H.R. 1388... is "Arbeit Macht Frei" too strong?

Maybe. Not.

H.R. 1388 has already passed the House – yesterday, in fact.

The breakout of ‘yeas’ and ‘nays’ tells a story all its own:



Now, in spite of the text changes that had to be made again and again to whitewash the recurring references to “camps” and such throughout this Bill on “Invigorating Volunteerism"...

(C) in paragraph (3)--
(i) by striking ‘superintendent’ and inserting ‘campus director’; and
(ii) by striking ‘camp’ and inserting ‘campus’; and

‘(1) UNITS TO BE ASSIGNED TO CAMPUSES- ’;
(ii) by striking ‘in camps’ and inserting ‘in campuses’;
(iii) by striking ‘camp’ and inserting ‘campus’; and
(iv) by striking ‘in the camps’ and inserting ‘in the campuses’;

‘(3) ELIGIBLE SITE FOR CAMPUS- ’;
(ii) by striking ‘A camp may be located’ and inserting ‘A campus must be cost-effective and may, upon the completion of a feasibility study, be located’;

‘(e) Distribution of Units and Campuses- ’;
(B) by striking ‘camps are distributed’ and inserting ‘campuses are cost-effective and are distributed’; and
(C) by striking ‘rural areas’ and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting ‘rural areas such that each Corps unit in a region can be easily deployed for disaster and emergency response to such region.’; and...

(So - they want their 'Camps' distributed in 'rural' flyover-country...away from population centers? )

…anyone who supports this Bill is going to tell you “It’s just about supporting volunteer organizations that already exist!” (seriously, the “nuthin’ to see here – move along” crowd is hard at work on the boards) – and will heatedly insist that there’s "Nothing Mandatory” about any of it.


And that’s true – as far as that goes...


But there most assuredly are “requirements” attached to being a recipient of ‘Grants’:

‘(a) Required National Service Corps- The recipient of a grant under section 121(a) and each Federal agency operating or supporting a national service program under section 121(b) shall, directly or through grants or subgrants to other entities, carry out or support the following national service corps, as full- or part-time corps, including during the summer months, to address unmet educational, health, veteran, or environmental needs:

And oh, that list does go on – follow THIS LINK, there really is too much to post here.
(make sure anything near to hand isn’t too heavy, hard or sharp for safe throwing)

And not to be overlooked is the incongruity of this piece – in a Bill on ‘Volunteerism’:

“Section 1508 – Authorized Benefits for Corps Members”

Now this only makes reference to language-revisions for this section of the Bill, but THIS LINK will take you to the ‘Benefits’ section itself – to wit:

(a) In general
The Director shall provide for members of the Civilian Community Corps to receive benefits authorized by this section.

(b) Living allowance
The Director shall provide a living allowance to members of the Corps for the period during which such members are engaged in training or any activity on a Corps project. The Director shall establish the amount of the allowance at any amount not in excess of the amount equal to 100 percent of the poverty line that is applicable to a family of two (as defined by the Office of Management and Budget and revised annually in accordance with section 9902 (2) of this title.[1]

(c) Other authorized benefits
While receiving training or engaging in service projects as members of the Civilian Community Corps, members may be provided the following benefits:

(1) Allowances for travel expenses, personal expenses, and other expenses.
(2) Quarters.
(3) Subsistence.
(4) Transportation.
(5) Equipment.
(6) Clothing.
(7) Recreational services and supplies.
(8) Other services determined by the Director to be consistent with the purposes of the Program.

(and there’s more)

So – Wages, Housing, Subsistence (food), Transportation & Clothing.

Now, over the years, I’ve built a couple of ‘Habitat’ houses, done pro-bono Legal Advocacy for the local domestic violence shelter and volunteered with a small-town migrant-farm-worker association.

But reading through THAT list of ‘Benefits’, what has become clear is that I’ve apparently lost track of where “Volunteering” ends and where “Working on the Government Collective” begins…. Or is it just me?

Please - anyone - if my idea of ‘Volunteering’ is completely off, chime in and let me know...


Okay....


