Piece of Work In Progress

New POWIP is LIVE

2009-08-13T18:14:00.000-04:00

http://powip.com

Ok - it hasn't been prettied up, but it is nonetheless live.

Some News About the Site

2009-08-12T19:26:00.003-04:00

Sometime soon, perhaps in the next few days, I'll be moving to a new site, not hosted by Blogger. Among the advantages will be that I won't have to worry about being flagged for content, of course, but I'll also be moving to the much more flexible Typepad. The address will simply be powip.com.

This has been made possible, not by any sudden windfall I've gotten from Obama, but because Enoch and his business partner have purchased sunant, a web-development company. So, I'm sure they'll do a bang-up job for me, and if any of you are likewise interested in having your sites designed and hosted through them, let me know, because the scuttlebutt is that I'll receive a commission for referrals.

The other big news is that I have a part-time gig with The BCast, doing research and lining up guests and such-like. They're going to be making a push to expand soon, so with any luck, and a lot of hard work, it could develop into a full-time gig. So, please do check out The BCast, if you don't already, and feel free to forward stories to me for them, particularly if there's video attached.

One of the issues that they've been covering some, lately, that's of particular interest to me is the privacy issues attached to new media and increasing government intrusion into our lives. I'm not going to go any way towards dedicating this blog to that, but I imagine that it's something that concerns many of my readers, anyway. So, please be on the lookout for any information that might be of use to me.

Now that I'm employed, I'll presumably be able to restore internet at home, soon, and then I'll be back to blogging as usual.

The most important single piece I saw today was this, about what's actually contained in the health care proposals being floated. Please read it and familiarize yourselves with it.

If anyone knows of a surgeon who's willing to go on the record as being appalled by Obama's claim yesterday that a physician would prefer to amputate than provide treatment to save a limb, because of economic incentive so to do, I might like to have that person write something for us, and maybe appear on the show. As you can see from the Google page that appears when you type in the phrase, "surgeons respond to Obama," plenty of ENT surgeons are on record regarding Obama's tonsillectomy remarks, but there's literally nothing from vascular surgeons. Why?

Seems to me there are radical surgical procedures that Obama ought to be more concerned about.

Buy These Books

2009-08-11T10:15:00.002-04:00

Jules's wife's book has received great reviews, plus . . . she's hot.

Velociman's probably not the same kind of hot, but you should buy his book anyway.

I'm not hot, but I'm waiting for Iowahawk to write the preface. I SWEAR!

Early to Bed

2009-08-11T10:01:00.003-04:00

Moral imperative:

For those of us who believe that the absence of universal health care is America’s burning shame, the spectacle of opposition to Obama’s health-care plan is Alice-in-Wonderland bewildering and also enraging—but on one point the plan’s critics are absolutely correct. One of the key bills under consideration in the plan—sympathy for limitations on end-of-life care—is morally revolting. And it’s helping to kill the plan itself.

Make no mistake about it. Determining which treatments are “cost effective” at the end of a person’s life and which are not is one of Obama’s priorities. It’s one of the principal ways he counts on saving money and making universal healthcare affordable.

Read the whole thing, before they "nudge" you into your grave.

UPDATE: Via Zip, News Busters quoting Neil Steinberg at the Chicago Sun-Times:

I don't know if it's 40 percent, but a considerable minority -- who voted for John McCain are galvanizing into, not just an opposition party in exile, but a kind of fifth column, an enemy within trying to undermine the operation of our government, opposing the president at every turn for purely ideological, if not pathological, reasons.

If Obama tries to fix the economy, then they're against fixing the economy. If Obama tries to reform health care, then the current medical mess is fine and they descend on congressional town hall meetings to shout down and intimidate. If Obama were mobilizing the nation to fight off invaders from Mars, they'd oppose that, too.

About Transparency

2009-08-11T09:06:00.005-04:00

The specter of nationalized health care is making strange bedfellows. Democrats have attacked medical insurance and pharmaceutical companies as evil for wanting to stop the government takeover of health care. But at the same time, Democrats are working closely with these industries to push the initiative forward. In exchange for favorable treatment in the plan, health care companies are financing a massive ad campaign to support government care.

Fox News reports that pharmaceutical companies are prepared to spend at least $150 million, and possibly as much as $200 million, to promote the changes President Obama wants. Private insurance companies, which funded ads that helped defeat President Clinton's takeover of the health care industry in 1993 and 1994, have launched ads supporting Mr. Obama this time around. These campaigns will dwarf any opposition efforts to highlight the dangers of the proposed reforms, according to Fox.

You're all corporate lackeys, though.

Hey, what about carrying water for the pharmaceutical companies?

One of the principal reasons that the unions seem so desperate to do Obama's bidding is that they are. And one of the reasons that they are is that their pensions have been raided so often that they're dying. Via Warner Todd Huston, from the WSJ:

In April, the SEIU National Industry Pension Fund—which covers some 101,000 rank-and-file members—announced that its pension has been put into what the feds call “critical status,” or “red zone.” In other words, it lacks the cash to pay promised benefits and may have to cut them. As of 2007, the last year for which it reported results to the government, the fund had 74.4% of the assets needed to pay its benefits.

Thirteen of the bigger plans operated for the Teamsters have, together, a mere 59.3% of reserves necessary to cover obligations. Or consider that 26 pension funds at the food workers union, the UFCW, are at 58.7%. Seven locals at the United Brotherhood of Carpenters fare better at 67%. As a rule of thumb the government considers a fund to be “endangered” at below 80%, and in “critical” status at below 65%, and requires them to come up with a plan to get off probation within a decade.

So, Obama can't necessarily give a controlling interest in a US automaker to everybody to bail out their pensions, but the SEIU and related interests are sure showing their dedication to his policies, in hopes he'll find a way to save theirs, too.

That might turn out to be less likely than they think.

Oh, well. Like Congress, the unions know how to take care of the truly important:

Poor management probably deserves a lot of the blame for the union decline, but the exact causes are a mystery. An even bigger mystery is that the unions do a far better job with funds created for their officers and employees than for mere workers. The SEIU Affiliates, Officers and Employees Pension Plan—which covers the staff and bosses at its locals—was funded as of 2007 at 102.2%. The plan for the folks at SEIU international headquarters was funded at 84.8%.

Union officer benefits are also far more generous than anything dues-paying workers enjoy. Consider again the SEIU, probably the country’s most powerful union. Their officers and employees get a yearly 3% cost of living increase, but SEIU members get none; officers qualify for an early pension at 50 or after more than 30 years of service, but workers can’t retire early with a pension; officers qualify for disability retirement after a year’s service, but workers need 10 years. In the land of union retirement, some workers are more equal than others.

Total Douchebaggery Achieved

2009-08-10T20:17:00.007-04:00

Congratulations, Think Progress, Steve Benen and The Moderate Voice (sic), you've achieved absolute douchebaggery. You see, according to these people, the issue at hand isn't one of Mr. Gladney being beaten up, but of Mr. Gladney not being insured.

Last week, during a scuffle between health care town hall protesters and SEIU members at a town hall hosted by Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO), anti-health care reform protester Kenneth Gladney was injured and required hospitalization.

Oh, it's true that there was a scuffle. It was initiated when an SEIU thug grabbed some merchandise that Mr. Gladney was selling (because he's out of a job), calling him "nigger" for good measure, and Mr. Gladney snatched it back. Then, a couple, maybe three of the Purple Army knocked him to the ground and started stomping on him.

Note the passive voice, "was injured." He was beaten, you dolt. By a union Public Service Director and Baptist minister by the name of Elston McCowan. As you can see on the Gateway Pundit piece, the SEIU immediately published an article claiming that they were the ones attacked, and, as I've noted below, tweeted the same, what would Linda Douglass call it? disinformation through their official Twitter handle, @SEIU. Now, they've created a video (will link later) that tries to depict the "teabaggers" as the violent ones, just as the Democrats, paying for astroturf through OFA and other organizations actually practice the astroturfing that they claim health care protesters are the product of.

Linda Douglass tried to claim that Pam Key's video showcasing Obama's repeated claims that a transition to single-payer would have to be accomplished in stages over 15 or 20 years was a hatchet job, and rejoined. Now Pam has upped the ante by showing Obama repeatedly claiming that the health care negotiations would be held on C-SPAN so as to insure accountability, just as he claimed that all pending legislation requiring his signature would be posted for public comment for a minimum of 5 days prior to enactment.

The CBO continues to state that the savings that Obama and company insist are there are fantasy. Obama hasn't followed through on his promises of transparency or accountability during his mad spending spree. He's telling those responsible to hold their tongues, without acknowledging the role of Congress--of which he has been a member--in the production of the problems that he feels are so urgent. Why the heck should we believe anything he says?

Commenting on the Gladney incident, The Moderate Voice writes, “Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up. If anything was more calculated to make the Right look foolish than this St. Louis incident then I’d love to see it.”

Under the House’s health care proposal, Gladney would be guaranteed a coverage option and would likely receive a subsidy to purchase affordable health care.

Well, you know, Mr. Gladney wouldn't need that at the moment, if some racialist bastards hadn't kicked the snot out of him for the crime of selling Gadsden flags while black. Oh, but it gets even better . . .

Update The Washington Independent contacted Brown, who said his client Gladney is not uninsured after all. “He’s just unemployed,” says Brown, and “has insurance through his wife.”

D'oh! Seriously, you can't make this stuff up. If anything were better calculated to make you all appear as the mendoucheous morons you are, I can't think, offhand, of what it might be. This is the supreme autopwnag3.

Thriller Night

2009-08-09T23:42:00.005-04:00

Soundtrack Title Track: Possum Kingdom, The Toadies

Runner Up: Thriller, Michael Jackson
Songwriters: Temperton, Rod;

It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark
Under the moonlight, you see a sight that almost stops your heart
You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it
You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes
You're paralyzed

'Cause this is thriller, thriller night
And no one's gonna save you from the beast about strike
You know it's thriller, thriller night
You're fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight

You hear the door slam and realize there's nowhere left to run
You feel the cold hand and wonder if you'll ever see the sun
You close your eyes and hope that this is just imagination, girl!
But all the while you hear the creature creeping up behind
You're out of time

'Cause this is thriller, thriller night
There ain't no second chance against the thing with forty eyes, girl
Thriller, thriller night
You're fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight

Night creatures calling, the dead start to walk in their masquerade
There's no escaping the jaws of the alien this time
(They're open wide)
This is the end of your life

They're out to get you, there's demons closing in on every side
They will possess you unless you change that number on your dial
Now is the time for you and I to cuddle close together, yeah
All through the night I'll save you from the terror on the screen
I'll make you see

That this is thriller, thriller night
'Cause I can thrill you more than any ghost would ever dare try
Thriller, thriller night
So let me hold you tight and share a
Killer, diller, chiller, thriller here tonight

'Cause this is thriller, thriller night
Girl, I can thrill you more than any ghost would ever dare try
Thriller, thriller night
So let me hold you tight and share a killer, thriller, ow!

(I'm gonna thrill ya tonight)
Darkness falls across the land
The midnight hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood
To terrorize y'alls neighborhood

I'm gonna thrill ya tonight, ooh baby
I'm gonna thrill ya tonight, oh darlin'
Thriller night, baby, ooh!

The foulest stench is in the air
The funk of forty thousand years
And grizzly ghouls from every tomb
Are closing in to seal your doom

And though you fight to stay alive
Your body starts to shiver
For no mere mortal can resist
The evil of the thriller

Identity of Flag@WhiteHouse.Gov Revealed

2009-08-09T23:31:00.001-04:00

developing...

Let's Face it - This is What They Are Acting Like

2009-08-09T23:08:00.003-04:00

Yeah - sounds mighty familiar come to think of it...

Chavez Rant, and a Miscellany of Other Links

2009-08-09T16:23:00.003-04:00

I don't know whether Obama's timing on the Honduras turnabout had anything to do with his trip to Guadalajara, but I do know that it was timed and executed so as to minimize any press scrutiny of the issue. Meanwhile, as Fausta notes, Hugo is making noises claiming that Columbia is making plans to war against Venezuela. He wants the US to leave the seven bases that are used to help Columbia execute its war against narcoterrorists.

Given Chavez's cozy relations with Hezbollah and company, it's not surprising that in the very same rant he rails against the Israelis. What we have here is Chavez essentially taking a page from radical Islam in stating that the US has imperialistic designs on the region and must pull out.

Whatever Obama's reasons for the timing of his "reset" policy towards Honduras, it's clear that Chavez's rant was spurred by the news that the US isn't going to help make Zelaya a Junior Dictator. How frustrating.

Mimes explain ObamaCare. Maybe they could give Gibbs some help.

Hard to know where the $700 billion to bail out the financial sector went.

We're sorry, you're just going to have to perish. Can I get you some tea?

Tea Partier pokes liberal in face for no reason at all.

