Had a brush yesterday, if not with death, with prolonged terror. Candace has taken up running lately, and one of her fellow runners, who lives on a little farm outside of Wartrace, Tennessee, mentioned that she and her husband like to go horseback riding on Sundays. Candace said she loves horseback riding, so we got invited to go riding around the lake with them this Sunday. That sounded nice, a horseback ride around the lake.

We got to their place about a quarter to twelve. Her husband, good-looking, mid-40s, fit, is a local boy, grew up in a house down the road. He knows everybody all around, and is related to many of them. They have cattle and horses and grow hay. She is also good-looking and also very fit, the star runner of Candace’s group. They have grown children and grandchildren living nearby.

The horses are already saddled up when we get there. It’s a hot day, mid-90s, high humidity, mostly sunny. He finishes packing the saddle bags with ice and Bud Light. “How many beers do you think you’ll wanta drink, John,” he asks. “You a beer drinker?”

“Not usually, not too many.”

“I like to drink 7 or 8.”

He gets all four horses into the horse trailer, hitched to his big Chevy pickup, and we all get in the truck and head out.

We get to a spot in the woods, where there is a long line of pickups and horse trailers on the side of the road. We park, and get the horses out. Man, it is hot. We lead the horses down the road a little ways and then mount up. They had me on the biggest horse, a big black horse. I have problems with my hips, and sitting on that horse was not making them happy. I knew I just wouldn’t be able to do it. “I can’t do this,” I said. So, Candace’s friend swapped with me and I got on her horse Bud, a pretty palamino, a smaller horse with a better saddle, and I was OK. My hips felt alright. So we took off into the woods.

The very first thing that happened was we went up this steep, rocky, narrow path into the woods. The horses charged up the hill, lunging forward. I was not expecting this. I was sure I was about to get thrown off. It was terrifying. I held onto the front of the saddle for dear life with both hands, bouncing violently up and down and lunging up this almost vertical path. When we got to the top and stopped, I was obviously freaked, gasping for breath. Everyone was concerned and asking me if I was OK and wanted to go on. It was really hot. I was drenched in sweat.

Of course I had to go on. There was no way, after all this trouble, these nice people, beautiful horses. I thought there was a high probability that I would be seriously injured, but I couldn’t back out now. Sin of Pride. I was wearing my cowboy hat and cowboy boots. So we went on, up and down the ridges. I never knew when the horse would just start galloping, going down or up. It was continuous terror for three hours, our little ride around the lake, the lake which we almost never saw.

When we would get to the top of a ridge, there would be a little clearing, with 30 or so people, and their horses, hanging out, talking, drinking Bud Light, having a smoke. Everybody knew each other, except for me and Candace of course. They were talking about how all the good riding land over around Short Mountain was getting bought up by rich hippies driving Mercedes and Cadillacs. “I come upon this barn one time over there and these two hippies come out of the barn wearin’ nothing but cowboy hats and boots. They told me this was private property, that I was trespassing.”

Short Mountain is where the radical faeries have their celebratory orgies. That’s who’s moving in around there. One guy said he’d heard there was members of the Manson family moving in over there. Candace jumped in and said that she knew some people over that way, and assured him that there weren’t any Manson people moving in. He wasn’t convinced though. He knew some people over there too and they said different. Who knows. I doubt it, but it’s possible.

After awhile, we would ride on. When we would get to the top of the next ridge, there would be 30 or so people and their horses, many of the same people as on the last ridge top. And they would do some more talking, and drinking, and smoking cigarettes. Our host says to one woman, “John and Candace have never ridden before.” She replies, “And you brought them here? Hill hoppin’!?” “Yeah,” he says, “John’s probably thinking ‘why am I doing this?'”. Yes, I certainly was, but it was great, in spite of the fear. These people are great. They are tough, and smart, and funny, and really nice. I will never be a real Tennessean, but I sure do like them.

I actually began to get the hang of it a little bit towards the end, and could even relax a little. Then we were going up a steep climb, and Candace started yelling, “I’m going! I’m going!”. Her saddle slid around sideways and she fell off on her back on the rocks. Fortunately, she was not killed or disabled. She got back on her horse, and we went on.

Here’s a picture taken with my iPhone at the end of the ride. You would think to look at us that we had been having the time of our lives, which we were in some ways. It’s one of those times that I’ll never forget, that’s for sure. We are both very sore, especially Candace, but grateful to have survived intact. This is what Candace’s friend and her husband do on Sundays for fun.

What is the free market? My definition of a free market is a marketplace that does not include Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Medicare, Medical, Social Security, Sarbanes-Oxley, anti-trust laws, state laws protecting the existence of car dealers, federal regulations preventing competition among health insurance providers across state lines, etc., etc., etc.