Despite the ‘People’s Collective’ theme - again – nothing “Mandatory” in the strictest possible sense – as long as you (or your respective education departments or school districts) don’t take any Grant-money,

But… (‘cause you knew there was going to be one)

The most troubling parts of this are, as such things tend to be, aaalllll the way at the bottom:

TITLE VI--CONGRESSIONAL COMMISSION ON CIVIC SERVICE
(as there’s a fair amount of intro-pablum, I’m going to skip around a little)

SEC. 6103. ESTABLISHMENT.
There is established in the legislative branch a commission to be known as the ‘Congressional Commission on Civic Service’ (in this title referred to as the ‘Commission’).

SEC. 6104. DUTIES.
(a) General Purpose- The purpose of the Commission is to gather and analyze information in order to make recommendations to Congress to--

(b) Specific Topics- In carrying out its general purpose under subsection (a), the Commission shall address and analyze the following specific topics:

(this is where the creepy parts really get going)

(5) The effect on the Nation, on those who serve, and on the families of those who serve, if all individuals in the United States were expected to perform national service or were required to perform a certain amount of national service.

(6) Whether a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people could be developed, and how such a requirement could be implemented in a manner that would strengthen the social fabric of the Nation and overcome civic challenges by bringing together people from diverse economic, ethnic, and educational backgrounds.

(7) The need for a public service academy, a 4-year institution that offers a federally funded undergraduate education with a focus on training future public sector leaders. (because once the service is mandatory... - MD)

(8) The means to develop awareness of national service and volunteer opportunities at a young age by creating, expanding, and promoting service options for elementary and secondary school students, through service learning or other means, and by raising awareness of existing incentives.

(9) The effectiveness of establishing a training program on college campuses to recruit and educate college students for national service.

(11) The constraints that service providers, nonprofit organizations, and State and local agencies face in utilizing federally funded volunteer programs, and how these constraints can be overcome. (I'm thinking 'Mandatory' would 'overcome' - MD)

(12) Whether current Federal volunteer programs are suited to address the special skills and needs of senior volunteers, and if not, how these programs can be improved such that the Federal Government can effectively promote service among the ‘baby boomer’ generation. (so that elderly-social-productiveness can be made mandatory - once the preceding points are stipulated - MD)

So – No, nothing in the current Bill, in its current form is ‘Mandatory’.

Yet.

But it does yeoman-work in laying down all of the infrastructure needed for an eventual slide toward ‘Mandatory’ – if that were the intention...


Which, according to the Commission’s “Specific Topics” – pretty clearly is exactly the intention.

So, what do we do now?


- MuscleDaddy

So Let’s Review

What happens when your nation’s “Leader”…

- Moves overtly to offend and alienate your allies,

- Starts Nationalizing your public companies,

- Acts decisively to tank your economy into debt and inflation for well beyond the foreseeable future,

- Announces his intention to precipitously withdraw your military from successfully prosecuted conflicts abroad,

- Announces his plan to pile more debt on-top-of debt for his plan to take your country away from the economic system that has made it a world power for two centuries – and toward the historically-proven failure that is Socialism,

- Discards common-sense stances concerning your country’s approach to people who call for both your death and that of your allies.

- And demonstrates a heretofore unseen level of incompetence at even the most basic tasks of his office

... all the while making bold, radical moves to undermine any sense of trust between the nation’s government and its military?


Well – what else?

When someone demonstrates an inability to lead – and as spectacularly as this – someone else is ALWAYS going to step in and exploit that weakness.

To expect something different to happen now, well – the “Definition of Insanity” leaps to mind.


…and, right on cue…


Medvedev orders large-scale Russian rearmament

"President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday announced a "large-scale" rearmament and renewal of Russia's nuclear arsenal, accusing NATO of pushing ahead with expansion near Russian borders.

Meeting defence chiefs in Moscow, Medvedev said he was determined to implement reforms to streamline Russia's bloated military and stressed Moscow continued to face several security threats needing robust defense capacity.

"From 2011, a large-scale rearmament of the army and navy will begin," Medvedev said.

He called for a renewal of Russia's nuclear weapons arsenal and added that NATO was pursuing a drive to expand the alliance's physical presence near Russia's borders.

...and, while we're at it...


