Read an Excerpt
HORSE SENSE FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM
CONSERVATIVE COMMENTARY, 2000-2010
By Wesley Allen Riddle
iUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2011 Wesley Allen Riddle
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4620-4340-8
Chapter One
Horse Sense
Horses and Humans Article #028 July 19, 2001
Recently I met a lady who said she'd seen my "Horse Sense" column in The Belton Journal. I prepared myself for meaningful, if possibly critical feedback. But then I found out she didn't read the column, because she thought it was about horses! It reminded me of a recent caller, who inquired into the Glen-Riddle Manor B&B. At the end of our conversation, he asked me "By the way, who is Glen?" Of course, glen is a word of Scottish origin meaning valley. When capitalized, it becomes part of the place name (take a look at Scotch Whiskey bottles sometime). Although I assured the lady in Temple this was no column about horses, I do admit this one comes mighty close—it is about horses and humans to be (in-)exact. The paragraphs that follow are written by Herbert Shelley Good (1902-1967), a former director of the Henry George School in Boston. He is author of a yet unpublished private notebook of thoughts, and this piece is from that notebook—having only been carried before by a small magazine in Patchogue, New York, called Fragments:
A dictionary defines "horse sense" as "practical common sense," which is very confusing. Any politician, who claims to have any, will assure you that it is not common. The mere fact that a horse doesn't have sense enough to stay away from humans proves that it is not practical either. A horse has to work or run its legs off—and then end up in a glue factory. This is horse sense?
What may be practical to a horse would not necessarily appear to a human being in the same light—except the business of crossing weak bridges. People never give the horse credit for figuring things out, like quicksand and other natural booby traps. It is just "instinct," they say, which goes along with being a horse, like hair, hide, and hoofs.
If humans have any built-in "instinct," they keep it as quiet as possible, or, if they admit it at all, they call it a "hunch"—and use it to pick horses. There is no question that instinct serves animals just as "intuition" serves human beings. Among humans, the female is said to be the intuitive one, and this is probably due to the fact that for several thousand years, woman has not been allowed to know much. If a woman has an idea, which she cannot explain to her educated husband, it is called intuition. No horse ever stopped to explain; it just won't cross a weak bridge. Woman's procedure is somewhat similar.
Now that we men let women learn to read and write, they know more, and intuition is in danger. Woman is losing her advantage over man. It will not be long before intuition will be educated out of existence, woman will be a smarty like a man, and the world will be dependent on the horse to keep us out of trouble.
There is already a very great shortage of horse sense, probably because there are fewer horses. In this scientific age, we find modern horsepower to be the product of physical science; and widespread use of synthetic fertilizers has resulted in an equally widespread unemployment of horses. It is only a question of time before horse sense will be put up in capsules, or cellophane packages, or added to breakfast foods and tooth paste. Looks as if nothing can save the horse and its products—including horse sense—but a dark horse.
Long Live Horse Sense Article #114 o/a October 26, 2003
Recently I revisited something that no doubt made it through the e-mail gauntlet and died somewhere in the electronic ether. The language I'm using is appropriate, given that the short anonymous piece was called an "Obituary on the death of Common Sense." I remember thinking when I first read it, that it was just too sardonic and dark for my taste. You see, I'm the eternal optimist. Notwithstanding, much of it rings true....
Today we mourn the passing of an old friend, Common Sense. Common Sense lived a long life, but died in the United States from heart failure early in the new millennium. No one really knows how old he was, since his birth records were lost long ago in bureaucratic red tape. He selflessly devoted his life to service in schools, hospitals, homes, and factories, helping folks get jobs done without fanfare and foolishness. For decades, petty rules, silly laws, and frivolous lawsuits held no power over Common Sense. He was credited with cultivating such valued lessons as to know when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, and that life isn't always fair.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn); reliable parenting strategies (the adults are in charge, not the kids); and it's okay to come in second. A veteran of the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression, and the Technological Revolution, Common Sense survived cultural and educational trends including body piercing, whole language, and new math. But his health declined when he became infected with the "If-it-only-helps-one person-it's-worth-it" virus.
