Pardon My Politics

The well-known slogan “Don’t Mess with Texas” has taken on a new meaning: A small Texas school district will let its teachers and staff bring their guns to school this fall with relatively few strings attached. Why? To actually defend the students and employees in the event an armed intruder starts shooting. Imagine police arresting a wounded school intruder, or bagging a dead one, instead of once again cleaning up a carnage of dead and wounded students and staff.

In reaction to 9/11, our modern Pearl Harbor, the Federal Government has gone far beyond taking measures to prevent terrorism. They've taken measures to prevent the freedom of US citizens. In the hurricane of post 9/11 legislation sweeping through Congress, a suspicious little addendum to a military appropriations and tsunami relief bill (HR1268), the Real ID Act of 2005(HR418), handed to the Federal Government all control over our state-issued driver's license.

I recently picked up the essential book on the conservative movement Conscience of a Conservative, and am certainly glad I did. Frequently when a book is old as this one we shrug off reading it, this is one that demands your attention. If you previously read this years ago go read it again. The latest version has a new foreword by George Will and a new afterword by Robert Kennedy, Jr. Barry Goldwater is considered the father of the conservative moment and with good reason. He eloquently states his case for smaller government and less taxes. He takes a definitive stance on states rights and nearly 50 ago he had the foresight to see the fallacy of the welfare state.