Sunday, November 27, 2005

Detroit voters re-elect Kwame - or not?

Well, it seems that I have spoken too soon about Kwame having a 'fraud proof' margin of victory in this month's Detroit mayoralty race. Consider this:
  1. The city clerk responsible for the election had her family and friends on the payroll - many of whom had criminal records.
  2. During the presidential elections, there were allegations of massive voter fraud, which included city clerks filling out absentee ballots of the elderly, and other ballot stuffing matters.
  3. During the mayoralty race, the election was being monitored by the U.S. justice department.
  4. Rumours going along during the vote included officials from the city clerk's office allowing voters to bring home their ballots, among other things.

So, the question is whether there is enough in a recount to find 14,000 votes. O.K. - now let's start taking bets on what the final margin will be.

Detroit voters re-elect Kwame - or not?

Well, it seems that I have spoken too soon about Kwame having a 'fraud proof' margin of victory in this month's Detroit mayoralty race. Consider this:
  1. The city clerk responsible for the election had her family and friends on the payroll - many of whom had criminal records.
  2. During the presidential elections, there were allegations of massive voter fraud, which included city clerks filling out absentee ballots of the elderly, and other ballot stuffing matters.
  3. During the mayoralty race, the election was being monitored by the U.S. justice department.
  4. Rumours going along during the vote included officials from the city clerk's office allowing voters to bring home their ballots, among other things.

So, the question is whether there is enough in a recount to find 14,000 votes. O.K. - now let's start taking bets on what the final margin will be.

Detroit voters re-elect Kwame - or not?

Well, it seems that I have spoken too soon about Kwame having a 'fraud proof' margin of victory in this month's Detroit mayoralty race. Consider this:
  1. The city clerk responsible for the election had her family and friends on the payroll - many of whom had criminal records.
  2. During the presidential elections, there were allegations of massive voter fraud, which included city clerks filling out absentee ballots of the elderly, and other ballot stuffing matters.
  3. During the mayoralty race, the election was being monitored by the U.S. justice department.
  4. Rumours going along during the vote included officials from the city clerk's office allowing voters to bring home their ballots, among other things.

So, the question is whether there is enough in a recount to find 14,000 votes. O.K. - now let's start taking bets on what the final margin will be.

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Useless Republicans

Seems like Mark Steyn has the same thoughts on the utter uselessness of Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate with pushing a conservative agenda. My favourite line:
Well, I would be in favor of wrapping virtually every Republican Senator in asbestos, and using them to insulate my attic. I think that would be a more useful deployment of them, than what they're doing in the United States Senate. That is simply the most absurd, irrelevant, minimalist approach to governing that I've heard. You know, the trouble is...it reminds me of something that I think Norman Lamont, when he was chancellor of the exchequer, said in Britain about ten years ago, that he said that the conservative party, he said then, is in office, but not in power. And that's what these guys give the appearance of. They're in office, but they're not in power.
Well said again. Comes back to what I've been harping on for a long time - if you're a 'conservative' party who can't implement a conservative agenda when in power - why bother voting?



Where's the outrage? a.k.a. Democracy in the age of cynicism.

With all the crap going on about the malfeasance in government, where Liberal Ottawa comes to mind, my greatest dismay is with a substantial portion of the electorate, who are willing to give this government a pass, vote Liberal, shrug their shoulders, and say "everybody does it". This, I believe is a symptom of a larger decline, a decay of the societal fabric that has been the foundation of Anglo-Saxon governance.

I was trying to put a term on the the political/moral culture - and what came to mind after a lot of thinking was WASP. This is not scientific, but more on an observation - nations with a more "protestant" or "anglo-saxon" political culture seem to have less corruption and tolerance for corruption than their counterparts. Historically, compare "anglo-saxon" Ontario to Quebec on a loose level, and you'll get my point. Anyhow, I think that there are two historical reasons for this: the first being the Protestant reformation, which was in part a revolt against corruption of the Church. The development of a protestant culture inculcated a suspicion of authority and intolerance of corruption, which manifested itself in part in the development of their societies an political systems. The second major element would have to be the Scottish enlightenment, and the writings of the preeminent thinkers - John Locke and Adam Smith. Smith, in particular, argued that a free society could not survive without a strong moral compass, that capitalism needed a moral foundation in order for it to be just and fair. Otherwise, he believed, society would evolve into anarchy or depotism.

This model survived well into the twentieth century, where two related movements, secularism and legalism, started to eat away at these foundations. I say legalism because it replaced an inate societial understanding of what is right and wrong with a complex legal code, which many use as a defense of their behaviour. Bill Clinton is a good example of this - what he did in a general sense was wrong, but he used legalisms to claim he technically did no wrong. The same can be said of the Liberals right now in Ottawa - using a bunch of legalistic defenses for the indefensible in a larger societal sense. Secularism has also played an indirect part, by attacking the Judeo-Christian underpinnings of soceity as being somewhat wrong or intolerant, and usurping these cultural underpinnings with a "whatever floats your boat" attitude in some sense.

