Sic Semper Tyrannis

Virginia was sort of a linchpin in the American Revolution and during the Civil War. It was also home to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, James Madison, Patrick Henry.... The state motto, Sic Semper Tyrannis! means "Thus always to tyrants." It's also what John Wilkes Booth cried out to the audience at Ford's Theatre just after he shot Lincoln.

Anyway, Virginia did good today. Virginia has a law regarding illegal immigrants that is similar to Arizona's. It was ruled OK today. So I guess the outcome of the issue depends upon how liberal your judge is. The Ninth Circuit, which covers Arizona, is known to be extremely liberal, and is the circuit that's most often overturned by the Supreme Court. Virginia seems to be better situated geographically.

Virginia also is suing the federal government over socialized medicine, claiming that it's unconstitutional to force citizens to buy something so that you can regulate them (commerce clause) for buying it. The feds argued that Virginia doesn't have "standing" to pursue the law suit. That means the feds were saying Virginia has no right to sue. Just like Dred Scot had no right to sue his master for freedom.

Oh well, according to another judge, yes it does!! So I'm waiting to see how that turns out. Here's hoping socializeed medicine is dead in the water. Sic Semper Tyrannis!

Poor -- well, not really -- Charlie Rangel's chickens are coming home to roost. Seems to be some kind of mental illness that affects chairmen of the Ways & Means Committee. Anyone remember Rostenkowski? He chaired Ways & Means and was busted for abuse of the franking privilege, which means he was sending out all kinds of personal and/or campaign mail at public expense. Believe he actually did time for that. This was after the elderly almost rolled his car over for trying to take away Medicare or something.

Anyway, now Rangel, who chaired Ways & Means when the 111th Congress opened, has got the idea that the tax laws he creates don't necessarily apply to him.

Silly congressman! Taxes are for everyone, their children down to the third generation now, and probably their dogs and goldfish, too. (Cats just ignore them.)

And now Maxine Waters, who represents Watts, Los Angeles, in the US House, is being busted for hooking up her husband in a sweetheart $12 million dollar deal involving Stimulus money, or was it TARP? Does it matter?

Ms. Waters is most famous for the little film clip where she said something like, "This democrat is all about socia....  nationaliz.... the government taking an ownership position......"

Just couldn't bring herself to be completely honest there, kept biting her tongue. Thinking (rightly so) that the American public just wasn't quite ready to be economically enslaved by the feds. And she just can't seem to be completely honest in areas of her life, either.

Both Rangel and Waters will have public hearings in September-October. Right before the election. Good timing!!

They just can't keep their hands out of other peoples' cookie jars. Or take the attitude that they're above the law. My theory is there's some kind of poison in the DC water supply. The longer you live there, the crazier you get. You begin to forget that the USA is a republic. Forget that you're dealing with other peoples' incomes. Forget that you have feet of clay.

Time to wake up and smell the coffee -- or something. DC is built on swampland, you know. Figures, doesn't it?

Save the republic.