Monday, November 29, 2010

The grandkids are home!

I may be only fifty-two years old but right now my legs are feeling twice that.  Reason?  My grandkids got in yesterday afternoon so today was Zoo Day!  Commonsense aside, I'm pretty sure I walked a hundred miles today.  Among the animals encountered today was one very amorous giraffe who took quite the shine to me.  I backed as far away from him as I could but once I ran out of room, well, let's just say giraffes having amazingly long tongues.  

The big hit of the day was the stingrays.  Stingrays are in abundance here in Florida but the kids had never petted one before.  These stingrays are accustomed to people so they would come right up and let the kids play with them.  One particular baby stingray was really enjoying the attention.  Once Livvie got over her initial hesitation she and "Baby" had a great time.  I had to explain to her that these rays are not the same as the wild rays the swim in the canal behind their house and that it would better if she didn't try to play with any back there.

I can't believe they are home.  We had originally thought that they were going to Hawaii.  In any case, I think Andre has to report to MacDill on Wednesday and the kids have to get enrolled in school so things will settle down shortly.  In the mean time we are making up for two and a half years of being apart.  The last time we went on a picnic the raccoons stole our food.  It will probably happen again tomorrow.  It's kinda half the fun.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

If we would just quit pissing people off

Over at Salon Glenn Greenwald is getting his freak on:

The FBI is obviously quite pleased with itself over its arrest of a 19-year-old Somali-American, Mohamed Osman Mohamud, who -- with months of encouragement, support and money from the FBI's own undercover agents -- allegedly attempted to detonate a bomb at a crowded Christmas event in Portland, Oregon.
This is Greenwald doing what he does best-insinuating that the evil government creates terrorist where none exist.  But he goes way beyond insinuation:

But it may also just as easily be the case that the FBI -- as they've done many times in the past -- found some very young, impressionable, disaffected, hapless, aimless, inept loner; created a plot it then persuaded/manipulated/entrapped him to join, essentially turning him into a Terrorist; and then patted itself on the back once it arrested him for having thwarted a "Terrorist plot" which, from start to finish, was entirely the FBI's own concoction. Having stopped a plot which it itself manufactured, the FBI then publicly touts -- and an uncritical media amplifies -- its "success" to the world, thus proving both that domestic Terrorism from Muslims is a serious threat and the Government's vast surveillance powers -- current and future new ones -- are necessary.

Those evil bastards! 

To Greenwald's credit he admits that it is possible that the whole thing went down just as the FBI claims,
though reading the article, it would be hard to make the case that Greenwald actually believes that the FBI really thwarted a terrorist plot.  Of course that is okay because Greenwald is merely questioning authority and maintaining a healthy level of scepticism.  Scepticism and questioning authority are good qualities.  If you are a Progressive.  If you happen to be a Conservative, well, that's a horse of a different color.  Conservatives who question authority are called "Tea Partiers" or if you are of Greenwald's ilk, "Tea Baggers". 

Greenwald should have stopped writing before he showed his hand.  In Greenwald's estimation it doesn't really matter if Mohamed Osman Mohamud would have plotted to kill 25,000 Americans at a tree lightening service without the FBI's encouragement.  Had Mohamud planned and carried it all on his own it would still be America's fault:

We hear the same exact thing over and over and over from accused Terrorists -- that they are attempting to carry about plots in retaliation for past and ongoing American violence against Muslim civilians and to deter such future acts. Here we find one of the great mysteries in American political culture: that the U.S. Government dispatches its military all over the world -- invading, occupying, and bombing multiple Muslim countries -- torturing them, imprisoning them without charges, shooting them up at checkpoints, sending remote-controlled drones to explode their homes, imposing sanctions that starve hundreds of thousands of children to death -- and Americans are then baffled when some Muslims -- an amazingly small percentage -- harbor anger and vengeance at them and want to return the violence. And here we also find the greatest myth in American political discourse: that engaging in all of that military aggression somehow constitutes Staying Safe and combating Terrorism -- rather than doing more than any single other cause to provoke, sustain and fuel Terrorism.

So there you have it.  We are the terrorists. 

The problem is that only through total submission can we stop provoking them.  Nothing less will do.  Greenwald, as a gay man, may be okay with that but I'm not okay with it for him.  I'm not okay with it as a woman.  I'm not willing to give up one iota of my freedom for a false sense of security based on supplication.  We provoke them because we are.  Greenwald doesn't except that premise but as long as enough of us do we'll continue to be free.

Congratulations to the FBI for a job well done.











 
 
 
They kill us  


Saturday, November 27, 2010

I could use a laugh

My friend Annie just these to me.  They gave a smile and smiles should always be passed on.

TSA Bumper Stickers:

Friday, November 26, 2010

Just thinking out loud (although I'm old enough to know better)

I've been ruminating on this post for a couple days.  The other day Prof. Jacobson asked his readers their thoughts on Tim Pawlenty.  He began by writing this:

One of my theories is that the best chance to defeat Obama in 2012 is to make the election about Obama, not about the Republican candidate. The Obama record is so abysmal, and the Obama aura so shattered, that 2012 could be a repeat of 2010.

Each of the current top 4 Republican contenders (Palin, Romney, Newt, Huckabee) has issues of public perception which would make the race, to varying degrees, about the Republican.
I want 2012 to be about issues and solutions and I want my next president to be Obama's polar opposite. 

Obama did not win the presidency based on his record.  During his scant time in office prior to running he had intentionally avoided creating a record.  Obama did not win the presidency based on his accomplishments.  He had none.  Barack Obama is our president because he built a cult of personality backed up by pithy but meaningless platitudes.  He was the Wizard of Oz and fifty-three percent of the voting public was too busy shouting, clapping and yes, crying, to look behind the damn curtain. 

So what brings me to this little rant?  I keep hearing that Pawlenty is too "plain Jane" to be president.  It seems like everyone wants a little zippity in their doo da.  Really?  When did pizazz become the deciding factor in presidential elections?  I'm not saying that personality and leadership are mutually exclusive but I sure don't want an electorate that is so blinded by the former that they ignore the latter.

