You Did it to Yourselves

 Yeah, you did.

When Roe v Wade became law by judicial order in 1973, the argument was settled - for the moment. Oddly, law is similar to science in one manner: It is never settled, it is only settled for a slice of time. In the case of Roe, it took a little more than 49 years to revisit and discard it in favor of Dodds v Jackson Woman's Health Organization. Let's just abbreviate it to Dobbs for discussion.

Prior to Roe, regulation of abortion had been in the hands of each state, and many states banned it although there were a handful that allowed it. Where I live, New York State was one that allowed it. But then again, NY is a deep blue state with the seat of power located mostly in the three counties surrounding New York City. Upstate is much more conservative and dances to whatever tune NYC makes us dance to. We're told that's fair, but we know better. The last elected Governor of NYS won 15 out of 62 counties, and if there were an electoral college for Governors, he wouldn't have made it. This, btw, is a strong argument to make all 50 executive branch seats subject to an electoral college. It would take away the stronghold the cities have in most states and give suburban and rural areas a fairer voice.

When Roe became law, it took the argument away from state legislatures. It was legal, but that didn't make it moral. To think otherwise, you have to think death is a better alternative to life and if you truly feel this way, I feel sorry for you. 63+ million American abortions since Roe make it the largest class genocide in history, far outnumbering Hitler, Mao and Stalin.

When the coming decision was leaked by one of the law clerks, the lines were drawn. Somebody paid by tax dollars took an oath to secrecy and violated it. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to narrow it down to ... oh, the offices of three Justices. Someday, somebody will undoubtedly stand up and claim they did it, probably in old age or sickness so as to preclude jail time. In the meanwhile, the list of suspects is short. And it will probably change the internal workings of the court to lessen the chances of it ever happening again.

As I said in the title, you did it to yourself. What do I mean?

Recent polls indicate Americans are not comfortable with full-term abortion, and even the clear majority are not comfortable with it after the first trimester (about 12 weeks). Take a look at the pie charts below:

The numbers tell quite a story. 60% favor making it legal in the first trimester, but that number falls off to 28% in the second trimester, and even though the chart doesn't show the third trimester, the numbers fall significantly as full-term approaches. It's clear most Americans are very, very uncomfortable with full term abortion, even though Andrew Cuomo shoved it through in NY. Karma evened up the score though and it's a fair guess we'll never see Uncle Andy in the White House, the coveted prize he so desired.

So when Roe was expanded in some individual states, it was fine with the pro-abortion crowd. More is better, right?

No. You got what you deserved and the irony is, you did it to yourselves.

The US under Roe was in a unique club, even most European nations restricted abortion. This makes it especially ironic to hear them criticize the overturning of Roe, seeing as their own laws about the subject are far more restrictive than ours. See below:

It needs to be mentioned the US shares similar laws with China and North Korea. We're one of the few that allow full term abortion; see below:

Yeah. When you expanded abortion to the second and third trimester, you did it to yourselves. Now regulation of abortion is back where it belongs - in the hands of states, where the 10th Amendment (and Ruth Bader Giinsberg!) said it belongs:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

I'm ashamed of New York. I've opined in earlier blogs about this, but my roots are so deep and our extended families are here; that's the reason my wife and I haven't fled to a more sanely-governed state.

Yet.

What Dave Ramsey is Right About and Vice Versa

 Dave Ramsey has become famous for giving financial advice to those who seek him out and ask for it. And he has become wealthy doing so, which I applaud. Making money legitimately in America is always admirable, not to mention, often copied. Others have followed Ramsey's path to wealth by merely telling others how to get there. It seems knowledge is power in the financial world.

I agree mostly with Ramsey's advice, but I differ on a few things he pushes: Number one, get rid of all your credit cards and only use a debit card; and number two, pay off your smallest debts first and then move on to the larger debts no matter what the interest rates are. These fly in the face of logic, but Ramsey excuses that by saying the emotional high you get off paying off your first debt is what keeps you motivated to keep going. He may be right with certain groups of people, but he is also wrong with another group that rises above emotion. No matter how it is presented to him, he'll tell you about studies that back him up. Well, one size has never fit all and it never will; there are simply too many variables to conclude one system will work for everybody. Even Henry Ford changed his mind with his famous statement You can have any color you like as long as it's black.

