Kadizzle Agrees With Bush

Never thought the day would come, but Bush and Kadizzle are dancing together on this one. Bush does not want to give subsidies to farmers making more than 200k per year. He would never put this restriction on an oil guy, but at least he got one right.

The Strangest Rule in the Bible

Lord Kadizzle is still plowing through the book A Year of Living Biblically. Last night the author of the book was asked by his grandfather what was the strangest rule in the Bible. Apparently the Bible forbids a woman from grabbing the testicles of the person her husband is fighting. For example: If Lord Kadizzle were to engage neighbor Bob in a round of fisticuffs, The Commander is prohibited from grabbing Bob's testicles to aid Lord Kadizzle. The punishment for The Commander according to the Bible is to have her hand cut off. When I warned the Commander about this rule, she said what if I kick him in the groin or do something else. Like the author explained to his grandfather, I explained to the commander the rule only addressed grabbing testicles. I need to tell Bob about this rule, I am not sure if he will be more or less inclined to punch me the next time he has to endure one of my tiraids.

Dumb As We Wanna Be

Tom Friedman has written a kick as column in then New York Times about the gas shortage silliness, or more precisely the lack of an energy policy in this country. Read Dumb As We Wanna Be

Shot at and Missed

Lord Kadizzle can't remember the phrase, but it goes something like "There is nothing that gets your attention like being shot at and missed". Yesterday morning while delivering milk for Daryl a call came in on the cell phone. The caller wanted to know if I could go to work on Friday for three weeks at a power plant in Furgus Falls. The money was very good, and I had to say yes. The bad news was I would be working seven days a week, 12 hours a day, and now for the topper I would be doing the midnight shift. My mind was going in two directions, one part was spending the money on new toys, and the other was imagining myself sleeping during the day, eating crap food, and wandering around all night. Later in the day the company managed to find one of their own employees to do the safety work, so now the haunting fear of work has subsided, but it was a close call. Lord Kadizzle thought The Commander might want to go on the adventure, so he asked. It turned out she wanted no part of it. Poor Lord Kadizzle felt like a slave being sold down river. The Commander was relishing the idea of peace and quit while her worthless husband finally brought home some cash, which she has already spent on her new recliner.

What about Kieth Olberman?

Kieth Olberman is one of my favorite, if not the best commentators, but after watching his news cast about Reverend Wright, I really had to wonder if he watched all of what Wright had to say. I just don't see how you can read one or two paragraphs of a speech, and think you understand the whole thing. I don't think most of the people commenting on Rev Wright listened to him from beginning to end. Wright is lending himself to the defeat of Obama, which will be a tragedy. One of the things Wright asserts is that America has terrorized other countries. On first blush this statement would seem terrible, but when you consider the dictators the United States supported in Iran, Iraq, Cuba, and Chile, it is true. Our country at one time stood behind Sadam, we stood behind Pinochet, we stood behind Batista. If you know your history every one of these men were brutal dictators. If you know the complete history of Vietnam, you know we got started in that country supporting the dictator of South Vietnam. It is certainly an unpleasant fact to confront, but that doesn't make it untrue. Anyone who has read anything knows we are supporters of the current kingdoms in Saudi Arabia. These kingdoms are terribly repressive regimes. Please someone tell me I am crazy or wrong. This is what Wright is being criticized for. Wright said "The Chickens are coming home to roost" or "What you reap is what you sew" who could deny that we have planted the seeds of hate in Iran when we used to support the Sha of Iran? Sadam used to be our sorragate against Iran, at the behest of the CIA. Is this not true? So when Wright goes on television and says this, he is a crazy man saying radical things? Sure they are radical, but history shows they are true.

Amazing Spin on Reverend Wright

Watching the nightly news Lord Kadizzle was steaming. The spin put on what Reverend Wright said was unbelievable. If you listened to what he said in it's entirety, it made perfect sense. I have lost a lot of trust in our news media, after hearing the man, and then hearing the way he was portrayed. The trick they used is subtle, but effective. They say he was saying "radical" things. I could not see anything radical about what he said. The news didn't say what was radical about what he said. If you want to see how the news can spin things, and in this case I will freely admit IT WAS NOT FOX The spin was as bad as anything Fox could have come up with. Why they want to attack this man is beyond me. He comes off as well educated and well spoken. You could see the mean steak in the woman who was asking him questions after his speech. Each question was meant to put a dagger in him. His answers blew her away every time. You could just see her getting more enraged. Don't take my word for it, watch him, I am sure he will be on C-Span. Just announced Kieth Olberman will talk about him tonight. This should be good, it will be test of Olberman, he is one of my favorites, I cannot wait to see his take.

Reverend Wright is cooking them.

Lord Kadizzle is sitting here listing to Reverend Wright. Wow, he is something. If people really listened to what he is saying, it would be truly amazing. The man seems very intelligent, and a very good speaker. He is going to be a handful for his critics. He is going to be demonized by the people who never really listened to what he has to say. Listening to him tell his story, it is easy to see how you could take his speech out of context and use it to bust him. He is on CNN right now. He has a very interesting message. However, the urban legend bunch will have a heyday with him. I would love to see him debate Bingo Bush, he would eat him alive. As I listen, I am concluding he is the best preacher I have ever heard. Get a copy of what he is saying, watch it. You will learn a lot. If I could get a copy of his speech I would show it on the local channel ten. As I keep watching him, I keep getting more impressed. I would go to his church in a heartbeat just to hear someone preach something like what Jesus probably meant.

Drunken Hasidic Jews

My sweet little daughter Megan is living in the midst of Hasidic Jews in New York City. These people are Orthodox, and very strange. Sitting on the Royal Kaddizzle throne this morning I picked up my current book assignment The Year of Living Biblically. The author launches into a story about how he goes to a party with stumbling drunk Hasidic Jews. Their drunkenness is the result of a biblical passage that tells them to celebrate and dance. There is a part in the Bible where King David celebrates the arrival of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. King David apparently gets drunk and starts dancing so wildly his robe flies up. The family jewels are exposed. His wife brings this to his attention. Somehow this results in them being childless. So the Biblical message must be, get drunk, dance, but don't let your robe fly up if you want children. Apparently underwear was not yet invented. Underwear may be the result of this whole bible passage.

Now it would make an interesting case for a person to be arrested for public drunkenness and claim it was a religious right. It might be required you get locked in a church if convicted.

Lord Kadizzle is amazed how you can interpret the Bible to get to just about anywhere you want. Want some slaves, no problem, its in there. If you want more than one wife, it may be in there, but if it isn't you can always just revise the Bible like the Mormans did.