The next race should be about record, record, record.  Obama's disastrous record versus the proven
record for the republican candidate.  If any of the four mentioned by Jacobson are the candidate the race will end up being about so much more and the message (and the opportunity) will be lost. 

I have no idea who I'll be for in a few months.  We have some great conservative "young guns" and I would be thrilled to see Cantor or Ryan in the VP slot.  I've made no secret of my support for Marco Rubio but I need to see how he is going perform as a senator before I can feel comfortable about him in a higher office.

Time to bottom line it.  I don't need a candidate who sends a thrill up my leg.  I want someone with a record of accomplishment.  I want an anti-Obama.

Too much of a good thing

Judging from the comments that Pundette is getting I may well regret this but here goes-dear Pundette, you are sooooooooooo right:

Her face and voice are everywhere. She engages every critic. I'm getting tired of her the way a consumer gets tired of an over-advertised product or a commercial that plays four times an hour. She's exacerbating my counter-will. Enough already. Remember what familiarity breeds.
Anymore when I think of Sarah Palin I think of the line from P.S. Your Cat is Dead, “…do you have any unuttered thoughts at all?” And I like Palin.

Palin has become a 24/7 commodity. As Pundette says, she is everywhere-always. Seriously, can anybody name anyone else with as much exposure? We know that Palin’s critics are going to attack her at every turn. Why keep the cycle going?
 
I like how Palin shakes things up, her straightforwardness and her ability to inject commonsense in to the political landscape. I like that she drives Liberals crazy. It is unlikely that I would vote for her in a primary but I would certainly support her in a general election if it came to that. She would probably be higher on my list if she weren’t so annoyingly everpresent.


We’ve got a few months (too few in my opinion) before the next election cycle kicks off in earnest. At her current pace Palin risks flaming out before the real contests begin. A little less would be greatly appreciated.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!

Last year I spent Thanksgiving at the hospital at Dad's beside.  The doctor had said he wouldn't make it through the day.  He made it through that day and all the days since.  "Thankful" isn't a strong enough word to describe my gratitude for this past year.

My daughter's family has spent the last two years out in Arizona.  I absolutely live for my Saturday phone calls from the grandkids though honestly, I can't understand a word Livvie says on the phone.  She talks a mile a minute and I just throw in a "REALLY?" every few minutes.  It seems to work.  Anyway, no more phone calls-they are on their way back and will be living right up the road.  They will be here until Andre accepts an assignment somewhere else.  I'll take it.

I just got a text from my grandson that they are on their way.  A moving van, two cars, two kids and two ferrets and a twenty-one hundred mile drive.  Sounds like fun, huh?  We'll celebrate our Thanksgiving when they get here.  Well worth the wait. 

I live in paradise.  Really.  It is eighty degrees on the 25th of November.  The breeze off the bay is air conditioning my porch and I'm sitting here watching the fish jump.  In a material sense I don't have a lot-the value of my house has dropped like a rock while my property taxes have gone up.  But I have everything I need and pretty much everything I want.  It helps that I don't want much but the bottom line is that I spend the bulk of my days happy and satisfied.  I am literally surrounded by things that I am thankful for everyday.

Happy Thanksgiving to all you.  Blessings aren't always readily apparent but they really are everywhere.  Joy, today and every day.

Carolyn

Monday, November 22, 2010

Maybe the smart kids aren't so smart

Fuzzyslippers sums up our dear leader and his admirers:

The problem with Obama’s incompetence is not that Obama has suddenly, magically become incompetent but that he’s been incompetent all along. And the problem for respectable conservatives (i.e. those who set themselves above the unwashed blogosphere masses) is that to admit this may lead to uncomfortable questions about their smart kids’ club.
Obama suffers from a depressing lack of competence.  He depresses Liberals who are left to wonder whatever happened to The One-the man/god who was going to heal the earth and unite her people.  He was going to create a Utopia and bring us peace.  Those of us on the Right are depressed (and more than a bit angry) that it has taken the Left so long to figure out what we knew all along-that Obama is just talk and he is really not all that good at that.

Obama became president of the United States by convincing fifty-three percent of the voters that a man who had never accomplished anything was qualified to be leader of the free world.  And to date, that remains his only accomplishment. 

Yet Obama continues to tells us that it isn't him, it's us.  We just don't understand.  And that is depressing.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Don't opt out. Wear a burka.

Fanatical Muslims want us dead.  That is a fact.  Our government has responded to that threat by turning the TSA in to a bunch of gropers and child molesters.  In addition to feeling up little children we have stories of a beast cancer survivor who was forced to remove her prosthetic breast and a bladder cancer survivor who was treated so roughly and inhumanely that his urostomy bag leaked urine all over him.

Travellers and non-travellers alike have reacted with outrage.  Janet Napolitano on the other hand has reacted to complaints with a shrug and a "go pound sand".  This in turn has led to National Opt Out Day.  Flyers are being urged to opt out of the full body scans on the day before Thanksgiving, the busiest travel day of the year.  I have a better idea.  I got it while watching Stephen Green, Scott Ott and Stephen Kruiser discuss the TSA on Trifecta.  Listen to what Janet Napolitano doesn't say when asked if women wearing hijab will be subjected to full body scans and pat downs:



Janet Napolitano doesn't affirm that women in hijabs and burkas will be subjected to the same indignities as other travellers.  We are expected to "show our all" if we want to fly but Muslim women, because of their religious convictions, the same religious convictions sited by jihadis as justification for killing us, well, Napolitano gets a little, in the words of Scott Ott, "squishy". 

I say a test is in order.  Don't opt out-wear a burka.  Man, woman and child.  Tell TSA that your convictions won't allow full body scans or feel ups.  What are they going to do-say that you can't be Muslim because of your eye color or name?  That is "profiling" and we all know profiling is strictly verboten.

Make a statement.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Mom knows best-again

I’ve mentioned before that my Mom has a tendency towards, um, plain speaking. She often hits the nail smack on the head and this morning she did it again:

“That lady out in Alaska wins and what is the first thing she does? She shows her ass.”

