Carolina Politics Online

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials expressed concern Tuesday about black-white achievement gaps and a significant drop in the number of schools meeting progress standards under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

A preliminary count by the state found that 36 of 158 CMS schools tested met the standard, called “adequate yearly progress,” in 2007-08. A year earlier, 61 schools did.

Superintendent Peter Gorman attributed the decline to ever-rising standards demanded by federal law, which aims to have all students proficient in math and reading by 2014.

The Charlotte Observer

When you allow violent and disruptive kids to stay in school and be a distraction towards the other students there it’s no wonder that nobody is learning anything.  Addressing the higher standards as the culprit, Gorman’s accusation befuddles me.  If you remember, last year CMS received about $10 million more in funding than they were supposed to have because their projections of student enrollment were way under what they say said it would be.  County Commissioner Bill James wanted the money returned to the county, but in the end CMS was able to keep the extra money they didn’t need.

Now, the school districts are always claiming to be underfunded and in order to properly educated our children their position is that more money is the trick.  That being the case, with CMS getting more money they needed for this past school year, how were they not able to up their performance?  It doesn’t make sense and just a few months ago we listened to Peter Gorman claim he would have to cut back on vital education spending when he did not receive the additional $28 million he wanted for this coming school year.

I am not supporter of No Child Left Behind.  I think it’s unconstitutional, for one, and the result of it schools teaching students to a test rather than actual skills they will need later in life.  Regardless of NCLB’s requirements, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District is a piss poor education system which Gorman is not improving and that is because he is not addressing the root causes of the problems within the school district.

This weekend I finally finished Liberal Fascism, written by National Review columnist Jonah Goldberg. Now some of you may be saying: “Hey Celtic, why did it take you so long to finish a book that’s been out for a couple months now?”

Well that’s easy- I’m cheap. Rather than buying the book, I went to Barnes & Noble over the course of several weekends and read it while powered by the caffeine and chocolate yummyness of Mint Mocha Chip Frappuccinos. Don’t cry for Barnes & Noble though… what they didn’t make from selling the book they more than made up in coffee sales.

This isn’t to say that Jonah Goldberg’s book is boring. On the contrary, Goldberg might be one of the few people out there who can compare Rousseau-ian and Mussolinian philosophy and actually make it interesting. Fans of Goldberg’s columns on National Review Online should be warned that his typical humor, Star Trek references, and comparisons of today’s news stories to Simpson’s episodes aren’t prevalent in this effort. But such is to be expected out of a more serious and scholarly work. But he does make the philosophy and history easy to read and understand, and his typical casualness is a welcome departure from the usual tete-en-derierre smugness one gets from other authors of philosophic history. Fans of his column will probably like Liberal Fascism; people who wouldn’t know Jonah Goldberg from the wrestler Goldberg might like it too, assuming they have an appreciation for history, philosophy, and unearthing and discrediting an underhanded bit of historical revisionism.

The historical revisionism in question is the lie that conservatism (or big “R” Republicanism) and fascism are philosophically and historically linked, while modern liberalism (and big “D” Democrats) are somehow as clean and pure as the new-fallen snow. In fact, Goldberg argues quite persuasively that the opposite is true. His arguments are a welcome life-preserver for those of us with even rudimentary knowledge of history and economics; we who roll our eyes every time we spot some snot-faced punk holding up a “Bush = Hitler” sign while simultaneously stifling opposing speech and enthusiastically supporting a political party (Democrat, Green, Workers’ World, etc.) that quite openly favors statism over individual freedom. Finally, someone else has confirmed what I’ve been saying all along- the closest thing to real fascism in today’s America isn’t George W. Bush prosecuting the War on Terror, it is Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama insisting on what doctor we are allowed to see and forcibly redistributing wealth in the name of “fairness”.

The argument isn’t too shocking to anyone who has sat down and thought about the philosophical differences between our two parties. Assuming for a second that failed leaders such as George W. Bush and Ted Stevens stopped leading the Republican Party into the big-government abyss and small government conservatives regained party control, ask yourself the following questions: Which party has a greater appreciation for individual liberty? For private property rights? For personal responsibility? Now ask yourself which party is more likely to respond to crises, real or imagined, with more government control? Which party is more likely to dismiss individual liberty for collectivism, communitarianism, and “the common good”? Which party is more likely to take a dim view of free-market economic freedom and try to regulate earnings, wages, and business structures in order to make it more “fair”?

