Austerity, Riots & Liberals, Conservatism, Islam, Shooting & Fascism - Conservative On Target

Austerity Myth?:
Consider this family budget: 
 Annual Income —- $24,500
 Annual Spending —- $35,370
 New Credit Card Debt —- $10,870
 Existing Debt —- $167,600 

 When I show that to people, they laugh and say the family is “irresponsible.” They are dismayed when I point out that those are really America’s budget numbers, with eight zeros removed: Revenue —- $2,450,000,000,000
Spending —- $3,537,000,000,000
Deficit —- $1,087,000,000,000
Debt —- $16,760,000,000,000

   Then people say: “That’s terrible! We have to balance the budget.”


 
Riots and Liberals: The legitimacy of mature democracies is strong, but it is not unbreakable. Whether those who view themselves on the periphery will be mobilized is ultimately not up to those willing to go into the streets, but up to those who control the levers of power.  Regimes blunder into revolution.  It remains to be seen what course Western democracies follow in confronting the challenges presented by the Islamists.




Conservatism is not an economic theory, though it has economic implications. The shoe is precisely on the other foot: it is Socialism that subordinates all other considerations to man’s material well-being. It is Conservatism that puts material things in their proper place — that has a structured view of the human being and of human society, in which economics plays only a subsidiary role. - Barry Goldwater




Shielding the Enemy: The Muslim Brotherhood's Explanatory Memorandum for the General Strategic Plan for North America published in 1987 and discovered by the FBI in a raid of a house in Virginia in 2004 specifies that Muslims should fight all counterterrorism efforts so that the infidels are unaware of the civilizational jihad to take over the West. Our government's own actions to thwart fruitful investigations and limit the availability of evidence go a long way toward helping them realize this goal. In the face of increasing discoveries of dangerous links to terrorist groups and substantial hard evidence of actions taken against the United States, government officials have not made arrests or tried to protect its citizens, but instead have covered up evidence, prevented its dissemination, and attacked those bringing vital data to light. In a nation so hesitant and blind, can we be safe from further attacks? [Read it all.]


When You Have to Shoot, Shoot; Don't Talk:
   Pay close attention: Professor Galietta says there is a "big question" as to whether you should shoot somebody who points a gun at you.  This question was answered very conclusively in 1966, and also in a shower scene that is far less famous than the one in Psycho.  The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and Big Jake are two rare examples of movies that actually teach a valid real-life lesson: when somebody has actually aimed a deadly weapon at you, he can kill you before you can say a single word.  When you have to shoot -- and you do if somebody menaces you with something that can end your life in a fraction of a second -- shoot; don't talk.
   Police instructor Masaad Ayoob goes even farther in his book, In The Gravest Extreme, with regard to an armed home invader whose back is turned to an armed defender: " If you have ascertained that the man you have the drop on is a deliberate intruder into your occupied home (and therefore, by definition, a deranged or vicious enemy); if you are certain that he has a weapon in or at hand; if you and he are in positions where he can shoot or stab you- Shoot him. In the back, if you have to. And keep shooting him until he is unable to shoot back."


Fascism In America
   Even though neither uses the term "fascism" -- two slender books present evidence buttressing the assertion that a version of fascism has come to America.
   The first is Angelo Codevilla's The Ruling Class (2010), which argues that a relatively small proportion of the populace -- "the ruling class" -- governs the rest of the population, a.k.a. "the country class." The ruling class is America's elite, and their desires dictate what government does.
   The second is Nicholas Eberstadt's A Nation of Takers (2012), which claims that a large proportion of the population -- sometimes approaching half -- receives some kind of government benefit. Instead of sturdy self-reliance, we confront the spectacle of a sizable slice of the public "gaming the system" to "qualify" for government benefits for which they might not be entitled.
   How do these books buttress the argument that fascism already exists in America?  The Ruling Class illustrates how the country is already governed by a tiny slice of the populace, ruling in their own interests. A Nation of Takers shows that, because they are already so dependent on government, millions of ordinary people lack the resources and the inclination to oppose government diktats.