History is like Groundhog Day (over and over and over again)

By Curtis Dahlgren

"Even Napoleon had his Watergate." — Yogi Berra

YOU CAN'T FOOL ALL THE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME. But they certainly CAN HOPE, can't they? Babe Ruth was once asked how he justified making more money than the President, and he said he had had a better year than the President.

Being a "Progressive" must be no fun at all. They've gone from Climategate to Glaciergate to, most recently, RainForestGate.* Even Rush Limbaugh has had a better year than the Progressives. And judging the Miss America contest was only #9 on his Top Ten list.

Incidentally, from now on, "Do you believe in gay marriage?" and answering it "right" is going to be a prerequisite in these sort of pageants (like the "oral exams" for doctoral candidates in universities). One grad student in Arabic was asked to express his views on abortion in Arabic (the better to gobble up and spit out those wascally conservatives trying to "invade" Academe).

I think I'll try to enter the Miss America pageant next year as a 68-year-old male, and sue for discrimination if they object. If I were asked the "do you believe gays should be allowed to marry?" question, I would say:

"That's not the question. The real question is whether we should allow Swedes and Norwegians to marry. Divorce is bad, but with Scandinavians it could lead to Civil War."

Anyway, today is Groundhog Day in most of the lower 55 states. Alaska has Marmot Day, but in the UP of Michigan, it comes on the second day of May. Marmots and groundhogs are scarce up here, so we use badgers. If a badger comes out of his hole on May 2, we just shoot it (they dig potholes in our dirt roads). Just kidding about shooting him/her. But on to more boring subjects:

I saw an actual headline this week on YahooNews that said, "Obama still loved by the over-educated."

Last week I saw a headline that said, "Arnold proposes moving alien prisoners to Mexico." There goes his invitation to the White House. Reminds me of the blonde joke I just heard.

A political science class in college was debating whether the Constitutional ban on Presidents not naturally-born U.S. citizens should be amended, and this blonde says, "It's not FAIR. Natural-born citizens are no more qualified than those born by C-section." True story, I think (and she votes!).

You know, the country started going to hell years ago when history was replaced with sociology and became known as "social science" — and horse-stealing came to be called "political SCIENCE."

Memo to self: Remember to write Michael Steele and suggest that the RNC fire all of its consultants and focus-group pollsters. The money could be much better spent buying booze in local bars just to hear the people talk. I was in a local establishment the other day and Glenn Beck was on TV holding a mini-seminar on the origins and intentions of the "Progressive" movement. Most of us were actually watching, but one guy waved his hand and said, "That guy just goes on and on." I don't think he understood one sentence, or what a complete sentence is. Which reminds me:

The Chicago guys in the White House are like the main character in the movie "Groundhog Day." I mean the TV guy. That's one of my Top Ten movies of all time, along with "Breaking Away" (the only movie I ever saw that got a standing ovation at the end), and "The Gods Must Be Crazy." For the screenplay alone, "Groundhog Day" has to be near the top of the list.

My favorite scene is where the TV "anchorman" kidnaps the groundhog and tries to drive over a cliff to end his "bad dream." I think the Obama "czars" are like that. They think America's entire history has been a "nightmare" and they're trying to take us off the cliff and start over from scratch, by quad-rupling the national "budget" (now there's an oxymoron for you). Quadrillions of dollars may soon be coming to the "budget."

In 2007, the Democratic Congress passed a mere 516 billion dollar "budget." The newspaper in front of me (12/18/17) says, "Dems spend on what they want, but at Bush limits" [USA TODAY]. This week our President blamed Bush for the "debt" he inherited. The buck stops "there," but the buck ain't worth a dime anymore, to paraphrase Yogi. Pretty soon, if you go into McDonald's and ask how much a senior coffee is, they'll ask you what time it is (it'll be going up every hour on the hour).

Some of the regulars at our local "Cheers" bar who used to grumble about Bush hardly say a word anymore. They just sit there with their eyes glazed over. If Nixon hadn't gone to China and Dr. Kissinger hadn't help modernize that country, we wouldn't have a pot to pee in. We borrow 45 percent of all the world's debt. The size of deficits and debts are dragging down the rest of the world too.

The only "new jobs" being created are such jobs as school psychologists and "happiness coaches" for industry. General Motors and Toyota could use "happiness coaches" and I'm going to apply for the job. At least Toyota will survive. My Toyota is old enough to buy hard liquor this year, and it starts even when it's 10 below zero outside.

