Just Blowing Smoke...

A belated return to the musings of a scribbler who considers himself an largely unreconstructed Capitalist, a Constitutional Textualist, and a largely unrepentant Stogie Smoking Curmudgeon. With luck, you'll find a bit of insight here, assembled from a logical and reasonable perspective, and served with a side of twisted humor. Be aware that irony and sarcasm may often find their way into these offerings; and it's the reader's obligation to discover where, when, or if they occur.

Quotes of the Week

... because the sharpest curve that many of us will ever have to negotiate is that of a well-turned phrase

“Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.”
― Mark Twain

“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.”
― Groucho Marx

“I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”
― Thomas Jefferson

“The first duty of a man is to think for himself”
― Jose Marti

“Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.”
― Ronald Reagan

“Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature made them.”
― Bertrand Russell

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Lobbyist

Speaking of Senators ...

An interesting and little known fact is that the term "Lobbyist" was coined by Ulysses S. Grant, who used it to describe men who spent their days in the lobbies of Washington DC hotels waiting their turn to bribe Senators and Congressman. (excepted and paraphrased from "The Real Lincoln" by Thomas J. DiLorenzo)