I think you should back what your party backs. And choke on it.

A friend of mine went to Monticello today. I'm sure you've seen it on the back of a nickel -- it is the home in Charlottesville, Va., of Thomas Jefferson. She sent me some pictures, but I'm not publishing those because that isn't my point. Because she is a diehard Democrat, I wrote back to her, "Monticello is nice. Built by slaves, of course, so you have to feel guilty at the same time. According to your people. In fact, you should probably set it on fire."

The Social Justice Warriors who are running the Democrat party these days are completely out of control. Trump is evil, apparently -- I am willing to stipulate that he is a narcisisstic ninny and a nasty man with extraordinarily thin skin -- but they are passionately devoted to either a felon or a Socialist, with a capital S. The Constitution is racist, people should use whatever bathroom they want, depending upon how they "identify" that day, and yes, we should take money from people who earned it for no other reason than that they earned it. Their programs don't work, unless you consider creating a larger and larger bureaucracy that takes more and more of our rights without solving the problem the bureaucracy is supposed to address "working."

Actually, as we all realize, they do. The point is not to make people's lives better. The point is to ensure that government controls all aspects of those lives. They try to twist the Clean Water Act from covering "navigable waters" to covering "occasionally damp areas." They try to twist the Clean Air Act from covering actual pollutants to covering carbon dioxide, which is produced in far larger quantities by nature than by man and has almost nothing to do with climate, not that we could change the climate even if it did. Damn the cost, do something!

The party of science is totes OK with snuffing out unborn lives, but opposes the death penalty. The party of equality wants to subjugate the rights of more than 99 percent of the population to the "rights" of less than 1 percent of the population so that some confused, mentally unsteady people can pee where they want. The party of freedom of expression wants to shut down speech on college campuses that is just too "triggering" for the delicate snowflakes there who can't stand to hear opinions that differ from theirs. The party of justice wants to take money from people who have done nothing more wrong than earn too much money and give it to people who have done nothing. The party of freedom is gangbusters for, well, actually nothing that actually supports freedom.

So go ahead. Burn Monticello. Makes sense these days for a Democrat.

Update: I was under pressure from Jeb the Wonder Dog to take him for a walk, leading me to neglect to even mention the pressure the Democrat administration is putting on colleges to punish young men for "sexual assault" without any due process and to force high schools to let anyone who "identifies" as the opposite sex to use the opposite gender's lockerroom and bathroom facilities, regardless of their actual gender or even their actual gender identity. This is what passes for equality in the Democrat Party.

If this is the country you want, by all means, vote Democrat. And choke on it.

Oh, I know what she was saying

Murder launches daily attempts to get outside. I think she just wants to kill things, but who knows? Occasionally, she succeeds. Like today. Mrs. Wolves managed to capture the escape on film (bytes? fuck, I don't know):

Murder was able to tiptoe through the tulips. What does that mean? Guess you're not old enough to remember this:

I think Murder was thinking something more along these lines, though:

I'm not actually recommending this, but . . .

. . . if you want to compare a message of submission versus a message of freedom, I know which one I prefer. So does this soldier in Afghanistan, apparently, as he plays "The Star Spangled Banner" to drown out the call to prayer:

Let me out!

It is clear that our kitties want to go kill things. Sadie, the auxiliary emergency backup dog, doesn't care very much, but it seems clear those kitties want out. Free them?

Happy Veterans Day

Thank a veteran for the freedoms you enjoyed today.

Prediction: dramatic rise in sales of black spray paint

Because that's what people will be buying to disable these cameras if this policy is actually put in place:

"Under the proposals new cars would be fitted with cameras that could read road speed limit signs and automatically apply the brakes when this is exceeded. Patrick McLoughlin, the Transport Secretary, is said to be opposed to the plans, which could also mean existing cars are sent to garages to be fitted with the speed limiters, preventing them from going over 70mph. The new measures have been announced by the European Commission's Mobility and Transport Department as a measure to reduce the 30,000 people who die on the roads in Europe every year.

 While lower speed limits really do tend to lead to lower death rates -- at least in this country -- that is nowhere near the only determining factor in highway deaths. While  the rate of highway deaths per mile travelled started a downward trend when President Reagan imposed a national 55 mile-per-hour speed limit, the death rate did not go up when the national limit was rescinded and, in fact, the rate now is less than half what it was several years after the lower nation speed limit was imposed. Why? Probably safety improvements in vehicle construction. Maybe people drive better. My money would be on safer cars, but the point is, forcing people to drive slower isn't the best way to lower highway deaths.

Something like the EU wants to do, with cameras to force people to drive slower, will only make people disable the cameras. Impinging on peoples' freedom of choice just because you can is not the answer. People will simply rebel, even if that only means spraying a little black paint on a camera lens. Damn sure I would. Yet another really good reason not to live in Europe, even though Barry works night and day to make me rethink that decision.

Better late than never

I can't say "happy" Memorial Day, because that sounds odd, all things considered, but I hope you observed the holiday in a fashion that was both enjoyable and did honor to those the holiday is intended to remember. We did, and we said a little prayer for the people in my family's life  this holiday honors. All things considered, they are blessedly few, but I extend that prayer to all who have given their lives so that we can live free. I hope we don't voluntarily give up what they died to preserve.