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In Memoriam: President George H.W. Bush

I'd thought it was just a matter of time when his wife died last April, but former President George H.W. Bush has passed away at the age of 94. Very few have lived so long and even fewer have touched as many lives by their own lives of public service: a Navy pilot volunteer for WW2, shot down at 20 years old and saved by nothing short of a miracle, a successful businessman who funded Zapata Oil, a successful family man married for 73 years to the same woman, a Congresscritter, national party chairman, ambassador, head of the CIA, Vice-President, President, and philanthropist and fundraiser for worthy causes. And he's also the epitome of why both identity politics and ideological characterization (conservative vs liberal) are outdated concepts despite their continual use by the press, politicians, and activists who apply litmus tests to those they deem acceptable for election. For George H.W. Bush, despite the rejection of a large segment of his own party when he sought re-elect...

The Pointless "Civic Duty" of Choosing Who Will Raise My Taxes And Spend It On Crap

People who have known me - I mean REALLY known me - for a good number of years have expressed shock and surprise in recent years when I point out that voting (with the possible exception of local offices - more on this below) is an utterly meaningless waste of time and resources, emotion, and quite frankly nothing but someone telling me that I need them as a personal savior from "that elected person" in another state who (so the story goes) is going to raise my taxes and give it to an illegal immigrant (or something like that). American voting, the only kind with which I have any firsthand experience, is little more than someone trying to frighten me about what someone else is going to do, so I should go down to my local precinct and vote for this other person who will save me by spending seven figures (or more) to take a job that pays six figures. And then we wonder why these folks don't know basic economics. I have basically taken (and practice) abstinence in regards to...