Last night Lord Kadizzle was reading about the cleanliness regulations in the Bible. You cannot sit in a chair where a menstruating woman has sat. The author of the book came home an started to sit in his favorite chair. His wife stopped him by telling him she had used the chair. Soon he found his wife had sat in every chair in the house just to make it hard for him to follow the Bible. He ended up sitting in his sons small midget chair. In order to follow the Bible the author carries a combination folding chair, and cane.

Polls confirm Bush worst President in History

From New York Times Today, "according to Gallup, President Bush has the highest disapproval rating recorded in 70 years of polling"

Richard Dawkins on Bill Maher 11 April 2008

Interesting

Beyond Hope

The Commander and Lord Kadizzle made a trek to the shopping capital of our universe, Bismarck. All day Lord Kadizzle interviewed the clerks and employees in the stores to test the political wind. The political knowledge of these people was appalling. Many of them had no idea of who was running for president. The majority said they have never voted in their life. The fact that they do not vote could go both ways. Perhaps it keeps us safe from their ignorance, on the other hand if they would just vote they could vote them selfs out of a mess.

The most remarkably stupid person I met all day was at Home Depot. Wait there is a tie for the dumbest. There was the lady who thought McCain was a democrat. Back to Home Depot. Somehow I got on the topic of if he supported our current idiot, Bush. He assured me he did. I asked would support him no matter what? He explained that no matter what stupid thing Bush did he would support him, and even die for Bush's cause. Then he told me that was always the stance of his family, and followed that by saying, I am a Mormon. I figured, this explains it, the guy is a Mormon, and you could get him to believe anything. In an effort to save his soul I decided I needed to cure him of Mormonism first, before we could even start on politics, so I recommended he read the book Under The Banner of Heaven. I told him it exposed the whole fraud of the Mormons. He looked at me puzzled and explained his last name was Mormon, and he was not a member of "the cult". Now, I felt as stupid as he did. I explained when he gave his patriotic speech, he needed to make some clarification. Don't say "I support any stupid thing the president proposes I am a Mormon". Instead, say "My last name is Mormon, I support any stupid thing the president proposes".

Do I really know these people?

If I were working on a project, and I asked someone to hand me a half inch socket wrench it could go like this: "Which half inch socket wrench do you want, the blue one or the red one?". It doesn't make any difference, would be my reaction, they are both half inch socket wrenches. I am beginning to find out I am wrong. Many of the people for whom I thought the fog had lifted are telling me things like " I could never vote for a black or a woman". A young guy gave me that line and I was shocked. He was still wet behind the ears, and where did he get that jazz, I thought the Klan had gone long ago.

One of the most amazing stories Lord Kadizzle ever read was the transformation of George Wallace. Remember him, he practically invented racism. If your as old as me you remember someone shot him and paralyzed him. For years he was going around spouting his hate, and discontent. Guess who pushed his wheel chair? Yes, it was a black man. For some strange reason George woke up one day, and realized the good friend this man had become, and where he would be without him. George Wallace went to his grave a changed man.

When I used to work in underground mines, one of the things I liked the best was that everybody seemed to get along. There was a simple reason to respect everyone and treat them with some level of dignity. When the roof fell on you, or the damn place blew up, you had no clue who was going to save you. I would not have wanted to be a racist with a rock fall one me and no one to dig me out but a black man. Well that is where we are today. Our country is under a rock, and perhaps the only one who can dig us out is a black man. Now, what color socket wrench do you want?

After writing the above Lord Kadizzled decided to do a little homework. Searching Wikipedia I found some very good information on George Wallace. His story is very interesting. Some question if he was a racist in the first place. He may have been just doing what was politically expedient. The most amazing thing is that in his last election he won by a landslide with the black vote. If you want a little education about politics, at least cheap political tactics, this is your man. In the end he did show you could win by being decent. In a strange way he may be a model some could learn from.

Southern Take on Election from Jim

Well-Billy Bob came to our little town yesterday--he was only two hours late--about 1,500 people showed up. This is a hugely republican town and county,but he was making stops in mid-size towns stumping for his wife. Bill Clinton did some good things for this country during his two terms--and I have defined him many times in conversations with my republican friends(just like you in Hazen)--but I cannot go along with the way they have tried to smear Obama. Lucy and I are firmly in Obams' camp--in fact Lucy has done some phone calling on his behalf. Both the woman and the man running for democratic governor have endorsed him--I think he will take N.C.This state has a big black population and areas like Raleigh and Charlotte have a big group of young,educated white people--these two factors should give him a win in North Carolina. I think it's significant that registration in N.C is up by almost 200,000 people--not only is this true around here,it's happening all over the country. I think at least 80% of these new registers are doing so to back Obama. The N.C republican party plans to begin running a smear add on TV next week--they are a mean and vicious bunch--I think they figure if Clinton can win N.C. and go on to win the nomination,their man can beat her in the national election--they don't want to run against Obama--they're afraid of him. If Obama does eventually get the nomination,the republicans will crucify him--he'll be called a Muslim,blasted because of his pastor,etc. It will be one of the dirtest campaings in history--I say bring them on!According to the weather man,I see you're finally getting a little rain---imporant for the ethanol farmers! Rain will also produce brush and cover for the birds. Tell Cissie I'm picking spinach for supper tonight. Stay in touch----Jim

Have a Big Nickel

My grandfather lived two houses away. In desperation Lord Kadizzle could always find some way to pry money out of the grandparents. Worst case scenario, you might have to cut the grass, or pick weeds, but sometimes if my grandfather was in a good mood, he would just pull a fifty cent piece out of his pocket, give it a spin as he tossed it and say "Here, have a big nickel ". As a five year old, this looked like money from heaven, but as an adult it is an insult when my government sends me a tax rebate for $1,200. It is an insult in many ways. First, am I really that stupid? My government is going to borrow money from me, and then give it to me as if it pulled a rabbit out of a hat? The $1,200 will just about put me back to where I would be without the new gas prices. What about the cost of food because of the ethanol debacle? Finally the total insanity of thinking this is going to stimulate the economy. What are most Americans going to do with the money? Run to Wal Mart and buy products from China? So it turns out if anyone benefits, it is China.

Can You Follow th e Bible?

It must be a symptom of getting old, Lord Kadizzle has been reading up on the Bible. Of course he would not go about it by actually reading the Bible. Instead he has read God Is Not Great, The God Dellusion, and now, A Year of Living Biblically.

