This is about conservatism. It is about thinking freely. It is about writing freely. It is about what may be called "the American way." It is about the formation of opinions.  It consists of random thoughts.

I fought strenuously against the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan because I knew it would be a disaster. It is. One notable influence on my thinking was a March 16, 2004 (I believe that was the year) column by William F. Buckley titled "Free Medicine! Ho, Ho, Ho!" People interested in "free" healthcare for all need to read it: it is really not as cryptic as some of his writings can be.

I am outraged that my country seems so very determined to turn itself into a third-world nation. That is precisely what is happening as a result of what are as a practical matter nonexistent borders, "sanctuary cities" cropping up like crabgrass and dandelions, and so forth, ad nauseam.

I am outraged that tomorrow (tomorrow, September 24, 2007), the Senate may be voting in favor of the DREAM Act, which will, among other things, make provision for tuition assistance to the illegal alien children of illegal aliens, providing certain conditions are met. The Senate, in its practiced furtive manner, has buried this DREAM Act in the Defense Department Authorization Act. The purported reason for that burial is that the DREAM Act will encourage these aliens to sign up for the military; recruitment is low.

The DREAM Act will put the aliens on a direct path to citizenship. To me, that spells one thing: amnesty. And one thing I can do fairly well is spell. I have already bugged, re-bugged and re-re-bugged my Senators about my negative opinion about this NIGHTMARE Act, and I will continue to bug them until the voting is over. Fat chance they will vote it down. The Republican Senator in my state co-sponsored this bill at one time -- I'm not sure if he has co-sponsored the present one. Its inimitable (thank goodness) author is Dick Durbin (D-IL). I don't know how many idiot co-sponsors the bill has.

This little blog is primarily to state that I believe myself to be a pure (well, almost) conservative. Nobody is perfect. And, get this -- I am one of the few people in the world who can say I voted for Richard Nixon three times. I would do it again, too, if he were here and running. Unfortunately, he's not. When he said he was not a crook, was that any worse than one W. Clinton asking what "is" is? Talk about a dubya.

I have been taken to task quite effectively by DocSteech because of my anger that everything seems to be coming from China. See his comment to my blog entry "Isn't Everything Made in China (Part III)." He appears to say that the sky would be falling if some American manufacturers were not having products made in China. I appeared to agree with him in my response.

On second thought, perhaps the sky would not fall. Perhaps some Americans would discover they could build a better mousetrap, a better doll, a better baby crib, a better just about anything. That, to me, is what America is about. Well, one of the things, anyway.

What has happened to our entrepreneurial spirit? What has happened to our drive to make a better mousetrap? What has happened to the Bill Gateses, the Alexander Graham Bells, the Thomas A. Edisons, the Eli Whitneys, and others?

Here is what I believe has happened to us:  we have gotten lazy, fat, and greedy. The famous, household-name toy makers of the nation have turned a creative, happy energy into something making one howling, horrendous sucking sound, sucking every ounce of profit from trusting, ignorant Americans. In turn, they have turned Americans into suspicious and all-too-knowledgeable consumers -- some of them ready to turn away from these things so greedily made in China.

If some creative and entrepreneurial Americans could begin to produce better mousetraps, better dolls, better wagons, and better toys of any description -- and produce them here on American soil, I believe that American consumers would knock themselves out in an effort to purchase them. I would.

Learning today of Mattel's groveling apology to China, the country, for its (Mattel's) design flaws made me want to run to the nearest American Standard and heave. The toy maker appears to be afraid the Chinese will turn their backs on them and make it impossible to rake in the same percentage of profits to which they have become accustomed.

I still don't trust China to do anything but cut corners in cost-saving measures, and hang it all if some Americans die because of their practices.

People are quite expendable, you know. New ones are being made all the time.