The ignorance if frightening

If you have watched The Tonight Show with Jay Leno very often you have probably seen the segment called “jaywalking”. In this segment, Leno interviews people on the street, the objective of which is to find humor in showing how ignorant people are. The questions Leno ask his subjects may be something like, “What two countries fought in the Spanish-American war?” or, “What does Bush 43 mean?” It is quite funny. Few people have the self-confidence, or whatever it takes, to say “I don’t know.” Most people take a guess or make something up. (If you would like to view some jaywalking segments, click here: Jaywalking.)

I have laughed along with the audience and enjoyed it but found myself amazed that people could be so ignorant. I have wondered if the producers did not have to shoot hours and hours of footage to be able to compile five minutes of dumb answers that they could show on TV. I know I don’t personally know anyone as ignorant as the people you see on jaywalking.

Occasionally however, I run into people who will spout some pretty ignorant stuff. Once I was at a family gathering and said something about a recent trip my wife and I taken to Spain and a distant in-law asked me if we drove or we flew to Spain. She was a teenager and I assume she was of normal intelligence. Occasionally, I will encounter people who I suspect are probably really dumb but I really don’t know if for a fact. Sometimes someone will make a comment that is a generalization about a country or ethnic group that displays a bigotry that I assume is rooted in ignorance. I will also occasionally hear someone say something about the age of the earth or something about geography or history that will show his or her ignorance.

The press release from Intercollegiate Studies Institute posted below is really disturbing. I am astonished that less than half of the people surveyed can name all three branches of the government. I would expect every person of normal intelligence to know that.

We live in an era when it has never been easier to be informed. We have the world at our fingertips. Cable TV has cultural and educational programs carried on channels like The History Channel and The Learning Channel and there are several stations carrying news and commentary twenty-four hours a day.

I watch a lot of Book TV. On Book TV, every weekend you can watch scholars discuss their research and expound on the topic of which they are expert. I watch CSPAN and am often impressed at the brilliants of some of our representatives. I remember watching the confirmation hearing of Supreme Court nominees and felt like I was sitting in the presence of very wise men. Even those men and women with whom I disagree, when they questioned the nominee I felt like they were asking meaningful questions and showing a depth of knowledge. They were not merely playing “gotcha.” they were probing to discover fine philosophical nuances. We can sit in the presence of greatness every day if we wish. We have opportunities they were once reserved for the very few.

With the availability of the Internet, the knowledge that in the past could only be acquired by sitting in a university classroom or spending hours in a major library can now be obtained in minutes wherever you may be, whenever you wish. We have never in the history of mankind had as much information available so cheaply and easily. And yet, I wonder if the average person is any better educated than their great grandparents.

The lack of knowledge and understanding of basic economics, history, and civics is frightening. It is worrisome to think that the fate of our country and our freedom is in the hands of people who cannot name even one right or freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment. It is scary to think that these people vote. Not only do they vote, they get elected to public office. Given the ignorance of such a large segment of the public, I wonder how long we can remain free.

NEW STUDY FINDS AMERICANS IGNORANT OF HISTORY AND ECONOMICS

Third Intercollegiate Studies Institute Report on Civic Literacy Suggests There is an Epidemic of Historical, Political and Economic Ignorance in America; Colleges Must be Main Part of Cure

Washington, D.C., November 20, 2008 – Are most people, including college graduates, civically illiterate? Do elected officials know even less than most citizens about civic topics such as history, government, and economics? The answer is yes on both counts according to a new study by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI). More than 2,500 randomly selected Americans took ISI’s basic 33question test on civic literacy and more than 1,700 people failed, with the average score 49 percent, or an “F.” Elected officials scored even lower than the general public with an average score of 44 percent and only 0.8 percent (or 21) of all surveyed earned an “A.”

Even more startling is the fact that over twice as many people know Paula Abdul was a judge on American Idol than know that the phrase “government of the people, by the people, for the people” comes from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

Complete results from ISI’s third study on American civic literacy are being released today in a report entitled Our Fading Heritage: Americans Fail a Basic Test on Their History and Institutions. The new study follows up two previous reports from ISI’s National Civic Literacy Board that revealed a major void in civic knowledge among the nation’s college students. This report goes beyond the college crowd however, examining the civic literacy of everyday citizens,
including selfidentified elected officials. But according to ISI, the blame and solution again lie at the doorstep of the nation’s colleges.

