From the Democratic Underground comes this post, “To dismayed conservatives“

Dear dismayed conservatives:

I hereby make these promises to you.

We will protect your lives and livelihoods.

We will listen to and respect your beliefs.

We will never try to force you to change your religion, sexual orientation, or first language.

We will do our best to reduce the number of abortions in our country.

We will have no tolerance for corruption and cronyism, even in our own party.

ESPECIALLY in our own party.

We will never tell you that you are unpatriotic.

We will never tell you that your opinion doesn’t count.

We will never waste your lives for power.

We will hold our leaders to a high ethical standard and when they succumb to lust for power, WE WILL HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE.

If we forget this, please, please, please, remind us.

We need you to do this. You are America as much as we are.
Let’s go.

These are all commendable sentiments. I just wish that their respect for me include respect for my property. I have worked hard for my paycheck, and I wish the Democrat’s tolerance included tolerance for me keeping more of my paycheck. For that matter, I wish that the Republican’s tolerance included allowing me to keep more of my paycheck.

Drivers of northern Virginia, please listen to the sage wisdom of the Canadian Automobile Association.

“Canada’s largest club for drivers, the Canadian Automobile Association, Monday urged its members to spend less time behind the wheel and said this would help fight climate change and boost air quality.

The club which has 4.9 million members, also backed the idea of mandatory fuel efficiency standards for car makers. It said Canadians needed to “change their behavior and mind-set,” with car-pooling, car-sharing and using public transport.”

That’s right drivers of northern Virginia. Quit driving so much. Take public transit more. Please get off the roads, I would like to use them.

I used to like Lost. Now there is no way I would tell someone to watch it. If a friend persisted, I would tell them to just skip the second season. Parts of the third season make the second season completely worthless. Adam Sternberg in NY Mag explains how to fix Lost:

Now let

Oh those wacky Californians. Students at Orange Coast College have banned reciting the pledge at the start of meetings. I don’t have a problem with that, but I find the reason a bit amusing.

“That (‘under God’) part is sort of offensive to me,” student trustee Jason Bell, who proposed the ban, told Reuters. “I am an atheist and a socialist, and if you know your history, you know that ‘under God’ was inserted during the McCarthy era and was directly designed to destroy my ideology.”

“Sort of offensive”? That’s it. This guy isn’t even worked up enough to be full on offended? And Jason, what’s so scary about saying “one nation under God.” That offend you? I hope you don’t use any of that offense money with the ultra-offense phrase, “In God We Trust.” But that still isn’t the best part. The best part is that Bell says, “f you know your history, you know that ‘under God’ was inserted during the McCarthy era and was directly designed to destroy my ideology.” Sorry Mr. Bell, but you need to do a bit more searching history (but since you are a socialist, it is obvious that you haven’t learned the lessons of history). Despite what you think, the pledge was written to strengthen your ideology, but not your religion.

The Pledge was written by Francis Bellamy, a Christan Socialist. The last thing Bellamy wanted to do was denounce socialism. In other words, Mr. Bell, you and the pledge’s author share a political ideology.

That said, I’m not a big fan of the pledge. Gene Healy lays out the reasons why:

Why do so many conservatives who, by and large, exalt the individual and the family above the state, endorse this ceremony of subordination to the government? Why do Christian conservatives say it’s important for schoolchildren to bow before a symbol of secular power? Indeed, why should conservatives support the Pledge at all, with or without “under God”?

As usual, George Will’s analysis is right on:

The Iraq war, like the Alaska bridge, pungently proclaims how Republicans earned their rebuke. They are guilty of apostasy from conservative principles at home (frugality, limited government) and embrace of anti-conservative principles abroad (nation-building grandiosity pursued incompetently).

Bono, the lead singer of U2 and crusader for more government spending on poverty, is a hypocrite. Bono parades around the world saying that developed countries should spend more money on poverty reduction. Where would this money come from–taxes of course. But instead of letting his actions speak for themselves by paying more taxes, Bono is fleeing Ireland with U2′s business to avoid taxes. The whole story is here.

People that advocate more social programs should show the strength of their convictions and pay more taxes. Doing so would only demonstrate that they believe in the system.