Now ask yourself which party is closer the historical realities of Italian and German Fascism?

Goldberg’s thesis is two-pronged: 1) that modern Fascism and Communism are damn close to being the same thing, and in fact shared the same historical origins and founders, and; 2) that modern liberalism is closer to fascism than modern liberals would care to admit. He tackles the historical divergence of fascism and communism first. Internal disagreements and power struggles led to the leading communists distancing themselves from their “in-house” competition –the fascists- and labeling the fascists as corporate stooges and right-wingers in order to discredit them. Over time, liberals and progressives adopted the tactic of labeling everything they disagreed with as “fascist” or “Nazi” while conveniently ignoring the extraordinary similarities of their own philosophy to their pejorative epithet of choice

Benito Mussolini, the founder of Italian fascism and considered the “Father of Modern Fascism”, began his career as a fire-breathing socialist and was personally commended by no less than Lenin. Mussilini’s economic platform was almost identical to what one would have seen in the Soviet Union- redistribution of wealth, massive welfare programs, government health care, etc. Italian Fascism was the first modern government system that could rightfully be called “totalitarian”, a term that may have been coined by Mussolini himself. Misused today by people who ought to know better (usually those snot-used protesters again), totalitarianism describes a government that is in total control of society to the point of being society itself; one in which “nothing is outside the state, and everything is within it”.

As typically happens when a political movement begins to grow and gain adherents, factions begin to develop and power struggles ensue. This is what led to the split between modern fascism and communism. During WWI, Mussolini supported military action and even joined the Italian army. He felt that a military crises and a subsequently militaristic society could more easily lead to his brand of socialism. Most communists and socialists at the time disagreed with him and ostracized him. Undaunted, Mussolini and his supporters formed a socialist group nicknamed the “Fascists”, derived from fasces, a Roman symbol of authority.

Mussolini also incurred the wrath of Soviet Union’s socialist leaders by making his brand of socialism more nationalistic than international. This turn of events was a direct threat to the authority Lenin and Co., who felt that the communist revolution should be an international event that transcended national boundaries and (surprise) looked towards Mother Russia for inspiration. When Mussolini rejected this, and by extension the authority of the major world socialist leaders, he became their enemy regardless of how similar his polices were to their own. Socialist leaders like Lenin, and later Stalin, responded by labeling Fascism as everything Communism was against: corporate, business-backed, pro-wealth, and anti-worker. “Useful idiots”, then and now, parroted the party line. But it is simply after-the-fact historical revisionism. Communism/Socialism and Fascism, if not brothers, are at the very least cousins who commonly sleep over at each others’ house. When Mussolini and his supports faced the firing squad after he had been driven from power, one of the supporters of “the father of modern fascism” cried out: “Long live Benito Mussolini and the Socialist Revolution!”

Having successfully set the record straight on modern fascism’s true origins, Goldberg spends the rest of the book attempting to prove the second part of his thesis- that modern liberalism is disturbingly similar to fascism in many ways. This he does well, but less convincingly than the first. Goldberg takes pains to point out, and I should as well, that at no point does he mean to say that modern liberalism is somehow equivalent or even close to the truly evil aspects Nazi Fascism, such as the Holocaust. He even opines that while creeping fascist tendencies can be observed in today’s America, that America’s history of liberty, individualism, and independence will preclude any sort of full-fledged Italian or Nazi style fascism from ever taking hold in our country. But he does ring a timely warning bell for the soft, smiley-faced fascism that he does see in America today, emanating mostly from the left. If Italian or German fascism is George Orwell’s 1984 vision of a boot slamming down on someone’s face, Goldberg says, than the creeping fascism in today’s America is a big warm hug from which we cannot escape. Sure, one is more comfortable than the other, but they both share the same end result.

In the more effective potions of the book, Goldberg reveals the surprising hidden history of how many leading Americans, during the period between the world wars, celebrated and applauded Italian and then German fascism. He contends that America had a democratically elected “fascist-lite” government in during Woodrow Wilson’s war-time administration, and that Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal had far more in common with Mussolinian and Hitlerian economics than the typical liberal would care to admit.