At G20, Kremlin to Pitch New Currency

The Kremlin published its priorities Monday for an upcoming meeting of the G20, calling for the creation of a supranational reserve currency to be issued by international institutions as part of a reform of the global financial system.

The International Monetary Fund should investigate the possible creation of a new reserve currency, widening the list of reserve currencies or using its already existing Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, as a "superreserve currency accepted by the whole of the international community," the Kremlin said in a statement issued on its web site.

The Kremlin has persistently criticized the dollar's status as the dominant global reserve currency and has lowered its own dollar holdings in the last few years. Both President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have repeatedly called for the ruble to be used as a regional reserve currency, although the idea has received little support outside of Russia.

(until now, no doubt, with the dollar circling the drain)


Welcome back to the Cold War – looks like we’ve been away too long.

… did we ever really understand how tenuous that victory was – how vigilant we needed to be in order to keep it?

Looks like we do now – thanks for that, President Obama.

(Yeah, I know – “You Won”)

 - MuscleDaddy

Guns on a plane, oh my!

The Chosen One has decided to endanger the flying public in the name of an anti-gun ideology. This Editorial details how this last week the Chosen One's administration secretly diverted some $2 million from the pilot training program and plans to hire more "supervisory staff, who will engage in more field inspections of pilots". The editoral goes on to say that "This looks like completely unnecessary harassment of the pilots. The 12,000 Federal Flight Deck Officers, the pilots who have been approved to carry guns, are reported to have the best behavior of any federal law enforcement agency."

Remember that until the early '60s, pilots on any flight that carried US mail were required to carry handguns. So the idea of armed pilots is nothing new.

Money quote: "Only anti-gun extremists and terrorist recruits are worried about armed pilots. So why is the Obama administration catering to this tiny lobby at the expense of public safety?"

Edit: Day-um! I think we beat Insti on this one.

Obama Still Plans to Make Vets Pay...

Remember a couple of days ago, when I pointed out that Obama's Veterans Affairs Secretary - Eric Shinseki had said that, despite the fact that Obama's plan to make Vets pay for their own service-related treatment was already baked-into his 2010 budget - somehow,...

"A final decision hasn't been made yet,"

Well, guess what?

Obama refuses to Budge on making Vets Pay

Since last time, Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion has actually had a meeting with The One, and came out of it with news of the largest shafting American Servicemen have ever received from their Commander-In-Chief.

"It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan," said Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion. "He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it."

Now, that The One would dismiss a Moral Obligation practically goes without saying - his adherence to a personal policy of moral-expediency has been on display since well before the election and evinced with every person or 'closely-held-belief' to have gone under-the-bus at the slightest provocation or inconvenience....

But let's look at that "Government Avowed" part for a minute:

“With malice toward none, with charity for all,
with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right,
let us strive on to finish the work we are in,
to bind up the nation’s wounds,
to care for him who shall have borne the battle
and for his widow, and his orphan,
to do all which may achieve and cherish
a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

- Abraham Lincoln

See that part in "Bold"?

Those words by Abraham Lincoln became the VA's motto back in 1959...

"To care for him who shall have borne the battle"

Thus have Lincoln's words stood from that time to this... until now.

That this should be a matter of common sense is simply a matter of... well,... common sense - and even if Obama is lacking in this virtue, the aforementioned meeting was preceeded by a letter of protest that stated quite clearly for the common-sense-impaired:

"There is simply no logical explanation for billing a veteran's personal insurance for care that the VA has a responsibility to provide. While we understand the fiscal difficulties this country faces right now, placing the burden of those fiscal problems on the men and women who have already sacrificed a great deal for this country is unconscionable."

"Unconscionable" - indeed - but that is an appellation that can only carry weight with someone who possesses a conscience.

The One has apparently made it clear that he neither cares-for nor respects those citizens who have fought and sacrificed on behalf of America - indeed, He has made it clear to those who have met with Him that they are nothing to him but entries on a ledger-sheet - an unacceptable financial drain to be rectified with the stroke of his pen...

"I got the distinct impression that the only hope of this plan not being enacted," said Commander Rehbein, "is for an alternative plan to be developed that would generate the desired $540-million in revenue."

