Surely it is inarguable that the debate over a national mandate epitomizes the central ideological divide in the country today.

In broad terms, there is one side that believes liberty can be subverted for the collective good because government often makes more efficient and more moral choices.

Then there is the other side, which believes that people who believe such twaddle are seditious pinkos.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/harsanyi/ci_14742998#ixzz0j82DScQ4

“This meeting can do nothing more to save the country!” — Samuel Adams; December 16, 1773

I said, nearly two years ago, that the United States of America as founded between 1775 and 1789 died on November 4, 2008. The result of that election irrevocably demonstrated that the people of the United States – no longer citizens – were timid sheep, easily led astray by a smooth talking shepherd skilled in cheap parlor tricks. The mob finally ruled and was only interested in dividing their unearned spoils.

Yesterday, “the people” in Congress assembled chose to violate both the letter and the spirit of the Supreme Law of the Land in open defiance of the desires of the majority of the people of the United States as expressed through polling data and commit this nation to an absolute and permanent state of collapse. There is no coming back from this. There’s no way to fix this. It will never be repealed. It can never be amended enough to make it tolerable. It is a permanent and unalterable change in the status of We the People from participants in their government to mere subjects and slaves.

The only recourse now is armed revolution. The taking up of arms is not to be done lightly. All good citizens must bide their time, attempt to force a change through the power of the ballot box and work within the tattered remnants of the system. If those efforts fail, only two choices remain: death or slavery.

I am going to be totally selfish. I am happier now than I have been in my entire life. I might accept the yoke with the understanding that some day soon I am going to die and escape this catastrophe.

It is a sad, sad day in the history of the human race. The day all of humanity finally surrendered to slavery.

Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats. — H.L. Mencken; 1919

I really should expect these sorts of failures by now. Any nation, state or city ruled by mollycoddling fascists is patently unable to deliver basic services. And New Jersey is one of the posterchildren of mollycoddling fascist rule.

So major roads are barely passable – two lanes out of three at best on interstates and United States highways. Secondary roads are an absolute mess and city streets are no better than sleigh paths through one of Robert Frost’s proverbial woods.

It’s unconscionable. With the bright sunshine of the past two days all that’s needed is a good scraping and a healthy dose of salt or cinders applied at regular intervals.

Funny how private driveways, parking lots and lanes are all completely clear and dry – not a drop of snow, ice or even water upon them – while pretty near every surface controlled by municipal services is an utter disaster.

Welcome to the future. You’ll get a ticket if your kid doesn’t wear a bicycle helmet but don’t expect the streets to be passable any time soon.

You can be tagged for DUI if you catch a glimpse of a beer in your peripheral vision but all the bars are built on major highways. In a just society, we’d understand that if you crash your car while drinking you’re held liable for the crime you’ve committed: property damage, personal injury, etc. Why do we need an additional penalty layer? It smacks of thoughtcrime. Like hate crime laws.

In a rational society, if we were actually concerned about drinking and driving we’d make it illegal to operate a bar that didn’t have a critical mass of pedestrian drinkers to support it. We’d outlaw parking lots at bars. We’d outlaw endless suburban casual dining chains nowhere near population centers. Surely the urban planners can get on board with that! Forced density, drawing people downtown on public transit, blah blah blah.

But no, we’re not a rational society. We’re a society of goddamned puritans. There is a sizable portion of the population who lives in abject fear that someone, somewhere is having fun. So they collect revenue from taxes on businesses and alcohol sales. Then they collect revenue from fines and penalties levied against people who consume alcohol. Then they spend that revenue on parks where your dog can’t shit on the grass, bike paths where you have to wear a helmet and skate parks where you can’t skate on account of the danger.

When did the home of the brave turn into the Fiefdom of Sir Robin?

In keeping with the theme, I face a dilemma. Each time I establish a home I learn something else I desire in a home. One of the absolutes of my existence is that I must live within stumbling distance of a bar. I don’t like to drink and drive. I don’t want to hurt anybody. I don’t want to hurt myself. I like to walk. I love to drink. I like to walk to drink but not so far that I can’t slither home. This is not a joke, this is a real concern. I have spent several nights sleeping at various inexplicably short distances from my house. Sometimes on a hillside within sight of my back door. Sometimes on the stairs to my apartment. Once, I actually made it through the door and ended up sleeping headfirst on the kitchen floor with my feet out the door.

All of which brings me to my latest search for a suitable home.

It seems the optimal place to live in New Jersey is somewhere on the Patco line: close to work, convenient for having a vehicle, plenty of services, 24-hour access to the city. Given those requirements, Collingswood and Haddonfield present themselves as highly desirable candidates. But there’s no booze. Goddamned Quakers.

So I have to live in the City. With high taxes. And no place to park. And an hour long commute in heavy traffic to work. What an incredible pain in the ass.

Which I can at least partially heal with a trip to the many, MANY bars that will be within comfortable walking distance of my future home.

And if there were 7-11 hot dogs or Wawa hoagies between the bar and my front door, that wouldn’t hurt either.

To wit: I was stuck in interminable Jersey traffic. At a point where I was forced to merge right for a turn I ended up behind an individual who thought it their civic duty to wait patiently while every jackass in New Jersey turned out of every blessed parking lot we came to into our line of traffic.

I was not at all surprised to note this Samaritan drove a Prius. Even less to note this Samaritan was an Obama voter. After all, isn’t that the message of our beloved President???

“Allow me to inconvenience you for the benefit of those who probably don’t deserve it.”

All that’s left is to Hope this attitude Changes.