Bayou Renaissance Man

 

From Larry Lambert:

25% of women in America are being treated for some form of mental illness. That means that 75% of them are running around untreated.

No comment!

Peter

 

From Commander Zero:

"The notion that you can forecast how severe a winter will be seems akin to telling the future by squeezing the goat’s scrotum or something."

Er . . . well . . . yes, quite!  I've never tried that particular method of forecasting, but our neighbor keeps goats . . .

Peter

 

A few months ago I put up selections from an anthology of sayings collected by Richard Wabrek.  I've been paging through the book since then, finding more and more useful nuggets.  It's the sort of book one can read for a year or more whenever one has a free moment, a page or two at a time.

I thought you'd enjoy a few more pages from the collection.

“The Republic was not established by cowards, and cowards will not preserve it.” — Elmer Davis, American journalist (1890–1958)

“The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on.” — Walter Lippman, newspaper columnist (1889–1974)

Lippman was referred to as “the Father of Modern Journalism,” with all that implies about the manufacture of public opinion.

“Equality, in a social sense, may be divided into that of condition, and that of rights.  Equality of condition is incompatible with civilization, and is found only to exist in those communities that are but slightly removed from the savage state.  In practice, it can only mean a common misery.” — James Fenimore Cooper, author of The Last of the Mohicans (1789–1851)

“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” — Goethe, German polymath (1749–1832)

“Why of course people don’t want war.  Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece?  Naturally, the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia, nor England, nor for that matter Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship.  Voice or no voice, the people can be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to damage.  It works the same in any country.” — Herman Goering, World War I fighter ace, the second most powerful man in NAZI Germany, convicted, WWII war criminal (1893–1946)

Goering is right.  Who would have thought that the American public would support a war conducted by the incompetents who so recently displayed their talent during the Afghanistan withdrawal?

“You can do anything in this world if you’re prepared to take the consequences.” — W. Somerset Maugham, English author and playwright, educated as a physician (1874–1965)

“It’s a sin to believe evil of others, but it is seldom a mistake.” — H.L. Mencken, American journalist and commentator (1880–1956)

“There is only one way to achieve happiness on this terrestrial ball, And that is to have either a clear conscience, or none at all.” — Ogden Nash, American poet (1902–1971)

“Lex malla, lex nulla” or “An evil law, is no law.” — Thomas Aquinas, Italian saint and philosopher (1225–1274)

Four on the theme of stupidity:

“Evolution stops when stupidity is no longer fatal.” — Anonymous

“Evolution reverses when stupidity is rewarded.” — Anonymous

“There will always be a death penalty for stupidity.” — R. Wabrek

It just isn’t applied uniformly. All of us behave stupidly at times.  If we’re fortunate and do not persist in our stupidity, we may survive our lapses. Heinlein took a different view.

“Stupidity cannot be cured with money, or through education, or by legislation.  Stupidity is not a sin, the victim can’t help being stupid. But stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death, there is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity.” — Robert A. Heinlein in his book, The Notebooks of Lazarus Long

“Self‑defense is not only our right, it is our duty.” — Ronald Reagan, 40th president of the US (1911–2004)

“We can stand affliction better than we can prosperity, for in prosperity we forget God.” — Dwight Lyman Moody, American evangelist, founder of the Moody Bible Institute and Moody Publishers (1837–1899)

“We certainly can’t give students a quality degree, not with class size growing geometrically and our 30-to-1 [student-faculty] ratio, but at least we can encourage our students to have fun and root for our teams while they’re here... Football Saturdays are great here and so are winter basketball nights.  In our Admissions Office literature, we have stopped saying that we provide a good education; our lawyers warned us that we could get sued for misrepresentation, but we sure promote our sports teams.” — An anonymous administrator at a Sunbelt university quoted in Beer and Circus by Murray Sperber

I recommend Beer and Circus for an accurate depiction of higher education in the US around the new millennium. It might give you second thoughts about the value of higher education for all.  Murray Sperber was an English prof at Indiana U.  Shortly after the firing of IU Basketball Coach Bobby Knight for thuggish behavior, Sperber received death threats because earlier he had penned an editorial critical of the coach’s behavior.

