Attention birthers

Pick one and go with it.
1. Obama has cleared up a huge misunderstanding by doing more to establish he was born in the US than any previous president. It's time to focus on other issues.
2. There is a vast leftist conspiracy to make the president's critics believe in conspiracies. This conspiracy is intended to make Obama's critics look like whackjobs. Until this conspiracy is finally uncovered, the best way to counter it is to: (A)disregard any information you read about the president in a chain email (B) avoid relaying any information about "something that you heard happened to a friend of a friend who was a Marine or a cop or something" (C) remember that if the President attends church and says he is a Christian, that is an indicator that he isn't Muslim.

Why bother raising the debt ceiling?

It strikes me as absurd that Congress and the President even bother to go through with the formality of raising the debt limit. Why have a limit at all when it can be raised at will?

The real debt limit is how much foreigners are willing to lend us before they decide Treasury bonds aren't a good investment anymore. Nobody knows what that limit is, and I just assume that we never find out.

Thoughts on the 150th anniversary of the Civil War

1. Whenever the anniversary of a war rolls around, I wonder if there is a subconscious urge among our leaders to make themselves remembered, to make become "great" men as opposed to merely good men. I would like to hear a presidential candidate promise that his term in office will be prosperous and uneventful, and that school children a century from now will have trouble remembering his name. Learn from history, draw inspiration from it, but never, ever attempt to imitate it.
2. From time to time, we'll hear someone speak fondly of states' rights. But in my view, the right of individuals trump the rights of both state and federal governments. My right to leave your plantation is more important than your right to leave the Union.

Government Shutdown

The federal government might shut down all non-essential functions tonight. Some folks see this as a good thing. But it is my understanding that a shutdown will end up costing us more money in the long run, since furloughed government employees will get back pay for the time that they weren't allowed to work.

The possibility of a government shutdown brings up a good question: If it isn't essential, why should we be paying for it at a time when financial resources are scarce? Of course, we can all argue over what is and isn't essential all day long. But if a "non-essential" program is really essential to you, the possibility of a government shutdown is all the more reason that you shouldn't trust the government to provide it for you.

Is Mitch Daniels a Time Traveler?

When I first heard of Barack Obama, I thought that he was too smart to be a real American. But when he claimed that his uncle liberated Auschwitz, that was all the proof I needed that he was educated in the United States.

But after seeing this:

and this:

I am starting to have my doubts about where and when our governor is from. This raises several questions.
1. Are "Crewman Daniels" and Governor Daniels the same person?
2. If Governor Daniels intends to run for president, can he show proof that he is at least 35, both biologically and chronologically? For all we know, he could have skipped over several years of his own lifespan.
3. Was he born in a timeline in which the United States existed?
4. Couldn't he have prevented certain catastrophes with his knowledge of the future? Couldn't he have warned the Colts that the Saints were going to attempt an onside kick after halftime in last year's Superbowl?