lives, and our treasure is at stake.  However, in the struggle with IslamicFascism, this is going to have to change, or real tragedy will descend upon us.   Now what to do about the United Arab Emirates / Dubai Ports World deal ?  We proceed with great caution, and our eyes wide open, and we do not leave it all to the Coast Guard and the Homeland Security Agency.   JES

Current Reading Recommendation:                                                                                                                           

THE OTHER WAR: ISRAELIS, PALESTINIANS AND THE STRUGGLE FOR MEDIA SUPREMACY

STEPHANIE GURMANN                                                                                                                   

 ENCOUNTER                                                                          280 PGS                                                $25.95

THE NEW NEW LEFT: HOW AMERICAN POLITICS WORKS TODAY

STEVEN MALANGA                                                                                                                          

 IVAN R. DEE                                                                          157 PGS                                                $22.50

Serious Considerations:

02/24/06  In Iraq a Shiite Shrine gets blown up, generating much turmoil.   Bad stuff, and dangerous.  Our Administration has worked vigorously to promote the republican concept in the ordering of a post Saddam Iraq, and nobody I know has ever been under any illusions about the political risks.  It might not work.  We are getting close to the point where our best option may be to stand back and just let a civil war happen.   Sooner or later, one way or the other, Iraqis are going to have to work this out for themselves.  Our primary national interest is to stand by those who support a non threatening result to us, and to oppose those who do, and they are numerous.  I believe one of our errors was to not plug Saddam in to top of his head while he was still down in his rat hole.  His presence today is, in no small measure, a major encouragement to much of the disruption and chaos that continues to occur.  Much more to say than I've got time for now.   JES

02/24/06  The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an obscure bureaucratic lash up of obscure bureaucracies, signs off on a pending lease deal for US port operations by Dubai Ports World, a creature of the United Arab Emirates.   What is an American Nationalist Conservative to make of this?   It occurs to the Mountain Observer that the first order of business is to get the facts straight.  In this war against IslamicFascism, we are in an asymmetrical battle against certain ideological forces, not nations.  Yeh I know this is a tough concept for a lot of folks to grasp, but it is a fact of life, and our lives depend on it.  Was this a good decision?  Yes, in context, when the facts are known.  Are there legitimate security concern?  Yes, but they are minor by comparison to the total problem of foreign presence within our borders.   When things settle down for me a little bit, I will come back on this in more detail.  Meanwhile, rest assured that I am engaged in extensive data mining on the subject.   JES

02/24/06  Back up and running on a new ISP/Hosting service.   Still sorting out some technical details, but I think the tools are at hand to make some substantial improvements on this site.  JES

02/21/06  I am on the doorstep of major changes with this website which will definitely improve the appearance and utility of the site.  I know I have threatened this before, but this time its for real.  It is being implemented as this is being written; expect a delay of a couple of days as we cut things over, at which time more details will be forthcoming.  I am very excited, and have looked forward to this for a long time.   JES

02/21/06  There is much in the news about big changes in leasing arrangements at 6 major port container operations about which I have some things to say, but not right now, except to say be careful about what you are hearing.  Objective reality is in short supply, as is the accuracy of the reporting.

For 2 or 3 days I will be distracted by changes involving various support services to this web site which will keep me preoccupied, and perhaps site maintenance off line.  This will all be very positive in the end, similar in certain respects for this web site to the successful colonoscopy I had on January 2nd.  JES

02/20/06  To read the newly released (Feb 06)  Joint Chiefs of Staff National Military Strategic Plan for the War on Terrorism go to  www.jcs.mil/.   Must download to read.   33.06 MB  PDF format.  JES

02/19/06  On 10/23/05 (Letter 241 05-07) I got a bit weak kneed about the future of democracy in Haiti, naively hoping that Dumarsais Simeus might do better than eventually proved to be the case.  Too bad for Haiti.  "(Accompanied by a Haitian Judge, the Dumarsais Simeus campaign yesterday walked into the office of Haiti's provisional electoral council, known as the CEP, to retrieve the candidate's official paperwork and were told that the CEP has "lost" his official file.   "Are the files really lost?" asked Guerdy Lissade, attorney for the Simeus campaign, "or have they been destroyed by a joint effort of government officials and some members of the CEP in an effort to prevent Dumarsais Simeus from taking his case to the Supreme Court on behalf of the people who want to vote for the candidate of their choice?")"