“A .30–06 is sufficient to kill a lion.  It may not be sufficient to stop the lion killing you.” — JRB, The List

“I am always content with what happens; for I know that what God chooses is better than what I choose.” — Epictetus, Greek Stoic philosopher and former slave (50–135 AD)

“God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination.” — St. Augustine of Hippo, Berber Christian theologian and philosopher (354–430)

“When you have nothing left but God...you become aware that God is enough.” — A. Maude Royden, lecturer, author, and suffragette (1876–1956)

“If everyone is thinking alike then somebody isn’t thinking.” — General George S. Patton, commander of the 7th US Army in World War II, and the 3rd US Army in France and Germany after the Allied invasion of Normandy (1885–1945)

“Back in the ‘20s, Will Rogers had an answer for those who believed that strength invited war. He said, ‘I’ve never seen anyone insult Jack Dempsey’ (world heavyweight champion at that time).” — Ronald Reagan, 40th president of the US (1911–2004)

“I wish they would remember that the charge to [Saint] Peter was ‘Feed my sheep’, not ‘Try experiments on my rats’, or even ‘Teach my performing dogs new tricks’.”  — C.S. Lewis, British writer and Christian apologist (1898–1963)

“Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservations.” — Elton Trueblood, American Quaker author and theologian (1900–1994)

“Death comes with a crawl
Or comes with a pounce,
And whether he’s slow or spry,
It’s not the fact that you’re dead that counts,
But only – How did you die?”
— Edmund Vance Cooke, Canadian poet (1866–1932)

“When you’re wounded and left on Afghanistan’s plains,
And the women come out to cut up your remains,
Just roll to your rifle and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier.”
— Rudyard Kipling, English author and poet (1865 –1936)

Kipling was born in India when it was under control of the Brits.  You may be familiar with his stories: The Man Who Would Be King, The Jungle Book, and Kim, all of which were rendered as films.

In Latin America US President Jimmy Carter had the nickname, “La mujer bionica, the bionic woman—because he had a lot of power and no balls.” — Anonymous, but probably from Gunsite Gossip

“When a legislature undertakes to proscribe the exercise of a citizen’s constitutional rights, it acts lawlessly and the citizen can take matters into his own hands and proceed on the basis that such a law is no law at all.” — William O. Douglas, associate justice of the US Supreme Court (1898–1980)

“I give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake.” — Sir Thomas Moore in the film, A Man for All Seasons (1966)

“When the man said ‘Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms’, I just naturally assumed he was making a delivery.” — Anonymous

“Never give a sword to a man who can’t dance.” — Confucius or perhaps a Celtic proverb

“The best toys are the ones that you can put an eye out with.” — Anonymous

“We may see the small value God has for riches by the people he gives them to.” — Alexander Pope, English poet and satirist (1688–1744)

Another. “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” — Alexander Pope, in An Essay On Criticism

“The right of revolution is an inherent one.  When people are oppressed by their government, it is a natural right they enjoy to relieve themselves of the oppression, if they are strong enough, whether by withdrawal from it, or by overthrowing it and substituting a government more acceptable.” — Ulysses S. Grant, most successful US Army general in the Civil War and 18th president of the US (1822–1885)

If that one doesn’t surprise you, how about this? “This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it.” — President Abraham Lincoln in his first inaugural address

“If you don’t have a metal detector, I don’t have a gun.” — Anonymous

“Character, not circumstances, makes the man.” — Booker T. Washington, American educator, author, orator, and advisor to several presidents of the United States (1856–1915)

“Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in the blood of his followers and the sacrifices of his friends.” — General Dwight D. Eisenhower, five-star general during WWII and subsequently the 34th president of the US (1890–1969)

The voice of experience.

“No indulgence of passion destroys the spiritual nature so much as respectable selfishness.” — George MacDonald, Scottish author, poet, and Christian minister (1824–1905)

“Never undertake anything for which you wouldn’t have the courage to ask the blessing of heaven.” — G.C. Lichtenberg, German physicist (1742–1799)

Another.