That’s my Mom! Typically her pronouncements are followed by “Am I wrong?” I double dare anyone to tell her that she is.

Mom is rarely wrong and in the case of Lisa Murkowski she couldn’t be more right. Cubachi’s Jennifer writing at Riehl World View:

Murkowski: "It's time they met one Republican woman who won't quit on Alaska"

Lisa Murkowski is now re-elected to office to be the thorn on our side in Washington.

Instead of being a gracious winner, she is giving us a preview of things to come from this "independent."

She trashed Sarah Palin, the tea party, and the establishment GOP, because she claims to be an "outsider." You have to be kidding me.
Tacky, tacky, tacky.

Murkowski comes from the “classless” wing of the Republican Party. Not coincidently it is also the “entitlement” wing of the party. Murkowski believes that she is entitled to be Senator and she is going to trash talk about anyone who disagrees. Ditto for Cornyn, who believes he is entitled to choose who is, and is not, suitable to run for the US Senate. Since the election, which was fabulously successful for Republicans, the classless/entitlement wing of the Republican Party has been showing its ass.

Ms. Murkowski has six years to endear herself to the voters. She wouldn’t have lost her primary had they believed that she was all that and a bag of Cheetos. Cornyn is not so lucky. In election time 2012 is day after tomorrow. If Cornyn wants my support for the NRSC he is going to have to show me, and a lot of people like me, that he learned the lessons of 2010. I am willing to let bygones be bygones. Unfortunately, the more Cornyn runs his mouth the more apparent it becomes that he is unteachable.

I have a suggestion for the entitlement wing of the party: shut up. As Mom would say, “try showing some class instead of your ass.”

Thursday, November 18, 2010

So many levels of wrong

Wrong, wrong, wrong.  (emphasis added)

SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D-WV): "There's a little bug inside of me which wants to get the FCC to say to FOX and to MSNBC: 'Out. Off. End. Goodbye.' It would be a big favor to political discourse; our ability to do our work here in Congress, and to the American people, to be able to talk with each other and have some faith in their government and more importantly, in their future."
Somebody should tell the honorable Sen. Rockefeller that the government has done enough to the American people.   Oh, wait.  We told him on November 4th.  Perhaps he has a short attention span.

It is an interesting concept though.  Increasing the American people's faith in government by limiting their access to information.  However, I think it has been tried before.  Somewhere.

The problem with nanny stateism there is no end to the things that government can limit, or abolish, for the people's "own good".  It starts with salt or Happy Meal toys and ends with state approved "news".  Little wannabe dictators like Rockefeller claim to doing the public favors as they slowly tighten their fingers around the throats of the populace. 

Ask yourself why a United States senator would feel perfectly comfortable even suggesting that a government agency use its heft to shut down two networks.  Scary and wrong.






Wednesday, November 17, 2010

It lives!

Yes, the gift that keeps giving will be gracing us with her presence for another two years

The soon to be former Speaker of the House has been elected to serve as Minority Leader in the House.  (Suddenly the words "former" and "minority" are my new favorite words.) 

I can't think of anyone more suited to be the face of the Democratic Party than our girl Nancy.  Sadly, Nan's descent to Minority Leader wasn't quite as smooth as her well botoxed forehead.  She was challenged for the position by Heath Shuler (D) NC and 43 of his fellow Dems agreed that she might not be the sugar and spice that their party needs after their election drubbing.

So keep that frozen smile on your face, Nan, and remember, thanks to your esteemed leadership there will be alot more room to stretch out and get comfortable on your side of the aisle come January.

Paco suggests that under Nan's continued expert tutelage  Dems may soon be able to carpool.  We can hope.

Well this should be fun!

Gateway Pundit:

Via Bare Naked Islam and Jawa Report:

PICKET SCHEDULE

Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, MI November 18, 2010 8:00 AM – 8:30 AM

Fred Phelps and the WBC will picket the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, MI, the largest mosque in North America, to remind the idolatrous, doomed Muslims that Mohammed was a pedophile and a false prophet. Like most other false religious systems of modern doomed america, Islam teaches rebellion against the Lord Jesus Christ. Muslims claim Christ was merely a prophet and that He did not die and live again. They claim His blood is not sufficient or even necessary for salvation. They shall learn the truth when Christ himself returns!
They may find out the hard way that there are worse things than having your tires slashed at a protest.

As much as it pains me to even appear to be defending anything associated with the sickos at Westboro Baptist Church, I'll give them bonus points for having more guts than Comedy Central.

Echoing a commenter at Gateway Pundit, it's times like these that I wish that I owned stock in Orville Redenbacher.

h/t Instapundit

TSA: Enforcing equality by treating all of us equally like crap

Writing in the Washington Examiner, Mark Hemmingway has an immodest proposal:


The President and his family — preferably with DHS Secretary Janet “The system worked” Napolitano — should show up at Dulles or Reagan airport on a weekday with a camera crew in tow, as airport pat downs are typically done in full view of hundreds of travelers. All of America will to see the TSA handling the President’s crown jewels. Then a rubber-gloved federal agent will run his hands all over his wife and daughter’s privates while he watches. Then I want him to turn to the camera and tell all of America that this is no big deal and we should all be good citizens and comply with the necessary security procedures.

It only seems fair.

Well, I guess “fair” don’t feed the puppy. The One and his family are not subject to the rules of mere mortals and neither, it would appear, are Muslim women, who according to CAIR, should be exempt from TSA feel-ups on religious grounds. I have no such qualms. I simply prefer to pick and chose whom I allow to get touchy feely, and call me old fashioned, but I refuse to be groped unless I’ve been treated to a decent dinner and movie first. A girl has to have standards.
 
It has been pointed out numerous times that Israel, a country with a permanent bull's eye on it, feels no compulsion to subject its citizens to intrusive security measures.  The Israelis know who their enemies are and they concentrate their efforts on those who would do them harm.  Our government can't even admit that we have enemies much less bring themselves to name them.  As a result we have three year olds molested in airports with the full approval of the United States government. 
 