What you are left with, assuming a modicum of government intervention to ensure that the market remains free, is buyers buying what they want to buy, at a price they can afford, and which they agree to, and sellers selling whatever they can produce at a price that makes a profit. In other words, freedom, with all of its advantages and disadvantages.

Impinging upon that freedom by the government, should require a monumental burden of proof that such interference is not only desirable, but absolutely necessary.

This is not a description of anything remotely resembling the current situation, regardless of whether Democrats or Republicans are in power, but especially not if it is the Democrats, as many of us are now discovering.

What then of the social safety net? What about those of us who fall through the economic cracks? Those of us who, because of bad luck and/or bad decisions, are without adequate shelter, clothing, food, and medicine?

I have been one of those, at various times in my life. It’s a tricky question. The reason I am not in that predicament now is primarily due to the fact that I didn’t want to be there, and I knew it was up to me to do something about it, because nobody else was going to. And I was able to do something about it.

On the other hand, it is a drag to have among us people who are not doing well, many through no fault of their own. We should care for these people, without providing an escape for those who would rather not make an effort. That’s not an easy line to draw, really an impossible line to draw with complete accuracy. We should err on the side of compassion. By as small a margin as possible.

Who better to draw that line? The Democrats or the Republicans? On any particular issue, that would require a detailed breakdown of who is bribing whom, on both sides of the aisle. In either case, there would be zero advocates for anything resembling a free market.

The right-wing Washington Times has an article about the Obama administration rebranding the war on terror. It is no longer a war on terror or against jihadism. It is now a war against Al Qaeda and its allies. The article is quite straightforward, and, personally, I think this redefinition is smart and long overdue. Democrats are so much better at PR than Republicans. The commenters to the article, however, are for the most part, outraged.

It all looks like a train wreck to me, this Democratic government monopoly. The stimulus bill, the worst patronage handout since the administration of James Buchanan. Every union and Democratic contributor got their payoff. Then came the global warming bill, another payoff to Democratic interest groups, at the expense of everybody. Now comes the huge omnibus health care, top to bottom redesign, which will conservatively cost over a trillion dollars more than we are spending now, and put our health, and everything related to our health (which is of course everything), under the control of the Federal government.

I am astounded. I really thought, even though I didn’t vote for him, that Obama was a smart guy and he would want to be remembered as a good President, and he wouldn’t do anything terrible. But he and Nancy Pelosi and the “progressive” caucus are doing, or attempting to do, terrible things.

It is very hard to undo stupid Federal programs. The Congressional elections are over a year away. There just aren’t enough Senate seats at risk to make a real difference in the Senate, but I predict there will be a Democratic blood bath in the House.

In the meantime, it feels like the Keystone Kops are running the country. I wish the Federal Government were something that could be adequately administered by the Keystone Kops, but unfortunately that is not currently the case. Given the state of the world, it is unlikely to be the case in the foreseeable future.

However the Kops could be relieved of some of their responsibilities if the Federal Government would just quit feeling the need, nay the compulsion, to make all of our decisions for us about:

• automobile designs
• real estate mortgage terms
• what drugs baseball players ingest
• who gets what health care for how much
• whether or not we should drill for oil
• what is good art and what is bad art
• how our children should be educated
• how much wealth we should be allowed to have
• what drugs anybody ingests
• who marries whom

I could make a longer list, but do I really care? Do I sign petitions or go to tea parties or write letters to the editor? None of the above. I don’t need any more spam email than I’m already getting. An alarming percentage of the people who attend demonstrations, regardless of political affiliation, left or right, are nuts. I have this blog. I say whatever I want that won’t get me into too much trouble. Nobody reads it except a few friends and relatives, and ex-friends.

Other than that I only indulge in worrying about what those guys are up to in Washington as a hobby, an escape, to avoid thinking about whatever I should really be thinking about, or doing something about. I’m powerless. I admit it. It’s OK. That is how it has always been. And I am fully cognizant that as an American, happily married, small business, Mac software entrepreneur, I am freer and luckier and richer than 99.9% of the people who have ever lived. And I’m happy about that. I have no complaints. God bless America.

I’m just telling you, whoever you are, these Democrats in Washington are clowns, Obama included. I know the Republicans aren’t much better, but they’re some better. I understand how we got here, the urge to throw the bums out. I know it hasn’t been very long, but it’s time to throw the bums out again already.

Posted by Andy

Picture us
On my settee
Just three for Bud
And Bud for three
Can’t you see
How happy we
Will be

Nobody near us
To see us or hear us
No Limbaughs or Sotos
Just guys taking photos
We won’t have it be known
That we even own
An iPhone

Day will break
Michelle will wake
And start to bake
A sugar cake
For you to take
For all those cops
To see

As we dispel
The smog of race
A nice mick cop
Who knows his place
A sweet old spade
Who’s in his face
No longer

We will raise
Such harmony
Rapport for you
Less flak for me
Can’t you see
How happy we
will be?