Let's talk about credit cards first and why, if you are going to use plastic to buy anything you should choose a credit card over a debit card. First and foremost, a credit card has a layer of buyer security built into it a debit card doesn't. If you buy a product and it has problems, say, it is broken, misrepresented or even never shows up at your door, you can call your credit card company and get your money back. Debit cards lack this ability - the moment you use it, the money is subtracted from your account and there is no way to recover it without lawyers and considerable expense.

Next, most credit cards have rewards programs. The rewards programs vary, some are airline miles and if you fly often, these are equivalent to cash in the bank. Some cards give a percent or two back in cash; some cards build a fund to use if you buy a new car and so on. Are the reward programs worth it? Ab-so-lute-ly. The last 4 GM vehicles I bought have all had substantial money applied to them after dealing for the best price. The last statement I read was nice enough to tell me I had redeemed over $12,000 in GM rewards to date. I was going to buy the vehicles regardless and it was nice to know my bank accounts are $12k better off than GM's bank accounts would have been had I not used my credit card for everyday purchases that I would have made anyway. Dave, Dave, Dave ... you can't have your daughter Rachel putting out Youtube videos on how to save 26 cents on a can of soup at Aldi and then tell us to walk by an easy $25 or so every month in cash-back rewards. If we're going to build wealth, every avenue is fair game and getting cash back on stuff you have to buy regularly simply makes sense. Obvious sense.

Of course, using credit cards for rewards only works if you pay the card off in full every month like clockwork. This requires discipline and if you have it, then the credit card can't be beat - and to top it off, it's convenient. Gas pumps, grocery checkouts and such are far quicker with cards than they are with cash.

When these statements of logic are put to Dave Ramsey, he counters by saying studies show people that use credit cards tend to buy more than they planned. I say ... so what? Denying yourself some of the small pleasures and superfluities of life when you have all the means necessary to pay for them is stupid. Self-denial is great when you're tight on your budget, but Dave - It's a YOLO planet, and if I want the expensive deli meat or a bag of Oreos, I don't care if it was an impulse buy. A few bucks spent in the grand scheme of things matters not.

Oh yeah, try renting a car or getting a hotel room without a credit card. Seriously, the credit card is the standard item needed to do so, Dave... Not to mention, I think it's awfully nice of a bank in Delaware to loan me money interest-free for 40 days. I know they'd prefer it if I only made minimum payments, but somehow I manage to pay them off in full every month and I do enjoy the cash-back rewards.

And lastly, although Dave Ramsey says your credit score doesn't matter ... it does. And you don't build a good credit score with a debit card; you build it with a credit card. Dave goes as far as to say you don't need a credit score, but for the vast majority of Americans ...he's wrong. You -do- need it. His claims that "manual underwriting" is somehow better than the report the bank pulled when you applied for a mortgage are pretty hinky.

Next, let's talk about paying off debts in the order he prefers: Smallest to largest, no matter what the interest rate is on them. If you are paying off your credit card every month, you already have the discipline to look at your other debts and figure out which ones have high interest - and should be paid off sooner, not later. Allegedly, it was Einstein that said the most powerful force in the universe was compound interest .... and that should be your rule and guide for which debts to get rid of first. Dave claims to be good at math, but on this subject, he shelves the logic of math for the endorphins of emotion, and it's a bad trade.

Finally, Dave thinks that the stock market is the place to beat inflation. Well, he's right and he's wrong, depending on how old you are when the big monkeys shake the little monkeys out of the branches on a schedule nobody can predict. If your timing is bad, you're screwed - figure on being a Wal-Mart greeter in your retirement years because you were born under an unlucky stock-market era.. And his claims that the market returns an average of 12% are awfully rosy numbers; in fact, since it's inception the market has returned an average of 7.75% ... which is good, again, if your timing is good. But if you're at the end of your earning years and the stock market tanks, count on un-retiring because somebody's advice was wrong.

Now let me close with some obvious truths: If you are not disciplined with money, if you regularly spend more than you make, follow Ramsey's advice: Cut up your credit cards, work 2 or 3 jobs, pay off your credit card debt and you will slowly but surely climb out of the hole. Sadly, this advice applies to the majority of people with credit cards. For those buried in credit card debt, I sincerely hope you get out of it and  ... I also recognize that if the banks didn't make money on credit cards that they would cease to exist. That said, the claims that those that pay off their credit cards do so on the backs of those that don't misses one big point, and that is human nature: There will always be a group of people that won't or can't pay off their debts timely, and this is the basis of the banking system in America.

