The End

"Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." - John Adams

This is the end of "Politics and Pigskins". I may start another blog in the future, but I am done discussing the subject of politics on a regular basis.

It seems to me the political battle I have been fighting was a losing battle from the start. John Adams was right.

Ironically, I think the battle was over even before I began it. The 17th Amendment of the Constitution (passed in 1913) sealed our fate, by turning the U.S. Senate into a directly elected legislative body. What seemed like an innocuous thing actually set in process the motion by which the United States will inevitably be destroyed. It changed the United States from a republic into a democracy.

The health care bill which was recently passed brought the subject home to me:

"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that justifies it." - Frederic Bastiat

Bastiat was right, and the health care bill is only the latest example of it. Where in the Constitution does it give the federal government the right to determine medical treatments? Where does the federal government get the right to determine how an insurance contract should be written?

Going back to previous examples of Medicare and Medicaid, where does the federal government get the right to determine how much a doctor can charge for his/her services?

The answer to these questions is simple: He who pays the piper calls the tune.

Once "We the People" decided money wasn't important, money was evil, that opened the floodgates to allowing the government to take what it wanted (as Bastiat said, "a moral code that justifies it"). After that, it was a short distance to creating a legal framework to plunder the people.

The next step? Enslaving the people. You think, how can that happen? I tell you, it has already begun. How much time did you spend on your income taxes this year? That is YOUR time, spent working for the government. For free.

With the passage of health care, whose ultimate result will be the death of the health insurance industry, that will leave the government with no choice but to assume the role of third party payer for all health care costs (God forbid we should take on this responsibility ourselves!). Then the government will decide what to pay for and how much to pay. That may sound innocent enough, but do you consider WHO gets paid? All the medical care providers in the country.

What if the government refuses to pay for what the medical provider deems the best treatment? Too bad.

What if the medical provider cannot make a living from what the government will pay? Too bad.

In a free market, if an employer wasn't willing to pay you enough to make a living from your labor, you have options. You can either go work for someone else, or take up another profession. That is not so easy when you have dedicated your life to the medical profession. That is not so easy when you have student loans to pay off for your medical education.

If you don't see it yet, we are in the process of enslaving the medical providers of this country. This is because the moral code of the Left does not recognize the rights of medical providers. It only recognizes the rights of the sick.

But I am not here to argue about the health care bill. That is just a symptom, not the disease. The disease is democracy.

Mind you, I am not recommending a dictatorship or an authoritarian state. No, a simple republic would suffice. Sadly, Ben Franklin was correctly reluctant about our ability to maintain the United States as a republic.

Why am I done blogging about politics? Simply put, political blogging is generally one of two things: I can either preach to the choir, or confront an opponent who will never be satisfied with anything less than my submission to their views. Only rarely does political blogging end in a reasonable discussion of the finer points of what public policy should be.

Preaching to the choir brings no pleasure. Arguing with an automaton who is well-versed in talking points but completely unacquainted with reason also brings no joy. So why bother?

My final message to you: Feel free to read through my past writings, and comment on them. I may even respond to your comments. But I am done with posting.

I leave you with the following thought:

"ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL
BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS." - George Orwell, Animal Farm

This is not something to be desired, but it is what we have.

Obama in Wonderland Part 2

I couldn't help but get a chuckle from the headline for Thomas Sowell's latest opinion piece: Alice in Health Care. I am glad to see I am not the only person who finds the current health care proposals to be on a level of absurdity approaching Lewis Carroll.

Naturally, Sowell nails the true reason why it all seems so surrealistic:

Most discussions of health care are like something out of Alice in Wonderland.

What is the biggest complaint about the current medical care situation? "It costs too much." Yet one looks in vain for anything in the pending legislation that will lower those costs.

Until someone in the government can provide a health care solution which lowers ALL costs, not just the patient's costs, AND provides the same quality of health care, there is nothing to discuss. Anything else is just a trip down a rabbit hole.

Obama in Wonderland

How did we get back on the topic of healthcare? HOW?!

We had already decided: The majority of American people do not want the bull that Obama is shovelling as a healthcare system (translation: government takeover of the healthcare system). Yet we continue with the silly process of watching that great artist Obama fiddling with healthcare, as America burns with debt and unemployment.

As I watch the Democrats in power today, I can't help feeling like Alice watching the incredible events in Wonderland. It has a surreal feeling, as if aliens or demons or some other kind of fictional characters had suddenly taken over the U.S. government.

But here we are, at the tea party, as our cheshire president promises not to tax the overwhelming majority of Americans, while promising them a benefit on top of our already overwhelming debt. Maybe he has a magic pill which will make the debt grow small? We have already seen his magic pill which made the debt grow big.

One thing I can say with certainty: Our government is mad as a hatter...

Random Super Bowl Thoughts

Now that the Super Bowl is over, here are some random thoughts on it (basically because I don't feel like putting them in any logical order):

1. Congratulations to the Saints! If I have to be proven wrong in my prediction (yes, I wrongly picked the Colts), I enjoy having it done by sheer coaching genius. Sean Payton brought his "A" coaching game. After dominating the Colts in the 2nd quarter, yet still losing on the scoreboard, the idea to run an onside kick to start the 3rd quarter was a no-lose situation for the Saints: If they recover the kick, which they did, they get to compound their already dominant time-of-possession, while disheartening their opponents; if they didn't recover the kick, the Colts end up with a short field, which still leaves the Saints dominating time-of-possession should the Colts score.