On the unprecedented sea of troubles we find ourselves sailing, it is understandable that Barack Obama is turning out to be somewhat less than a seasoned, confidence-inspiring ship’s captain. It may well be that leaders of no smaller caliber than Abraham Lincoln or Jesus Christ are called for. John McCain does not meet this standard discernibly better than Barack Obama.

I think McCain would have been better only in the sense that he would have, hopefully, not done anything about the economy, global warming, or health care, which would be very much better than what is happening now. And he would have picked a somewhat better nominee for the Supreme Court.

On foreign policy he would have been tougher. Would that have been better? Or worse? It probably wouldn’t matter much one way or the other. Obama and Hillary have proven that America’s reputation and power in the world have nothing to do with the personalities of those in power, contrary to the opinions of the Bush haters, here and in Europe. Iran, Russia, China, India, France, Germany, the UK, etc. They are all going to do what they are going to do, no matter who is in the White House.

At this point, with the media attacking everything McCain said or did, painting the economy in the gloomiest possible terms, showcasing the war dead in Afghanistan every night, and printing daily columns of Sarah Palin’s grammatical circumlocutions, McCain’s poll numbers would be tanking even faster than Obama’s currently are.

I do think that a McCain/Palin victory would have been preferable, policy-wise. On the other hand, having Obama in the White House, and Pelosi and Reid in charge of the Congress, has its advantages. It is very educational, and may very well prove the undoing of the Democratic Party. Oh, this is what they do when they are in control! And it is beginning to look like cap and trade and government health care are not going to happen anyway. The economy is going to be bad for many years to come, no matter what anyone does. Now the Democrats will get the blame. So, it’s kinda the best of both worlds.

Our friends Ed and Kathy were visiting, so we went to the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville. It was pretty cool. Here are some pictures I took there.

1. Set a Federal standard for minimum coverage (that does not include abortions or mental illness or addiction) for a minimal catastrophic health care plan with a high deductable.

2. Allow competition among health insurance plans to cross state lines.

3. Either tax health care benefits or give individuals the same tax break.

4. Regulate the health care insurance industry to forbid denial or rate increases for pre-existing conditions or age. Insurance means the risks are shared. Everybody gets charged the same premium.

5. Set up a mediation board to adjudicate denial of claims.

6. Implement all of those cost-saving measures that Obama keeps referring to, in the existing medicare and medicaid systems.

7. Require every adult to have minimal catastrophic health insurance, just like auto liability insurance.

8. Provide a means tested subsidy to poor people (not including illegal aliens) of $5,000, or whatever it takes, per year to purchase health insurance.

9. Put a cap on medical malpractice judgments and make the losers pay costs.

These things don’t even have to be all in the same bill. They can be done one, or a few, at a time. They would cost a tiny fraction of what the Democrats are proposing. Then we could see where we stand, and if anything further needed to be done. What’s wrong with that?

Of course both liberal and conservative judges have legislated from the bench, liberals more often than conservatives, naturally, but let’s not quibble. Sometimes legislating from the bench has been, rarely, but still, not only a good thing, but a necessary thing. For example, in the Brown vs. the Board of Education decision (that’s the only one I can think of).

The fact that Supreme Court nominees must now pretend that legislating from the bench is anathema, is not a good thing, because sometimes it is actually the right thing to do.

But who started it? Who started making ideology a determining factor in Supreme Court nominations, trumping all other qualifications? It started with Robert Bork’s nomination.

I’m not saying taking ideology into account is wrong. I’m just saying that legislating from the bench, necessary as it may be in very rare cases, is not a very popular idea. As a result, Democratic nominees now sound exactly like John Roberts, only not as smart, handicapped as they are by being chosen for their gender and ethnicity, rather than their God-given and personally developed abilities.

I listened to Shields and Brooks tonight on the PBS Jim Lehrer News Hour. They did not disagree about a single thing, health care, cap and trade, Sotomayor, you name it. I think Obama and the Democrats are in big trouble. The economic realities, not to mention the foreign policy realities, are about to catch up with Obama’s fantasies.

I’ve been watching the hearings. She’s been looking pretty good, smart, capable, not nuts. I forgive her her youthful indiscretions and her pandering to the politically correct crowd. It’s understandable for an ambitious Puerto Rican striving to reach the top of the judicial pile. And I forgive her for lying about it to the Judiciary Committee. It’s what she has to do. She seems qualified to be on the Supreme Court, and she doesn’t look like she’ll be a match for Scalia, Roberts, Alito, and Thomas, so I’m not worried.

Of course an analogous record of statements from a white Southern male would be career-ending. Such a person would never get within a country mile of being appointed to the Court, but that’s understandable too.

So now that Obama is President and Sotomayor is soon to be on the Supreme Court, can we finally dispense with racial discrimination against non-black, non-Hispanic people, like Frank Ricci?