In recent decades, his waning strength proved no match for the ravages of well intentioned but overbearing regulations. He watched in pain as self-seeking lawyers ruled good people. His health rapidly deteriorated when schools endlessly implemented zero tolerance policies. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, a teen suspended for taking a swig of mouthwash after lunch, and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student only worsened his condition. It declined even further when schools had to get parental consent to administer aspirin to a student but could not inform the parent when a female student was pregnant or wanted an abortion.
Common Sense lost his will to live as churches became businesses, criminals received better treatment than victims, and federal judges stuck their noses in everything from the Pledge of Allegiance to professional sports. When an individual, too stupid to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot, was awarded a huge settlement, Common Sense threw in the towel. As the end neared, Common Sense drifted in and out of logic but was kept informed of developments regarding questionable regulations such as those for low flow toilets, rocking chairs, step ladders and auto emissions. Common Sense finally succumbed when, while the United States was fighting a war on terrorism, a federal judge declared the Pledge of Allegiance to be unconstitutional.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by two step-siblings: My Rights, and Ima Whiner. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.
Fortunately, there are a few reports of a long lost relative, who has been living quietly, out of the way for the past few years. Horse Sense remains in excellent health in mind, body and spirit, and he's been seen visiting small towns and country in Central Texas. He's resolved to name his growing brood after Common Sense and the others of his family who went before.
Chapter Two
Administration 2000
Election of GW Article #001 Dec. 28, 2000
On the Fourth of July 2000, Governor George W. Bush strode leisurely on Main Street shaking hands. He chose to campaign and to celebrate Independence Day in Belton, and he seemed to genuinely enjoy Belton's famed Fourth of July Parade. My wife and I were in our front yard like many residents, enjoying the weather and the festivities. Since our house is close to the start of the parade route, we probably enjoyed a fresher GW than others at the end of Central. When the Governor came over and shook our hands, I searched for something to say and came out with the thing that hit my mind. I just said, "You're going to be the next President of the United States." Bush started off and got about three steps away, turned right back around again and said, "I hope so." In the way he said it, it was clear to me that this man had the rare quality (for a politician) of sincerity. I felt at the time that if he should really make it, he would be a great president.
Over the course of these last five weeks or more, I've shared the sense of frustration with my fellow Americans about this election. It will stay in my memory as the one that never seemed to end. While Florida and much of the country seemed to be evenly divided, I dare say that GW had solid support in the State of Texas. And while I have respect for other States and for other people's views, I only wish that everyone who uttered a cynical chirp and laughed at the political humor was also someone, who cast an informed ballot at election time and took his civic responsibility seriously the whole year long. I'm afraid that's probably naïve and hopelessly optimistic. But here we are, and the fat lady has finally sung. The easy message to draw is that some election reform is in order, things like better technology and more uniform standards within States for voting. The harder message to discern is for the 43rd President and second son of a president to hold the highest office. Indications are, however, that he's doing it.
Instead of the mantra that's started about the necessity of governing "from the center," I hope George W. Bush will start to govern from the Constitution. His overture speech to the Presidency delivered after Vice President Gore's concession 13 December is encouraging. He evoked Jefferson and Lincoln. He mentioned two important "c" words, compassionate and conservatism. He laid out a broad set of legislative priorities: education; retirement and health security; tax relief; bipartisan foreign policy; and a strong military. From Lincoln, I hope he draws inclusiveness and equal opportunity—a bridging of the racial divide in this country. From Jefferson, however, I hope he stays true to States rights and to the spirit (if not the letter) of Jefferson's Kentucky Resolves. We should also add a bit of the dignity of George Washington to the task at hand. I don't want to see another Waco in my lifetime; but neither do I want to hear rumored, about the sordid degradation and vice of the President. Andrew Jackson called the position Tribune of the People. He's a man after all, who represents you and me.
Bush Tax Plan Article #018 o/a April 06, 2001
To hear the liberals, you'd think we ought to have to justify tax cuts. What's strange is how anyone could get something so entirely "bass ackwards." It is government spending that ought to (and always) be justified! To hear the media these days, government creates the wealth and parcels it out to the people. If you "spend" money on tax cuts, you waste it. Hello, is anybody out there? The fact is that government doesn't create wealth—it can't; it can only confiscate it. Individuals through ingenuity and hard work create the wealth, some of which gets taken from them for taxes. Cutting taxes is merely abstaining from taking as much from producers. As Sheldon Richman explains, "money never leaves the hands it originates in, because it never goes to Washington in the first place. Thus, all the talk about how much the Bush-plan will give the rich is sheer balderdash. It gives nothing to anyone."
