THE FLAG:

The bureaucrats are at it again. Sometimes members of Congress will present to a constituent a flag which has flown over the capitol, usually in honor of a veteran or some other public servant, and along with it a certificate with a brief inscription referring to the reason for the honor. The procedure is carried out by the office of the architect of the U.S. capitol.

Recently, an Ohio man was given a flag by his congressman. He wanted to honor his grandfather, an Army veteran, and he requested the inscription to read ". . . and his dedication and love of God, country and family." The certificate that he received had omitted "God," and the man was understandably in wonderment. When his congressman inquired, the architect's office replied that one of the rules governing this procedure stated ". . .religious expressions are not permitted on flag certificates."

The congressman, along with four others, noted to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi the contradicting inscriptions of "In God We Trust" and other such in both the House and Senate Chambers which said architect has not covered up or erased. The position of architect of the U.S. Capitol is not an elected position, but is a position filled by congressional appointment.

Sounds to me like another appointed authority run amok.

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Same topic, another level: Obama reports that he does not wear his flag pin in his lapel any more because (this is not a direct quote) such exhibitions have become so commonplace that the meaning has been lost, which seems to me to be saying that he does not want to indulge in such cheap, tawdry exhibitions. I don't think there are any citizens who worship the flag itself, but rather support what the flag stands for.

Well, maybe I'm just an old fuddy-duddy, a tired and worn-out veteran, but I love what the Stars and Stripes stood for, stands for, and will stand for, warts and all, and in spite of a spate of nest-featherers who have found a home in the United States Capitol buildings (and for whom I have to pay salaries and retirement, not to detail junkets and other perks). Yes, the United States of America is not perfect - it does have many of the afore-noted warts - but there is no country in the entire world that can match it - NONE, ABSOLUTELY NONE - in terms of liberty, of opportunity, of the value of the individual, unless (until?) the socialists deprive us of all three (and they're working hard at it).

So, I will continue to fly my (yes, I said "my") flag on my home 24 hours a day, lighted at night, keep a hand-sized flag on my car, and wave a flag by hand any time I take a notion to. And Obama is perfectly free to sneer at me. Ant that's what this country is all about. He is free to sneer at me and I am free to vote for someone, anyone, else.

THE RASCALS ARE AT IT (still):

I've spoken of "earmarks" before - you remember, a money appropriation for a senator's or congressman's pet project (or a payback for campaign contributions or other favors) tacked onto a bill, any bill whether or not it relates to the pet project, and whether or not it is for the" common good." But they're good for votes in the next election (ah, getting elected for another round at the food trough). I could not resist passing on these excerpts from World Net Daily.

-- Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. - $2 million for a library in New York, in which will reside his official "papers," along with an office for him. It will be called the "Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service," situated in Harlem. (Most congressmen will make deal with another congressman to tack on the earmark in a transparent attempt to avoid self-aggrandizement.)

-- Democrats Clinton, Schumer and Reid - $750,000 for the FDR Library.

-- Hutchinson (R Texas) - $3.76 million for the Johnson Presidential Library.

-- Cochrane (R Miss) - $1 million for the Nixon Presidential Library.

-- The Arkansas senators (Democrats) - $1 million for the Clinton School of Public Service, in Little Rock.

-- Two Louisiana Republicans - $3.74 million for research into the Formosan Subterranean Termite. Huh?

-- Hastings (R) - to build a Wine and Culinary Center in Washington (just what I need)

-- Durbin (D-Il) - $470,000 to study the Asian Long-Horned Beetle (is that what stabbed me in the rear?)

-- Thompson (D-Cal) -$213,000 to study the Oliver Fruit Fly in (are you ready for this?) Montpelier, France

-- Can't find the "owner" of this one - $1.7 million for the Centers for Disease Control to (get ready, take a deep breath, then exhale to prevent an explosion) fund a Hollywood liaison to advise doctor dramas. (Now if they offer me that job, I might be not be quite as hot under the collar.)

This is just a sample (a mini-sample) of the 11,351 pork projects that the Heritage Foundation is reported to have fund in the House and Senate appropriation bills. Yes, that's eleven thousand three hundred fifty one. Only one of these samples is authored by first-termers. They are learning fast from the veteran porkers.

Just a few weeks ago, Congress enacted a bill to require daylight on earmarks, then within a week put on a rider which essentially enucleated that requirement, so it was a tissue paper bill, something like "You cover my behind and I'll cover yours."

So, I come back to my now-familiar mantra, Vote the rascals out, EVERY TWO YEARS.

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