Confederate Flag

Here I may be stepping on toes, but it seems to me that all the bruha about the Confederate flag is somewhat overdone. After all, the stars and strips were used in a slave nation for 99 years, but our current flag seems to not bother anyone. I suppose the question in both cases is: did the nation sufficiently stand for other things besides slavery? I do believe that such a case might be made for both the Federalists and the Confederates. And, of course, so might the opposite viewpoint be taken.

I remember from my history that Robert E. Lee released his slaves at the outbreak of the war, declaring that this war would not be fought over slavery. I also remember Lincoln spending the first two years of the war fighting against the rights of the states to secede before he decided to give the emancipation proclamation. Virginia had signed into the constitution with the provision, that should it decide, it would have the right of secession. Lincoln overruled that right and history has judged him fortuitously.

But is there not a case to be made for the loss of self determination of states? I do think that is the good part of Confederate flag waving.

Musical Chairs

Big government is like playing musical chairs; sooner or later they are going to stop the music and this time they might get your chair. No one else will care for they are too grateful for the chair the government has benevolently given them. Then you will be bereft and begging for relief, which is the point of pig government anyway.

"That government is best which governs least." Thomas Jefferson.

A pox on both parties when they talk about streamlining and getting things done; my private horror is that they might actually be able to get it done- whatever it is.

Our forefathers were fortunately much wiser; it occurs to me that is a poignant argument against evolution, for nowhere do we see the men of wisdom that we had the fortune to start this country with. They distrusted government so much that they created a government deliberately unwieldly and difficult to accomplish anything.

But the aim of both parties these days seems to make federal government ten times stronger than it ever was. Witness Hillary's campaign spending plans or Bush's spending plan to improve the economy- both will increase government control.