Not to "ramble," but — here are some of today's headlines at www.climatedepot.com —

• Climate Depot's Morano on Terrorism and Warming: 'Soon, only a few fringe political figures — like Bin Laden — will still spout the nonsense climate claims that were once accepted as mainstream'
  
  
• Mag.: 'Never have so few fooled so many for so long, ever'
  
  
• Close up photo of Open Magazine Climate 'Fraud' cover
  
  
• Mag.: 'The climate change fraud that is now unraveling is unprecedented in its deceit, unmatched in scope, akin to 9 on the Richter scale'
  
  
• Mag. Ridicules Pachauri: 'His degree and training is in railroad engineering. You read it right. This man was educated to make railroads from point A to point B'
  
  
• Reaction to Indian Mag.: 'The gates are open...Could be the most hard-hitting article in the Indian MSM on AGW fraud ever'
  
  

I heard that President Obama has finally put up a suggestion box on the right side of the aisle in Congress. He uses the paper to help heat the White House during blizzards and cold snaps. However, "dependence on foreign oil" doesn't hinder Nancy Pelosi's access to Air Force jets for her family! The Gods Must Be Crazy," I guess.

THE GREAT DECONSTRUCTION —

Deconstruction of both the language and the U.S. Constitution is reaching Orwellian and biblical proportions. A problem of the first magnitude.

1. Language: focus-group polling has politicians under the delusion that they can maintain their grip on Power if only they can say what (they think) the people "want to hear." Unbeknownst to them, the only word we want to hear is "STOP!" Lock up the brakes! Enough is enough! Try as they might to "sound" credible, we're not as stupid as they THINK we are. STILL, they keep mouthing their favorite words from the Sophist/Progressive Lexicon:
   
   
   1. "critical thinking" is a catch-phrase for "Just repeat after me . . . "
      
      
   2. "consensus" now means "Trust me . . "
      
      
   3. "peer review" is similar to "jury of his peers" for a terrorist.
      
      
   4. "social democracy" is code word for "Marxism."
      
      
   5. "fundamental transformation" is code for "You are now SOL."
      
      
   6. "civility" and "bipartisanship" mean simply "Just shut up."
      
      
   7. A whole family of code words including "diversity," "pluralism," and "multi-culturalism" really mean "You must now buy a one-size-fits-all health insurance policy or go to jail."
      
      
   8. "comprehensive reform" means "Just do as we say, not as we do!"
      
      
   9. "affordable healthcare" is more 'equitable' (unless you live in Nebraska or are over 80).
      
      
2. Deconstruction of the U.S. Constitution [which they take an oath to "defend"].
   
   
   1. 'Living Constitution' means 'those WASPY Males the 18th century were Neanderthals.
      
      
   2. In all cases, "precedent" takes precedence over the original intent of the Constitution (with the exception of the Dred Scott decision), etc. etc.
      
      

SERIOUSLY FOLKS — I "RESENT" ALL OF THIS.

Etymologically, "resent" originally meant "to feel it strongly, sense." In earlier centuries it had a range of meaning from "feel strongly" to "experience a particular emotion," as in "God resents an infinite satisfaction in the accomplishment of His own will."

The word "resent" is an example of a word that slowly "evolved" — unlike the Liberal Lexicon of words that involves deliberate manipulation through public relations campaigns (a reminder that it would be helpful to understand the Constitution in its original meaning, not 21st century slang). In the Lexicon of the "modern" Sophists, "separation of church and state" trumps "separation of powers of the three branches of government" and States' Rights. [Just heard that Virginia's legislature has passed a law to ban the Federal "mandate" on forced purchase of health insurance.] And the words "Separation of church and state" are NOT even in the Constitution, implied or otherwise.

Such facts do not deter the "Freedom" from religion groups from trying to ban Mother Theresa from U.S. postage stamps. Don't start with me on the meaning of "Freedom" and "Liberty" as understood by the American Civil "Liberties" Union. That would require a whole other essay.

P.S. Speaking of "equality under the law," the real danger in the "Civil" trials for known terrorists is the distortion and watering down of the Rule of Law so precious to our Founders. I mean — how does one "try" a terrorist (provide a lawyer, and by implication "innocence" until proven guilty) without setting a whole new "precedent"? Suppose a future tyrant over us declares most Christians potential terrorists, and the White House spokesman glibly says that they are going to get "justice" ["meet their Maker"?].

The "costs" of security for these trials is just a distraction that misses the larger points.

PPS: Based on personal observations, when you mention the word History in the presence of a modern Sophist (egghead), their eyes go blank! They are the "wizards" who tell us that History is SO "yesterday"!

In actuality, the word "history" is not sexist (does not mean his-story). "History" comes from the Greek word "histor" — which simply meant KNOWLEDGE.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where the true anti-intellectualism "lies," does it?

"Just because you do not take an interest in politics does not mean that politics will not take an interest in YOU." — Pericles

"History is past politics, and politics is present history." — Sir John Robert Seeley (1834-94)

That's scary, because the last word is:

"Politics is now nothing more than a means of rising in the world." — Sam Johnson (1709-84)

Inarguably, politics has taken Nancy Pelosi a long way and to great "heights" (in Air Force jets), but doesn't pride go before a fall?

PPPS: The sun has finally "risen" in the U.P. of Michigan, but it's cloudy on Groundhog Day, so that could mean "6 more months of winter," given the credibility of the Global Warming "experts."

© Curtis Dahlgren