The insanity has filtered down to Florida.  We have a huge problem with illegal aliens here.  Our state doesn't want to be accused of "profiling" when issuing driver's licenses so it has instituted a new set rules for everyone in the state that ensures that we will all be inconvenienced together without regard to citizenship, national origin or common sense.  In January, when I renew my license, I will be required to provide the state with a long list of documents, including a certified copy of my marriage license, a document I gleefully burned twenty-eight years ago.  I will be required to do this despite the fact that I have been a legal resident and driver in this state for over twenty-five years.  This all speaks to government's unwillingness to deal with specific problems.
 
So we will jump through hoops and suffer indignities while travelling, whether flying cross-country or just driving in our own damn state.  We won't be any safer and illegals will continue to pour across our borders but the government rulemakers will remain smug in the knowledge that they have treated us all equally.  Equally like crap.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

I'll comment

Ever a gentleman, Bob refuses to comment of this picture.  Well, somebody has to.

Dear Michelle:

You are the First Lady of the United States of America.  Please do remember to comport in a ladylike manner.  This means you must not pick your nose, dig the earwax out from you ears or do that in public.  Image, dear.

Charlie Rangel is found guilty. So what?

Charlie Rangel has been found guilty of 11 counts of violating House ethic's rules.  Is anyone out there honestly holding their breath that the findings will result in anything meaningful? 

Back in 2006, Nancy Pelosi said she only needed 100 hours to begin to "drain the swamp".  Four years later the swamp stinks to high Heaven and the muck has taken over our government.  Further, the soon to be former Speaker of the House is in a pissing match with the Congressional Black Caucus and can ill afford to risk fanning the flames by agreeing to any serious sanctions against Rangel, the longest serving African American in the House. 

Rangel deserves to be bounced, but it won't happen.  He will walk away from this with a mere "tsk, tsk".  In just short of two weeks we will see Act II when the committee meets to replay the charade over Rep. Maxine Waters.  This is DC at its worst.

By the by, Stacy McCain shows his age (and mine).

Saturday, November 13, 2010

You're so vain

Gee, who'da thought that a man who had written two memoirs by the time he was forty-five might just be a tad full of himself?

Pundette:

Heaven help me, I'm starting to feel sorry for this vain, petty man. William Kristol:

At his November 12 press conference in Seoul, President Obama was asked the following question by CBS’s Chip Reid: “What was the number-one complaint, concern, or piece of advice that you got from foreign leaders about the U.S. economy and your stewardship of the economy?”

Whereupon the president began his response with a complaint: “What about compliments?” he asked. “You didn’t put that in the list.”
Pair that with another recent "But let's get back to me" moment and you might detect a pattern:

MR. KANSAGRA: Thank you. Welcome, Mr. President, to India. As a fellow Kenyan, I’m very proud to see that you have made –

THE PRESIDENT: Made something of myself. (Laughter.)

MR. KANSAGRA: — India as the focus of your drive for exports out of the U.S.

Remember, this the man who referred to himself one hundred and thirty-two times during the State of the Union address.  This is a man who never met a talk show he wouldn't appear on.  He is da bomb, the bag of Cheetos and President who put the sexy in the bee's hot little knees.  Just ask him.  You don't like ObamaCare?  Barry just needs to talk to you-some more.

Pat Caddell and Doug Schoen are calling for Obama to announce that he will not run for re-election:

"If the president goes down the reelection road, we are guaranteed two years of political gridlock at a time when we can ill afford it," Caddell and Schoen write in Sunday's Washington Post. "But by explicitly saying he will be a one-term president, Obama can deliver on his central campaign promise of 2008, draining the poison from our culture of polarization and ending the resentment and division that have eroded our national identity and common purpose."

You might think that by announcing he will not run, Obama would be telling the world that he is too weak even to try for re-election. Not so, say Caddell and Schoen. "Forgoing another term would not render Obama a lame duck," they write. "Paradoxically, it would grant him much greater leverage with Republicans and would make it harder for opponents such as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell -- who has flatly asserted that his highest priority is to make Obama a one-term president -- to be uncooperative."
Does anyone really believe that Obama's ego would allow him to forgo a possible second term?  Granted, walking away beats the hell out of losing but the likelihood of it occurring to Obama that he could lose is somewhere between zip and nada.

We are stuck with Obama and his ego for two more years.  It is my greatest hope that the next election will be about substance rather than faux star power. 

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

I love a rumor with a happy ending!

There's rumor floating around the net that Stacy and Smitty have achieved quite a milestone:  5,000,000 hits!  Congratulations to both, but remember-there's more to life than Alyssa Milano.

By the way, thank you.  You are appreciated.

There's an app for that

The time is right.  Or maybe it's wrong.  Who cares?  He's hot and you are ready.  There is just one little thing.  You lean over and whisper in his ear, "Baby, pee on my phone." 

But do we really have to pee on our phone? Come on!

We hear more and innovative uses for Apple's smartphone everyday, but an application that detects whether you've got the clap? Well that's taking things to a whole new level.

The proposed app, which had us thinking we'd by-passed winter and gone straight to April 1st, will require users to urinate on their pride and joy like a pregnancy test and plug it in to get the dreaded verdict on whether last week's sexual faux-pas gave you a gift that keeps on giving.

The £5.7m eSTI2 project, being overseen by a team of University of London scientists, will apparently use nanotechnology and software to analyse the sample.

If the news is bad, then you can book an appointment with your GP using the app, and pick up the ready-prepared prescription and get to work on relieving that itch.

The team working on the eSTI2 app reckon the technology is close to becoming a reality. It remains to be seen whether Apple is thinking of incorporating a "p**s here" sensor into its new iPhone 5.

Project Leader Dr Sadiq Tariq says: "Currently, if you want to know if you have an infection, your sample is usually sent to a laboratory and the results come back in a few days. Imagine how much more likely you would be to get tested if you could test yourself away from a clinic and have an on-the-spot, accurate result, but still let a doctor or pharmacist know within minutes that you may need treatment."
Ah, romance.  It is a beautiful thing.

You say you want a revolution

You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know that you can count me out
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
all right, all right
For all we hear about scary Teaba**ers who are clinging to their guns and Bibles as they suit up for the last battle it seems that the real threat to the Republic may be those cuddly, enlightened Liberals whose talk of tolerance is really just so much bong smoke.

