SOON THIS WILL BE A MOOT POINT

I used to think that the surest way to make a person a Republican was to have them get a wife, have some children, and take out a home mortgage.  Nothing will make one more self-reliant and personally responsible than that. When you have to face life as a taxpayer with those responsibilities, you have a tendency to pay closer attention to things. Hence, become a Republican.

Today I have made another observation. The absolute fastest way for this country to return to the sanity of Republican government is for the Republican House to let the Democrats have anything they want. I have watched as The House has passed this latest attempt to defund Obamacare by attaching it to a “continuing resolution” sort of budget. The Democrat controlled Senate or the President is not going to let that happen. This nonsense is only going to plunge this country into a financial crisis that the press and the Democrats will ultimately blame on the Republicans.

I think a much better idea would be to let Obamacare go forward. Let all the crap happen that is going to happen. When people see their costs skyrocket and their services reduced, they will know who to blame. After all, not a single Republican voted for Obamacare and every single Republican in The House voted to defund it. When it all hits the fan, only the Democrats will own it.

There are some clear realities afoot here. The vast majority of Americans are opposed to Obamacare and that majority includes unions, independents, and Democrats. Congressional candidates from borderline red states will lose dramatically as well as Democrats in blue states. People vote their pocketbooks and when they come to see the wild increase in costs, they will reject those who authored this mess. The next thing they will immediately notice is an inability to see their regular Doctor or schedule minimal procedures without waiting for months. That is if their doctor is even still in practice as many have already said they plan to take their money and run.

This scheme, Obamacare, was created in order to provide medical insurance for thirty million individuals who are otherwise not covered. Those millions include the poor, the unemployed, and illegals. There has been no increase in the number of doctors or medical facilities, only an increase in the demand for medical care. Young, healthy people who have previously rejected health insurance will now have to buy it and it will cost a fortune. I suspect most, if not all, will pass on the opportunity to be covered. That further exacerbates the problem for the government. What our representatives are going to learn and learn quickly is that it is the people who are in charge, not the  government nor the  bureaucrats. If a law is passed and the people reject it, it cannot be enforced regardless of how many new IRS auditors are hired. It can only work if the people are for it.

So, in a nutshell, this is my thought. Give the Democrats anything and everything  they want. Let them have their Obamacare. Then stand back and watch as it all goes to hell. Rather than telling you that this legislation is a mistake, just let it go into effect and watch it. It won’t take long. In fact, I suspect that after the 2014 election, this will all be a moot point anyway.

Ron Scarbro September 25, 2013

NO GUNS ALLOWED

I recently visited a VA Medical facility and was greeted by a sign at the entrance. This is what the sign said. “Welcome to the VA Medical Hospital. Crazed killers, terrorists, mass murderers, and all other assorted nut cases are safe here because we will not allow any sane, registered gun owner to carry a weapon on these premises.” Well, that’s not exactly what it said. Actually it said that no guns are allowed on the grounds of a VA facility. Now if I were a crazed killer and wanted to create havoc, I would much prefer to do my killing in a facility where I knew there would be no armed resistance.

This brings us to the events at the Navy facility in Washington, DC and at Ft. Hood. In 1993, then President Bill Clinton issued an edict that no one could have a gun in their possession while on a military base. Of all the stupidity that came out of the Clinton White House, this has to rank right up there as the stupidest. That’s like telling a police department that no police officer can have a gun on them while they are in the police station.

As a former member of the military I can assure you that we were given the best training in gun use and gun safety possible. Additionally, prior to our acceptance in the military we were checked out. Not just anybody can enter the service. Background checks were extensive and complete.

So here we are dealing with yet another result of Clinton’s ridiculous act. Obviously the shooting at Ft. Hood could have been considerably less tragic if those members of the military in the room were armed. Nidal Hassan would have been DRT. That means dead right there. Hassan knew no one would be armed. He knew he could kill at will without anyone stopping him. He was ultimately stopped though...by a gun...by someone from the outside.

This nut case in Washington entered a Naval Base armed with a gun but also armed with the knowledge that no one could stop him. Again he was ultimately stopped...by a gun...by someone from the outside. This of course after he already killed twelve innocent people who were sitting ducks.  

Isn’t it about time that we, all of us, including liberal Democrats, came to understand that guns are not evil? Guns are not scary. Guns are just tools like a hammer or a screwdriver are tools. Guns in the hands of sane, normal individuals are no more dangerous than a hammer in the hands of a carpenter. But, a hammer in the hands of a crazed killer is at least as dangerous as any gun I know of.  What about that is so difficult for the left to understand? To tell American service personnel that they are not trustworthy enough to be armed while on base is patently ridiculous. Being armed defenders of America and her way of life is their job. Such a rule is an insult to their character as well as harmful to their survival.

