WHAT SORT OF MENTALLY-CHALLENGED PERSON WOULD WANT TO WEAR A CHE GUEVARA TEE-SHIRT?

Che Guevara (1928 - 1967), the Argentinian medical student cum Latin American revolutionary, is one of the banal, tired icons of the mindless left.  How many times I have seen his likeness on tee- shirts I would hate to guess.  Over the years, I have often wondered if those sporting the tee shirts have any idea about the man, or are they simply manifesting what they have been taught to believe by leftist propagandists?

Born into a middle class home with intellectual pretensions, Che entered medical school in Buenos Aires, but his affinity for leftist causes and his sympathy for the poor and downtrodden soon overtook his zeal for medicine.  After various treks throughout Central America and South America, Che determined that his destiny would be that of opposition to capitalism and, in particular, to American-style capitalism, which he saw as having free rein in establishing oppressive regimes in the Southern Hemisphere.

Che's role in joining the Cuban Revolution is well known; and, from that experience he emerged as an authority on guerrilla warfare.  With the successful outcome of the revolutionary campaigns in Cuba, Che for a time was the administrator of la Cabana Fortress prison, where he became an extremely hardened man, personally taking part in the many executions of Batista loyalists.

CHE AS EXECUTIONER

Later serving in Cuba as finance minister, head of the Cuban national bank and minister of industry, Guevara climbed quickly to the highest echelons of the Cuban communist government.  In addition, it was Guevara who played the leading role in bringing to Cuba the nuclear missiles from Russia which nearly propelled the world into nuclear war during the fall of 1962. Eventually, he would be recognized as second- in-command to Fidel Castro himself.  However, in a split with Castro over Russian communism versus Chinese communism, Guevara resigned his elevated positions and even his Cuban citizenship, preferring to become an itinerant revolutionary in Africa and, finally, in Bolivia, where he was captured and killed in October of 1967.

CHE "IN EXTREMIS"

Despite his vaunted status in the hagiography of leftist sainthood, there is a side of the man which seems to have eluded all those who model the Che tee shirts. Many who survived the depredations of the Cuban revolution speak of Che in terms of his hatred, extreme cruelty and Robespierre-style determination to uproot and destroy all who were in opposition to the Cuban revolution.  As such, he seems totally enamored of violence for its own sake. In essence, he was a fanatic whose penchant for bloodshed overpowered reason.  In effect, it was his dogmatism that condemned him to the same fate that he had visited upon others, a nasty little execution in the dirty little village of Higuera in Bolivia.

If today you seek Che Guevara - for what ever reason, I might only guess - you may find his remains resting in a mausoleum in Santa Clara, Cuba.

Like so much of the rubbish of the left, the Che Guevara tee-shirts are merely faddish relics of a failed socialism.  In many ways, I suppose, we are fortunate to have only the tee shirts in our midst and not Che himself.  As for the "dudes" who sport the tees, I can almost guarantee that if you should ask one of those fellows about the historical chronology and legacy of Che Guevara, you would be met with a rather blank stare.

THE FOLLY OF ONE-PARTY POLITICS

A WELL KNOWN PRACTITIONER
OF ONE-PARTY POLITICS

Last fall on election night, I drove to the Cameron County Court House to catch the latest election returns. Regrettably, when fellow onlookers perceived my political orientation they became downright hostile. Consequently, it dawned on me that the better part of valor would be to make a strategic retreat.

Coming from a background of appreciation and toleration of other points of view,  treating political and ideological opponents as the "enemy" has always struck me as immature and ill-considered. Nevertheless, by today's standards of "take-no-prisoners politics" the age of civil discourse has long ceased to exist.

An older relative, who by himself built the Republican Party in his town and served as a county judge, once told me that he could not have accomplished his goals without the support and cooperation of his Democratic friends.  Unfortunately, that attitude is rarely encountered anymore.

For those who would wish to have a ring-side seat to observe the results of one-party politics, there is no better locale than Cameron County, Texas, which now has only two office holders not of the Democratic persuasion. One-party rule in Cameron County has produced a deep, dark hole of corruption, making the county the laughing stock of Texas.  Throughout the state, Cameron County Democrats are often referred to as the northern version of the Partido Revolutionario Institucional, or the PRI, the political party which ruled without challenge for some 70 years in Mexico.

