"THE INVISIBLE HAND . . ."

Texola to Tucumcari . . . The Places that Do the MOST Living & Dying

Tucumcari, New Mexico

Thirteen miles of original Route 66 Portland concrete that is what you hit after driving through the ghost town of Texola, Oklahoma. The Texas state line and the thump, ka-thump of concrete to the journey. After seeing Texola, a town that looks deserted after Interstate 40 was built to the north of Route 66 and Texola. I immediately think back to a line George Bailey said in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life," this is not exact, "it is the small town people that do the most living and dying.".

George Bailey is right, the small town is the heart of our republic and sometimes eventhough it is America's heart, politicians and especially President Obama ignore and legislate laws and policy that impact or destroy small towns. By getting off the interstate and driving the old Route 66 you see the best in America like family, faith, community and work ethic. I also noticed how many Chrysler, Dodge & jeep dealers are in these small communities along with Ford and Chevrolet. I do not have the Chrysler dealership closing list at hand, but I must assume most of these dealers will close or adapt. The impact of the largest business in a small town closing could eventually turn that town into a ghost town.

This is not a gloom and doom post because one thing about those that call small towns home is that they are rugged individualists that work hard and the super majority will adapt. That is the flip side to the problem of over government intrusion into our lives, when government legislates in the name of progress, you must adapt.
When the Interstate system was built it bypassed hundreds of small towns, but only a few died. The reason, the towns adapted, changed focus, so that they would survive and thrive, and this leads me to Tucumcari, New Mexico.

"TUCUMCARI TONITE and On Historic Route 66!" is their slogan and the town has adapted to tourists travelling Route 66.
The town has a handful of 40's and 50's style motels, the oldest is the Blue Swallow Motel built in the 1940's from surplus WW II cabins, but the one I stayed the night is the Motel Safari, just down and across from the Blue Swallow.
The motel is a classic motel that you would expect on Route 66, but it has been updated to modern standards. Wi-FI, flat screen TVs, pillow top mattresses, speakman showerheads, plush towels, & all with small town hospitality. The motel is American owned and is a must stay on Route 66.

Here, is a town and here is a motel that is thriving because they wanted to live, so they adapted, they changed and now they have inspired me, because the point is:

myself, you as an individual, the business owner of Motel Safari, and residents of small towns have more control over their destiny than President Obama has or the government has, we the people do the most living and dying and yes we control our destiny and our lives not the government.

-Lex Rex

"SEVEN DAYS IN MAY" Maybe I will watch that AFTER THE SEASON FINAL OF LOST

 

"A PLOT TO TAKE OVER OUR GOVERNMENT"

I was reading Camille Paglia's post on Salon.com and she mentioned a movie the "Seven Days in May", about the Joint Chiefs of Staff plot to remove the President of United States whom they regard as too soft and naive about America's enemies.  I do not believe I have ever seen this movie, if I have, I do not remember, so after LOST tonight, I may have to find a copy and view it.

Lost Season 5 final is tonight and then after that a long summer and then the FINAL FINAL Season of LOST.  An underlying theme to Lost is the FAITH vs. SCIENCE theme that is seen in every episode, this ties into my post and the Seven Days in May.  There is a war raging in America.  People have different names for it:  Red State v. Blue State, Liberal v. Conservative, Individualism v. Collectivism, Capitalism v. Socialism, and so on and so forth.  The reality is that it is a war of beliefs, a culture war for the ideals and principles of this Nation.  On each side is a strongly held belief or faith in what is the right direction for this country.  I believe unintentionally Camille Paglia hit the dichotomy of the two sides.  I believe she was trying to show extremism, but in doing so, she has nailed down the two sides of the parties engaged in the Battle for the Mind of America. In Camille Paglia's words:

An argument is solidifying among grass-roots conservatives: Liberals, who are now in power in Washington, hate America and want to dismantle its foundational institutions and liberties, including capitalism and private property. Liberals are rootless internationalists who cravenly appease those who want to kill us. The primary principle of conservatives, on the other hand, is love of country, for which they are willing to sacrifice and die. America's identity was forged by Christian faith and our Founding Fathers, to whose prudent and unerring 18th-century worldview we must return.