His arguments lose effectiveness when he veers from verified history (like it or not, New Dealers, Hitler did speak well of Roosevelt’s New Deal policies, and Goldberg has the citation to prove it) and starts opining about how some specific key aspects of modern liberalism are derived directly from some fascistic philosophical ancestry. He does his best to defend his opinions with historical fact, and in many cases succeeds, but often it seems like he’s making too big a leap.

 He accuses the modern left of appropriating many fascistic tactics for their own use. One of the most common of these is the “crisis mentality” tactic, wherein some real or often manufactured crisis becomes an excuse for more government power. Mussolini used the real crisis of WWI as a mechanism to gain power, and later several false crises to solidify his hold on power. Hitler used the Reichstag fire, and less-well known crises involving the German economy, health care, the state of the Aryan race, and more. What do today’s liberals use? Ever hear of the War on Drugs? The War on Poverty? Global Warming? The endangered state of American children? The health care crisis? And what’s the liberal solution to all of these crises? Why, more government power and less individual freedom, of course.

He has his history right, but I don’t think it’s fair to accuse modern liberalism taking a page from the fascist playbook when all they’re doing is practicing good politics. I don’t like that liberals play the crisis game, but they do and it’s effective. That Mussolini and Hitler -and Wilson and FDR- did the same does not make that specific tactic fascist or mean that only fascists do it; it’s merely a good strategy.

He makes similar cases about Hillary Clinton’s child-care and health-care initiatives in the chapter entitled, “Brave New Village”. He is correct that her vision of government health-care is most accurately described as fascist health care. And her notion of children being more of the state’s responsibly than parent’s responsibility ought to send a chill down all our spines (her exact quote was: There’s no such thing as someone else’s child”). But while her opinions and opinions of others like her are certainly in the same village as fascism, it’s too far a stretch to call them outright fascism. The desire to rule the world by ruling the next generation is as old as philosophy itself. Even Plato, Goldberg points out, talked about it. Does that make Plato a fascist? Big government authoritarianism is nothing new, and Fascism isn’t the only strain of that disease. However, he does a good job of pointing out how damn close Hillary is to some fascist ideals.

Despite some problems with his specific examples, I think Goldberg is right that modern liberalism has general similarities with modern fascism, and that many proposals espoused by Democrat leaders would take America to a bleak dystopian fascist-like state if taken to the extreme. Fascism and communism/socialism are statist philosophies. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama don’t want concentration camps, or support anti-Semitism, and as far as I know neither plans to set fire to the U.S. Congress and blame the conservatives. But they do want an all-encompassing government with nothing outside its control. They do want to control the mechanisms of the American economy. They do divide people into special classes and groups and exalt collectives over individuals. And they do it with a smile on their face in the name of “safety” or “security” or “fairness”.

I recommend Liberal Fascism for both it’s fascinating historical research and because it provides some ammunition for the next time you see some snot-nosed little punk in a Che t-shirt comparing Bush or McCain to Hitler. Sometimes you may hear conservatives like myself complain that the Democrats have become the de facto Socialist Party of America. Goldberg makes a strong case that the proper description might instead be the Fascist Party of America. Ultimately though, there’s little to differentiate the two, especially while you’re watching your freedoms slowly slip away.

Already in North Carolina, Sen. Elizabeth Dole and Reps. Mike McIntyre and Walter Jones, both of whom represent coastal counties, have switched their positions.

All now support offshore drilling with the state’s approval. Dole and Jones are Republicans. McIntyre is a Democrat.

The News & Observer

President Bush lifted the executive order today, ironically put in place by his father, that banned drilling off the coast of much of the U.S.  While this does not clear the final path for coastal drilling, it eliminates one of the final hurdles.  The Congress still has to repeal their ban and while that has been an uphill battle for years, many representatives are changing their tune.

The quick pace of rising gas costs have made this a top issue for voters across the country.  With the exception of a few in heavily leftist areas, representatives in Congress are going to face strong resistance from their constituents if they continue to oppose efforts to open up our coastal waters.  We will undoubtedly see more members of Congress coming over to our side of the aisle on this.