But if you are disciplined with money, ignore most of Ramsey's advice with a smile on your face. If you don't need Dave Ramsey's advice, stick to the plan that has obviously worked for you for a long time - and that is maximizing your purchasing power every way you can, with credit card rewards ... and even that unplanned purchase that somehow didn't drive you into the poorhouse.

Want to be wealthy? Here's Don's advice: Spend less than you make and build savings with the difference. It adds up faster than you realize.

German Humor is no Laughing Matter

 I disagree. The Germans do have a sense of humor, and the jokes told during the worst times of German repression (the Nazi and East German years) are witness to that. Jokes were told about Hitler and the Stasi when they were in power.... they just weren't told within earshot of untrusted people. The jokes were referred to as whispering jokes (Flüsterwitze) and some of them are pretty funny. 

Here are 2 Nazi-era jokes that quietly made the rounds:

Adolf Hitler was scheduled to visit an insane asylum and the workers drilled the patients in how to salute and say Heil Hitler correctly. After repeated training, they seemed to get the idea. Hitler makes his visit and the patients are lined up, and sure enough they give the Hitler salute while shouting Heil Hitler. But the Fuhrer notices only the patients are saluting, not the doctors or nurses. He pulls some of the doctors aside and asks why they are not saluting.

Mein Fuhrer, they explain. We are professionals. We don't belong with the madmen.

... And another:

A lady has a parrot and it overhears her saying Down With Hitler! (Nieder mit Hitler!) Worse, it learns the phrase and one day, while at the window, clearly says Nieder mit Hitler. A neighbor overhears the parrot and reports her to the Gestapo, who come and interrogate the Frau. She denies it and luckily, the parrot is quiet during the interrogation. Still, they don't believe her and tell her to appear with the parrot in court the next day.

As she is walking to court the next day, she walks by her church minister who asks why she looks so glum, and she tells him the story. He tells her to switch the parrot with his and then there will be no chance the parrot will give her away. She follows him home and they switch the parrot, and she continues to the courthouse where the court is waiting for her.

Again, they accuse her of teaching her parrot the words and try to coax the parrot to repeat them.

First, the prosecutor shouts at the parrot Nieder mit Hitler, but the parrot says nothing.

Then, the Judge shouts at the parrot Nieder mit Hitler, but again the parrot is quiet.

Soon, the whole courtroom is shouting Nieder mit Hitler at the parrot ... and then the parrot says

The lord hears our prayers.

The East German jokes were also whispered and there were people that actually spent years in jail for telling them. The Stasi had ears almost everywhere and telling jokes that made fun of the state was not tolerated. One of the hallmarks that West Germany used to learn how the East German population felt was to collect and categorize their jokes. You can find many of them with a google search, but here are a few of the better ones:

Two East German border guards are conversing one day. One asks the other how he views things. The guard replies "I think ... " and is interrupted by the first guard. "That is enough, I now have to arrest you..."

Here are some about the Trabant 601, the car most East Germans had. Any car was hard to get In East Germany; the wait was long and the Trabant was comparatively expensive compared to wages.

How did the Trabant 601 get its name? 600 people ordered it and 1 actually got it.

A man driving a Trabant suddenly breaks his windshield wiper. Pulling into a service station, he hails a mechanic. “Wipers for a Trabi?” he asks. The mechanic thinks about it for a few seconds and replies: “Yes, sounds like a fair trade.”

How do you measure the acceleration of a Trabi? ...With a diary.

Why don't criminals take hostages in East Germany? ... What kind of criminal would wait 14 years for a getaway car?

General Secretary Erich Honecker and Stasi head Erich Mielke are discussing their hobbies. Honecker says  “I collect jokes about me.”  Mielke replies: “Well, we have almost the same hobby. I collect those who tell jokes about you.”

Why do Stasi officers make such good taxi drivers? You get in the car and they already know your name and where you live.

Two inmates in the Bautzen political prison are talking about their sentences. "How long are you in for?" "Five years." "And what did you do?" "Nothing." "Can't be. For nothing you get ten years!"

An East German Judge walks into the cafeteria of the district court bent over with laughter. Other judges and lawyers ask him why he is so amused. "Oh, comrades, I've just heard the latest political joke!" "Tell it to us!" "Unfortunately, I can't do that. I've just sentenced a barber to two years of prison for telling it!"