The liberals are in charge, and every move being made by the Obama presidency and the Pelosi House are dismantling the institutions of capitalism and private property, whether they hate America, only God knows, because God has exclusive jurisdiction over the matters of the heart and I cannot honestly say whether Obama or Pelosi or for that matter, liberals hate America.  My guess is that they love America as much as I do, but because of their beliefs they are destroying America and this can widely be perceived as a hatred for America.

This battle for control of a nation has been played out thousands and thousands of times throughout the history of man.  Not that long ago a King and his parliament held the same control over this land and the King abused his authority to strip away liberty, freedom, capitalism, and private property rights from the people who called this nation home.  This is were I fit in this battle, on the side, of the founders, our fathers.  Our fathers fought for the right to live in freedom and based a government on the authority of a Limited Constitution upon principles in God's word.   Yes, I believe this nation was founded upon Biblical Principles, principles that has made this the greatest nation on earth.  Most the people in red states believe this also and they are in that second camp.

The battle will rage because we the people were taught well from our founding fathers, so we will stand, we will speak, and if the time shall come, which I pray will never come, we will fight. 

-Lex Rex

Obama's Green Policy Team Should Include Bedouins

Nuweiba, Egypt 01/05/2009

I am sitting here overlooking the crystal blue water of the Red Sea, in the background are the mountains of Saudi Arabia. I love the dessert and I especially love the people who make their home the dessert. The Bedouin live a simple life and I can see why God called one of them to make a great nation. You see Abraham was a dessert person a Bedouin and he lived his life just like they continue to this day. I have been blessed to live and to come in contact with them for the past four days here in the Sinai. One of the things I have learned is that they have a deep respect for the land that God has made and provided for them.

In the USA the airwaves are bombarded with Go Green, green, green, and more go green. The environmentalist in the USA go green in an artificial way, they seek solutions that make them feel good rather than actually benefitting God's creation. I am not a wacko environmentalist, but I believe God made this earth and He wants us to good stewards of His Creation. That being said, the Bedouin are the good stewards. In the USA we would say they leave small footprints.

Take for example the air quality in the Sinai is perfect no smog like Cairo. Most Bedouin do not own cars and most do not live in what we consider a house. But more importantly they leave the dessert as they find it. Take for example my son he loves to throw rocks into the canyons or wherever, but a Bedouin will not do this, in fact he will only move rocks when it serves a purpose or is necessary. Also when the Bedouin need firewood they will never cut down a living tree, they only use the wood from a tree that has fallen by the hand of God. The Bedouin try to leave the dessert as God made it, and they use only what is necessary to maintain their way of life.

If Obama is serious about the environment he should consider inviting the Bedouin to join his environmental policy team. The Bedouin foundation toward the environment is that God created all things, as I walked in the wadi canyons of the colored canyon with the Bedouin in the Sinai we would both remark that this was cut by the finger of God. You see if you have the right foundation then going green will work if you follow the lead of the Bedouin, the true green environentalists.

-Lex Rex

Sphinx Has No Nose For Politics

Cairo, Egypt December 29, 2008

Everybody is an expert in Egypt on United States Presidential Politics. Every Egyptian I have contact ask about President Obama. Take Hassan the camel Driver at the Great Pyramid of Giza, Hassan asks, "do you like President Obama?". I thought is the fictional Office of the President-elect getting real play in Egypt? However, my answer did
not go into how Obama is not the President, not
until Jamuary 20, 2009, but I did say I did
not vote for Obama, and I do
not like his politics. "Why you do not like Obama?" Said Hassan the camel driver.

At that point what does it really matter, so I just stated, "I have to wait and see."

The camel driver is not the only
person to mention Obama, I have had Muhammed the guide, Muhammed the carpet seller, and multitude of others. Obama is a popular guy even in Egypt.

I even had a long conversation with our guide about the principles that made the USA prosperous, and how free-markets and less government intrusion in our lives helped to bring about a greater middle
class and in the minds of the world rich Americans. In Egypt there is basically two classes rich & poor, the haves and the
have nots. You do have a middle class, but the majority of Egyptians are poor, why is this? According to my guide it Is the distrust of the government.