So that's it - America can continue to meet her moral and avowed obligation to care for her wounded soldiers, so long as Barack Obama can make up the $540MM on his budget sheet.

No.

This cannot be allowed to stand.

Nationalizing banks, Socializing our country, Driving us into Debt previously unimagined - and now this?

- the Commander-In-Chief abandoning America's obligations to those who have fought and sacrificed to keep safe both her and countless other peoples around the world?

No. This is enough. It is Too Much and must not be allowed to come to pass.

"I only hope the administration will really listen to us then. This matter has far more serious ramifications than the President is imagining," concluded the Commander.

- MuscleDaddy

Obama doubles-down, Doubles-back

The headline reads:

"Obama plans small-business lending boost"

UPDATE -
WooHoo! In the time it took to write this post, the AP has changed it to "Obama offers more aid to small businesses" - (Double-Plus GoodSpeak!)

...but the first line may have been the more telling part:

"The Obama administration announced Monday that the 21 largest banks receiving government money must report monthly on how much lending they do to small businesses."

All the better to find you with my dear.

Toward the bottom of the story we find one of the ways that Obama hopes to have a couple of "small businesses" around after the upcoming budget-blood-bath, so that there's someone left to pay for all of the new entitlement programs:

The plan comes amid Republican efforts to cast doubt about Obama's ambitious budget, in particular the proposal to raise taxes, starting in 2011, on individuals earning more than $200,000 and on households earning more than $250,000. Those provisions also hit small businesses.

Geithner also ordered the Internal Revenue Service to issue a series of new rules for temporary but significant tax breaks, meaning that small businesses:

-That earn up to $15 million will be allowed to claim losses for the past five years in the current tax year;

-May write off up to $250,000 in investments this year.

-Can reduce estimated tax payments to 90 percent of the previous year's filing.

-Are allowed to take larger depreciation deductions within the first year of property purchases.

-And will see 75 percent of capital gains excluded for those who invest in small businesses.

Okay,.... but...

Didn't The One base his entire campaign on class-warfare and promises of "Eat the Rich" policies?

Hasn't he and his tireless and eternal PR division (Hey, MSM-anchors - come on up here and take a bow!) made it abundantly clear that anyone who makes upward of $250,000 annually is, in fact, among the hated "Rich" who must be punished for their success and taxed disproportionately in order to keep the money flowing to the "entitled" - in the name of 'fairness'?

So... doesn't that really mean that Geithner's orders to the IRS are.. well...

..."Tax Cuts for the Rich"?


But - what about all that "We are the ones we've been waiting for" - ?

Just askin' is all.

- MuscleDaddy

Evan Sayet Heritage II: Hating What's Right

As many of my friends can tell you, I am a big fan of Evan Sayet's first Heritage lecture. Well, he's baaaack, reiterating much of the same territory, but expanding on it as well:

Fuzzy Zoeller was unavailable for comment

German frozen food manufacturer Sprehe is marketing fried chicken strips under the name "Obama Fingers".

You know Germans always make good stuff!

Global Warming: The New Temperance Movement?

This is the best fisking of Gorebal Warming I've ever seen. Princeton physics professor William Happer testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, systematically dismantling everything the AGW advocates. Here's a taste:

... Deeply sincere people thought they were saving humanity from the evils of alcohol, just as many people now sincerely think they are saving humanity from the evils of CO2. Prohibition was a mistake, and our country has probably still not fully recovered from the damage it did. Institutions like organized crime got their start in that era. Drastic limitations on CO2 are likely to damage our country in analogous ways.
But what about the frightening consequences of increasing levels of CO2 that we keep hearing about? In a word, they are wildly exaggerated, just as the purported benefits of prohibition were wildly exaggerated....

Are You ^&$*%^-ing Kidding Me?

(h/t Monopticus)
===============================================
**Update: For the follow-up to this one, go HERE.**
===============================================
Obama Proposes Making Vets Pay for Service-Related Medical Treatment
(I am shocked that CNN ran this story)

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki confirmed Tuesday that the Obama administration is considering a controversial plan to make veterans pay for treatment of service-related injuries with private insurance.

Private. Insurance.

