Bush Derangement Syndrome Ravages Vermont

It’s cold outside in Vermont this winter. As a result many have to spend more time indoors breathing recirculated air. This lack of fresh air is not good for anyone. But in Vermont’s case it has spawned an epidemic of Bush Derangement Syndrome (BDS).

BDS was discovered by Charles Krauthammer. He first mentioned it in a 2003 article he wrote for the Washington Post about Howard Dean. Are you starting to see a link here? Dean was also the Governor of Vermont once, too. Maybe the geography of Vermont does not lend itself well to good air circulation.

Krauthammer is a former psychiatrist who earned his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He defined BDS as "the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency—nay—the very existence of George W. Bush".

Thus the term BDS refers to a tendency by American liberals to blame President George W. Bush for virtually every ill in the world. It also refers to opposing a position advocated by President Bush just because he supports it, regardless of the position's merits.

The term reflects a belief that some criticisms of President Bush—for example, a description of President Bush as the greatest current threat to American lives—are of emotional origins rather than based on facts or logic. But then, that is what liberals do – they base their arguments on emotion, and not on facts or logic.

To liberals, results don’t matter. To them it is the intent that counts. Success or failure is irrelevant as long as the intent was good. This is what allows them to sleep at night.

So, let’s get back to Vermont. In a little town called Brattleboro, the Town Select Board has voted to put a town petition making President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney subject to arrest for crimes against the Constitution on their March 4th ballot.

It reads: "Shall the Selectboard instruct the Town Attorney to draft indictments against President Bush and Vice President Cheney for crimes against our Constitution, and publish said indictments for consideration by other authorities and shall it be the law of the Town of Brattleboro that the Brattleboro Police, pursuant to the above-mentioned indictments, arrest and detain George Bush and Richard Cheney in Brattleboro if they are not duly impeached, and prosecute or extradite them to other authorities that may reasonably contend to prosecute them?"

The people of Vermont are perpetually angry at Bush and his administration. The Vermont State Senate voted last year to support impeaching the president and anti-war rallies are regular occurrences.

As I wrote in a previous blog on apologizing for slavery, here is another governmental body that is wasting tax payer money on ridiculous legislation instead of dealing with real problems their constituents face.

And here’s the kicker, the petition would have no legal standing since the town attorney has no authority to write an indictment and the police have no authority to arrest Bush or Cheney if either visits Brattleboro.

BDS has hit Brattleboro and has hit it hard. They have received a lot of comments on this measure. The vast majority of the comments have been negative. Rightly so! Yet, they seem befuddled and caught off guard by the predominantly negative reaction.

"We have some concerns about safety," said Town Clerk Annette Cappy. "After reading some of these e-mails, you can't help it."

Annette, I wouldn’t worry for your safety. BDS is not deadly. But it does make one vulnerable to the painful truth that BDS sufferers do not represent what real Americans think.

Kurt Daims, the resident who submitted the petition, said he was chagrined that the town and its employees were subject to ridicule. YGBSM!!

Kurt, I don’t know why you are so surprised but I’ll tell you why I think you and your liberal friends are receiving this level of negative reaction.

Real Americans find people like you laughable, at best; traitorous, at worst. You liberals hide under the umbrella of protection that is provided to you by the very people that you launch your vitriolic tirades and useless legislative actions against. You are filled with hate. And, for the life of me, I cannot figure out how anyone can have that much hate…how you people can wake up everyday feeling the amount of enmity that you do against the world. It must be hard to have that much hate to wake to each day.

That blind hatred for this country, and I don’t know any other way to describe it, makes you do ridiculous things and act in ridiculous ways. And I don’t understand why you ‘hate America first’ liberals despise the very country that has given you all of the freedoms and opportunities you have.

Why is it that you liberals embrace every socialist, communist and fascist regime around the world but will call America every name in the book? Those are the very regimes in which you would be less able, if at all, to exercise the freedoms you have in this country.