In his own way he was saying, it's the government that causes the problems, I said that is the reason I do not like Obama, he sees government as the solution, but as you say it is the problem.

Egyptians have no nose for presidential politics, but at least one knows government is the problem.

-Lex Rex

DID THE SHOE HIT GEORGE "ABANDONED FREE MARKET PRINCIPLES" BUSH?

The Invisible Hand slowed down the video of the Iraqi Shoe-Thrower a.k.a. Muntadhar al-Zaidi  and this is what it revealed, the shoe actually hit George W. Bush:

 

HOW ELSE CAN YOU EXPLAIN GEORGE W. BUSH'S EPITAPH courtesy of Michelle Malkin:

“I’ve abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system.”

– George W. Bush

Stop me before I hurl a shoe. Well it looks like the Shoe hit the head of the President, how else can you explain this flawed logic.  To save the Free Market Economy, I abandoned the Free Market Economy.  As John Stossel would say, "GIVE ME A BREAK" or as Muntadhar al Zaidi would say, "GIVE ME A SHOE."  Read More of this flawed logic and the working out details of the UAW Bailout in Bloomberg.  

George Bush's epitaph makes as much sense as what GWB did for the Republican party, I abandoned conservative principles to save the Republican party.  No Mr. President you abandoned conservative principles and destroyed the Republican party and now you are destroying our economy.

-LEX REX

ANOTHER GODLESS SOCIALIST, NOT OBAMA, BUT GEORGE W. BUSH

Say it ain't so George, "the fox will come in sheep's clothing. . .", George W. Bush is going out with a bang a big socialist bang.  The President has shown his true colors, he is bypassing Congress to extend $14 Billion to US Auto Makers.  Socialist Bush is not what I voted for as a conservative.  

President Bush is the one who got this bailout mania rolling, and there is no end in sight.  Last night the Republican SHUT IT DOWN for a moment, but now George W. Bush is flipping on previous statements where he stated he would not use TARP money for the Auto Bailout unless Congress approved the measure.  In Justin Quinn's article:

The Auto Bailout: More Proof of Bush's Conservative Betrayal   

By George, He's done it again:

This time, President George W. Bush has circumvented the will of Congress -- and the people -- by announcing today that if the lawmakers on Capitol Hill won't give money to the Big Three automakers, he will. 

Last night, Senate negotiations broke down on whether to send GM, Chrysler and Ford about $14 billion worth of aid for to keep their ailing companies from folding. It seemed as though Congress finally decided to take a tough-love approach and stop the flow of money that seems to be seeping from the US Treasury like a gunshot wound. The bleeding began whenCongress foolishly handed out $700 billion to the banking industry with no strings attached by way of the newly formed Troubled Asset Relief Program. 

Apparently, Bush had other plans for the troubled auto manufacturers. He is now saying that, unless Congress acts with an aid plan first, he will give the last of the TARP money ($15 billion earmarked for banks) to the ailing car companies -- even though he said he wouldn't. Money and promises are to the Bush family like lice; some you you keep, some you give away. 

Whether his extortion of Congress is successful is beside the point. Bush's final ugly act as president (we hope) will also be his final act of conservative betrayal (we hope). Let's take a look at how his conservative credentials have been compromised between when he was elected in 2000 and today: 