“It is almost impossible to bear the torch of truth through a crowd without singeing somebody’s beard.” — Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, Notebook G

“Man, considered as a creature, must necessarily be subject to the laws of his Creator ... This will of his maker is called the law of nature.” — Sir William Blackstone, in his Commentaries on the Laws of England, a legal classic in Britain and the USA (1723–1780)

“The greatest pleasure I know is to do a good action by stealth, and to have it found out by accident.” — Charles Lamb, English essayist (1775–1834)

“I hate violence!  I hate it so much I am willing to kill anyone who tries to use it against me.” — Mike Waidelich, Bakersfield, CA Police Department Rangemaster (1942–2021)

I never had the pleasure of meeting Mike Waidelich; my loss.  He was responsible for training the BPD to such an exceptional level that Los Angeles officers were known to say: “Oh. You’re from BAKERSFIELD. Our bank robbers go there to get killed.” The hit-ratio statistic for Mike’s students was an unheard-of 85% in an era when the national figure was approximately 15%.  Mike’s quote appeared in a letter to the editor in The Bakersfield Californian, May 7, 2012.

“...there are two ways of fighting: by law or by force. The first is the way natural to men, and the second to beast. But as the first way often proves inadequate one must needs have recourse to the second.” — Niccoló Machiavelli, Italian diplomat, author, philosopher, and historian; best known for his political primer, The Prince, in the same (1469–1527)

“Fight back!  Whenever you are offered violence, fight back!  The aggressor does not fear the law, so he must be taught to fear you.  Whatever the risk; and at whatever the cost, fight back!” — Jeff Cooper, Lt. Colonel of Marines and the father of modern practical shooting (1920–2006)

“Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.” — Ecclesiastes 9:11, The Bible

Mr. Runyon offered the following modification to the Biblical observations.

“The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet.” — Damon Runyon, American newspaperman and author (1880–1946)

“Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of the citizens to keep and bear arms...the right of the citizens to bear arms is just one guarantee against arbitrary government and one more safeguard against a tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible.” — Vice President of the US Hubert Humphrey, “Know Your Law Makers”, Guns Magazine, Feb. 1960

The late Senator Humphrey was a pro-gun Democrat, an extinct species at this writing.

“A personal commitment to fighting one’s way through to the end is necessary for any successful warrior. Fighting, once initiated, is a job from which one cannot resign.” — Anonymous

“If you sit, just sit. If you walk, just walk. But, whatever you do, don’t wobble!” — Yunmen Wenyan, founder of a major sect of Chinese Zen (862–949)

“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings.  The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.” — Winston Churchill, prime minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War, statesman, soldier, and writer (1874–1965)

“If you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn’t plan your mission properly.” — David Hackworth, highly decorated US Army colonel (1930–2005)

“If you find yourself in a fair fight...your tactics suck!” — Anonymous

This is an updated (coarser) version of Col. Hackworth’s quote.  It has been attributed to so many that I cannot specify a source with any confidence.

“D.R.T. = Dead Right There” — a term of art from Randy Cain, firearms instructor

“I refused to attend his funeral.  But, I wrote a very nice letter explaining that I approved of it.” — usually attributed to Mark Twain, but more likely first stated with minor variation by E. R. Hoar, American politician, lawyer, jurist, and US attorney general (1816–1895)

There are thousands more in the book.  Excellent browsing material, and often highly informative and educational.  (If you missed my first set of excerpts from "Deplorable Wisdom", you'll find it here.)

Peter

 

That's just one of the many, many maxims in a new collection from Richard Wabrek.

The "deplorable" part of the title refers to Hillary Clinton's classification of so many of us as a "basket of deplorables" during the 2016 election campaign.  Richard proudly adopts that classification, as do I.

Richard and I have been members of the same e-mail list for many years, which is how I came to know him online (I've sadly not had the opportunity to meet him in meatspace - yet).  He's also been a professor, shooter, and down-to-earth practical philosopher.  I'll let him describe how his book developed.