Avoiding the cesspool of corruption is difficult in Cameron County, as it includes a goodly number of "public servants," attorneys and members of the judiciary.  The list of attorneys indicted by the federal district court for racketeering seems to grow longer by the week, and already one state district judge has been convicted for malfeasance and has turned state's witness.  Even Cameron County's district attorney has been convicted, but his newly-elected replacement is in the process of having his reputation besmirched in judicial proceedings taking place in Corpus Christi.  Also, the name of Conrado Cantu, a former sheriff convicted for facilitating the passage of illegal drugs through the county, still resonates strongly, although Cantu presently resides in the federal prison system.  Incredibly, Cameron County voters, year after year, continue to line up to pull the "palanca" (lever) for the Democratic pols.  Invariably, ignorance leads to one-party rule, crooked politicians and plenty of corruption.

On the national scene, one has to question various groups wanting to put all of their political eggs in one basket. When there is almost total unanimity of opinion politically, it is apparent that members of such groups are not very well disposed to do their homework.  A case in point is black Americans, who regularly expend well over 90% of their political power in the Democratic column. Clearly, someone other than themselves is doing their thinking for them.  With such rigidity, cerebral "rigor-mortis" and close-mindedness, it is difficult to imagine how the larger community of black Americans will ever be able to embrace new ideas, much less new leadership.  In the meantime,  they continue their mindless march to the drumbeat of the NAACP and other organizations wishing to perpetuate dependency and to promote the societal death knell of socialism.

In 1796, George Washington warned of the factionalism of political parties that could adversely affect the new Republic  However, that was then, and this is now, and the fact of the matter is that the two-party system has become traditional in America.  But for one to wish for the decease of one party in favor of another is to wish for the demise of the Republic. Historically, the two parties have had more in common than they have had in opposition.  But, now with the realignment that is apparently taking place in society, the normal pattern of politics has been disrupted.  In large part, the disruption is the result of participatory politics being taken to an extreme, with more and more unsophisticated, ill-informed voters taking part in the electoral process.  Easily swayed by promises of governmental beneficence bestowing untold benefits, such voters are prone to follow the lead of charismatic individuals who place politics over country, which is surely a template for a Third World-style dictatorship.

With one of our parties now rushing headlong with all guns blazing to destroy the competing party, extreme vigilance is now called for.  Sadly, this challenge must now be met with with the same intransigence and inflexibility that is arrayed by the forces that would foist upon us one-party rule.  The survival of the Republic could well depend on it.

THE DOUBLE STANDARD OF RACE IN AMERICA

In the wake of the acquittal of George Zimmerman and the resulting cries from the African-American community of prejudice and discrimination, little notice has been given to the continuing story of black on white violence, which is simply seen as a normal occurrence unworthy of national attention

From Gulfport, Florida, comes news of three teenage black students beating a thirteen-year-old white boy to within an inch of his life on a school bus, ostensibly because the white student reported to school administrators that the blacks had tried to sell him drugs.  And, from Baltimore at the end of July, a black mob, attacking in mass, severely injured a white waiter. How strange it is that the race-baiters, posing as apostles of peace, have not raised their godly, righteous voices in condemnation of these acts!

Despite these and many, many more like incidents, the myth spread by the race-baiters that white on black violence in the U.S. is a massive problem simply does not bear up under close examination.  The vast majority of the white population is too consumed with dealing with everyday challenges of making a go of things in a weak economy to concern themselves with plots and plans having to do with victimizing blacks.

From the FBI's National Crime Victimization Survey and the DOJ's Uniform Crime Reports, statistics show most clearly that white citizens are far more likely to be the victims of black violence than vice versa. Compared to whites, blacks are 7 times more likely to commit murder, 8 times more likely to engage in burglary and 3 times more likely to utilize a handgun in the commission of a crime.  Furthermore, all things considered, blacks are 39 times more likely to commit crimes against whites.  In fact, 45% of black crime is carried out against whites.  As a result, blacks are 7 times more likely than whites to be sentenced to prison terms.