Alright, so you all know by now that Tony Snow has died. What always struck me about Mr. Snow was his ability to debate rather than argue. He was certainly very conservative, and an articulate, passionate spokesman for conservatism. But he never descended into the finger-pointing shouting match food fights that so many political arguments degenerate into nowadays. (And yes, I’m guilty of that myself sometimes… OK, a lot of times). He had dignity and grace when debating issues, and had even more dignity and grace fighting the disease that eventually took his life.

I do wish I could end this post here and leave it at a well deserved RIP for Mr. Snow… but I can’t. Following the awful smears I found following Jesse Helms’ death, I just couldn’t resist the morbid curiosity compelling me to go check out a few of CPO’s liberal counterparts to see what they were saying. Here’s a sampler, and remember- I do it so you won’t have to.

Huffington Post:

“i wonder if photos of this professional liars casket will be allowed in the media. anybody want to bet on it? no, no photos of the caskets of our dead soldiers but plenty of photos of the dead republican liars. more typical republican values.. the riddance, it is good.” -OmahaJim

 

“Karma is never sad its the work of god!!!!” -Emory

 

And when the following post appeared:

“A Man of honor, a Man of character. He always sounded like he was having such a good time. I will miss hearing from him.” -Radarman

These were the responses:

“”A Man of honor, a Man of character” HUH !
BWHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA !!!!!!!!”

 

“AND IF YOU BELIEVE THAT…
I’ve got this terrific bridge across the East River from Manhattan to Long Island to sell you….” -wmbear

Let’s check out DailyKos:

“Farewell. You will always be remembered as an ebullient liar for Bush. Have a nice chat with St. Peter.”

 

“Perhaps in a way, it’s best to look at the life and death of these people as a cautionary tale, perhaps a bit of Karma biting them (and us) on the ass for the choices made in one’s life.” -Calli Scribe (again with the karma???)

“Thank you.  Evil people are evil people.  I mourn the death of no evil.  I hope for it.  I yearn for it.It should hurt to be a Republican.” -Arsenic

 

“I will never mourn for someone who 1)worked for Fox News; or 2) Helped the Republicans spin their blatant lies. If that makes me a bad person, so be it.  People like Tony Snow have caused incalculable damage to our beloved country.” -Dave G.

 

“he knowingly attributed to the destruction of this country and perpetuated the lies that got 4,000+ young kids killed and he did it for money and fame. f**k tony snow. i am sorry he had cancer, i am sorry that anyone should ever go through what he must’ve endured, he is no different from anyone else in that regard.” -playtonjr

 

And here are a few gems from over at the LA Times blog(!):

“I hope the rest of these criminals die too. Good riddance to a person who contributed to making this world a worse place.” -Max

 

“Its unfortunate he won’t be able to see the damage he helped inflict on this country and the world. I wonder how he likes hell.” -Tedson

 

“Good riddance , we still have a white house full of liars and American soldiers being slaughtered. if Cheney strokes then change will begin , as for Bush he is just to stupid  to die and when he dies bury him at home in IRAQ.” -Slimjim66

 

“There is special place in hell for Mr. Snow. As a co-conspirator of the Bush administration, I have no special sympathy for him. I only wish his suffering were more prolonged.” -Efrain Rojas

Sigh… I really can’t add anything more to what you’ve already read. There are hateful, vindictive, and even evil people in our country. Anyone who takes time out their day to piss on the grave a good man who left behind a young family ought to be ashamed. Sadly, I don’t think these jokers have the capacity to feel shame.

Perhaps you’ve seen this little gem on your TV screens recently-

Wow… Excuse me for a sec… I need a tissue.

Whew, OK… I’m back. Yes, the ad was very heartwarming. From the soft black-and-white photos to the soaring music, it’s a veritable campfire hugfest brought right into your living room.

It’s also a big ol’ crock of bullsh*t.

What the MSM won’t tell you is that the Obamessiah came into your living room and lied right to your face about his record. Specifically, the portion where he claimed to have voted for welfare reform and took credit for slashing welfare rolls by 80%.

According to Dick Morris and verified by FactCheck.org, Obama opposed the 1996 welfare reform act at the time. The law he cited in the ad, and for which he took credit, was the local implementing law the state was required to pass, and it did- almost unanimously.