SEIU still claiming to be the victim.

Snitch policy apparently still in effect.

Tea Partier calls in to slap down Astroturf slur on C-SPAN, gives them large piece of well furnished mind.

Another Dem Rep walks out of Town Hall to sound of derision.

Donald has plenty more on the Astroturf accusations.

Preview of Tomorrow's Press Conference

2009-08-09T12:14:00.003-04:00

Tapper: What caused the President to change direction on Honduras?

Gibbs: What do you mean?

Tapper: According to the Miami Herald, he's not insisting on Zelaya's return, now.

Gibbs: Cuz, when you said, "change direction," I was like, was he going left and turned right? Was he going up, then went down? You know, so . . . I don't think you can call it a "change in direction."

Tapper: But, wasn't he insisting that Zelaya return?

Gibbs: I'm not following you . . . what do you mean, insist?

Tapper: And now he's not insisting Zelaya return? Why?

Gibbs: Well, you know, things change. That's what foreign policy's like, Jake. I'm sure you know that. So, things changed, but . . . but the President's approach hasn't changed. Look it up. It's at Whitehouse.gov. What? Do I have to read it to you?

The Serr8d Version

2009-08-09T09:27:00.002-04:00

What I Did on My August Recess

2009-08-08T19:13:00.001-04:00

It was idiocy from the very beginning, but after backing off of his earlier stupidly, Obama let it go out through another channel.

The Obama administration has backed away from its call to restore ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to power and instead put the onus on him for taking ``provocative actions'' that polarized his country and led to his overthrow on June 28.

The new position was contained in a letter this week to Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., that also rejected calls by some of Zelaya's backers to impose harsh economic sanctions against Honduras.

Bravo, Honduras.

A Gallery of Useful STFU Images

2009-08-08T18:50:00.006-04:00

SEIU Tweets

2009-08-08T15:34:00.002-04:00

Good news! Over 2000 people have followed @SEIU on Twitter! Here's some of the word they're getting out:

# Stop the violence at healthcare townhalls. Watch the video, sign the pledge: http://t.seiu.org/bgwk5yabout 22 hours ago from CoTweet

#
SEIU members attacked by right-wing mob at St. Louis, Tampa healthcare town halls » http://digg.com/u1A8dX LINK FIXEDabout 23 hours ago from TweetDeck

#
Your Guide to Corporate Astroturfing: Lobbyist-Run Groups Orchestrating... » http://digg.com/u1A8MI2:04 PM Aug 7th from TweetDeck

Gosh! That's terrible. You can see the assaultive behavior of the winger nuts on Jookoo.

Uncle Barack

2009-08-08T11:14:00.004-04:00

He wants YOU . . .

To STFU

If one of y'all would photoshop that for me, that would be great. And another one with (top) YOU (bottom) have the right to remain silent.

The Hostages seem like they're itching for a fight. How on is it? So fucking.

You Fucked Up: You Politicized Us

2009-08-08T11:03:00.002-04:00

And all we wanted was to be left the hell alone.

Many Democrats, including many editors and reporters, have come to believe that hundreds of middle-aged and older people — people with incomes and lives, and plenty else to do — have taken part-time jobs as rent-a-mobs to shill for insurance companies, or the RNC, or somebody. They think this because that is how Democrats create similar events: they pay college students or homeless people to show up at a certain place at a certain time to wave signs and put on a display for their fellow Democrats in the media, who dutifully report that the citizenry is outraged at whatever the Democrats paid them to be outraged about.

Causing the same sort of outcome among conservatives is more like herding cats. Few conservatives need your money, at least not the sort of pittance that would motivate a student or a street person. Most of them would be insulted if you offered. Having tried to organize many of these things myself, I can tell you that if conservatives care about a cause, they will show up in their own car with their own sign ready to give ‘em Hell. If they don’t care about the cause, nothing is going to get them away from their quite rewarding lives.

What part of get the fuck out of our lives don't you people understand?

An Intelligent Health Care Proposal

2009-08-08T10:50:00.003-04:00

Krauthammer lays it out, and there's no point in excerpting, it's so short, elegant, and intelligent.

(h/t Rocketman Bob)

The reason that we haven't had health care reform already is easy to isolate, Mr. Obama: the greed of the political class--including Mrs. Obama and her pals.

I say, let's shove it down their throats.

Fellow Mobsters

2009-08-08T09:56:00.003-04:00

Jimmie Bise, who actually links here (thanks!) has this to say about the Town Hells:

At town hall meetings where union thugs called into action by the Democrats (unions who, by the way, boast of their friends in the White House) were not present, there was a lot of yelling and angry Americans demanding their elected representatives do such simple things as reading the bill they say they want to support, but no actual violence.

Nevertheless, the left has responded as the left always does. They have couched the protests of average Americans as an onslaught from paid operatives of shadowy and likely evil wealthy interests while staying cloaked in a shroud of disingenuous babble. The MSM has largely bought the lie and does its best to couch well-financed, very organized interest groups as innocent lambs, but it’s not working.

People are well and truly ticked off about the stunning ignorance and arrogance they’re seeing from their members of Congress and, as has always happened in our democracy, anger translates to lots of noise that eventually gets the attention of the elected officials. Noise is, in fact, one of the vital checks and balances in our system of government because it is an obvious display of raw voting power. At some point, calm reason has to stop because you’ve convinced everyone who can be convinced. That’s when you and those who agree with you show up to prove that there are more of you than there are on the other side.

Lots of good links, there, too.

Yesterday, the BCast had a terrific segment with Bob MacGuffie, the guy whose best practices memo was picked up and amplified, through skillful edits, into something sinister in the absurd DNC pushback ad, itself a reaction to a collaboration between the BCast's Scott Baker and Naked Emperor News.

In case you wonder how some people, whose parents were liberals, end up conservatives, check out this excellent piece by The Priss.

And in case you're unfamiliar with Michael Iles' place, do check it out.

StimuLust

2009-08-07T13:25:00.003-04:00

Remember when Congress sternly told the auto execs they'd better come by car next time, or, preferably, on their knees?

Congress plans to spend $550 million to buy eight jets, a substantial upgrade to the fleet used by federal officials at a time when lawmakers have criticized the use of corporate jets by companies receiving taxpayer funds.

Half of what was spent the first week of Cash for Clunkers. Because they're special.

New Climate Change Consensus

2009-08-07T12:54:00.001-04:00

CO2? Not so much.

Al Gore, AGW wackos hardest hit. Maybe they should call out the SEIU to teach those "scientists" a lesson.

Castor Escapes from Town Hall, Leaves Stones

2009-08-07T12:10:00.001-04:00

THAT a Bever to escape the Hunter, bites off his testicles or stones, is a Tenet very ancient; and hath had thereby advantage of propagation. For the same we find in the Hieroglyphicks of the Egyptians[,] in the Apologue of Æsop, an Author of great Antiquity, who lived in the beginning of the Persian Monarchy, and in the time of Cyrus: the same is touched by Aristotle in his Ethicks, but seriously delivered by Ælian, Pliny, and Solinus: the same we meet with in Juvenal, who by an handsome and Metrical expression more welcomly engrafts it in our junior Memories:[1]

—— imitatus Castora, qui se
Eunuchum ipse facit, cupiens evadere damno
Testiculorum, adeo medicatum intellegit inguen.

it hath been propagated by Emblems:[2] and some have been so bad Grammarians as to be deceived by the Name, deriving Castor à castrando, whereas the proper Latine word is Fiber,[3] and Castor but borrowed from the Greek, so called quasi γάστωρ, that is, Animal ventricosum, from his swaggy and prominent belly.

Person asked why people were not allowed in. This consituent was allowed to ask a question, but the congresswoman had already snuck out the back door without being asked any questions.

Hey, anybody lost their stones?

Taking The Soup - the Great American Pastime

2009-08-07T11:43:00.002-04:00

Any Papist of Irish Descent - any worthy of his surname anyway - likely has heard the term "Taking the Soup" and the "Soupers" who did just that.

For those who are not aware, during the Famine years, the clever interloping Brits (who had instigated and maintained the Great Famine causing the deaths of millions of women, children, and elderly) devised a system wherein food was made available to all - but at an enormous cost to the Souper.

You see, in exchange for food, all the starving Catholic need do was stand in line... and denounce his faith, swearing allegiance to the Church of England and hence the English Royals.

In this manner, the occupiers could accomplish several things at once:

1) Degradation/humiliation of the individual
2) Collaboration with the very System of Oppression which was imposed
3) Betrayal by the Souper not only to God, but to his fellow countryman

Just sayin'...

Carnahage

2009-08-07T09:35:00.005-04:00

As the inevitable result of Obama's tough talking "punch them back twice as hard" talk from yesterday, and the DNC's rallying of SEIU to help "police" meetings, there was violence at Town Halls yesterday.

Here's Jim Hoft's video of a goon attack and the aftermath in South St Louis. Half of the seats had been reserved for SEIU, and they were smuggled in through a side handicapped door, without having to wait, as the others did.

One black man who was handing out yellow "Don't Tread On Me" flags ended up in the hospital, where he recounted being treated to a racist slur by another black man before being beaten.

More video at Jammie Wearing Fool.

UPDATE: Karl has more thoughts.

Eyewitness account of beating.

DNC Recruiting Union Thugs

2009-08-06T13:27:00.003-04:00

to counter angry white mobsters at health care town halls, and other such dangerous assemblies:

The nation's largest federation of labor organizations has promised to directly engage with boisterous conservative protesters at Democratic town halls during the August recess.

In a memo sent out on Thursday, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney outlined the blueprint for how the union conglomerate would step up recess activities on health care reform and other topics pertinent to the labor community. The document makes clear that Obama allies view the town hall forums as ground zero of the health care debate. It also uses the specter of the infamous 2000 recount "Brooks Brothers" protest to rally its members to the administration's side.

"The principal battleground in the campaign will be town hall meetings and other gatherings with members of Congress in their home districts," reads the memo. "We want your help to organize major union participation to counter the right-wing "Tea-Party Patriots" who will try to disrupt those meetings, as they've been trying to do to meetings for the last month. ...

(Remember the hooligans - many of them Republican Congressional staff - who harassed Florida vote counters in 2000? We can't let that happen again!)."

A showdown between unions and grassroots conservative organizations could make for an August full of fireworks, with even more dysfunctional town hall meetings. The AFL-CIO is planning to target 50 "high priority districts," in addition to organizing telephone town hall gatherings.

Whatever you do, though, don't call it astroturfing. (via The Rhetorician)

Civility NOW!!!

This is promoted by Organizing for America, described as "a project of the Democratic National Committee," which was formerly known as the ("non-partisan") organization ACORN, to which Obama would like to give several billion dollars to foster a more civil society.

White Men Can't Profile

2009-08-06T12:50:00.003-04:00

UPDATE by Dan:

Now they've done it.

We're Empowered, and We Showered!

2009-08-06T12:07:00.000-04:00

Previews of coming compassion, where AARP staffers storm out of a health care meeting:

Time Bandits

2009-08-06T11:15:00.004-04:00

"We're intergenerational criminals. We do robberies."

Hey, look--it's an angry white mobster:

Here's the "Which famous mobster are you?" Quiz. Stupid quiz doesn't have Chicago in it.

In case you're interested in seeing what real, genuine astroturf looks like, here it is.

Credit Rehabbing Freddie and Fannie

2009-08-06T10:18:00.003-04:00

The Obama administration is considering an overhaul of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that would strip the mortgage finance giants of hundreds of billions of dollars in troubled loans and create a new structure to support the home-loan market, government officials said.

The bad debts the firms own would be placed in new government-backed financial institutions -- so-called bad banks -- that would take responsibility for collecting as much of the outstanding balance as possible. What would be left would be two healthy financial companies with a clean slate.

Government backed bad banks? Considering that there's speculation that half of US mortgages might be under water by 2011, what could possibly go wrong?

Why Do You Think They Call It Dope?

2009-08-06T09:58:00.005-04:00

(It's nice to have a Reliable Source)

Wonder whether that will get them on the secret, permanent enemies list.

And, after all, what could be more civil than an enemies list?

All swastika merchandise 40% off at Amazon this week, and free shipping with Amazon Prime!

Obama Joker Poster Racist? Revisited

2009-08-06T08:45:00.004-04:00

Surber deals with a WaPo writer's stupid critique.

I guess I'll let Frank have the last word.

Beyond the racism in the image that’s quite obvious to crazy people, the other question is whether there are any real substantive comparisons between Obama and the Joker. On the surface, they don’t seem at all alike. The Joker is psychotic, and I’ve heard Obama called a lot of things — arrogant, incompetent, deceitful, a Communist — but not psychotic. Obama doesn’t seem like he’s out to kill anyone — not even terrorists — and only leaves the option of killing people on the table to help make ends meet in his health care plan.