And last, if not least ...

What is the definition of the Five Year Joke in East Germany?  ...Three years in prison for telling it and two years for all who listened and laughed.

When You Shoot the Messenger

 Recently, Canadian-born rocker Neil Young made a point of removing his music from Spotify, a large media platform. His stated reason is that Spotify is allowing itself to be used as a platform for "spreading misinformation about Covid." He specifically cites the Joe Rogan podcast as the source. Joe Rogan isn't a liberal like Young and it's a fair guess Neil didn't care for any of what Rogen had to say, but he needed a specific reason so he chose Covid. Ironically, some of Young's past music moans about GMO food and the businesses engaged in it.

Neil Young isn't ... young anymore. He's a washed-up old man living off his past glory. He faded into the backdrop of music a long time ago, sold off some of his music for a reported $150 mil or so and for the most part people forgot about him. Once in a while his music is played on classic rock radio stations and that's about it. Publicizing his stand, he told Spotify they could have Rogen or Young, but not both. Spotify, to their credit didn't bow to this form of blackmail and said goodbye to Neil in very nice words. They even welcomed him back should he change his mind.

A few other has-been nobodies of past music joined him (Joni Mitchell, Nils Lofgren and a few other pebbles of the music industry) in protest. I'd guess it's a publicity stunt to put their names iin the public eye again, but who knows? Anyway, the funny thing is that with absolutely no credentials whatsoever, they pontificate about what is misinformation about covid. The 2 doctors who appeared on the Rogen podcast have the education, degrees and experience to at least give them some credibility about the subject. One of them is a specialist in mRNA vaccines.

So why should anybody believe a washed-up old dope-smoking musician's opinion about covid over credentialed medical doctors? Now it's not science, it's the politics of science and what you choose to believe, much like the debate over climate change with experts on both sides telling each other why they are wrong.

Do we advance science when one side tries to shut the other side up? No, we need debate, We need to hear both sides, we need to know the pros and cons. If anything, there is a plethora of information bombarding us about why everybody should get vaccinated and they've even set up a website promoting vaccines. Is there a website warning us about adverse reactions? I highly doubt it.

I'm not pro-vaccine and I'm not anti-vaccine. I'm pro-choice; every adult in this country should be able to make their own decision about what medical treatments they want and which ones they don't want. There should be no mandates, period. After the horrors of Nazi  medical experimentation, the post-WW2 Nuremburg compact specifically addresses this by saying nobody should be forced to submit to medical procedures or medicine they don't agree to. How is it any medical regimen can be mandated after this?

I still enjoy a small smattering of Neil Young music. Most of his music sounds rather nasal and droning to me and I avoid it like the plague. What is most curious to me is the concept and implementation of streaming music nowadays. I come from the old school of buying music on media (records, tapes, CDs etc) if you want it, not paying to stream for something that goes in one ear and out the other. And with the technology of today. you can change the format of your music easily (mp3s, etc) and put it on ipods or similar. I'm not against streaming music, I just don't understand it.

The meme I enjoy the most making the rounds of social media right now is the picture of Neil with the words "When you're so woke, you cancel yourself ..."

Anyway, I guess I can toss out my Joni Mitchell and Nils Lofgren CDs now, since they're sycophants of Neil in this publicity charade. 

Oh yeah. I don't have any Joni Mitchell or Nils Lofgren CDs. Too bad.

The Mask Nazi

I hesitated about writing about this. I didn't want to come off as favoring one side or the other in the debate about the efficacy of masks in preventing covid. There is plenty to read about this topic and it is easily found online. FWIW, I think the Governor of Colorado has the right idea about covid, vaccines and masks. His stated view is that the emergency is over and he won't extend or implement any mask mandates or force anybody to get a shot because ... because personal responsibility is personal, and if, after all this time, you get sick from covid without being vaccinated, it's your own darn fault. (He was silent about the large number of vaccinated people that get sick, which is par for the course.)