So let’s get this straight. Not only did Obama oppose welfare reform (one of the few things the government actually got right back in the 90’s), but he lied to you about supporting it. Does that fall under “hope”, or “change”, or both?

People in this country better wise up. They’re about to elect an dreadfully inexperienced man who’s record of accomplishments is so weak that he has to pull lies out of his a** to compensate for it. Worse, the media is not doing it’s job in exposing him for the underwhelming hack he really is.

Apparently this story is now a national phenomenon… on political blogs anyways-

After retiring early rather than lower a flag to honor former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, L.F. Eason III was a hot topic in the blogosphere this week.

In its usual over-the-top style, Washington-based political blog Wonkette called him a “brave American hero,” while sister blog Gawker nominated him for “a hundred Nobel Peace Prizes” and asked, “Is anyone hiring experts in weights and measures?”

On the other side, a number of conservatives lambasted Eason’s “sanctimonious arrogance” and said he spit on Helms’ grave.

Former N&O columnist Dan Gearino pondered whether liberals would be celebrating if a conservative made a similarly defiant gesture toward, say, Barack Obama. And in a snarky vein, Selma conservative Troy LaPlante wrote: “Good riddance. One less state employee on the payroll.”

Y’know… I gotta side with the libs on this one. It’s not a decision I would have made, but if the symbolism of a lowered flag was that important to this dude, I commend him for standing by his convictions. He’s not bitching, moaning, or otherwise complaining about how unfair life is, either. He took his stand and accepted the consequences with dignity… and got some extra free time to pursue new hobbies!

Enjoy your retirement, Mr. Eason.

The General Assembly bill would require vendors to refund tickets if they are counterfeit or not delivered on time, and would tax the Internet sale of tickets at prices above face value.

Supporters say they want to protect fans from buying fake tickets. Opponents argue that legalized scalping in any form allows resellers to hoard tickets and price ordinary fans — taxpayers — out of the best seats at the most popular events.

“North Carolinians shouldn’t have to pay a scalping premium for entertainment that in many cases they’re already subsidizing via tax revenue or public buildings,” said Shana Becker, attorney for the N.C. Public Interest Research Group.

The N&O

Well, this simplest solution, and the one I support in a perfect world, is for taxpayers to not have to subsidize these stadiums to begin with. But since that’s never gonna happen, what’s the second best option?

I’ve always been kinda torn on the whole scalping issue. On one hand, if you bought the ticket, it belongs to you. You should be able to do whatever you want with it, and if in a free market someone is willing to buy it off you for a higher price, well praise Adam Smith!

However, the ticket is only a ticket to the actual seat, which does NOT belong to you (though in a subsidized stadium… oh never mind). And I don’t like the idea of people being able to buy hordes of tickets in order to spike the price.

So I’m looking for some direction on this. Any comments from the peanut gallery?

Oh, and I’m fully aware that the only real reason the General Assembly passed this bill was so they could tax higher resale values. Hopefully you were too.

When Jesse Helms died on July 4th, the respectful mourning from conservative blogs was expected. Sadly, also expected was the shrill hateful cacophony from our friends on the left. Here are few examples from our fine blogger counterparts on the other side of the aisle-

From Wonkette, under the headline, “Jesse Helms Finally Dead”:

“I hope someone skull-f**ks his corpse.” -Showbiz Kazy 
“I thought I detected an extra few degrees of heat from the fires of Hades today. Good riddance, you racist, fascist, bloated old racist f**k. What a complete waste of protoplasm.” -DangerousLiberal
“ZOMG best 4th of july EVAR”- Mr. Dick Sprinkles

The Huffington Post presented a wonderful piece of artwork featuring someone urinating on Helms’ gravestone.

The Villiage Voice published a snippy little piece (also headlined “Jesse Helms Finally Dies”) wherein the author opines that, “The death of Helms is just about the best birthday present the United States could wish for on July 4.” Comments about the article included the following:

“He and Falwell: good riddance.”- Misha
“The only difference between Jesse Helms and scum like James Earl Ray is that Helms got elected to the Senate before he could point a rifle at Martin Luther King.”- ReadBooks
“Have fun in hell you racist f**k!”- Beebee

Aren’t you just basking in the happy Kumbaya-ism of our lefty friends? If only they could show this much vitriol towards, oh, I don’t know… Al Queda, maybe I could take them more seriously.

