Bacon, Guns & Whiskey

…with a side of Freedom and Liberty. Common-ish sense in uncommon times.

Recent posts

  • Can America win?

    America’s last legal war ended in 1945 and the entire country—from the time the time the Senate voted unanimously on December 8, 1941 until Japan’s surrender on September 2, 1945—was mobilized for the war effort.

    The cases belli (’cause for war’ or ‘case for war’,’ depending on who you ask) was unequivocal; Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, the US had been avoiding the ‘European problem’ for years, and Germany’s invasions of neighboring countries as the beginning of a continental domination strategy were unmistakable. After Pearl Harbor, we couldn’t stay on the sidelines any longer, and we could not let an unprovoked attack go unanswered.

    Fast forward to today. We’ve attacked a sovereign nation and kidnapped their leader (Venezuela), have launched a war against another (Iran), and have told a third that they are next (Cuba). Why??

    Venezuela you can argue may or may not be a state sponsor of narcotics, but what about Iran? They might one day have nukes? North Korea has nukes and is working to build a missile that can hit the us. Yet the fat friar in charge in North Korea is continuing to build nukes that actually do threaten the US. And what about Cuba? They’re commies, yep. But how have all of our wars against the commies gone? Horribly and a lot of dead Americans for no reason. Korea humiliated the US after WW2, Vietnam humiliated the US after that, and the Soviet Union collapsed not because the US won but rather because communism is inherently doomed to fail. Now we want to try again?

    So the last time the US a) fought a war against a large and equivalent enemy and b) fought a war legally as the Founders prescribed, we crushed the enemy and did so because of a moral imperative —we defended those who were seeking to crush and conquer the weak and eliminate an entire class of people simply because of their religion.

    Since then, we’ve found smaller countries where we have overwhelming force. And yet we were beaten in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. I’m leaving out Grenada and Panama because of the size of those countries but, in all fairness, we did win those conflicts (and we brought Manuel Noriega for trial).

    Could the US win a major war today? Say, with China who is—actually—the biggest threat to global peace and security since WW2? As I look at my shadow box, it kills me to type the words, but I do not think the United States could win WW2 if it were fought today, and I don’t think we have a hope against China.

    Before you grab your pitchfork and torch, you need to understand why. In WW2, private industry stepped up to build everything from bombs to tanks, housewives went to work in factories while their husbands deployed, and they did it because of patriotic duty, not to get rich.

    Today, everyone knows that a defense contract is the single best thing for shareholders in a company. Why? Because they never finish on time and always, ALWAYS go over budget. The MQ-9 Reaper costs $56.5 million EACH. The third world military of Iran shot one down.

    F-15 Strike Eagles are the jets that used to make the world tremble. The third world military of Iran shot one of those down, too.

    The Sig Sauer M18 pistol contract was close to $600 million when it was awarded. They are shooting soldiers after firing without the trigger being pulled and, in some cases, while they are holstered. Sig made a huge amount of money, our troops are paying for it. And this is just the most recent example—there are a bunch more out there.

    As fumble through our folly in Iran, our weapons stockpiles are low or are critically low (depending on who you talk to)—and you know what that means: more government contracts! How much do you want to bet that we suddenly have to start building the “Next Generation __” this year? Yeah, I wouldn’t risk your money on that bet, either.

  • Iran is Congress’ fault, not Trump’s

    Article 1, Section 8 says, in part, “[t]he Congress shall,have the Power To … declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water … provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions…”

    In using the term “declare war,” the Congressional history of the Founders’ intentions noted that “[]he first draft of the Constitution considered in Philadelphia in 1787 would have given Congress the power to make war, but the Framers substituted the word declare in what James Madison described as an effort to ensure that the President was empowered to repel sudden attacks. Under Congress’s interpretation of the Constitution, the President may introduce troops into hostile circumstances if Congress has (1) declared war, (2) specifically authorized the President to use force, or (3) there is a national emergency created by an attack on the United States or its territories. The executive branch claims much broader authority and asserts that the Constitution empowers the President to initiate and engage in many types of military action without congressional authorization.” [Emphasis mine.]

    In 1973, Congress passed the War Powers Act which was intended to curb the liberal interpretation of Article 2, Section 2, which says that the President “shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States…”

    But yet Presidents have started wars — often lasting years or decades without Congress doing anything other than rubber-stamping the money to pay for the wars they had nothing to do with declaring as the Constitution requires.

    Trump’s wars are merely symptoms of Congress’ laziness and incompetence.

  • Epstein Arrests

    Arrests for the crimes committed by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell:

    United States

    None

    United Kingdom

    Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor—British Royal

    Peter Mandelson—Former Ambassador

    Others

    None Reported

  • America is the Fourth Reich

    Here legally, no criminal record, following the prescribed immigration process. Now arrested, put into a concentration camp, and held without bail, a hearing, or access to counsel. We gave Guantanamo detainees fucking lawyers but not people here legally and working to legally naturalize.

    No due process. None. At all.

    In case you don’t remember the 14th Amendment, it says, in part, “…nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” (Emphasis mine.)

    We’re the nazis now — except it’s foreigners and not Jews.

  • Time for another whiskey

    This is another from the group that I sampled a while ago (we actually had 2 Glen Morangies) and the casks made a huge difference. I’m nowhere close to an expert, so I won’t waste your time (or embarrass myself) writing a bunch of unsophisticated things about a good scotch.

    The only thing I will say is “go get some!”

  • Remember your Oath

    For my Commissioned friends, it’s “I solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

    (The image I attached is the Oath of Enlistment, so you can compare them side to side. 😉)

  • Not so anti-war, are we?