But I'm not in Colorado. I'm in New York, a blue-state that thinks nothing of suspending your freedoms, rights and liberties. I wish Ron DeSantis was my Governor, not some starchy lady that is drunk on power and hell-bent on somehow getting elected in November after becoming Governor by default following Andrew Cuomo's implosion. Keeping covid alive and well is part and parcel of the Democrat strategy to keep ballot-harvesting healthy via mail-in ballots. I suspect she'll do about as well at the ballot box as her predecessor did (7 out of 62 counties in 2018) but it will be enough to again elect whatever Democrat is on the ballot because the downstate urban region that includes New York City will be enough to prevail again. Frankly, I wish Governors were elected using an electoral college system to restore balance (and allow 55 out of 62 counties to have some sort of say in who will sit in the executive mansion for the next 4 years).

Anyway, the story that prompted all these words... and I'll skip mentioning the fast-food establishment where this occurred so as to not cause them harm.

We had ordered, chose a table and were sitting there waiting for our order to be completed. We had already filled our drinks from the self-serve dispenser and were making idle chatter when the show began. A lady that I will call Frau Goebbels appeared suddenly and started shouting at one of the employees. Apparently, she was upset about an employees mask. Oh, he was wearing one, to be sure. It just wasn't up to her standards of mask-wearing.

You need to pull your mask up. We couldn't hear his response clearly, but the next words out her mouth were No, you need to pull  it up to the top of your nose. I can still see some of your nose. I don't want to catch covid from you.

My wife and I were stunned. We had the best seat in the house to this show, and by now we were watching more attentively. At about this time, our name was called to come pick up the food we ordered, so I walked up and picked it up. I got a peek at who she was yelling at, grabbed the food bag and walked back to the table.

I want to see the manager. And magically, somebody appeared, talked to her and it was over. Frau Goebbels disappeared out the door. Shortly after, the employee walked out, took his apron off and muttered Thanks for ruining my day as he left. We're guessing it was either the end of his shift or the manager told him to go... but we're not sure.

If this cost this young man his job, I'll be disappointed. Mask, no mask, or an incompletely-worn mask are not the end of the world. And being loud, rude and obnoxious in front of other customers wasn't warranted. It was more about power and control than anything else. In modern lingo, she was a Karen, but I prefer the moniker Frau Goebbels better. She would have made a good Nazi. Too bad she was 90 years late.

There are ways to express your opinions about this, and the way this lady chose was a poor choice. We didn't learn anything about covid that night, but we did learn something about how many assholes walk among us. This lady clearly was one, and I fervently hope we never see her again. I suspect she is a professional complainer about many things in life.

After we were finished, as we walked towards the door, we thanked the workers for how good the food was and ... oh yeah, thanks for the bonus show. We enjoyed it. ... They laughed along with us as we went out the door.

They Had No Choice

CNN isn't doing very well lately. Compared to other networks, their audience share is rather low. Their best years of the recent past were definitely the Trump Presidential years; they constantly beat him up at every chance. There was no fair and balanced to CNN then, and it is doubtful they will ever be able to move to a centrist news position now. Since Trump left office, their ratings tanked so badly they had to keep talking about him to try to improve their ratings.

This week, they suspended Chris Cuomo after emails proved he lied about the extent of his participation in helping his brother Andrew Cuomo when he was pushed onto the poliitcal gallows trap door this past summer. Cuomo hosted the top rated show on CNN, which in comparison to other network news commentaries usually rated dead last.

CNN doesn't bother to hide the fact that it is a mouthpiece for left-leaning liberal politicians, We all watched Rachael Madcow make a fool out of herself with her Trump Russian tirades, we've seen Don Lemon be nothing more than a lackey for boastful Democrats who lie (like Adam Schiff, who claimed he had the goods on Trump with Russian collusion in an interview with them and then when asked on the Congressional record, admitted he didn't)  ... and Brian Stelter, who would look more intelligent if he were a mute. Considering the foolishness that has come out of her mouth. Joy Reid is, of course, another example of a closet bigot who takes completely non-racial stories and interjects racial bias into them (as in the Gabby/Laundrie murder mystery this past summer).  Still, CNN stands behind these fools as long as they don't commit mortal sins, and even Toobinators manage to keep their jobs after completely embarrassing the network with (almost) off-camera jollies. Frankly, with the current list of on-camera personalities at CNN, I'm baffled as to why anybody would bother watching them.

Ah, but Chris Cuomo's sins rose above and beyond; even CNN couldn't ignore them anymore. When NY Attorney-General Letitia James decided to run for Governor next year (when she earlier said she wouldn't because it would look like she went after Andrew Cuomo to take his job), she had a few Aces up her sleeve - the "report" that summarized both Cuomo's activities following Andrew's trip to the woodshed. Andrew didn't want to resign, but it became pretty clear if he didn't, he would be impeached by his former friends in both Houses of the NY Legislature.