Try bringing up this resolution in Venezuela? I’m sure that Hugo Chavez would appreciate your freedom of speech.

So Kurt, and the good people of Brattleboro, VT, this is why you are seen as a pitiful laughing stock. If you don’t like America there is a socialist utopia not very far to your north that would love to have you. And I hear their government-run health care system is far superior to ours.

But you don’t need a good health care system to cure BDS. All you need to do is get out of Vermont and drive around America, get some fresh air, and see what real America stands for. It probably won’t change your mind but the fresh air won’t hurt!

A-6Dude

Because of whom liberals are, I offer the:

Dangerous Martini
2 parts vodka
1 part cointreau
The squeeze of a fresh orange
Champagne

Add vodka, cointreau and orange juice to a shaker with ice and shake till COLD! Pour into a cold cocktail glass and top off with champagne.

My Contract with America

A local talk radio station host, Chris Core, had listeners call in early last year to see if they could define a new Contract with America. There were a lot of good ideas submitted and some that were not so good. So I started thinking about it and came up with what I will call My Contract with America.

In my almost perfect world the items below would be part of what I would change if I could. The list is not all inclusive. I took parts of the list from the radio show and added a lot of my own ideas.

I don’t write in legal-speak so most of these are just plain-language tenants I would like to see incorporated. I know that this would not be easy and some may need re-thinking but we have to start somewhere.

So, at a minimum, here is the contract I would make with America:

I Believe that America is the greatest country ever:
-Freedom is the root of that greatness.

-In general, government is not the solution to our problems, it is often THE problem.

Balanced budget:
-The budget of the United States Federal Government must be balanced every fiscal year.

All Federally funded programs must show a measurable return on investment:
-Government spending must be treated like household spending (without credit cards).

-Government spending must not exceed the amount of taxes taken in.

-Any program or governmental agency/department that receives federal government funding must show a measurable return on that investment (ROI). Those metrics will have to be determined for each recipient program/agency/department.

-Any program or governmental agency/department that receives federal funds and does not meet a defined measure of effectiveness will have a penalty applied in the form of reduced funding the next year.

-Repeated failure to meet performance metrics may result in total de-funding. Here’s why… Americans have to live within their economic means and so should the government. This means that taxes must not be raised just to have more to spend.

-Any new program or governmental agency/department designated to receive government funds must have a measurable ROI defined prior to receiving those funds.

IMMIGRATION REFORM AND CONTROL:
-The southern border between the United States and Mexico must be secured within one year by fence, personnel and/or electronic devices in order to stop illegal entry into the United States.

-Unless one of your parents is a legal U.S. citizen, a child born here is not automatically a U.S. citizen (of course, this last one would require a change to Constitution).

-Any children who have been born in the United States of parents who are illegally in this country (commonly known as “anchor babies”) will have to pursue the same path for American citizenship as any other immigrant wanting to become a U.S. citizen.

PROTECTION OF THE AMERICAN CULTURE AND ELECTORAL PROCESS:
-English shall be designated as the official language of the United States. All ballots for elections shall be printed only in English.

-Anyone who wishes to vote shall be required to provide verified proof of U.S. citizenship at the polling booth.

-NO government forms or business shall be conducted in any other language but English.

VOTER IDs:
-All U.S. citizens that are legally allowed to vote must provide proof of citizenship in the form of a birth certificate or other acceptable form of identification.

-This form of positive ID must be shown in order to vote.

ENERGY INDEPENDENCE:
-This Congress will set a maximum of ten years by which time the United States must become fully independent of any foreign sources for its energy supply. We put a man on the moon in a decade and I think we can do this in a decade too.

-This will include, but not be limited to, expanded oil exploration and refining, and production of alternative sources such as nuclear power, ethanol, natural gas, solar, and/or wind.

