Cola Wars

Victories for us "Conservatarians" are becoming harder and harder these days.  That's why I was inordinately happy last night when a New York State Judge struck down Nazi Bloomberg's attempt to save the unwashed masses from the evils of large Coca-Colas.  It's probably a Pyrrhic victory, since some liberal judge somewhere up the judicial food chain will likely uphold this latest version of a Nanny-Stater's wet dream...but I'll take my good news wherever I can find it these days.

Just how short-lived this victory may be was driven home when I read a new poll from Marist University.  It showed that while 53% of New York City residents opposed the soda restrictions, 42% supported it.  42%!  Wow.  I can't stop thinking about that number.

I guess I live a sheltered life and hang around only a small group of like-minded people.  I cannot think of one person I know who would support something like this.  Not one.  I can't even think of casual acquaintances who would think this was a good idea.  Yet 42% of New Yorkers surveyed think that the Government making such a basic decision for us is a good idea.

What do I make of this?  Are the demographics in the Big Apple so skewed that a near-majority have no problem with something I think is among the most odious proposals I've ever heard?  Is the rank-and-file of Danville and Pittsylvania County really THAT different from New York?  Am I hopelessly out of touch?  Or could it be something much more sinister?

Are we now witnessing the first real fruits of decades of education that is designed more to indoctrinate than illuminate?  I can only imagine what this poll would have been like if it were administered in, say 1980.  My guess is that MUCH fewer than 42% would support such an idea.  What has happened in the intervening generation?

I have often said that President Obama is not the worst thing in this nation.  The worst thing is an electorate that could vote for someone who has made no secret about his love affair with central command politics.  Are we past the point now where people are more than willing to give up what I consider to be rudimentary decision-making power, just so we can keep our brains free to absorb the latest reality TV series?

It makes we wonder what a similar poll would say ten years from now.  20 years down the road.  It also makes me shudder.

Lock and load!

I have never been a conspiracy theorist.  The mindset that there's more than meets the eye in every instance has always struck me as imbecilic.  It assumes that there is a nefarious undercurrent to all things.  

It doesn't pass the logic test.  If you think 9-11 was an inside job, stop and think for a minute.  Think about the staggering number of people who would have to be "in" on the conspiracy, at least to some degree.  Now think about how damned difficult it is to keep three or four people quiet about someone's surprise birthday party!

All-too-often, conspiracy theorists concoct scenarios that would confuse Rube Goldberg.  It assumes an amount of acumen and cleverness that I'm sure our government does not possess.

It's also been my experience that conspiracy theorists are among the most miserable people I've met...socially, at least.  Perhaps dreaming up scenarios with black helicopters circling over their heads gives them a sense of importance...that they matter enough to warrant dark forces to conspire against them.  The reality---that they're not that important---is less appealing.

Having said all that, I will admit that I'm NOT getting warm fuzzies by what I'm reading in regards to the Department of Homeland Security.  Today's news informs us that DHS is purchasing 2,700 light-armored tanks.  This is on top of previous reports of their stockpiling ammunition....somewhere between 1.6 and 2.1 billion rounds, according to estimates.

I realize that there is a police function to DHS and I'm sure the agents would prefer being armed with something better than a pocketknife...but the timing is curious.  At a time when gun control measures are all the rage, when ammunition for the rank-and-file is becoming scarce, and when the White House is occupied by a man who had no compunctions about using drones to target Americans...well, let's just say I'm on guard.

I think I'll hold off getting fitted for a tinfoil hat...but my eyes are wide open.  The only thing I hate more than conspiracy theorists is when conspiracy theorists are right.