Kelly Ayott (NH AG) on Dope.

NH AG Kelly Ayotte is demonstrating a common myopia (shared by the nation as a whole) when it comes to dealing with the rising rate of prescription drug abuse.  She wants to create a database to help track stimulants, pain killers, muscle relaxants and other commonly abused prescriptions in the state in an effort to reduce the rising number of deaths associated with this form of abuse.  Some claim the database poses privacy issues, while others contend that there are complex government regulations and a full blown pissing match between physicians and Pharmacists over who should be monitoring for abuse, and who is ultimately responsible when the system fails. 

I contend that all of these things are true to some degree, but we can probably avoid most of them, and prevent the extensive costs to taxpayers of setting up and monitoring such a system, by simply looking at some obvious relationships (at least in New Hampshire) and connecting the dots.  Get the complete dope on the jump.

Big D Dog and Pony Show in Unity NH

..And I’m at a wedding in Maine.  I wasn’t able to get up there to check it out first hand.

But based on news reports and early commentary in the blogosphere, while the presentation came off well, there was nothing new on the menu, or in the kitchen; Clintonista’s and Obamamaniacs are still at odds.

Thanks to Pejman at REDSTATE for these top two links.

From an ABC News Blog

One major Clinton donor described it this way:  “This felt like when your mom forces you to go visit your Aunt Ida and she has to pinch your cheeks and you’re sitting there in an uncomfortable suit and you can’t wait to leave.”

And over at Atlantic.com

…But a few minutes later, a few, less happy donors asked pointed questions. According to someone in the room, one Clinton donor asked Obama directly whether he was going to add her to the ticket as his vice presidential nominee. Even Sen. Clinton looked uncomfortable, gesturing to Obama to move on, which he did.

As I poke around…The NH GOP didn’t have much to say.

CONCORD – Fergus Cullen, Chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, made the following statement today:

“Characteristic of the Obama campaign, today’s event was long on symbolism and short on substance. While Barack Obama talks about working across the aisle, John McCain has an actual record of bipartisan reform. Today’s event was nothing more than a partisan love-fest that showed Obama’s real stripes.”

But  A few women from PUMA, I have read, were there to make their case for Hillary’s victory.  The PUMA party is a Democrats for McCain outfit.  PUMA is Party Unity my A**.  Always good to have people out there exercising their rights.

Over all I don’t have much to add.  I’ll try to get caught up and come back to this later.

 

On the Second amendment

I am pleased with the SCOTUS decision on the right to bear arms, and while I have not read the whole decision I am certain that I will not find what I am actually looking for; something that supports my personal interpretation.  I wrote this a while back, but now is as good a time as any to post it.

Let me preface with this.

(IMO) The Bill of Rights does not in any way exist as a grant of government power.  It is, in fact, an enumeration of rights which are to be protected from the government. Granting that same government reflexive power within the text of the actual amendments over other aspects of them seems a bit contrary to their intended purpose.

While we could debate the finer points (and likely will) I’d rather get to mine on Am 2, and leave all that for later.

The good stuff is on the jump

Dalrymple on government meddling

It appears to be Arm Chair political philosophy day today.

Read this excerpt from In Praise of Prejudice by Theodore Dalrymple, then ask yourself if the situation described does not make a deep connection with the direction government in America is heading (or has been heading) in recent years.  In keeping with my commitment to small government conservatism, this strikes quite a few chords with me.  I highly recommend the book, or any of Dr. Dalrymple’s many works.

 

 

“A philosophy that sets out to destroy the influence of custom, tradition, authorities, and prejudice, does indeed destroy particular customs, traditions, authorities, and prejudices, but only to replace them by others.  The new, in this aspect of human existence as in all others, may be better than the old, but it may also be worse.”

Continued on the jump…

The Police-State of Welfare

The human tendency for compassion, particularly for those with whom we have no immediate connection, is one of those divine human virtues.  Something of this idea was long ago hijacked and taken to the highest levels of our government where it was stripped of its divinity and now manifests itself as an addition to a bureaucracy whose presumed purpose is to help people whom it assumes cannot help themselves; the ultimate expression of compassion via democracy to provide opportunities to those it has itself labeled as “in need.”  But the construction of these bureaucratic mechanisms tends to produce the opposite affect, manufacturing more petitioners instead of relieving us of the ones it insists we already have, while slowly devouring their liberty and converting those “in need” into slaves of the state.  And for some reason these failures do not prevent them from making matters worse.