Here in America we have become so mired in welfare state thinking, most people approach political issues as though tax revenues are a pot of cash that belongs to the government. Increases in spending are so normal that if someone proposes a smaller increase than planned, it's a budget cut! As Thomas Sowell has pointed out, the historical burden of proof has shifted from politicians to the people, a dangerous situation if you believe as the Founders did, that the power to tax is the power to destroy! Indeed, a government powerful enough to give you everything you want, paid for at taxpayer expense, is a government powerful enough to take everything.
Further, it may be that government is already on the verge of such all-power, because it cannot really be asserted the people have authorized the current tax laws. Richman again: "Tax laws are written in arcane language behind closed doors by a few tenured congressmen and their staffs. Government has myriad devices for mystifying its operations, in order to keep John Q. Citizen at a safe distance. We the people no more authorized the tax-eating monster we live with than we authorized the tornadoes that tore through Arkansas and Mississippi recently." It is not comforting to contemplate that we may have lapsed into a time before the American Revolution. Is the only apparent effect of the American Revolution that we spend our Fourth of July differently?
Possibly somewhere in our collective consciousness, the voice of Patrick Henry whispers. If so, there ought to be some resonance with the president's tax relief plan. Even after paying down on debt held by the public, the government will have 1.8 trillion dollars in excess revenue, a conservative estimate, at the current tax rates between 2002 and 2011. The president wants to reduce income tax rates; double the child-care tax credit; reduce the marriage penalty; expand charitable deductions; phase out the death tax; and extend research and experimentation tax credit. The president is trying to deliver on his campaign promises. As shocking as that is in itself, the irony is that his plan for the most part shouldn't even need to be justified—for in the absence of compelling justification for government spending, tax money should revert to the people who earn it. It is high time we reinstate the Constitutional burden of proof, onto parasitic politicians and their dependents of government largesse—removing it from off the backs of America's breadwinners. Horse Sense for the New Millennium
Campaign Finance Reform Article #022 May 31, 2001
A recent essay in Atlantic Monthly talked about America's new generation of so-called Organization Kids. They are hard working, civil, and they don't have a problem with authority either. They are inclusive, but they also believe merit should and usually does determine success. The picture was pretty positive, except that the author of the piece took umbrage, that students at prestigious universities were inarticulate when it came to moral reasoning or politics. Seems the rising generation and America's future leaders are so busy and hard working preparing themselves for success, and charting their specific goal-oriented courses to get there, they've plumb forgot about qualitative distinctions—things like what makes a good person or a bad one, and what constitutes a good society, say, from tyranny. Jefferson's dictum, "Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom," gets lost in the busy schedule. One student at Princeton said, "People are too busy to get involved in larger issues." Indeed, the problem besets more than university students—it's a problem with modern life.
Then again, folks are always looking for excuses. There are a million reasons not to go to church on Sunday, but there's a mighty big one to go anyway. There are reasons not to take the kids to soccer or to piano lessons, but the quality of their upbringing (and hence their futures), depends on such things. It seems Americans are always looking for mechanistic ways to take care of politics, because the truth is they just don't want to be bothered with being informed and making choices. So they try to put in term limits, instead of throwing the rascals out at the next election. I used to live in the Seventh Congressional District (Houston), where we had a stellar Congressman. He served for thirty years and only retired this year, but I'd vote him in another thirty if he would serve. Bill Archer became chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee when Republicans became the majority, after years in the political wilderness. He was a consistent and tireless advocate for smaller, more responsive government. When and if you get GW's tax cut this year, think about it. A part of the thanks belongs to a climate of support that took years in the making—a climate that tax-cut, IRS-watchdog Archer helped to foster.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from HORSE SENSE FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM by Wesley Allen Riddle Copyright © 2011 by Wesley Allen Riddle. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