Meanwhile, the guy in Alaska who aspired someday to teach Sex Ed to kindergartners won't be going to school this year, courtesy Dan and Stacy.

Libel is bad, m'kay?

Look on the bright side, Jesse: you'll have plenty more time to pleasure yourself to longer life. You're just swapping little squirts for little squirts. And maybe you'll find a job in the Obama communications department fighting disinformation.

The Feel Good Story of the ... Erm... Please Hold

2009-08-06T01:17:00.014-04:00

Thank goodness that Obama has decided to start ~~negotiating~~ dialoguing with ~~tyrants~~ disenfranchised ~~despots~~ ~~iron-fisted leaders~~ nations.

But for the change in policy, this feel good story of the year could not have come to be. And the warm fuzzies would have had to come from somewhere else.

In what could only be described as a story good enough for a TV miniseries, two American ~~activists working for former VP Al Gore~~ journalists ~~that should have known better than to sneak into the world's most paranoid and xenophobic, liberty-hating country~~ that had traveled to North Korea to advance the cause of saving the planet, were released ~~by the kidnappers who surely received some sort of ransom~~ into the ~~the hands of Former President Bill Clinton~~ custody of US ~~diplomats~~ travel agents.

The White House lauded the ~~transaction~~ mission to secure the release of the 2 reporters. ~~North Korea has an estimated 23 000 political prisoners: the fate of which remained unchanged by the former president's visit~~. The ~~agent~~ ~~interloper~~ hero of this happy-ending drama, Bill Clinton, has been working for 4 months to secure the release of the reporters from the North Korean ~~gulags~~ ~~detention~~ hospitality facilities.

While the White House claims that the former president was not acting in an official capacity, it is difficult to believe such a claim, given that the intermediary of the deal that was struck is the husband of current Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. How that works, we're not sure.

The former president was not acting in any official capacity. That is clear to us.

~~When asked what it costs in the long-run to lend legitimacy to such a rogue and liberty-hating state [redacted] by posing for pictures with the pot-bellied freak...~~

~~When asked whether negotiating the release of hostages with such a rogue and liberty-hating state would embolden other states like Iran, Iran, Iran, Syria, Venezuela to do the same...~~

~~When asked what exactly North Korea secured in exchange for releasing the hostages...~~ North Korea is our friend. Out of the goodness of Dear Leader's heart were the journalists set free.

This really is a great thing. A victory for America! Finally, she can be restored to her former glory, held in respect by the entire international commun ity.

All hail our glorious and beloved leader!

:: scrubbed by flag@whitehouse.gov ::

h/t Mark Belling

Lanny Davis

2009-08-05T20:41:00.002-04:00

the self-appointed head of the Civility Project (now that we're in power, can't we all just get along?) demands Civility NOW!!! or there's going to be hell to pay.

They Didn't Vote Against Obama

2009-08-05T19:59:00.001-04:00

Now, they're on the warpath.

And Now For Something Completely Fishy

2009-08-05T19:33:00.000-04:00

flag@whitehouse.gov should not be submitted to SPAM sites

2009-08-05T17:28:00.001-04:00

Seriously - because bureaucrats are busier than one-armed paper hangers.

Mark My Words

2009-08-05T08:40:00.006-04:00

He's been tested during the first six months of his administration. Yes he has.

Honduras: Supports restoration of constitution-flouting, Chavez-sucking, FARC-loving would-be junior dictator.
Iran: Legitimizes election-stealing opposition murderer/torturer Ahmadinejad.
Russia: Russian subs patrolling East Coast international waters for the first time since the cold war, no biggie. Jules treats it at length. Georgia, schmeorgia.
China: Hey, maybe let's sell our stealth tech to them on the cheap.

Epic fail. Homeric.

When Is Astroturfing Bad?

2009-08-05T07:34:00.006-04:00

When you can accuse wingers of it.

Jake Tapper asks Robert Gibbs about the DNC outrage concerning anti-health care presence at Town Hall meetings across the country, and Gibbs points to one organization that I've never heard of, that's been fined for some kind of shenanigans in the past. Of course, there's nobody in the present administration who's been fined for any kind of shenanigans; ACORN's never been in trouble, for example.

There's a reason, by the way, that David Axelrod's known as the King of Astroturf. Now that his son Ethan has moved over to the HuffPo, I think it's time to stop referring to it as the Huffington Post and to begin referencing it as the Axelrod Post. And as Allah Pundit notes in the piece linked above, it was The One himself who famously urged supporters to start getting in people's faces.

And here was the charming, Rockwellesque scene at the UNC when Tom Tancredo tried to speak about The DREAM Act.

NB: As of last count, 13 MSMers have been rewarded with positions inside the administration.

Civility NOW!!!

If you Give a Liberal a Cookie...

2009-08-05T01:12:00.007-04:00

Parody based on a Great Book by Laura Joffe Numeroff you can Buy Here

If you give a Liberal a cookie,
He’s going to ask for a glass of milk.
When you give him the milk, he’ll probably ask you for a straw.
When he’s finished, he’ll ask for a napkin.
Then he will want to look in a mirror to make sure he doesn’t have a milk mustache.
When he looks into the mirror, he might notice his hair needs a trim. So he will probably ask for a $13.
When you've finished paying for his trim, he’ll want you to sweep up. You’ll start sweeping. He might get carried away and enact a law requiring that you sweep every room in the house.
You'll even end up washing the floors as well!
When you're done, he’ll probably want to take a nap.
You will have to fix a little box for him with a blanket and a pillow.
He’ll crawl in, make himself comfortable and fluff the pillow a few times, all the while complaining.
He’ll expect you to read him a story.
So you’ll read him one from one of your books, and he’ll ask to see the pictures.
When he looks at the pictures, he’ll get so excited he’ll want to draw one of his own.
He’ll ask for paper and crayons.
He’ll draw a picture of himself. When the picture is finished, he’ll want to sign his name with one of your pens.
Then he’ll want to hang his picture on your refrigerator. Which means he will need…scotch tape.
He’ll hang up his drawing and stand back to look at it.
Looking at the refrigerator will remind him that he’s thirsty so…he’ll demand a glass of milk.
And chances are if he gets a glass of your milk, he’s going to want a cookie to go with it.

The End

Things That Make You Me Go HMMMMMM

2009-08-04T18:39:00.010-04:00

Larry Sinclair's New Book:

Cocaine, Sex, Lies and Murder? is available via Barnes and Noble.

This is the guy who claims to have had a couple romps with the O! before he was the O! - while he was in Chicago.

You can see Larry's site here

I have heard several interviews with this guy and have always tried to remain skeptical.

But I must confess that if this guy has an angle - could have been just the potential of proceeds from a work of fiction (if it is fiction) - I was unable to put my finger on it.

He has done a few radio interviews and the ones I have heard on rense.com were compelling enough for me to continue following the story. Normally I am fairly decent at picking up on convenient "trooooths" - and in the interviews I listened to and the videos he has posted on the subject, I have to say i haven't written his story off. Something about this guy seems very legit.

I think there may be some "there" there... if only because of the extraordinary and documented amount of flack this guy has suffered since he first told his story. That could be over-zealous Barackbots, to be sure, but one does wonder if there aren't more powerful forces at work here.

Worth a read? I suppose, if'n you have a couple bucks in yer pocket.

Better yet, donate to Dan (to the right) and we'll make him read it!

Pablo reminds me...

I was willing to hear him out until he failed the polygraph miserably. Larry's 15 minutes are up. - Pablo

And to be totally honest with you, I sense I can't get past my dislike for Obama well enough to be completely objective on the topic. Though, if one follows the storyline, there were hinky behind the scenes shit going on between the administrators of the polygraph and the folks who paid them (purportedly, of course, to make Sinclair out to be a liar (which he may well be)).

New Black Panther Issue Heats Up

2009-08-04T17:48:00.002-04:00

Bob Reed sent this to me:

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is demanding that the Justice Department explain why it recently dismissed a civil complaint against members of the New Black Panther Party who disrupted a Philadelphia polling place during last year's election, saying the department has offered only "weak justifications."

Commission Chairman Gerald A. Reynolds, a former deputy associate attorney general under President George W. Bush, said he fears the legal precedent set by the department in its May decision to drop the case might encourage "other hate groups" to act similarly at polling locations in the future.

Mr. Reynolds also charged that other groups might not have been treated so leniently.

"If you swap out the New Black Panther Party in this case for neo-Nazi groups or the Ku Klux Klan, you likely would have had a different outcome," he told The Washington Times in a telephone interview Monday.

"A single law, a single rule should be applied across the board. We are communicating with the department in hopes of gaining a better understanding of just what happened."

In related news, Frank Rich is still a pernicious liar.

Your Nation Needs Your Help (Updated)

2009-08-04T16:42:00.004-04:00

In an effort to see how much SPAM can be stuffed into the email servers at the white house, the One asks that you kindly submit this email to as many porn sites as possible. Especially if the site "...seems fishy."

flag@whitehouse.gov

For each SPAM list you submit this email to, a child in the inner city will receive 3 free movie tickets good for admission in the oft-praised Waterfront Plaza Theater.

Puhleeeeeze State

2009-08-04T16:03:00.006-04:00

There's a terrific, important, and longish post up at Sarah Palin Information blog that delves into the Obama mafia in Alaska, discovering the way that those who help him smear his political opponents are rewarded, which, I'm afraid, may have scooped some of what Dan Riehl and Stacy McCain have been working on regarding internet idiot Jesse Griffin. Dan's already shown that Jesse doesn't have any reasonable expectation of privacy in this instance, because he's already managed to blow his own cover through his MySpace page, and Stacy shares some words of wisdom with this bag of douche in an email response reprinted at his place.

Meanwhile, ObamaNation is busily shrieking the opponents of Nationalized Health Care are really bought and paid for by some shadowy behind the scenes winger entity, probably funded by the evil insurers whom Nancy Pelosi blasted last week. At the same time, the White House pushed back against the video that I linked to yesterday, stating that it cherry picked, which caused Breitbart TV to release the entire 2003 speech in which--in this particular case--Obama stated that his goal was to create a single-payer system, though it might have to go through some intermediary phase.

Now comes the information that the White House has put out a call for narc minions to let them know about you, should you let it drop, even in casual conversation, that you oppose Nationalized Health Care. Darrell Issa tells Rahmbo that he's not in Chicago anymore, when it comes to trying to bully Congresscritters.

Nationalized Health Care opponents in Green Bay ,Wisconsin, have stooped so low even as to have arrived early. (h/t Karl)

UPDATE: Keep digging, Jesse.

Stacy and Dan Still Hanging Holding Fire

2009-08-04T10:41:00.006-04:00

Waiting for opinion regarding legality of dropping anvil on head of lying douchebag. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, it looks as though Timmy Geither's cussing lessons with Rahm are paying off. David Corn thinks that maybe it's time for King O to start demonstrating a little madness.

King O was, of course, nominally (because he mostly campaigned) a US Senator. Apparently, Congress wasn't to blame at the time for the things Obama's now angry about. He was famously angry about the Bush Administration, but continues to find the wisdom in their policies.

The quintessential man in a hurry, Obama's moved on from one position to another all his adult life without really accomplishing much . . . or, in the case of the Annenburg Challenge, managing to spend $150 million on radical experimentation in Chicago schools that provided no measurable improvement in the quality of education. Spending a billion on Cash for Clunkers in one week he touted as a Keynesian success, though those who know something about economics seem to feel that it is unlikely last week saw a trebling of car sales.

Backers of ObamaCare now have recessed, which means that they have to go back to their constituents and field the salient question, WTF? That's not very happy-making.

I think that he should count his blessings. When in Moscow, he was treated to a $13,000 per night suite. His wife has 20 staffers, who earn a combined annual salary of over $1,200,000 (as opposed to one staffer for Laura Bush). He's going to vacation with the family at a $20 million Martha's Vineyard compound (I guess Camp David's too rustic). He's had 4 prime-time pressers, the total number that Bush had in his two terms.

Governing is hard.

Morning Hilarity

2009-08-04T10:13:00.005-04:00

Jim Treacher leads off with his trenchant consideration of racism in the Obama as Joker poster. Because shut up. That's why.

Iowahawk has an analysis of politicians' growing disenchantment with their constituencies.

Has Alan Colmes had a sex change? SarahW points out that the segmented insect look is hot this year. In many socialist paradises, the cost of potentially lifesaving chemotherapy is substituted for with end of life counselling and palliative narcotics, but sex change treatments are covered. Because shut up. It's a quality of life issue.

"I just can't understand why we would set up a program that says, 'We're going to give you $4,500,' and then give the bill to your children," Gregg said.

Duh. Because shut up. I don't think I can be clearer than that.

Obamacare - a Shrinkwrapped Graveyard.

