Where is modern civilization heading?

As a society are we heading in the same direction as the ancient Romans? If so the question becomes.......

Are our leaders fiddling while civilization burns?

While we ponder the question I will post my personal thoughts on this blog. Often I will focus on current events that catch my interest, however I am not and do not pretend to be a news organization. I'm simply a guy with his own thoughts on issues that I believe affect our country and society.

Be forewarned, I have been accused of being a right wing thinker and if that is offensive please move on. Remember, this is my blog and my opinions, and unlike many facets of our already over-governed modern society they are not being forced on anyone.


However, please feel free to leave your comments, good, bad or indifferent, after all this is a free society we live in (at least for now).

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Another Term, Same Song and Dance Routine

How often have you heard a politician speaking to a crowd and shook your head in disbelief, knowing full well that the individual addressing the group was pandering to the gathered with every word. As you listened you realized that the speech being given was absolutely no reflection of reality, it was simply intended to appease the individuals in the room who stared through glazed eyes, listened intently, and virtually hung on every syllable as they were spoon fed their daily dose of propaganda. Typically this type of performance is presented by politicians who have a captive audience, one that will not ask too many questions, and generally in their ignorance of facts will bring the house down with applause.

Such a speech was given Monday, December 10 by a politician that most have us have come to think of as a master of deception, the King of pandering, and a man so out of touch with reality that nothing he says surprises those of us who keep ourselves informed. This man stumbles around from speech to speech manipulating the facts depending on the audience. So, what was said and who said it?


The man doing the speaking was none other than President Obama himself (I imagine that came as no surprise to you) and the speech I refer to was given in the Daimler Detroit Diesel Plant in Redford, Mich. to a group of auto workers. The President took the opportunity to lash out at the Michigan state legislature for passing a right-to-work law, the term refers to a law that would prohibit the practice of requiring workers to pay union dues as a condition of their employment. In plain English, you don't have to belong to a union to work on a job site... what a novel concept in a free society.

Naturally while preaching to the converted, the President used all the correct catch phrases including many he has repeated in the past, things like;

"What we shouldn’t be doing is trying to take away your rights to bargain for better wages. These so-called right to work laws — they don’t have anything to do with economics. They have everything to do with politics. What they’re really talking about is, giving you the right to work for less money"
(No Mr. President, what these laws really have to do with is allowing American workers the choice of joining a Union rather than being forced into membership and paying dues, dues that often are used collectively to support political parties that individual union members may not support personally)

“We don’t want a race to the bottom. We want a race to the top. America’s not going to compete based on low skills, low wage, no workers rights"
(I always like that bit about "race to the bottom" coming from a guy who lays claim to having more Americans on food stamps now than any President in history)

I imagine that most sensible individuals find it somewhat odd that the Democrats have an issue with right to work legislation, legislation that simply allows a worker the "freedom of choice", to belong or not belong to a union without the threat of unemployment or job loss. Seems pretty straight forward in the "land of the free", and more importantly when did it become the Presidents job to act as membership chairman for a privately run organization?.

Even more baffling is the Lefts stand on the entire "right to work" issue considering how they bandy around the phrase "freedom of choice" when it comes to abortion. So, if I have this clear, the Left (and the President himself) believe strongly in "freedom of choice" when it pertains to aborting a fetus and destroying a life. However, stand firmly against providing workers with that same "freedom of choice" when it relates to being forced into joining a union and remitting dues, with their basic right to work being used to coerce them.
Somewhat hypocritical isn't it?

So what gives? May I be so bold as to suggest that this apparent contradiction of beliefs is based on one thing, fetuses do not contribute financially to political campaigns, unions however do? Or am I being too cynical?

But lets get back to the part of the Presidents speech that really left all traces of reality in the dust (seriously, I haven't even addressed that part yet)...........

"You only have to look to Michigan where workers were instrumental in reviving the auto industry to see how unions have helped build not just a stronger middle class but a stronger America.”

For those of you not aware of it Michigan currently suffers unemployment of 9.1% as of October and is also the home of Detroit, a major city that at one time was referred to as the "Paris of the West" for its architecture, and is now virtually a ghost town suffering from some of the worst urban decay in America. The state of Michigan is also the home of the "Big Three" automakers, two of whom Washington had to bail out to keep afloat (many refer to this bail out as more of a UAW Pension bailout, than an auto industry one) because they are no longer able to compete to a large extent due to labor and employee benefit costs. I hope the above are not examples of the stronger America Mr. Obama sees himself and the unions building for the future.

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