Private Insurance which they'd be able to get in the first place, with their "pre-existing conditions", Right?

No official proposal to create such a program has been announced publicly, but veterans groups wrote a pre-emptive letter last week to President Obama voicing their opposition to the idea after hearing the plan was under consideration.

"Hearing the plan was under consideration"?

Well, I guess that could mean that there's no real intent-to-commit, if that's all they're running on, right?

Wrong.

Turns out - all that 'Not-paying-for-servicemen's-medical-care' - savings is actually already baked right into Obama's 2010 Budget Proposal.

The groups also cited an increase in "third-party collections" estimated in the 2010 budget proposal -- something they said could be achieved only if the Veterans Administration started billing for service-related injuries.

Built. Into. The. Budget.

Behold - part of The One's plan to "Reduce the Deficit by Half"

...and while we're here, let's get some perspective on what He said at the time:

He identified exploding health-care costs as the chief culprit behind rising federal deficits during a bipartisan "fiscal responsibility summit" convened to discuss ways to restore fiscal stability without deepening the recession.

There we go - true to his word, this is merely a 'cutting of health-care costs'.

Quick comparison:

- Run your multinational bank or car company into the ground through mismanagement and malfeasance?

Turn the money-valve fully to the "On" position!

- Catch and IED-blast or sniper-fire in service to your country?

Wow, too bad - hope you can pay for that!


And even when blatantly caught, red-handed, trying to exploit military personnel and violate a sacred trust between our country and those who lay their lives on the line for her - they still can't man-up and take responsibility.

Asked about the proposal, Shinseki said it was under "consideration."

"A final decision hasn't been made yet," he said.

Apparently "Final" enough to have baked it into The Messiah's budget, you pathetic, cowardly, weak, sad excuse for a pale shadow of a man.


This has to end.

This has to be stopped.

Snowball cannot be allowed to send Boxer away. Again.

- MuscleDaddy

More Federal Cradle-to-Grave Meddling...

(h/t - PopsInFL)

Okay, so if you don't know by now that The One managed to wedge a permanent Socialized Medicine Bureaucracy into an otherwise "supposed-to-be-temporary-Stimulus Bill" ... well, you're obviously not a regular Here.

So there we are - the Federal Government (which according to the founding principles of our nation has no business doing any such thing) will be 'overseeing' (read: applying an ROI-matrix-to) your healthcare, and punishing your doctors if they don't get in line...

..Cradle-to-Grave, ultimately making an ENTIRE GENERATION dependent-on and beholden-to the Federal Government.

Hope you didn't think that would be the end - after all, we're not through the first 100 days yet.

Obama wants to overhaul education from 'cradle to career'

...Because you can't make people 'okay' with this sort of thing, if you're not controlling what they learn in school...

President Obama began to flesh out the details of one of his signature campaign promises Tuesday, outlining his plan for a major overhaul of the country's education system "from the cradle up through a career."

We'll come back to that sentiment...

"We have let our grades slip, our schools crumble, our teacher quality fall short and other nations outpace us," Obama said in an address to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. "The time for finger-pointing is over. The time for holding ourselves accountable is here."

Accountability? So we're done with the "I inherited this" mantra?

"The relative decline of American education is untenable for our economy, unsustainable for our democracy and unacceptable for our children, and we cannot afford to let it continue," he said.

Hm. Not fer nuthin' here - but it seems to me that there's a fairly obvious correlation between individual enthusiasm for education and, well... career prospects.

We can't all be lawyers, a major feature of Socialized Medicine is the ensuing shortage of doctors, and with so many other careers having been 'outsourced' or NAFTA'd-away, what is the plan supposed to be?

Obama noted that the recently passed $787 billion stimulus plan includes an additional $5 billion for Head Start, a program to help low-income families.

Ah, so he's decided that some low-income families are deserving of his largesse - of course, Head-Start for the "little ones" is fine, as long as there's no chance of those 'low-income' children going to shool with HIS kids.

Echoing former President Bush's call to end "the soft bigotry of low expectations," Obama said states needed to stop "low-balling expectations" for students.

"The solution to low test scores is not lower standards; it's tougher, clearer standards," he argued.