These two elements have contributed to undermining the civil morality that has been the hallmark of Anglo-Saxon democracies: a sense of fairness, demands for accountability, and 'doing the right thing' in general. These notions have been erroded, and in its vacuum, two things have replaced it. The first is a growing cynicism, which, for a lack of a better word, has replaced faith in the civil discourse. The belief that everybody is crooked and there is not faith in elected representatives (not saying naive - as that faith should be subject to great scutiny), means that there is no faith in change for the better, no faith that there are people out there who believe in the ideals of public service. The second is the use and defense of legalisms to pursue what are otherwise odious goals: a society that relies on technicalities and not on general principles of right and wrong will descend into rent-seeking and amoral behaviour.

The solution to all this is for society as a large to find their moral compass and their faith. Find their faith in the system, demand accountability from those who play fast and loose with the trust that was placed in. Make accountability and proper behaviour a key criteria for public office - not bribing people with their own money. It won't happen overnight, but maybe if people start demanding that right behaviour is not an option, it will slowly change. In the case of Canada, with it becoming a "post-Christian" country - I do not have a lot of hope for a large segment of it.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Why do we elect Republicans? Part 2

Another example of why bother? Republicans in congress drop the authorization for drilling in ANWR in conference with the senate for fear that it won't pass otherwise? If a 'conservative' party who has majorities in both houses of congress cannot get a minimally invasive oil exploration project rammed past the ludicrious objections of the eco-communists when the price of gas is hovering around $2.50 - $3.00/gallon, then I ask again - why are we electing you.
Note to those of you who vote GOP - during the primaries - if your GOP congressman didn't support drilling in ANWAR, or waffles on this question - he doesn't deserve your vote.

Friday, November 11, 2005

Armistice Day - Belgium in WWI

While I ponder the great sacrifices that were made during the Great War, specifically members of my family who died on the fields of Flanders in 1914-1918, I found this disturbing article in the Brussels Journal on Belgium's role during this conflict. It is not flattering. Many people today see the Great War as a futile waste of life, quite understandedly so. However, once you read this history of Belgium's role, it will only reinforce this perspective on the matter. This is the tone of the story:
The danger now came from the south: 25 miles from De Panne, not protected by water, lay the mediaeval town of Ieper. The Belgians had fled from it on 7 October, allowing the enemy to enter the town. The British, however, recaptured it on 13 October. From 19 October to 22 November 1914, the British fought “First Ypres,” the first of the three battles around the small Flemish town that was to become a British graveyard. The British held on to the indefensible salient during the entire war. They paid, however, the heavy price of over 200,000 men. Ieper became a symbol of man’s destructive power, but also of his courage. In a sense, it was also a symbol of treachery, because while the British died like rats, Albert, whose country they were defending, looked on. He did not lift a finger because he was “neutral.”
I was somewhat aware of Belgium's duplicity in the Great War, from reading Martin Gilbert's fine history of the First World War. But this is a lot more than I knew. The Belgian government's, particularly that of King Albert, makes me respect the bravery and valour of our men went to fight and die on the fields of Flanders even more so, as the locals there did nothing. I shall never forget what was done there, and my gratitude has been raised a lot by reading this story.

Thursday, November 10, 2005

More on Kwame's re-election

I read this in today's Detroit Free Press, which kind of confirms what I've posted earlier on Kwame's suprising win against Freeman Hendrix. The article:

DESIREE COOPER: Kilpatrick's win was not really a surprise
November 10, 2005

BY DESIREE COOPERFREE PRESS COLUMNIST

What happened?

That's the lingering question following Kwame Kilpatrick's "surprise" mayoral victory. Whatever happened, I can tell you one thing: It didn't just happen last night. It happened the day we locked major segments of the black population into intractable poverty, creating a caste that neither participates in mainstream society nor shares its values.


Rule No. 1 for campaigning in Detroit: Not all blacks are black. In order to win here, you've got to resonate with those citizens of what Michigan State University sociologist Carl Taylor calls the "Third City," an urban sub-culture born of poverty and neglect. Taylor is the author of several books about urban culture including "Dangerous Society." "In the Third City, you have citizens, noncitizens -- people who participate in an underground economy, but not in mainstream civic life -- and anticitizens -- people who defy authority and accept criminal activity as normative," said Taylor. "There's a strong identity of 'us' against 'them' -- the white power structure and the black bourgeoisie."