This book had its origins over 30 years ago when I taught engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Platteville.  UWP was a small university in the (then) 26-institution University of Wisconsin System.  Platteville itself was a small town (population 5,000) in rural, southwest Wisconsin, and most UWP students were the children of rural, middle-class families.  UWP was certainly one of the more conservative campuses in the politically-correct UW System.  That said, at the time, the UW System itself was probably the closest thing to a Soviet-style bureaucracy in the western hemisphere, Cuba excepted.  Out-of-class conversations with students suggested my colleagues in the liberal arts college were doing their best to inculcate my engineering students with attitudes that would have been quite at home at UW-Madison, “the Berkley of the Midwest.”   The practice of engineering requires sound, logical thinking so I found these attitudes debilitating.

At this point I had been teaching part or full time for about seven years.  I had become reasonably successful at imparting basic engineering knowledge, but realized I was not addressing an equally important aspect of my students’ education.  I was not imparting any wisdom. It was then that I resolved to do my part to expose my students to sound judgment.  Given the UW System environment, I had to approach this with some caution.  An untenured faculty member can’t afford to make enemies.  UW System faculty members are free to embrace all manner of crazy ideas, provided they aren’t conservative ideas.

By 1987, I had been collecting maxims (as Mark Twain put it: “A maxim is the maximum of sense in the minimum of words.”) for my own pleasure for several years.  The collection seemed to be the ideal vehicle for transmitting some common sense.  My subversive plan was to pause from lecture about half-way through class and read a maxim or two.  Inasmuch as 25 minutes of an engineering lecture is about all that any mere mortal can tolerate without a change of pace, this amounted to sound pedagogy as well.  To prevent any complaints of bias (which on any University of Wisconsin campus were a concern), I would always solicit a maxim or two from the class. As it came to pass, there never were any complaints (back then), and there were frequent student contributions.  My maxim breaks proved to be quite popular.

When my exile in the Wisconsin Gulag concluded, and I took a position at Idaho State University; I brought my maxim practice with me ... I occasionally received negative comments about my conservative maxims in the anonymous, end-of-semester, student evaluations. But overall, for nearly three decades, my students seemed to appreciate the maxims.

. . .

My maxim procedure evolved over the years.  In the early 90s, I started awarding a prize to any student who brought in a maxim that earned a place in my collection.  The prize in question was a properly aged, hand-rolled cigar from my personal humidor. Many ISU students are of the Latter-Day-Saint faith (Mormons), and smoking is forbidden to the Saints.  So, while my students were generally receptive to the maxims, I had, on occasion, received complaints that I was encouraging an improper behavior.  I responded that non-smokers were free to have their prizes bronzed.

Rather than try to cherry-pick the maxims I most enjoy (difficult, given that the book contains literally thousands of them!), I'm simply going to publish the first few pages of his collection, and let the maxims (and their authors) speak for themselves.  Richard cautions:

I recommend that this book be enjoyed in small bits as an antidote for the misinformation and outright lies that characterize pronouncements from the government, media and so-called experts in the 21st Century.  Most books of maxims are overwhelming, like “drinking from a fire hose.”   As such, my collection is not grouped into broad categories or in any particular order.  Read until a maxim stimulates some thought or recollection, pause, and reflect. Turn the maxim over in your mind; learn what it has to offer. You may even want to learn more about the author and the circumstances of the quote.

That said, here goes!

Pournelle’s Law — “If you don’t really know what you’re doing, deal only with people who do.”

One of several.  The late Dr. Jerry Pournelle was a scientist, an award-winning, science-fiction author and an early personal-computer guru.  I suspect that this latter career is the source of this maxim.

Connery’s Law (Sean) — “Always tell the truth.  When you do, it becomes the other fellow’s problem.”

Think: “Bond, James Bond.”

“When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.” — Eric Hoffer, American philosopher, author of ten books, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1902-1983).

Eric Hoffer was a longshoreman and published philosopher. I can recommend The True Believer (1951).

“If you are going to criticize a mule, be sure you do it to his face.” — Anonymous

“No experience is so conductive to steady and accurate shooting as the knowledge of an impossibility to escape by speed.” — Sir Samuel Baker, English explorer, officer, naturalist, big game hunter, engineer, writer and abolitionist (1821-1893).