1. Bush campaigned as the Great Unifier. In 2000, he promised that, if elected, he would bring the country together, acting in a bipartisan manner by reaching across the aisle to get things done. In eight years, he has divided the country more than any other president in history and almost single-handedly lost the election for his would-be successor John McCain.
2. Bush was elected as a compassionate conservative. After 9/11, Bush declared war on Iraq, which the nation later learned had little or nothing to do with al Queda's terrorist attack on New York and Washington, DC. The war has now lasted more than five years and has cost thousands of lives. Meanwhile, the conservative ideal of "a strong national defense" has been compromised by the diminished international reputation of the US.
3. Bush campaigned on the promise that he would balance the national budget every year and ensure that the national debt remained at zero. After his first four years, the budget deficit was at an all-time high of $412 billion, and in eight years as president, Bush has never proposed a single balanced budget. Meanwhile on Sept. 22, 2008, the national debt under Bush reached its highest total in 50 years -- $10 trillion.
4. Bush promised to create a true free-market economy by reigning in spending and reducing the size and scope of government. Under Bush, government has swollen to such an extent that it will have trouble finding money to fund all of its new programs (which will mean higher taxes, not program cuts), and it was the first administration in dozens of years to create a new cabinet-level position, complete with a new office and trillions of dollars in discretionary spending (the Office of Homeland Security).  Read Full Story
5.   
6.   More Government intervention by old King George.  As a conservative, the frustration boils over like spewing lava from a volcano.  Not to mention old King George's interview with ABC News correspondent Cynthia McFadden:
7.   
8. This is the exchange were old King George states that God's Word is not literally true: 
9.   
10.  MCFADDEN: Is it literally true, the Bible?

11. BUSH: You know. Probably not ... No, I'm not a literalist, but I think you can learn a lot from it, but I do think that the New Testament, for example is ... has got ... You know, the important lesson is "God sent a son."

    MCFADDEN: So, you can read the Bible...

    BUSH: That God in the flesh, that mankind can understand there is a God who is full of grace and that nothing you can do to earn his love. His love is a gift and that in order to draw closer to God and in order to express your appreciation for that love is why you change your behavior.

    MCFADDEN: So, you can read the Bible and not take it literally. I mean you can -- it's not inconsistent to love the Bible and believe in evolution, say.

    BUSH: Yeah, I mean, I do. I mean, evolution is an interesting subject. I happen to believe that evolution doesn't fully explain the mystery of life and ...

    MCFADDEN: But do you believe in it?

    BUSH: That God created the world, I do, yeah.

    MCFADDEN: But what about ...

    BUSH: Well, I think you can have both. I think evolution can -- you're getting me way out of my lane here. I'm just a simple president. But it's, I think that God created the Earth, created the world; I think the creation of the world is so mysterious it requires something as large as an almighty, and I don't think it's incompatible with the scientific proof that there is evolution.

12. Old King George, the darling of the Christian right and fiscal conservatives, in the last few days of his presidency is letting bare the sheep's clothing, President George W. Bush is a godless socialist who believes the Bible not to be literal,  has given President-elect Barack Obama the goose that has laid the golden egg.  The next 3-4 years President-elect Obama will be blaming Bush.  All Bush needs to do is just say No, you have already created a avalanche with the $700 billion TARP bailout, now, you are going once again against the will of the people.  It is not Barack Obama who is the godless socialist it is George W. Bush.
13.   
14. By the way I am declaring that I am no longer responsible for the debts created by the US Government . . . 
15.  
16. -LEX REX 
17.   

WHAT WE NEED IS HOPE . . . NOT CHANGE

In 1977 I attended the Jerry Ford Invitational Golf Tournament in Vail, Colorado, out of that experience came a chance meeting with one of the greatest entertainers that America has ever known, Mr. Bob Hope.  There I was in the stairwell of the condo I was staying at, and here comes a man dressed in a suit walking past my friend and I.  Right away I knew it was Bob Hope, I had seen many of his movies and even watched him play golf earlier in the day.  As he passed I said, "Mr. Hope, Mr. Hope, may I have your autograph.  Bob Hope graciously stopped and I went down the few stairs to the landing to meet him, I shook his hand and then asked for his autograph.  I took out the only piece of paper I had which was my ticket to the golf tournament, however I did not have anything to write with, but that did not stop Mr. Hope he took a golf pencil from his pocket and then used my back on which he placed the tournament pass and with the stroke of a pencil created a life -long memory for a young fan.

The Jerry Ford Invitational in 1977 was not the only encounter I had with Mr. Hope.  In 1992 while playing golf in Palm Springs, California, I had the privilege to play a round of golf behind Mr. Hope for 18 holes, even though he was 89 years old, he played his game hitting the ball straight down the fairway for 150 yards give or take a few yards.  It was a treat just to play behind Mr. Hope.  