Doug Ross:

Wealthy, Coddled, Marxist Cartoonist Calls for Violent Workers' Revolution (While Hawking His New Book)

Does anyone else find this hilarious?

The economically illiterate cartoonist known as Ted Rall appeared on (where else?) MSNBC to hawk his latest book, which preaches a socialist revolution of sorts. He says the system's broken and the only solution may be a violent overthrow of the government by the workers. Because they need jobs.

Yes, those would be the same jobs that the private sector could create, if it weren't being suffocated by the federal leviathan, that is.
You know, I don't think that Ted Rall is the first to suggest that "workers" should rise up and kill their fellow Americans.  That other fellow, Barry's buddy Bill Ayers and his Weather Underground had similar thoughts:

I asked, "well what is going to happen to those people we can't reeducate, that are diehard capitalists?" and the reply was that they'd have to be eliminated.

And when I pursued this further, they estimated they would have to eliminate 25 million people in these reeducation centers.

And when I say "eliminate," I mean "kill."

Twenty-five million people.

I want you to imagine sitting in a room with 25 people, most of which have graduate degrees, from Columbia and other well-known educational centers, and hear them figuring out the logistics for the elimination of 25 million people.

And they were dead serious.
I wonder what Rall's thoughts are on that?  Is twenty-five million dead a little extreme or just right?

You say you got a real solution
Well, you know
We'd all love to see the plan
You ask me for a contribution
Well, you know
We're doing what we can
But when you want money
for people with minds that hate
All I can tell is brother you have to wait
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
all right, all right
Ah

Verum Serum has an excerpt from Rall's book:

Christian fundamentalists, the millennial end-of-theworlders obsessed with the Left Behind series about the End Times, neo-Nazi racists, rural black-helicopter Michigan Militia types cut from the same inbred cloth as Timothy McVeigh, allied with “mainstream” gun nuts and right-wing Republicans, have been planning, preparing, and praying for the destruction of the “Godless,” “secular” United States for decades. In the past, they formed groups like the John Birch Society and the Aryan Nations. Now the hard Right has a postmodern, decentralized non-organization organization called the Tea Party. . . .
The government, the corporations, and the extreme right are prepared to coalesce into an Axis of Evil. . . .

The millions of partisans who follow Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and right-wing televangelists . . . will act to stop teenage sluts from getting abortions, teach n—–s a lesson, and slaughter those spics, dots, and everyone else who doesn’t fit into their vision of what and who is right.
Paranoid, anger issues, wacko or all of the above?  Stacy interprets:

You — the millions of people who listen to Limbaugh and vote Republican — are bloodthirsty totalitarians who endorse the genocidal “slaughter” of everyone who disagrees with you. So says Ted Rall, providing a handy guide to how he sees the two sides in the political Armageddon that looms:

Us: Hard-working, underpaid, put upon, thoughtful, freedom-loving, disenfranchised, ordinary people.
Them: Reactionary, stupid, overpaid, greedy, shortsighted, exploitative, power-mad, abusive politicians and corporate executives
See? That’s who the Left thinks you are, and how they think of their “thoughtful” selves. Only they are “hard-working.” Only they are “underpaid.” You? You’re stupid, overpaid and greedy. (Elsewhere, he calls you “parasites, vampires, hideous monsters.”) And who is promoting Ted Rall’s insightful analysis? Who else, but MSNBC?
Bottom line:  a grossly under-talented, overpaid cartoonist is trying to sell a book filled with bile and aimed at a niche market-ever frothy Liberals.  This particular niche group will snarl and growl as the foam runs down their chins but they will not bite.  They enjoy violent fantasies but in reality they will not act.  No balls.

You say you'll change the constitution
Well, you know
We all want to change your head
You tell me it's the institution
Well, you know
You better free you mind instead
But if you go carrying pictures of chairman Mao
You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
Ted Rall was only five years old when John Lennon wrote Revolution in 1968.  Lennon was not impressed by the tactics of protesters who advocated change through violence.  Who would have imagined that the lyrics would be relevant all these years later?  I guess every generation has its spoiled punks.

Monday, November 8, 2010

I only watch Olbermann on Kruiser Control

Seriously, The Olbermannometer is a hoot.  Outside of that, Keith Olbermann is not a part of life.  I'm happier for it.  But he's been in the news lately for breaking his network's rules and then being suspended for it.  Most employers set rules and most employees follow those rules knowing that breaking them (and getting caught) has consequences.  Not our Keith.  No, the rules don't apply to him so when he got caught he refused to apologize and insisted that his employer, MSNBC, apologize to him.  There's a definition in there somewhere.  Jerk?  Asshole?  Egomaniacal, immature ingrate?  You decide.

I'm glad to see that Charlie is using his remaining time wisely

Good gravy!  Who is Charlie trying to ingratiate himself to now?

Come on Charlie light our fire
Killer quote:

One thing Doors fans should take from the entire Florida Senate race was that whatever Charlie says today has no bearing on what he will say or do tomorrow.
So very true.

Californication

Honestly, is there anything more degrading than being compared to Lindsey Lohan? Allysia Finley goes there:

California: The Lindsay Lohan of States
Listen up, California. The other 48 states—your cousin New York excluded—are sick of your bratty arrogance. You're the Lindsay Lohan of states: a prima donna who once showed some talent but is now too wasted to do anything with it.

After enjoying ephemeral highs and spending binges, you suffer crashes that culminate in brief, unsuccessful stints in rehab. This cycle repeats itself every five to 10 years, as the rest of the country looks on with a mixture of horror and amusement. We'd feel sorry for you if you didn't constantly flip us the bird.

Instead, we're making bets on how long it will be before your next meltdown. Oh, wait—you're already melting down.
Here’s the deal-California deserves its very own category at the Darwin Awards. The state has become too useless to survive and astonishingly, it is proud of its idiocy. One can imagine the meetings that take place in the various government halls throughout the state: “We simply must have a Commission for the Study and Improvement of the Eleven Known Auras. We’ll fund it a special tax on Happy Meals.” “But we’ve outlawed Happy Meals.” “Then we’ll increase the taxes on energy consumption.” “All agreed. Motion passed!”