The Third City is held together by common values often at loggerheads with mainstream ones. Citing the hero status of slain rapper Tupac Shakur, "The thug is perceived as the underdog," said Taylor, "I was taught to walk away from a fight. In the Third City, parents are likely to tell kids to never back down -- even to carry a gun. Their biggest resentment is hypocrisy. When major systems fail it only affirms the feeling that everything is rigged to favor whites and the rich." Since the Coleman Young era, Third City voters have set the tone of Detroit politics; this election was no exception. "The mayor did have the advantage among those who were unemployed and under 62 years old," said EPIC/MRA's Ed Sarpolus. "And those areas of the city that were most impoverished solidly voted for the mayor."

Taylor said: "Think about George W. Bush. When he walks into a room, he seeks out the males. He winks and nods at them when he talks. It's similar with Kilpatrick. Many in Detroit feel that, whatever his flaws, he understands them." Mayoral contender Freman Hendrix, however, had a harder time garnering that trust. For example, when Hendrix called for civility during the second debate, he may have sounded statesman-like to some, said Taylor. But for some Detroiters, he sounded like an authority figure talking down to his audience.

Attack the white element
The best way to galvanize the Third City is to demonize a white candidate, even where one doesn't exist. On the street, Kilpatrick supporters referred to Hendrix by his first name, Helmut, a name that betrays his half-Austrian heritage. The Third City factor also colored the perception of election news coverage. Stories about Kilpatrick's abuse of public funds, including leasing a Lincoln Navigator for his wife, were seen as an attempt at election by journalism.

"Every man wants to give his wife the best, so what?" said Brenda Keith, 59. Pershing High School teacher Karanji Kaduma, 28, applauded the mayor for not kow-towing to the media. "The media has so consistently skewed things against us over the years, it can't be a mistake," he said.

What about Jackie Currie?
Why, then, didn't street fighter City Clerk Jackie Currie receive Third City largesse?
Perhaps it was the Rosa Parks factor. Her funeral last week was a marathon of speeches exhorting blacks to remember the hard-won civil rights battles, especially voting rights. Allegations of voter fraud may have prompted Detroiters to surgically remove Currie. If there's one thing we've learned from the state takeover of the Detroit school board: You don't mess with the right to vote. What happened during Tuesday's election? The black bourgeoisie was pitted against the working poor, the darks against the lights, the intellectuals against the street fighters. It might have been a lot of things, but it wasn't a surprise.

With these attitudes, the race baiting, the marxist rhetoric, the acceptance of graft, is it no wonder that this city is going broke? I still think that a financial manager will be appointed by the state to fix up Detroit's finances (i.e. a state appointed receiver who deals with bankrupt cities) before Kwame's term is done - that will be his real leagacy.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Site of interest

I was referred to this site The Brussels Journal.

Great commentary on current events from Europe from a Hayekean perspective.

Their motto "All the news that never is printed"

Detroit voters re-elect Kwame

When driving home around 8 p.m. last night - most of the exist polls where projecting a 'fraud proof' victory for Freeman Hendrix. When I got up this morning - Kwame pulled it off. Seems like the old Coleman Young "blame whitey" platform helped him over the top. Now, I'm starting to take bets of when the city of Detroit will be officially bankrupt and a fiscal manager will have to be appointed by the state to clean it up.