Jesse Helms was a flawed man. He was wrong about many things. Aside from posting news of his death here on CPO, I pretty much stayed out of the discussion regarding his legacy, because frankly I have mixed and uneasy feeling about it. But you do not piss on someone’s grave before their body is even cool. These people who called Helms “hateful” ought to take a damn good look in the mirror to see what “hateful” looks like. While there, they’ll get a good look at what a hypocrite is too.

Every 4th of July, I think it’s important to take some time away from the fireworks and BBQ’s to reflect on just why, exactly, you are able to celebrate. To that end, I’ve posted the entire Declaration of Independence below, so that none of you have an excuse for not reading today.

As you read it, please remember two things- firstly, the incredible amount of courage and fortitude it took to affix one’s name to this document. Everyone who signed this document was committing treason, and was liable to suffer the consequences of daring to stand up for freedom.

Secondly, as you read the list of grievances against King George III, ask yourself how many of these grievances can rightly be leveled against our current government. Is our current government listening to us? Does it care about our freedoms? Does it have our liberty as its priority? Does it have the consent of the governed.

Every government must live in terror of the governed if liberty is to thrive, because only then will that government respect the rights of the people. Ask yourself if the government is terrified of us, or if we live in fear of the government. Remember: “it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish” government that no longer respects individual rights and liberties. Otherwise, for what purpose did our Founding Fathers risk  and “pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor”?

Happy 4th of July.

WHEN in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

I changed the layout of the site for a couple of reasons. One, I have had the old layout for a while and wanted something new. Also, while I really liked the old theme, I didn’t care for the way it listed the categories. It was hard to tell the difference between the parent categories and the child categories. Anyway, I would like feedback on this. Do you like the new appearance or would you prefer the old one back?

For centuries, Charleston’s image has been the very portrait of Southern charms — moonlight, magnolias and mint juleps.

Well, at least we still have the moonlight and magnolias.

In the past year, Charleston police have cracked down on drinking in public. You can’t take your beer on the sidewalk in front of A.C.’s when you need a smoke, or stand on the corner with a cold one on a Saturday night. And the days when you could walk The Battery on a warm summer evening with a chilled glass of wine are gone with the wind.

Better keep your rum punch on the porch.

Last year, police curtailed tailgating at Citadel football games. Since then, they have turned the annual downtown art walk into a staggered event — you can’t carry your wine from one gallery to the next. And now, police say Dave Matthews fans won’t be able to grill out or sit on their cars drinking beer in public parking lots before the band’s July Fourth show at Riley Park.

The Post and Courier

It’s about time they started cracking down on those belligerent art goers. Do you see how out of control they are, blustering about from gallery to gallery with their Sauvignon Blanc, leaving bedlam and pandemonium in their wake? Praise be to God that Charleston has a police chief like Greg Mullen with the courage and the foresight to protect us from these artsy troublemakers.

Are you kidding me??

Go over to Europe. People walk down the streets over there with alcohol in their hand and nobody gives a damn because it’s NOT A BIG DEAL! I spent time in Germany a few years ago and people drink on the street. They drink on the subway. They drink on the bus. It’s not a problem. And….. you better sit down for this one….. they can buy it when they’re 16 years old. GASP!

For a nation that touts itself as the Land of the Free we sure have a hell of a lot of restrictions that most other nations don’t.

MACCLESFIELD – A Macclesfield couple has been charged with murder after their 13-year-old son died while tied to a tree for two nights.Brice Brian McMillan, 41, told deputies that the child was being disobedient and was punished by sleeping tied to a tree outside of the family’s home at 1110 Felton Farm Road on Tuesday night, Edgecombe County Sheriff James L. Knight said in a statement. The teenager was released Wednesday morning and tied to the tree again that night for bad behavior.

Temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday reached more than 90 degrees and dipped into the 70s at night.

Macclesfield sits northwest of the wildfires blazing in Hyde County. The thick smoke from the fire lingered in the area and around the home on Felton Farm Road on Friday.