Meep @ POWIP:

California, living up to its reputation as the land of fruits and nuts, has re-elected two retreads, and neither is going to be able to save California from its self-inflicted issues.

Could California pensions implode? You betcha. They are not in the death spiral that Illinois is. Yet. But there has been bad behavior for the past decades, in terms of goosing the benefits at the pinnacle of the market, right before it collapsed.

Even if California as a state can weather it’s bad decisions with respect to retroactive benefit increases and contribution holidays, the municipalities might not do so well. And while there’s no official way a state can go bankrupt and drop its liabilities (though they can definitely default on bonds), municipalities can definitely go bankrupt. And stop paying all sorts of bills. Here’s a separate projection of when the money runs out.
California has been a joke for years. It was a joke back in 1980 and ’81 when I lived there. But now the state has gone from being a joke to being a parody of its stereotypical self. California will survive. What’s the alternative? But once the bottom falls out and there is no bailout to prop up an utterly unprepared citizenry, what will they do? Will they adjust or worse, go East? I say we act pre-emptively and build a border fence between them and the rest of us.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Reach around

Sure, if your name is Vladimir Putin.

Ever get the feeling that liberals are just unteachable?

Make mine a double.

But hold the bitters and sugar.  And pour, don't measure.


That Hitler fellow is one testy little Fuher.
 
Oh how I love a good meltdown!
 
Ahhhhh!  The sweet smell of "sucks for you"!
 
Why does it have to be so hard to not be cocky while I'm gloating?
 
I told you that Global Warming is a good thing.
 
Average temperature in Tampa in November = 78 degrees.  Current temperature in Tampa = 58 degrees.  I want my warming stat!
 
Marco Rubio: Republicans screwed up
 
Isn't it nice to know that somebody gets it?
 
Yeah, he'll work with us except when he doesn't.
 
Not holding my breath.
 
Sadly, the Left doesn't have a patent on idiocy.
 
We certainly have our share of slow learners.
 
Bloomberg:  Voters are illiterate.
 
Voters:  But we know how to spell S-E-E Y-A!
 
Apparently, Some Members of the GOP Liked Being in the Minority.
 
Maybe someone should remind them that in just two years we'll be culling the herd again.
 
When was the last time you heard anyone describe Olbermann as "objective"?
 
I don't remember the exact date but I believe that was the year that Russia launched Sputnick for the first time.
 
I can believe it.
 
Brought to you by the proud sponsors of turtle tunnels.

Some people have more issues than others.

When it comes to issues I get the feeling that Obama is a bottomless pit.

Yuck!

Tastes like chicken?

The man in the mirror.

Yeah, I don't think Obama is really in to introspection.

Sure, that's the problem!

Let's watch Obama go more liberal and see how that works out.

Is David Frum still around?

I want a job where I get paid for getting everything wrong.

The popcorn is popped and extra beer is on hand!

Nancy Pelosi:  The gift that just keeps giving.

Coexist!

When Hell freezes over.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Obama misses the mark

Writing in the New York Times President Obama makes a case for the country’s need to increase its exports:

AS the United States recovers from this recession, the biggest mistake we could make would be to rebuild our economy on the same pile of debt or the paper profits of financial speculation. We need to rebuild on a new, stronger foundation for economic growth. And part of that foundation involves doing what Americans have always done best: discovering, creating and building products that are sold all over the world.

We want to be known not just for what we consume, but for what we produce. And the more we export abroad, the more jobs we create in America. In fact, every $1 billion we export supports more than 5,000 jobs at home.
As tempting as it may be to snark about the president’s “pile of debt” comment, I will set that aside. I am struck by the president’s ability to write 763 words without mention two of the biggest impediments that US manufacturer’s face-taxation and regulation. The United States has the second highest corporate tax rate in the world. According to a 2010 World Bank study our effective rate is 27.9 percent while the average among the world’s developed nations is 16.8 percent. This country walks in to the global market place at a severe disadvantage. The disadvantage is compounded by the fact that our government has become downright slap happy when it comes to piling on regulations.

Yes, we need to become more competitive on a global level but Obama will not bring that about by running around glad-handing foreign dignitaries. Job One if he is really serious about putting Americans back to work is to get government out of the way.

Contrary to the liberal talking points, manufacturers do not move overseas because of cheap labor. They move because of our punitive taxes and innovation stifling regulations. Give businesses the tools they need to prosper and they will do so. Continue to hamper a manufacturer’s ability to put out a product at reasonable price and realize a profit and as sure as LeBron James moved his “franchise” from tax heavy Ohio to income tax free Florida, our manufacturers will continue to flee to more accommodating locations.

Rather than running around Asia, Obama should meet with Timothy Geithner and the heads of the various regulatory commissions. Unfortunately that is not how Democrats “do” business.

Another beautiful day in Florida

Obama Democrat Alex Sink will not be governor of Florida.  It is a wonderful thing.  Sink, like her husband before her who lost his run for governor to Jeb Bush, is a liberal Democrat.  Her idea of governance is tax, tax, tax and then spend, spend, spend.  Central planning puts a smile on her face.  She was all Obama all the time.  But now?  Ed Morrissey:

Sink blames loss on Obama White House

Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. But what comes after a fall? Recriminations, as Alex Sink reminds us in Florida. Politico interviewed the erstwhile gubernatorial candidate from Florida, who puts a large part of the blame for her loss on Barack Obama’s shoulders, and the rest on Rick Scott’s checkbook:

In the wake of the party’s worst election drubbing since 1994, the deep frustration felt by many centrist Democrats toward the White House and the national party is now out in the open. And it’s being aired in the battleground state that’s the biggest prize in presidential politics.

Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee Alex Sink pointed an accusatory finger Friday at what she called a “tone-deaf” Obama White House to explain why she narrowly lost her campaign.

In an interview with POLITICO, Sink said the administration mishandled the response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, doesn’t appreciate the political damage done by healthcare reform and argued that her GOP opponent’s strategy of tying her to the president did grave damage to her candidacy in the state’s conservative Panhandle.