The USA is entering a time of unknowing, challenges are around each corner.  The USA voted for change in the presidential election, but I believe what USA needs is HOPE.  Hope for a better life, Hope for a brighter future, and Hope for more freedom and less government.  The change that is coming is not what the USA wants or needs, the USA needs HOPE.  

Ronald Reagan expressed this a long time ago in what has been coined "The Speech."  "The Speech"  was given on October 27, 1964 from his nationally televised speech, which he called "A Time for Choosing" but was later simply referred to as "The Speech," in support of candidate Barry Goldwater).

"If all of this seems like a great deal of trouble, think what's at stake. We are faced with the most evil enemy mankind has known in his long climb from the swamp to the stars. There can be no security anywhere in the free world if there is no fiscal and economic stability within the United States. Those who ask us to trade our freedom for the soup kitchen of the welfare state are architects of a policy of accommodation." 


"You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done."

The USA is the last best HOPE of man on earth, and yes it looks as if we are trading our freedom for change of more government intervention in our lives.  But I have HOPE that the USA will find its way out of this morass and eventually learn it was HOPE we were looking for, not change.  The people of the USA must learn what Bob Hope so eloquently stated in one of his movies . . .

 

-LEX REX

Dear USA, Thank You!

Dear USA,

I just wanted to write a quick letter expressing my deep gratitude. I am truly blessed to call my home the USA. As I write this letter away from my homeland in the country that borders you to the South, where in fact many of this country's citizens try to escape for a better life in the USA.

The story goes that my ancestors three Tompkins brothers boarded a ship in England to come to America to build a better future for their families and their future generations, so I am very thankful for the courage those early Tompkins had in taking that risk on the USA.

Now I will carry on the torch. The USA is the greatest nation in the world, because of our founding fathers and their faith in God. The founders enabled us to enjoy the blessings of liberty.

THE COMING AVALANCHE WHO WILL BAILOUT THE U.S.A.

The Snowball has turned into an avalanche, thus the term "Snowball Effect", the process that starts from an initial state of small significance and builds upon itself, becoming larger, graver, more serious, and in the end disastrous. Bailout Mania has hit the United States hard, what started as a $700 billion bailout package has turned into $3.45 Trillion Dollars, yes, $3.45 trillion has already been spent, as Bailoutsleuth.com details:

$2T Emergency Fed Loans (the ones the Fed won't discuss)
$700B TARP "Troubled Assets Relief Program" (designed to buy bad debt, the fund is rapidly transforming)
$300B Hope Now (the government's year-old attempt at mortgage workouts)
$200B Fannie/Freddie
$140B Tax Breaks for Banks
$110B: AIG (with it's new deal this week, the big insurer got $40B of TARP money, plus $110B in other relief)

Tallying up the "true" cost of the bailout is difficult, and won't be known for months if not years. But considering $3.5 trillion is about 25% of the U.S. economy's Gross Domestic Product ($13.8 trillion in 2007) and the U.S. deficit may hit $1 trillion in fiscal 2009. On November 10, 2008 American Express became a bank holding company and now the U. S. automakers GM, Ford, & Chrysler are looking for their share. Who will be next? When will it end? Where will it all end? The answer is easy if you take a rational approach to the Law of Economics.

The National Debt of the United States of America is currently $10,622,223,198,682.54 that is almost $11 trillion dollars in debt, and the U.S. Government needs to raise the money to finance its $700bn Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). The National's Wayne Arnold reports that "the president-elect, Barack Obama, has promised to pass a massive economic stimulus package when he takes office next January. “The US stimulus is negative for the dollar,” said Mr Xie.
Why? Because the US government already owes over $10 trillion; to provide for TARP, Congress raised the debt ceiling to $11 trillion. A spending package will mean borrowing even more.

The problem for Asia and the Persian Gulf area is that they already hold a sizeable portion of America’s debt. China alone holds about $750 billion of US Treasuries, according to Brad Setser, an economist in New York at the Council on Foreign Relations. Japan holds $595 billion and the Persian Gulf about $190 billion combined, he estimates."