2009-08-04T09:59:00.004-04:00

Thankfully, someone at Liberty Counsel has read the Frankenstein legislation that is Government Administered Medicine. They are sewing Obama's brain into the skull as we speak... If'n you're not really that into a healthcare alternative that looks like an animated "shrink-wrapped graveyard" (Kill Creek Lyric), might be time pick up yer pitchfork and march.

Wondering aloud if the Left will freak out over this foray into our privacy as they did over the "Patriot Act"...

Just saying. I recall the logic was, at the time, that a lot of the surveillance griefers were warning of legalizing government peeping Toms.

Well, if that bothered some, then this should bother all of us. I would suggest now might be the appropriate time to storm the castle.

h/t Vickie McKenna

Dissent as Patriotism (or The Kenyan Idiot)

2009-08-04T08:15:00.005-04:00

Buy Them Here

It's the same old double standard. When the subject was Booooooosh!, such posters we[re] "funny", "creative", "art", "clever", and the artists method of "speaking trooooof! to Pow-ah!"... - Bob Reed

h/t Tim Collins

Striking a Nerve

2009-08-04T02:40:00.005-04:00

In 2000, while still a devout Republican partisan, I was lending a hand at the local Bush headquarters when a young GOP up-and-comer, Scott Walker, made an appearance.

When I had a moment to speak with him, I asked him why the RNC hadn't yet busted out the "Socialist" label and affixed it to Al "Lockbox" Gorp. I reasoned it was an accurate moniker.

Scott's position at the time, if I recall properly, was that it was thought that that would be seen as "over the top," whether accurate or not.

I was more than slightly annoyed. Once again, I was seeing a pervasive preference of the Republicants to tiptoe through the tulips while the Demoncrats lobbed all manner of ordinance in their paths. And I found this disheartening, because I knew the stakes were higher. And I also knew we had turned a corner, so to speak. That there would be no polite discussion with the Left - no agreeing to disagree. And that what the Left wanted was for Conservatives like myself to die like lawyers in a bus over a cliff. This was a no-holds-barred bar brawl and our good 'ol wine and cheese tasting Republicant Elites were showing up with casseroles instead of shanks.

Anyway, calling a spade a spade is important. Accuracy in language is important. So I am very pleased to see this image popping up. I think a debut in Milwaukee seems in order. If there's one thing I hate, it's a dirty socialist.

h/t Drudge

Where Are the Jobs?

2009-08-03T19:54:00.001-04:00

[with apologies to Roberta Flack]

Where are the jobs?
Where are the jobs?
Where are the jobs?
You said you'd create,
And you’d stimulate
The economy?
Where are the jobs?

You told me that you were a moderate,
And a bipartisan-type guy;
I shelled out for your two biographies,
Why did you have to lie?

Where are the jobs?
You said bring to us,
Without too much fuss?
Geithner’s such a wuss.
Where are the jobs?

If you had had a sudden change of heart,
I wish you would have let us know
I cannot pay my bills with promises
Hope and change really blows

Oh how I wish I didn’t vote for you
I guess I must have been an ass,
To fall in love with someone's self-conceit
How slowly four years pass

Where are the jobs?
You said that you’d create,
And you’d stimulate . . .
Damn, am I irate.
Where are the jobs?
Where are the jobs?
Where are the jobs?

I Guess He Shows Some "Improvement"

2009-08-03T17:55:00.002-04:00

More charges have been filed against a Burlington County police officer who was recently charged with sexually assaulting three girls.

Authorities announced Moorestown Officer Robert Melia Jr., 38, has been charged with four counts of animal cruelty after allegedly engaging in sex acts with cows between June and December of 2006.

Melia and his former girlfriend, Heather Lewis were previously charged with three counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of criminal sexual contact with three girls in his Pemberton home from 2003 until 2006.

Melia is being held on $510,000 bail.

You know what I think? Maybe it's time for a couple of beers at the White House, huh?

Meanwhile, hawtness factor of Fond du Lac casanova's tale totally ruined by photos.

Hawt couture, here.

I Don't Think So

2009-08-03T15:13:00.000-04:00

A beer summit at the White House might be just what premium brewers needed to lift sales for the rest of the summer.

Sales for the $90 billion beer business are soft so far this summer — traditionally the time when most beer is sold. Analysts split the blame between the weak economy and rainier-than-normal weather in parts of the country.

Beer sales were flat for the four weeks ended July 11 and including the lead-up to July 4, according to Nielsen and JPMorgan. But President Obama's offer to unite Massachusetts police officer Sgt. James Crowley and Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates at the White House last week to reconcile an arrest and race issue put beer in the spotlight. "Regardless of the beer picks, it's been great buzz for the beer industry," says Julian Green, MillerCoors spokesman. "It puts beer top of mind."

Hey, you know, that stupid White House stunt reminded me of how much I like beer. Maybe I'll go out and buy some.

F*ck the Fed - What is the Fed? Who runs it?

2009-08-03T13:06:00.006-04:00

"[In]consistent with Independence?"

This is really interesting. Why is it okay to Audit Private Citizens with Legal Standing and not the Fed? What are the "they" hiding?

H/T Rense.com

Town Hall Hell

2009-08-03T12:44:00.002-04:00

In Philadelphia, over the weekend, Arlen Specter and Kathleen Sebelius were confronted with . . . um, skeptical Town Hall crowds. Things get ugly when Specter states that the health care bill is too large to be digested by a single person, but holds that it's essential to pass it quickly. Sebelius doesn't exactly help matters when she points out in defense of Congresscritters that it's still in the process of being written.

Juan Cole's PDS Reaches Critical Stage

2009-08-03T11:56:00.003-04:00

Juan Cole's got an article up in Salon comparing Sarah Palin to Achmadinejad.

Liberals consider one of the two a clear and present danger, and it's not the one that the Times of London believes will have acquired a nuclear weapon within the year.

Bob Reed points out this excellent Andrew Breitbart piece on the Epic Failure of the Beer Summit:

My long-held fear is that Mr. Obama is hiding something about his education. During the endless 2008 campaign, Mr. Obama would not release his college grades. Given that President George W. Bush and Sens. Al Gore and John Kerry all had proved mediocre grades were no impediment to a presidential bid, Mr. Obama likely had other concerns.

While I have no desire to see Mr. Obama's birth certificate, I do want to see his college transcripts. My suspicion, one could even call it a conspiracy theory, is that Mr. Obama committed himself to a radical curriculum, aligned himself with the far-left professoriate, and sought to keep this biographical information from his political enemies, especially then-rival Hillary Rodham Clinton, for fear that they would paint the former community organizer and follower of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright as something other than an advocate of racial reconciliation.

Through his acts over the last few weeks, Mr. Obama has reinforced my fears and my admittedly speculative thesis. He has shown he has neither the desire to provide a fresh angle on race, nor wants to draw attention to the bad ideas that dominate higher education and stifle the mainstream media.

I agree that the college transcripts are important. One of those things that I've harped on is the question of how, exactly, Obama managed to fulfill his foreign language requirement, considering he advocates for mandatory foreign language studies in public schools, yet cannot himself, apparently, speak a foreign language.

Tax Hikes and Earworms

2009-08-03T09:58:00.005-04:00

Turbo Tax Timothy Geithner's comments over the weekend signal that the Obama Administration will be pushing for tax hikes, despite the campaign rhetoric. This shouldn't surprise anyone.

Interestingly enough, in case you weren't aware, Ann Dunham worked with Timothy's father, Peter:

While at the Ford Foundation, Dunham worked with Peter Geithner, father of Tim Geithner (who later became United States Secretary of the Treasury in her son's administration), to develop the Foundation's microfinance programs in Indonesia.

Her second husband, whose surname Barack bears in the famous Honolulu Advertiser birth announcement, was a Mobil executive, but that didn't work out.

I guess that what interests me particularly about all of this is that it recapitulates what we've seen from the Obamas, generally. Valerie Jarrett, Michelle's boss at the University of Chicago Hospitals, followed the Obamas to the White House, for example.

No, none of this should surprise anyone, despite the campaign promise that--read his lips--95% of Americans weren't going to see any increase in their tax burdens. People ought to consider what Obama says about nationalized health care, because that is what he is proposing, in light of the difference between the rhetoric and reality with respect to taxes.

One thing that's certain is that raising taxes during a deep recession is going to extend the term of the recession, at the very least. There has been no Keynesian stimulus from the enormous government expenditures rammed through Congress at the very beginning of Obama's term, and to pay for the lack of stimulus, especially with the Chinese calling the US on the carpet to explain how we're going to make good all the borrowing we've done, the government is going to worsen the situation. Some within the administration are making noises about sharing our stealth technology with the Chinese, even as they begin ramping up their production of aircraft carriers--and as we decommission ours.

Americans who believed they were electing a moderate are coming around to the belated realization that Obama isn't one, never has been one, never will be one. The result is that the kinds of astroturfing that proved so successful during the presidential campaign are beginning to backfire, for example, in Nebraska where health care ads on TV and radio are causing people to call to oppose nationalized health care by a margin of something like 9:1. You can chalk this up dismissively to an earworm, if you like, but then you might be forced to admit, if you have any kind of integrity, that Hopenchange was itself an earworm.

Fortunately, though, nationalized health care will confer such benefits as helping us to determine our genders.

Why Obama is a Good Thing

2009-08-03T09:02:00.002-04:00

I have expanded the foundation relating to my belief that, all things being equal, the election of Obama is a good thing.

Among the more obvious reasons is that the Republicants were so pathetic in the last 6 years of the Bush White House that the only contrast that can salvage those years in the history books and minds of the proletariat is the kind of debacle only a Democrap supermajority, with a MArxist in the White House, can provide.

Additional benefit is that the Republicants would have held a White House overseeing a big old pile of shit. And while you can polish a turd, it is much more difficult to whitewash a hill of poop.

But now that history is unfolding at the feet of Pelosi and Reid and Obambi, I have another thought as to why the election of the One might be the best thing to happen to America in the long run.

Had McCain won (the same McCain that voted for the stimulus, McCain Feingold, etc), it is likely that in his inability to resist compromise, he would have presided over the Republic's death in a manner that would have simply ensured the result would remain the same (death) but that desperate and extraordinary measures would be taken to extend the death watch into the next couple of decades.

In the case of Obama, we see absolute resolve to kill the patient and remake her in the image of the Obamanistas by drowning her in a vat of Marxist soup.

That is to say, Obama is expediting the death of the Republic. And instead of watching her die slowly in pure agony, we get to see her dunked and drowned.

And the benefit of this is that we don't have to wait to watch her die. We needn't have anxiety about her passing. We needn't feel the pang of watching Old Glory scratch and claw at the bedsheets, struggling for just one more breath.

We can rather have her put out of her misery rapidly.

And there are many ways to resolve differences. With the object of the beloved removed, perhaps we stand a better chance of our grandkids inheriting a Republic whose features bear witness to her progenitors, rather than an old, ravished hag, raped and beaten on her deathbed by the two parties that claim to love her.

An Odd Detail from the Putative Obama Mom Nude Photos [UPDATED]

2009-08-03T00:35:00.006-04:00

If you look at this photo closely, you'll see that there's an album placed strategically in the picture. It's odd, because the record player is closed, with a glass bowl on top of it. But the portion of the artist's name that's visible is Stan. Obama's mom's first name was Stanley.

Is it probative? Not entirely, but it does seem more than a little . . . serendipitous.

Here, thanks to the magic of Gerard Vanderleun's investigative abilities, is the album in question:

And Serr8d knew which one it was, too.

More commentary here and in the comments, including regarding the December sunburn and whether or not Frank Marshall Davis is liable to have owned a Stan Kenton album.

At any rate, Stan Kenton was born in Wichita, Kansas, like Stanley Ann Dunham.

burf cert - an original powip forgery

2009-08-02T20:35:00.002-04:00

My Favorite Post About Cash for Clunkers, So Far

2009-08-02T19:33:00.002-04:00

Velociman gets his rant on.

Meanwhile, Stacy blogs that the guy who broke the Palins divorcing lie is a kindergarten teacher.

Slap a Danny on Your Jimmy!*

2009-08-02T19:27:00.008-04:00

Everyone's doin' it these days! It's true!

From politicians to plumbers, people are having sex!

So why not do it in style?

Going to the movies with Cindy? Slap a Danny on your Jimmy!

Hittin' a swingers' club with Edge? Slap a Danny on your Jimmy!

~~Have a hot date~~ Gettin' busy in the back of a Gremlin with the First ~~Mother~~ Mutha? Slap a Danny on Your Jimmy!

Distorted shapes, funky colors... and always ribbed!

Stick it right... stick it good... Slap a Danny on Your Jimmy with POWIP Brand Love Balloons.

*part 4 or 5 of the Commoditizing Dan series.

Obama's Mom Nude Photos [UPDATED]

2009-08-02T10:26:00.005-04:00

Eek! Pam Geller publishes links to Obama's mom's nude photos, supposedly taken in the apartment of sex rebel Franklin Marshall Davis.