We absolutely must get over our inordinate fear of guns and put the blame where it belongs. It is the perpetrator not the tool. It is the nut case, not the gun. I will say this yet again. The only way to stop a gun is with a gun. Just look at both of the cases I cited above.

Let’s re-arm our military members in the same way we allow our police officers to be armed. Don’t make them sitting ducks for any freak who has a grudge.

Ron Scarbro September 18, 2013

A MISTAKE OF CATASTROPHIC PROPORTION

David Cameron, Prime Minister of Great Britain, had originally decided to support us in an air strike against Syria. His parliament pitched a fit and Cameron relented, reconsidered and withdrew his support.  

President Obama, who had previously decided to launch an air strike, appears to have listened to some of his advisors who told him he absolutely must consult with Congress before getting involved with Syria. As of this writing those debates are now going on in Congress and it is not looking very good for any Congressional support for this assault. Obama has let it be known that he may strike regardless of what the People’s Representatives say.  That, Ladies and Gentlemen, would be a mistake of catastrophic proportion.

Like Great Britain, we are not governed by either an emperor or a dictator. Like our cousins in England, we freely elect our Representatives and our Presidents. Constitutionally, President Obama cannot take this country to war without Congressional approval. In fact if Obama attacked Syria, that would be a violation of international law. He could be arrested and charged with war crimes. If Obama wants to challenge Syria, he should arm himself and take the next flight to Damascus and have at it, and he can take John Kerry with him. Let’s see if Kerry can do any better in Syria than he did in Vietnam.

No rational, sane person can be okay with the use of chemical weapons. No normal person can look the other way when children are gassed. But, it is not the job of the US to police the world. There are legitimate ways of dealing with the perpetrators of these atrocities. The civilized world must unite and make it crystal clear that such madness will not be tolerated, and to get the civilized world together we need a real leader. We do not have such a leader at this time. Obama has become the laughing stock of world opinion. His  juvenile “red line in the sand” has become an embarrassment to all of us and especially to him.

So, what to do? What should we do if Obama decides to go it alone and strike Syria without Congressional approval? Are “boots on the ground” the same as boots on the deck of a ship? If Obama fires missiles at Syria and someone takes exception and fires on our ships, do we retaliate? How high must the body count go before we realize that starting wars to save face are just a bad idea? I heard a Congresswoman say that as a Democrat she would support Obama in this strike to keep him from being embarrassed. Getting egg off the face of an inexperienced politician is not a good reason to kill thousands of people.

A reasonable question is why isn’t the free world more upset by Syria’s actions? Why hasn’t the UN gotten involved and sanctioned Syria? Is this their recognition of the fact that these Middle Eastern people have been killing each other and swapping dictators for thousands of years and gassing babies is just more  business as usual?

I hope more intelligent minds will soon show up and stronger people will step forward and demonstrate true leadership. The US is war weary. We have economic problems that will only be exacerbated by getting involved in another war in the Middle East. I hope President Obama comes to understand that his embarrassment is no reason to kill thousands of people.

History will decide who took the appropriate action in Syria. History will also record what happens to dictators who defy the will of their people whether they reside in the Middle East or in America.

Ron Scarbro  Sep 11, 2013

UPDATE… There’s good news and bad news. The good news is that stronger, more intelligent leadership has shown up. The bad news is that it’s Putin, not Obama, who has shown up with a workable answer. Personally I don’t trust any of them so I will just wait and see.

MAYBE THE MIDDLE EAST IS NOT WORTH OUR CONCERN

In the past several years we have been involved in a futile exercise. That being associating ourselves with various groups whose goal it is to swap out dictators in countries in the Middle East. When will we learn that trading one dictator for another never seems to work? Look at Egypt, Libya, Iraq, and all the backward little countries we have tried to “help.”

Today it is Syria. Here we have a murderous dictator who is gassing his own people, women and children. I am convinced these Middle Easterners are not normal people. What kind of a man could sit still and watch women and children, babies even, gasping their dying breaths? And dying because of his murderous actions. No, these are not normal people.

We watched Saddam Hussein do the same thing and we got involved. Sure, we got rid of him, but is Iraq any safer for normal people today? I think not. We chose sides in Egypt and Libya and look at those results. Do you really think those countries are safer now that the reigning dictator is gone? Of course not. Other dictators are just waiting in the wings for their shot.  

Maybe it is time for us to take another look at these places. These backwards people have been killing each other for thousands of years. Their “religion of peace” has caused more deaths than the black plague. It is becoming increasingly more difficult for me to believe we have any national interest in trying to stop their self mutilation and murder. They all seem bent on suicide.

