Idle Thoughts From An Undisciplined Mind

Dick Morris reports and videos I find interesting and informative. Don’t always agree with him, and, as we followers know, he can be spectacularly wrong.

He has recently been talking about Russia and Putin. His point is Russia’s financial health depends on energy exports; that it has little else going for it. He likens their economy to that of Saudi Arabia. He thinks Putin encourages international instability (keeps the pot boiling) to manipulate oil prices; to keep them high. That benefits Russia and him personally.

If we’ve learned anything from the history of the 20^th Century, it is that Russians, or Communists, are masters of espionage and recruitment to their causes. Doubt these skills, the dossiers, and people running them, just evaporated when the Soviet era collapsed.

Am I the only one who hears and sees similarities with the whole Progressive “climate change” shtick with the ferment encouraged by the old USSR?  The organized opposition to pipelines seems eerily similar to the 60’s anti war movement. SDS Weathermen become ELF? The current uproar about fracking seems to smell of ulterior motives. It is not in Russia’s interest for the USA to have strong energy independence, or, for that matter, a strong economy. 

The smart ass question, “How do you eat an elephant?” has the smart ass answer, “One bite at a time.” Seems as long as I can remember this country has been under attack, internally and externally. Some attacks are ideological. Many are venal. As an example, removal of the firewall between commercial and investment banks, and banks using “Stimulus” funds to by up whole industries. Still, the elephant keeps moving forward despite the rampant bites. By golly, this is still one hell of a country!

The easy part is pointing fingers and screaming, “Someone should do something.” The hardest part is coming up with, “Do what”?

My answer, in part, is using whatever miniscule impact my wallet has. As an example, I’ve used TurboTax for years. I like it, find it easy to use, and have never had any IRS problems. Now I’ve learned the parent company is Intuit, a company whose management has used their stockholders money to fund various Progressive causes. So, no more TurboTax. Likewise, for the same reason, I won’t buy insurance from Progressive or GIECO.

In addition, I do the usual; letters to Congresscritters and others, donations to organizations I believe in, voting, etc.

Does it have any impact on “the world”? Damned if I know. It does have a positive impact on my outlook. I won’t shut up, and I won’t be a passive sheeple. That makes me feel good.