On Syria -- An Open Letter to George W. Bush

Dear Mr. President,

I hope retirement is treating you well.  How are Laura and the girls?!?  41's internet sock phenomenon was awesome.

I'm writing today because, with Syria in the news, people are talking about you.

James Carville:

You know, what I would say and maybe a little bit of a different view here. I think what really is freaking people out is the incompetence of the Bush administration in Iraq.

Sgt. Schultz on MSNBC:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Best of all was Timothy Egan in the New York Times:

Blame Bush? Of course, President Obama has to lead; it’s his superpower now, his armies to move, his stage. But the prior president gave every world leader, every member of Congress a reason to keep the dogs of war on a leash. The isolationists in the Republican Party are a direct result of the Bush foreign policy. A war-weary public that can turn an eye from children being gassed — or express doubt that it happened — is another poisoned fruit of the Bush years. And for the nearly 200 members of both houses of Congress who voted on the Iraq war in 2002 and are still in office and facing a vote this month, Bush shadows them like Scrooge’s ghost.

Mr. President, thank you for keeping America out of Obama's War in Syria.

Mr. President, thank you for disappearing for 12 hours while a(n) CIA Weapons Depot American Consulate was attacked and keeping America out of Obama's War in Syria.

Mr President, thank you for overthrowing Mubarak, and keeping America out of Obama's War in Syria.

Mr. President, thank you for ignoring the Iranian Green Revolution and keeping America out of Obama's War in Syria.

Mr. President, thank you for delivering a timetable to our enemies in Afghanistan and keeping America out of Obama's War in Syria.

Since you control events, Mr. President, America owes you a debt for slowing down Obama's war in Syria.

Sincerely,
Adam Cahn
Austin, TX
September 7, 2013

P.S. Next time you talk to Roger, make sure you tell him to vote NO on Syria.

Would Ron Paul challenge Senator John Cornyn?!?

This is a blog post we never thought we'd write; how times change.

Following their defeat in the 2012 election, the Republican establishment has attempted a massive power-grab, despite the fact that they were the ones who lost back-to-back Presidential elections.

It's not a secret that we've been looking for a primary challenge for John Cornyn for months.  It's also not a secret that we've been working with Ron Paul supporters on local issues.  It might be time to put two and two together.

Cahnman's Musings doesn't agree with Ron Paul on every aspect of foreign policy, but we oppose the current war in Syria.  We also don't trust John Cornyn.  Under current circumstances, Ron Paul would be a substantial improvement over John Cornyn.

A successful primary challenge requires two things: money and name recognition.  Ron Paul would begin a campaign with both.  If he were to run, Ron Paul would instantly become the favorite.

Louie Gohmert remains our top choice to challenge Cornyn, but Cahnman's Musings doubts he will run; assuming Gohmert's out, Ron Paul becomes an acceptable alternative.

Cahnman's Musings is hardly an anti-war publication.  We are, however, anti-THIS-war.  In 2014, an anti-war Republican doesn't frighten us.  A three-issue campaign, based upon avoiding war in Syria, dismantling the Federal Reserve, and dismantling Obamacare would go a long way in Texas.  It would certainly beat whatever horse manure John Cornyn might offer.

Austin accepts $11 million in Agenda 21 Blood Money from Obama

Holy Boondoggle Batman; from today's Daily Texan:

A federal grant worth $11.3 million will revolutionize transportation in Austin and change the way students connect with their campus, the city and the surrounding areas. 

The project — announced yesterday — will allow Capital Metro to increase bus and train speeds and frequency while doubling the freight service so fewer freight trucks will be on the streets. It will include a Bus Rapid Transit, projected to begin in 2014. Express Lanes, projected for 2015, will be highway lanes that are free for transit vehicles and tolled for other vehicles. 

Another part of the project’s plan is the Urban Rail, a hybrid between a light rail and a streetcar to connect the University to areas like downtown Austin, South Congress and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Austin will contribute $15 million to the project, Cap Metro President Linda Watson said.   

Which fits with Obama's long-term agenda:

“These projects truly have the power to transform communities,” U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx said. “No one wants to get used to traffic jams and to long wait times.”

Complete with land grabs:

The proposed Regional Rail will connect Austin to surrounding areas, such as Georgetown, San Marcos and San Antonio.

And fuzzy economic predictions:

 Foxx said every dollar invested in public transportation yields $4 in economic returns.

But at least bureaucrats know what's best for the rest of us:

“What people really want is their time back,” Foxx said. “They’re working hard. They’re trying to make it home for dinner [or] make it to a soccer game for their kids. That five or 10 minutes that they save because they [weren’t sitting in traffic], that matters to people right at home.”

 Read the whole article, complete with pandering to students, here.

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Update: We just took two trips on South Congress in the past two hours; we can only imagine the decade long traffic nightmare attempting to put light rail there would create.

San Antonio Thought Police Win the Battle

"But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive."

Genesis 50:20

"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"I made my bed, I'll lie in it; I made my bed I'll die in it...."

Hole, Miss World

They did it; the San Antonio City Council voted to approve Julian Castro's censorship ordinance.

Municipal government in San Antonio will now enforce restrictions on personal beliefs; with the bonus of forcing businesses to allow men in women's restrooms.

The question becomes: how will people react?!?

It's an open question.  We'd love to get all 'rah, rah' on our soapbox and talk about how this will not stand.  But we don't know.

