The Conservative Edge

Jonah Goldberg wrote a column that was recently featured in my local newspaper, the Dayton Daily News. Goldberg wrote about the statement made by Obama that he is not an “ideologue.” Goldberg countered that Obama is indeed an adherent to an ideology. Most politicians are, I suppose, but the liberals seem to be more radically aligned with an idea or set of ideals.

One of the editors from the Dayton Daily News claimed that Obama wasn’t an ideologue, but more of a pragmatist. That doesn’t explain why Obama took an entire year to realize he’d better do something about the economy. Anyway, I decided to respond to the editor on the newspaper’s website. I thought the response might make a good blog post, as follows:

“The liberals’ actions clearly reveal a consistent adherence to an ideology. Generally speaking, the principle components of liberal ideology are that corporate profits and individual wealth are both evil; wealth, in fact, must be redistributed; growth of government is necessary and good; and the rights of the individual are subordinate to the greater society. These ideas have caused every president since Jimmy Carter to punish the very businesses that provide goods and services. Carter had his obsession with “windfall profit taxes” against oil companies; and one of the first acts of the Obama administration was to levy outrageous taxes on tobacco, another industry hated by liberals.

“The liberals seek to create a dependency on government. That is why they want to reduce our wealth by way of taxes and redistribution; eliminate our right to self-defense; and restrict our right to pursue happiness, especially if that happiness comes from enjoying a cigar (just ask Michael Jordan), driving a fast car, or building a profitable business. Jimmy Carter tried to accuse the American people of harboring a “malaise.” He never stopped to think, as liberals seldom do, that the liberal ideology created,and still creates, a despair among free Americans.”

You can view the editorial opinion page of the Dayton Daily News here. Feel free to tell the editors what you think about the liberal ideology.

Most of us have probably seen or heard the studies about the health benefits from the consumption of coffee. I seem to recall that coffee can help prevent the development of colon cancer, among other things.

But another reason to keep drinking the java has to do with environmental health, instead of human health. Apparently, fireplace logs are now being made from coffee grounds. There are two reasons for the invention of these “Java logs.” Firstly, coffee grounds supposedly take up a lot of space in landfills. Secondly, coffee grounds are said to emit 78 percent less carbon monoxide than wood when burned.

I find this all a bit pointless, especially the idea of coffee grounds being bad for landfills. Coffee grounds are prime ingredients for the making of compost. That’s because the grounds are biodegradable. Compost can be made from leaves, twigs, egg shells, banana peels, apple peelings, grass clippings, and, yes, even coffee grounds. All of the previously mentioned ingredients can be combined in a drum or other container, and with proper dampening and agitation, they become organic compost material that is beneficial for gardens and flower beds.

This is just another manifestation of the borderline paranoia that resides in the various environmentalist movements. Indeed, I believe California has already instituted a restriction on fireplaces in any new home built within the state. There are even bans on tobacco smoking at many California beaches, parks, and golf courses. Reasonable concerns for environmental stewardship has instead grown into a radical political and social ideal that is being used to control and manipulate our lives. Something is terribly wrong when a guy like Michael Jordan can’t enjoy a cigar during a golf outing without being fined. Oh well—at least he can afford to pay the penalty.