Some things Never Change

December 1979 on the set of Saturday Night Live Weekend Update:

Jane Curtin: Well, the 1970's are in their final month, and with some thoughts on this decade and the one we're about to enter, here's Weekend Update's Social Sciences Editor Al Franken.

Al Franken: Thank you, Jane. Well, the "me" decade is almost over, and good riddance, and far as I'm concerned. The 70's were simply 10 years of people thinking of nothing but themselves. No wonder we were unable to get together and solve any of the many serious problems facing our nation. Oh sure, some people did do some positive things in the 70's - like jogging - but always for the wrong reasons, for their own selfish, personal benefit. Well, I believe the 80's are gonna have to be different. I think that people are going to stop thinking about themselves, and start thinking about me, Al Franken. That's right. I believe we're entering what I like to call the Al Franken Decade. Oh, for me, Al Franken, the 80's will be pretty much the same as the 70's. I'll still be thinking of me, Al Franken. But for you, you'll be thinking more about how things affect me, Al Franken. When you see a news report, you'll be thinking, "I wonder what Al Franken thinks about this thing?", "I wonder how this inflation thing is hurting Al Franken?" And you women will be thinking, "What can I wear that will please Al Franken?", or "What can I not wear?" You know, I know a lot of you out there are thinking, "Why Al Franken?" Well, because I thought of it, and I'm on TV, so I've already gotten the jump on you. So, I say let's leave behind the fragmented, selfish 70's, and go into the 80's with a unity and purpose. That's what I think. I'm Al Franken. Jane?

Jane Curtin: Thank you, Al. That's the news. Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow.
Tonight will be the last Weekend Update of the Al Franken Decade and here to give his thoughts on the '90s is Al Franken. Welcome, Al!

Then the same place 10 years later:

Al Franken: [cheers and applause for bespectacled Al Franken, in suit and tie] Thank you, Dennis. In December 1979, I sat behind this desk and asked you to think about what you could do for me, Al Franken. [SUPER: AL FRANKEN] ... Well, it's ten years later and I know you're wondering what the '90s will bring for me, Al Franken. [SUPER: AL FRANKEN] Another Al Franken Decade? No. No, in the '90s, I'm going to be looking beyond myself, Al Franken. [SUPER: AL FRANKEN] Because, frankly, I'm worried about the kind of world we're leaving to my children. I've had two this decade. A son, Joe. And a daughter-- Uh-- [can't remember daughter's name] ... Boy, this is embarrassing. Um-- I can see her face. She's - she's really beautiful. In fact, when I look at my kids, I see me, Al Franken. [SUPER: AL FRANKEN] ... And that's why the 1990s will be the Joe Franken Decade. Joe? [Five year old Joe Franken, a tiny boy in a checked suit and tie, rolls into view on a chair and joins his father - cheers and applause] Hi, Joe.
Joe Franken: Hi, Dad. [SUPER: JOE FRANKEN]
Al Franken: Ah, I under-- First of all, congratulations on, uh, first, on being my son. And, uh-- ... And on my decision to make the 1990s the Joe Franken Decade. Now, I understand you - you have a joke for us.
Joe Franken: Knock knock.
Al Franken: Who's there?
Joe Franken: Me.
Al Franken: Me, who?
Joe Franken: Me, Joe Franken. [SUPER: JOE FRANKEN] ... [applause]
Al Franken: And, Joe, your watchword for the '90s is?
Joe Franken: [enthusiastic, with pumping of fists] YES! ...
Al Franken: By the way, Joe will, uh, turn fifteen just before the close of the Joe Franken Decade. You - you did a good job, Joe.
Joe Franken: Thank you, Daddy.
Al Franken: Ah, and, for those of you who won't be, uh, in - be able to be in Times Square on New Year's Eve, here's a little peek at how the Joe Franken Decade will be ushered in.
[Cut to Times Square at night where a lighted ball with Al's face drops as a roaring crowd counts down to zero. When it hits bottom, green neon text reading "1989 - GOODBYE AL" switches to "1990 - HELLO JOE - HAPPY JOE FRANKEN DECADE" and Al's face is replaced with Joe's. Fireworks explode, the lighted ball ascends, the crowd roars. Extended cheers and applause as we dissolve back to the WU desk.]
Al Franken: Dennis?
Dennis Miller: [shakes hands with Joe and Al] Thank you, Al. Thank you, Joe. Thank you, buddy. Joe Franken. [Al puts a supportive hand on Joe's shoulder and kisses him on the head] Thank you, Joe, thank you. I already like him better than the old man. You know-- ...

Then this morning at the United States Capitol:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.

God Help Us All

On the Law

The United States of America. Had a nice ring to it...
It was a unique place. It was a place where the law applied equally to all ... Or at least it was supposed to.
Those men who met in Philadelphia in 1788* made us a republic (not a democracy)where no man was above the law;
and the purpose of the Constitution was to ensure that the government serve us, and not we it.
The city/district is now occupied by people who not just believe that we are indentured to the Federal Government but truly believe that laws do not apply to themselves. They have gotten away with ignoring the 10th Amendment to the US Constitution for a long time.. They are currently trying to circumvent the First and Second Amendments. Through inadequate government schooling and illegal immigration by design - stuffing the ballot box with ignorant voters - they may well accomplish their goal. But there are other laws that will not so easily be thwarted. There are laws of nature and nature's God that are immutable. Just as the Law of Gravity, and Newton's Laws will not be violated, the Laws of Economics are observations of Nature and not creations of a committee or government.
One may think that Obama is now overturning the Laws of Economics, it is not so. He may believe it if he likes, but he is merely diverting them temporarily from which they will spring back with full equalization like a seventh grade algebra problem ... Both sides must match. In some way shape or form there must be balance. It may not be a return quid pro ante, but it will satisfy the equality.