Baker explored and hunted in Africa when those activities were dangerous adventures.

“Fanatic — Someone who, once he has lost sight of his goals, redoubles his efforts.” — George Santayana, Spanish born, American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist (1863–1952).

“Experience comes from making a large number of non-fatal errors.” — Anonymous

“Character‒the way you act when nobody’s looking.” — Anonymous

“Equality may perhaps be a right, but no power on earth can ever turn it into a fact.”— Honore’ de Balzac, French novelist and playwright (1799–1850).

“The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, American author, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet (1803–1882).

“Nature has given woman so much power that the law cannot afford to give her more.” — Dr. Samuel Johnson, author of Dictionary of the English Language and more (1709–1784).

“Virtue has never been as respectable as money.” — Mark Twain, American author and humorist (1835–1910).

“Peace – n. In international affairs, a period of cheating between two periods of fighting.” — Ambrose Bierce, American short story writer, journalist, poet, American Civil War veteran, and author of The Devil’s Dictionary, which contains more definitions like the previous (1842–1914).

Another.  “Politeness – n. The most acceptable hypocrisy.” — Ambrose Bierce.

“Where every man does what’s right in his own eyes, there is the least of real freedom.” — Henry M. Robert, of Robert’s Rules of Order fame.

“The people are to be taken in very small doses.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, American author, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet (1803–1882).

“Government is not eloquence. It is not reason. It is a force.  Like fire, a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” — falsely attributed to George Washington.

“Tis more worthy to rate B+ in ten different areas of endeavor than A+ in just one.” — LTC Jeff Cooper, Lt. Colonel of Marines and the father of modern practical shooting (1920–2006).

Colonel Cooper was probably the finest teacher I have encountered in my life.  His prose, like his thinking, is a model of clarity and efficiency.  Here’s another.

“Personal weapons are what raised mankind out of the mud, and the rifle is the queen of personal weapons...Pick up a rifle–a really good rifle–and if you know how to use it well, you change instantly from a mouse to a man, from a peon to a caballero, and― most significantly―from a subject to a citizen.” — Jeff Cooper.

“It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctively native American criminal class except congress.” — Mark Twain, American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer (1835–1910).

“Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts.” — Richard Feynman, American, Nobel-Prize-winning, theoretical physicist (1918–1988).

“Just because it’s a well beaten road is no sign that it’s the right one.” — Anonymous.

“Brevity may be the soul of wit, but repetition is the soul of instruction.” — General George S. Patton, commander of the 7th US Army in World War II, and the 3rd US Army in France and Germany after the Allied invasion of Normandy (1885–1945).

A general is responsible for instructing as well as leading his men.

“Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment.” — Lao Tsu, Taoist philosopher (circa 570–490 BC).

“Life enfolds on a great sheet called Time, and once finished it is gone forever.” — Chinese adage.

“A man who has attained mastery of an art reveals it in his every action.” — Koichi Tohei, Aikido Master.

“Power of mind is infinite while brawn is limited.” — Koichi Tohei, Aikido Master.

“Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness.  When change is absolute, there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement; and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual.  Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” — George Santayana in Reasons in Common Sense, Life of Reasons.

This is the longer version of the common quote that consists of the last sentence.

“Two wrongs are only the beginning.” — Anonymous.

“To step on a Persian carpet and a mullah are only to increase their value.” — Persian Maxim.

Collectors tell me that wear can make a carpet more valuable.

“No good deed goes unpunished.” — Clare Boothe Luce, American playwright and journalist (1903–1987).

Good’s Bureaucratic Rule: “When the remedies don’t cure the problem, government modifies the problem, not the remedies.” — Anonymous

“Basic research is what I am doing when I don’t know what I am doing.” — Wernher von Braun, German-American aerospace engineer and space architect, member of the Nazi Party during WWII, primary figure in the development of rocket technology in Nazi Germany, later a pioneer in US rocket and space technology (1912–1977).

There you are.  If those first couple of pages don't give you food for thought, dive into the book and look for more.  There are enough to keep you busy for months.  I highly recommend Richard's collection - so much so that I've bought multiple copies in all three formats (e-book, hardcover and paperback).  I plan to lend them to those whom I think will benefit from them.