We do have an interest in oil and we will continue to have that interest. We have allies and we will continue to have allies. We are completely competent to take care of those interests and we shall. I cannot see where we have any real interest in groups of thugs killing each other over some ancient religion. That has been going on since before we as a country existed and it will continue until they all are dead at their own hands. Now if the Baptists declared war on the Methodists and started killing each other in Arkansas, we would have an interest. If the Catholics started killing off the Lutherans in Minnesota, we would have an interest.

It is heart wrenching for any sane individual to view the carnage of a gas attack. Especially when it involves children but, the Syrian people have to deal with their own issues. I am satisfied that the so-called rebel forces at work now in Syria are al-qaeda, or at least strongly supported by that group. Will Syria be any better off when Assad is gone and al-qaeda is in power? I think not regardless of what Sen. John McCain says.

All my life I have watched as governments, media, and others with self interests have ginned up wars. I have seen us get involved in all parts of the world for first one thing and then another. Some have been legitimate for sure. Still others are more of a question.

One thing is sure. There has been nothing in the news about Benghazi, the IRS, the NSA, or any of the other scandals plaguing the White House since Syria took over the conversation. Just saying.

Today it may well be time for us to acknowledge that most of the Middle East is not worth our concern. Maybe we would be better off to just let them kill each other off. We are not the world’s police department. We need to stop financing their madness with our foreign aid and leave them to their own destiny. This current experiment with humanity doesn’t seem to be working.

Ron Scarbro September 4, 2013

SOME QUESTIONS I HAVE

One of the ways I entertain myself in retirement is watching television. Mostly I watch sports or History. I never watch network television unless they are broadcasting a sports event. I do, however, watch reality cop shows with my favorite being “The First 48.” This column deals with some of the questions  I have come up with from watching these shows.

The first big question is this. On almost every cop show, officers refer to a “known drug house.” Here is my question. If it is known to be a drug house, why does it exist? If the police know drugs are being illegally sold at this house, why are they allowed to continue? If in fact we were interested in stopping illegal drug activity, wouldn’t it be a good idea to close down “known drug houses?” Wouldn’t it be a good idea to arrest and prosecute persons in those houses who are dealing drugs? Seems like a reasonable idea to me.

The second thing that I have learned is that so many people who are stopped for minor traffic offenses have open and active warrants for their arrest. I wonder how many people are wandering around with open and active warrants and why are they not being pursued and arrested by the police officers we have on the job for that purpose? Now I recognize that not all traffic stops make the final cut in a television show, but even at that, isn’t it strange that so many people are running around with warrants? Could it be that the police have decided  rather than chase after open warrants, they just lie in wait for a traffic stop or some other police interaction to check offenders for warrants? That’s probably a lot easier, huh?

This then brings me to my next question watching these shows has caused.  It seems that in almost every case of a crime, the perpetrator has a record of arrest and conviction as long as your leg. I am talking about youthful offenders. I’m talking about twenty somethings or younger. Many have been arrested and convicted for all sorts of crimes. They have been prosecuted and incarcerated and yet are out of jail,  running around on the streets. Mostly these crimes are drug related and many are associated with weapons. Many include violence and assault. Still many others include armed robbery and general mayhem. How does this happen? What does one have to do in order to be put away for a long time? How could an eighteen year old convicted armed robber, drug dealer, having been convicted and jailed, be out on the street at age twenty? What was his sentence? Thirty days or thirty minutes? Whatever happened to twenty years to life?

Well the skeptic in me has developed this theory.

It seems that the judicial system in this country has become something of a cottage industry. Young thugs commit crimes, are chased down and arrested by police officers, tried in court,  judged by Judges and sent to prison only to be released early for any of a number of reasons. Many cases are pleaded down to make the prosecutor’s job easier. Most of these thugs get an early release only to go back to the streets and recommit crimes and the cycle starts all over again. To me it looks strangely like job security for members of the judicial industry. Are they telling me that there would not be enough business if they keep these punks in prison where they belong? I find that hard to believe. By the way, have you ever wondered how much the criminal justice system cost us?

I am not likely to get answers for these questions, but still I can ask, huh?

Ron Scarbro August 28, 2013

A SOBER DISCUSSION ABOUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

You have all heard about the legislation being offered by some Congressmen from both parties designed to end illegal immigration and to secure the borders. Let’s consider this proposed law.

First, it would appear that the main purpose is to deal with the some twelve to thirty million illegals who are currently living here. The legislation seeks a remedy to their illegality. A road map to citizenship is what it is called. It begins by requiring these illegals to learn to speak English. Then they must pay all unpaid back taxes. In other words they must turn themselves in for violating our laws. Is it just me, or does anyone really think this is going to happen?

