The Orders To Nullify Any Adverse Consequence From The Court Were Already Drafted, or, How The Obama Administration Is Shredding The Constitution One Provision At A Time...

Roy Beck from Numbers USA, obviously not a disinterested commenter, weighs in on today's ruling:

In his dissent, Justice Scalia was much more specific, citing the Obama administration’s announcement just two weeks ago that it would refuse to enforce the law against illegal aliens who would benefit from the DREAM Act amnesty that Congress has rejected three times.
"After this case was argued and while it was under consideration," Scalia wrote, "the Secretary of Homeland Security announced a program exempting from immigration enforcement some 1.4 million illegal immigrants under the age of 30.

"The president said at a news conference that the new program is 'the right thing to do' in light of Congress’s failure to pass the Administration’s proposed revision of the Immigration Act. Perhaps it is, though Arizona may not think so. But to say, as the Court (majority) does, that Arizona contradicts federal by enforcing application of the Immigration Act that the President declines to enforce boggles the mind." 

As if to underscore Scalia’s assessment of the current administration as a nullifier of congressionally-passed laws, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano only hours after the ruling, announced that she would suspend yet another enforcement required under federal immigration laws. Because the Court ruling will result in a lot more illegal aliens being brought to the attention of the feds, she said, her department will suspend the 287(g) program in Arizona, and pledged that nothing in the ruling will interfere with the administrative amnesty announced last week. 

Only hours after the ruling...which says in effect--Screw the Congress, screw the States and their prerogatives, screw the Constitution, screw the Rule of Law, and screw you if you disagree with us.

If we don't like some provision of the law, we'll just ignore it!

Screw you!

(By the way, we'll always enforce the collection of taxes...)

Peter Hitchens On US Interventionism

This just posted by Mr. Hitchens, and is well worth the time taken to read.

A most cogent portion states:

Personally, it fits very well with my own experience of the true nature of the Anglo-American Unspecial Relationship, which I have discussed here in the past, in the light of Bill Clinton’s decision to back the provisional IRA against the British government. Un unwise official from the West Wing told me, without meaning to, that the White House regarded Britain as fundamentally no different from Serbia.

This is why I shudder at US behaviour in Syria. It is, once you have stripped away the rhetoric,  interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation. And if, one day, our sovereign nation, Britain,  asserted its independence, might we, too find ourselves under attack first from international interventionist TV stations telling lies about us,  then from a rabble of ‘activists’ who had mysteriously acquired arms and whose faults would be ignored or overlooked, then from ‘NATO’ airpower and special forces, intervening to ‘protect’ these ‘activists’ from the ‘repression’ of our government, which would be referred to by everyone as a ‘regime’? A ’No Fly Zone’ over East Anglia, to protect pro-EU ‘activists’ , anyone?

In a way it has already happened in miniature in Northern Ireland. Most Americans (and many continental Europeans)  believed propaganda lies about what was happening there. The USA gave its backing to the ‘activists’ of the IRA. And we surrendered to pressure, stopped ‘killing our own people’ , as the British Army’s actions against the IRA would no doubt nowadays be described. Then we withdrew from the disputed territory (though most people haven’t yet realised that this is what has happened).  In a way we were lucky that 24-hour TV and liberal interventionism were in their infancy in the 1980s, or NATO might have bombed London in support of the IRA. We would also never have been able to retake the Falklands.

No One Says It Like JDA: Pelosi Is Certifiably Looney-Toonies

Nothing need be said...JDA sez it all.

The Executive Orders Are Drafted Already, Ya'll--Don'tChewWorry

This will be a big week for Himself.

Likely, he will lose on ObamaCare, since it is a 2700-page pile of unconstitutional offal.

Likely, he will lose on his dispute with the State of Arizona, again because he is in the wrong.

Eric Holder has been caught with his pants down so often that the contempt vote will not go Obama's way. The assertion of executive privilege will not hold water.

So...on Friday, OS expects a three-fer, in the manner of the ImmigrationReformByFiat stunt pulled earlier this month.

The executive orders have been drafted for several contingencies, and will be tweaked once the Supremes and Congress act. They will be issued Friday afternoon, under the radar, and this administration will commence to do what they wish to do, Congress and the Supremes be damned.

It's how Himself rolls, after all.

Chin-straps on, ever'body.