The death of Trayvon Martin was an isolated incident, which was given a national spin owing to the tendency of the national media to sensationally play on the reverse racism of such racial entrepreneurs as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.  And, as to profiling, what does one expect when so many, many black youngsters are obsessed with a "thug culture," which carries with it connotations of violence, drugs and cultural degradation?  Encountering loud, boisterous black youngsters with pants hanging below their derrieres in public settings, it is little wonder that individuals seeking to avoid turmoil resort to profiling.  Indeed, it goes without saying that there is a race problem in America, but it is a problem that must honestly be faced by American blacks.  Obviously, the Jacksons and Sharptons don't have the answers.  If the black community is to be saved, it must accomplish that deed by itself.  Since the Great Society of Lyndon Johnson and the billions of dollars in benefits that accompanied it, conditions in the black community have only gotten worse.  The fragmentation of the black family continues unabated, illegitimacy has risen to alarming levels and, for too many blacks, crime has simply become a career option.  The time for the black double standard has long been inappropriate, and the time for accountability is nigh.

SNOOP DOGGY DOG AND JAMES MADISON: AN EQUALITY OF SUPREME IGNORANCE VERSUS CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERTY

RAPPER SNOOP DOGGY DOG

After a long road trip, I recently took our Dodge Dakota to a local car wash for a good cleaning.  Unfortunately, in an adjoining bay, the savage, pulsating rhythms from a mobile sound amplification  system were blaring forth at a high rate of decibels.  Fortunately, though, I had a set of firing-range ear-muffs in the truck, which I immediately donned in an effort to blunt the noise.  Seeing me all muffed out, the young owner of the sound system sent an extremely dirty look my way.

The experience reminded me that I had come across a poll of recent college graduates that indicated that 96% of those finishing higher education in the U.S. could readily identify the rapper Snoop Doggy Dog, but only 48% could successfully place James Madison as "Father of the Constitution."  It would seem, then, that a comparison of these two personages who loom so large in the American cultural experience would be in order.

Born in 1971, Snoopy Doggy Dog grew up in the Los Angeles area.  From an early age, he had run-ins with law enforcement and was at one time affiliated with the gang known as the "Crips" (not to be confused, of course, with the "Bloods").  In 1993, after being indicted on a charge of murder, he was acquitted by a jury of his peers.  During his adult years, Snoop has continued to have problems with the law, most notably problems having to do with firearms violations.  He has openly claimed that he is the reincarnation of Bob Marley, and has expressed his admiration for Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam.  As an aside, Snoop's favorite hobby seems to be the raising of pit-bulls.

From "Doggy Dog World," Snoop Doggy Dog has regaled his audience with these sensitive, soul-searching lyrics:

Well, if you give me ten bitches, then I'll fuck all ten

See my homey Snoop Doggy sippin juice and gin

Don't slip, I'm fo' to set trip, to get papers

Styles vary, packin flavor like Life Savors

Ain't that somethin, talk shit and I'm dumpin

I had your whole fuckin block bumpin

Don't sweat, but check the tecnique , I'm unique like China

Ya never find the bomb-a-rama then this Nigga behind ya,

So, peek-a-boo, I'm comin through

Indeed, there is much more; but, no doubt, you will get the major thrust of the "artistry" that has sent Snoop to the top of the charts and has accounted for CD sales that have exceeded 30 million.

PRESIDENT JAMES MADISON

For recent grads who might have dozed off during American History 101, James Madison served the Republic as president from 1809 - 1817.  Of, course, bearing the moniker of "Father of the Constitution," Madison was a prime force in the drafting of the Constitution. In deliberations preceding the final drafting of the document, Madison addressed the constitutional assemblage more than 200 times.  Collaborating with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, Madison presented cogent arguments in the Federalist Papers for the Constitution as being a solid basis for limited government and the preservation of states' rights.

Fearing that the newly ratified Constitution did not adequately protect both the rights of the central government and those of the states, Madison favored a series of amendments that would enable both constituencies to amiably coexist.  From an ample slate of proposed amendments that was originally considered by the Senate, a paring down eventually resulted by 1791 in the 10 amendments that make up this Republic's Bill of Rights. Thus, these amendments became the statement that anchored the American Constitution in such a way as to enable it to become the longest-lived written constitution in the history of the world.

Madison's political philosophy was originally closely aligned with that of Thomas Jefferson, who had early on favored a limited central government.  However, Madison, from experience gained as president during the War of 1812, eventually saw that there were exigencies that would call for more federal authority.

In No. 51 of The Federalist Papers, Madison, perhaps anticipating the dangers of an all-powerful and ill-tutored majority such as we see in 2013, wrote:

"It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of the society from the injustice of the other part....In a society under the forms of which the stronger faction can readily unite and oppress the weaker, anarchy as truly be said to reign as in a state of nature, where the weaker individual is not secured against the violence of the stronger."

