Into the Storm

The latest DVD selection from our friends at Netflix was this WWII biopic of British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill.

Not necessarily one I would have chosen myself, but I gave it a shot since the leading role won Brendan Gleeson an Emmy Award.

And, with a Gleeson in the film, how bad could it be, right?!

Basically, every American's favorite Brit is in France in the days immediately after the war . . . waiting in dread for the 1945 election results that would throw him out of office.

Through a series of flashbacks, the audience learns what brought him to that point . . . and, on a more personal level, what brought his marriage to the brink of failure.

The great thing about Churchill's story is that both his marriage and his political career survived the calamity of 1945. Indeed they both rebounded rather nicely.

But, this film doesn't let the audience know that.

It does, however, quite accurately portray FDR as a socialist suck-up to Stalin. For that reason alone, it should be shown to every high school student in America.

Bottom line: If you're a history buff, you'll probably like it.

Ranking the Presidents

It seems like this day every year, a bunch of liberal eggheads try to spoon feed us their rankings of all the presidents. C-SPAN is offering a prime example today.

I decided to examine the list and rank them myself. Disclaimers: No one got any style points for looking good in a tux or for having a flashy smile. Also, no points were awarded for martyrdom. I only graded on what was accomplised AS PRESIDENT. What happened before or after was not considered.

And, of course, I examine everything from a conservative perspective the aforementioned eggheads will probably never quite grasp.

Ok, so here goes:

1. Ronald Reagan
2. James Monroe
3. Calvin Coolidge
4. James K. Polk
5. Abraham Lincoln
6. Theodore Roosevelt
7. Thomas Jefferson
8. George Washington
9. Dwight D. Eisenhower
10. Harry Truman
11. George H.W. Bush
12. William McKinley
13. Andrew Jackson
14. Ulysses S. Grant
15. Rutherford B. Hayes
16. James Madison
17. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
18. George W. Bush
19. John F. Kennedy
20. Gerald R. Ford
21. Millard Fillmore
22. Bill Clinton
23. William H. Taft
24. Woodrow Wilson
25. John Tyler
26. Chester Arthur
27. John Adams
28. Richard Nixon
29. Grover Cleveland
30. John Quincy Adams
31. Martin Van Buren
32. Lyndon Johnson
33. Jimmy Carter
34. Warren Harding
35. Benjamin Harrison
36. Franklin Pierce
37. Andrew Johnson
38. Herbert Hoover
39. Zachary Taylor
40. James Buchanan

Well, at least we all agreed on Buchanan being the worst.

Note:
Three names were left off the list due to incomplete records:
* James A. Garfield - assassinated only a few months after inauguration.
* William Henry Harrison - died of pneumonia a month after taking office.
* Barack Hussein Obama - current commander-in-chief (shudder!)

Lies about pie

It seems like the presidential candidates have dredged up that old cliche' about pie.

John McCain (appropriately) pointed out that the junior senator from Illinois wants the government to have the final say as to who gets what size piece of the pie instead of trying to grow the pie.

Sidebar: I thought you BAKE a pie, not GROW a pie?!

Anyway, this tired-yet-valid analogy only serves as the latest example of the very poor job we have done in teaching economic theory and its impact on our nation's history.

Personally, I blame the Keynesians who have been free for far too long to perpetuate their bogus theories. Using the Great Depression as an example:

LIE #1
The Great Depression was triggered by risky Wall Street speculation that led to a stock market collapse.

TRUTH #1
The Great Depression was caused by the federal government's systematic reduction (33%!!!) in the money supply during the 1920s.

LIE #2
"New Deal" social welfare programs, increased income taxes, and increased market regulations helped the economy.

TRUTH #2
FDR's socialist agenda actually PROLONGED the depression by creating a huge dependancy class, robbing the market of capital, and making it harder to operate a private sector business.

LIE #3
The eruption of World War II produced an ecomomic boom.

TRUTH #3
It was not until the war ended, workers returned to the private sector, and the dismantling of FDR's big government programs allowed money to be used as market capital that we fully recovered from the depression.

The lessons of history can and should be applied to the present economic situation. We don't need a rabble-rousing cult of personality approach. Rather, we need to cut taxes, reduce the size of government, and encourage the entrepreneurial spirit.

Or, is that too "pie in the sky?!"

Why Washington remains our greatest president.

On this Presidents Day, I am somewhat dismayed to hear modern polls show George Washington slipping in the rankings of our nation's greatest presidents. Modern revisionists have foisted the undeserving Lincoln and FDR to the top of the pack.

So, to counteract this trend, I offer ye socks the three reasons why yours truly believes George Washington remains the greatest president in the history of these United States.

1. He exercised self-restraint. At the end of the American Revolution, he could very easily have seized power and become a military dictator. Instead, he not only resigned his position as commander of the armies, but also refused to accept a crown as the head of a new monarchy. And, when he was eventually elected president, he agreed only to serve two terms.

Lincoln, on the other hand, exceeded his authority on numerous occasions, including his order to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. And, FDR is the only person self-satisfied enough to run for FOUR terms and to attempt to pack the Supreme Court.

2. He was non-partisan. Washington didn't believe in political parties. He thought they bred conflict, stagnation, and bad government. And, history has proved him correct. I doubt either Lincoln (a Republican) or FDR (a Democrat), much less their modern political heirs, would see things that clearly.

3. He believed in a meritocracy. Just as he didn't want another monarchy, he didn't believe in political dynasties or oligarchies. He didn't believe things should be handed to people based on the circumstances of their birth or on the basis of their surname. Rather, he made appointments based on a "fitness for office." Lincoln on the other hand was a product of his time, when cronyism was rampant in American politics. And, FDR was part of the oligarchy that developed. (Remember, he wasn't the first Roosevelt in the White House!)

I understand their are ebbs and flows in the interpretation of history. But, it is a sad to see a great man like Washington being lumped in with the likes of Lincoln and FDR. They were certainly men of great accomplishments. But, George Washington should forever remain first in the hearts of his countrymen.

All we have to fear is fear itself.

I'm not much one for quoting Democrats, but just had to dig that old one out from my FDR file.

And, quite frankly, I have to tell you he was just as wrong about that as he was about so much else. Perhaps, more so. At the very least, we have more to fear than fear in this day and age. And, I'm not just talking about the Islamofascists, Kim Jung-Il, or any of the other yo-yo's on the world stage.

No, I'm talking about the economy and the yo-yo's we have right here in the good old USofA.

There's a lot of fear out there as I type these words, and it's a growing fear. But, besides just the fear itself, we need to fear what the fraidy-cats are going to do.

Fear is a good thing when it's rational. I mean, you SHOULD be afraid if you are confronted by a rabid pit bull in a dark alley when you have a raw leg of lamb tied around your waist.

But, what you should ask yourself is, "Why did I put myself in this situation in the first place?!"

The answer is, "There's no good reason. But, you're there. Deal with it. Quickly!"

Okay, now I'm just ranting.

Suffice it to say that fears about certain sectors of the economy are not only growing, but they are spilling into and stifling other sectors' potential.

As in the 1930s, it is time for some cooler heads to prevail BEFORE some socialist gets into the White House and does something even more frightening than the free market ever thought about doing.

ARRGGGHHH!

I need a weekend to get over myself . . .