For more, and ongoing, go to http://sev.prnewswire.com/legal/20051010/DAF02107102005-1.html. Perhaps I was right all long, that the best thing for Haiti would be for the French to re-colonize the place.  It would also distract the French while giving them something useful to do.   JES

02/16/06     Dick Cheney for President 2008.  Failing that, John Wayne.  Failing that, Ann Coulter.

02/15/06  Fortunately, the Vice President is a bad shot with bird shot in a ladies caliber (28 ga.).  While the Vice President, and ourselves, are primarily concerned about the victim, the White House press corpse is primarily concerned with itself and golden political opportunities. Say tuned. JES

02/15/06  Yesterday the Government Accountability Office and the Homeland Security Department's office of inspector general each released audits, each still a work in progress, that attempt to document enormous waste and irresponsibility in the management and distribution of tax payer resources intended to support the recovery effort.  Go to Katrina for more details.  JES

02/14/06  All 12 Danish cartoons.  It's the principal of the matter.  JES  (I know. I'm working on it)

02/13/06  Central Park in New York City receives 27.9 inches of snow.   Where is global warming when you need it?   JES

Wall Street & Main St: 

02/13/06  A regular reader of these letters will recognize that we have always had certain misgivings about the role played by the Federal Reserve Chairman de Jour.  Arguably, this is partly a problem with the Press, but to myself, it is an issue nonetheless.  So now it is that we have a problem with a former Federal Reserve Chairmen, apparently willing to grandstand before the lights, with the consequence of subverting a new Federal Reserve Chairman de Jour, and perhaps the entire Board.  Of course, the former Federal Reserve Chairmen's speech, supposedly in secret to Wall Street insiders, was worth $250,000, so that's ok.  Aside from questioning the premise for the very existence, or the design of, of a Federal Reserve System in the first place, the question is posed as to who is now running the ship?  The anomalies of the free market, and American sovereignty, continue apace.  The frustration, and cynicism, of ordinary people can be understood.  JES

Serious Considerations:

02/13/06   The Homeland Security Department waves papers and words about as Mexican drug thugs step up their attacks on Homeland Security agents patrolling the border.  Over 190 incidents since last October have been recorded, at an accelerating rate.  The situation is described as "serious" by US officials.  One would hope so, however Homeland Security Secretary, Michael Chertoff reaffirms that the focus will remain on illegal immigrants from countries other than Mexico.  Aside from the fact that it is hardened Mexican drug criminals causing this particular mayhem, why the distinction?  To blame an American market, or the wisdom of American drug laws and policies is to miss the point.  The law is the law, and borders are borders.  Mexican society is free to collapse upon itself if it so wills, but the infection of lawlessness, and disrespect for American sovereignty must end at the border, irrespective of the source.  As for the millions of dollars that US taxpayers have given Mexico in recent years to work security issues, one wonders into whose pockets these funds actually went, and for what purpose.  Perhaps we are funding the invasion of our own country?  Vicente Fox, perhaps you are our Presidents brother, however, you are not mine.  JES

02/13/06   Recent quotes of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad include the following:

                "We ask the West to remove what they created sixty years ago (Israel) and if they do not listen to our recommendations, then the Palestinian nation and other nations will eventually do this for them,"

                "Do the removal of Israel before it is too late and save yourself from the fury of regional nations,"

                "How comes that insulting the prophet of Muslims worldwide is justified within the framework of press freedom, but investigating about the fairy tale Holocaust is not?"

