231: Government Is A Thief

Of course a modern civilized society needs some government - to defend against foreign invaders, to pick up garbage (at least in urban areas; in rural areas we recycle everything on our own), to guarantee safety of food and drug supplies, to provide a safety net for those who are unable (not unwilling) to care for themselves.  The money necessary to pay for these essential services is a tiny fraction of the $4.5 trillion the federal government spent in fiscal year 2019.  That $4.5 trillion does not include state, county, township, and municipal spending.

The vast majority of taxation is stolen by government from its citizenry, to wit: 

1.  A citizen decides to provide his labor to an employer.  The government imposes a penalty (income tax) because the citizen engages in productive behavior.
2.  A citizen decides too invest his savings in companies that provide thousands of jobs for other citizens, and pay all those citizens good wages and benefits.  In exchange for investing, the company pays the citizen a dividend, a reward for having faith in the company.  The government steals part of the dividend through a capital gains tax.
3.  A citizen decides to drive to the grocery store to buy food.  The government imposes several penalties on the citizen for this activity - gasoline tax, sales tax, myriad excise taxes on countless items.
4.  A citizen decides to build a home to raise a family.  The government steals part of the value of the citizens home every year through real estate tax.  This is especially pernicious, because the government, not the market, decides how much the citizen's property is worth, and then the government steals whatever percentage of the value of the property that it wants.

The list could go on for hundreds of examples.  The point is, government does not exist to serve its citizens, it's the other way round.  Citizens exist to pay for the constantly growing bureaucratic, parasitic organism referred to as "government."

Public servants, my ass.

230: Washington Freak Show

Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump.  Those are the presidents in my lifetime.  Here is my take:

Eisenhower - Although I was too young to form first hand impressions, I have studied Ike enough to know that he was the closest president to measure up to Washingtonian ideals than any other.

Kennedy - Mostly style; very little substance.  Assassination created the favorable JFK myth.

Johnson - Should have remained a school teacher.

Nixon - Machiavellian, dark, brilliant global thinker, tragic figure.

Ford - Good man, simple, not power hungry enough to retain power.

Carter - Too much moral superiority.

Reagan - A relief from Carter's stuffiness, and surrounded by lots of competent people.

Bush - The last statesman.  Should have been elected in 1980.

Clinton - The beginning of the end.  Billary was thoroughly corrupt in every sense, driven mad by thirst for power.

Bush II - Lot's of good qualities; got a bad rap for being dumb; got pushed around by Congress.

Obama - Without a doubt, the most unqualified person ever to be elected president.  If he was not half black, would never have been elected dog catcher.

Trump - Without first having Obama, would never have had Trump  This was a violent reaction to 8 years of feckless media attention to Obamamania.  Trump's personal style and monumental ego are disgusting, but I enjoy every second of his contempt and distain for all things Washington.

229: Contempt FOR Congress

So Nadler and his band of merry Trump-hating Democrats are spewing venom about holding Trump in contempt of Congress.  Nobody cares.  The reason is that most of America has contempt for Congress, and rightly so.  These boobs and boobbettes rob us blind to make certain they continue to hold onto their cushy positions sucking up our resources as high-class welfare recipients. 

228: A Masters Disgrace

So The Masters is here.  Or should we now call it "The Tiger Woods Devotional Event."  More and more people - especially golf fans - just want to puke over the sycophantic and disgusting wall-to-wall coverage of anything and everything Woods does.  He takes a practice swing and Jim Nance swoons.

As a golfer, I never root against anyone.  But this whole spectacle is changing my mind.

227: How Does Trump Do It?

As I have repeatedly said, I am no fan of DT's bravado and outsized ego.  But I sure admire his stamina and willingness to take on the corrupt government and media establishment at very level.  Frankly, I am surprised he is still in office.  Since the election, the media's open hostility towards DT (and everyone who voted for him) has been nothing short of amazing.  Each talking head seems to try and outdo the other in denigrating the president.  No personal insult is too low.  Opinions have completely replaced facts.

I have written in this space before, that DT is not the cause of the current state of affairs in government.  He is the result of the accumulated puss that our government has become.

226: Things We Remember

One summer day when I was about five years old, I was playing with friends in Burke's front yard, our neighbors.  The Burke house was a two-story, red brick affair at the corner of Walkup and Hill Drive in Crystal Lake, two house down from us.

Whatever activity we were engaged in was interrupted when I saw a Bazooka Joe bubble gum wrapper hovering in the air.  The gum wrapper was attractive to me not only because it was apparently flying on its own, but even more so because gum was, like television, a kind of forbidden fruit for us.  I reached for it, and unfortunately the wrapper was being flown around by a large bumble bee, which promptly stung me on the inside of my left thigh.  I have never touched another piece of bubble gum.

Just about every time I see a bumble bee, I recall Bazooka Joe and the flying bubble gum wrapper.

225: I Voted For Trump (But I Didn't)

Technically, I voted for Trump.  But really, I voted AGAINST the contemptuous and sniveling governing elite and stupid media.  I always vote against all incumbents where there are no term limits.  But in voting for Trump, it really was a vote against the swamp, because there is really very little else to like about Trump except that he is a human wrecking ball.  I guess when you have a situation as bad as it is in Washington, DC, it takes a real SOB to shake things up.  And God bless him, Trump is that SOB.