The Rocky Mount Telegram

Sometimes I wish we didn’t have the 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Then we could do the exact same thing to these gargoyles who dared call themselves “parents”. We can wait until it gets to be 100 degrees, and we can light a bonfire nearby to simulate the smoky air. I don’t think that’s cruel or unusual at all. It seems awfully appropriate, actually.

“This shouting Liberal! Liberal! Liberal! stuff is not going to work this year,” Lee Teague, Mecklenburg’s GOP chairman, e-mailed a reporter.

“McHenry and a lot of other Republicans in Washington need to get a clue,” he added later.

Charlotte Observer

Mr. Teague gets it. The RNC doesn’t. People want solutions, not talking points. One of the reasons why Barack Obama has attracted as many cult like followers as he has is because he is talking more about ideas of change and focuses less on political attacks. In all three special elections for Congress this year in which the Republicans lost the seat, they spent their time with negative attacks attempting to link their opponents to Obama’s far left extremist views. It didn’t work. The Democrat candidates focused on ways to fix problems and that’s what people want to hear.

“We don’t have the brand power to do that right now, so we need to come to the table with a better game,” said Michael Steele, chairman of GOPAC, a national group charged with electing Republicans.

“We need some common-sense solutions that speak to where people are in their everyday lives. So running around screaming ‘this guy’s a liberal’ won’t get you re-elected.”

Michael Steele is a great man with an even greater future ahead of him. I have no doubt we’ll see him running for President some day. He is the guy they should have tapped to run the RNC. Duncan is absolutely useless and Martinez was nothing more than a Bush lackey.

Sen. Catherine Ceips came out swinging at a candidate forum Thursday,criticizing her opponent for a “negative, nasty mudslinging campaign” then quoted a black state Supreme Court justice’s likening political nonprofits to “the new face of the Klan.”

The Beaufort Gazette

Ironically, Ceips accuses Davis of running a negative campaign and slings a gargantuan piece of pooh at him while doing so. Ceips’ “Klan” quote has to do with a race baiting statement by a nincompoop State Supreme Court Justice, Don Beatty, who stated in a Wednesday interview that the third party groups that have been attacking Republican candidates for voting for the left wing Beatty “are the new face Klan.” Beatty’s accusation is disgraceful and he acted in a dishonest and dishonerable way by making it, but it seems despite Beatty’s successful career, he too learned a long time ago, like many left wingers, that when you’re being attacked on your views just throw out racism to try and squash the truth.

It’s really pathetic that Ceips would latch on to that statement to try and paint a vehemently dishonest picture of Tom Davis. Perhaps she doesn’t what she sees in the recent polling of the race.

The proposed rules would limit tethering to three hours in a 24-hour period, specify the equipment that can be used for tethering and set minimum sizes for outdoor pens. The rules would be implemented after an 18-month public education period.

At Tuesday’s hearing, supporters said tethering restrictions would improve animal welfare, protect public safety and reduce the number of unwanted puppies.

“The overwhelming information about this issue is that the quality of life for dogs, and their well-meaning humans, would be improved if tethering was limited or eliminated entirely,” she said.

The N&O

In case you can’t tell by now, I take a pretty dim view of any government inference in anyone’s life… but this is the exception. I’ve had dogs my entire life, and I vividly remember helping my dad build two different fences at two different houses so that our dogs could have a fenced-in yard. Tethering dogs isn’t nesacarily cruel, but it’s not treating them kindly either. Dogs, especially big ones, need room to run around and play.

You want a dog? Build a freakin’ fence! If that’s too hard, or not possible for you, then don’t get a dog. Or get a small one that stays inside most of the day.

This sewage has to be one of the most offensive attempts of institutionalized racism I have ever seen in modern day.

State Reps. Larry Womble and Earline Parmon, both Winston-Salem Democrats, are the sponsors of the bill, which is known as the North Carolina Racial Justice Act. It was narrowly approved last year by the N.C. House of Representatives and is pending in the state Senate.

“We want to try to make the system as objective and colorblind as much as we possibly can,” Womble said. “There’s evidence that says it is not completely colorblind.”

In North Carolina, about 22 percent of the population is black, while more than 50 percent of the inmates on death row are black.

If the bill is passed, defendants would be allowed to cite such statistics to try to prove that race was an improper factor in a prosecutor’s decision to request the death penalty. If a judge finds that race was a factor, the judge could overturn a death sentence.