Oh, yes - the maxim in the headline of this article.  From Richard's introduction:

Few bits of wisdom are more important than those which keep you alive.  As a consequence, survival rules are well represented.  One of my favorites is:

“Never get into any vehicle with a Kennedy.” — Anonymous.

If you know the history of the Kennedy political family, and what's happened to so many of their passengers, that kinda speaks for itself!

Peter

 

From author Kit Sun Cheah on Gab this morning:

It is 420 day during a partial solar eclipse, so I am absolutely confident that today will be totally peaceful and absolutely nothing weird will happen at all, especially in Florida.

Yeah, riiiiiight!!!

Peter

 

From Larry Lambert at Virtual Mirage:

Dating is a great way to realize that dying alone isn’t the worst thing that could happen.

Makes me glad I'm married!

Peter

 

Courtesy of a post and link on MeWe, I found these gems.  Click the image for a larger view.

Good advice under many circumstances.  I'm not sure about all circumstances, though . . . as a military man, General Patton would have been familiar with Helmuth von Moltke the Elder's famous dictum:  "No plan survives first contact with the enemy".  Sometimes that may apply to wise sayings, too!

Peter

 

From Sarah Hoyt:

If I’m right 2023 is not going to go according to anyone’s plans. Hold on to your hats, strap on your seat belts, because we’re riding this fiery basket through a dumpster fire that collided with a clown cart.

Nice turn of phrase, that.  I'm not saying she's wrong, either.  I feel pretty much the same way.

Peter

 

From user Auron MacIntyre on Gab:

It is as difficult and as dangerous to try to liberate a people that wishes to live in slavery as it is to try to enslave a people that wishes to live in freedom.

Machiavelli

True dat - particularly when so many of them choose slavery at the polls . . .

Peter

 

Click the image for a larger view.

So much of what we read and hear today is nothing more than political correctness writ large, that it's worth reminding ourselves that at root, it's all the same old extremist lie.  The communists used it in bucketsful.  So has almost every other extremist movement down the centuries.  It was a lie then, and it's still a lie now.

Peter

 

From Karl Denninger, as he ponders the fallout from the raid on President Trump earlier this week.

Politics is and always has been a blood sport.  If you're not prepared to take it on at that level you have no business getting involved in it.

Word.

The theft by electoral fraud of the 2020 election demonstrates that reality.  Getting rid of the thieves and fixing all they've done wrong is going to demonstrate it yet again.

Peter

 

Courtesy of Matt Bracken on Gab (clickit to biggit):

True dat.

Peter

 

From Glenn Reynolds, during a podcast:

If you’re the president, if you’re a member of Congress, if you are a TSA agent, the only reason why somebody should listen to what you say, instead of horsewhipping you out of town for your impertinence, is because you exercise power via the Constitution. If the Constitution doesn’t count, you don’t have any legitimate power. You’re a thief, a brigand, an officious busybody, somebody who should be tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail for trying to exercise power you don’t possess.

So if we’re going to start ignoring the Constitution, I’m fine with that. The first part I’m going to start ignoring is the part that says, I have to do whatever they say.

Given the massively unconstitutional policies and legislation at present being pushed by the progressive left, and by President Biden, I think Prof. Reynolds offers us the perfect response.  It's the same response we should have to any public servants (?) trying to impose upon us some unconstitutional measure, such as gun confiscation, etc.

A plague on all their houses!

Peter

 

Larry Lambert brings us an object lesson in leadership from Napoleon Bonaparte.  I won't steal his thunder by copying his blog post here:  click over to Virtual Mirage and read it for yourself.  It won't take you long.

I found it inspiring because Bonaparte had many maxims that make solid good sense.  One of them, in particular, has been among my "guiding lights" for many decades.  It's this:

A commander-in-chief cannot take as an excuse for his mistakes in warfare an order given by his sovereign or his minister when the person giving the order is absent from the field of operations and is imperfectly aware or wholly unaware of the latest state of affairs. It follows that any commander-in-chief who undertakes to carry out a plan which he considers defective is at fault; he must put forward his reasons, insist on the plan being changed, and finally tender his resignation rather than be the instrument of his army's downfall.

