Re: If Kerry is elected...

From: Rich Grise (rich_at_example.net)
Date: 10/20/04 

Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2004 04:22:29 GMT

On Tue, 19 Oct 2004 09:55:06 -0700, Mark Fergerson wrote:

> > OK. You're my Secretary of Defense.
>
> Fine. Do I get to put a CIWS on the front of my house for
> drive-by control?

I don't know what a CIWS is, but if you can afford one, why not?
The right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, after all.

> >> Unilateral disarmament doesn't make you "peaceful", it
> makes you a "corpse".
>
> > By whose hand, today? And which corpse? Who's going to
> start trying to kill 250,000,000 Americans? And how long
> would they
> > get away with it, even if we didn't have soldiers stationed
> > in Afghanistan?
>
> By anybody with an axe to grind, or delusions of world
> conquest. You asked "how long would they get away with it?".
> As long as they wanted to, since your first three points
> leave no _defensive_ capabilities at all.

And exactly what are the mechanics of this invasion? Do they come
in LA? San Francisco? Miami? New York? Do they just walk ashore in
South Carolina and Georgia? And how many troops are there? When
they come marching into your neighborhood, don't you think anybody
at all will be shooting at them? Or are you an antigun nut who wants
everybody in America unarmed and defenseless?

Has somebody come up with neighborhood guerilla-fighting tactics
that work better than what the US is doing to Iraq?

...
 
> >> 9. Eliminate local funding of school districts; since
> they have to
> >> conform with Federal guidelines, support all of them
> equally from
> >> Federal funds. Replace the Department of Education with one
> >> ninety-year-old schoomarm.
>
> > No, no, no! Get rid of "federal guidelines" that
> interfere with local
> > issues! Lording it over people, telling them how they
> should/must run
> > their lives, is the entire cause of all the problems
> there have ever
> > been!
>
> Competence in English, math, and other fundamentals are
> not local issues. Would you prefer that schools in L.A.
> teach Ebonics instead of Standard English? The country's
> fragmented enough as it is.

Standards, sure, like the NBS. And I think most people with
common sense will educate their kids sufficiently one way or
the other. And who cares about being "fragmented?" What does
that mean anyway? Where do you draw the line between "fragmented"
and "marching in lockstep"? This is supposed to be a country
of individuals, each running their own life, interacting with
each other from enlightened self-interest.

Unfortunately, for enlightened self-interest to work, the self-
interested parties need to actually _be_ enlightened. :-)
>
> > No government has _any_ business telling people how to
> school their
> > children. Communities used to get together and build
> schools for their own kids, and parents saw to it that the
> kids learned stuff.
>
> I don't give a *** what was adequate for farmers who
> didn't need any education beyond "See Spot *** Jane". This
> is an enormously more complicated world.

People recognize that, and don't need nanny government making
their decisions for them. People who aren't taxed into starvation
can take care of their own quite well, thank yoiu very much -
and it _is_ within enlightened self-interest to raise kids
who can make a lot of money to take care of you in your dotage.

> > These days, kids are just a prop for some bimbo to
> swindle a meal
> > ticket out of some rich sucker, and are shuttled off as
> soon as
> > possible to the consumer factories. Big Brother likes it when
> > everybody marches in lockstep.
>
> *** Big Bro _and_ Littler Bros. I'm talking about giving
> kids the tools to make up their own damn minds.

Then get government out of the education business immediately!
All they do is push propaganda.

>That's
> simply impossible in a locally-funded school in Podunk
> Arkansas because the local asholes will want to keep them
> stupid enough to work in Bubba's coal mine.

If that's what their parents want for them, nobody has any
right to use coercion on them to get them to change their ways.
That's not what America was supposed to be for.
>
> >> 10. Open all ex-Federal lands to homesteading.
>
> > Yeah - hey, wanna do Department of the Interior too? :-)
>
> Gee, will my Defense job leave enough free time? Oh,
> wait; sure, as I'm the laziest *** I know.

Well, since America won't be the bull in the china shop knocking
over everygthing in sight and pissing off every extremist religious
group on the planet, there won't be anythig to defend from!

> >> 11. Keep the National Parks system intact, supported by
> user fees. All
> >> users must enter _and_ leave ***-naked.
>
> > I LOVE it! You're definitely hired!
>
> Well, we wanna keep the environmental damage down...
>
> > Also Minister of Culture. :-)
>
> I'll defer to George Carlin for that post.

Hmm. How about a culture committee?

George Carlin - president
Peewee Herman - Secretary
Steve Martin, Chevy Chase - masters-at-arms
Janean Garafolo - White House Liaison -- no, wait a minute, I'm
going to be in the white house. Laura Kightlinger for liaison.

Suggestions, anyone?

Thanks!
Rich