“They got a huge wake-up call two days ago, but unfortunately they took a lot of Democrats down with them,” said Sink of the White House.

She added: “They just need to be better listeners and be better at reaching out to people who are on the ground to hear about the realities of their policies as well as politics.”
Oddly enough, Sink doesn’t mention the fact that the DNC and Obama’s organizing wing OFA poured resources into Florida on her behalf to keep her competitive with Scott. Sink also neglects to mention that she had leads in polls in the final days of the election until she got caught cheating in a debate — and then lied about it. That didn’t do anything for her relationship to Florida voters, either.
Sink is not a "centrist".  She is who she is and now that the voters have rejected her brand governance she wants to whine and finger point.  Not a very attractive trait in someone who wants to be a leader.  On the other hand, seeing her taking swipes at Obama certainly is entertaining.  Party on, Alex.

Comeuppance alert!

Poor AARP.  Remember how they came out of the box in support of ObamaCare?  It cost them sixty thousand members.  Now, in a case of no bad deed ever goes unpunished, they have been forced to informed their employees that their healthcare costs are going up thanks to, drumroll....ObamaCare:

In 2009, the AARP argued that the health care law was a good deal for seniors. That remains to be seen, and a large number of seniors seem to disagree. Regardless, it appears it’s less of a good deal for employees.

AARP's endorsement helped secure passage of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Now the seniors' lobby is telling its employees their insurance costs will rise partly as a result of the law.

In an e-mail to employees, AARP says health care premiums will increase by 8 percent to 13 percent next year because of rapidly rising medical costs.

And AARP adds that it's changing copayments and deductibles to avoid a 40 percent tax on high-cost health plans that takes effect in 2018 under the law. Aerospace giant Boeing also has cited the tax in asking its workers to pay more. Shifting costs to employees lowers the value of a health care plan and acts like an escape hatch from the tax.
Well, what goes around really does come around doesn't it?  AARP's employees have my sympathy, I know exactly how they feel.  Many of us do.  Unfortunately, I doubt that we will be hearing a "We screwed up" coming from the leadership of AARP.  In any case AARP's credibility is taking a well deserved hit.

Friday, November 5, 2010

I've been blessed

Last year, on the day before Thanksgiving, my father's doctor told me that I should let my family members know that if they wanted to say goodbye to Dad that they should come right away.  So we gathered, as families do on Thanksgiving.  Dad fooled the doctors again.  This year we will gather for Thanksgiving but it won't be at the hospital.  But first we have another very special day to celebrate.

On November 5, 1950, Don Everhart married Sally Cole.  For sixty years they have made their lives together.  On February 9, 1958 they returned from the United Methodist Children's Home with their new daughter.  I don't know why I was the child chosen that day, but I know that I have been blessed by their choice ever since. 
Thank you, Mom and Dad and congratulations on your special day. 

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Somebody needs to cut the president's credit card in two

Is there not one person in the whole of the United States government who has the backbone to look at The Mighty, Mighty Barry and say, “No sir, you won’t spend $200 million dollars a day to travel to Mumbai.”?


Is it necessary to take 3,000 people along for the ride? Could the president perhaps make do with only thirty-three warships? Could he maybe only walk down paths that don’t contain palm trees, or better yet, walk carrying Michelle on his shoulders?

If our president can’t visit another country without it costing the taxpayer’s an arm and a leg then he should stay home. Go green, Mr. President. Teleconference.
 
P.S.  150 people throughout the world are killed by falling coconuts each year.  Or not.  In any case, kinda wimpy thing to worry about much less plan for.
 
P.P.S.  Barry and Michelle Antoinette do really seem perfectly suited for one another, don't they?
 
P.P.P.S.  (Last one, I promise)  This trip is costing each man, woman and child in this country 65 cents per day.  When you think about it, that could be far cheaper than having the president in DC.

It has only been two days and already I've got my answer

No, they can't hear us now.  Threy, of course, is "THE PARTY".  They can't hear us because they are standing around with their fingers shoved in their ears screaming, "I know best."

Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott put it plainly: “We did not nominate our strongest candidates.”

We who? I get the feeling that Lott isn’t talking about “THE PARTY” when he says “we”. I get the feeling he doesn’t think you or I are smart enough to pick our own candidates. Lott isn’t alone:

Another high-profile senator went even further, placing the blame for the Senate GOP’s failure squarely at the feet of Graham’s South Carolina colleague, DeMint.

This Republican senator said that the tea party was the “big winner” by helping bring enormous energy behind GOP candidates Tuesday, but he said that “Sen. DeMint was the big loser.”

“It’s like you’re on the five-yard line ready to score and the quarterback calls the play and some member of your team tackles one of your members and keeps you from scoring,” the senator said. “We came tantalizingly close to a majority.”

“I’m completely mystified by it,” the senator said of DeMint’s tactics.

The senator credited House Speaker-in-waiting John Boehner for keeping House Republicans unified behind a common purpose but he said that DeMint took a selfish path that hurt the party’s common cause.
I admit I am completely mystified by “THE PARTY”. It seems that they couldn’t care less whether the Senate is filled with a hundred Arlen Specters so long as they each have an (R) after their names. “THE PARTY” doesn’t care how they vote, doesn’t care what they stand for. It doesn’t matter to them. Those of us that it does matter to are rubes, too ignorant to understand the “right” way to do things.

Shove it. One Marco Rubio is worth more than all the “PARTY” boys combined. In Marco’s victory speech he said that Republicans are being given a second chance. Well listen up, “THE PARTY” is blowing that second chance straight out of the gate.

Yep, some Tea Party candidates lost Tuesday. What would have happened had they gotten even a little support from “THE PARTY”? They might have still lost but at least we, the voters, would have felt like our party was listening to us.