Obviously, this makes her a horrible person. I mean Pam, of course. Because it is much, much more unseemly to link to nude photos of Obama's mom than it is to publish lies about Sarah Palin. I'm not sure how, exactly, but nevertheless, that is clearly the case. It's axiomatic that if one publicizes uncomfortable truths about leftist darlings, that's way further beyond the pale than publishing asinine libels. Just so you know.

Shame on you, Pamela! Bad blogger!

UPDATE: Supposed Obama Kenyan birth certificate

UPDATE UPDATE: Supposed Kenyan birth cert a crappy forgery

Sunday Morning Absurdity

2009-08-02T09:25:00.005-04:00

David Thompson's got up a hilarious post on a radical feminist who doesn't find the concept of female heterosexuality meaningful . . . to her. Some women, it appears, want only what men want, so thoroughly have they been subjugated to the regency of phallogocentrism. I must say that it's an awfully good thing, speaking as a male, that some women were so experimental in long ago human prehistory that they managed to keep reproducing humans long enough that the regency of phallogocentrism could ever become so universally hegemonic. The history of evolution is full of such fortunate virtual impossibilities, however. I hope that she will excuse me for saying that I find such rambling and decerebrate discursions uniquely meaningless . . . to me.

Over at the PW Pub, dicentra links to a delightful Hugh Hewitt segment in which a Californian potter demonstrates perfect indifference to the 40,000 and rising Californians who have been put out of work by a judge-imposed drought in Central California, in order to protect the Delta Smelt. The one who smelted deltaed?

Here's some breaking news regarding Sarah Palin:

Sarah Palin not considering sex change.

Sarah Palin not rumored to be dating Jon Gosselin.

Sarah Palin not advocating secession of Aleutian Islands.

Sarah Palin not pregnant again after alien abduction.

Hypocrisy: Palin refuses to release long-form Hawaiian birth certificate.

Sarah Palin not on 2003 MLB list of athletes testing positive for steroids.

Sarah Palin not a person of interest in Michael Jackson death probe.

Sarah Palin proved unlikely to have been on Grassy Knoll.

I'd love to have a chance to interview Sarah Palin on the record to get her take on all of these important issues.

An Open Letter to Our Neighbors whose Kids hang out with Ours

2009-08-01T14:03:00.008-04:00

The joys of parenthood are many.

This is a letter we intend to send to parents of friends of our children.

---- BELOW ---

Dear Neighbors -

It is with heavy hearts that Jennifer and I have decided to author this note to you today. I say we have heavy hearts because this is the type of note we never anticipated having to write... not in a million years.

As you know, we have 5 kids - all of whom we love very much. Each has his/her own particular strengths and shortcomings. That is, none is perfect. Similar to adult human persons, children are pieces of work in progress. Imperfect.

So, we will not begin by bragging. Rather, we will begin this note acknowledging some of their imperfections, so as to demonstrate to each of you that we are under no delusion that they are perfect:

- K reminds me of other 13 year olds I have met.

- D is 11 and and very typical for her age.

- M is a boy, so occasional tussles with others - seems just about right. At 7 years of age, we are impressing upon him that with masculinity comes responsibility.

- A is a wanderer. She is given to wandering away when shopping. She is all of 3 years old. And I recall having seen frantic mothers in stores calling out the names of their 3 year olds. So, I am fairly sure this is normal.

- D is young, but already we note his short temper. We will have to work with him on that. But he is only 1, so reason doesn't appeal to him quite yet.

Now, the purpose of the above is to reiterate that our children are NOT in any way, shape, or form perfect little angelic beings. It would be silly for us to believe otherwise. It would be sillier still for us to feign that we think they are. Being adults, we prefer reality to perception. Rather, we are aware of their imperfections. And it is one of our goals to impress on you that we are aware that you are aware that they are not perfect.

And how could it be any other way? Imperfect beings, whether young or old, behave imperfectly:

- Each of us has a relative, for instance, who cannot seem to help but offend by sticking their foot in their mouth occasionally... or even often.
- Each of us has a friend, if not relation, that gets nasty when drinking... saying things that should not be said.
- Each of us has a friend/relative that seems to be an energy vampire - always bringing those around them down - rather than lifting them up.
- Each of us knows a bonafide gossip - the sort of which cannot seem to help control their own mouth... running on about things they have not verified to even be true.

I will again state that this is not a letter Jennifer and I ever conceived we might have to author. But at this point, we are frustrated and do not want at all for this letter to come off as confrontational.

As with any parents, we love our children very much. We love them perfectly, though they are imperfect. We love them in their accomplishments. We love them in their failures. We love them for their strengths. We love them in spite of their human creatureliness.

So do not interpret that we feel any different about our children than you do about yours. Or that we love them not quite as deeply as you love your very own flesh and blood. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Being parents of 5 can be challenging, to be sure. But we see it (being parents) as a gift from God. This particular vocation as parents is a gift, to be sure. It can be challenging, but as you are aware, quite rewarding too.

Because these little creatures are seen by us to be provided on-loan from God, we take it very seriously.

However, we are also realistic. We choose our battles wisely. Similar to how adults are called to be adults: discerning what merits mention... letting go of the smaller, inconsequential "issues" of the day.

We are not "helicopter parents" . We do not want to be. We could not be if we wanted to be. We were not raised as such and believe a great deal of the problems we see in society today can very likely be traced back to the results of rearing children in the "hovering" vogue.

Growing up, in our estimation, is about a grace period wherein mistakes are made and counsel provided and adjustments suggested and punishments issued. And the two of us often recall incidents from our younger years that we should not have survived at all. So, please understand that we not only acknowledge that occasionally our children behave badly... we rather think it silly to expect otherwise.

Nonetheless, in the past 3 or 4 weeks, we have been informed of no fewer than 4 or 5 incidences wherein our children have behaved badly.

- M swore loud enough to be overheard by an adult. He was summarily sent home (which I appreciate).
- M got into a tussle with another boy in the neighborhood. Not the first time they have fought. Likely not the last, either... Being children, such events seem to dissipate rather quickly from their minds. Unlike adults.
- D stands accused of having fibbed to a parent about where she and her friend were off to on their bikes. She was sent home (again, an appropriate discipline which I appreciate... had this been the truth of the matter). Though we have found out otherwise, we have not bothered to offer up a defense, as again we are lacking the energy - additionally, the fabricated version has been left standing so long that it is likely taken the form of actual reality.
- K and a long-time friend of hers got into a fairly severe argument. The friendship is over. Each child has moved on. But the parents (including us) are having a harder time doing the same.

Now, in each of these cases, Jennifer and I received phone calls from the parents of the respective friends. And in each case, I could understand why a phone call might be made. And in each case, one of us took the phone call and spoke with the concerned parent assuring them we would speak to the child involved. And in each case, we did, in fact speak to the child involved.

We are under no delusion, however, that our children will from this point forward resemble cherubs in their thoughts, actions, and words.

However, given the frequency of the reports, Jennifer and I have had advent to review our longstanding policy of not making phone calls to parents each time some intransigence is perpetrated by someone else's child unto one of our own or our property.

when a garage window of our house is busted out by a neighbor's child.
when a bicycle's tires are slashed by neighbors' children.
when a swear is overheard.
when a private part is exposed by a neighbor's child to one of our own.
when sexual terminology is introduced to our 3 year old.
when a lie is uncovered.
when a punch is thrown.
when a tree's bark is hatcheted off.
when an expensive toy is smashed or stolen.

Only in one of the cases above did we contemplate calling. But in that specific case, we already knew the parents were aware of the behavior and were taking steps to correct it. So, we thought it more charitable not to pile on. And we felt certain there was no benefit from them being further mortified by the boorish behavior of their offspring.

On the other hand, there are circumstances you can count on hearing from us about:

- Drug Activity
- Underage Promiscuity
- Drunk Driving
- Gang Activity
- miscellaneous dangerous behavior

That is, behavior that the parent may not at all be aware of in which the child is at some significant risk. Our commitment to you as friends and neighbors is to alert you immediately in the above situations. Whether we hear rumors, innuendos, or know first-hand the behavior is occurring:

This because we care about your children and care about each of you.

- What we will NOT engage in is gossip. We will not call one parent to complain about another set of parents' children.

- What we will NOT do is ASSUME our children are always forthcoming with ALL of the facts about who did what.

- What we will NOT do is treat your children poorly, no matter what the last episode might have been.

- What we will NOT do is treat you poorly because of poor behavior on part of your offspring.

- What we will NOT do is talk about your children in front of other children's parents - and especially to other friends of your children.

Because gossiping is a very lowly and dark art. And destroying the reputation of a child for some satisfaction that cannot be attained by doing so is sick.

Please understand that we do like each of you. We appreciate you as neighbors and friends. We know your hearts are in the right place.

But hear... please hear what we are saying.

Our commitment to you is to treat you with respect. Our commitment to you is to discern what rises to the level of informing you. Our commitment to you is to deal with your children in a responsible manner. We will be eyes and ears as our children grow side-by-side together in this neighborhood.

But Jennifer and I do not particularly have the time or energy to engage in drama.

We do not have the time or inclination to point fingers, comparing ours to yours and theirs to yours, etc.

We do not believe that doing so is fruitful. And it is certainly not Christian.

But do not believe that we will ever rebuke you for keeping us in the know. That in itself is not a problem, per se.

What is a problem is when it is insinuated or even spoken that there exists a child (at times, there seem to be very many in this neighborhood) that is perfect and above reproach. It is silly to even intimate it.

Just because we haven't called you or driven over does not mean that your child's behavior has been exemplary. It has not. And we do not expect it to be.

Anyway, we do not know how this letter will be taken. If it ruffles feathers so be it.

But please know that each of you who have received it have received it because Jennifer and I value you as friends/neighbors.

We don't assume to know what the fall-out may or may not be as a result of this letter.

But what we would wish is that you recognize that we know our children are imperfect. We know we have a lot of work to do.

But we also know that each has a loving and caring, nuggaty center. And each will eventually be good neighbors, citizens, and fathers and mothers.

That is the goal. That is our prayer. For our whelps as well as yours.

Lovingly,

Enoch & Jennifer.

Phantasmagoria

2009-08-01T13:10:00.002-04:00

So, yesterday, while I was being busily commodified, or "productized," as marketers like to say nowadays, I drove the four hours each way to pick up Aidan from camp.

Thursday, I got a new cell phone (since AT&T bought out Unicel), along with everyone else in the family. This one has a keypad, which means I'll be able to "tweet" my bowel movements. On the downside, it means that I have to read the friggin' manual.

Once I've got my voice mail set up, I'll be looking for a ring tone. Apparently, the generous folks at AT&T will let me choose one free after I register. I'm thinking about these:

Anselma: Los Lobos
Rock On: David Essex
Who's That Lady, Part 1: The Isley Brothers
Grazing in the Grass: Hugh Masakela
Spirit in the Sky: Norman Greenbaum

What do you think?

I also realized, driving home, that perhaps I should put together a line of "greeting cards" called Teachable Moments. Any ideas?

I'm going to buckle down and fiddle with the book most of the day, so, I'll be here sporadically.

Dan Collins Virtual Tee Shirt!

2009-07-31T23:27:00.004-04:00

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Dan Collins - not just for breakfast anymore

Lessons in Journalism

2009-07-31T10:33:00.002-04:00

How to write a review that engages not a single idea in the book.

Don't be confused, however, if you go to Malkin's Website and read this startling disclosure in her "Random fun facts" section. She writes: "Secret: I'm really a member of the Left." Then comes the ha-ha: "Left-handed club, that is." Other fun facts: She drives a 1993 Toyota Tercel with no air conditioning and wears a 6 ½ shoe.

See, folks? That's research of the kind that only trained professionals can do. Indeed, so flummoxed is the reviewer at encountering these random fun facts that it is his duty to reproduce them in his column.

O! the onanism.

Dan Collins - Virtual Pet Blogger - Only 3 hours remaining.

2009-07-31T10:16:00.012-04:00

Exciting news for POWIP fans!

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More Info on New Black Panthers Dismissal [UPDATED]

2009-07-31T10:07:00.002-04:00

Records show Mr. Jackson obtained new credentials as a poll watcher "at any ward/division in Philadelphia" just days after the charges against him were dismissed.

Just, wow.

More on this stone racist.

Why We Should Spoon w The Rich - and then Eat Them

2009-07-31T08:16:00.008-04:00

I would like to thank the top 1% of taxpayers for the inordinate contributions they make to all manner of public works on behalf of and in the stead of the vast majority of Americans. Heritage writes:

According to the IRS, the top 1 percent of taxpayers paid over 40 percent of all federal income taxes in 2007. That is a higher share than the bottom 95 percent of taxpayers combined! They paid just over 39 percent.