“There is an epidemic of economic, political, and historical ignorance in our country,” says Josiah Bunting, III, Chairman of ISI’s National Civic Literacy Board. “It is disturbing enough that the general public failed ISI’s civic literacy test, but when you consider the even more dismal scores of elected officials, you have to be concerned. How can political leaders make informed decisions if they don’t understand the American experience? Colleges can, and should, play an important role in curing this national epidemic of ignorance.”

A large majority of respondents agree colleges should prepare citizen leaders by teaching America’s history, key texts and institutions. Seventy two percent of respondents with a high school diploma believe colleges should teach our heritage as do 74 percent with graduate degrees. However, the impact of college in advancing civic knowledge, as evidenced in ISI’s first two studies, is minimal. In the new study, this trend is confirmed. The average score among those who ended their formal education with a bachelor’s degree is 57 percent or an “F”, which is only 13 percentage points higher than the average score of 44 percent earned by those who hold high school diplomas. And when you hold other noncollege influences constant, the gain from a college degree drops to about 6 percent, quite consistent with past ISI findings.

Further demonstrating the minimal influence of college in advancing civic literacy, ISI discovered that the civic knowledge gained from the combination of engaging in frequent conversations about public affairs, reading about current events and history and participating in advanced civic activities is greater than the gain from an expensive bachelor’s degree alone. Conversely, talking on the phone, watching owned or rented movies and monitoring TV news broadcasts and documentaries diminish a respondent’s civic literacy.

“People may be listening to television experts talk about economic bailouts and the platforms of political candidates, but they apparently have little idea what our basic economic and political institutions are,” observes Dr. Richard Brake, ISI’s Director of University Stewardship. “Our study raises significant questions about whether citizens who voted in this year’s landmark presidential election really understand how our system of representative democracy works.”

For example, Brake points out that less than half of all Americans can name all three branches of government. And only 21 percent know the phrase “government of the people, by the people, for the people” comes from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, which President elect Barack Obama cited in his acceptance speech on Election night.

Following is a sampling of other results from several basic survey questions:

• 30 percent of elected officials do not know that “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” are the inalienable rights referred to in the Declaration of Independence; and 20 percent falsely believe that the Electoral College “was established to supervise the first presidential debates”
• Almost 40 percent of all respondents falsely believe the president has the power to declare war
• 40 percent of those with a bachelor’s degree do not know business profit equals revenue minus expenses
• Only 54 percent with a bachelor’s degree correctly define free enterprise as a system in which individuals create, exchange and control goods and resources
• 20.7 percent of Americans falsely believe that the Federal Reserve can increase or decrease government spending

“The nation’s ignorance of the kind of knowledge necessary for informed and responsible citizenship—and the failure of our nation’s colleges to effectively address and fix this problem— would certainly be unacceptable to our founding fathers, who believed that the university would create leaders to preserve liberty,” asserts Dr. Brake. “Our report demonstrates that Americans today expect no less from our colleges than our founders did.”

The report calls upon elected officials, administrators, trustees, faculty donors, taxpayers and parents to reevaluate collegiate curricula and standards for accountability. Some of the questions ISI believes need to be asked are the following:
o Do colleges require courses in American history, politics, economics and other core areas?
o Do colleges assess the civic or overall learning of their graduates?
o Do elected officials link college appropriations to real measures of civic or overall learning?

“Citizenship is a lifelong commitment,” says Bunting. “Colleges need to do their part to help young citizens keep their commitment. In the process, they will be helping to preserve the civic vitality of our nation.”

The ISI test was administered in conjunction with Dr. Kenneth Dautrich of the University of Connecticut and Braun Research, Inc. All 33 questions and ISI’s Our Fading Heritage report are
available at http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/.

About the Intercollegiate Studies Institute: The Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) (www.isi.org) was founded in 1953 to further in successive generations of American college youth a better understanding of the economic, political, and ethical values that sustain a free and humane society. With ISI’s volunteer representatives at over 900 colleges, and with more than 65,000 ISI student and faculty members on virtually every campus in the country, ISI directs tens of thousands of young people each year to a wide array of educational programs that deepen their understanding of the American ideal of ordered liberty.

