MUTH'S TRUTHS 11/15/2013

MUTH’S TRUTHS The Real Story of Thanksgiving On this coming Thanksgiving holiday, I would be eternally grateful if our government-run education camps would teach the next generation of Americans the true story of Plymouth Rock rather than the romanticized fairy tale version. Ten years ago I read for the first time Matthew Givens’ column titled, “Thanksgiving: America’s Lesson on Why Socialism Doesn’t Work.”  And I’ve been reading it to my homeschooled kids every Thanksgiving ever since. “When the colonists first landed” at Plymouth Rock in 1620, Givens wrote, “they signed something called the Mayflower Compact.  Most of us have heard this document praised as an early social contract helping different people live together.  What most of us never learned was that it was also an experiment in socialism.” An experiment that went horribly wrong, big time. The Mayflower Compact required that all the colonists donate all the benefits derived from their work – farming, fishing, clothing, etc. – into the “common stock” and only take out what they actually needed.  You know: From each according to ability; to each according to need. Well, as the story was told by then-Gov. William Bradford, the young men of the colony became unhappy campers about being forced to “spend their time and strength to work for other men’s wives and children.”  And since the non-producers got the same amount of goodies from the common stock as producers, the producers simply stopped producing. As such, “the amount of food produced was never adequate.”  Thus the inadequate harvests of 1621 and 1622 did, in fact, lead to famine, malnutrition and starvation among the Pilgrims.  But it wasn’t the Indians teaching them how to farm that ultimately rescued the colonists from their plight. What did?  Old-fashioned American capitalism! “In 1623,” Givens explains, “Bradford ‘gave each household a parcel of land and told them they could keep what they produced, or trade it away as they saw fit.”  The result?  “By 1624, the colony was producing so much food that it began exporting corn.” Vunderbar! “Thanksgiving,” Givens concludes, “far from being the simple and uninspiring story of a group of people learning how to farm, is actually a celebration of what has made America itself great.  It is the story of people working together by working for themselves first, and in so doing, improving the standard of living for everyone.” Amen and hallelujah! So as you sit around the Thanksgiving table this year with family and friends munching on turkey, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie, pause to reflect on the true meaning of this quintessential American holiday just as we should pause to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas each year; that socialism is bad, even when slick-talking community organizers from Chicago try to peddle it as “fairness.” RALSTON’S “SHADOWY” SUBSCRIBERS Many suspect that Jon Ralston, Nevada’s #2 liberal blogger, is carrying water for a number of major corporate interests, as well as various political consultants and kingmakers – not the least of which is advertising colossus R&R Partners.  Ralston has enjoyed quite the cozy relationship with R&R’s principal, Pete “Sandoval’s Brain” Ernaut, for many, many years. So are Jon’s political opinions and attacks bought and paid for by shadowy figures with a political agenda or ax to grind?  We suspect in many cases they are, but don’t really know.  Because his financial supporters are hidden.  There’s no transparency or disclosure so that voters can assess whether Jon is just carrying somebody else’s water for a price. Indeed, when Jon attacks a political candidate, does he disclose if the candidate’s opponent happens to be one of his paid newsletter subscribers?  No.  Yet this guy has the chutzpah to demand greater transparency for everyone else?  What a… Um, I promised not to use that term any longer.  But you know. Now, personally, I think it would be an outrageous affront to the First Amendment for the government to force Jon to disclose his financial supporters, and yet that’s exactly what Jon is promoting when it comes to non-profit organizations that educate voters about the records of various elected officials and candidates. So it’s not that Jon’s undermining our electoral process by hiding his financial supporters; it’s that he is, once again and as usual, a major league hypocrite.  And a… Well, you know. See more Ralston Retorts at www.RalstonRetorts.com TAX PLEDGE SIGNERS Click here for the update 2014 list of Taxpayer Protection Pledge signers in Nevada. BILBRAY FILES Bilbray-Kohn Falsely Accuses Heck on Immigration Democrat congressional candidate Erin Bilbray-Kohn is promoting an online petition on her campaign website which urges people to “tell (Congressman) Joe Heck to sign onto Comprehensive Immigration Reform.”  Problem is…he already has. Read more at http://erinbilbray.info/ KIRNER TAX UPDATE: The Washoe County Commission this week voted to kill the Kirner Tax!  A victory for taxpayers and a stinging loss for Assemblyman Randy “Kirner Tax” Kirner (RINO-Kirner Tax). #KirnerTax. http://www.KirnerTax.com FREE MARKET SUGAR A Brazilian Reasons Not to Kill off U.S. Sugar Industry Opponents of the current U.S. sugar policy rarely get beyond their global free-market talking points long enough to consider the International Law of Unintended Consequences Read more at www.FreeMarketSugar.com STOP PATENT TROLLS Nevada Sen. Dean Heller joined the fight against “patent trolls” last week, testifying before a sub-committee investigating such lawsuit abuse.  Read his opening statement by clicking here Read more at www.StopPatentTrolls.info FAMOUS LAST WORDS “Words every Republican should memorize and repeat when asked about Obamacare: ‘We can't fix it as long as Democrats control the Senate.’" - @BillHobbs WHAT YOU MISSED THIS WEEK IN SILVER STATE CONFIDENTIAL A jaw-dropping email fight between a Republican county commissioner, a Republican party leader and a Republican campaign consultant Wheels back on Wheeler campaign after Kelly Kite is told to go fly a kite GOP lawyer and candidate pocketing $500 an HOUR to defend ethically-challenged Democrat NPRI fought PERS, and NPRI won! An unbelievably irresponsible ad campaign by liberals pimping ObamaCare Why writing may be on the wall for little-watched Ralston Reports TV show Where kindergartners can no longer play tag A prominent and inexcusable no-show at the Veterans Day parade in Vegas Why some political consultants owe Mike McDonald a beer…and more! The rise of the “Sabotage Republicans” Reno paper follows Ralston’s lead into false reporting on guber speech cancellation The GOP “borg” continues efforts to assimilate everyone into Hutchison’s collective Making the “right” moves: Richard Scotti and Mike Bajorek There’s another Chuck Muth…HONEST!