We're Asking The Wrong Questions

To date, I've refrained from posting anything about the ongoing health care debate, largely because I felt that I had little or nothing to add.  It seems that the hundreds of thousands of gallons of ink spilled, and the billions of electrons sacrificed for the topic already have said all there is to say.

However, a thought occurred to me the other day that I've not heard anyone express on either side of the health care debate.  It occurs to me that when it comes to the American health care system, we're asking the wrong questions.

The first question we should ask is this:  "Where does the Constitution grant the Federal government authority to do *anything* about health care?"  State governments can (and generally should) do whatever they like about the topic, but with the exception of insurance portability (being able to buy health insurance across state lines,)  Federal government has no authority to be involved in health care. Of course, when the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, was asked that simple question, her answer was (and I quote), "Are you serious?"  (Full story, with audio, can be found here.)

This brazen violation of the enumerated powers clause should be enough to kill any health care debate on the spot.  Sadly, however, the Constitution poses no threat to our current form of government.

So, moving past the unconstitutionality of the whole thing, let's take this sentence, which everyone can agree on:

"Everyone should have affordable health care."

We can all agree on that.  (Everyone should have ponies and unicorns, too, but that's another topic entirely.)  Let's decipher that statement a bit, though.  For the Left, "everyone" really means "everyone who falls outside our definition of 'rich' " and "affordable" is a code word for "free."

I would suggest that we begin asking the right questions, then, by asking this:  who is ultimately responsible for an individual's health?  By extension, who is ultimately responsible to pay for an individual's health care?

More will follow on this topic later.  As a teaser, though, here's a little food for thought:

What is the minimum acceptable level of health care?

How much have programs like Medicaid and Medicare driven up insurance costs by removing literally millions of people from the insurance pool?


And that's life, From My Position.

Fiddler's Green

An American hero died today.


His name was A.T. He spent thirty-odd years in the Army, with tours in both Vietnam and Korea as an Armor officer.

There’s a legend among tankers (the spiritual descendents of the cavalrymen of old) about a place called Fiddler’s Green. Think of it as Valhalla for cavalry troopers.

Here’s the poem:


Fiddler’s Green

Halfway down the trail to Hell,
In a shady meadow green
Are the Souls of all dead troopers camped,
Near a good old-time canteen.
And this eternal resting place
Is known as Fiddlers' Green.

Marching past, straight through to Hell
The Infantry are seen.
Accompanied by the Engineers,
Artillery and Marines,
For none but the shades of Cavalrymen
Dismount at Fiddlers' Green.

Though some go curving down the trail
To seek a warmer scene.
No trooper ever gets to Hell
Ere he's emptied his canteen.
And so rides back to drink again
With friends at Fiddlers' Green.




Rest easy, trooper. 

That is life, From My Position.

I love this song

The March of Cambreadth, from Heather Alexander (now, unfortunately, known as Alexander James Adams)

Axes flash, broadsword swing,
Shining armour's piercing ring
Horses run with polished shield,
Fight Those Bastards till They Yield
Midnight mare and blood red roan,
Fight to Keep this Land Your Own
Sound the horn and call the cry,
How Many of Them Can We Make Die!

Follow orders as you're told,
Make Their Yellow Blood Run Cold
Fight until you die or drop,
A Force Like Ours is Hard to Stop
Close your mind to stress and pain,
Fight till You're No Longer Sane
Let not one damn cur pass by,
How Many of Them Can We Make Die!

Guard your women and children well,
Send These Bastards Back to Hell
We'll teach them the ways of war,
They Won't Come Here Any More
Use your shield and use your head,
Fight till Every One is Dead
Raise the flag up to the sky,
How Many of Them Can We Make Die!

Dawn has broke, the time has come,
Move Your Feet to a Marching Drum
We'll win the war and pay the toll,
We'll Fight as One in Heart and Soul
Midnight mare and blood red roan,
Fight to Keep this Land Your Own
Sound the horn and call the cry,
How Many of Them Can We Make Die!

And that's life, From My Position.

Problems posting? Fixed.

Some people, well, one person, my friend LifeMoreAbundantly told me she was having problems posting to my blog.

It's fixed now.  I'd inadvertently blocked non-blogspot members.  It's probably the default, and I just never bothered to change it.

So now, the thousands of you checking my blog every day are now free to post.

And that's life, From My Position.

Congratulations, Senator Brown

Hearty congratulations to Scott Brown, the new Republican Senator-elect from Massachusetts.  Yes, you read that right.  Massachusetts.

What I find most interesting is that Brown's election is, IMHO, going to cause a civil war within the Democrat party.  When a no-kidding conservative gets elected to the seat Teddy "The Swimmer" Kennedy, (aka The Hero of Chappaquiddick) held for damn near 50 years, you KNOW something big is afoot.

First, a little history.

The Democrat party has moved FAR to the left of where most Americans are comfortable.  We're okay with center left (see: Bill Clinton) and center right (see: George W. Bush), but since this is a center-right country in which 60% of Americans consider themselves conservative,, we're far less comfortable with radical liberals than equally reactionary conservatives.

Nonetheless, in the 70s and 80s, the conservative movement conducted a purge.  Gone were the Klan ties, the John Birch Society types, and with the notable exception of Pat Buchanan, gone were the rabid right-wingers clutching their worn copies of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.  We kicked out the weirdos, the kooks, and the conspiracy theorists, deciding it was better to lose without them than to win with them.

The Democrats have never done this.  Instead, they've embraced the farthest of far-left groups -- Communist Party USA, the National Man Boy Love Association (Kevin Jennings, President Obama's "Safe Schools Czar" is a acolyte of NAMBLA leader Harry Hay), the Earth Liberation Front (the #1 ecoterrorist group in the world), and the list goes on and on and on.  Between Barack Obama (let's not forget that Obama's political career was launched in the home of domestic terrorist Bill Ayers), Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi, the farthest of the far left effectively took over the governance of the country.

The far-left liberals have now lost elections in New Jersey, Virginia, and Massa-freakin-chusetts.  More moderate Democrats, led by the Blue Dog Coalition are faced with a stark choice:  Either kick out the weirdo wing of the Democrat party and try to reclaim the center, or face another thirty years in the political wilderness.  The nation has gotten its first real taste of the far-left since Carter thirty years ago, but the reaction is the same - spit it out as quickly as you can.  The moderate Democrats understand this, and they understand that as weary as Americans were with President Bush, this is most assuredly NOT what they wanted. 

Don't be surprised if, after the 2010 election, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are both out of a job.  My money is on the still-halfway sane wing of the Democrat Party.

And that's life, From My Position.

Pray for President Obama

I'd like everyone who reads this blog to join me in praying for our President.

I like the technique of praying Scripture.  Therefore, I would like to pray Psalm 109:8 over President Barack Obama:

From the English Standard Version:

"May his days be few; may another take his office!"


And that's life, From My Position.



**Note to any Secret Service, FBI, or DHS agents reading this:  This is in no way an encitement to, or advocation of, violence against our President.  It is merely an expression of political opposition covered under the First Amendment.**

Driving in the Snow

I'm learning a lot about northern living, here in our little house on the tundra.  One of the things I'm learning is how to drive on snow.

I have a Jeep, and that's great.  But, the tires aren't exactly designed for snow.  They're really sand dune tires - wide, designed to run at low PSI... the exact OPPOSITE of what you want in a snow tire.

But, since it's a Jeep, getting going is no problem.  Stopping, on the other hand, can be interesting.  It doesn't take much to make it slide.  Next year I'll have a better set of narrow snow tires, and driving won't be *quite* the adventure that it is now.