What if you tried to do what the Bible tells you to do? You would have some serious problems. Among the many rules is the one where you have to wash after having sex? Lord Kadizzle thinks washing prior to sex makes more sense. The Commander now complains about too many showers, this could really set her off. According to the Bible you cannot wear anything with a blend of fibers. You could wear wool socks and cotton underwear, but a wool/cotton blend underwear would send you to hell. One of the biggest problems is all the people you are instructed to kill. You must stone adulters, kill homosexuals, and anyone who picks up sticks on Sunday.

It quickly becomes evident, what has been evident all along, people pick and choose what suits their needs. There are many more rules yet to be explored. The book moves along pretty good and has a good sense of humor. When a female clerk tries to give the author change, he instructs her to put the money on the counter. With an angry look, she does. The Bible says you are not allowed to touch a woman. Embarrassed the author tells the clerk he has a cold that he doesn't want her to catch. Now, he realizes he has just told a lie, you just can't win.

WWJD if he were Republican?

Milk the Fundies John McCain

Right-wing pastor John Hagee says Katrina was New Orleans' fault. John McCain sought out, and embraces, Hagee's support. MoveOn members are trying to deliver a petition to McCain in New Orleans just a few hours from now: will you sign?

Here's the background: McCain wants America to see him as a compassionate, mainstream politician. So he's going to New Orleans today for a photo-op in the 9th Ward.

But he's still trying to shore up his right-wing base—so this past Sunday, he again welcomed the support of right-wing evangelist John Hagee, who said "Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans."1

MoveOn members in New Orleans have organized an emergency rally outside McCain's event today. With the media looking on, they'll try to deliver our petition asking him to stop pandering to right-wing bigots like Hagee. They'll announce an up-to-the-minute number of signatures, and we'll have a real impact if we can say that hundreds of thousands have signed in only a few hours.

Out Sourcing Debt Collection, the Bush economy at its best?

The NYT has an article today about outsourcing debt collectors. Imagine this, you are busted flat under the Bush economy and someone calls you from India, and tells you to pay up. Wow, under the current administration jobs leak out of the country like water through my socks, and the people who lost the jobs are harassed by the people in India who got the jobs. What will Bush think of next, tax breaks for the rich.

My Boss

Poor old Lord Kadizzle has worked for a lot of bosses, but none compare to the commander. Nothing goes unnoticed with The Commander. The worst part of working for The Commander is you can't get fired. Lord Kadizzle has tried. Apparently Lord Kadizzle as an employee is incapable of the most basic thinking. Every detail is shouted out by The Commander. Open the door, turn on the light, put the lid on, Lord Kadizzle cannot figure out the most basic things that a normal person might see on their own.

The classic example is the procedure for getting up everyday. We sleep with the window open. So everyday Lord Kadizzle gets up, and just like yesterday The Commander shouts "Close the window". Although she has said it every day since the Earth was formed, she says "Be sure to close it all the way". Lord Kadizzle knows the commands by heart, it is just like being on a sailing ship. The next command is "Open the window shades". There is a little pause, then The Commander says "All the way". As poor old Lord Kadizzle stumbles around and heads down the hall he knows the next command will come from The Commander. "Turn up the heat", followed by "All the way".

If Lord Kadizzle is lucky The Commander will stay in bed. Lately she has been reading in bed in the morning. This is a wonderful blessing because his lordship gets a chance to relax before morning orders start. However, to make this work Lord Kadizzle has to take coffee to The Commander. There are a whole series of commands barked out to manage the coffee delivery, but we need not go into them, they are all standard.

Since his lordship cannot make the simplest of decisions, The Commander decided it was not necessary for Lord Kadizzle to have a brain. Lord Kadizzle was taken to the doctor where a melon ball scoop was stuck in his ear. Most of the sawdust came out pretty easy. However, there is a small piece the size of pea that is still in there. it rolls around and is very annoying, but the blessing of not having to think makes Lord Kadizzle understand why people want to be Republicans.

Now for the amazing part. You have probably deduced Lord Kadizzle is an idiot. When something goes wrong at the Kadizzle household, who do you call. Thats right, "The Idiot". Computer problems are the exclusive domain of The Idiot, and of course all mechanical problems are handled by "The idiot". It's a tough life, but the food is good, and there are some great perks. The whole thing reminds Lord Kadizzle of the verse to a song " And that makes me, and it is plain to see, an idiot I suppose".

WRT will hold open free elections? or How the black man learned to read Chinese

Lord Kadizzle has been fighting with the local phone company to hold honest open elections for years. One of the things requested was voting by mail, normally this should be a simple process. With your phone bill you get a ballot, you fill it out and mail back the postage paid ballot. Pretty simple isn't it. However, it will be amazing if they actually make it work that way. More than likely you will have to take your passport to the phone company in Hazen, and have your fingerprints taken, then they will give a form which you will have to mail back, and then they will mail you a ballot. No one is running against their puppet Randy Christmann, so all of this isn't even necessary, but paranoia runs deep in this organization. Perhaps the snollygosters have someone else to protect.

It may turn out like the old elections in the south. In the old days the south came up with literacy test to keep black people from voting. One determined black man was determined to pass the test and vote. He studied day and night. On election day he went in to take his test. First the examiner asked him to say the Gettysburg Address backwards. To the amazement of the examiner he did. Next they asked him for the name of George Washington's horse. Again he got it right. After the examiner scratched his head he gave the black man a Chinese newspaper and told him to read it out loud. The black man took the newspaper and tried to read it. The poor fellow trying to vote said "I can't read the fine print, but I can see what the headline says". Astonished the examiner asked "What does the headline say?". The black man replied, "This is one black man that isn't going to vote this year".

Olbermann spanks O'Reilly

O'Rielly mixed up.

Letterman-O'Reilly: Round 2.2 - Knocks the bum out!

If you really care you can go on youtube and see the complete legacy of O'Rielly the moron.

Define Yourself

Have you ever had someone make a statement that immediately defined them. Yesterday a younger fellow told me Obama was a Muslim. I asked why. He explained that it was because Obama will not take an oath on the Bible, or salute the flag. These are two outrageous rumors being spread by guess who? Unfortunately this young man defined himself as a person who is ill informed, a person who will believe anything, and a pretty sad case of a person empowered with the right to vote. Next he told me he would not vote for Clinton, because she was a woman. Wow, this all said a lot about him.