I've applied that many times in my professional career, in the military, in the commercial world, and as a pastor.  I've never been a commander-in-chief, of course;  but the basic advice is still sound and still applies.  If one is responsible for something, large or small, and orders or circumstances make it impossible to carry out that responsibility, then one must act.  One must explain, ask for changes, insist on them if the request is not met, and finally resign rather than continue to accept responsibility for what one can no longer achieve, support or defend.

Some people think that if they're "low on the totem pole", that can't work.  They believe they'll simply be fired for creating a fuss, thereby achieving nothing to actually resolve the problem.  To that I can only say, "Yes, that may happen - but the principle remains the same."  Obviously, one can't make a fuss like that about the color of the break-room coffee machine, or the brand of coffee used.  That's silly.  However, if it's a matter of safety - say, the coffee machine's cable is frayed and sparks are coming out of the plug - then, if you don't make a fuss and someone else gets electrocuted, you'll carry at least some of the blame, morally speaking.  See what I mean?

Another example would be if you see someone at work - say, a new hire - who's being picked on, intimidated, perhaps groomed for sexual predation by a manager . . . what to do?

• Leave them to handle it themselves, even if they're too young and inexperienced to have ever done that, and don't know how?
• Talk to them, explaining what you know about that manager, and advising them on ways to avoid confrontation while not becoming a victim?
• Tell HR or another manager what's going on, and demand that something be done about it?

If you do nothing, but just watch the catastrophe unfold, aren't you at least partly responsible for what happens, in the moral sense?  (I'm not talking about legally responsible, of course, but that's not the only aspect of the situation.)  The commander-in-chief, in Napoleon's example, could always claim that he was obeying orders;  but that would still get a lot of his soldiers killed.  The enemy would do the killing, but he'd be morally responsible for allowing it to happen.

Choose your battles wisely - they've got to be important enough to warrant taking a stand - but don't be afraid to fight them.  That's part of what it means to be human, and a moral person.

I applied that in the most important, most painful and most impactful decision of my life so far.  Some have condemned me for leaving the priesthood over the child sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church (about which I've written in some detail).  I knew full well that what the Church was doing about the situation at that time was (and could not be other than) ineffective, intrinsically immoral (in that it would do nothing to change the reality of the situation), and fundamentally deceitful, in that it sought to reassure the faithful that effective steps were being taken when, in fact, those steps were not and could not be effective - not even close.  I explained my position, asked for a hearing, and was denied it.  I then pointed out that I was, in so many words, being asked to lie to those under my pastoral care, in order to protect the Bishops.  I said that I could not and would not do that.  None of it worked - I was told, in so many words, to "put up and shut up".  Therefore, I had no choice but to walk away.  I was not prepared to live a lie.

Of course, it's important to recognize that one can be wrong.  We're human beings, which means (by definition) that we're fallible.  One can be mistaken in one's understanding or impression of the problem, mistaken in opposing the issue, and mistaken in resigning rather than "knuckling under" and obeying orders.  That's an inevitable corollary to Napoleon's maxim.  However, if one does one's best to understand the situation (including consulting others who may understand it better), and tries to be open, honest and fair in one's approach, I think that danger is minimized.  Basically, living up to that advice forces one to be honest, logical, rational and ruthlessly objective in one's approach to almost anything.  That's a high standard - but I think the world would be a better place if we all did so.

Napoleon may have been a monster in some ways, but he was not completely immoral, and sometimes he was wise.  His approach to his men was moral and ethical according to his lights, as shown in the example cited by Larry Lambert.  (Compare and contrast that to the Duke of Wellington's comment about his soldiers in the Peninsular War:  "I don't know what effect these men will have upon the enemy, but, by G-d, they frighten me!"  Which of the two leaders had the more moral approach to his army, would you say?)

Peter

 

(A tip o' the hat to Diogenes' Middle Finger for bringing it to our attention.)