Let’s face it, they got here by illegally trespassing, stayed here by stealing phony identification, and instead of attempting to become Americans, tried to turn our country into the cesspool they had just escaped from. Now, because of some new law being passed by legislators whose only motive is to further their own political ambitions, these illegals are going to suddenly get religion? I guess I’m just a bit skeptical.

I am going to offer here what I believe to be a real possible solution to this problem.

In the early sixties I was a Branch Manager for an Industrial Loan company in California. Anytime I hired anyone I had to verify their legal residence in America. It was really simple. If they could not prove their legality, I could not hire them. And that was fifty years ago. What happened? When did this all change?

We are being told that this new legislation is necessary because there is no way that we could deport the millions who are here. While that is true, we could have these millions deport themselves. All we have to do is require all employers verify the legality of all their employees and then hold the employers legally liable for any employee who is employed illegally. Next, we require that no welfare of any kind, food stamps, money aid, free school lunch, rent assistance, or medical care be available to any one here illegally, period. In other words, we would treat these trespassers in much the same way Mexico and Canada treats them.

For this to work, we absolutely have to prosecute any and all employers and welfare agencies who violate this law. The penalty would be prison, not a money fine.

But Ron, who would pick the fruit and mow the lawns? We obviously need workers in all phases of agriculture, construction, as well as all businesses. Again the answer is simple. It would be necessary that we institute a “Guest Worker” program which would be closely guarded and supervised with un-copyable identification and inviolate dates of entry and exit clearly imprinted on them. Any worker here without proper ID would be arrested and put in prison. Any employer who had in his employ any employee without proper ID would also be imprisoned. The ID cards would be only for the worker, not his family. If an employee loses his job, his employer has to report that job loss and the “guest worker” has to go home.

I am pretty sure this is never going to happen. The reasons are for one, the Social Security Administration has been taking in millions that they never plan to pay out. Secondly, the politicians believe that if they can somehow legalize these trespassers, they will vote for whatever party legalizes them and continue to vote for them for life.

Remember this. Any illegal alien who is employed in this country, is stealing a job an American could have. Any illegal who receives any welfare aid is stealing it from legitimate Americans. It’s our choice. Do we continue to put up with this, or do we do something about it? You decide.

Ron Scarbro August 21, 2013

WHEN GENDER CONFUSION BECOMES GENDER CHAOS

I’m not making this stuff up. My imagination isn’t that productive. I wish it was.  No, this is real and I am so sorry for the people of California.

Gov. Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown just signed a new law which promises to deal with gender confusion from Kindergarten on through High School. It is really simple. Children may, under this new law, choose whichever bathroom they are more comfortable in depending on their perception of their own gender. It doesn’t matter how they are anatomically, it only matters how they perceive themselves. If a little five year old boy thinks he might really be a five year old girl, or if he just isn’t real sure, he can choose the girls restroom. The same is true for the little five year old girl. She could then choose the boys bathroom.

Let us add to this situation another layer. The little girl, let’s call her Priscilla, has two Daddies. Of course one of them is the Mother and one is the Daddy, but that is a different story. The little boy, let’s call him Bruce, has two Mommies. Again one of them is the Mommy and the other one is the Daddy. Or it could be the other way around, but I think you can understand the possible confusion. Hell, I’m confused. Why wouldn’t a five year old be confused?

So far it is just a simple fix. The idea is that regardless of how you were born, you can be anything you want to be, starting in Kindergarten.

Now we add yet another layer to this intrigue. Children grow up. Picture this. Bruce is now thirteen years old and he wants to play soccer but only on the girls’ team. He has a few friends who also want to play on the girls’ team. After all, they perceive themselves as girls, not boys. Oh, and they share a locker room with the girls and they have to shower together also. After all, we cannot hurt Bruce’s or his friends’ feelings. Can we? Priscilla wants to play football on the boys’ team as do some of her friends. They too see themselves as boys so what is the problem? What could possibly go wrong with anatomically correct teenagers sharing a communal shower?

If you are like me you might want to ask a few simple questions. Like, “What in the world are these people thinking? Are they crazy?” No, they aren’t crazy. They are just so consumed with political correctness and so-called gender equality that they cannot possibly think straight. Laws like these are the product of drug crazed hippies who somehow survived their drug addled youth to become the next generation of legislators. The once great state of California is rapidly becoming the laughing stock of the entire country. They are financially broke, morally corrupt, and politically inept. It is truly sad. It is such a beautiful place and it has no future, period.

This newest gender equality law is going to produce the biggest mess of our imagination. Smart parents will rebel. Some will take their children out of public school. Some will pack up and move to Texas. Yes, and some will stay to oversee the chaos of this latest bit of nonsense. We can only hope that they will come to their senses soon. God help us.

Ron Scarbro August 14, 2013