Charlie Earl's Blog – January 2012 Archive (17)

Each of the dinosaur political parties claims to promote a “big tent” philosophy.  Following their primary and caucus battles for the nomination, they scramble to the “center” to appeal to a broad sector of the American electorate. The flaming lefty Democrats attempt to appear more sane and reasonable, and the great Republican Establishment wants to be viewed as more “compassionate” and “inclusive.” If they were selling breakfast cereal, The Federal Trade Commission would cite them both for…

Following the two Florida debates this week, the intensity of the GOP presidential contest seemed to increase dramatically. Beginning on Wednesday there were numerous articles and statements from elites discussing Newt’s numerous flaws. It appeared as if all his opponents were in league to deny the nomination to the former Speaker. The Thursday debate almost made me yearn for a monarchy….until I recalled that we have an embryonic one in place right now. In a nation of 312 million people…

Roughly 25% of self-professed Christians in the United States attend independent Bible-believing churches. They are categorized as Independent because they do not belong to a formal denominational structure. Some with common beliefs and practices may join in loose alliances with similar churches, but each local church retains its autonomy and manages its affairs in a biblical fashion. In addition some 76% of Americans claim to be Christian so that would suggest that about 19% of the U.S.…

A righteous person or cause is morally upright, virtuous and wholly justifiable. A pious person or cause is dedicated to duty. Certainly some element of piety is desirable among our people, our clerics and our political leaders. There should be a strong commitment to duty among them, but if they do not seek righteous goals, their piety is squandered on unworthy goals. Shifting from the theological to the political context, we can observe that pious politicians are dedicated to their visions…

If you watch television or listen to radio, you are familiar with the disclaimers that follow pharmaceutical ads, automobile ads and banking commercials. The pharma spots include side effects and warnings about the impact of the drug. Automotive commercials inform you about the terms, down payments and warranty issues. The banking and occasional ads for investment services warn of minimum deposits and note which federal agency insures you from total loss. The disclaimers substitute for the…

South Carolinians are voting in the primaries today (Saturday). If the most recent polls are correct, Newt Gingrich should eke out a victory. This development would mean that Santorum narrowly wins Iowa, Romney cruises in New Hampshire and Gingrich nails the first Southern contest. Delegate apportionment is all over the map, but it appears that Ron Paul will be hanging in there in second place with committed delegates. Newt’s victory (if it occurs) would suggest that Republicans of South…

All levels of government should be required to join “Slim Fast” because most of them operate “Half Fast.” The size and intrusiveness of our governments at all levels has been a consistent theme in these columns, but how is this massive monstrosity fueled? What feeds it? Obviously the taxpayers and compliant lenders are the greatest sources for satisfying the voracious appetite of government. Don’t overlook the licenses, fees and fines the various agencies levy….seemingly arbitrarily. If you…

Back in the day when I was a young lad on the farm we would occasionally have the veterinarian palpate some of our cows. He would check them for pregnancy. We did have times and dates of the cows’ assignations with the bull or with the A.I. technician from the Northern Ohio Breeders Association, but after a time we would want to know if certain members of the herd had “took.” If the doc failed to find any evidence of a tiny calf forming, we would have to rebreed the cow or re-introduce her…

Nearby my home here in Northwest Ohio are two little towns that have been tempting me to use them metaphorically. There are other towns in the region that are phenomenal candidates for illustrative purposes, but these two are a mere 15 miles apart and are perfect for a reflective metaphor. Liberty Center and Whitehouse are ideal settings for an apocryphal look at our current situation in the United States of America. For those of you familiar with our little corner of the world, the nation…

This Saturday leads into a final frenzied week in South Carolina for the GOP hopefuls. Given the angst and anguish displayed by so many over the Perry and Gingrich attacks on Romney’s venture capital career, it is interesting to note that as of today, they seemed to have had an effect…a positive one for Newt. Mitt seems stalled with an under 30% number, but Gingrich and Ron Paul appear to be climbing in the polls. Rick Perry is languishing in the 5% range. Perhaps he’s being punished for his…

There was a rumor flying around the agricultural community (that would be farming community) that the Federal EPA was implementing a new set of rules and regulations governing “dust.” It was speculated that the new guidelines would negatively and severely impact production agriculture and ancillary vendor and service industries. Following the outcry that reverberated through the U.S. agricultural sector, various elected officials, Cabinet Secretaries, agency directors and bureaucrats…

The Match is the spark that begins it all. It’s a mere tiny flicker of flame that by itself can do little good or harm. It must be struck with force against an abrasive resistance and its little light should be coaxed into a glimmering yellow filled with promise and potential. Left to its own devices the match will weaken and disintegrate, but when treated harshly and challenged, the little sulfur tipped stick springs to its own defense….lashing and lunging toward the abuser. Failure to…

If pounding your head against a brick wall for 10 minutes doesn’t make you smarter, you should do it more vigorously for 20 minutes. That would indeed make you smarter according to the logical reasoning used by our “double-downing” governments. If a touted program isn’t working according to projections, increase the budget and extend the program into perpetuity. That is government double-downing. If it doesn’t work….spend more. If it hasn’t made a dent in the defined problem then extend it…

This is the first “Weekender” of 2012. We’ll continue them until the Mayan calendar runs out…..or until the Obama Justice Department bans them….or until we are arrested on the streets of Bowling Green, Ohio, and whisked off to Guantanamo without benefit of charges or trial….or until I die from medicine shortages as a result of misguided laws and government intervention into the marketplace….or until I get “taken out” by an irate reader or listener.

My, oh my, the “Santorum…

In a republic leaders are sensitive to the desires and interests of the people but will not be stampeded by the mob. Democracy can be the mob. In an oligarchy the leaders fear the mob and ignore the wisdom and desires of the people. It is apparent why it is so difficult to maintain an effective and legitimate republic. The leaders are tempted by power and fearful of a populace that may become unruly and threatening. Because of their morbid fear of the people, the political leadership…

Life is important. Without it we won’t get much done on this earth. As someone who believes that life is the gift from God, I must insist that my government treat life as the preeminent entitlement. After all every other entitlement conceived by the fertile minds of misguided men assumes that one must be alive to “enjoy” the benefits of government “goodness”…. which means that government forcibly takes from some people to redistribute to others. Life is different, however because the…

My parents were of the generation that lived through “The Great Depression.” They could recall when the times were tough and supplies were meager. Fortunately they both were reared on Northwest Ohio farms with little or no mortgage, so food was plentiful. My father often remarked about how his family sold hogs for 6 cents per pound and were happy to have the small amount of cash for purchasing shoes for their family of 12 (Mother, Father, nine children and Grandmother). It was a difficult…