Sunday, November 06, 2005

My take on Gomery

After reading a lot of postings, newspapers articles, and other pieces on last week's preliminary report by Judge Gomery on adscam, there are the observations that I think are most relevant.
  1. The limited scope of the report means was set up to limit damage to the Liberals. Adscam is representative of the activities across the government, most notably HRDC and Indian Affairs. The scope was limited to Adscam in order to hide even more damming allegations of impropriety. See Angry in the Great White North's summation of the underreported scandal of Abotech and Liberal MP David Smith.
  2. There is a hint of bias in the report. Gomery's report looks like it clears Mr. Dithers, it really doesn't it. I think that there was not enough evidence to blame Martin, and Gomery tries to please his current master by absolving him. However, in the U.S., Martin would be called an "unindicted co-conspirator" - meaning he knows what is going on, but there is not a strong enough case to go to trial. Based on Martin's position as the #2 guy in Chretien's cabinet, the senior minister of Quebec, vice-chair of the Treasury board, and a Montreal area MP, the more appropriate question is how could he NOT know. So Gomery did Martin a favour and exonerated him while piling on Chretien. I think Chretien might have a case in suing to discredit the report.
  3. The "culture of entitlement" described in the report really described the rot of the civil service. The senior levels of the civil service is full of liberal hacks with their own agendas, as well as little accountability. This clearly means that a combination of the following needs to be done: (1) Purge the civil service. Canada has traditionally followed the notion of having a non-partisan professional civil service that serves cabinet regardless of party. Let's not kid ourselves - Mulroney's government had a ton of resistance from Trudeau's dead wood at the top of the bureaucracy. It is time to seriously consider following the U.S. example - when an administration changes, the new one can basically fill those positions with their hacks and lackeys. It might not solve all the problems, but at least it is more transparent and that there is actually some turnover when a government changes. (2) Tighten up oversight, conflict of interest rules, tendering of contracts, and ministerial responsibility. Expand it to cover all crown corporations and anything that the Federal government has its fingers in.
  4. The Federal government is too big and it's time to scale down. The fact that such huge amounts of money are getting sloshed around without anybody noticing means that the government is too big. Start scaling back the functions of Ottawa, and slashing budgets or eliminating departments.
  5. Election spending limits also drove this. Adscam was also a way to get around election spending caps. Get rid of personal contribution limits, and limits by campaigns and open it up. My solution - if you can vote (i.e. Canadian citizens only - no corps, no unions), you can give as much money as you want to a political party or campaign, but every dollar will be disclosed within two business days of receipt. This eliminates a lot of the skullduggery with the bags of cash and paid workers being used to circumvent spending caps. It also brings a greater degree of transparency to election spending.
  6. If the Liberals get re-elected after this, this confirms by suspicions of the moral rot that is setting in Canada. If the people do not demand accountability for this malfeasance, then as David Warren pointed out in his great column, we are slaves to the state.
  7. If the Liberals get re-elected after this, Quebec and Alberta separatists are the biggest winners. Both parties will see themselves as victims of Liberal corruption, and the re-election of the Liberals will only reinforce their notion that the only solution will be out. Quebec's reason because the separatists will argue that it is an insult that they must be bribed with their own money, while Alberta will argue that Ontario enables the theft of Alberta's wealth to a corrupt Ottawa. Both factions will have a huge boost in support if Ontario allows this to happen.


Thursday, November 03, 2005

Detroit & Rosa Parks

A poignant article by Henry Payne from the Detroit News, published in National Review. A snippet:

Parks’s burial in Detroit is a poignant irony: a woman that embodied the dream of black equality being laid to rest in a place that symbolizes the nightmare of urban black despair.

The problems of Detroit in 2005 are not the problems of Montgomery 50 years ago. Today, Detroit blacks have legal equality and black representatives in political office — yet their city is in crisis. Detroit’s crime rate ranks as one of the nation’s worst — a shocking 42 homicides per 100,000 citizens. (New York, by comparison, has seven. Los Angeles, 17.) These are largely black victims of black criminals. While officially 12 percent, the city’s unemployment rate is estimated closer to 30 percent as the population’s staggering 47-percent adult-illiteracy rate and high taxes make Detroit inhospitable to business.

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Who is really gouging on gasoline...

"So, Exxon Mobil broke corporate records last week, posting a $9 billion profit on $100 billion in revenue in the third quarter. Right on cue, Democrats demanded that Washington confiscate some of those profits. Are they predictable or what?... Want to know who is making a bigger windfall than oil companies are making from the prices paid by the poor gasoline consumer? It's good old Uncle Sam and his 51 little brothers. Refining costs and profits combined make up about 15 percent of the cost of a gallon of gasoline, according to the U.S. Energy Department. State and local taxes make up almost double that, about 27 percent. State and local gas tax collections exceed oil industry profits by a large margin, according to a Tax Foundation study released last week. Since 1977, consumers have paid $1.34 trillion in gas taxes—more than twice the profits of all major U.S. oil companies combined during that same period. Last year, state and federal gas taxes took in $58.4 billion. Major U.S. oil company profits last year totaled $42.6 billion." —New Hampshire Union Leader

The face of evil

Here is something the MSM won't tell you about the 'insurgents' in Iraq. From the incomparable, and invaluable Bill Roggio of the Forth Rail (article linked above). Here's a snippet: In Kirkuk, children as also used as suicide bombers;
“A child thought to be just ten years old, wearing an explosives belt, has died
in a roadside explosion at the al-Quds intersection...”
Of course the MSM won't report it, as they didn't about North Vietmanese attrocities back then, but shouldn't we expect a wee bit more from the 'Blame America First' crowd?

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Mexican government's subversion of U.S. law

Here is a great article by Heather MacDonald in the recent issue of City Journal. She details how the Mexican government repeatedly interferes in U.S. domestic laws and blatantly subverts U.S. sovereignty. Her summary:

The Mexican government will push to control as much U.S. immigration policy as it can get away with. ItÂ’s up to American officials to stop such interference, but the Bush administration simply winks at foreign attacks on immigration laws that it itself refuses to enforce. President Bush should worry less about upsetting his friends at Los Pinos and more about listening to the American people: illegal immigration, they believe, is an affront to the rule of law and a threat to American security. It can and must be stopped.

This just undermines the Americanpublics general apprehension to the immigration issue, and why aggressive action needs to be taken. There is a consensus building on this matter, and the major parties ignore this at their peril.