2. On the other hand, Jim Caldwell was a major coaching disappointment. He ran the same game plan the Colts have used all season.

3. I would be willing to bet the NFL did not actually hear The Who perform live anytime recently. If they had, they would have realized Roger Daltrey's voice ain't what it used to be. That halftime show was easily the WORST I have ever heard! If the NFL is going to insist on trotting out dinosaur rock bands, then I have a suggestion for next year's Super Bowl halftime: Prop up Elvis's corpse and play his songs over the speakers. It couldn't be any more hideous than what they inflicted on us this year.

4. Too bad Carrie Underwood butchered "The Star Spangled Banner". But I always thought Bo Bice should have won "American Idol" that year.

5. The best commercial was easily Punxsutawney Polamalu: "He saw his shadow! Six more weeks of football!" If that thought doesn't warm a football fan's heart, nothing will.

Jets Grounded, Saints in Heaven

So I was wrong: The Colts beat the Jets.

However, I give the Colts all the credit in the world. They played relatively mistake-free football, especially by comparison to the Vikings last night (losers to the Saints).

But I stick by one part of my prediction: the winner of the Super Bowl will come from the Colts-Jets game. Considering the Saints were not able to capitalize on the Vikings many mistakes, allowing the Vikings to drag them into overtime, how will the Saints do against a team like the Colts which makes few mistakes?

This Super Bowl will be ugly folks: Colts over Saints by 21 points.

Super Bowl Prediction

With the conference championship games this weekend, it is time for me to make a Super Bowl prediction.

The best game this weekend will easily be the Colts against the Jets. While this game could go either way, I lean towards the Jets for these reasons:

1. Offensive line: The Jets O-line may be the best in the NFL. The last time I saw a line that got that kind of push in the running game was the Cowboys back in the 90's.
2. Defense: Evil, wicked, mean, and nasty. Gotta love 'em! Seriously, they play a style of defense I haven't seen since the Ravens earlier this decade, minus the Ray Lewis star power. There isn't a star in this bunch. This is a true blue-collar defense with an attitude. And in the playoffs, I cling to the old adage: Defense wins championships.
3. Rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez: No, he is NOT Peyton Manning. At this point in his career, he is more comparable to Trent Dilfer in 2000 for the Ravens: A great game manager who can give you a big play occasionally to keep the opposing defense honest.
4. Buddy's boy Rex Ryan: Next to Mike Singletary, Rex is my favorite head coach in the NFL. As bombastic as his father, Rex may be the most hated coach in the NFL. But I love his style, and apparently so do his players. But I think too many people look at his style, and overlook Rex's defensive genius. Before his career is over, I suspect people will be mentioning him in the same breath as guys like Buddy Ryan and Bill Parcells. Yes, he is that good.
5. The Big "Mo": The Jets are coming into this game looking like a team on a roll. Momentum is a dangerous thing in the playoffs. Just ask the Steelers, who last year had the "mo" and beat teams who had better seasons. Just ask the Cardinals, who barely slipped into the playoffs last year, but just managed to get enough "mo" to carry them to the Super Bowl.

When I look at the Colts, I see one thing: Peyton Manning. Don't get me wrong, Manning could be enough to beat the Jets. Just look to what Dan Marino did to a similar Bears team on a Monday night back in 1985. Never underestimate the ability of a great quarterback to bring a win at any time. And Manning is loudly making his case for the Hall of Fame with his stellar play.

However, in a game between a great player versus a great team, I'll take the team. JETS OVER COLTS BY 4 POINTS.

In the NFC, this game requires no deep analysis. The Cowboys and Cardinals had no business being in games against the Vikings and Saints, respectively. That said, the Saints won't make things as easy for the Vikings defense as the Cowboys boneheaded offensive gameplan did. Expect Drew Brees to sit back and shoot the Vikings down with a vicious short-passing game. On the other side, the Saints will stuff Adrian Peterson all day, forcing the-quarterback-who-retired-and-came-back-and-retired-and-came-back into beating them with his arm. In a battle between Favre and Brees, I'll take Brees. SAINTS OVER VIKINGS BY 3 POINTS.

Finally, in the Super Bowl, expect the Jets in the biggest upset since, dare I say... Joe Namath? JETS OVER SAINTS BY 11 POINTS.

Done with Democrats

I am over the whole Democratic Party. For the life of me, I can see no virtue in that political party. Not one.

Even the most conservative Democrat (an oxymoron if ever I heard one) is not worth the trouble of voting for, especially on the national level. Why would you vote for anyone who would allow someone like Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid to remain in a position of power?

As for Barack Obama, I never imagined the American public could elect another president worse than Jimmy Carter. I stand corrected.

But for Obama, Pelosi, and Reid to carry on with this travesty of a health care bill, as people remain out of work, is either shockingly stupid, or deviously brilliant. Because the benefits of the bill don't come until 2014 (at the earliest), that leads me to believe they are more on the "shockingly stupid" side, since none of them will get any political gains from this legislation. Going on the campaign trail with, "just wait, you're about to get something really nice", doesn't sell well with people who are out of work.

That doesn't even consider the fact they will be increasing taxes immediately to pay for the Health Care Monstrosity That Ate the United States, AND they are doing this in the middle of a recession! This is a display of intelligence which would be the envy of the fur growing in the bottom of my trash can.

So until I have some reason for hope (an election would be nice), I am done criticizing the federal government. I am done blogging about these fools. It is like the old saying about teaching a pig to sing: Don't try it, because it just frustrates you, and irritates the pig.