My Two Cents on Charles Johnson

Charles Johnson has officially announced that he no longer wishes to be associated with "The Right." Frankly, I've never paid much attention to Charlie but apparently he's been cutting his ties with the Right for almost as long as he's had ties with the Right. Everybody who is anybody is weighing in:

Stacy McCain: Whatever harm CJ has inflicted on me or anyone else, his "success" in turning Little Green Footballs into an unprofitable imitation of Daily Kos is as much vindication as any of his victims can expect.

Legal Insurrection: In fact, this is just another attention getting ploy to get back at people who have criticized Johnson. Go to The Other McCain for some background. Jules Crittendon and JammieWearingFool have good take-downs of Johnson's tactic, and James Joyner refutes Johnson's accusations in great and glorious detail.

The Daley Gator: He likely will not be watching, football as great as the SEC offers is too much for asshats wimps like Johnson. He will likely spend the Saturday telling his cat, likely named Mr. Giggles or some such name, how stupid Southerners are, and how we all chew dirt and think the earth is only 6,ooo years old.

American Power: I was never that big a fan of Charles Johnson, but last year I was amazed at his ability to weed out the most vile comments and posts at Daily Kos, and so I visited there routinely. C.J. hadn't fully transmogrified into the premiere enemy of everything-not-LGF, but the writing was on the wall with the early attacks on Pamela Geller, and the weird denunciation of must about any European criticism of Islam as "fascism."

Riehl World View: No, Chuckles has simply replaced one enemy with another. I suppose, as with some, he requires such a thing to survive. Chuckles isn't having an awakening, he's simply living out whatever the hell it is that passes for a reality of sorts in his cyber-induced dream-dementia of a world. Were he ever to truly awaken, he'd probably leave blogging behind. His mind simply isn't strong enough to maintain a single identity as he goes along and posts.

And so it goes. Here's my two cents on the method behind Charlies madness: links. Consider this from LGF today:

Well, LGF traffic is soaring this morning; nearly 6,000 visitors online as I write this. Links coming in from everywhere...The funny thing is, that post about “Why I Parted Ways with the Right?” I wrote it in about three minutes last night. It’s been brewing in my cortex for years, and something triggered the release; exactly what, I don’t really know. Guess it was time.

It was time because nobody pays any attention to LGF unless he is smack talking. That is his business plan.

The Left will tire of him soon enough and if the Right ignores him he'll fade away.

Headline of the Day

Chelsea Clinton to Wed Son of Nigerian Finanace Minister:

Chelsea Clinton is engaged to marry her... boyfriend of two years. Clinton, 29, the only daughter of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and former President Bill Clinton, became engaged over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend to investment banker Marc Mezvinsky, 31.

Mezvinsky, who works for Goldman Sachs, is the son of former U.S. Reps. Ed Mezvinsky (D-Iowa) and Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinksy (D-Pa.). The elder Mezvinsky recently served a prison term for swindling $10 million from investors in a series of Nigerian e-mail scams. He was released in 2008.

Goldman Sachs? Is that still allowed?

Be Still My Beating Heart

Many search their whole lives to find happiness. For some of us, it is just one overpriced quaff away.

Years from now, our children's children will still be making fun of Robert Gibbs

No truer words were ever spoken:

The consensus is that Climategate is real. You're a denier, Robert Gibbs. The silence is not settled.

Every time I listen to Gibbs I think of those immortal words, "whadda Maroon!"

Ruby Slippers has our esteemed (snark!) Energy Czar, Carol Browning's statement on Climategate:

"I'm sticking with the 2,500 scientists. These people have been studying this issue for a very long time and agree this problem is real," said Ms. Browner, who President Obama has tapped as his chief of policy on global warming.

Well alrighty then. Who is in denial now?

Actually as scams go, the whole Climate Change thing wouldn't be so bad had it not been tried before. Fool me once and all that. But I've gotta tell you, once a scam is busted it really works best to just sheepishly move along. The current batch of grifters don't seem inclined to move to their next mark.

I get that Global Warming has proven particularly lucrative for some people but honestly, there really is one born every minute. Surely these charletans can stumble across another hoax that will allow them to go all Pinky and the Brain with the world domination thing.

In the mean time it would be really sweet if they would let the rest of us mere mortals go about our business unfettered by carbon taxes and the rest. And if possible, pretty please, make the next new religion a little less fascist.

On This Day in History

On November 30, 1835, Samuel Langhorn Clemons-Mark Twain, was born. I must confess that the birthday appears nowhere on my calendar and would have gone unnoticed had it not been for Doug Ross.

As a child and teen I was an incurable tomboy who, when not engaged in some type of foolishness, loved to read. Mark Twain and Tolkien were my favorites. Their books are full of incredible characters who lived the adventures that I longed for.