You know - I wonder if anyone has told him that it's going to be ...difficult... make that happen without mucking about with Political-Correctness and Affirmative-Action quota guidelines

- I also wonder how long he'll hold onto that 'popularity' of his if he decides to go there.

At the same time, however, he urged states to develop standards "that don't simply measure whether students can fill in a bubble on a test but whether they possess 21st century skills like problem-solving and critical thinking, entrepreneurship and creativity."

To help promote this goal, Obama said he would push for funding in the No Child Left Behind law to be more effectively tied to results. The Education Department, he said, would "back up this commitment to higher standards with a fund to invest in innovation in our school districts."

At the same time, however, the president warned that ineffective teachers should not be allowed to remain on the job.

"If a teacher is given a chance but still does not improve, there is no excuse for that person to continue teaching," he said. "I reject a system that rewards failure and protects a person from its consequences."

Umm..."Bailouts" ?

Okay - I can really stop right there, because we've come to the crux of my issue with this:

- Federal Government shovels-on the money.

- Federal Government takes complete control of 'Overhaul of Education System'.

- Federal Government sets educational standards.

And - just like in their Socialist Takeover of Healthcare - The Federal Government will (purse-strings, people) become the final arbiter of what is "effective teaching".

Now maybe I'm just being a little over-cynical, but do you really think that a Federal Government that takes control of a country's Healthcare and Education systems is ultimately going to determine that "effective teaching" includes a strong emphasis on the aforementioned "problem-solving and critical-thinking"?

Wouldn't a grounding in 'entrepreneurial and creative' thinking make students see the deliberate hobbling of entrepreneurship, via over-taxing and over-regulation?

And wouldn't that put the thought-processes of entire generations of kids completely at odds with the idea of ineffective (but total) and costly (on so many levels) government-control of areas of everyday life in which the Federal Government has no business meddling?

And once they've staggered through that simple bit of deduction...


What will the Federal Government decide is "effective teaching"?

- MuscleDaddy

She just can't stand prosperity.

Actually she doesn't act like she knows what prosperity is. But I figure it's just a matter of time until I get a visit from the Secret Service. So if I disappear some dark night, y'all come get me! See email below:

Madame Speaker,

Perhaps it's time you spent more time worrying about saving the people of the United States money and less time worrying about how you're going to fly. This is unacceptable! You work at our pleasure, not the other way around.

Don


REVEALED: PELOSI'S 'AIR RAGE'

By GEOFF EARLE Post Correspondent
Nancy Pelosi

Last updated: 7:57 am
March 11, 2009
Posted: 3:17 am
March 11, 2009

WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has gone from frequent flier to jet-aircraft connoisseur, with aides berating military officials to get the best planes, e-mails revealed yesterday.

Pelosi, who clashed with the military to get nonstop service when she flies home to California with police protection on government planes, revealed a particular fondness for Gulfstream's sleek G-5 - a plane glamorized in Hollywood films and rap videos.

"It is my understanding there are no G-5s available for the House during the Memorial Day recess. This is totally unacceptable . . . The speaker will want to know where the planes are," a Pelosi aide wrote in an angry e-mail to the military.

MALKIN: 'AIR NANCY': PLANE OUTRAGEOUS

POWERS: LABOR'S LOVE LOST?

In another, the same aide wanted the plane for a House delegation when the fleet was being used for senators and Cabinet members.

"This is not good news, and we will have some very disappointed folks, as well as a very upset speaker," the e-mail said.

The military was offering up an Air Force version of a Boeing 737.

The e-mails were obtained from the government by the watchdog group Judicial Watch.

Hmm... I wonder if it was 'treason'...

...when James Carville was doing it?

Flashback: Carville Wanted Bush to Fail

"On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, just minutes before learning of the terrorist attacks on America, Democratic strategist James Carville was hoping for President Bush to fail, telling a group of Washington reporters: "I certainly hope he doesn't succeed."

Carville was joined by Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg, who seemed encouraged by a survey he had just completed that revealed public misgivings about the newly minted president.

"We rush into these focus groups with these doubts that people have about him, and I'm wanting them to turn against him," Greenberg admitted.

The pollster added with a chuckle of disbelief: "They don't want him to fail. I mean, they think it matters if the president of the United States fails."