I would like to see someone rationalize this inequity:

the bottom 40% of taxpayers pays no income taxes on average. In fact, they get money from the tax code well above anything they paid in because of refundable credits.

I would also like to understand how a "taxpayer" that nets a gain in the form of "returns" for money never confiscated in the first place can be classified a "taxpayer."

Finally I would like to ponder aloud whether those who do not pay in should have the vote.

Oh, enlighten me Bobambi! My brain is small. And I am not married to the most beautiful woman in the world evah!

h/t Mark Levin

CLARIFICATION: to set the record straight - I am very aware of how the Rich job the system and I have no particular love for them per se. It is more of a philosophical thing for me. I hate people who job the system (although I know why the do it), whether rich, poor, or inbetween.

So, again, it is a philosophical thing for me: I like the idea of a flat consumption tax and for closing all loopholes for the Rich as well as the "Poor" - many of the former are parasites - many of the latter are leaches. Again, the middle class gets "tuna"

Random Outtakes from the Beer Summit

2009-07-30T21:40:00.006-04:00

Obama: So, Sgt. Crowley, these are my daughters, Malia and Sasha. Hey! Want to see their birth certificates?

Crowley: Jordan was overrated. Larry Byrd.
Gates: Bullshit!
Obama: Not even going there.

Gates: It's like at the end of "Do the Right Thing."
Obama: Exactly.
Crowley: I liked the old guy with the hat.

Obama: What's the name of the place where the Sox play?
Crowley: Fenway?
Obama: No, it's like . . . Comersky, or something. Wait.

Gates: Hendrix.
Crowley: Clapton.
Obama: ZZ Top. What? What's so funny?

Michelle: Barack? You get your lazy ass up here!
Obama: Honey! I've got friends over!

Gates: Don't look now, Barack.
Obama: Oh, ferchrissakes.
Crowley: What?
Biden: Hey, guys! What's shakin'?

Gates: I loved her, and she left me!
Crowley: Dude, she wasn't right for you.
Obama: I know it hurts. Have another.

Biden: There was this one time when I was . . .
Obama, Gates, Crowley: Shut up, Joe.

Gates: By the time I'm done with you, you're gonna be my porch monkey, bitch!
Crowley: Whoa!
Obama: Guys! Guys!
Gates: Ha! Just kidding. Mostly.

Biden: I could teach you how to play quarters. Huh?

Obama: Aw, c'mon, guys.
Crowley: Go on.
Gates: Say it, bro: boo.tay.li.cious!

Biden: One time I was in Sarajevo, and . . .
Obama, Gates, Crowley: Shut up, Joe.

Crowley: Gotta go with tits.
Gates: Ass.
Obama: Arms. What's so funny?

Crowley: You said, "Yo mama."
Gates: I was talking with my mom; "Yo, Mama!"
Biden: I think . . .
Obama, Gates, Crowley: Shut up, Joe.

Gates: See you around, Barack. You, too, cracker!
Obama: Thanks for coming, Sgt. Crowley.
Crowley: My pleasure, Mr. President.
Biden: Shoot. Did I miss the teachable moment?

You Know What The HuffPo Could Use?

2009-07-30T13:17:00.004-04:00

A deep-cleansing enema.

As Treacher put it, "Jeans, beer, being black. Is there anything he can't make uncool?"

I wonder why there's no beer named Carp.

Real Jobs Lost in Real Time.

2009-07-30T12:36:00.004-04:00

No pensions for these poor souls. No tenure. No union. They made the mistake of working for an other-than-govt enterprise. No bailout cash for them!

And so it goes in Obama's America.

MORE REAL TIME LAYOFF FOLLIES

me: yep and Amy
Steve O?

Aaron: who in fuck is going to build shit over there?

me: who is steve o
?

Aaron: is he that filthy graphics guy?

me: hmmm

Aaron: i think his name was steve

me: Gary too
he's gone
Craig made the cut

Aaron: wow - i figured him to be gone because he was actually an --- employee.
who's gary?

me: the Terminator - is he still there?

Aaron: i have no idea

me: Gary - the receptionist

Aaron: i'm drawing a total blank.

me: there is no gary
and also
it seems craig did get whacked

Aaron: oh

me: but all the others are still there today
Paco Rubon is canned though
which is kind of surprising

Aaron: i hated that fucker :)

me: HAHAHAHAHAHA

Elger MacZomph - also canned
amazing

Aaron: he was crucial to the biz, now they're fucked

me: LOL
<--crying
<-- laughing like hyena
I also broke the news to Nick that Bob O'Crappenhoffer is also gone
he seems to be taking it well

Aaron: he was no big contriubutor. he spent 90% of his day reading old ranger rick magazines in the crapper.

Obstructions - Stacked

2009-07-30T12:04:00.002-04:00

see here

Too funny, really.

h/t Jen Root

"Cracker, You About To Get Ruled by a Black Man"

2009-07-30T10:51:00.008-04:00

The Washington Times has up an investigative article about the DoJ's daft decision to rescind the charges against the New Black Panthers who were intimidating people at a polling station in Philadelphia. The officials who have spoken keep repeating the formula that the Department determined that the offense didn't rise to the level of criminality under statute. The Times' FOIA requests have been stonewalled.

One of the interviewees asks the essential question: If these guys hanging around with night sticks in paramilitary gear harassing people doesn't fill the bill, then what does?

Let's be honest about this. It's unthinkable that any white members of a racist organization--and the New Black Panthers are one--were to do something similar, their asses would not be in jail for a long, long time, and deservedly.

Tonight, President Obama will be quaffing some crap beer with Professor Gates and Officer Crowley, and having a chat about race in America, and if any of you would like to join me this evening on Twitter, I'll be doing the same thing, because, hot damn, that's my idea of fun. But you have to wonder, why is it that Obama's supporters have begun to look askance at this guy? As Michelle Malkin noted, despite the chapter and verse victimology of Michelle Obama's college thesis, her father was a well-connected ward boss in the Daley Machine. As Glenn Beck pointed out, Obama's Green Jobs Czar, Van Jones, quite apart from being an avowed Communist (he was converted in prison), is a Black Nationalist. Sonia Sotomayor supported Puerto Rican independence, and has been a member of La Raza, among whose strange views is that the Southwest US is the property of mestizos.

I could go on and on like this. What puzzles me is how Obama could be puzzled by the reaction to his stupid(ly) comments about the Gates arrest. He was similarly flummoxed over the furor that broke out surrounding Reverend Wright's bizarre racialist, anti-American outbursts. You may recall Obama's having said that, in his view, the church was mainstream.

That may have been the most honest opinion he emitted during the entire campaign.

Whatever you may think of Glenn Beck's comments, he probably saved Officer Kelly King from the JTP treatment.

I Fought the Law...

2009-07-29T17:10:00.003-04:00

8:43 AM
Jen Root to Enoch Root

Subject: Thanks

thanks for eating the cheese balls that i asked you not to eat. they were supposed to be for the kids snack at storytime today. now i have to get something else.

sorry, i am a little pissed right now.

talk to you later

love you

jen

Collins for Rent

2009-07-29T14:51:00.007-04:00

I've just received word from St. Mike's that my services, though wanted, won't be retained this fall, due to budget cutbacks that mean that they've gotten rid of, essentially, all of the adjunct faculty, among whose numbers I was able to count myself.

You may recall that I worked at a soul-killing job for Vermont Teddy Bear for seven years. I was saved from that by being offered teaching elsewhere in addition to St. Mike's and duly resigned, only to find out at the end of the semester that there would be cutbacks at that institution, and that I was one of the innumerable tiny branches that were to be pruned.

I'm certainly not unhappy that I left my former employer, since it was a matter, among other things, merely of survival, it had become so difficult to carry on as a result of rather systematic demoralizations, having to do with my irrepressible and ironic sense of humor. Still, it does mean that I'm unemployed in what I'm sure you all recognize is a . . . not to put too fine a point on it, shitty job market.

I'm not going to claim that I'm an ideal employee, because I'm persnickety. I am, however, as you who are regular readers know, extraordinarily glib. I am also endowed with a deep impishness. So, if anyone knows of any available sort of work in which I can best utilize these two gifts, of glibness and impishness, please do let me know.

Somehow, other bloggers, it seems, are able to acquire paid gigs on occasion. I'm certain that's because the elegance of my prose pales beside theirs, or the acuity of their keen observation overmatches mine as an eagle's surpasses a star-nosed mole's. Nevertheless, I do carry on and have been known occasionally to coax a chortle from a bibulous guest now and then, and if we, as a society, do not value this God-given talent, then to what have we come?

Far be it from me to suggest that anyone who reads this spread the word that I am in search of employment, because I am naturally of a retiring disposition and quail at the thought of my poor abilities being flogged one-sidedly in disregard of my innumerable failings. I cringe to think of it. I am not so immodest, I hope.

Nevertheless, do remember me, nymph, in your orisons.

Jules's Psychomachia

2009-07-29T14:00:00.002-04:00

Jules brings before us in vivid hues the violences performed on one another by the various strands of DNA which provide the information that has bootstrapped the (more or less unitary) phenomenon denominated Jules Crittenden.

At the end, he asks the interesting question, what became of the Neanderthals? Obviously, they are alive and well and posting on the dexter side of the blogosphere.

Government Is the Nightmare from which We Must Awaken

2009-07-29T13:00:00.003-04:00

Over at The American Thinker, there's a great article up, written by a Canadian, regarding rejecting the premises of nationalized health care. I haven't written a great deal about the specifics of this Frankensteinian plan, but I've been following with interest as various bloggers have been assimilating and disgorging the various bits and pieces of the bill, which Congress won't take up again until after they've recessed, and as Obama takes a vacation at a $20 million farm compound on Martha's Vineyard to see whether soft-focus photos of him with his family will prove more effective publicity than continually interrupting people's prime time television viewing. That's not to say that the bill is dead, by any means.

What I can tell you is that the bill envisages a massive intrusion into what had been thought to be inviolable personal privacy realms until recently. Financial and health records would be centralized in a way that, were Bush proposing it, would bring passionate howls of protest from civil libertarians. Over at PW, JHoward has reproduced some of the details. The CBO also scoffs at the Administration's estimates of cost, which are wishful in the extreme.

What Michael Prell reminds us is that we must never concede our right to make choices regarding our health to a monstrous bureaucracy. Unfortunately, many Americans are now compelled by the psychic phenomenon that Erich Fromm entitled a desire for Freedom From Choice. They believe that having their choices made for them will produce the serenity of not having to choose. Once again, this is wishful thinking. One of the means by which bureaucracies ensure compliance and reduce the demand for their services is to increase the hassle factor. They may not seek to increase the hassle factor, but they will inevitably do so and discover that it makes their jobs easier and produces more compliant, less complaining clients.

Once entered into this course, there is no turning back without violent revolution, because there are too many people whose livelihoods and positions depend on the bureaucracy that has been created. It is no accident that Obama has proposed the creation of an interior national security force of the same size and strength as our military. The promises that were made to sell the idea of nationalized health care will be buried under self-serving calls for the public to be realistic about their expectations. Those expectations will slowly ratched down to the absolute maximum misery that people will sustain in exchange for their dollop of treatment, and be grateful for it, too.

It is inevitable. It is what happens, always.

SLES and Honduras

2009-07-29T11:20:00.004-04:00

Jonathan sends this piece, remarkably printed in The Guardian:

There is a phenomenon, the self-righteous left, which lives in a simple black-and-white universe, governed by what I call SLES, short for Standard Left Explanatory System – a concoction that is ruining the left's credibility and integrity. This system, which started to evolve in the 1960s, says: "Always look for the underdog and then blame the stronger party for anything the underdog does, particularly if the stronger party belongs to the west. Never hold the underdog (particularly when non-western) accountable for anything."

SLES, when applied to the Middle East, is remarkably simple. If Palestinians, Muslims or Arabs say something that isn't nice (like "It is a religious duty to kill Americans", or "Israel needs to be wiped off the map"), or do something even less nice (like blowing up the Twin Towers, killing entire families on the first evening of Passover in Netanya, or attacking London's public transport system) you have a very quick explanation for it: "There is something that the Jews/Americans did that must have hurt him/her terribly. We must try to understand him/her."

A good example is Gal Wettstein's recent article in which he says that he doesn't feel that there is true freedom of expression in Israel because, among other reasons, his superiors may re-evaluate their views on him. He says he has even lost some dates because of his political views. I'm sorry for his loss, but turning this into an indictment of Israel's freedom of speech is, to put it mildly, preposterous.

Voicing political opinions generally has consequences.

Read the whole thing here. The thesis is demonstrated rather nicely, though, by this asshat's insistence that what happened in Honduras was a coup d'etat.