I met my first black person when I was in middle school. Until then, Huck Finn's Jim was my idea of what a black man was. I imagined him tall and strong, wise and caring, while Huck, was the male version of myself. From a "station" point of view, Huck could not have been more different from myself. Certainly I was raised by a father who was, is, the opposite of Huck's Pa.

Mark Twain didn't have a politicaly correct bone in his body and as a result, generations of children will no longer be assigned his works to read. It is a shame. There is much to be learned from the relationship between Huck and Jim. It is also a terrible shame that children are so protected, by necessity, that they will never drift down the river or play hide and seek in a cornfield or ride as far as their bikes will take them as I did as a child. Twain fueled my imagination and took me beyond my small town existence.

Happy birthday, Mark.

He Is What He Is

Over at Instapundit:

JENNIFER RUBIN: Will Obama Repair His Wimp Image? “Frankly, it might be a good time for the president to battle his left flank and demonstrate some moxie, if he has it. The world and a vast number of centrists in America, not to mention conservatives, think he’s a wimp. This is his time to prove them wrong.”

Expecting Obama to quit being a wimp is like asking Urkel to quit being a geek or Fat Albert to quit being fat. He is what he is.

Tiger Woods Asks For Privacy

Tiger Woods has issued a statement asking for privacy and so long as he doesn't start babbling about a "soul mate" I am willing to give it to him. I do admit to some curiosity regarding the matter and ala Legal Insurrection, I do have some questions. However, all is well that ends well and I trust that Mr. Woods will strive to be a bit more perfect going forward.

More at:

Memeorandum
The Other McCain
Left Coast Rebel

Sunday Funny

Via Memeorandum:

Jim Treacher captures a conversation between a scientist and a climate change denier that is absolutely hysterical. Anything that ends with a climate change fraudster, um, I mean scientist, rocking back and forth in a corner is not to be missed.

Family is the Best Medicine

We certainly hadn't planned on it but the family ended up together for Thanksgiving. I don't think there has ever been a drug manufactured that could have perked up my Dad the way that seeing his great grandchildren again has.

Here they are on a break at the hospital:


My grandson is no fan of having his picture taken, his sister never saw a camera she didn't love:

We are taking our days one at a time and enjoying each moment that we have with my father. Thank you to everyone who has sent prayers and kind thoughts. We are all doing well and whatever time my Dad has left will be quality time.

Al Gore is Number One!

Al Gore has long strived for "Top Dog" status and he may have finally achieved it. Via Doug Ross, the Top Ten Climategate Losers:

What a Difference a Senate Race Makes

Yesterday I took a short break to grab something to eat at a buffet close to the hospital where my father is staying. I picked a copy of the St. Pete Times to read while I ate (I quit reading the Tampa Tribune over a year ago). There was Charlie Crist on page one under the headline: Charlie Crist sheds environmentalist image. Well, heh, Charlie Crist has been desperate to shed several aspects of his image since Marco Rubio came out as a viable challenger for the Republican candidate for the US Senate race, the environmentalists are just the latest Crist constituency to find themselves under the bus.

From the Times Piece:

"(Charlie Crist) was more green than any governor had ever been before," said David Guest of Earthjustice, an environmental law firm.

But since he launched his bid for a U.S. Senate seat this year, Crist has left environmentalists feeling jilted. He canceled his climate summit. He didn't fight the Legislature's move to end funding for the popular Florida Forever environmental land-buying program. He signed a controversial bill changing the state's growth management law. And he has all but endorsed a proposal to allow drilling for oil near Florida's gulf beaches.

What happened to the man they once called "Governor Green"? A tough primary challenge from Marco Rubio.

Of course Charlie insists that he is the same Governor Green he always was but he says he's putting the environment on the back burner while he works on the state’s economic problems. As a Floridian I am glad that the Governor is finally recognizing that the state has economic problems but I find it disingenuous that his epiphany only came after Rubio posted his challenge.
Crist has toned down his rhetoric in an effort to preserve his viability in the race against Rubio. Should he prevail he will revert to the same old Charlie:

Guest predicted that, if Crist beats Rubio in the Republican primary, he will revert to his old positions.

"I don't think Charlie's green politics were gambit," he said. "I think that was the real Charlie."

Guest is correct about the real Crist. Florida can’t afford to send the real Crist to the Senate.

This just another Crist flip flop for the election's sake.

Pity the Poor Pervert, He Has Suffered So

When it comes to hyperbolic bullsh*t, this takes the cake:

I am mostly thinking about him: Roman Polanski whom I don't know but whose fate has moved me so much. Nothing will repair the days he has spent in prison. Nothing will erase the immense, unbelievable injustice he has been subjected to. Nothing will take away the hysteria of those ones who have never stopped pouring contempt upon him, hounding him through hatred and asking for his punishment as if we were living the darkest and most ferocious hours of the McCarthysm era all over again. At least, the nightmare is about to end. At least the end of the hell is looming. And this, for the time being, is what does matter.