It is without exaggeration that one can say that it is the Constitution which has sustained this Republic and its citizens.  Truly, the Constitution has weathered many storms, but now it is under assault from the highest echelons, in a massive effort to curtail individual liberty in favor of  a dumbed-down equality that would turn an exceptional nation into a drab caricature of its former self.  But, is this surprising in a country that is now led by a chief executive who believes Charleston, South Carolina, is located on the Gulf of Mexico, that there is an Austrian language and that he has visited 57 states of the Union?

Yes, dear readers, we are indeed at a crossroads.  Will the Snoop Doggy Dogs of this world continue to lower standards and expectations, or will Americans stand for the liberty and freedom that make up their heritage?  Shall we surrender our God-given rights based on natural law to the socialist world view of an equality of poverty?  Thus, I issue to you a clarion call to man the barricades of liberty and to summon forth all of your determination to reverse the present tide of cultural abasement that currently afflicts our land!

LISTEN UP, McCAIN, GRAHAM, ET. AL.: STAY THE HELL OUT OF SYRIA!

The ignorance and naivete of Washington policy makers never ceases to amaze.  Just 4 short years ago, our newly elected monolingual president was making speeches in which he confused the Middle East with Central Asia, stating confidently that the lingua franca of Afghanistan was Arabic. Furthermore, this untested chief executive was even awarded a Nobel Peace Prize before he had time to settle into the Oval Office. Thus was born an arrogance of ignorance as to the consequences of ill-considered moves on the international scene. Little wonder, then, that our foreign policy has been a complete disaster, with Egypt, perhaps, heading the list as one of the greatest diplomatic failures since World War II.

As for Afghanistan, after hundreds of billions expended over 12 years, American policy is no closer to fulfillment than it was at the end of 2001.  And, with the present administration telegraphing its intent to withdraw during 2014, Mullah Omar and the Taliban are simply biding their time.  In effect, those forging our policy for Afghanistan have time after time shot themselves in the proverbial foot.

Sadly, it appears that the same holds true for Iraq, where the U.S. backed al-Malaki government has insisted on favoring Shiites over Sunnites. In fact, because of al-Malaki, Iraq now stands on the precipice of civil war.

In 2003, there was a Christian minority of 1.1 million.  Now, there are barely 100,000 Christians left in Iraq, owing to the opening of the floodgates of persecution caused by the American invasion.  Say what you will about Sadam, as dictator he used his iron hand to enforce stability in Iraq; and, in so doing, kept radical Islam from pummeling the Christian minority.

Now, in Syria, once again we see the U.S. about to take sides in a country about which politicians and policy makers are likely mostly ignorant.  Could it be that John McCain and Lindsay Graham could distinguish for us the vagaries of Alawites, Sunnites and Shiites; and, of all things, also have some idea of how the 1.5 million Syrian Christians fit into the scheme of things?  Probably not. 

SYRIAN CHRISTIAN MOTHER AND CHILD AFTER REBEL ATTACK

Because of Bashar al-Assad, and because of his father before him, the Christian minority in Syria has enjoyed relative freedom.  However, in the civil war raging in Syria, the rebels have attacked Christians with impunity.  With the U.S. aiding Syrian rebels, the likelihood of wholesale attacks on Christians increases.  Accordingly, those of us in the U.S. who call ourselves Christians should be adamant in demanding that the fate of our Christian brothers and sisters should be kept in mind by those who would presume to make policy for this country.

For too long, the U.S. has presumed that it is capable of spreading democracy in a world that has, for the most part, not evolved to a point of being receptive for Western ideals.  For example, in the Muslim world, this is the 15th century.  Unlike the Western world, Islam has not progressed through a Renaissance, a Reformation or an Enlightenment.  This must be kept in mind as America's international interests are considered.  And, as far as Syria is concerned, it would be far, far better for this country to remain outside a fray of conflicts which its present leadership clearly does not understand.

TEXAS & CALIFORNIA: A TALE OF TWO ECONOMIES

With national Democrats hoping to administer a coup de grace to the national Republican Party by turning Texas blue with the expenditure of millions through an ill-conceived undertaking called Battleground Texas, it seems that it might be a good idea to consider the possibility of a blue makeover by taking a look at the economies of Republican Texas and Democratic California.