The Perfect Thanksgiving

By Erick D. Snider (link)

A Conservative's Guide to the Perfect Thanksgiving

Pause and reflect on the first Thanksgiving, way back in 1621. The savage Indians, tragically unacquainted with God, were so grateful to the Pilgrims for bringing them the light that they prepared a feast for them. In return, the Pilgrims taught the Indians to abandon their primitive ways and embrace Christianity. And thanks to those early settlers converting or killing everyone who opposed them, America has been a Christian nation ever since!

A Liberal's Guide to the Perfect Thanksgiving

Be sure to pause for a moment and reflect on the first Thanksgiving, when America's legacy of arrogance and aggression was just beginning. Unbidden and unwelcome, our forefathers took food from passive Native Americans whose tribes had existed in complete peace and harmony for hundreds of years without a single inter-tribal conflict. In return, we introduced them to guns, deprivation, and death.

Comment
I wish I had written this. Click the above link for the complete article. It is very clever.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Trade versus Protectionism

Walter E. Williams, Wednesday, November 26, 2008

There's a growing anti-trade sentiment in our country. Much of the dialogue is grossly misinformed. Let's try to untangle it a bit with a few questions and observations. (link)

Comment:
Since the economic downturn I also have observed the growing protectionist sentiment. Even among people who I suspect are normally conservative you hear comments about how we need to "buy American" and "stop sending jobs overseas."

Last week I attended a screening of a documentary, I.O.U.S.A. This film addressed the problem of the enormous debt burden of the US government as well as American households. About 150 people or so attended the event. Following the film there was a lively discussion that lasted about forty-five minutes. The solution offered by several participants was to buy American made products. Some, went as far as to suggest we should buy locally produced products whenever possible. Not just "buy American" but "buy Tennessee." I fear that as this economic downturn continues that we could see protectionism take on a patriotic fervor. A resort to protectionism will grantee that the current economic difficulties become a world-wide, long-lasting depression.

Protectionism is the worse possible response to the current crisis. I hope rational thought will prevail and the new administration and Congress does not give in to the rising demand for protectionist policies.

This is a good article by Walter Williams. Please read it. One argument he makes is that contrary to popular opinion, we are not losing our manufacturing base. We just make different stuff and it takes fewer people to make it. Manufacturing output is actually growing. People seem to know this in agriculture. It takes a lot fewer farm workers to produce the food we need and markets adjust, yet many people seem to think that they should be entitled to the same manufacturing jobs that their daddy had.

One argument you often here is the demand for retaliatory trade barriers. This is often the disguised as a call for "Fair Trade." Williams makes this argument:

Japanese protectionist restrictions on rice imports force Japanese consumers to
pay three or four times the world price for rice. How much sense does it make
for Congress to retaliate against Japan by imposing restrictions on their
products thereby forcing American consumers, say Lexus buyers, to pay higher
prices? Should our rule be: If one country screws its citizens we should
retaliate by screwing our citizens?

Bad times can bring out the worst in people and people often look for scapegoats. When you combine this impulse to look for places to lay the blame combined with economic ignorance, we may see a demand from the people for the government to really screw us and adopt policies that will grantee this crisis last a long, long time. I hope our representatives are a lot smarter than the people they represent.

The God problem

Call them “values voters” or “social conservatives” or “the Christian right” or whatever term may you may wish to use to refer to them, but I believe that that faction of the Republican Party is becoming a drag on the party and it is time their influence was lessened.

Ever since about 1979 when Jerry Falwell founded the Moral Majority, the religious right has been an important segment of the Republican Party. The party’s victories for the last thirty years would likely not have occurred without this faction. They consistently vote, contribute and volunteer. But, I now suspect that they drive more people away than they attract. The identity of the Republican Party as the party of prudes and religious fanatics is harming the party.

Now don’t get me wrong. I oppose gay marriage, I would like to see abortion restricted, and I respect tradition; so I guess to a certain extend, that makes me a “values voters” also. However, I am just not comfortable with a lot of the religious right. I do not want creationism taught as science. I think if science can be advanced by stem cell research using embryos that are to be discarded anyway, then we should do it. While I want my local schools to acknowledge Christmas and I think it is OK if a Christmas carol is sang at school or played by a high school marching band, I think we should try to keep Christmas primarily secular in the public square and not use it as a government sponsored opportunity to proselytize.

