On Purpose

Sometimes my fellow Conservatives make me want to slap them... And no, I'm not talking specifically about you, kenn...

I'm talking about this diva of ignorance that confronted Barney Frank at a pro-insurance reform town hall meeting. (Can't remember EVER linking Huffington Post on my blog before.)

And while she had Sen. Frank's condescending response coming, what she and her companions need is a little lesson in history...

Nazism held four basic tenets (if I recall my 12th grade World History class correctly):

1. Nationalism.  To be specific, Hitler advocated for strict German nationalism.  President Obama was frequently criticized for his anti-American ideologies as evidenced by the fact that his campaign costume didn't always include a red, white & blue lapel pin.

2. Isolationism.  At least in theory, Hilter's Third Reicht was supposed to be independent from foreign influence and diplomacy.  In practice, it required alliance with other socialist dictators to prosecute the reestablishment of the old Roman Empire boundaries. On the other hand, President Obama has been open-armed, open-hearted and open-handed with the "global community."  This is so much the case that most Conservative pundits criticize him and his appointees for being "haters of freedom" (whatever that means).

3. Racial purity.  While the official documents of the Third Reicht didn't officially endorse the Holocaust, Hitler's own belief was that the evil that had befallen Germany after WWI was the fault of rich Jews living in Germany... So, he set out to systematically eradicate them.  His belief was that a nation, led and controlled by genetically superior Aryans, would conquer all of Europe and reestablish the glory of the Roman Empire.  And while President Obama has made some stupid (or at least inflammatory) statements about racism, a quest for racial purity seems unlikely since he is bi-racial himself.

4. Socialism.  Now, Nazis were socialists.  Hiltler believed that society at large should serve the needs/desires of the superior Aryans.  And President Obama is also a socialist, believing that it is society's duty to serve the needs/desires of the poorer classes.  There are some parallels to be observed: Hilter took the possessions from the rich Jews by force and distributed them to the poorer Aryan Germans; not dissimilar to the desire of the President to tax the rich in order to expand Medicaid programs.  But the endgame in either case is very different: Hilter envisioned a society in which the Aryan race sat atop a rigid caste system, enslaving other racial groups and living off the sweat and blood of the subjugated castes.

It seems more likely that President Obama envisions a more utopian scenario where the rich live more simply and the poor have enough to live well. 

I just think it's naive to think that single-payer healthcare will cause us to all join hands and sing the words of that old, Negro spiritual, "Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, we're free at last!"... In Canada, it can't even provide sufficient healthcare...

So, by all means, call him a Socialist... but calling him a Nazi just makes you sound stupid. 

...is that anyone can be your neighbor.

Mud Swallow

This is a Mud Swallow... pretty bird, but something of a pestilence.  They build large nests on the sides of cliffs out of mud.  When they can't find a cliff, they nest on the sides of buildings.  We had several thousand of them on the back of our community clubhouse last summer. 

This guy wants to build his nest on my patio... which would be ok except that they are loud, aggressive and a health hazard.

So, I'm spending my day trying to convince this bird that he doesn't want me for a neighbor... Trouble is, he seems pretty persistent... And his cousin found a place on the balcony next door...

There goes the neighborhood...

Denver Zoo has a new baby Aye-Aye... This rare little little primate lives in Madagascar.  This will be only the second one born in captivity in North America... Check out the video of the little guy getting his first physical...

To find out what you can do to help endangered animals like the aye-aye, contact your local zoo...

Today is "No Socks Day." Show us some toes!

300 Days of Sunshine...Day 89

This made me smile...

Summer is coming... soon we will be able to drive, hike and climb back to the high-country and check out the tundra... Until then, here's a slideshow of pics from last year...

I can't wait...