Thursday, May 17, 2012

Snapshots from the Nanny State

Good golly, Miss Molly; what a state we have gotten ourselves into.

* Government in a Hole

Back in Washington, D.C. where socialist ideology, egoism and sheer incompetence have created a gargantuan mess, the Democrats refuse (for the third year in a row) to obey the law and pass a budget. And though Team Obama has certainly helped make this muddle worse, we must recognize that the whole Democrat party is to blame. Thank you, Senator Reid, Congresswoman Pelosi and company.

So do keep this in mind during the coming election season -- no matter what the Democrats tell you in their political ads, they are (at their very core) about coercive tactics, diminishing personal freedoms, irresponsible spending, gross inefficiency in such huge areas as welfare and education (which creates yet more  dependence on government money), and an off-the-edge social liberalism which trashes marriage, orthodox religious values, personal conscience, and the sanctity of human life.

* Crime Is Taking A Bite Out of Us

The police and judiciary in America are increasingly targeting such criminals as kids who run lemonade stands and home repair dads who fail to get government permits. Yet they can't seem to get a handle on sex trafficking, violent crime, politically-correct illegalities like those created by the Occupy protesters, voter fraud, copper thieves, and all those thugs, rapists and drunk-drivers that zip through the "justice system" and repeat their crimes over and over again. For crying out loud, even the Capitol Hill police can't put a stop to the rash of burglaries inside the U.S. Congress!

* Reverse Racism

That the media attention given to the tragic Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman affair has proven too big, too sloppy and too unfair is finally becoming known. But that doesn't change anything. The media doesn't apologize. The media doesn't correct its mistakes. And the media certainly doesn't provide coverage of incidents that present a politically-incorrect storyline such as racially-motivated attacks on white people by black youths.

And what can we say to the outpouring of hate upon 16-year old Torika Watters? Miss Watters, a young beauty mixed European/Fijian descent, was chosen last month to represent Fiji in the Miss World contest. But it turns out that many considered that Miss Watters didn't "look Fijian enough" and they demanded in hundreds of abusive, hate-filled e-mails that she be stripped of her title.

In a culture that glorifies only certain racial identifications and makes others a source of guilt, true unity, understanding and respect will be sorely wanting.

* Academic Diversity -- Hardly

American educators are constantly preening about academic freedom, diversity and tolerance -- while refusing permission for Christian organizations to meet on campus, outlawing even student-led Bible studies or prayer meetings, firing teachers who teach anything but the "progressive line" on evolution or climate change, prohibiting employees from wearing crosses or placing Bibles on their desk, and even stifling conversations about religion unless, of course, the religion being espoused is Zen, Navaho or goddess-related.

And this just in (though it is but the latest example of a long-standing trend), according to a new survey of graduation ceremonies at the top 100 schools, the liberal tilt "has gone off the charts with the ratio of liberal-to-conservative commencement speakers reaching 7-1, an all-time high."

* Red China's Purchase of American Bank Produces Silence

"U.S. lawmakers have been unusually silent about federal regulators' decision to allow a Chinese bank to take over 13 bank branches in New York and California, suggesting that they think American banks have much to gain. Members of both parties usually relish the chance to bash China on everything from government subsidies to the yuan's exchange rate. Yet Wednesday's decision by the Federal Reserve to certify a Chinese bank acquisition for the first time was met by near-universal silence."

I find both the purchase of the bank and the silence of American lawmakers ominous.