It is more than a disagreement over specific issues that make me uncomfortable with the religious right. I am just not comfortable with people who think God is on their side. I am OK with people who talk to God; people that God talks to concern me.

The religious right often appears angry, judgmental, intolerant, and self-righteous. Also, I fear that if they had their way they would like to do more than they now do to impose their morality. I suspect that they would drape all the art that featured the nude human form, they would mandate modesty, make all TV safe for their nine year-olds to watch, lock up homosexuals, ban co-habitation of unmarried people, close stores on Sunday, and ban the sale of alcohol. I bet most of those people who pressure politicians to “clean up the city” are religious Republicans.

Also, the religious right folks are just not a lot of fun. If I was a non-political young person and could attend either the Republican Convention or the Democratic Convention, which one would I choose to attend? Somehow, I just think the Democrats would be a lot more fun.

On election night the Republicans unexpectantly won both houses of the Tennessee State legislature. At the Williamson County Republican Party election night party, those attending joined hands and had a prayer of thanksgiving. I would rather be at a party where victory calls for breaking out the Champaign.

I suspect that there are people who are, or would be, economic conservatives, and national defense conservatives, and moderate social conservatives but who are not Republicans. These are people who are essentially secular and cannot feel at home at a gathering dominated by people who take their religion so seriously. Face it, there are a lot more secularist and people who take their religion with a grain of salt than there are devout Christians. If the Republican Party becomes the Christian Party, we will loose.

I don’t like the blending of the sacred and the political. I would prefer to let the Church concern itself with man’s eternal soul and my political party concern itself with this world and the hear and now. Recently there has developed a modest movement of a more liberal branch of evangelical Christians. I think this is a welcome development. We should welcome the separating of religious faith from political affiliation. It will be good for the Party if evangelicals are not automatically assumed to be Republicans. If a Bible-believing, teetotaler, praying-in-tongues person might also be a Democrat that is a good thing.

Now the Democrats get all or the hedonist and the Republicans get all of the real Christians. Let some to the Bible-thumpers become Democrats. I will trade you one Christians liberal for two hedonists who want to cut taxes.

Giving up on God

By Kathleen ParkerWednesday, The Washington Post, November 19, 2008; 12:00 AM

As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit.

Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D. (link)

Comment: This is an important article on the future of the Republican Party. My commentary on the topic will follow.

Courage Under Fire

I watch a lot of movies but only occasionally find one I like well enough to recommend. This is one. It is one of those movies that when it ended, I didn't want to immediately do anything else. I wanted to just sit and watch the final credits play and come down from the emotional ride and contemplate what I had just watched. The movie is both heartbreaking and exhilarating.

The final scene of the movie has Colonel Serling standing before the headstone of Captain Walden in Arlington Cemetery. In the voice of Captain Walden, the letter she wrote to her parents to be read if she died in battle is recited. This may bring a lump to your throat and a tear to your eye.

Below is a synopsis of the story provided by the Blockbuster website.

A soldier discovers how elusive the truth can be in this first major film about America's role in the Gulf War. Lt. Col. Nathaniel Serling (Denzel Washington) was the commander of a unit during Operation Desert Storm who mistakenly ordered the destruction of what he believed to be an enemy tank, only to discover that it actually held U.S. soldiers, including a close friend. Since then, Serling has been an emotional wreck, drinking heavily and allowing his marriage to teeter on the brink of collapse. As a means of redeeming himself, Serling is given a new assignment by his superior, Gen. Hershberg (Michael Moriarty). Capt. Karen Walden (Meg Ryan) was a helicopter pilot who died in battle during the Iraqi conflict, and the White House has proposed that Walden be posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Serling is asked to investigate Walden's actions on the field of battle, but he quickly discovers that no two stories about her are quite the same; Ilario (Matt Damon) says Walden acted heroically and sacrificed herself to save the others in her company, while Monfriez (Lou Diamond Phillps) claims she was a coward who was attempting to surrender to enemy troops. Meanwhile, reporter Tony Gartner (Scott Glenn) is hounding Serling, trying to get the inside story on Walden and on Serling's own difficulties. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The shocking Sarah Palin turkey story

The folks over at Huffington Post are shocked, shocked I tell you, that Sarah Palin would be interviewed while turkeys are slaughtered in the background.