There is precedent. I am neither a fan of Jimmy Carter (despite having been to his home before he was President) nor an enemy of Richard Nixon (my first Presidential vote). But sometimes one must call a spade a spade. Jimmy Carter gets the blame for the massive inflation of the early 1970s, but the truth is that he just had the misfortune to be holding the position when the dam burst. On March 25, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson through Treasury Secretary C. Douglas Dillon (childhood friend of the Rockefeller boys) demonetized the Dollar; releasing it from being bound to scarce Silver starting us on the road to inflation. Nixon then compounded the error through two actions. Because Charles De Gaulle saw our Gold prices as the bargain they were and made a run on redeeming his holdings in our currency (remember, this despite still owing us a tremendous amount of war debt). Nixon reneged on our Gold Standard - Totally freeing us of any real limit on our monetary supply. And when the inevitable resulting inflation hit, he did a very Liberal and un-Conservative thing. He froze wages and prices. It was ostensibly a ninety-day action, but Nixon had other, frankly trivial**, political problems and the ninety days continued for one thousand days through the term of Gerald Ford, and into the term of poor Jimmy Carter who thought (and apparently still thinks) that good intentions are more important than rational thought. Jimmy thawed the freeze, and the rest was inevitable, as the laws of Economics rebalanced the equation. President Carter was followed by President Ronald Reagan who could truly do little but improve the situation. The tools were all there. The economic equation was rebalanced albeit with terrible interest rates. Reagan chose a Chairman of the Governors of the Federal Reserve bank, Alan Greenspan, who cautiously lowered the interest rates a little at a time over the next 18 1/2 years so as not to jar the economy again with a sudden rush of inflation. But he was aided by restraint on the part of the US Congress and/or President through that time. For most of that time, it was a stalemate with one or the other being controlled by a fiscally conservative party. In the last quarter of the George W. Bush presidency, the Congress was taken over by very liberal Democrats, and since President Bush himself was no fiscal conservative, and since both Greenspan and his tactic of reducing the interest rate to control money flow were gone, there was no check to the results of Government tampering with the Laws of Economics.
Just like Doctor Elisio Colli who treated my Penicillin reaction in the days before the allergy was widely known with another shot of Penicillin, our Government has tried to cure the economic ills of our country caused by tampering with and restraining the Free Market by tampering more with and restraining more the Free Market. They do not understand that I, and You are the Free Market.

If we are not free, we are by definition slaves.

There is a clique in Washington right now, who believe that they can comfortably ignore the Laws of Economics due to having seduced a bunch of willing slaves, many even the descendants of slaves whose ancestors cherished their newly granted freedom in the days after the Civil War. But that does not mean that Economics is moot.
It does not mean the the Law of Supply and Demand is no longer valid. It does not mean that the other Laws of Economics have been repealed. And it most assuredly does not mean that any adjustment on one side of the equation will not be met with an equal and opposite reaction on the opposite side of the equation. So, Nancy, Harry, Barack, and even you, Barney Frank, whatever yoke you put on us will not fix the Economy -- not because of anything we chose to do to thwart you. It will not work because you cannot fix freedom by control.




* Yes, it was 1788. The true Bi-Centennial was 1988, not 1976. But that was just one more political distortion from those in Washington who scorn the Constitution that they have sworn to uphold. Treason in Washington, DC is a way of life.
** Trivial in that the Watergate scandal was typical behavior of both parties prior to that time, and if the actions of Al Franken are any indication, still are. Just like the bias of the Liberal Press in the 2008 elections, the anti-Nixon bias of the 1970s Liberal Press foreswore accuracy and truth for political reasons.


John Galt, Where are you when we need you?

On Stolen Elections

My first wife and were only married about four years. In all that time we never had an argument where she admitted she was wrong. The law of averages says that at least once-in-a-while I had to be right. I mention this because I noticed something interesting about found and corrected ballots. It was true also in the famous 2000 Florida recounts. It seems that all the "found" ballots are from voters who voted for the person who needs the votes, in this case, Al Franken. For the moment, I will refrain from saying voter fraud. I know that the person who "found" the ballots in her car was a Democrat worker as are almost all workers in Government offices. But there seems to be a lot of stupidity running around. Perhaps this is a characteristic of Democrats? Why were the ballots in her car? Why didn't she know she even know they were there? Why did she only have ballots from people who voted for Al Franken? Questions that will never be asked, much less honestly answered.
Apparently, only Democrat voters foul up ballots. Only Democrat voters have to change their votes. Only Democrat voters have to have their ballots studied to divine their real intentions. Just as before, only Democrat voters could not figure out how to push a chad out of a tabulating card. If not stupidity on the part of the voters, it can only be attributed to dishonesty on the part of the counters.

It sort of reminds me of the famous Chicago election where the machine candidate wasn't content to win, he had to give himself 100% of the vote. A few people protested and the fraud was found out. That and it reminds me of my ex who could not afford to lose even one argument.