Midway

Watching a great film again [Midway], the gang discussed how it must just gaul the stuffing out of most current media people in the United States that no reporter was able to break into the US code rooms and alert the American Public that we figured out that AF in many Japanese coded messages meant Midway Island. How could the press people of the time not realize the constitutional mandate to keep the Public informed on facts like this one. The Japanese were ready to attack Midway Island and the Public did not have the facts to discuss this important event. We mean the Public had a right to know this. How could the press of 1942 so fail the Public?

Maybe, just maybe, they understood that the Japanese, not the government of the United States and the American people, were the enemy. Maybe they understood that rights brought responsibilities. Maybe they actually believed that America was their country and was owned allegiance, not their own careers and self-interest.

Certainly a different crowd is in the media seat now. Lucky we had who we did in 1942 or our kids having trouble with English would be in worse shape learning Japanese.

Cigarette Example Makes Gun Control Harder

The current anti-smoking drive may have the ultimate and unexpected result of providing evidence support the arguments of people who see any first step in regulation or control of guns as being the first step toward elimination. The U.S. has gone from warnings from mom, to warnings on packs, to age restrictions, to tax increase messages, to limited bans, to full public bans, to finally bans on smoking in rental units. “Control Creep” it might be called.

The next time gun control comes up the arguments against it now have a case study to use to say that controlling one aspect leads to controlling more to every aspect. In the next round on gun control, the argument that controlling one aspect of guns will lead to controlling more to all aspects of guns, will now have a powerful supporting piece of evidence.

Of course, you also have Medicaid and the march to national health insurance. Help one place and it grows to others. Witness the current SCHIPS battle.

Ok, the slippery slope exists.