Minutes later, as news of the terrorist attacks reached the hotel conference room where the Democrats were having breakfast with the reporters, Carville announced: "Disregard everything we just said! This changes everything!"

Naturally, the members of the "Media" heeled to their master.

"...even years later, the mainstream media chose to never resurrect those controversial sentiments, voiced by the Democratic Party's top strategists, that Bush should fail."

Fast-Forward to 2009:

"That omission stands in stark contrast to the feeding frenzy that ensued when radio host Rush Limbaugh recently said he wanted President Obama to fail. The press devoted wall-to-wall coverage to the remark, suggesting that Limbaugh and, by extension, conservative Republicans, were unpatriotic.

"The most influential Republican in the United States today, Mr. Rush Limbaugh, said he did not want President Obama to succeed," Carville railed on CNN recently.

So... but... now that's bad, Mr. Carville?


Rush, on the other hand, seems to think that any "harm" he might be doing to the republican Party (like they need help?) - is actually less important than speaking out against the very real harm being done to the country by BHO:

"I deal in principles, not polls," Limbaugh added. "Carville and people like him live and breathe political exploitation.

This is all a game to them. It's not a game to me. I am concerned about the well-being and survival of our nation.

When has Carville ever advocated anything that would benefit the country at the expense of his party?"

Who would have ever thought that Rush Limbaugh - media giant with the loudest microphone and tens-of-millions of listeners in the US alone...

...would one day become the 'lone voice in the wilderness'?


Socialism, Economy-tanking, Ally-insulting, Agreement-reneging, Terrorist-capitulating, Energy-obstructing, Enemy-Emboldening, Abortion-funding....

Every one, either an "accomplishment" or tenet of his administration & policy.

Let me be clear about this:


I want Barack Obama to fail - at everything he's done and everything he's stood for.

Just sayin' is all.


- MuscleDaddy

Looks like "NeoCons"...

.. aren't the only ones who think that to "meet without preconditions" with terrorist regimes - is a bad idea.

(okay, I know it's late and this is more posting than a normal day, but seriously, this guy is comedy-gold!)

Taliban say Obama's call on moderates "illogical"

"Afghanistan's Taliban on Tuesday turned down as illogical U.S. President Barack Obama's bid to reach out to moderate elements of the insurgents, saying the exit of foreign troops was the only solution for ending the war."

"This does not require any response or reaction for this is illogical," Qari Mohammad Yousuf, a purported spokesman for the insurgent group, told Reuters..."

"The Taliban are united, have one leader, one aim, one policy...I do not know why they are talking about moderate Taliban and what it means?"

"If it means those who are not fighting and are sitting in their homes, then talking to them is meaningless. This really is surprising the Taliban."

When Obama first announced that he would "reach out to moderate elements in the Taliban" - It was (for me) one of those moments to wonder if he had been cognizant of anything concerning the international politics that have made major impacts at any point during his life.

I'm about the same age as The One, and I vividly remember that the very reason we backed/trained/supplied/funded the Taliban against the Soviets (doubtlessly the greater of two evils at the time) - was because there were no moderates among them, and they could be absolutely counted on to fight to the last man.

What - did he think that the ensuing years of soft living and soy-lattes would have changed that?

- MuscleDaddy

Thanks to Tyrone...

...for getting me to look for this.


From (of all places) MSNBC.

And yes, that's just over 76,000 votes (rather more than, say, a Night Ranger concert, no?)

...I also wanted to get that up before some "computer glitch" "accidentally" memory-holes it.

  - MuscleDaddy

So now that we've 'Marked Biden's Words'...

Look at that - it's like the man's a genius or something!

So, this basically acts as a continuation of Friday's "What IS he trying to do?" - post.

Now that the world has seen the complete & utter incomprehensible incompetence of The One in relation to the domestic American economy, any ability to relate to the will of the American People, and now have a good sampling of his clumsy, club-footed and largely spineless forays into what should have been fairly straight-forward foreign policy matters....

Some of the larger and more immediately-scary players on the world stage have decided to take Joe Biden's advice and test our "overwhelmed" Commander-in-Chief.

