Thursday, September 28, 2017

Charlie Matthew William Gard (Baby Charlie), R.I.P.

We here in the United States have been hearing about
the horrors of national health care programs in other
countries; your somber Peasant shall share with you,
my grand readers, a story which ranks as one of the
most heartbreaking to date.

A British baby, Charlie Gard, not even one year old,
was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder which
robbed him of his vision, hearing, and ability to breathe
without assistance, and caused brain damage. The doctors
at Grand Ormond Street Hospital in London halted treat-
ment and sent him to a hospice to die. In the meantime,
Charlie's parents Chris Gard and Connie Yates heard
about an experimental treatment which could help
their suffering son. It meant having to take Charlie
to New York, and the cost for everything --- the
treatment, travel, lodging, etc. --- would be out of pocket,
but Charlie's parents told of their plight on GoFundMe
to raise money for it all, as the Birtish state health care system
would not pay anything toward it.

Well, Britain's NHS also would not allow Chris and Connie
to take little Charlie to New York, or anywhere outside
of Great Britain for treatment of any kind; Charlie's
doctors refused to release him, and went to the British
High Court to overrule the parent's treatment decision
for their baby. The High Court did so. Next, Charlie's
parents appealed to the European Court of Human Rights;
that court upheld the first court's ruling.

Many people and organizations entered the fray. A hospital
in Rome affiliated with the Holy See offered to admit Charlie,
as did a New York hospital affiliated with Columbia
University. On July 24, as Charlie's condition grew more dire,
the attorney for Charlie's parents withdrew their request to
transport their baby to New York for the experimental
treatment, but could Charlie remain on artificial ventilation
for just one more week? Nothing doing was the reply from
the High Court. Four days later, Baby Charlie died.
His parents were crushed, the doctors victorious, and the
NHS smug and arrogant. Although Great Britain has long
ago abolished capital punishment for deadly criminals,
the British government and its state-run health care system
in effect sentenced an innocent little baby to death, a death
which might have been avoided had he been able to
receive experimental medical treatment, and admitted
"Hail Mary" but was a better option than either continuing
conventional treatment or letting the helpless little patient
fade away in a hospice. But the NHS would not sacrifice any
of its power and control over Baby Charlie and his parents,
who with the rest of Great Britain's approximately sixty
million people are mere subjects to the monolith that
is that country's ultra-statist government.

And this is the kind of health care system that our own statist
politicians want to ensnare us in. Yet another reason that
government should not have a say in what kind of health
care and coverage we get, and that we should never give our
government that power. This is state power run amuck,
gone mad, and destroying freedom along with the priceless
value of human life!

Rest in peace, dear little Charlie. You deserved better.

MEM

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Eight Great Years!

It's anniversary time for us, my great and wonderful readers
and dear friends! September 23 marks eight years of getting
together each week to pick apart the political and economic
news of the day, to see who's been naughty and who's been
nice from a freedom standpoint, to comfort the afflicted and
afflict the comfortable (such as smug left-wingers!), and to
celebrate our great and wonderful country with the freedom
we enjoy and work to protect. Time flies when you're having
fun!

May we continue to meet right here each and every week
to have yet more fun, while standing up for all that we are
blessed with as Americans, and cheerfully standing athwart
history yelling "stop!", as the late great William F. Buckley
did with his magazine National Review. Remember, we
are the ones who author history day by day with our actions;
let us act in ways which shall preserve our country, our liberty,
and our way of life. And what's more fun than that!

God bless!


MEM

Thursday, September 14, 2017

Another Conservative Warrior Steps Forward!

No sooner than State Senator Leah Vukmir declare her candidacy
for the United States Senate seat from your faithful Peasant's
home state of Wisconsin did another conservative star and friend
of mine declare his candidacy for the seat that Sen. Vukmir
is vacating to run for the U.S. Senate: State Rep. Dale Kooyenga!
And as had Senator Vukmir, Rep. Kooyenga exclusively announced
his candidacy on Dan O'Donnell's radio show.