For lack of a better way to entertain myself at six in the morning, I have been watching youtube videos. Somehow I stumbled across various people who have encountered Bill O'Rielly. You know, he is the simple minded commentator on Fox News. Tell me you think this man has any credibility, and you have just defined yourself. There are a special bunch of people who watch and believe Fox News is a real news source. Those people are on a different planet than the one I inhabit. O'Rielly is a remarkable idiot. One of the clips I watched involved O'Rielly accusing American troops of committing a massacre on German troops during World War Two. The historical truth was just the opposite. The Germans captured the Americans and gunned them down in cold blood. Three months later, after O'Rielly had been told numerous times he was incorrect, he again made the same assertion. The man is a total idiot, his logic is perverse. One clip had some commentators ranting because O'Rielly blamed a woman's rape on the woman. The woman had a bare midriff, so O'Rielly implied it was her fault. By O'Rielly's standard any woman at the beach in a bikini is inviting rape, and the rapist has little blame. The man is totally nuts, but his logic works for those without their own. If you like O'Rielly chances are you will not like me, I have a low tolerance for simple mindedness.

Read Warning Below before Watching

This is so funny I could not resist posting, however the subject matter is risque. If you are easily offended, it is highly recommended you do not watch this video. The material is not obscene.

The Sun Also Rises

Last night neighbor Bob came down and helped diagnose a problem with our camper. After months of trying to solve a mystery, we confirmed that The Commander apparently got the right answer. The battery on the camper was discharging too quickly. It turned out a hidden switch controls the defrost cycle. The switch was in the on position. After taking care of that, Lord Kadizzle invited Bob for a snort of Dennis's elixir. Strangely Bob mentioned how well he slept the last time we drank the elixir. Dennis makes the concoction by mixing sugar, plums, and vodka, or rum. Last night we did a little rum. Lord Kadizzle slept very well. Also he went to bed around nine. The net result was he woke up at 4.25 ready to face the day. To his amazement daylight was already beginning to peak over the horizon. This far north that can happen. The longest day is still down the road. One of the good things about North Dakota is that they make the days long when they need to be.

Born Without a Mouth

If Lord Kadizzle had been born without a mouth, perhaps he could have been more successful. Most of the morning has been spent BSing, and repairing problems created from BSing over the weekend. Not only does his lordship's mouth like to talk, it also likes to eat, so between talking and eating owning my mouth takes up a lot of time. Part of the problem is that it operates unsupervised a great deal of the time. This leads to trouble with a capital T. I almost forgot that blasted mouth has had a habit of drinking too much at times. Add that to its other habits and you have the recipe for a real disaster. In fact the other end has filed a formal complaint about the intake end, because of the extra work and wear and tear the front end causes. Part of the complaint alleges that the front end puts the back end in jeopardy of a swift kick, which the back end does not feel is fair. Some say Lord Kadizzle would have been better off born deaf and dumb. Some say he got half the bargain.

Are we in a differnt World?

Coming back from the lake yesterday, Pat and I had a conversation about commodities and their impact on the world. Excellent article in NYT this morning on this subject. The article is called Running Out of a Planet to Exploit

Richard the Rat

Richard Nixon, was not all bad, but he came pretty damn close. Spinning through the channels yesterday, Lord Kadizzle happened upon the son of former FBI head L.Patrick Grey. The son was reviewing a book about his father. He tried to clear his father's name in the Watergate scandal. The book has new documentation about what an underhanded rat Nixon was. Grey was set up as a fall guy for Nixon, it didn't work.It is amazing how as time goes on we keep learning more about rats like Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover. Bush is not smart enough to be the world class rat Nixon was. In all fairness Nixon did a few good things. He opened up China, and remarkably he actually did some good things for civil rights. Bush on the other hand's greatest accomplishment has been tying his shoes and setting a new record for the deficit. Oh, I almost forgot the thousands of lives he pissed away in Iraq.

Eye Opener

Get your head out of the sports page and read this, Hidden hand of the Pentagon. If you want to see how the military and Bush bambozzle us. If you attend the Church of Fox News you will definitely want to see how they are hand fed the news by the pentagon. There will be no desert if you do not read this article. The bambozzle is amazing.

Torture Key part of Bush Legacy

Read how Bush made Torture one of the few policies he ever addressed. NYT Today

A Conversation with Karbunchkee

Years ago Lord Kadizzle watched a movie called "A Conversation with Andre". Yesterday Lord Kadizzle felt like he was in the movie. In the real movie the whole film takes place in the booth of a restaurant. Thats it, you see the filming of a conversation. However, it works.

Kabunchkee is fourteen years old. He sees himself as an outcast. He spends too much time sitting in his room pondering. The good news is that Kabunchkee gives me great hope for young people. He has seen through the propaganda, and silliness we try to foist on the young. He has seen the evil of indoctrination of the young. He has taken it upon himself to read some books that most young people would never consider.

I went to the lake to work on my boat. While I was fiddling with something in the boat Kabunchkee appeared at the hatch. We talked for hours. It was refreshing to talk to someone 14 that took it on himself to question the system and the world. I have so many friends four and five times his age that are incapable of seeing through the fog.

I cannot honestly say I have ever met someone his age who actually took it on himself to study real history. The history taught to our children is more propaganda than history. Few kids his age know the real history of what happened in Iran, Cuba, Chile, or so many of the countries where the United States was the villain in setting up a dictator.

Kabunchkee told me about an incident in his history class. The teacher had been talking about the history of Russia. At some point Kabunchkee raised his hand. Kabunchkee pointed out that in his whole lecture on Russia, he never said anything good about Russia. As I pointed out to Kabunchkee he did a great service to the rest of the kids in the class, they were being taught propaganda, he realized it, the rest of them were just soaking it up without question. I am not advocating that Russia was a great country, but could it be possible they never invented anything, produced any great art, or wrote any great literature?

In another part of our conversation we discussed at length how indoctrinating children with religion is child abuse. We both agree the evil of taking a young mind and filling it with nonsense is criminal. Letting a young girl waste her life as a nun and putting a perfectly good mind in a religious prison is a sin. Kabunchkee saw these things on his own, no one pushed him into these observations. Before we parted I gave Kabunchkee a list of reading material that we will discuss the next time we meet. We are going to talk about The God Delusion, This Perfect Day, and The Diary of and Economic Hit Man.

After meeting so many people his age and trying to have an intelligent conversation, I had just about given up hope. Most of the kids that age have no clue why they believe what they do. You ask them about politics and they say "I am a Repubublican because my dad is", or I am a Catholic because my family is." These children never got to a mental point by reason, they just bought something off the shelf.

Fat Bush Theory

Gail Collins has become one of my favorite opinion writers. Naturally she rights for the NYT. Her column to day is FAT BUSH THEORY. Gail puts the fallacy of Bush's approach to global warming in a simple funny form that makes this typical right wing logic appear what it is, stupid.