So, with more bailouts on the horizon and President-elect Barack Obama coming into office with his socialistic government programs this will only exacerbate the problem by increasing government spending and borrowing. The only real winner is Crane & Company. Crane & Company has manufactured currency and security papers for nearly 200 years and has continually supplied the United States Treasury with its currency paper since 1879. The engraving presses are in high gear at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). This can only mean one thing more INFLATION. The costs of good and services will increase, the dollar will be worth less and less and American's purchasing power will decrease sharply.

The problem is easy to see if you liken it to your own household: if you are in debt with a mortgage you cannot pay on your salary and then you increase that debt by 25% but that is not enough, now you have to bailout your car, your heating & A/C, your roof, your plumbing, your insurance, & your credit cards. That does not solve your problem adding debt to debt, that compounds the problem. The solution was to let your house go into foreclosure and get rid of the debt. The U.S. government has failed the American people when it passed TARP instead of letting the market forces correct the problem. Now the snow is tumbling down the mountain toward a total economic and monetary collapse. As it stands right now there is No One, that includes Barack Obama & No Country who will be able to bailout the United States of America when the bill comes due.

-Lex Rex

WITH A STROKE OF THE PEN SOFT TYRANNY BEGINS JANUARY 20TH

President Barack Obama with a Stroke of a pen on January 20, 2009, will institute his own ideology by implementing and reversing eight years of Bush Executive Orders. The Washington Post reports, that "Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse White House policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working with the transition team." Another article from LifeNews.com also quoting the Washington Post Article stating that Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion business, told the Post that she expects Obama to rescind the protections on taxpayer-funded abortions and abortion counseling immediately after his inauguration.

"We have been communicating with his transition staff" almost daily, Richards said. "We expect to see a real change."

The Post also indicates that Rep. Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat who has been one of the primary members of Congress pushing for embryonic stem cell research funding, prodded Obama during the campaign to make it a priority.

She told the newspaper that supporters of funding the destructive and unproven research have already drafted language for an executive order that Obama can use.

Responding to the news, Patrick J. Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition told LifeNews.com that Obama's making taxpayers fund abortion takes away from his claims to want to govern from the center and find common ground on abortion.

Mahoney said "it would greatly increase abortions around the world. It would also create a scenario in which American evangelicals and Catholics would be paying for abortion referrals through their tax dollars."

"If President-elect Obama reverses this policy, it would show a complete and blatant disregard for the faith values of millions of American Christians as well as expanding the violence and tragedy of abortion worldwide. America should be exporting justice and human rights, not brutality and violence," he said.

On January 20, 2009 with the stroke of a pen Barack Obama plans to enact "Soft Tyranny" by exercising his executive power and not wait for congressional action. In a AP story,

John Podesta, Obama's transition chief, said Sunday Obama is reviewing President Bush's executive orders on those issues and others as he works to undo policies enacted during eight years of Republican rule. He said the president can use such orders to move quickly on his own.

"There's a lot that the president can do using his executive authority without waiting for congressional action, and I think we'll see the president do that," Podesta said. "I think that he feels like he has a real mandate for change. We need to get off the course that the Bush administration has set." Executive Orders have been used by sitting presidents since 1789 even though no provision or statute that explicitly permits Executive Orders exists in the U.S. Constitution. Only two Executive Orders have ever been overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, so President Obama's pen may bring a "Soft Tyranny."

Soft tyranny is an idea first coined by Alexis de Tocqueville in his 1835 work entitled Democracy in America. In effect, soft tyranny occurs whenever the social conditions of a people hinder any prospect of hope among its members, with soft tyranny comes hope lost and freedom lost for the individual and a movement for the good of the collective. C.S. Lewis in his work "The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment" expresses that this soft tyranny is the most oppressive because we as a people are tormented day and night for our own good.

"Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." -C.S. Lewis from "The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment"

I believe President Obama on January 20, 2009 with the power of his pen will increase the power of the State over the individual implementing a soft tyranny. Out of this tyranny is a government that believes that it must decide what’s in the best interest of their citizens, as opposed to the people themselves.

-LEX REX