Dale has served seven years in the Wisconsin State Assembly,
as strong a champion for conservative principles there as has
Leah Vukmir been in the State Senate (and in the Assembly,
as she held that very seat before being elected to her current
office). Limited government, low taxes, minimal regulations
so as not to cause undue difficulty in establishing or operating
a business, livable budgets, quality education, responsive and
responsible government are his standards, and I have no doubt
that Rep. Kooyenga will seamlessly continue Sen. Vukmir's
work in the Senate therefore.

A reserve officer in the Army Reserves, Dale is also strong
on veteran's issues, and has always been there for Wisconsin
vets and their families. An accountant as well, Dale is also
strong on fiscal issues and is a proven friend to hard working,
taxpaying Wisconsinites. A finer candidate to replace Senator
Vukmir is as rare as a unicorn!

Therefore your pleased and proud Peasant endorses State Rep.
Dale Kooyenga for the State Senate! Success and blessings for
you, my good friend!


MEM

Thursday, September 7, 2017

A Conservative Warrior Cometh!

Just this very morning your exuberant Peasant was listening
to one of my favorite conservative talk show hosts, 
Dan O'Donnell, conversing with guest State Senator
Leah Vukmir who made a very special announcement.
My one-time state representative and state senator
(I no longer live in her district), after much thought and 
deliberation has declared her candidacy for the United States
Senate seat currently held by Democrat Tammy Baldwin.

I told Leah when I saw her at the Wauwatosa Fourth of July
parade that whatever she wanted to do regarding this
opportunity that she would have my full support. Leah has
been a conservative warrior in the legislature, whether the
GOP was in the majority or the minority, whether a republican
or a democrat was in the governor's office. Always a
tireless, relentless, unwavering advocate for smaller, more
responsible government, lower and fewer taxes, less onerous
regulation for small businesses, defending the unborn, and
giving schoolchildren and their parents decent choices for
the children's education, Leah will bring principle and
responsiveness to the U.S. Senate, something that the
GOP majority seems to need a strong dose of and that the
Dems in that chamber need to be sobered up by.

Leah will be an asset to President Trump and his legislative
agenda, especially with his tax reform programs. And she is
a quick study on the issues, so she will contribute right away
to the president's efforts to curb illegal immigration, as well as
his ideas for strengthening our military and shaping our foreign
policy. She will also be most helpful in reforming the Veterans
Administration and how it administers its veteran's hospitals.
Some horror stories have come out of several of them; the one
in Tomah, here your favorite Peasant's home state of Wisconsin,
is among them. A close friend, an army veteran, was hospitalized
there and he was constantly doped up on an endless stream of
medication practically forced on him by the staff because no one
wanted to actually treat him for his ailments, no one seemed to care.
Senator Baldwin certainly didn't care about my friend or the other
patients that were treated to the same "care". A U.S. Marine patient
there was so overly medicated that he took his own life.
When Marquette Baylor, a member of Sen. Baldwin's staff played
whistleblower and shined the light of attention on the incidents
at the Tomah facility, Sen. Baldwin promptly fired her, and did
her damndest to sweep the matter under the rug, commenting as
little as possible about the matter. For this reason, Sen. Baldwin
should in turn be fired by the Wisconsin electorate.

My friend Leah Vukmir got into politics when she saw the poor
quality of education that her children were receiving from their
public school. When she inquired regarding same to their teacher,
she was sent --- literally --- to the principal's office. She was told
to speak to the principal about her concerns, and when doing so
she was referred to the school board. Having never received
any satisfactory answers to her questions regarding her children's
education, she took matters into her own hands and ran for public
office. She has been in one elected office or another over the
ensuing years, serving her constituents most ably.

Leah is challenging one other candidate for the Republican party's
nomination to run against Sen. Baldwin. The other candidate is
an earnest sort and a recent convert from the Democrat party,
having seen the light about their unrelenting leftism, but lacks
State Sen. Vukmir's experience in public office and accompanying
service, as well as her years of membership and involvement in
the Republican party. Therefore, your faithful Peasant is pleased
and proud to endorse Leah Vukmir, current state senator, for
the United States Senate, and I hereby pledge my support in any
and all ways that I am able. You'll make a fine candidate, and an
even better United States Senator, Leah! God bless!


MEM