What we do know is that on the very same day Hugo was severing political ties with Columbia, as a result of their claim that FARC weapons had been supplied by Venezuela, Obama was busy revoking the visas of Honduran officials. So, the writer, Hugh O'Shaughnessy is quite right when he says that Obama has betrayed Honduras, but precisely 180 degrees wrong on just how he's done so, and in fact cannot bring himself even to acknowledge that constitutional democracy is the underdog in Mesoamerica.

Gates's Strange Behavior

2009-07-29T10:54:00.002-04:00

might well be attributable to his Irishness. Appears that he's a descendant of Niall of the Nine Hostages, so he might have been meaning that when he shouted, "I'm a hostage!"

Could it be that Gates was profiled as an Irishman in Amerikay?

John C Wright - A Hero for Our Time

2009-07-29T09:53:00.006-04:00

In reading an offensive slight toward the Holy See by one of the posters here, I gave a little thought to which of the millions of Apologists would be best to overcome the poster's obvious concerns/objections/bigotries as they relate to the Church.

And John C Wright came to mind immediately. In my humble and lowly opinion, he is one of the greatest authors/thinkers alive.

One day while contemplating Newt's conversion to Catholicism, I stumbled upon a blog that discussed conversions of influential people. This blog is run by a Latin Rite (Roman, for you non-Papists) Catholic Priest. The link to that Blog is here.

Now, I had become a huge fan of John C Wright many years back, when I read his Golden Age trilogy. Spectacular Far Future Sci-Philosophy. Best I have read in the genre. And I mean better than Dune, which I also loved.

IN any event, while trolling Father Joe's Blog, I found this post.

Freaked me out to find out John C Wright is a convert.

Here is an excerpt from John C Wright's announcement on the subject of his conversion.

After three years of prayer, thought, and debate, and an honest attempt to follow where the spirit leads me, I am joining the Roman Catholic Church this Easter. Normally, I would keep this private, since I am not inclined to stir up sectarian debates between the two or three parts of the shattered church; but since several people on this website have said I was Catholic, and since I corrected them and said I was not Catholic, I did not want anyone who trusted me what I said that, to be surprised when that information turns out to be out of date.

For my Protestant friends, all I can do is assure you that that Church you broke away from in centuries past has been reformed of the abuses you complained of at that time. The Pope no longer sells indulgences. The theological differences are minor enough that Christly love, if you imitate His love, will cover them. I was raised Lutheran, and drank in anticatholicism with my mother’s milk, so I assure you I am aware of most or all the objections, subtle and obvious, which you consciences in good faith might raise. The shock that came to me when I looked into Catholicism is that the Catholics do not teach what my teachers told me they teach. In any case, Protestant friends, I will be closer to you than I was when I was an atheist, so please consider this progress.

For my pagan friends, rejoice! My Protestant friends tell me my Catholic friends are pagans anyway! So I will be closer to you than I am now. And there is certainly some truth in the idea that Catholicism is a child of Jewish and Hellenic thought: the ancient civilization of Europe is still alive in the Catholic Church. If you worship Brigit, and I revere St. Brigit, this will be a common bond between us.

For the Atheist friends, give thanks! You may think of Catholicism as the most backward and obscurantist of the Christian sects. Not so! Not only does the Catholic Church acknowledge Darwinian evolution, the approach of at least some of the writers (St. Aquinas, for example, or St. Justin Martyr) is as rigorous and as rational as even the best of atheist writers, and darn mile more clear and rational than the worst of atheist writers (who are the only ones we hear about these days). Catholicism, in many of its branches, is not given to the religious enthusiasms of revivalism that so many atheists find disquieting. (Whether this lack of revivalism is a good thing or not, I leave for the reader to decide. Certainly more enthusiasm and crusading spirit would not be a bad thing for this Church at this hour of history.)

You can learn more about John C Wright Here. He is an amazing, amazing thinker. I think many here might find him a spectacularly interesting mind. And, btw, he is a humble fellow with a great sense of humor to boot.

I recommend all of his works, starting with the Golden Age. Here is a review I wrote on that book way back.

Providence, it would seem, is well at work here. For those who do not believe on the merits of their own experience, I humbly ask you to believe on my witness. Providence abounds in this universe.

Dan Responds

2009-07-28T18:29:00.003-04:00

To my earlier post. His issue's not with the Erin Andrews thing, at all, really: it's with the group interlinking and the distortion that that creates in ranking.

Okay, now I understand. I was aware that links back to posts had something to do with blog rankings on Wikio, Technorati, and elsewhere, and I've criticized the Village Voice affiliates for gaming the system to boost their rankings and their ad revenues. Honestly, though, I've never thought about The Other McCain and associated group emails as being a racket of the same sort.

You know, if I'd wanted a lot of readers, and I don't mind saying truthfully that I really enjoyed having them over at Protein Wisdom, I might not have moved. I'd be lying if I said that I wouldn't mind others, but I've linked where I like, and sometimes I've gotten to see others' posts that I might not have by reason of their having mailed them, or their links, to me. And I've had readers, too, who've alerted me to lots of stuff that otherwise I would have missed.

I don't make much money from this. I'm bad at making money. I'm grateful when someone tosses a link my way, and I check in at Technorati just about every day, to make sure that I haven't missed someone linking back here. I'm grateful for comments, especially.

I say what I want to say. I approve what I want to approve. I'm bad at taking shortcuts and I'm pretty bad at self-promotion. All I want to do is write and inform and amuse and discuss and dispute and share stories, ideas and jokes.

Dan's right to say that in the final analysis all that matters is the quality of the posts. I don't think about any of the rest of it. I've always regarded Stacy's Rules as a lark. But I can say that there have been plenty of occasions where I've admired something that Dan's written, or Stacy, or Donald, on its merits, and not because they are friends.

As for the Cassandra's name being bandied about, I've honestly not paid any attention, because I've been chary about reading any of it in any depth. I do know that at some point over at Jeff's I managed to offend Gabriel Malor very deeply, and that we've never really communicated since, though I see him on Twitter, often. I'll just leave it there, for what it's worth.

On the plus side, I was able to tweet Michelle Malkin this morning, suggesting she go on the B-Cast (starring lovely Liz Stephens and whatsisname) with Anita MonCrief to discuss her new book, and she said she'll have her publicist get in touch with them.

Zelaya In the White House?

2009-07-28T12:51:00.004-04:00

No, not affecting a French accent. According to Fausta (the most trusted name in Latin American news), ousted Honduran ex-President Mel Zelaya is in DC, though he doesn't show up as a visitor in any White House information.

Apparently, he's been encamped in the mountains between Honduras and Nicaragua with some of his supporters, plotting his return and talking smack about the USA. Ominously, for him, Secretary of State Clinton has stopped referring to his removal as a "coup." He's also been linked (somewhat tentatively, to this point) with FARC and evidence shows that he was attempting to game the results of the unconstitutional referendum that he wanted to provide him with a chance to extend his term in office.

These revelations make it more difficult for the President to maintain the strong support that he so glibly offered at the time Zelaya was forced out of the country. Like Gates-gate, only with much higher stakes, given Hugo's palling around with Islamic terrorists, this has been a debacle, which is a French word, meaning Paul Krugman.

Dan Riehl Goes to Eleven [UPDATED]

2009-07-28T09:25:00.005-04:00

Dan's one of my favorite bloggers. Over the weekend, he dug up information on Skip Gates's "charitable" organization that caused the good Professor to revise his taxes, having accidentally characterized as a research fellowship the aid of a student that amounted to a personal assistantship.

Today, he hauls off on Donald Douglas and Stacy McCain in rather vehement fashion, over the whole Erin Andrews peephole video business and its blogospheric sequelae, and apart from this notice, I'm not going to get involved. As I wrote to Donald at the time, I wouldn't have written about it, personally. I can understand how people could consider publicizing such an invasion of privacy as being an accessory to the crime of obtaining it, particularly when one does so for personal gain.

I'm not getting on my high horse over this, because of my personal experience. You may recall, long ago at PW I linked to a document that I'd found online showing that a former gf--a very interesting person in a number of ways--had been suspended from practicing as a clinical psychiatrist for having become too friendly with some patients. It wasn't my intention to humiliate the person in question, but to demonstrate that I appreciated her humanity despite the trouble she'd caused herself professionally. A furor broke out.

I found it interesting to discover that due to my posting I was a horrible person, a misogynist, and many other unseemly characterizations. What I found most interesting, though, was the revelation that reproducing and speaking the truth regarding a public document was a transgression much more serious than spewing lies is. This was in the wake of, among other things, Glenn Greenwald's absurd cabana boys defense of his sock-puppeting. Later, Andrew Sullivan was to publish repeatedly idiotic suppositions regarding the real biological parentage of Trig Palin, yet both of these people still hold paid positions with presumably reputable publications.

The other personal blogging experience that's made me want to back away from this was Jeff Goldstein's battle with Patterico over interpretation, which quickly turned into a winner-takes-all struggle over integrity. I think that it's axiomatic that two well-intentioned people may differ significantly over an issue, especially a complex one. Yesterday, another blogger, whom I respect in her own right, wondered why one would defend Donald and go ballistic over Perez Hilton's statements that Carrie Prejean was a "b*tch" and a "c*nt". Well, let's just say that Perez Hilton derives his living from practicing defamation. Whether people who "place themselves in the public eye" are less deserving of defense against character assassination or not is a question that I don't find meaningful in any except the legal sense, and that's not of primary importance to me.

Personally, I don't think that Obama is a "good man," whether he believes what he says or not, but that's not going to cause me to disrespect the view of someone who does on due reflection, whether it's Patterico or edge, come to that conclusion. For one thing, he's too intellectually incurious, to use the line that was often applied to Bush the Younger, from my point of view. And my point of view is not the be-all and end-all, either, and it may be that I am less generous than I ought in an absolute perspective to be.

I've gathered that Ms. Andrews is a hot sportscaster from ESPN, though I don't watch TV and I haven't watched the video. I hope that they catch the perp who took the vids and send him to jail for a stretch to teach him what it's like to do without the expectation of reasonable privacy. The question whether the video would have achieved its notoriety without Donald's having blogged about it is neither here nor there, in my estimation. Nor is the question whether it's done any real harm to Ms. Andrews, or whether, as per professional asshole Geraldo, it's going to make her huge, any more than it's germane to wonder whether Carrie Prejean's bust enhancement makes her a less authentic woman. Ms. Andrews's privacy was violated in a malicious way.

Donald chose to blog about it. He's caught a lot of flak for it. It's not surprising. It may be justified. Others are entitled to their censure. We are all fallible and liable to be found hypocrites. I am special pleading and admitting it up front. Were I to get any further involved in this, I would be foolish, because I don't really have anything more to say.

UPDATE: Seems like Gates has brought himself more unwanted attention.

Wow...

2009-07-28T08:28:00.003-04:00

My fascination with this person is manifold. Probably the only quasi-celeb I have any sort of fanfare for.

Her smile is beautiful, no doubt. And I suppose she has other features of note, too.

But most intriguing is the sense I get that she is always up to something. And that she finds life hilarious. Lives it fully, but doesn't take it too seriously. Of course, I have no idea if it is true or not, but whatever. I am allowed to find her fascinating. And none can stop me!!!

Can you guess this newscaster?

The Gibbs Miracle - Living Without DNA

2009-07-28T06:53:00.016-04:00

Robert Gibbs, speaking from the White House Press Room, made a startling revelation yesterday: namely, that he is lacking DNA.

Which would make him what?

THE WIZARD OF OZ SOUNDTRACK LYRICS

If I Only Had DNA - the Lament of Robert Gibbs

I'm a sad and bummed out puppet, just pressin' from the pulpit
Consultin' with the taints.
And my bed I'd be rocking while
my partner's eggs be droppin'
If I only had DNA.

I'd unravel my own blueprints for future individ'les,
If I only had DNA.

With the girls I'd be blumpkin'
I could make the second cummin'
If I only had DNA.

I could populate the planet, with lots of Jacks and Janets
My heart's all full of pain.
I would dance and be merry, life would be a pop-a-cherry,
If I only had DNA.

Man Driven to Theft

2009-07-27T22:03:00.001-04:00

by unavailability of affordable optical coverage.

A great line from an AP article says, "Individuals would have a mandate to buy affordable insurance."

A mandate? That's the best way you can think of to tell people that they'd be required to buy insurance? Sorry, but, you know . . . fuck you.

What? Nooooooo!

2009-07-27T17:38:00.001-04:00

Congressional testimony that, contrary to their statements, Dodd and Conrad knew from the start that they were getting sweetheart deals from Countrywide.

Look! Palin!

I'm so disappointed.

Preview of ObamaCare

2009-07-26T13:06:00.003-04:00

NY nurse forced to aid in abortion.

Because freedom of choice means you are required to honor someone else's.

UPDATE: Sarah W suggests that the pregnancy may have been doomed and the woman at risk, and that's certainly a possibility, but in that case I don't understand why the nurse would be going to court over this. I guess we'll have to follow the case.