                "The real Holocaust is what is happening in Palestine where the Zionists avail themselves of the fairy tale of Holocaust as blackmail and justification for killing children and women and making innocent people homeless,"

                "The policy of Iran has so far been pursuing nuclear technology within the framework of the NPT and IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), but if you (the West) continue efforts to deprive the Iranian nation from this (nuclear) right, then we would reconsider this policy,"

One need not allow for the absence of context to recognize that the possession of nuclear weapons in the hands of such personalities is not consistent with a happy future for the world.  JES

02/11/06    As quoted of a certain relative of Hillary Rodham Rodham: "If the personal freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution inhibit the government's ability to govern the people, we should look to limit those guarantees" .   It has been repeatedly alleged by insiders that OJ Billyboy was, and is, much less intense about these matters than Hillary Rodham Rodham.  After all, he has now been claimed as George W. Bush's brother, don't you know.  Connect the dots.  Put this in the context of what I offered below 02/08/06.  JES

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Wall Street & Main St: 

02/10/06  Have you noticed that lately the political Left has made little of the issue of the federal budget deficit, that for the moment isn't?  Perhaps that is because the Treasury Department has reported that in January the government ran a surplus in collections of $20.99 billion, proving once again that Art Laffer was right when he scratched that curve on the back of a napkin.   Tax cuts work.  What will not happen next is the real problem.  a). Congress will again go limp on cutting spending.  b). Nobody will consider using that January surplus to draw down the debt.  The excuse will be that, overall, in the months immediately ahead, budgets deficits are still projected, which is true.  But who will take a bet with me that this one month's $20.99 billion surplus will actually be smoothed into the existing spending stream?  No, they will find a way to spend it above and beyond.

Now I will tell you that today, my 66th birthday, I am in a bad mood.   I have been advised by one Fred Barnes that as a small government (traditional) Conservative I am obsolete, and that I need to get with the program.  Well, Mr. Barnes, if you are right that the new wave is big government, big spending "conservatism" under the guidance and wisdom of George W. Bush, then I am off the bus, and you guys are on your own.  The irony of conservatism in America, from the beginning, is that conservative values have always been about defending the founding values which were, in context, essentially revolutionary.  The lessons of Edmond Burke included the counsel of accommodation, as opposed to stiff necked European continental resistance to change that lead to no necks in revolutionary France.  The question then becomes one of where to draw the line.  As an American, I do so with the Founding Values, recognizing the arbitrary nature of this in broader historical context.  I have made my point elsewhere about the income tax.  But I guess I need to point out to Mr. Barnes and his neo-con friends that to present George W. Bush's spending proclivities as Hamiltonian is nuts.  None of the Founders would have endorsed an income tax, and Hamilton specifically endorsed tariffs as a tool to advance American national interests.  (Don't raise that worn out foil of Smoot-Hawley because that is not what I am talking about.  The discussion begins in 1776, not 1932.)

If the mechanics of the Laffer curve have any downside, it would be that big spenders are provided with an ongoing excuse for their corrosive habit.   As with drugs or alcohol uncontrolled, it will only be a matter of time before the whole house of cards comes tumbling down.  JES

02/08/06  In the wake of the breaking of the Abramoff scandals, the long overdue need for true lobbying/campaign contribution reform calls to my attention a matter I have touched on in the past, and that is the very thin line between corporatism, in the broader sense, and fascist economics.  Now as it happens, the system of corporate ownership and operation, especially as it has evolved in the United States, is a magnificent economic arrangement within a truly free market capitalist system.  The trouble starts with political tampering, and the political tampering starts when the political honey (money) pot gets too big.  (This is at the bottom of my complaint with the existence of an income tax, but I digress.)  A corporation is supposed to be a strictly economic engine designed to produce income for its ownership.  Recent years have seen the attachment of additional largely social claims on corporate cash and capital assets by economic predators and social collectivists, not infrequently boring from the inside out, both labor and management, but also from the outside in.  One consequence is that the free market gets subverted.  Another is that political considerations too often become corporate priorities, and private social engineering publicly unaccountable begins to flower.  If the combination of public tax money in the form of grants, activist Liberals and laptop computers isn't already bad enough, then the addition of politically unaccountable corporate managers, occasionally consumed with social guilt, sets up the perfect storm. 

Now I would suggest to you that, in addition, the slippery slope toward economic fascism begins when the lines between government direction and regulation of nominally "private" corporate activity becomes so blurred that the yardsticks of solvency and the discipline of bankruptcy become even debatable.  Politicians run about with "solutions", regulatory mandates and centralized management interference from the outside as the real management collapses in their responsibilities before the threat of further political depredation.   It is but a short step to nationalization, however, in this country most politicians are smart enough, at least so far, to know that they do not have the expertise to run airlines, or steel mills, or even pet shops.   So gutless wonders that they are, they settle for regulation, tax direction and oratorical demagoguery to thrill the crowd and subvert the free market system.  What a mess.  In a social climate of disintegrated public education fixated on cultural and intellectual relativism, what an opportunity for the political savior riding in on a white horse.  Communism is discredited because even Western Statists understand it doesn't work.  For the Statist mindset, however, a fascist organization of things might hold great appeal, stumbling into the backdoor, backwards.  Therein lays the danger of frustrated Leftwing Statists as their world collapses around them.