Mr. Do Nothing

I defy someone to tell me something George Bush did postive. In my memory I don't ever think a president squandered more time in the White House. If the world asked the question are we better off than we were before this man stepped on stage, people would not answer they would laugh. In the process of doing nothing positive the man has squandered the resources of our country. 700 million for an embassy in Iraq that will cost 1.2 billion a year to run? Bush mush have more "Brownie's" in his administration than you can shake a stick at. His use of cronies is legendary. Remember the reports that he had 150 graduates from Pat Robertsons university working for him. How do you think things would turn out with that kind of help? People say it is a short time we have to live with the idiot, but I am dismayed we may actually elect another one like him in the same party.

Small Town Satisfaction

Today was cleanup day at the pocket park. Years ago I undertook the construction project of building a little park on an empty lot on main street. When people get together and work together as volunteers, it give me hope for humanity. I was really happy when two younger guys showed up to work with the geezers. We got the job done, had a nice lunch together, and for this serious doubter it makes me think of the good side of the universe.

Urban Legends

One of the saddest things that has happened in our society is the spread of Urban legends. Someone makes up a story with a few elements of truth, and spreads the story. Usually the story involves politics. Obama was the victim of a recent story that he refused to salute the flag. Among the simple minded the story spread like wildfire, just like it is supposed to. The special interest who don't want health care for everyone have a host of fables that tell bad stories of health care in other countries. Reading The God Delusion I found a very clever Urban legend spread by the anti-abortionist about Beethoven. The story had some silly spin that by all standard it would have made sense for his mother to have aborted him because she had syphilis, and a host of other problems. History does not support the story, but it serves the purpose of the story teller. As the run up to the election approaches stories will spread claiming Obama is a Muslim, and who knows what they will accuse McCain of. Our past elections have featured these popular lies, and probably been swayed by them. If the Gumples at the coffee shop would just read or do a little research.

Plant the french fries

This morning poor old Lord Kadizzle has to go to work. This is the time of year the potatoes are planted. Lord Kadizzle doesn't plant the potatoes, but he fills in for Elmer who does. Elmer temporarily gives up his assistant milk man job to plant the potatoes. Between Elmer and the noble Lord Kadizzle we make sure children have two critical staples of life, French fries, and milk. The French fries are the more important product. This fine food is the basis for the entire U.S. medical economy. A major portion of our health care goes back to obesity, and without the French frie the job would not get done. Not only are jobs created growing and serving the little fellows, but just think of the jobs for nurses, doctors, and the whole health care industry.

Read the Comment

Someone wrote an excellent comment to my health care rant, be sure to read it. I have a strong suspicion who it was. The scholarly gentleman has traveled the world, and originally lived in Europe, so he is in a unique situation to judge our system, since he has no particular bias. He hit the nail on the head about propaganda.

Health Care Illusion

Last night PBS had an excellent program on Frontline. The program was called Sick Around The World. You can watch it online, and I highly recommend you do if you give a rats !@# about the subject. A reporter who had lived all over the world compared the American health care system with those of all the other major democracies in the world. The United States ranks number 37 in terms of fairness, quality, and cost. It was just mind boggling to see how countries like England, Germany, Tiawan, Sweden, and Japan take care of their population. They get far better results at a fraction of the costs. The people like the care, and everyone is covered. How anyone could watch the facts presented, and then say we cannot have such a system in this country is beyond my comprehension. Our country has been so dominated by the special interests. In every other country the administrative cost for health care run below six percent, in our country those cost are from 15 to 18 percent. An MRI which cost $1,200 in the United States is $98 in Japan. The real test of a health care system is what percent of the GDP it cost. Again the United States comes out a loser. Our cost is about double on that basis, and we still have many uninsured. The only reason we do not have such good systems as the other countries is because the concept of that level of sharing is more than a lot of right wingers can bear. Of course the Limbaugh gang will not even take a look at it, they will simply dismiss the facts because they are presented on PBS, which we all know is a left wing plot run by elite intellectuals to trick us into doing the right thing. One of the most interesting parts of the program was a discussion with a right winger in Switzerland. Originally he was opposed to an all encompassing system, after it went in place, he became a strong supporter and saw the flaws of the previous system based on selfishness.

A Mixed Marriage in Hazen

Last night a couple neighbors came over to share some of the plum medication the ex postmaster makes. We had a good time shooting the breeze and telling stories. At some point the old politician from up on the corner asked "Do you know what a mixed marriage in Mercer county is?". Everyone looked puzzled. Pat said "That is when someone on central time marries someone on mountain time". You have to live here to appreciate the problem. Lord Kadizzle and The Commander had a mixed marriage for years. All the industrial sites run on central time no matter where they are located. Hazen is on mountain time. For my entire career I worked on central time and lived in mountain time. The clock on my side of the bed was on central time, and the clock on the other side was on mountain time. This meant the time line ran right down the middle of the bed. In this area the way the line is placed has no rhyme or reason, and it is amazing how perturbed people can get about it. Believe it or not there are people who will not speak to each other because they have had arguments about the time zone. The strangest thing is having the time line be the river. This works fine where the river flows South, but it makes no sense where the river flows East. People from other states get very confused when they drive into mountain time in Mandan, and then over a hundred miles west they drive back into central time. It works very nicely for sailing. Since the time line is in the middle of the lake, you can change time at will. When someone says " I never drink before noon", Lord Kadizzle just sails across the time line and noon is there.

North Dakota Treasures

Yesterday our retinue took a hike from the plateau down to the Missouri. Very quickly we dropped into a wonderful valley that would make an excellent state park. A nice stream with large beaver dams ran through the valley. The whole experience made me think about how many places are in North Dakota that compare with the best spots in the country, however few people know about them. North Dakota has a bad image among most of the population, and for that matter I doubt most people in North Dakota even know what they have. Many times I have taken someone from Bismarck on Lake Sakakawea, and they say, "I had no idea this lake was this big". When we travel through the southwest, we always find the true travelers all have been to the North Unit of the Badlands and love it. The state does a very poor job of promoting itself. Some say we don't want any company. What is that picture? According to The Commander it is North Dakota coral. The hikers came across two artesian wells yesterday in the river bottom. Both had amazing formations in the bottom.