Stopping schizophrenia in its prodromal tracks? Great idea, if they can do it; I've seen the CT scan evidence of what it does. Probably a lot harder to implement for the childhood onset variety.

Casting Call for Blog Kerfuffles

2009-07-26T12:04:00.003-04:00

I've got a project in mind to determine and recap the 10 Best Blog Kerfuffles EVAR. I'd like for you to write in your nominees, and let me know whether you'd be interested in writing a recap. Rule is that you mayn't write about one in which you were engaged as a principal.

Speaking of kerfuffles, read the comments to Lynn Sweet's account of how she came to ask Obama the question about Gates's arrest. How dare she?!

Hot Ovary Action

2009-07-26T11:36:00.001-04:00

At Jules's place.

Two Words I've Never Spoken Aloud

2009-07-26T11:13:00.001-04:00

"gimcrack" and "flapdoodle."

What are some of yours?

Donald Douglas Recaps

2009-07-26T10:34:00.003-04:00

the Erin Andrews peephole video kerfuffle and related traffic surge at his site.

Malkin's got a terrific round-up of Obama's bee-czars.

What Beer for Obama's Teach-In?

2009-07-26T09:36:00.006-04:00

At the NY Post, that's the question. My vote would be for O'Doul's, because it's really one of the few "beers" faux enough for the occasion. Like Tom Maguire, I'm certain that Gates's change of heart had nothing at all to do with the prospect that his exchange with Officer Crowley might have been recorded.

And a thanks to fellow busker Moe Lane.

Don't quit your day job. Oh, wait . . .

Still, this is nothing to the news that Obama plans to pressure Honduras into accepting Zelaya back by withholding aid. And this is another issue over which Obama made a pronouncement without knowing the facts, only in this case he's boldfacedly decided to weigh in on the side of Hugo, Carrera, Ortega, and the rest of the New Left Peronists.

Erm... Buenos Dias!

2009-07-26T08:16:00.001-04:00

Gates: It's not About memeIImeImeme at All

2009-07-26T07:03:00.010-04:00

emphasis - Enoch_Root

Gates says it's time to 'move on' from his arrest

BOSTON (AP) - Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. says he is ready to move on from his arrest by a white police officer, hoping to use the encounter to improve fairness in the criminal justice system and saying "in the end, this is not about me at all."

So, is the crime here that he was arrested by a White officer of the law? Has anyone demonstrated that had he (Gates) been White and behaved this badly that he would not have been arrested?

After a phone call from President Barack Obama urging calm in the aftermath of his arrest last week, the black professor said he would accept Obama's invitation to the White House for a beer with him and Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley.

Is this really worthy of a phone call from the POTUS? And no one has mentioned how presumptuous it is to have chosen such a Blue Collar, Whitey-drink, as 'a beer' for the selected beverage of choice. Two Harvard grads with a cop, having a beer. How provincial. "Hey Crowley - erm - I got some Budweiser - I hope that's alright. I don't drink the stuff myself... Turns out the professor here doesn't either... but, if you wouldn't mind - we're going to go with some of this stuff here... got it from Chavez. Comes from his own cellar. You don't mind, do you? You want a glass with that?"

In a statement posted Friday on The Root, a Web site Gates oversees, the scholar said he told Obama he'd be happy to meet with Crowley, whom Gates had accused of racial profiling.

Gates's accusation was not that the officer "profiled" him - he accused him of being a racist.

"I told the president that my principal regret was that all of the attention paid to his deeply supportive remarks during his press conference had distracted attention from his health care initiative," Gates said. "I am pleased that he, too, is eager to use my experience as a teaching moment, and if meeting Sgt. Crowley for a beer with the President will further that end, then I would be happy to oblige."

I might throw up in my mouth - seems, as Dan has pointed out - Obama and his ilk are all about "teaching" - when sometimes it is better to "learn." In the case of Gates, this should not be a "teaching moment." It should be a time to reflect on his own shitty behavior. A man of his age, color aside, should not behave like a teenage street thug.

It was a marked change in tone for Gates, 58, who in the days following his arrest gathered up his legal team and said he was contemplating a lawsuit. He even vowed to make a documentary on his arrest to tie into a larger project about racial profiling.

Ahhhh, here we go. Attack, fall back, attack, fall back... position is indefensible. This is what I think they call a "tactical retreat."

In an e-mail to the Boston Globe late Friday, he said: "It is time for all of us to move on, and to assess what we can learn from this experience."

And by "we" - he does not mean himself included - but surely, "we" as a country - having so much to learn from the dear gangst' professor.

Gates did not immediately return phone calls and e-mails to The Associated Press on Saturday.

Crowley also did not return a telephone message seeking comment Saturday.

The outcry began Monday, when word broke that Gates had been arrested five days earlier at the two-story home he rents from Harvard.

Supporters called the arrest an outrageous act of racial profiling. Public interest increased when a photograph surfaced of the handcuffed Gates being escorted off his porch amid three officers.

This is not why public interest increased. This is revisionism underway.

Cambridge police moved to drop the disorderly conduct charge on Tuesday—without apology, but calling the case "regrettable."

Obama, who had said Cambridge police "acted stupidly" in arresting Gates, sought to tamp down the uproar Friday. He spoke to Crowley and Gates during separate telephone calls and declared that Crowley was a good man.

If I were Crowley, I would be concerned about Chicago Guy estimating me a "good man."

Obama invited the officer and the professor to the White House for a beer. He conceded his words had been ill-chosen, but he stopped short of a public apology.

I am interested as to the choice of "beer." How quaint. How manly. How very Suburban White Guy. Why I feel as if the president knows me - really, really knows me.

A trio of Massachusetts police unions released a joint statement shortly after Obama's latest comments, saying Crowley had a friendly and meaningful conversation with the president.

"We appreciate his sincere interest and willingness to reconsider his remarks about the Cambridge Police Department," according to the statement. "It is clear to us from this conversation, that the President respects police officers and the often difficult and dangerous situations we face on a daily basis."

Gates added that he hoped his arrest would lead to a greater understanding about racial profiling in America.

I do, and for some time now have understood racial profiling. What is it I am supposed to learn from this incident? Please, enlighten me.

"If my experience leads to the lessening of the occurrence of racial profiling, then I would find that enormously gratifying," Gates said on The Root. "Because, in the end, this is not about me at all; it is about the creation of a society in which 'equal justice before law' is a lived reality."

Patricia Velasquez

2009-07-25T17:42:00.001-04:00

Maybe Hugo's idiocies will bring more beautiful Venezolanas here.

More on Gatesgate

2009-07-25T11:35:00.005-04:00

Carol at Sheeples has an excellent post up channeling some of Dan Riehl's digging into Professor Gates's activities. I'd like to make a couple of things clear, though. I don't care a whit about Obama's youthful drug use, and I have to admit that I was myself a scofflaw in this respect when I was younger. Also, I don't think that Gates's "charitable" entanglements had anything to do with his behavior toward Officer Crowley. I think that he was simply profiling the police officer, as per Patterico's analysis.

Enoch and I have both had unpleasant run-ins with cops, as well as known cops who were pretty good guys, despite wearing a badge and a gun. I'm certain that Gates was just alluding to Yoyo Ma.

In any case, it's strange how proggies can be so concerned about their privacy whilst selling out ours to all kinds of intrusive government agencies. I think that Gates should feel fortunate that the cops weren't asking for his Real ID.

I'd also like to thank Little Miss Attila for the link (it's bad karma not to link her!), and Smitty at The Other McCain, and also to mention that the poster who goes by the handle Enoch is my brother.

I finished the intro to my little coffee table book last night.

Death by a Thousand Cuts

2009-07-24T22:14:00.006-04:00

I was once driving northbound on a particularly nasty bit of freeway in downtown Milwaukee, when I came to the crest of a hill. To my horror, the traffic not 75 yards from me was at a complete standstill. I was being tail-gated by a woman fixing her make-up in her rear-view mirror. I began to pump my brakes to signal trouble ahead. I was running out of room to begin slowing in earnest. It was then that the woman behind me hit me in the tailgate at about 50 mph.I was doing 47, so it was not so bad - save that I was now in real danger of slamming into the stalled traffic in front of me.

After a bit of exquisite driving, I came to a stop two lanes over from where I had started, not unlike a Tetris piece finding the last available slot. Lo and behold, our fair lady was behind me.

I waived her over to the shoulder. And my intention was simply to make sure she was okay. My car was shitty and I found it unlikely any real damage had been exacted.

But when I got out of the car to take a look, I heard the din of the at-fault driver over the slowly moving rubberneckers' cars. It was the young woman who had run into me. On account of my rock n roll days, my hearing is not so sharp. I approached her and she me. She looked angry. She was angry. She began pointing at me and it was then that we had converged to where I could hear her berating me for having had her run into my bumper at 50 mph.

I couldn't believe it. And it pissed me off. I explained that she had been tailgating and that in any event the collision was entirely her fault - for driving inattentively and too close to stop in time. I told her she was lucky I wasn't a lawsuit-happy prick and she should thank her stars because of it. I reached up and held the back of my neck. She got the point.

But, she never did apologize. On she went with her bizarre mode of thought. Somehow, someway, she would make her issue my issue. In her head she conceived that if she repeated it enough and spun it enough the incident... and her inability to drive... would somehow become my fault.

First Obama tells us he doesn't know the facts. Nonetheless the cops "acted stupidly." Now, he has come out and issued an... explanation... he choose his words poorly. His pronouncement that he did not call the police officer stupid is purposefully daft. No one is pissed off because they think he called the policeman stupid. And his handlers know this damn well. He didn't convey what he intended, you see. But he has not apologized. Because he cannot. Today, the incident was the result of two parties participating in an escalation. But that is not at all the case. Only ONE party is to blame. Only ONE party was acting like a degenerate. Only ONE party should burden the load. But if the other guy can't be MADE entirely to blame (the cop) then surely he must be made to have an equal share in the blame (though blameless). And that is fucked up. Mark my words, Obama will eventually be instructed that he must come closer and closer to apologizing. But he will not apologize.

Again, it is not about fact. It is about perception. It is about spin. It is about crisis management. But what it is decidedly not to our Dear Leader is Truth. Nor decency. Nor taking it like a man.

And now with the right rever-end Al "I have nothing to apologize for either (Juanita)" Sharpton getting into the mix, the mosaic begins to fill itself in a bit more. And the image being revealed, one tile at a time, looks less and less like candidate Obama... and a hell of a lot more like one particularly notorious Black Marxist preacher in Chicago.

A Few Choice Observations

2009-07-24T16:02:00.005-04:00

First of all, thanks to Stacy for the post, though I'm not sure that I would cop to being a UAGotB. It's not an existential crisis: it's simply a matter of a) my inability to pay my Comcast bill at the moment, and b) my neighbors having apparently figured out that someone was stealing their signal, and so imposing password protection. And many thanks to the kind reader who sent $25.

In the meanwhile, I've finished up 90% of the cleaning that had to go into PW files, and I've made a good beginning on the intro.

I guess the main things that I've missed, by a cursory glance around, were O!s health care pitch, of which I don't have much to say, and Gatesgate, of which I probably don't have much that you haven't already heard to say. My formulation, though, is not too different from the one that Enoch posted below, or Bob's.

Obama was surprised over the brouhaha regarding Reverend Wright's strange pulpit pounding about race in America, and has been surprised once again. Despite the Attorney General's incendiary characterization of other, unenlightened Americans being "cowards" on the issue, it is in fact the administration that's out of touch. Gates's academic posturing is a symptom of how thoroughly the leftist orthodoxy regarding race has permeated the minds of people, like Obama, who've lost contact with the world in which most Americans live. Like many coddled elitists, Gates was not enraged that he was being singled out; rather, he was enraged that he was not being granted special privileges, including the privilege of bullying and abusing with impunity an officer of the law.

I will have said it a million times by now, but who believes that Obama has ever once changed the spark plug on his own lawn mower or so much as changed his own windshield wiper blade? I realize that that's not everything, but it seems symptomatic of those whose approach to the world is entirely theoretical, except perhaps when it comes to the dirtiness of politics.

Gates demanded an apology of the arresting Officer Crowley, and was unable to get it, considering that Crowley was doing his job and following standard procedure. Obama called up Crowley to state that he went too far in his uninformed characterization of the episode--namely his allegation that the officers had behaved stupidly. Once again we find that it's not the actual facts of the case that really matter to the committed progressive, but instead it's capacity to be fashioned, by deft elision and emphasis, into an exemplum of some predetermined outcome. Obama speaks of teachable moments; he never speaks of learnable ones. Strangely, though, and in defiance of the humility that Obama is forever urging on others--including his countrymen--Obama himself will not apologize, per se.

Because that would be tantamount to admitting a mistake.