From the Would-Be Galactic Emperor, blogging at My Planet, My Rules:

If you gather enough truly stupid people together in the same place, the resulting flash from the explosion of asshole can be seen in distant galaxies.

Of course, this begs for verification through experimentation.  I suggest we start on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., where the accumulation of stupidity has to be seen to be believed!  Add the Biden administration into the mix, and throw in the city's loony-left leadership, and that should be enough to produce some absolutely splendid spontaneous combustion, even on an intergalactic scale.

Peter

From Diogenes' Middle Finger:

Rioters destroyed the Dilophosaurus statue outside the Kenosha Dinosaur Discovery Museum during the first night of riots. Now while not a slave-owning dinosaur, the Dilophosaurus, with a brain the size of a walnut, DOES routinely score higher on SATs than the average BLM thug. So I get the resentment.

A sarcastic stiletto slipped gently between the ribs can be just as fatal as a blatant bash to the head.  Well done, ma'am!




Peter

I was interested to find this graphic on MeWe the other day.




I knew of Shakespeare's immense influence on the English language, of course, but it's intriguing to see how many expressions that we take for granted can be found in his plays and verse.  Without him, expressing ourselves would be much more difficult.

Peter

From an article at the Modern War Institute at West Point, titled "You really think I'm irrelevant?  LOL." A letter to Clausewitz haters from beyond the grave.  It points out that despite the passage of time and technological developments since he wrote his classic treatise "On War", Carl von Clausewitz's military doctrines remain relevant today.

In my time, [attrition] was the surest method to defeat the will of your opponent. Today, all it takes is a fire team of Russian bots on Twitter and your national will crumbles like week-old lebkuchen.

Word.

Peter

From comedian Owen Benjamin on Gab:

When you own goats you understand why celebrities worship the goat. The male goat spends all day peeing on his own face, trying to fornicate [with] literally anything, and yelling incoherently. It’s the celebrity spirit animal.

It's hard to argue with that insight!




Peter

I've noticed a rash of spurious "quotations" from famous people in recent weeks, focusing on the debate about the Second Amendment and gun "rights", but also spreading to encompass almost every aspect of individual liberties and freedoms.  It troubles me that people aren't taking the time to verify the sources they cite so glibly;  and it troubles me even more that many of those sources are imaginary, to a greater or lesser extent.  The individuals named as sources never said what they're alleged to have said, rendering spurious any arguments based on those quotations.

Here, for example, is something Thomas Jefferson never said - but it's being spread around the Internet as true.




It's actually a paraphrase of a much longer excerpt from an Italian book published in 1774, which Jefferson copied (in the original Italian) into his "Commonplace Book".  The story behind it may be found here.

Jefferson is perhaps one of the most widely misquoted authorities from history (there's a very useful list here of spurious quotations attributed to him, which makes interesting reading).  However, he's far from alone.  I've seen Shakespeare misquoted more times than I can tell, not to mention the Bible (*ahem*Nancy Pelosi*ahem*) and almost every well-known politician or ruler in history.  The problem's become so bad that there are articles and books about it.

It's gotten to the point where, when someone bases their argument (or relies for support upon) a quotation from an historical figure, I automatically double-check their sources.  I'm no longer surprised (although I'm often annoyed) to find that they didn't bother to do so themselves, and therefore they've built their argument or position around a "straw man".  When called on it, they frequently try to duck and dive their way out of their self-inflicted predicament by saying that the false citation doesn't really matter;  that their argument is based on truth or fact, and they merely used the quotation to illustrate their position.  When they haven't advanced any other authoritative evidence or support for their claims, that rings hollow, to say the least.

In these troubled times, when traditional, classical and constitutional values and norms are under relentless attack everywhere, it behooves us to defend them using accurate citations, quotations and attributions.  Every time their enemies catch us misquoting something (or, God forbid, making up our supporting citations out of whole cloth, which I've seen too often for comfort), they triumphantly parade that fact as evidence to discredit our entire position.  Let's not give them that satisfaction, or that leverage;  and if we rely on some person or authority to back up our position, let's do our research first, and provide a link to the original, so our "work" can be checked.

Peter