Heavy Heart, Clear Conscience: Bidding Farewell To An Old Pooch

Every dog owner arrives to that day, the day he concludes that the time has come to gather up an old friend, carry her to the vet, and drive home alone. It is never an easy decision. It is a grim moment, to put the chain collar on the old friend, feed her a final favorite treat, and put her in the passenger seat of the pickup truck. The left hand drives, the right hand scratches her behind the ears, the voice keeps talking to her in the old familiar tones, assuring her that her suffering will be finally relieved, and that she will be ok.

Sissy arrived in OS's house unannounced eleven years ago, brought home by the CollegeAgeDaughter, who had spotted the little ball of fluff at the local animal shelter's adoption appeal. The standard appeal to emotion was made--

She's so cute, and I'll take her with me after I graduate, I promise, 

and how could you deny my blue eyes, 

and beside if we don't rescue her they'll put her down,

 and no one will have ever loved her.

Sissy was an unfortunate accidental cross of Cocker Spaniel and Chow (at least those two breeds could be detected). She was really not that attractive, definitely not clever, and she struggled her entire life with raging skin allergies, which came and went, but came more often and more painfully with every passing year. A crisis point arrived last year, when a young and highly self-righteous new member of the vet group refused to treat Sissy with that last-resort shot of steroid. It had been used effectively (and very sparingly) over the years, but this woman was adamant: It didn't matter how badly the dog was suffering, she would not budge. Sissy was in agony. A day later, we were back, this time with the experienced owner of the group, who said not a word as we entered the exam room, but had the injection waiting. 

This drama repeated itself twice more, with the group owner catching so much flak from the juniors that one cold winter morning he met us on the sidewalk outside his offices before office hours. The syringe was in his hand, and we bought the dog six more months of happy life. The previous day's loud argument with the junior vet, in the lobby of the practice, led OS to leave orders with the staff that only the senior was to ever touch his dogs in the future. 

All was going relatively well, but as Spring progressed, it became obvious we had reached the end of the road. The senior and I had talked it over before, and he let me know I would know when the time came. To continue the steroids at the frequency needed to keep the dog out of pain would inevitably burn her liver out. The final visitation of her affliction was simply too much. We had reached checkmate. 

So, today, we took that final drive, and the senior and I had that final conversation:

'Cremation?'

'Yes, please.'

'Do you want to be with her as we do this?' 

'Is it cruel if I don't?'

'No, of course not.'

'Then I'll remain here.' 

OS has had enough life experiences, didn't need to see his dog euthanized and spend days reliving it and getting over it. 

A few minutes later, the senior and a staffer took Sissy, and OS lingered in the lobby. After some minutes, the receptionist noticed me, and gently said, 'It's ok, we'll mail you the invoice, no need to settle up today.'

So, OS drove off, knowing he had done The Right Thing, blessed with a clear conscience; and at the same moment heavy of heart. There are limits to what we can do, no matter how good the intentions, how diligent the effort. The Day arrives, and the Correct Decision must be taken.

Sissy's final gift to OS, perhaps the reason she showed up to begin with, was that moment of insight, that a clear conscience and heavy heart must inevitably exist side by side at some points in life.  She gave him a new perspective on some of the events of his trudge through the Vale of Tears--the heavy heart need not be confused with a guilty conscience. 

OS suspects there is some provision in Providence for the souls of dogs--no proof, mind you, and nothing to construct any solid theological structure. It may just be a fond hope. But, if Providence has made that provision, then OS knows Sissy was greeted by two of her predecessors, who like her had guarded the farm and helped raise the two children. He had a sense a few minutes into his drive home that they were waiting for her. They showed her around her new farm,  a farm without ticks or fleas, with rabbits to chase, and children always around to scratch her behind the ears, toss dog biscuits for her to catch(She loved doing that!), and feed her bits of cheese.

She deserves no less, if that provision has been made.

'Spain Is Not Greece'...Broke Is Broke Is Broke Is Broke

Ian Martin of the Sunday Telegraph shares the contents of an email now circulating amongst traders.

We hear reassurances from ThePeopleInChargeOfSuchThings they have everything under control, that Spain and Greece, each with unemployment rates approaching twenty-five percent, are just fine nothing to see here move on and watch your football matches.

Italy? No Problem! We just installed our own guy there to run things for us.

Ireland? No Problem! We just stripped the country of its political and economic freedoms.

Portugal? Who Cares? It's just Portugal!

Just as a reminder of how these assurances ring increasingly hollow, the email offers this litany.