Here is the story:

Some videos you just have to see to believe. On Thursday, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin appeared in Wasilla in order to pardon a local turkey in anticipation of Thanksgiving. This proved to be a slightly absurd but ultimately unremarkable event. But what came next was positively surreal. After the pardon Palin proceeded to do an interview with a local TV station while the turkeys were being SLAUGHTERED in the background!!

Seemingly oblivious to the gruesomeness going on over her shoulder, she carries on talking for over three minutes. Watch the video below to see for yourself. Be warned, it's kind of gruesome.

They just can't believe it. It is "positively surreal". Huffington even has to put "slaughtered" in all caps. They have to use two exclamation points to make their point. It is "gruesome." OK, watch if for yourself.

I am really not grossed out. I am not shocked.

I did not grow up on a farm, but we had a couple acres and raised chickens and pigs. I never witnessed the slaughter of the pigs, but saw the dead carcasses after they had been killed and cleaned. I have eaten the sausage and bacon and ham of the pigs I fed every morning and enjoyed it. I have caught chickens and cut their heads off for my mom to cook for dinner. My classmates were farm kids and raised calves for their 4-H project. They fed them and groomed them and showed them at the county fair where they were sold at action to become meat.

I never went hunting myself; my dad was not a hunter. But, I grew up with people who regularly went hunting. The seasons of the year were rabbit season, and deer season, and dove season.

I think that Sarah Palin can give an interview in front of a man going about the business of killing turkeys and think nothing about it, is an indication of a cultural divide. I doubt people in Alaska think it is that unusual that animals are killed for food. It is probably something they take for granted. I doubt Sarah Palin has been socialized to be squeamish about it or be sensitive to the squeamishness of others. The fact that animals are killed for food is not something so strange for her or for many of us who grew up in rural areas. I know that fewer and fewer people have a connection to the food they eat, but guess what: that meat in the supermarket wrapped in cellophane and Styrofoam was once an animal. Shocking to discover, I know. I have known for a long time were meat comes from.

Are the Good Times Really Over for Good

I wish it was Morning in America, but I keep wonderning if The Good Times are Really Over for Good. If seeing the film I.O.U.S.A doesn't depress you, then here is a theme song to go along with the movie. This ought to do it. If you would like to Just Stay Here and Drink, open a beer and sing along.

I wish a buck was still silver.
It was back when the country was strong.
Back before Elvis; before the Vietnam war came along.
Before The Beatles and "Yesterday",
When a man could still work, and still would.
Is the best of the free life behind us now?
Are the good times really over for good?

Are we rolling down hill like a snowball headed for hell?
With no kind of chance for the Flag or the Liberty bell.
Wish a Ford and a Chevy,
Could still last ten years, like they should.
Is the best of the free life behind us now?
Are the good times really over for good?

I wish coke was still cola,
And a joint was a bad place to be.
And it was back before Nixon lied to us all on TV.
Before microwave ovens,
When a girl could still cook and still would.
Is the best of the free life behind us now?
Are the good times really over for good?

Are we rolling down hill like a snowball headed for hell?
With no kind of chance for the Flag or the Liberty bell.
Wish a Ford and a Chevy,
Could still last ten years, like they should.
Is the best of the free life behind us now?
Are the good times really over for good?

Stop rolling down hill like a snowball headed for hell.
Stand up for the Flag and let's all ring the Liberty bell.
Let's make a Ford and a Chevy,
Stil last ten years, like they should.
The best of the free life is still yet to come,
The good times ain't over for good.

I.O.U.S.A., One Nation, Under Stress, In Debt.

Last night I attended a special screening of a documentary film called I.O.U.S.A. The documentary was produced and directed by the award-winning team of Christine O'Malley and Patrick Creadon. Their most famous documentary is Wordplay which was a hit at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. It was about the editor of the New York Times crossword puzzle and was the second-highest gossing documentary of 2006 and won several awards.