If Democrats have their way, Texas's electoral votes will be added to those of the other two big states, California and New York, thus making it virtually impossible for Republicans to be movers and shakers on a national level.  However, the odds are (at least from this quarter) that Texans, even Hispanic Texans, will be more than a little reluctant to do that to themselves.  In effect, Texas, if it became Democratic, would truly be shooting itself in the foot.

It is enlightening to look at the steady outflow of population from California.  From 2000 to 2010, the figures for the California exodus show that California had a net  loss of 240,000 individuals to Texas, and that Texas, among the states, was the number one recipient of Californians fleeing the once "Golden State."  Each day now, 170 persons move to Austin, most of them coming from California.  In this regard, the comparison of a few economic indicators might possibly demonstrate why, increasingly, Californians are choosing to take their stand under the Lone Star flag.

The average state outlay in the U.S. for governmental operations per person now stands at just over $10,000. In terms of its expenditures, California annually surpasses that amount by 120%, while the corresponding figure for Texas is 82%.  From 2000 to 2010, taxable income in Texas rose by 37%; and, during the same time period, the percentage increase for California was 31%. It should be kept in mind, though, that Californians have higher incomes, but it is 42% more expensive to live there.

As a percentage of the state economy, California spends 46% more than Texas on state and local government.  More than 5% of the California economy goes toward public benefits, while the figure for welfare appropriations in Texas stands at approximately 3%.  As is well known, public pensions in California have virtually bankrupted state and local constituencies, with the annual amount spent in this regard amounting to $1,100 for every man, woman and child in the state.  The corresponding figure in Texas comes to only $480.  Both Texas and California spend an amount equivalent to 5.5% of their respective economies on education, but, with Texas being able to employ 17% more educators for its educational allocations, the Lone Stat State is getting more of a bang for its buck.  Finally, the unemployment rate in Texas is consistently more than 3% lower than the rate in California.

Clearly, the "Texas model," characterized by less government, lower taxes and a business-friendly environment is much more conducive to growth and prosperity.  Little wonder, then, that Texas has led the way economically during the great recession.  Thus, it goes without saying that Texans will keep this in mind as Democrats begin their great push with Battleground Texas, for it would be absolute insanity to trade the Texas model of economic advancement for the California model of economic stagnation.

A TIME FOR DRAWING THE LINE!

As a youngster, my admiration and fancy were captured by  the heroes of the Texas Revolution. Names such as Houston, Travis, Seguin, Crockett, Bowie, Navarro and Lamar were indelibly and permanently inscribed in my consciousness; and, until this day, I am in awe of men who were willing to risk their all for the cause of liberty, freedom and justice against a brutal dictatorship, which had trampled the Mexican Federal Constitution of 1824.

The example of William Barrett Travis still resonates strongly in Texas; and, considering the state of America in 2013, Travis's paradigm might serve us well, as concerned Americans devote themselves to the preservation of their beleaguered Republic.

It seems almost daily that executive power embarks on another effort to aggregate power in Washington, D.C. What, in another era, would have been considered shocking behavior for a presidential administration has now become commonplace.  The litany of abuse has grown longer and longer almost daily, with the IRS and the Department of Justice taking the leading roles in extra-constitutional actions.  Shall we sit back and simply watch as those of a conservative bent are simply run roughshod over by an out-of-control taxing authority?  Do we do nothing as First Amendment freedoms are cavalierly ignored?  Shall we be content to see our legislative branch passed over with more and more executive decrees?  Will it eventually be acceptable for the Department of Justice to discard lawful decisions of state courts and to establish precedents for an all-powerful centralized system of justice?  Will we be content to see our borders remain unprotected, eventually allowing an "amnesty" to flood the general population with millions of individuals who would have no idea of the great sacrifices and the constitutional government that have made America an exceptional nation?  Shall we sit back idly and do nothing as unbridled "progressivism" eventually converts the United States into a Third World country?  And, will we allow misbegotten schemes such as Obamacare to drive us into more and more debt?

It is high time that we draw the line of no compromise.  We must expect that our elected representatives will do the right thing, not the politically expedient thing.  If, for example, in the effort to defund Obamacare we go to the brink of shutting down the government, then so be it!  At the same time, we must constantly, boldly and articulately enunciate the case for such action based on the constitutional ideals of liberty, freedom and justice.  If not now, when?  There can be no better time than the present  And there can be no better example than that of William Barrett Travis.  Liberals, progressives and socialists deserve no quarter in the legislative arena. Let us draw a hard and fast line!