- The just-released smash box office hit, The Dark Night, illustrates a showdown between essential good and evil. Batman, a representative of the “Will to Excellence” fights tooth and nail with the coolly insane and generally power hungry Joker, representing the Nietzschean concept of the “Will to Power”. In this quality article, Jeff Tucker presents the battle as one representing the libertarian ideal versus the transmutation of society that comes about due to excess government intervention into the lives of its people. A must-read.

- Mike Shedlock has been on point for a number of years with his penetrating analysis into the economic foolishness and shenanigans associated with the Fed-inspired housing/mortgage/credit bubble. In one of his latest pieces (out of many, the dude is insanely productive) Mish explains 25 reasons you KNOW the banking system is unsound. The only question is, what kind of bill of goods will the manufactured crisis lead to in terms of terrible federal legislation?

- With that being said, the U.S. House of Representatives today passed a wholly piss-poor piece of mangled legislation that included a hodge podge of generally TERRIBLE crap, including unlimited Treasury (meaning taxpayer) credit to failed institutions Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, fingerprinting of all mortgage bankers, and the ability of the IRS to have access to EVERY use of your credit card on the Internet. Can you say “CONTINUED CITIZEN RAPE”? Check out Ron Paul’s congressional home page and the video entitled “Congressman Paul Discusses the Housing Bill”. At least somebody gets it, but in our representative democracy (no longer a discernible Constitutional Republic), the aware individual simply gets run roughshod over. Gross.

- And what happens when all this madness and general STUPIDITY (and/or Joker-like evil) finally fully comes home to roost? John Rubino analyzes that question. And here are his parting words, well stated: “It wasn’t private property and freedom that brought down the American Empire, but their opposite: an expanding government armed with a printing press. Seen this way, the fix is simple: A return to Constitutional ideals of limited government and sound money. Convincing a voting majority of this will be a long, sometimes depressing process. But considering the alternative, there’s not much choice. So start honing your message; you’re going to need it.”

Wake up folks. We are dealing with a collection of Jokers. I can’t tell fully who is insane, evil, power-hungry, just plain stupid, or a collection of the lot, but I can say that there is a combination of such operating right now. If you care about the future of freedom, peace, and general well-being, you will stand with those speaking out against our federal insanity. Be your own personal Batman.

Filed under: Politics, Social Mood, Economics, Entertainment, Current Events