Two thousand year old credit crisis!

I have always been a history buff, particularly military history and the history of the ancient Celts. In regards to the latter, my interest in the Celts necessarily led to an interest in ancient Rome during the time of Julius Caesar, because he wrote one of the more definitive accounts of Celtic (Gaulish) society. Although much of Caesar's account of the Gauls has been disputed as the writings of a general seeking to belittle and dehumanize his foes, one cannot enjoy a history of Celtic society without also appreciating the history of the society that ultimately did them in.

That was an overly long preamble to my original intent in this post, which was to say that I am fascinated whenever someone points out a parallel between Roman history and the course of our own nation. Perhaps the parallels between our two societies are only natural given the fact that our governmental and financial systems are so similar. What is sometimes disheartening is that we do not seem to use history as a guide in this country. I am not saying that the Goths and Visigoths are knocking at our door just yet (though there ARE Goths and Visigoths who would LIKE to be knocking at our door). However, the only society in history that most closely matches our own is the ancient Roman republic. I think that careful study of where the Romans went wrong can be instructive for our present endeavors. That is not to say that making the same mistakes will lead us down the same road, but that we might at least incorporate the lessons of the ancient past into the endeavors of the present.

Whew. Anyhow, Tigerhawk has found a fascinating reference from Tacitus' Annales pertaining to a little credit crunch in Rome during the time of Tiberius. Read the whole thing. Regardless of who we hold responsible for our current woes, nobody can deny the parallels.

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.....

So a couple nights ago the Warpiper was on patrol on the mean streets of Chucktown and rode up on a couple guys beating the crap out of a third guy. They had him down in the middle of the street and were stomping on him. After jumping out of the patrol car, detaining the beaters and questioning the beatee, it turned out that this was a robbery in progress that ol' Sarge had thwarted. I think that the two perps didn't run because they thought I had a Taser in my hand, but in actuality I had my pepper spray in my hand. Why they didn't run I will never know, because I would have only caught one of them.

I think that one of these days I will chronicle a whole shift. Half my family thinks I sit at a desk or something. I guess the reason I have not done this before is because 1) after 16 years it just isn't as interesting or surprising as it used to be, and 2) a typical day or night on the streets might not be all that believable to the un-annointed.

I promise that one of these days sometime soon I will actually do this. With pictures.

Happy Birthday USMC.

In the age of sail, fighting ships employed men to climb up in the rigging and fire muskets down into enemy ships. These men were called marines. History will show that it was the United States that put the capital "M" in Marines. No military unit in any country in the world possesses the high reputation held by the U.S. Marine Corps.

In a world where organizations like Code Pink can slander the name and history of the Corps, it is important for those of us who know the true sources of liberty to pause for a moment or a few on 10 November and remember the men of Tripoli, Chapultepec, Belleau Woods, Iwo Jima, Chosin Reservoir, Hue, Grenada, Panama, Beirut, Kuwait, Kandahar and Fallujah.

To all my family and classmates who "claim the title,"

Happy Birthday and Semper Fidelis.

More good sportsmanship from the right.... or can I call it Patriotism?

Tigerhawk has removed his McCain-Palin bumper sticker. I agree with him; come January Barack Obama will be my President, too.

There is also a link to Screedblog in the post, and the quote obviously puts my thoughts out there with much more economy than I was able to muster. Here it is:

"Right or wrong - and I hope for more of the former, obviously - he’s my President now, dammit, and I’m not going to spend four years treating him with the contempt the Kos side heaped on Chimpy McPretzelchoker."

Some changes I am hoping for.

Thank God this election is over. At the very least I can look forward to four years without the heartburn of listening to the left squeal about war crimes, how inherently racist America is, and how Colin Powell lied, people died. (Wait a second... or was that GWB?) I wish Obama's politics were closer to my own, but it nevertheless makes me proud of my country that just forty some-odd years after Little Rock we have once again proven that we are better than the Europe that looks down its nose at us. When France, Germany or Britain shows us a black or Arab prime minister, then they will be allowed to call themselves our progressive equals. I'm not holding my breath.

I am hoping that Obama can execute the duties of his office as well as he campaigns. I hope that he finds the strength and fortitude to resist his party when personal integrity dictates that he do so. If he does, he will have my unreserved respect. Unlike a liberal if McCain had won, Obama still has the opportunity to win me as a supporter. His politics do not make that very likely, but I will not oppose him simply because he is a Democrat or because I somehow hate the left at all costs. I also hope that he reminds our world neighbors of the age old fact that America can be a best friend or a worst enemy. I hope he has the spine to be a worst enemy if the situation merits it. We need the strength to do that now even more than in the last eight years.