There's certainly recourse.  The San Antonio city charter provides for recalls.  But a successful recall drive will take a lot of work.

As a resident of Austin, this isn't our fight.  San Antonio residents must take the lead.  A successful recall campaign will only be won neighbor-to-neighbor.

If you live in San Antonio, and you don't agree with what just happened, you better get off your ass on this one....

San Antonio at Ground Zero

The latest newsletter from Texas State Board of Education member Ken Mercer, whose district covers San Antonio:

Of particular concern, the non-discrimination ordinance, know as NDO, includes the new politically correct term “gender identity.”  Gender identity means “a gender-related identity, appearance, expression or behavior of an individual, regardless of the individual’s assigned sex at birth.”

Eighteen months ago, Liberty Counsel defended Natalie Johnson, a young African-American female employee of a San Antonio Macy’s store.  She was terminated for refusing to allow a male to have continued access to a female dressing room.  Even though Johnson cited her religious beliefs and values, Macy’s management claimed she discriminated against the biological male customer on the basis of gender identity.

Do city council members believe: “If he says he is woman, he is a woman and should be allowed access to female-only facilities?”  If the NDO passes, child molesters and sexual deviants will love this ordinance.

By the way, there is a new gender identity being promoted by the far left defined as Minor Attracted Persons (MAP).  MAP supporters believe it is politically incorrect to use terms such as “child molester,” “pedophile,” “child predator,” or “pervert.”  Instead MAP’s goal is to normalize and decriminalize pedophilia.  May God help our children.

....

If the ordinance passes, San Antonio will have to issue a special “travel advisory” to parents of junior-high daughters who come here to participate in volleyball or basketball tournaments:
 

“Warning: Biological males with gender identify issues will be
allowed in the girls’ bathroom, locker rooms, and/or showers.”

 .....

Again, the words of the NDO may change, but the original intent is clear, it is terribly discriminatory, criminalizing religious beliefs.  This is a direct attack on religion and upon men and women of faith who believe in traditional marriage who, under this ordinance, would be branded as “haters.”
 
The NDO is an outrageous attack on religious freedom – a freedom which is guaranteed by our United States Constitution.  Let me close with this statement from United States Senator Ted Cruz:
 
“Any attempt to bar an individual from public service based on a personal religious conviction is contrary to the liberties guaranteed us under our Constitution and should be emphatically opposed. It is encouraging to see so many Texans standing up to defend their religious freedoms in light of the misguided proposal put forth by the local city council.”

 Read the whole thing here.

Official Endorsement: AGAINST Texas Constitutional Amendment 6 (aka. Joe Straus' Water Slush Fund)

It's amazing how much horse manure the Republican 'leadership' of the Texas Legislature expects us to swallow; just like the Obama administration, Texas Republican 'leadership' won't let a good crisis go to waste.

Faced with an ongoing, exceptional, drought Texas Republicans, led by Speaker Joe Straus, are attempting to hoodwink voters into draining the state's savings account to enrich Joe Straus' cronies without solving our genuine water problems.

Specifically, Prop. 6 would amend the Texas Constitution to create a "water infrastructure bank."  This "water infrastructure bank" would "set up a historic revolving loan program available to local governmental entities." In other words, a bunch of lobbyists in Austin would make "revolving loans" to the same Texas local government entities that have already run up $288 BILLION in debt (principal plus interest).

All this talk of publicly financed "water infrastructure banks" making "revolving loans" to "local government entities" is politician-speak for the insiders getting rich while the rest of us foot the bill.

Making matters worse, the concept of an infrastructure bank was first proposed by Franklin Roosevelt.  It's most prominent modern proponent has been the former Democrat Governor of Pennsylvania, Fast Eddie Rendell.  That Joe Straus and his cronies are pushing ideas originally proposed by Franklin Roosevelt and Fast Eddie Rendell tells you everything you need to know about Joe Straus and his cronies.

Over the next two months, Texas voters should expect a hysterical and disingenuous campaign designed to sow panic.  They shouldn't fall for it.  The Texas "water infrastructure bank" is a classic attempt by politicians to use an alleged crisis for personal enrichment.

The time has come to send a message to Joe Straus and the rest of the corrupt Republican leadership in the Texas Legislature: Vote AGAINST Texas Constitutional Amendment 6.

Glenn Hegar's Asinine Tax Gimmick

The pro-life, second amendment, two-step is alive and well in the comptroller's race:

Tax Holiday Weekend for Sportsmen

I am proposing a new annual "Back to Hunt" tax-free weekend that will take place prior to the fall hunting season. This break from taxes will work in much the same way as the current back to school holiday that has been so successful in helping parents prepare for the school year. My goal is to help sportsmen start the season right and increase the opportunities for new hunters and fishermen to carry on this Texas tradition.

 *SIGH*....Where to begin?!?

The economics profession has something called the Permanent Income Hypothesis, which is a fancy-pants highfalutin' way of saying that people make consumption decisions based on long-term factors, not short-term stimuli; tax-free weekends are gimmicks that merely shift the timing of consumption.

This is the exact same logic that the Obama administration used in the Cash for Clunkers program; so yeah, one of our Republican candidates for Texas Comptroller (the one who deals with all the money) started his campaign with an idea so terrible it could have been thought up by Barack Obama.

Cahnman's Musings believes most second amendment enthusiasts are intelligent enough to see through this economically illiterate pandering.