Hell Hath No Fury like an Angry Woman

The Commander is jumping around barking orders, if she had a gun she would shoot me. I forgot, she does have a gun. A strange set of circumstances got Lord Kadizzle in this mess. Friday night he had a dream that there was a terrible leak in the roof. This was a premonition. On Saturday Lord Kadizzle happened to be in a hardware store while neighbor Bob picked up some supplies. Lord Kadizzle decided why not buy the parts to fix the toilet The Commander had been complaining about. Later in the day his lordship replaced the parts. As the Gods would have it the new parts were defective. Lord Kadizzle tried everything. In frustration his lordship put the old parts back in and went to bed. When the Queen got up and sat on the throne in the morning she noticed the floor was damp. The toilet had dripped all night and made a wet spot in the carpet down the basement. Shouting started immediately. Get this, get that, move this, pull up the carpet. A radiation spill could not have been worse. All things considered, I think we will live through it, but if you hear of a killing in Hazen, you can guess what happened.

Trying to Understand and Save my Soul

Last night I read in bed with The Commander. My book was The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins. Lord Kadizzle highly recommends the book. Dawkins gets carried away trying to explain everything with evolution in the first part of the book, but if you can make it to the tail end, there is some very good reading. If someone has strong faith, I highly recommend you read the book, it should be a test of your faith, and if you are still faithful after reading it, you should be very happy. Dawkins puts religion up against logic, and the results are very amusing. As I read last night it occurred to me most people who claim to be Christians in our society surely have never closely examined the Bible. The Bible is packed with contradictions, and bizzare stories that make no sense what so ever. Last night Dawkins was debunking the idea that the Bible is a source of morality. Some of the strange things the Bible recommends no one today, would even consider. For example, if you are visited by angels, and everyone in town shows up and wants to have sex with the angels, the Bible recommends you let them rape your daughters. This theme appears more than once in the Bible.

In another strange Bible story, God tell Joshua, or someone that if he wants a good victory in an upcoming battle, he should promise to kill the first living thing that comes out of his door when he gets home. Sure enough Joshua has the victory, and wouldn't you know it, his daughter is the one who comes out the door. Dawkins says poor old Joushua rents his pants, I am not sure what that means, but I have a good idea. Jousha got him self in a big mess bargaining with God. What is the lesson in this? I don't know but this stuff is endless in the Bible.

Picking up sticks on Sunday is not a good idea. God recommends killing anyone who does it. Of course this is all Old Testament stuff, and we are to take it with a grain of salt. Dawkins point is which part of it do you take with a grain of salt, and which part do you believe. You just believe the parts that suit your needs it turns out. What a wonderful system. The New Testament does not turn out a whole lot better under close examination. If someone would like to explain this stuff to me and save my miserable soul, please come forth.

Excellent Hospitals Cost Less

If you doubt the American health care system is a ripp off, read this New York Times article QUALITY CARE AT BARGAIN PRICES. Two top notch hospitals are costing tens of thousands less for the same treatment at other top notch hospitals. How do they do it? Why don't other hospitals adopt the practice?

Tax Reality

Yesterday Lord Kadizzle finally rendered unto Ceasar, that which is Ceasar's. Again this year Lord Kadizzle did a little experiment. Lord Kadizzle checked the rate he paid against the rate he would have paid if his income had been earned. Just like last year it turns out that there is a big penalty for making money by working. The calculation shows that a person would have to pay seven percent more for making the mistake of earning a living, versus having investments do it for you. How people are sold on the Republican rhetoric that the rich pay their share is a mystery.

The really fascinating part occurs when you add in two other factors. A working person is penalized an additional 7 1/2 percent for social security. So that makes almost a fifteen percent discrepancy. Good old George Bush and his gang have put into place some great deals for capital gains. The net result is the working man gets screwed.

New York Times confirms Lord Kadizzles Views

The Bismarck Tribune must have been desperate for something to print. Yesterday Lord Kadizzle sent them a diatribe, and they printed it today. What good service. The thesis of my rant was the middle class has been screwed under the Republicans. Todays New York Times has an entire article devoted to proving what Lord Kadizzle said in his letter to the editor(The Boom that wasn't). Thank you for backing me up NYT. Seeing the NYT article I was sorely tempted to print it out and show it to the Republican knucklehead up the street, then I remembered that nothing in the New York Times is true if it does not support Bush policy. Last night I almost puked when I saw the blatant Fox News with Karl Rove acting as a lick spittle for them. How could any human with more than a pea for a brain not see through Fox News when they put someone like Karl Rove in a position to spew fertilizer. If there is a person out there who thinks Karl Rove is anything more than Satan in a Suit, please call me, I want proof idiots of that quality exist.

Spin Away McCain

Right after the Chairman declared Al Quada was not the problem in Iraq, McCain starts explaining that it is really Al Quada we are fighting in Iraq. Someone has to be wrong. Of course McCain skipped right over the Iraqi's need to pay for things. He says the Iraqi's should pay for their own problems, but it is difficult. What is difficult about taking money out of the bank and paying for it?

Iraq, How can we be so stupid?

Lord Kadizzle is sitting here with CNN on the TV. The chairman is giving his speil on the Iraq Hearings. The deceit of the Bush administration is leaping from his lips. The Chairman just explained how an Iraqi official said "Why should we pay to clean up our cities when you are willing to do it?" Iraq apparently has thirty billion in the bank, while we are going broke borrowing money to pay for the war. Whats wrong with this picture? Recently I met a Republican who told me he just got a dog. He said he was going to name the dog Bush, but changed his mind when he realized he would just want to kick the dog.

Hook, line and rapture

This guy is terrific, In this one he attacks one of my favorite scum of the Earth Pat Robertson

God the psycho

Why did God give us a mind, and then ask us to turn it off?

The religion of fear

Very good, very interesting, comments on Islam

What Policy?

Paul Krugman delves into just one more policy failure of the Bush administration. The world now faces a food crises. It is hard to believe that one administration could be so blank on so many critical things. Foreign policy, is a shambles, energy policy doesn't exist, and now people all over the world are facing starvation, because the Bush administration has no policy that works, except making his friends wealthy. The total nonsense of converting corn into SUV fodder, is now coming home to roost.

