I've said before on this site that we don't have one all-powerful tyrant in this country - we have thousands of little ones who are all bureaucrats for the federal government.

This is a result of both parties, btw, not just the Dems.

The reason she didn't get to speak at the convention is because she refused to support Romney, who by winning the nomination got to control the convention.

Loose cannons are generally not viewed favorably when you're trying to make a positive impression...

I'm not surprised by the results of this poll.  The folks I talked to up in Alaska said that people there really didn't like it when Palin vacated the governorship.

Alaskans don't like quitters.

Another quirk of our beloved state is that the only reason that Marxist Mark Dayton was elected governor is because a liberal Republican named Tom Horner ran for governor in 2010 as an independent and garnered 251,000 votes.

Dayton won by only 9,000 votes

Not a bad idea but I think that simplification and elimination would be the best way to reform things.

Simplify the necessary federal agencies by pruning the massive federal code and eliminate the unnecessary agencies.

Of course neither of our ideas has a snowball's chance in...

You might want to check outWhite Collarfrom the USA Network.  Somewhat formulaic but has really likeable characters. Structured like Burn Notice but totally different premise.

Until the GOP-controlled House proposes real cuts to the budget of the IRS, EPA and countless other federal agencies limited government is a pipe dream.

Who is Dallin Oaks?  Well, his many accomplishments include;

• Law professor at the University of Chicago Law school
• President of Brigham Young University, the largest private university in the US
• A justice of the Utah Supreme Court
• A member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles of the LDS church

In addition, he has written and spoken extensively about the importance of freedom of religion in our society, which is why the Becket Fund was honoring him.

He's a good man.

Many say that the Fair(sales) tax would eliminate the need for the IRS.  While we would still need someone to collect the Fair Tax, at least it would eliminate the need for the IRS to process applications for tax exempt status, which would eliminate the political shenanigans we are now seeing.

Just as I don't look to pundits like Rush Limbaugh to be any sort of spiritual or moral leader, I don't look to religious leaders like the Pope or even those in my own church to be economic leaders.

That being said, someone should tell Pope Francis that the economic disparity he has witnessed is a result of the absence of free-market capitalism, not too much of it.

You know you're in a socialist country when ________________."

...you elect Barak friggin' Obama to a second term

We live in a deeply corrupt society.  Corruption occurs when people act as if the law does not apply to them.  We see it in business, academia, churches and local government - as well as Washington DC.  A virtuous people would not elect someone like Obama and his band of grim leftist thugs. 

We are simply reaping what we have sown.  To expect otherwise is naivety squared.

Tiny heads?

Neither this guy nor that monster from Cleveland should draw another breath once their trial is over.

The fact that scumbags like these guys stick around in an endless cycle of appeals speaks to the weakness of our society, not its enlightenment.

Once again we see that government is a fire which will burn out of control if it is not watched very closely and kept to an absolute minimum.  How our fellow citizens can think of govt as some sort of benign presence in their lives is beyond me.

Most of these same citizens voted to increase the power of the IRS via Obamacare by voting for Obama and various Dem senators and reps.  This total disconnect between perception and reality for most of the voting populace is why I despair for the future of our Republic.

The government is NOT your friend, people! 

Good for you, EJ.  Like the plot of a bad movie, it will be easy enough for you to pick up on where the country is headed when you come back (you can probably guess the direction right now, in fact).