I have suggested that there are some problems out there, and I could go on.  I simply want people to start connecting the dots and to think about the consequences of their own individual actions, and votes.  Votes, and words, have consequences.  Entire societies and cultures can slowly drift off course, most always tending left.   Where are we, in the United States, going?   Again, I would suggest taking a long hard look at that insufferable error of the 20th century, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution.  JES

Serious Considerations:

02/07/06  The last time Senator John McCain promised "reform" we wound up with the Incumbency Protection Act of 2004, aka campaign reform.  Now, in an ill-disguised preparation for a run at the 2008 GOP Presidential nomination, he apparently has taken on the mission of lobbying reform.  The Senator is not highly regarded by this web site as a reliable team player, not an unusual assessment among Conservatives, or more generally astray GOPers, which is to say he tends to be a loose cannon most frequently in his own behalf.

Selection of the issue of lobbying reform is easy; in the current climate everyone is for it like motherhood and apple pie.  Politicians of all strips see advantage in attempting to persuade the public of their good intentions on the subject, and the dangers of not so doing.  So there is a bipartisan motive for cooperation, unless, of course, one can be persuaded that all the hands in one party are pure, and the hands of the other party are all sullied.  The truth of what actually happened in alleged conversations between Senators McCain and Obama are unclear, and the opportunities for deceit by either or both are abundant.  It is possible that the Arizona Senator's argument with his colleague is honorable, but given his record, how are we to know?  There is the further suspicion of contrived contrition in an attempt at redemption with his own party colleagues.  For the text of Senator McCain's letter to Senator Obama dated 02/06, go to http://mccain.senate.gov.  Stay tuned.  JES

02/05/06   Since 09/11 the Western World, aka Christendom too many years ago, has been walking on eggs around what has by now become clearly evident.  Radical fundamentalist elements of the worldwide Muslim "community" (I really hate this use of the word) for over 100 years have been slowly advancing an aggressive agenda of subverting the West.  Contrary to the fevered imaginations of the political Left, it is not George Bush's fault, nor did he start it, nor has our policy against Saddam Hussein and Iraqi Baathism been an error.  The President himself has done his best to characterize our response to 09/11 as a "War on Terror", when he himself has since admitted that a "war on IslamicFascism" might be a more correct characterization of the effort.   He has always followed up quickly with the caveat that the "extremists" are a minority of the world wide Muslim "community", without every explaining his sources of measurement.  While it is true that most Muslims are not (yet) throwing bombs, there is no accurate or reliable yardstick concerning the quiet thinking and dispositions of these folks regarding their preferred desires for the future of the West, aka "Crusaders".  Truth is that the entire Western World has been more than cautious about drawing conclusions as to what is really going on here, and properly so, for the implications are enormous, and peace is at stake.

So it is that the current worldwide Muslim "community" outrage over some Danish cartoons directed at the Prophet Muhammad throws new relief on the discussion.  Similar cartoons directed at the Pope would draw cheers, not only from Muslims, but also the still dominate Western Secular Left.  Conservatives such as myself would prefer that cartoons inspired by actual hate should not be directed at anyone, while at the same time recognizing a distinction between malice and necessary hard edged political commentary.  Freedom of the press in the Western World, aka Christendom too many years ago, is a generally recognized political and social value, conflicting directly with the fundamental interpretation of Islamic Law which forbids any depictions of the Prophet Muhammad for fear they could lead to idolatry.  So it is that Denmark's Jyllands-Posten has found itself in trouble with "millions" of Muslims, and certain Westerners fearful of defending their own values in the face of Muslim threats.  Like the recent rebellions in France (sorry, but there was more to that than finding a job) the worldwide Muslim "community" may be edging closer to a more open and honest display of their agenda with this current set of tantrums, perhaps displaying a frustration with their own failures to find traction.   (Sort of like the histrionics of the Massachusetts KKK (Kennedy Kerry Klan) over the elevation of United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.)   Now there is Iran, not only threatening Israel, get real, but the entire Western World, aka Christendom too many years ago.  They take these matters very seriously.  So to, do we need to also.  JES