    For being the person who promised “[w]hen I’m back in the White House, we will expel the warmongers, the profiteers … and we will restore world peace”, Trump sure is dropping a lot of bombs, shooting a lot of guns, and people in and out of Congress are making A TON of money.

    We’re sending bombs to one of the richest countries in the world (Israel) — depleting our own stockpile, by the way — while we’re hanging a poorer one out to dry (Ukraine) so a Russian autocrat can bring back the days of Stalin.

    And at the same time we’re bombing Iran and claiming total victory — a country that most experts agree does not have nuclear weapons and might actually lack the intellectual capability to produce them — we’re ignoring North Korea, who does have nuclear weapons (since at least 2018)*, and a megalomaniac in command of them.

    So we’re not anti-war as promised and, when we do blow stuff up, we’re giving bombs to people who don’t need them, attacking people who aren’t a threat, and ignoring the ones who are.

    WTF? Actually, though, what the f**k!?

    Oh, and with the fresh, new invasion of Venezuela — which we’re apparently going to occupy (or at least “run”) for the foreseeable future — we still don’t have all the Epstein files.

    And there may be more new wars coming soon. I’ll bet the majority of people will forget about the Epstein files again when those invasions kick off, too.

    * Here’s a really good, comprehensive analysis of DPRK’s program from Stanford, also in 2018: https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/content/cisac-north-korea

  • It’s time to talk about what “America” was built on

    Spoiler alert: it was built as a libertarian republic.

    I’m going to venture a guess that it’s been a long time since you read (or even read about) the Federalist Papers from way-back-when (1787-1788), but it’s probably worth revisiting. So, over the next several however-long-it-takes, I’ll plug some of my thoughts on what the Founders conceptualized versus where we’re at today. Some things might be rather shocking.

    For reference sake, I’ve been reading Mary Webster’s The Federalist Papers in Modern Language because I am not smart enough to translate 18th Century to English — or at least not at a speed that would facilitate opining on their applicability to today’s America. If you can, then I highly encourage you to read the originals — no one talks about America with that kind of pure passion anymore, and it’s wonderful to behold.

    To start things off, Alexander Hamilton writes in Federalist #1 (via Webster’s translation) that “[p]oliticians will present some of the most formidable obstacles to the new Constitution” because the Constitution “might diminish [their] power and benefits”. And the best part was his prophetic statement that “[t]he perverted ambition of others will see potential self-aggrandizement with a country in disarray”.

    It’s safe to say that politicians on both sides of the political spectrum fit that bill. And the fact that Hamilton wrote those words more than 230 years ago is a testament to his wisdom and understanding of the human mind and heart.

    But wait, there’s more! Further on, he writes (and I’m going to call this one out using the fancy quote box thingy):

    Nothing is more repugnant than the intolerant spirit that has, at all times, characterized political parties. In political, as in religion, it’s absurd to aim at making proselytes by fire and sword. Heresies in either can rarely be cured by persecution.

    Incredible, right? Republicans say that democrats are taking us to socialism and anarchy through globalism and open borders. Democrats say that republicans are theocrats who want to enslave everyone and go backwards in time. And if you’re a member of the _ party, then you’re evil and not even worth talking to. It sounds crazy, right? But it’s something that you have heard someone close to you say — I guarantee it.

    And perhaps the most important of them all:

    [D]angerous ambition more often lurks behind the specious mask of zeal for the rights of the people…

    History teaches us that of the men who have overturned the liberties of republics, most began their career by proclaiming their devotion to the people. They gain[ed] position by arousing people’s prejudices and end[ed] as tyrants. [Emphasis mine.]

    That’s it. Federalist #1 ends with a discussion that the alternative to adopting the (then) new Constitution was “dismemberment of the Union.”

    Republicans and democrats have each “arous[ed] people’s prejudices” — to the point that half of the country hates the other half, and the elected government is actively working to suppress half the country and any given moment. This is utterly insane and, if we don’t start electing people with a true passion for liberty and an efficient (aka small!) government, then we will be doomed to the same fate at the Greeks and Romans. But we’ll get to Federalist #18 in due course. 🙂

  • Speaking of socialism

    Atlanta is trying a socialist fix for a capitalist problem. The free market can solve problems — and has solved the biggest ones — better than any other force out there, short of (perhaps) creating the space program. But even there, the private sector has stepped in and now you have reusable spacecraft and extraordinary advances in technology in a very short amount of time.

    So Atlanta has paid in millions of dollars for a taxpayer-funded business because they (the city) failed to incentivize the private sector sufficiently enough and, in so doing, have set a precedent that if you let a problem fester enough then you’ll get a free business from the government. That’s a dangerous perception to create.

    Now, before someone throws a melodrama grenade, I’m not saying that underprivileged neighborhoods going without access to fresh food is okay — quite the opposite — what I am saying is that there is a way to incentivize the private sector to solve problems in a better way.

  • “The [killer] came from inside the house!”

    Silly horror movie references notwithstanding, after Reagan’s history-making speech to Gorbachev in 1987, it is utterly inconceivable that Republicans in America — in 2025 — would be supporting another Russian dictator and Stalin-worshipper. But yet, here we are. To make matters worse, a confident and senior advisor to the President of the United States is actively working with the Russians to manipulate POTUS into helping the Russian president solidify gains in an unprovoked war of aggression — through what can only be described as a de facto surrender by Ukraine.

    After spending the majority of my life criticizing Democrats for being socialists and communists (they still are, in my personal opinion, btw), now we have Republicans doing the same thing. Holy f#$%ing sh%#!

    What does that mean for the future of our republic? For America’s reputation and legitimacy as the leader of the “free” world?