The American Idea

"Autumn Americana"

1. Shift-Delete

After reading some deal about a guy's gmail getting hacked (williamt - Pappy), I hardened all my passwords this week. Then, doofus, I typed my one of my new cool passwords into the user name slot. So, now it's stuck in the auto-fill for Firefox. Dop.

Huzzah! In Firefox, the solution to this is Shift-Delete. If you select an auto-fill choice in Firefox and then hit Shift-Delete, it goes away.

2. The American Idea

The WSJ this morning and google news is a blizzard of negativity. Europe. Unemployment. Deficits. Nabob Obama jabbering. Leftie racism directed at Herman Cain. St. Louis winning the World Series (he he). And probably my favorite: Occupy Naperville protests. Snort.

Paul Ryan is a sliver of light in this silly gloom. This is long, but worthy:

Rep. Paul Ryan on Saving the American Idea

The whole thing is goob, but these few paragraphs really resonated with me:

Telling Americans they are stuck in their current station in life, that they are victims of circumstances beyond their control, and that government’s role is to help them cope with it – well, that’s not who we are. That’s not what we do.

Our Founding Fathers rejected this mentality. In societies marked by class structure, an elite class made up of rich and powerful patrons supplies the needs of a large client underclass that toils, but cannot own. The unfairness of closed societies is the kindling for class warfare, where the interests of “capital” and “labor” are perpetually in conflict. What one class wins, the other loses.

The legacy of this tradition can still be seen in Europe today: Top-heavy welfare states have replaced the traditional aristocracies, and masses of the long-term unemployed are locked into the new lower class.

The United States was destined to break out of this bleak history. Our future would not be staked on traditional class structures, but on civic solidarity. Gone would be the struggle of class against class.

Instead, Americans would work, compete, and co-operate in an open market, climb the ladder of opportunity, and keep the fruits of their efforts.

Self-government and the rule of law would secure our equal, God-given rights. Our political and economic systems – rooted in freedom and responsibility – would reward, and thus cultivate, traditional virtues.

Given that the President’s policies have moved us closer to the European model, I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised that his class-based rhetoric has followed suit.

- Paul Ryan, The American Idea

Contrast Ryan's "American Idea" with President Obama's nincompoopery: "You got their [repub's] plan, which is let's have dirtier air, dirtier water, (and) less people with health insurance." (usatoday story)

So, put your money on the table: President Obama and Occupy Naperville or Paul Ryan's American Idea. Cha!
yow, bill