02/04/06  Back in the 40's and 50's when I was a kid Western Union was still going strong.  It functioned as e-mail does today.  After 150 years, Western Union has folded up its tent.  How well do any of you remember the Railway Express Agency, the FedEx and UPS of its day.  And yes, I miss steam locomotives.  JES

02/04/06   Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, you are 85 years old.  Take a break.  You deserve it.  Go fishing.   JES

02/04/06  House Republicans pick Rep. John A. Boehner R-OH as the new House Majority Leader, succeeding Tom DeLay.  We shall see what happens.  The Mountain Observer is very skeptical of this GOP bunch, too frequently hiding under the bed sheets, scared of Democrats.  What a pitiful sight it has been this past year.  There is work to do: making a whole series of tax cuts permanent, starting to pay attention generally to their oversight responsibilities, securing our borders without the President's amnesty proposals, cutting corporate welfare programs which includes serious real cuts in federal spending, etc., etc.   Let's just ignore Democrats and get on with the work at hand.   JES

02/03/06  I've been distracted for a couple of days by the trucking priorities necessary to get myself home for the weekend, so now I finally get to the subject of the President's State of the Union speech.  It's good to see him continue to fight back against his enemies.  I know that is difficult for him to do, because it is difficult for him to acknowledge the fact that some people wish him ill.  George W. Bush likes people, and his natural inclinations are to "reach out" and "get along".  It is, I think, a genuine personal conflict for him when he is rebuffed, and I suspect that there is personal hurt.   However, our President is also a realist about his duties as President, especially as those duties relate to threats against the United States and the American people.  His first responsibility is national security, and he knows it, and his vision is very clear and focused.  His critics, foreign and domestic, see our President as ignorant and stupid, failing to explain, if that is so, how he continues to outfox these same critics and continue to objectively succeed overall.  As a Conservative, from my perspective, this President is not everything I would wish for, but it would be childish to expect perfection from anyone.  It is tough to criticize a leader who has taken the pounding this man has taken from the Left, and who keeps "right on truckin".  His friends need to help him all we can, because the truth of the matter is that Conservatives are winning, and are on the right side of history.  Today, that is our strength.  Conservatives are on the right side of Truth, and the Left is losing their grip.  Their hysterics at the Alito hearing makes my point.  JES

02/03/06  Further thoughts on the elections in Gaza.  It occurs to me that what we have witnessed in Gaza very closely parallels what we would see, and would have seen in Iraq, had we followed the advice of those who have advocated a policy of "cut and run".  As in Iraq, I suspect that there are many good and peacefully inclined Palestinians who were either terrorized into not voting, or into voting a particular way out of genuine physical fear for their lives.  No purple fingers held aloft in Gaza.  This is not to suggest a latent love for Israel on the part of those so intimidated, but, perhaps there is a latent practical recognition that peace might be preferable to unending war and hate.  It is possible that we will never know how truly free Palestinians would have voted.  The common point I am trying to make is the difference in behaviors of Middle East populations, one enjoying some measure of new found security, the other hostage to thugs and criminals.  That the elections turned out as they did was no surprise to this writer.   I think the concessions in Gaza were an error in the first place, affirmed by what continues to unfold. I know many Israelis are getting fatigued, but the time has come for realism.  So it is that I am a student of Benjamin Netanyahu's perspectives on these issues.  And yes, Iranian threats loom over the horizon.

We Americans really do not understand our own fortune at living in a land of relatively true freedom.  And yes, Israel's problem is our problem.   God Bless America.  JES

02/03/06  The Super Bowl is tomorrow.  A city of blue collar Democrats against a city of Howard Dean Democrats.  Thumbs up for the blue collar Democrats; they offer greater hope of eventual salvage.  JES

                                                                   God Bless America

                                                                    Jim                           

                                                                    American Nationalist Conservative

                                                                    Jefferson, CO 80456