So, if you’re a black man on death row you can have your death sentenced overturned because of the color of your skin. As for whitey, well, screw you. What would Mr. Womble and Ms Parmon think if there were a disproportionate number of white men on death row and a couple of white lawmakers sought to pass a law that would allow them to get off for being white? My God, they’d have Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton down here holding a conference and having a civil rights parade!

Here is a thought for these two racist dung heaps. If these men weren’t murdering people they wouldn’t be on death row! Instead of trying to allow the legal system to discriminate in favor of black men on death row, maybe Mr. Womble and Ms Parmon should be out talking to their constituencies about why there are so many blacks on death row. If they really cared they’d be out there condemning the fact that 3/4 of black children are born out of wedlock with no father in their lives. Children who grow up fatherless are largely at risk for getting involved in drug and alcohol abuse as well as dropping out of school and turning to a life of crime.  They’d be out pushing for school choice so that black families in the inner cities can get their children out of these dangerous schools so they can get a decent education.

Womble and Parmon don’t believe in equality. They simply want to reinstate racism in their favor.

CHARLOTTE - An influential N.C. lawmaker has introduced legislation aimed at better protecting the state’s poultry workers by keeping closer tabs on their employers.

The bill would give state health officials the authority to inspect poultry plants and would require large plants to hire or contract with licensed medical workers. It was introduced this week in response to an Observer series about working conditions in the poultry industry — and to Gov. Mike Easley’s subsequent call for reform.

The N&O

Honestly, stories like this are why I’m a vegetarian. Yup- a conservative/libertarian vegetarian. And y’all thought you had me pegged, didn’t you?

Politically, I’m not sure how I come down on this one. I’m generally opposed to any government interference in private businesses. But when these businesses put food on your table, perhaps a little oversight is necessary. But only a little.

In a series of stories published earlier this year, the Observer detailed the human cost of putting chicken and turkey on America’s dinner tables. Many workers told the newspaper that those hurt on the job are routinely ignored, threatened or fired.

The Observer found that one leading N.C. poultry company, House of Raeford Farms, has hidden the extent of injuries inside its plants.

There’s one key aspect of this story I hope you noticed. It wasn’t great Mommy Government who found these bad working conditions- it was a privately owned newspaper. Honestly, government is so slow, broken, and reactionary, you’d be foolish to rely on it to look out for your interests. It’s private companies like The Observer, Consumer Reports, Underwriters Laboratories, and others that find and report these things.

So what does Mike Easley do?

The legislation would also provide $350,000 more each year for the state Department of Health and Human Services — money that Easley had requested to hire two occupational health nurses and two industrial hygienists to regularly inspect plants. Sen. Dan Clodfelter, a Mecklenburg Democrat and a Senate leader, introduced the bill.

Wonderful. Seems to me a better use of that money would be to just split it between the Observer and Consumer Reports, then send them out to spot check these poultry plants instead.

WRAL.com

Raleigh, N.C. — Organizers have urged the public to come out to two early Memorial Day events dedicated to all fallen and surviving local veterans on Sunday afternoon. Events will take place at the Raleigh National Cemetary in Raleigh and the Wake Memorial Park in Cary.

If I may slightly deviate from my usual angry rantings, I’d like to discuss something that we all can get behind… the Pittsburgh Penguins and their imminent demolition of the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals!

I know that our esteemed administrator is originally from Pittsburgh, and I have been a lifelong Pens fan despite growing up in Western New York. This is the first time since 1992 that we Pens fans have seen our beloved team in the Cup finals, so I’d like to take this time to officially predict a Penguins victory in six games, with Sidney Crosby winning the Conn Smythe MVP trophy.

“Let’s Go Pens!”

A three-way race to fill the seat created by Rep. Floyd Breeland’s retirement pits two political veterans who have served at least two terms on Charleston City Council, against a young Iraqi war veteran who currently works for one of the biggest political veterans in the state.

Charleston City Councilman Wendell Gilliard, former City Councilman Maurice Washington and newcomer Clay Middleton all emphasize the need to improve public education, but their backgrounds differ, as do some of their other priorities.

Read more from The Post and Courier….