Have you ever thought about why we have laws? What purpose do they serve? At the root of it all, laws are put into place for two purposes. They are to act as a deterrent to what ever the behavior is that the lawmaker wants to stop and to bring about justice for those who have been wronged by the lawbreaker.

These two concepts go hand in hand and this is why it makes no sense to make laws that apply to things like helping someone commit suicide. If no one is harmed by someone wishing to take their own life, why do we need a law to prevent it? The same goes for “illegal” drugs. If the person taking the drug is not hurting anyone but themselves let them be. You will never be able to legislate stupidity. This particular idea that you can legislate someone’s behavior is ridiculous. Making it illegal to buy a soft drink larger than XXX ounces for instance. We have seen how well the war on drugs has worked. Why would we think the war on preventing us from eating poorly will be any better. But that’s another discussion.

So back to changing behavior and having justice served. In order for these two things to be accomplished the punishment must fit the crime. If a rapist gets 20 years and a serial rapist gets the same punishment then there is no deterrent from committing multiple rapes. Same thing for murder. You kill some one and get life. You kill 10 and you get life. Where is the deterrent and where is the justice. The punishment MUST fit the crime. All that to say that the perpetrator who committed the heinous crime in Colorado should NOT get anything other than the death penalty. Period. End of story. And being “insane” is not a defense. We are all insane to some degree or another. The kind of planning that occurred , in my mind, rules out any insanity defense.

The scores of people that were killed and wounded cry out for justice. If this individual is not punished in a manner that fits his crime, then they have been wronged yet again.

Last Friday (July 13th) the President of the United States made yet another assault on American success.

Here is just small quote of a speech that President Obama gave:

“If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”

If you take this at face value you can not help but see the inherent socialism that Mr Obama is advancing.  Sure – there are teachers that educate. But “we” – the American taxpayer pay that teachers salary.  They don’t teach for free. And – by his line of reasoning – why is not everyone that a teacher touches a raging success. Could it perhaps be that the successful person has something else that others don’t? The drive and desire to be successful?

What is being advanced here is a collective (can you say Marxism) where re-distribution is practiced. For you Star Trek fans – think Borg….

And what about his comment that “somebody” helped create the American system that let successful people thrive?  That “somebody” invested in roads and bridges.  Does the president think that “somebody” – who ever THEY are – go out and build roads and bridges (and sewers, and utilities, etc) just for the hell of it?  No – WE pay taxes that build these things. And if you pay taxes to build roads and bridges and utilities – then by all means – use them.

So if my tax payer dollars are paying for roads and bridges and I am the “somebody” that invested in roads and bridges then I say to all the people who DON’T pay taxes – stay off of my roads and bridges and stop using my infrastructure to get your utilities. As a matter of fact – stop using the public assistance that MY tax dollars pay for. Get a job, start paying taxes and”help” make someone else successful!!