Man attacked while snoring

Since there is a pending court case involving the people in this story they will remain anonymous. Last night a kind gentle man went to bed with great hopes of entering dream land. Every time he just started to doze off, he was viciously attacked by an assailant beside him. The assailant kicked the kind man claiming he was snoring. The constitution protects snoring under the free speech provision. After negotiations, which failed, the poor man was forced to leave his own warm bed and sleep in the basement. There will be a march in Hazen today to protect first amendment rights. In court, testimony will be given that the assailant herself, has been known to snore. The victim will point out to the jury that the rights of the assailant to enjoy sleep are always respected. The same assailant has been reported to the sleep commission for a variety of offenses. In previous cases the assailant has been charged with turning on the lights while a person is sound asleep in the room. Burning the eyes out of a sleeper's head is one of the assailants modus operandi. Court records show the assailant was recently charged in Utah with cover stealing. Apparently on a cold night along the Paria River the alleged assailant removed the covers from a sleeping victim and left him to awaken in the cold. When that case went to court the perpetrator claimed "He pushed the covers over to my side of the bed your honor, I did not steal them". When the victim showed his frost bitten toes the judge ruled in his favor.

Bishop Declares Bush a Saint

President George W. Bush was scheduled to visit the Episcopal Church in NW Washington as part of his campaign to restore his 28% approval rating in the polls. Karl Rove made a visit to the Bishop and said, "We've been getting a lot of bad publicity because of the President's position on stem cell research, the Iraq war, Hurricane Katrina, and the VA Hospitals. But, we'll make a $500,000 contribution to your church if during your sermon you will say that the President is a saint.

The Bishop thought it over for a few moments and finally said, "The Church could really use the money - I'll do it."

The following Sunday, President Bush showed up for the sermon, and the Bishop began: "I'd like to speak to all of you this morning about our President, George Bush. He is a liar, a cheat, and a low-intelligence weasel. He took the tragedy of September 11 and used it to frighten and manipulate the American people. He lied about weapons of mass destruction and invaded Iraq for oil and money, causing the deaths of tens of thousands and making the United States the most hated nation on earth. He appointed cronies to positions of power and influence, leading to widespread death and destruction during Hurricane Katrina. He awarded contracts and tax cuts to his rich friends so that we now have more poverty in this country and a greater gap between rich and poor than we've had since the Depression."
"He has headed the most corrupt, bribe-inducing political party since Teapot Dome Scandal. "The national surplus has turned into a staggering national debt of 7.6 trillion Dollars, gas prices are up 85%, which the people of America cannot afford, and vital research into global warming and stem cells is stopped cold because he's afraid to lose votes from the religious right."

"He is the worst example of a true Christian I've ever known. But compared to Dick Cheney, George W. Bush is a saint."

Let Freedom Ring on Every WRT Phone

At long last our local phone company has decided to let the patrons vote by mail. Lord Kadizzle has been campaigning for this for many years. That is the good news. The bad news is that all the patrons are so conditioned to the crooked elections of the past, that no one will now step to the plate and run. The irony is that even with free elections the same politicos will continue in power. The CEO knows he can slide across the line to retirement, and the skids are well greased for his compatriots. It will be interesting to see if the cooperative just makes voting a simple matter of sending in a ballot with your phone bill, or if because of their paranoia they put each voter through some paper work nightmare. I am betting on the paperwork nightmare. As my good conservative friend says, the motto of the Republican party is " Win if you can, loose if you must, but always cheat". So in the end the same bunch will be in power. It may occur to them they could have won all along legitimately, but it was so much more fun to do it the Richard Nixon way and cheat. These are the same people that looked up to Karl Rove, Tom Delay, Grover Norquist and the mother of all piglets Rush Limbaugh. Their guiding philosophy is "The end justifies the means". The sad thing is the end they want is a country with forty million people uncovered by health care, one percent of the population getting seventeen percent of the GDP, and an no burdensome taxes on billionaires.

They said it could not be done

When The Commander barked out orders this morning, she said many trees would be cut down today. Yup, many trees were cut down. One tree was particularly impossible, all parties predicted it could not be cut down without damage to the neighbors house, but Lord Kadizzle with his can do attitude was stimulated by the challenge. The ney sayers said only massive equipment could do the job safely. When the dust settled the tree was down with rudimentary tools, including a handsaw. Amongst the naysayers was The Commander herself. All day Lord Kadizzle heard, that will not work, you can't do it that way, and so on. It will take all day tomorrow and much hard work to remove the debris from three large trees, but the hard part is done, and pride is restored to the kingdom. The doubting Thomas's have shrunk back to their caves and the sun shines again on those with the can do attitude. Other than some minor damage to the neighbors gutter and a branch sticking into his bathroom window, it could not have been more perfect. (just kidding)

Brett Dennen - Darling Do Not Fear

If the fundies would just listen to this song, the world would change for the better.

The Black Fox visits the Snoocher Bear

Deep in the woods of the Colorado mountains, where the Old Snoocher Bear sits at her desk and looks out the window, the boys form the hood stroll by. Yesterday the Black Fox looked up from his rounds and said hi to the Old Snoocher Bear sitting in her den.

The tyranny of a principal in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy." --Montesquieu, 1748 .

There are none so blind, as those who will not see

Anyone willing to read can find out what a mess our country is in, but if you choose to wander in the dark, and pretend like you have a sense of reality, you can watch Fox News, or listen to Rush Limbaugh. Today the New York Times has several good articles as usual. One article explores the fact that 81 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the direction the country is going. The country is a mess because people have been wandering around in la la land uniformed and singing the Republican songs of glory. If there is a God, he must laugh when he sees a land of plenty, but the plenty is all in the hands of a few. Surely this is not what he had in mind. Nothing is as distressing as seeing people capable of seeing pushing forward as if they are blind. The fact that people breathing air would even consider voting for McCain is incredible. Here is a man that has stated he will stay in Iraq for one hundred years if need be. Of course if you read nothing but sports and comics this is not a big deal.
FROM NYT ARTICLE
Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they would support raising taxes on households making more than $250,000 to pay for tax cuts or government programs for people making less than that amount. Only 38 percent called it a bad idea. Both Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidates, have made proposals along these lines.

A Trip to the Lake

Neighbor Bob, and Lord Kadizzle made a little run up to the lake yesterday. Lord Kadizzle needs a place to dock the royal yacht, so we were going to check out Dakota Waters. Since the lake has been low, we have not see that part of the lake for many years. It was amazing to see how small trees have grown where there used to be an expansive beach. The little forest drives home the point that the lake has been low for a long time. Traveling the Southwest, you see the same thing at Lake Powell, and Lake Mead. How could anyone look at these lakes and not know there has been a fundamental change in the climate?

The Man is Clueless

Bush is the lamest of lame ducks. He has no idea of what is going on. His right hand knows not what his left hand is doing. For details read the article in NYT. As the economy melts down from his inane policies, he wanders around as if it is not happening.