CONGRESSIONAL REFORM:
-All bills must be approved or rejected solely on their own merit (that is, nothing unrelated to the intent of the original bill may be added). If you want a pork-spending bill then do it in the form of a bill that stands alone.

-There is no longer the ability to filibuster.

-All presidential appointments will receive a confirmation or rejection vote within 90 days of their nomination.

-No public office-holder may do business with, or try to influence, the vote of elected officials (lobbying) within 2 years of having left public office.

-Term limits will be set for all federally elected officials. House of Representatives will be changed to four (4) year terms and limited to three terms in office. The Senate will be limited to two terms in office. Unless running for President, no elected official shall serve longer than 14 years (total) in an elected federal office.

-Federally elected and appointed officials that choose to run for an office other than that which they currently hold must resign from their current office before seeking election for another office.

REFORM THE IRS and OUR TAX CODE:
-We will have an honest and open debate on migrating our current tax system to a flat tax, national sales tax or a similar form of taxation.

-Our current tax code is too complex and we need to move to a more simplistic plan.

A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD:
-All laws that apply to the rest of the country shall apply equally to Congress. This includes such laws as those enacted by the EEOC and OSHA.

-So that members of Congress may better relate to the average American, the Congressional pension plan shall be ended, and Congress will pay into, and receive, the same Social Security benefits as any other American.

-Congress shall receive no health care benefits that it cannot offer to each and every other American citizen.

I know that there are other areas that can be addressed and some of these may be incomplete. So, send my your ideas or recommendations. Then vote for me when I run for President ... why wait, write me in!

A-6Dude

Cigar Lover’s Martini
2.5 parts VS Cognac
0.5 parts Tawny Port

Shake over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Enjoy with a medium-to-heavy bodied cigar.

The End of Hollywood?

Julian Myers, a longtime publicist, is afraid that the end may be near for Hollywood. He feels that the WGA strike will be the doom for Tinseltown.

He sees people crossing the lines and believes that violence and even fatalities are probably inevitable.

"Does a dying Hollywood need a civil war today to hasten its erosion?" he asks.

I'm afraid Mr. Myers is worried about the wrong end to Hollywood. Of course, I don't believe that Hollywood will end. But I would like to see it become less relevant - and I think that it is heading in that direction.

I think Hollywood has taken up the liberal agenda of dumbing down society in order to make moral relativism the status quo. They are the mass marketers of immorality. I'm no prude, by any stretch, but they make movies and television shows that glamorize the various social ills of our society.

Hollywood used to be FOR America. It had stars like John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart, and others of that genre, that actually loved this country. They made movies that showed America in a positive light. Now, we get movie after movie like Redacted, Rendition, In the Valley of Elah, The Kingdom and Lions for Lambs. They are all anti-American films - some more subtle than others.

These recent films, set against the backdrop of war in Iraq and post-9/11 security, have failed to win over movie-goers. They are scratching their heads and they can't figure out why.

I know why...Americans don't think of themselves as losers. At least, not real Americans.

I believe Americans are positive people. Americans are upbeat and believe in this country. Hollywood does not reflect America. Oh, they think they do and they try to engineer our social morals, but the recent spate of 'hate America' movies have been utter box office failures because Hollywood, like liberals, are out of touch with real America.

Americans, real Americans, believe in the greatness of this country. When was the last time a Hollywood movie had that as its theme?

So, Mr. Myers, Hollywood will not ever go away. I don't want it too. But Hollywood's demise, to whatever extent it will be, will not be due to a bunch of writers that want more money for their work and may resort to physical violence.

Instead, it's erosion will be from the fact that they forget that real Americans love this country and don't want to pay money for the anti-American garbage that they overwhelmingly produce.

A-6Dude

And in keeping with the theme of this post I give you the Hollywood Martini:

6 parts Gin

1 part Goldwasser

1 part Dry Vermouth

Shake over ice and strain into cold cocktail glass. Garnish with bleu cheese stuffed olives