A world without nuclear weapons? Ah yes. How dreamy. How paradisiacal. How positively hopey changey! There's another name for it as well. It's called the First World War. Verdun and Somme weren't vacation destinations. They were fields of slaughter where nations, undeterred by non-existent weapons of mass destruction, sent approximately 2 million young men to their deaths in those two battles alone. In the end, 8.5 million soldiers died in that war, and another 21 million were wounded. The reality, as usual, is very different from Utopia's Greatest Hits, as simplistically performed by the President.

I think he's trying to scare off the NSA.  

What they said.  

One other thing that I didn't anticipate about Ricochet is that most of the conversations that I really want to be a part of, unfold while I'm behind the wheel and unable to join the mix.  This happens far too often to be mere coincidence.   I think the trucking gods like messing with me.  

Funny you should ask, Denise!   I had an episode recently that I touched on in my own post last night.  A gentleman who is so far left he almost falls off the scale completely, sent a friend request to me, as we are both vets and truck drivers.  Very nice gentleman, so I took a chance.  

My Facebook page began to contain postings labeling those of us who hold conservative beliefs as racists.  Then there was the hideous smut-filled  caricature equating Tea Party members with an obscenity.  I abstained from confronting him, in part out of deference to his status as a veteran, and in part because my Facebook page is a place for family and friends and not a battlefield.  

Still, I linked to Ricochet, several of your posts in fact, and posts of a conservative nature, ...certainly nothing vile.  But one of my posts, regarding MSNBC's contention that George Wallace was a Republican governor, set the gentleman off.  After a barrage of  leftist diatribes and a rather rude comment from him, I clicked the "Unfriend" button.   I really have neither the time nor inclination to battle with a lost cause.  Perhaps I need more patience.  

Ya know, the truck stop I was at was nothing to write home about, apart from the pack of dogs and puppies that went from truck to truck hoping for food.  I got out of the truck first thing in the morning, half asleep, heading for coffee,...and that sunrise was positively stunning.  I'm happy the photo captured a portion of its magnificence, but seeing it unfold across the sky was truly humbling.  

I'm glad to help, and delighted that you like the stuff.  Leaves the alternatives for me!  

You can't be serious.  Of course he'll greet me just as the Father in the Biblical story greeted the prodigal son.  To do otherwise would be to sacrifice principle for expediency, and I can't imagine that happening.  Besides, he can't very well deport all the burglars, can he?  He has to deal with reality, not an incessant search for purity.... at least that the sort of thing he's fond of preaching.  

On a more serious note, I often marvel at people whose personal lives exemplify conservative principles while their public prescriptions go in the opposite direction.   

Trink, thank you.  I've reached the where any post I write is not quite complete until I benefit from your thoughts and comments.  

My decision was made with great reluctance, and I don't view the gentleman in question as an enemy.  But I have limited resources of time and energy and must devote them wisely.  As I'm fond of saying, "Life is short, and I'm not getting any taller."  

I heard a couple of passages from Justice Thomas' dissent today.  I'll have to read the whole thing for myself, but I hope there is a way that we can require at least as much identification to vote as we require to get a library card.  

I remember when Peter and Rob were running through the list of contributors on the phone with me and then invited me to join.  "That's pretty heady company for lil' ol' me, " I said.  Peter immediately responded, "Dave, we're all lil' ol' us'es."  

I expected smart commentary from members and contributors alike, and I've not been disappointed at all.  What I did not expect, and what I could not have known in advance, is the sense of community and the many friendships that have formed here. 

From the many who helped Linda secure a van, to those of us fortunate to bask in the matchless wit and humor of the late Kennedy Smith, we watch as  the intellectual case for conservatism is made, and we see it put into action with smarts and a smile.  

I've been extraordinarily fortunate to attend several meet-ups, and even enjoy the warm friendship of Ricochetti who have taken a wayward trucker into their home.  We have a remarkable community here, and if folks in Washington have any good sense at all, they are tuning in to see what Rush called "The smartest people in the room," are thinking.  

What an adorable little girl! Congratulations, Mom!

Oh I remember, trust me.  I'm headed toward Oakland, but I've no idea which direction from there.  I'll keep you posted.  And thanks!  

I understand that the Romans fed Christians to the lions. We've opted for the IRS, but the analogies are interesting. Wish I could be there, but the schedule won't allow it.

Adam, you mention the possibility that the issue can be re-visited at some point in the future. But won't that visitation be hampered by the much esteemed doctrine of Stare Decisis, which holds that the more onerous a decision is, the less likely it is to be reversed?

Denise, have you ever stopped to wonder how people who had lived such a hard life back then would react if they could see the incredible amenities we have now? How would they respond to the dichotomy that our lives are so much easier in many respects, and yet we've used the spare time purchased with these conveniences to find new ways to enslave ourselves? You know, Paw Paw kept a scrap book, and in one portion was the front page of the newspaper announcing Barack Obama's election in 2008. Up in the top margin, in Paw Paw's handwriting, were the words, "The beginning of the end." Smart man. I miss him.