$80 fine for killing someone

Among Lord Kadizzle's many talents, his lordship is the municipal judge for our fair city. A couple of months ago a hearing was held. On a technicality a young woman was found not guilty for a traffic violation. Although the woman was not guilty the judge knew her driving habits were terrible. The judge told her that the goal of the court was to get people to drive sensibly. The judge went on to tell the young driver that if she did not quit driving like an idiot she would kill someone. Sad to say within a month of that lecture, the young girl hit an elderly man driving a motorized wheelchair in a cross walk. She killed the elderly man. Since the county prosecutor refused to charge her, the total fine she paid for the death of the man was eighty dollars. It turns out the man's death was just a minor inconvenience. In defense of the prosecutor, it has to be mentioned that the family did not wish to press charges. As a judge of over twenty years I have seen many of these kids come to court. The fundamental problem is over protective parents, that refuse to see that their children are not saints, or admit that a parent can easily be deceived by a child they love. No one benefits when a child is not forced to take responsibility for their actions.

The Facts Don't Phase Them

This morning I took the article I mentioned below in World Ark, and left it on my hard core Republican neighbors refrigerator. Of course the facts were meaningless to him. I was just at his house and he told me the rich donate way more for charity than the working class. The facts from government statistics don't support him. The truth is the lower class, and middle class typically give ten percent to charity, and the very rich usually give three percent. As my good friend always says "Education just confuses people". Facts have a tendency to do the same thing.

This Morning at The Kerns Estate near Stanton

It is a good day to be alive. Last night we got a little dusting, but Lord Kadizzle just went for a walk up the street to Republican headquarters and it is nice out.

World Ark

Something caught my eye as I sorted through the junk mail yesterday. A magazine called World Ark looked like it has some interesting articles. Last night I took the time to read some of the articles. Always I am fascinated by solving large problems with simple solutions. The magazine is geared toward this goal. One article dealt with simple irrigation pumps people could peddle and irrigate their one or two acre fields. With the simple inexpensive pump they could double their income.

However, the best part of the whole magazine was a paragraph that told the whole story. The article had the title The Rich Get Richer. Here is the article

After-tax incomes in the top 1 percent of U.S. households increased by and average of $180,000 in 2005, the Congressional Budget Office reports. Meanwhile, middle income households saw increases of $400, and lower income households, only $200. This is the greatest disparity since the CBO began collecting data in 1979. Together with other data, it appears that in no time in history since 1929 has income been so concentrated at the top. The CBO also notes that since 1979 income gains among high income households (increases of 228 percent) have massively outstripped those among middle (21 percent) and lower income households (6 percent).

This is trickle down economics in it's simplest form. It just plain doesn't work. This is the scripture for the conservative party. It just plain doesn't work. This is the facts staring failure in the eye. This is why our country is falling into decline. This is the result of the Bush tax policies.

Bad Voodoo's War

The Commander and Lord Kadizzle just watched Bad Voodoo's War on PBS. The Frontline show was just one of many that has put the blatant truth in front of everyone. Iraq is the mother of all disasters. Thank God for Public Television. When you see the truth you can see why the Republicans hate Public Television. If you get a chance watch the program. A reporter gave video cameras to the Voodoo Platoon to film what is going on while they accomplish their mission. Seeing real people suffer for Georges Bush's idiocy really brings it home. Why that moron cannot turn on his TV and get the picture Karl Rove, Tom Delay, and the rest of his lying thieves will not give him is a mystery. He is allowed to watch TV? The other day the press was baffled when they found out George had no idea what a gallon of gas cost. How can anyone still support this man that has wrecked lives, ruined the economy, and tap dances at the White House while our men are getting killed is something I will never understand. It drive me nuts that people who could be finding out what is going on in the world are listening to Rush Limbaugh and reading sports in the paper. We desperately need a draft in this country, that is all that saved us from the Vietnam mess. Nobody cares if volunteer soldiers get killed and maimed, but if it were your son or the neighbor kids things would be different. Where are the proud Bush supporters now? You sure don't see those Bush stickers on anybodies car do you? If you still support this war, and that idiot please call. The polls show we are down to the hard core people that still think the world is flat and we are winning in Iraq. Like the Sargent in the PBS documentary said "It was the Iraqis that planted the bomb in the road". The people we are trying to liberate are the ones killing our soldiers Mr. Bush, it is not some silly terrorist as you would love us to believe.

Your Share is $37,000

If you missed it on the news tonight, Lord Kadizzle thought he might remind you that you owe the rest of the world $37,000. That is the nice sum every American is in debt thanks to the idiot sitting in The White House. When he is not tap dancing, he is arranging more tax breaks for his wealthy buddies, rather than fun his war game in Iraq. It seems impossible, but Americans are capable of electing someone like McCain who wants to continue the same policies that got us in this mess. Then interest on the nine trillion is more than we spend on education in this country. If you watched the news you may also have noticed most of the inner city schools are graduating less than fifty percent of their students from high school. Going to be great competition for the world when we live on credit and raise idiots. Good go Republicans.

Brett Dennen - Ain't No Reason (Official Single Video)

What We are Up Against

As tax time approaches, it is hard not to think about the cruelest tax of all. Social Security is the winner. Don't get me wrong, I think the Social Security program is a good one, but no program better illustrates how the public is duped than Social Security. I always challenge people to walk down the street. Stop ten people, ask each of them if they know there is a seven percent tax break for people making over $97,500. On every dollar you make over that amount you pay no Social Security tax. It is the biggest tax break for the wealthy ever invented. However, your average simple minded person wandering around in the fog is unaware of this. My bet is nine out of ten people you stop on the street will not know about this outrageous tax break for the wealthy. If people paid Social Security on all the money they made our deficits would disappear. Anyone with any sense, or any sense of fairness would ask, why isn't the Social Security tax a progressive tax, rather than a regressive tax? The simple answer is people are so ignorant they don't even know what is happening. For those that do ask the question, there is a deceptive answer. A typical conservative will spin it this way. Well, everyone gets the same amount out, so why should the rich pay more? What they fail to mention is that Social Security was intended as an insurance program. People were being insured against being poor when they were old. If you are old and NOT poor, you should get nothing, but the clever right wing has twisted the whole system so you can be old and rich, and still get Social Security. The ridiculous illusion goes on and somehow the rich end up with a seven percent tax break. If you used this logic you could apply it to anything. You could say that the rich use the highways no more than the poor, so their taxes should be no more than the poor's taxes. Obama proposed justice be done with this system and the rich pay their share for Social Security. Hillary retorted, "That would be a tremendous tax increase". Of course it would on exactly the people who could afford it. The whole thing is the biggest scam imaginable, and no one understands or cares.