There are many challenges ahead for Barack Obama, but for now in these early days, my only Christmas wish this year is that people will show more respect for the Office of the President. The acrimony and downright evil behavior on the part of the left toward President Bush over the last few years has been one of the most disgusting displays I have ever witnessed. Despite his failings, I never could have made pictures of Bill Clinton comparing him to a chimpanzee, and I cannot think of anything Obama could do that could tempt me to behave that way about him, either. Either way, The hateful behavior and utter lack of respect toward the President is the creation of the left in this country. It is their baby, they raised (or lowered) the bar to soaring heights (or black depths). I hope that Obama at some point is able to remind his supporters that this type of behavior is unacceptable. Politics aside, I do believe that Obama thinks this. I do get the feeling that he disapproved of some of the Jerry Springer antics. If he truly believes in unity in this country, then the French Revolution-esque political behavior is one of the first things he will need to address. You do not endear people by calling their President a chimp, a Nazi, or a war criminal. This is a golden opportunity for conservatives such as myself to show the left that as much as we might disagree with the policies and politics of Barack Obama, we would never stoop to the levels that their own mouthpieces such as Huffpo, Daily Kos and MoveOn did. We will not oppose Barack Obama simply because he is Barack Obama and that even when he is right we will oppose him. We will oppose those things we disagree with, and we will embrace those things we agree on.

Now is the time for both Obama and folks like me to set an example for the left to follow in future, so that in four years when we install a new conservative President the left will have a model to emulate.

Shoot! I could have voted for Obama!

I never fall for "pie in the sky" promises from politicians, but it looks like Barack Obama will really make me rich if he is elected POTUS.

According to Tigerhawk, Obama and Biden are redefining "rich." Apparently, according to Obama, "rich" meant an annual salary of $250,000 just a few weeks ago. Now he is saying that the amount is actually $200,000. Joe Biden would like to lower that to $150,000.

If they win the election, by next year even I could be rich under the Obama plan. Now that's a change I can believe in!

I voted today.

Just some rambling thought here as I contemplate my indecision in the polling booth today.....

Waited in line for about 1.5 hours to vote. Every other time I have voted in my life, I have never seen such a large percentage of black folks. I would say that the percentage was 75% black, 15% white and 10% other. The Republican Party seriously should have put J.C. Watts on the ticket. I'm not kidding. I like him better than McCain.

There is a laundry list of reasons why you can vote early. Mine was that I will be working extended double shifts during the election. I wonder what the CPD is worried about? Perhaps the golfers out at the Country Club of Charleston are going to burn down the City Market if McCain loses? The area soccer moms are going to riot? Since we are so worried about conservatives rioting and burning down neighborhoods, perhaps they should give the whole police department the day off. After all, we're mostly conservatives. /sarcasm off/

There was a gentleman behind me in line at the polls. He spoke with a Persian accent. We had a nice conversation about cell phones. He mentioned that he would be traveling overseas for about four months and would not be here on election day. He was wondering if he should buy a quad-band cellphone and get a sim card at his destination, or if he should just buy a cheap phone. I asked him where he would be going and he said Iran. He has family there and is going home to visit for a while since he was laid off a few months ago. He apparently worked for a local medical equipment company. He invented a special bed that shifts air around inside the mattress and keeps the patient moving. It is used for people with fluid in their lungs, such as those with pneumonia. The company he worked for owns the intellectual rights to his work, so they paid him a small lump sum for his invention and then laid him off. I wish it was appropriate to ask people how they voted. I was dying of curiosity. (BTW- I told him to just buy a cheap phone in Iran rather than the expensive quad band one.)

So... indecision.

I got home and told Mrs. Warpiper that I had 'hovered.' As in, I hovered over the button for my candidate for POTUS. I had a choice between voting my party or voting for principle. During my reading this week, I was reminded of a quote by John Adams this week in the comments section of a local blog. He said,

“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.”

The words came to me as I stood there, stuck in indecision. I had filled out my entire ballot with the exception of the one most important block. I voted against some amendments to the SC State Constitution, and I voted against a couple of liberal in conservatives' clothing folks. One of them was a sitting U.S. Senator who supports amnesty for illegal immigrants. In all, I mostly voted the conservative ticket with a couple of "take that, you asshole" votes. When the ballot was completely filled out, I came back to the POTUS. I had to ask myself if my indecision was partly caused by the fact that SC is going to be a red state no matter what I did. Did the knowledge that this election is not going to come down to South Carolina's electoral votes as the scale tipper make me suddenly more principled? Or, if I felt the election was going to go down to the wire even in SC, would my vote be influenced by that? I still hovered over the button.

As President Adams' words came back to me, my decision became so clear that I could not figure why I hesitated so long. I voted for a domestic (small government) immigration (secure borders and no amnesty), fiscal (conservative) and foreign (Boltonesque) policy that I can agree with. There was only one party on the ticket that fit the bill.

I looked in the mirror a little while ago. Adams was right. It is a sweet reflection.