“THE PARTY” acts like we are their personal fire hydrant. So fine, let them lift their legs and send forth a golden stream. But when they slip in their own piss and land on their asses they needn’t call out for a cleanup on aisle nine. They can sit there and wallow in it.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

When little piggies fly, Bucko

Talk about chutzpah!  We take the House and some ass wipe from Pennsylvania thinks the way for Republicans to show their "bi-partisanship" is by disavowing the Clinton impeachment:

(The Hill)- On the day after Republicans reclaimed control of Congress, a Democratic lawmaker said he will introduce a measure that would “disavow” the impeachment of former President Clinton.

Rep. Chaka Fattah (Pa.) said that the resolution is necessary so that Democrats and Republicans can work together in a bipartisan fashion.

“As we enter a period in which bipartisanship will be a major priority for the Congress, it is vital that we disavow the most highly partisan example of the politics of personal destruction in the recent history of this House,” Fattah said in a statement.

The last time they were in power, House Republicans impeached Clinton for allegedly perjuring himself over his supposed affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Clinton, only the second president in history to be impeached, was eventually acquitted at trial in the Senate.
First of all, strike the words "allegedly" and "supposed" from the paragraph above.  William Jefferson Clinton did indeed commit perjury by lying in a deposition in the Paula Jones case and he did, after some prodding, admit that he did indeed have sexual relations with that woman, Monica Lewinsky.  Facts is facts and history is history.  Neither can be changed by some ridiculous House resolution.  But the bigger question is why is Fattah looking back to 1998 instead of working towards solving the problems of 2010? 

If Fattah thinks that bi-partisanship consists of House members giving each other back rubs and big wet kisses he is in for one, big bumpy road.  Newsflash for Fattah:  we won.  Bi-partisanship is you working with us.  Get used to it.

What now?

Well, today we celebrate.  We have earned it.  First, via Instapundit Alex Sink has conceded!  I am almost sorry that I took the day off from work.  The looks on a few of my co-worker's faces must have been delicious when Sink pulled the plug earlier today.  Why yes, I am gloating. 

All and all it was a great night for my state.  We swept the governorship and cabinet as well taking large majorities in both state senate and house.  And what about our Marco!  When I first started talking to people about Marco running for the Senate polite people stifled a smile and everyone else laughed in my face.  Over and over again I was told that there was no way that Marco Rubio could beat Charlie Crist.  Congratulations, Senator Rubio!  Now in the words of my new governor, "Let's get to work."

There is one race that I am profoundly disheartened about.  Mike Prendergast will not be my representative in Congress.  We had a clear choice here between the ninth most liberal member of the House and a true conservative who has dedicated his life to the service of our country.  What we didn't have was a "machine".  Even at that, Mike won forty percent of the vote.  He did it by listening to the voters and presenting them with workable solutions to the problems facing us.  He ran a good and honorable campaign.  I am proud of Mike and proud to support him.  He can count on my support whatever the future brings.

No doubt that Marco is the man of the hour.  Enjoy his acceptance speech.  If you don't tear up at least a couple of times you are heartless.  A special thank you to all my friends at Not One Red Cent who rallied around Marco from the beginning and to my sisters at Potluck who each and everyone are a great source of pride and inspiration to me.  To Pres. Obama, well, Michelle Malkin said it best, "Take your olive branch and shove it, Democrats."




Oh, yeah, I almost forgot-goodbye, Nancy Pelosi!  Don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way out.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Can you hear us now?

I met a wonderful woman while sign waving this morning. She was informed, intelligent, passionate, funny and boy oh boy, was she pissed at the Republican Party.  I meet people like her at every event I attend.  There's no doubt that today's election is a referendum on the Obama administration but if the Republican party thinks that is all it is they are in for one big rump roast from a whole lot of former Republicans.  Dan Riehl writes:

The scalp taking doesn't end on November 2. But they really don't understand that. They think they're simply seeing a surge thanks to Obama. If they genuinely understood the depth of anger focused more on them, than, say, specific support for Palin, they'd realize they won't really be on offense in the sense they believe they will be after election day.

It isn't simply about Palin. Taken as a whole, the people coming for this particular GOP establishment are less invested in protecting, or pushing, Sarah Palin, than they are determined to take them down. Palin supporters are only one brigade of a much larger army that has no intentions of standing down post-November.
Simply put, the days of top down party power are over.  At a recent townhall Mike Prendergast was asked what is the greatest threat to our country.  He had a single word answer, "Complacency."  We have paid, and will continue to pay, for our complacency.  We know the price.  It stops now.

I still don't get the sense that our party leaders "get it".   When I hear Mitch McConnell say, "We need to have a humble, grateful response about this election." my jaw clenches.  McConnell doesn't seem to understand that we have an agenda and it is his job to forward it.  He still believes that we should accept whatever comes down the pike because The Party knows best.  That dog isn't gonna hunt.

I have invested a lot years in the Republican party.  Being a Republican is central to who I am.  I don't want to see the party torn apart but if the party doesn't change it will not survive in any meaningful form.  Will the party get the message?  We'll soon find out.

I've got a party to get ready for.  Good luck to everyone tonight.  Don't forget that Prof. Jacobson is doing live coverage today and Stacy is partying with Marco tonight.

Another reason to vote

Via Instapundit, a reminder of the last eighteen months.  May I suggest that while watching it helps if you imagine the looks on their smug, smarmy little faces tomorrow.

Election Day is finally here!

I was out at my local polling place sign waving for Mike Prendergast long before sun up this morning.  It is cold and raining here but the turnout has been great.  I'm taking a short break and then I'll be right back out there.

About 7:20 a.m. an SUV pulled into the polling place.  The driver said he was delivering "extra" ballots.  I don't know why "extra" ballots would be necessary but my sign waving partner called it in.  When Mike Prendergast came by we told him what had happened and he reported it as well.  Keep your eyes open!  The only shot the Dems have is by cheating.  Report everything you see even if it seems innocent. 

Stacy McCain is on his way to Miami as we speak.  I have an invite to the Rubio victory party and thought very seriously about driving down but the congressional race here in FL 11 is so important to me and this is really where I want to be. 

I'll be checking in throughout the day.  Good luck to everyone out there.  We are so close to turning this country around.  If you haven't done it yet, GET OUT THERE AND VOTE!

SUPPORT MIKE PRENDERGAST IN FL-11