The screening of I.O.U.S.A. was presented locally by Nashville Public Television and Nashville Public Library as part of the Independent Television Community Cinema. Prior to the screening was a wine and snack reception and following the showing was a group discussion led by a panel of prominent Nashvillians.

Prior to the event, I enjoyed pleasant chic-chat with interesting people along with the wine and cheese and after the showing, enjoyed the lively discussion.

This documentary examines the rapidly growing national debt and its consequences for the United States and its citizens. People interviewed in the film include Warren Buffett, Alan Greenspan, Paul O'Neill, Robert Rubin, and Paul Volcker. I already knew some of what the film presented but did not know just how gloomy of a situation we face. With charts and grafts and historical context, this film put the financial problem of the US’s debt in perspective.

The debt of United States is 8.7 Trillion dollars or about 64% of our 13.5 trillion dollar GDP. The level of debt to GDP however is not the real problem, disturbing though it may be. The real problem is the unfunded obligations for social security and Medicare, which amount to $53 trillion and getting greater all the time. Under the Bush Administration the problem was made much worse due to the passage of the Medicare drug benefit. With budget deficits and recent financial bailouts we are digging a deeper hole daily.

In addition to this enormous debt obligation of the United States, we have a huge trade deficit. Much of America’s debt, unlike in the past when American debt was held by Americans, is held by foreign nations. Also, individual American households are collectively debtors. For most of our history, American households saved money; now, Americans are deeply in debt with more and more people living beyond their means.

This film paints a disturbing picture. At the conclusion of the film you are urged to call your congressman and tell them to “do something.” If I have a criticism of the film, it is that it does not tell you what to tell your congressman to do. I think the film is very good at defining the problems but is short on providing solutions. There are no easy answers. Many politicians call for cutting waste and ending earmarks or ending the war in Iraq. If we did all of this, it would only make a very small dent in the problem. It would only slightly slow the rate at which we are digging a deeper hole; it would not stop the slide into deeper and deeper debt. Cutting current spending will not get us out of this hole.

I am not sure anyone knows what the solution may be. Raising taxes to balance the budget may be counterproductive and actually result in a slowing economy and increase the debt and American would not toleration a repudiation of the benefits promised retiring Americans. With the first of the baby boomers ready to retire starting next year, we face a severe crisis. If we inflate the money supply to meet our obligations, that will also have dire consequences.

If this film event comes to your city, I urge you to go see it. The bad news goes down easier with cheese and wine and in the company of interesting people. Below is a link to a 30-minute version of the film: I.O.U.S.A.

Bailout like a bad rerun from 1970s

by Ben Cunningham, The Tennessean, November 12, 2008

Fool me twice, shame on me. In 1979, U.S. taxpayers saved Chrysler management from many years of stunningly bad judgment. (link)

Comment

This is a very good article by Ben Cunningham that was published in the Tennessean last Wednesday. Ben is a citizen activist who was the leader a couple years ago of the movement that stopped Tennessee from adopting a state income tax. I belong to an informal organization along with Ben called Right of Center Bloggers. From time to time the group meets to hear from guest speakers and to share ideas. Ben's blog is Taxing Tennessee.

In this insightful article, Ben argues that we should not prop up mediocrity by bailing out the auto industry. Obviously, I agree.

Socialism? It is already here.

In his column today, “Socialism? It is already here”, George Will makes the point that spreading the wealth is nothing new. That is what any government action does that takes money from some people and gives it to others.

George Will argues, “The supreme law of the land is the principle of concentrated benefits and dispersed costs.” He gives the example of the protectionism provided the sugar industry. “Sugar import quotas cost the American people approximately $2 billion a year,” writes Will, “ but that sum is siphoned from 300 million consumers in small, hidden increments that are not noticed. The few thousand sugar producers on whom billions are thereby conferred do notice and are grateful to the government that bilks the many for the enrichment of the few.”

It struck me as phony that the Obama’s remark about spreading the wealth was treated as if it was a major revelation revealing Obama’s socialist, if not Marxist, ideology. In my post of November 7, “If Obama is a Socialist…So was Ronald Reagan” I made a point similar to what Will makes in his article today. Spreading the wealth is not new.