Why yes, throwing child rapists in jail is so barbaric-worse, déclassé. Afterall, nothing smacks of McCarthysm like holding someone accountable for anally raping a thirteen year old.

Obama Has Been Handed a Gift

President Obama has been handed a powerful gift in the form of Climategate. This is his opportunity to show true world leadership.

Now that we know that Great Britain’s CRU was not alone in making climate mischief, Obama should go to Copenhagen and announce that in light of the fact that false and faulty information has been the basis of the global warming scaremongering, now is not the time to rush in to risky carbon emission schemes that could further weaken an already damaged global economy and send unemployment even higher.

Obama should encourage the conference attendees to continue to explore alternative energy sources and remind them that protecting the environment does not live or die with climate change. Obama would come off appearing thoughtful and responsible. He would allow other world leaders a graceful way off the climate change Titanic and throw a bone to environmentalists with an alternative energy spiel.

Granted, I don’t expect him to do it, but presidential legacy wise, he is better off if he is seen as leading the charge away from the sham science rather than towards it.

Thanksgiving

I sat next to Dad's bed and watched him sleep. Mom had gone home to get some rest. Anyway, that is what she said. The doctor was supposed to be coming in and Mom didn't want to talk to him. I told her that I would talk to him and then come over to her house. I would be better coming from me.

Mom was sitting in "her" chair when I walked in. Dad's chair sat there empty. I told her that Dad wouldn't be coming home again and she just said, "I know."

So we will all be home for Thanksgiving. My uncle will be here from Ohio in the morning. My son will go to the airport with me to meet my daughter and grandchildren's flight from Arizona. My brother will be here Friday.

Dad was awake when I got back to the hospital. I tried to be upbeat when I told him that everybody was coming to see him. He saw right through me. He said, "I won't be here next year, will I?" And I said, "no, Daddy."

We won't have a "traditional" holiday but it will be a good Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for. My parents have had a good marriage and the love that they have shared has been passed on through them to me and to my children and grandchildren. I could not be more blessed.

May each of you have a Happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful holiday season.

Obama Fading Fast

L.A. streetwear company Freshjive has put out a new tee shirt called Hope is Fading Fast, a takeoff of the "Hope" poster by Shepard Fairey.

Apparently, Freshjive founder Rick Katz doesn't much like anyone and that includes our feckles leader:

Pre-releasing on Black Friday is the t shirt design, “Hope is Fading Fast”. This is actually the first item releasing without the Freshjive brand name on it. Read the recent post on the World’s Got Problems blog regarding how the Obama administration is maintaining continuity with its disgraced predecessor.

American Power:

Actually, those on the right have seen way more clever posters, signs, and t-shirts all year -- at the tea parties and town halls. This one's cute, but not so orginal as to knock anybody's socks off.

It is important on the left, but also inaccurate. The reaction on the hard left is not conflicted. Radical blogs like Firedoglake have been hammering the "corporate" Democrats for some time now. (Frankly, Jane Hamsher's a commie tin-pot dictator-in-waiting.) And Josh Marshall's pissed that the party can't overcome GOP parliamentary procedures slowing down the ObamaCare monstrosity. Folks like this want radical change, "structual change," in response to the perceived "political polarization" that's causing a breakdown of "informal rules." Ezra Klein's also called for an end to the filibuster, and Scottie Lemieux also repudiates long-standing congressional rules protecting minority rights in favor of giving Dems power to ram down their unpopular policies -- and thus implement tyranny of the majority (isn't that just what radical leftists really want?).

What's good about this is that, yeah, for all of his own radical proposals, on some issues President Obama is trying to hold onto the political center (look at his Afghanistan decision to back McChrystal's troop surge), lest his "fading hope" turns out to be a political avalanche of dissatisfaction among moderates. So, as the radicals pull Obama leftward, back over to his own communist ideological inclinations, we'll seen even more of a rightward acceleration among independent moderates, who're already bailing on "hopenchange," as they say screw that with socialist extemism.

Obama is losing on all fronts because he is a personality, not a leader. He wants the crowds and applause of a campaign, not the day in and day out grind of running a country. As a result he has failed to make any segment of the country happy. It is as if he thought he could sit in the "big office" and radiate and everything would go his way. Reality bites.

Apologies Will Be Forth Coming In 4, 3, 2...Never Mind

Now that we've learned that Bill Sparkman committed suicide I'm sitting here listening to the crickets chirp while I wait for the Left to apologize for smearing pretty much everyone on the Right and pretty much everyone in my former home state of Kentucky when news of Sparkman's death first surfaced.