1. “Spain is not Greece.” (Elena Salgado, Spanish Finance minister, Feb. 2010.)
2. “Portugal is not Greece.” (The Economist, 22nd April 2010.)
3. “Ireland is not in ‘Greek territory.’” (Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan.)
4. “Greece is not Ireland.” (George Papaconstantinou, Greek Finance minister, 8th November, 2010.)
5. “Spain is neither Ireland nor Portugal.” (Elena Salgado, Spanish Finance minister, 16 November 2010.)
6. “Neither Spain nor Portugal is Ireland.” (Angel Gurria, Secretary-general OECD, 18th November, 2010.)
7. "Spain is not Uganda" (Spanish PM, Rajoy to Luis de Guindos, economy minister… last weekend.)
8. "Italy is not Spain" (Ed Parker, Fitch MD, 12 June 2012.)

Hmmmm.....but they are allllll broke, because they alllll decided to run welfare states on borrowed money, and supported housing bubbles, and bail out the bankers when it all goes sour.

It really doesn't matter who they aren't. It does matter who they are, and whether the United States plans to follow in their footsteps.

Bill Bonner On The Federal Government's Active Role In Shrinking The Wealth Of The American Family

Complete with the Quote of the Week:

Haven't they done enough already?

There's a sort of cold comfort in this article for OS, because for the past twenty years or so, he has felt like he and his family have had to run at full tilt just to tread slowly into a semi-comfortable and dignified existence. It is a modest life, for which he is deeply grateful, so please--this is not a whine or a pity party. But at times, he thought, 'What's wrong with me? I'm working so hard and making so little progress.' Maybe, OS sez to himself, it wasn't all about you after all.

At the same time, OS always has had the sneaking suspicion that things were not, well, exactly healthy, even as the suburbs and shopping malls sprang up around the every major city in the heartland. Actually, we're at the point that it is hard to tell if one is in the suburbs of Dayton, Louisville, Memphis, Birmingham....it's all depressingly the same, with different weather in each location.

It was smoke and mirrors, and when things hit the wall, the Gubbermint came to the rescue of the people who had created TheGreatBubble, and stuck the rest of us with the bill. It may take decades to repair the damage, assuming we begin acting sanely this week.

The choice between Obama and Romney is quite disheartening. A vote for Obama is not possible. So, OS plans to vote for Romney, and donate to and work for state house and Congressional candidates that make Paul Ryan look like a girly-man. Someone has got to stand up a loud 'Hell-No', and it that Someone needs to be a comfortable majority of both House and Senate, and in every state and county legislative body in the country.

In the meantime, OS is tending his garden...

 

Pastor Peters Propounds Positively Pursuant To That Old Precious Word: 'NO'

One of Mel Brooks' more inspired films was 'Silent Movie'--not one of his blockbuster pics, by any means, but inspired. One of the great scenes involves the great French mime Marcel Marceau, who, bless him, broke out of his mime role for one magical moment and intoned the word 'NO'. It's the one word spoken in the movie, and it was a moment of genius. Completely unexpected, shocking even, to emerge from the lips of that most famous of all mimes. Brooks, as always, was jabbing the culture in the ribs. We never expect to hear that word, assuming always that whatever we desire should be met with 'YES' instead.

Fast forward almost forty years, to a Lutheran pastor in a Tennessee parish, who takes up the subject again. As always, erudite and reasoned, Pastor Peter shares with us all why 'NO' is such a crucial word, one the culture desperately needs to hear:

It seems that the Church is the lone voice speaking to the culture that "no" is not only within our vocabulary but it is the wisest and most positive path you can take in so many instances. Saying "no" is not all the Church says but it is the beginning of the conversation. You cannot begin to speak of the benefits or morality of self-denial until first you admit that saying no to self is itself a virtue. The Church begins with the proposition that saying no is not only possible but it is beneficial to us and to our culture. Indeed, the rule of desire is not freedom at all but the worst of all possible prisons.

That last line is especially pithy, is it not? 'The rule of desire is not freedom at all...' This idea stands in direct contravention to the entire present culture, which in OS's humble opinion, has turned openly pagan. It worships what it creates, consumes, manipulates, and assumes that this is all the life there is to live--so let's go for the gusto, ya'll!

Pastor Peter's citations of St. Paul ring loudly these days, words written to people living in another pagan culture, long ago and far away.

Now, if some enterprising publisher could only coax a book out of Pastor Peters...

Now, If We Could Manage To Extradite Jon Corzine To Iceland

Damn!  These Icelanders actually sent two banksters to prison!  Man-bites-dog-alert!

Really, ya'll, think it over. The United States has seen its wealth and culture decimated by a series of massive bank frauds. Apart from Bernie Madoff, who turned himself in, no one has been indicted, or prosecuted, or seen a day of jail time. Most of the perpetrators of the crime are still in their jobs, or jobs similar, in both finance and government.