So now, today (12-4) we see CNN decided to fire Chris Cuomo for good, citing a review by a "respected law firm.' I'm no fan of either Cuomo (I've written about them before), but I do find irony in the fact that CNN can't even fire Cuomo without the excuse of a law-firm review. No review was needed; we've seen enough of Chris Cuomo threatening to throw somebody down a stairwell, we've seen enough of his lies in his Covid-quarantine video clips and we've seen enough of his big ego when he's shooting videos of himself lifting weights. CNN should have axed him long ago and the fact that it took them this long to finally do it speaks volumes about the morals and ethics of those running the show in the CNN boardrooms.

As for the advertisers that keep giving CNN money for ad slots, if I were them, I'd tie the price of that time on CNN to their Nielson audience share. Less viewers, lower ad rates ... or simply direct their advertising budget to the networks that do get consistently good audiences. Why spend money on networks with poor ratings?

So, arrivederci, Chris. Like Fredo in Godfather II, I guess you got whacked.

They only question is, in the casting of lots at the bottom of your cross, what CNN lackey is in line to take your seat?

The New Segregationists

Segregation: The policy or practice of separating people of different races, classes, or ethnic groups, as in schools, housing, and public or commercial facilities, especially as a form of discrimination.

We're supposedly better now; mainstream America recognizes segregation is not only wrong, but a blot on our history. Not only have we logically and morally moved away from segregation, we have outlawed the practice in Federal law. The 1964 Civil Rights act banned it in the workplace and all public places. There can be little disagreement that segregation was and is wrong.

Last time I looked, we're living in the 21st century. 57 years have elapsed since 1964; surely we must have learned by now not to practice it. Sadly, it is returning and it is a real shock when you discover just who is bringing it back: The very people and institutions that worked to abolish it!

Bill Maher will be the first person to tell you he's a Liberal, but lately he's made many statements that make Conservatives question his claim. He's no friend of 'woke' people and he recently pointed out how segregation is rearing its ugly head again in America. I'll leave a link to his words at the bottom of this essay, but the screenshot I put up here clearly displays where segregation is running rampant: On college campuses, one of the very birthplaces of the civil rights battle.

It seem the dorms in our esteemed American institutes of learning (over 100 were sampled) are 42% segregated by ethnicity; orientation programs are 47% segregated and college graduation cermonies are a whopping 72% segregated. Further, it almost seems blacks are fine with it that way. If they weren't, it wouldn't take much for them to stop the practice with a few well-placed protests.

I don't usually give liberals a compliment when they utter their usual poppycock, but in this case, Maher is right. There should only be one national anthem (although I disagree with him that it doesn't necessarily have to be the one we have now; I wrote about that foolishness in a previous blog). Citing Whoopi Goldberg as a buffoon on the topic is enjoyable to watch. Whoopi thinks a black national anthem is needed and whites need to be ... re-educated about it ... No thanks, Ms. Goldberg. We're still mourning the loss of Aunt Jemima, thanks to those who already reeducated us. Thankfully, when the real national anthem is skipped at athletic events (as it has been lately), there are people who sing it A cappella anyway.

This is the second of a three-part series I'm running on why racism has become a major divider of America. Part one was about race baiters, the next generation and for that I was called abysmally ignorant and a racist by my liberal brother (which means my points landed dead center). I forgive him; the brainwashing he endured (but refuses to acknowledge) in 10 or so years of higher education all but erased any common sense he had.

The last part of my thoughts are going to center on Critical Racist Theory, the true evil it is and how it has (along with the race baiters and new segregationists) reversed the progress made in the last 50 years.

The future looks dim as far as to how America is going to fix this. The racial and political divide are simmering as I speak, and I fear for the future of my native soil. Remember, when times are bad, the political winds are fertile for a despot to come along promising to fix it. About a hundred years ago, the seeds were sown and it did happen. And we all know how history has a habit of repeating itself, because people don't change. Technology and the environment change, but people are people and if there is any one thing history has taught us, it is that people will barter away freedom for security when the chips are down.

Hell, just look back a year and a half if you don't agree with me.

Here is the link to the Maher clip on YouTube: CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO