On Tornadoes and the Truth

As I write this, the American South is slowly recovering from devastating storms, which spawned tornadoes, death, and devastation across several states. Obviously, this is horrible, and any right thinking person has sympathy for the plight of the victims of these storms.

It strikes me as a fair statement that Southern states are predominantly conservative. Conservatives, it can be fairly said, favor smaller government and less government spending. The aid now flowing into these afflicted states is partially made up of government spending.

I paid quite a bit in Federal taxes last year. I won't tell you how much. But a lot. Some of my money is being spent to help people in the South. I don't have any problem with that. Those people are my countrymen. They need my help. I'm happy to give it.

I wonder if those who, one month ago, decried government spending, are going to maintain their moral purity by shunning all help offered to them?

Welcome.

When rereading George Orwell's "1984", I was (obviously) struck by the quote to the right. I have been blogging since 2003, but I have only recently begun separating my main blog into its component parts. This is the politics and current affairs blog. We have an email address available at minorityofuno@gmail.com. Feel free to comment or email us with thoughts or criticisms.

The news today is full of President Obama's release of his "real" birth certificate, a move seemingly intended to quiet the ruckus from "birthers" who try to claim, falsely, that Obama is not a native born US citizen, and thus not eligible to be president. This was settled to absolutely everyone's satisfaction years ago. Everyone who has a brain, anyway. It was a false claim then, and it is a false claim now.

The logic in releasing the document is deeply questionable. For the sort of people who believed this nonsense, there is no way to convince them. For everyone else, the reaction is, "Yeah, so?"