So, OS, ever the innovator, has a proposal:

Let's lease Iceland. 

 
Not the real estate, mind you, but its prosecutors and courts, economists and political leadership. They told Europe and its death-dealing Euro to stick it where the sun don't shine, returned to their own currency, and began prosecuting the fraudsters (after kicking the previous regime of politicians to the curb for their complicity in turning their country into a giant hedge fund). Their economy is recovering, because they made a decision to save their cultural soul and make the economy the servant of the culture, not the master.

So, knowing that, let's make a deal: We grant the Icelandic courts and prosecutors jurisdiction to prosecute financial fraud in the United States, wherever they find it. A bounty system, if you would. The more they recover, the more they get to keep. They indict, we extradite. They convict and house the banksters (for loooong sentences) in cold and uncomfortable cells up on the eastern shore, where the cold winds blow from the Baltic. The banksters get to learn how to grow their own food, fish for their protein from small open boats with limited fuel and no life jackets, and are not allowed in the vicinity of any electronic device apart from a transistor radio tuned to the local station. We pay Iceland handsomely for their services, so they can make a tidy profit for doing what our own systems of justice and politics seem incapable of. Think of it as a frozen version of Club Gitmo, only the inmates have verifiable identities and are serving defined sentences for actual convictions.

After Corzine and about one hundred others are actually seen serving sentences in the Icelandic pokey, OS predicts a new sobriety may overtake both bankers and politicians. A chill new wind would blow down both Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

Think about it, ya'll. It would cost a lot less than the price we've paid to date, and help Iceland as they poke a stick in the eye of EuroLand.

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee: The Call To Wisdom, And St. Paul's Wisdom

OS sends greetings to HM and to all her subjects. In the past sixty years, this country has had as head of state Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr., and HimselfTheWinnerOfTheNobelPeacePrize. Apart from the first two, arguably Ford and definitely Reagan, it has been a pretty disappointing cast of characters at the helm.

Ya'll have had the Queen, who has worked at looking after things in challenging times. She has dealt with some serious knucklehead Prime Ministers, especially in Blair, Brown and Cameron, but England is still doing better than that train wreck across the Channel, Europe. She's one of the main reasons why.

In the US, the live video feed of this morning's service was blocked, and the BBC Radio Coverage was shameful, with the self-impressed presenters chattering over the service and making certain to downplay any Christian content. Shame on them, and OS hopes his readers in the UK will take the matter up with the Beeb. Ya'll deserve better. You're paying these clowns to chatter over the great events of your history.

Still, bits of video were posted, and OS shares two of them with you.

The anthem for the day, based upon the Old Testament reading from Proverbs 8 was the newly-composed 'Call To Wisdom', sung by a choir dawn from across the UK.

Lord of wisdom, Lord of truth, Lord of justice, Lord of mercy;
Walk beside us down the years till we see you in your glory.
Striving to attain the heights, turning in a new direction,
Entering a lonely place, welcoming a friend or stranger. 

I am here, I am with you.
I have called; do you hear me? 

Silver is of passing worth, gold is not of constant value,
Jewels sparkle for a while: what you long for is not lasting.
Rulers govern under me with my insight and my wisdom.
Those who love me know my love; those who seek me find their answer. 

God the Father and the Son, Holy Spirit, co-eternal;
Glory be ascribed to you, now and to the end of ages.

Words: Michael Hampel (b.1967), based on Proverbs 8. 1-17
Music: Will Todd (b.1970)

The second video features David Cameron reading the New Testament lesson from Romans 12.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to
present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is
your spiritual worship. Do not be confor med to this world, but be transfor med
by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of
God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of
yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober
judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For
as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the
same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually
we are members one of another.

We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the
leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one
another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not
lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in
suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend
hospitality to strangers.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those
who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another;
do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than
you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble
in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably
with all.

Romans 12. 1-18

How very appropriate to make the Prime Minister broadcast these words to the world. The inspiration, truth, poetry, aspiration and inherent optimism of St. Paul's vision for how society should run (in light of the the Gospel he so eloquently described in Romans 1-11) stand in dissonant contrast to how governance is practiced these days. These sorts of events are not for nothing--words have power, especially well-written words spoken in front of millions. OS hopes that the public presentation of these words will have some sort of restraining effect upon all in public life, on both sides of the pond.

As for Her Majesty: God bless you, and thank you for all the ways, great and small, you have looked after your part of the world. You have blessed us all.