Andrew Sullivan claims that he has nothing to apologize for. Here's what Sully originally wrote:

It's possible, I suppose, that anger at the feds in general could make a drug dealer murder a census worker. But the most worrying possibility - that this is Southern populist terrorism, whipped up by the GOP and its Fox and talk radio cohorts - remains real. We'll see.

In Andrew's world the We'll see is proof that he was keeping an open mind. Where I come from, we call it the "God bless", as in "God bless her, she's ugly as mud." You can say anything about anybody as long as you qualify it with a "God bless."

Stacy McCain puts it to Sullivan:

This, from a post entitled "Correcting Michelle Malkin," as if Malkin -- who was right all along about the Sparkman case -- needs corrections from Dr. Andrew Sullivan, M.D., OB-GYN. Tell you what: We'll let Sarah Palin's Uterus be the arbiter here. We're not laughing with you, Sully, we're laughing at you.

But Sully wasn't the only chimp who used Sparkman's death as an excuse to fling some feces-
Reason, American Power and Camp of the Saints have round ups of all the Lefty monkeys who practically fell over one another to to smear anyone who failed to worship at the alter of Obama.

To be honest, I'm not really waiting for an apology. That would require a level of honesty and decency not seen from the Left.

An Insider's Look at the Secret Lives of Climate Researchers

Here to give you an inside look at the secret lives of climate researchers:

Iowahawk Geographic: The Secret Life of Climate Researchers
Narrator

Our very planet depends on them. Yet they remain nature's most elusive scientific species, inhabiting some of the world's most delicate and daunting academic environments. But thanks to new breakthroughs in high speed cameras and email files, metascientists are finally beginning to understand their mysterious behaviors and complex social interactions. Tonight on Iowahawk Geographic: step inside the Secret Life of the Climate Researchers.

French Horn Fanfare Theme

Fast-cut montage of walrus mating with polar bear, astronomer peering through telescope into neighbor's window, cheetahs chasing penguins on the Serengeti, scientists filling out NSF grant proposals

Dah dat dat DAAAH dat, dah daht duh dah dee-dah dee dah-dah!

Narrator

This is the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom, home of one of the largest nesting populations of climate scientists in Europe.

Gentle ant's-eye scene of idyllic campus lawn, strewn about with drunken mating undergraduates

Each year it attracts magnificent migratory flocks of graduate students, adjuncts and visiting faculty from across the northern hemisphere.

Shots of jumbo jets landing at Heathrow; herds of climate researchers busily milling at Duty Free shops, retrieving baggage, phoning for prearranged limo service

Read it all.

Katie Gets Creepy

Doug at The Daley Gator turned me on to this video from Gateway Pundit:



But there is only one place to see the real Katie. EEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWW!

Obama is "Carteresque"?

That's harsh! Carter was a bumbling idiot. A rube, a stooge and a bit of a tool. Is Chris Matthews, the self proclaimed expert of all things political, really comparing Obama to Jimmie Carter? Jimmie of "Billy Beer" fame? Jimmie of "killer rabbit" fame? That Jimmie Carter?

Once you've been called "Carteresque" can things get much worse?

Yes, yes they can!

"Real Parents"

Don Surber caught my attention with the story of an adoptee who went in search of his "real parents":

Matthew Roberts, 41, set out to find his “real” parents after he grew up as an adopted child.

It is natural.

But his is a cautionary tale for adoptees everywhere.

He found his biological mother 12 years ago. She was coy about who his father is.

She finally told him.

Charles Manson.

“I didn’t want to believe it. I was frightened and angry. It’s like finding out that Adolf Hitler is your father,” Roberts told the London Sun. “I’m a peaceful person — trapped in the face of a monster.”

They do look alike, except for that swastika that Mansion carved into his forehead.

Roberts writes him but has yet to talk to the madman on the phone, even though he has his prison telephone number.

His father told him not to look for his biological father, saying, “Nothing good will come from this.”

Dad was right.

My advice? If you had good adoptive parents, don’t ask. I was 47 when I met my father. I was not impressed.

Nurture, not nature, is the key.

Obviously, this is a pretty extreme case. I commented at Surber's that while I've never met my biological parents that I have been blessed to have known my "real parents" since I was ten days old.

I don't know why I've never had any real curiosity about my biological parents but I suspect it is because of the way my parents handled the subject of my adoption.

I don't remember being told that I was adopted, it is just something that I've always known. My parents wrote about my adoption in my "baby book" and were always very open about it. My Mom and Dad told me that loving parents want the best for their children and that my biological parents loved me enough to make sure that I would have the best life possible.

I hope with all my heart that wherever my biological parents are, they know that they made the right decision and that I am very grateful to them.

I've always said that children are a blessing from God. God blessed me with two wonderful children and with two loving and dedicated parents.