Will is critical of the conservative’s attempt to pin the socialist label on Omaba. “Hyperbole is not harmless; careless language bewitches the speaker's intelligence.” And he says, “if conservatives call all such spreading by government ‘socialism’, that becomes a classification that no longer classifies: It includes almost everything, including the refundable tax credit on which McCain's health-care plan depended.”

I think Will is right.

Bush to Declare Martial Law

Generally reading more conservative Blogs and chat groups than liberal blogs and groups, I have tended to think we on the right had a lot of nuts among us. However, in the last couple days I have been exploring the left side of the blogosphere and talk about nuts; the left may have more of the Tinfoil Hat Crowd than we do.

You would think the left would be joyous that they have won the recent election, and most lefties are; however, there is this contingency that really can’t enjoy their victory because they believe that there will be a right wing coup between now and inauguration day. They are really worried about it. They are downright gloomy. Many of them thought it would happen before the election, but now that Bush-Cheney allowed the election to occur, they think it will happen between now and inauguration day.

Type into Goggle “Bush to declare martial law” and you get 257,000 hits! There are whole websites devoted to the topic. Troops are coming home from Iraq. Good news? Nope! They are being brought home to take part in the coup.

Many think that Bush will start a war with Iran and use the unrest that would follow as an excuse to declare marshal law and prevent Obama from taking office. Others think that the excuse will be tied to the financial crisis.

Remember Naomi Wolf? She was the “third wave” feminist who a few years back gained notoriety for promoting the view that a woman’s desire to lose weight and look attractive was evidence of oppression. She is best known perhaps as the consultant to Al Gore who was paid a salary of thousands of dollars a month to tell Al how to appeal to women voters and which tie to wear. Well, Wolf is a big proponent of this view that a coup is imminent. Another person who has been warning of a coming coup is Ralph Nader. Lou Dobbs is also helping spread this fear as are web sites such as Daily Kos and the popular chat group Secular Humanist. I am not going to post a bunch of links or Youtube videos but if you doubt me, do the goggle search for yourself.

The Internet is a wonderful thing, but it does allow the nuts to get together. Those who read nothing but postings from other nuts can feel that they are the only one who possess the truth and know what is really going on. They can feel empowered, being part of what they perceive as a large movement. It can make them think that their nuttiness is normal.

Aware of all the crazies who believed that 9-11 was an inside job, I guess nothing should surprise me. It is disturbing, however, to think that so many people really expect a military coup in America. They don't just think it is possible, they expect it. There is one thing that is reassuring about this: I was concerned about the right-wingers who are stockpiling weapons in anticipation of Obama taking office, fearful that an Obama Presidency would spell the end of a free America and a revolution may be necessary. I was beginning to think the Republican party attracted a lot of nuts and maybe we were the party of stupid people. It is comforting to know that there are just as many, and maybe more, nuts on the other side.

Republicans win in Tennessee

While Republicans took a beating all across the nation and we lost the Presidency and both houses of Congress, in Tennessee, Republicans won big taking control of both houses of the State Legislature. The Republican win was unexpected. It appears that McCain’s big win in Tennessee helped Republicans running for State House and Senate seats. Primarily in rural areas of the state, Republicans defeated Democrats and picked up seats.

I am delighted my party won. The Republican win probably weakens the Governor’s push to expand education down to the pre-pre-pre-Kindergarten level and means more emphasis on K-12 education. It probably means we are safe from a state income tax for a while. It may mean those Democrats who got jobs and contracts due to party affiliation may loose their jobs and contracts and they will be given to deserving Republicans. It means we will get more buildings, bridges, and roads named after Republicans rather than Democrats. This win will help Republican lawyers. Those who seek favor from the government will fire the lobbyist with Democratic connections and hire lobbyist with Republican connections. We will probably get some meaningless symbolic legislation passed that addresses abortion and gun ownership.

I am concerned, however about one issue that is important to me. With the election of these conservative, religious, rural legislators, does this mean I can forget about being able to buy wine in the grocery store?

Rod Williams discusses avoiding mortgage foreclosure

On Thursday November 13, I appeared live on the Tennessean's web cast "Lunch Money." I was interviewed by Tennessean Business Editor Randy McClain and discussed the mortgage crisis and how homeowners can work with their mortgage company to get a work out. I outlined the various work out options. It is a 30 minute web cast. Click here to view the program: Link