First it was the Chinese deciding that this would be a good time to start playing 'chicken' with US Naval ships.

"...one of the Chinese ships came within 25 feet (7.5 meters) of the USNS Impeccable, a surveillance vessel designed to support anti-submarine warfare, and that the Chinese crew tried to snag the cables that tow the ship's underwater sonars."

Naturally when the inevitable protests came, the Chinese fell back on that old chestnut that has worked so well all over the world - "It's America's Fault"

"Ma said U.S. naval ships must ask China's permission anytime they sailed within its exclusive economic zone, a 200-nautical-mile zone off its shores. The claim amounted to an assertive attempt to bar U.S. Navy vessels from approaching China's shores, even affecting transit of the sensitive Taiwan Strait."

...and why not?  

After all, given Obama's grovelling apology to terrorist-supplying Muslim countries during the first post-inauguration-days, Ma has to figure that his approach runs at least even-odds of being successful - maybe even to the extent of getting The One to throw Taiwan under the bus in a Carter/Panama-Canal-esque reflex action.

But, in the sense of "If Some is Good, then More is Better"...

Smelling buffoonery in the water - the North Koreans have now queued-up for their helping of whatever -else-will-be-given-away...

"North Korea on Monday cut its military hotline to Seoul and put its million-man army at battle stations, ratcheting up tensions as South Korean and US troops began war games that Pyongyang warned could spark open conflict.

North Korea’s official KCNA news agency quoted an army spokesman as saying: “It is nonsensical to maintain the normal channels of communication when the South Korean puppets are in a frenzy about these military exercises, levelling their guns at fellow countrymen in league with foreign forces.”

Now, the whole point-of and motivation-for all of this should be intuitively obvious to even the most casual observer.

China and N.Korea, having watched (along with the rest of us) Obama begin systemic capitulation to Iran AND initiate the alienation of our closest allies AND take the necessary steps to ensure that the US economy will soon render us unable to continue defending our neighbors and allies - have decided to belly-up to the bar to see what sort of fire-sale bargains they can rattle or threaten out of us.

Makes sense, really - it's not like he's given them any reason to believe it won't work.


... and I might be wrong, but I don't think "I Won" is going cut it.


- MuscleDaddy

P.S. - Note to the BDS-afflicted: This same sort of business that has Obama 'overwrought' and trying to find his own ...ahem... with a flashlight?

Same stuff that George W. dealt with - every day...

Just sayin' is all.

Lessons from History...

...both recent and distant.

This comes from the Great Hairy Silverback - our friend and the Original pre-Core, Core-Member from Bill's Site. Originally a couldn't-stop-himself rant in the comments-section of another post, it was just too good to leave it tucked away and unseen. And so - with permission - take it away, GHS...

Let's see...

What was it... 1932? A financial crisis -- already roughly two years in existence, and on a scale unprecedented to that point -- panicked the citizenry into crying out for a savior... not just a competent helmsman, but a veritable archangel, to sweep the deeply corrupted status quo aside, to heave the baby out with the bathwater, to wipe the proverbial slate clean and start anew. And once they found one, they granted Him carte blanche to Do As He Would, risky, borderline illegal, even unconstitutional as it might be.

Enter an elitist arch-liberal with a complete disconnect with the Common Man, but with a confident swagger (so to speak), a jaunty, smooth-talking, unflappable self-assurance, and Big Plans for boundless employment opportunities, government-provided entitlements, landslides of socialist largesse, and chickens in every pot... Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Regardless of their popularity (or un-), (1) his Lend Lease actions stretched, if not blatantly violated, the definition of a neutral nation in a time of war, arguably "justifying" any commensurate German aggressions against the United States, (2) his four consecutive terms in the White House defied the Constitution, (3) the shamelessly socialist programs he rammed into law burdened an already over-burdened economy when it could least afford it, and has continued to drag the economy down like an anchor ever since, and (4) turned a two-year depression into an EIGHT-year DEPRESSION. And while it can be argued whether, item for item, these issues might have served a greater good despite their destructive short-term impacts, the fact is that these were solutions that would have been -- and WERE -- rejected out-of-hand prior to the advent of the "economic crisis," and would never have even been considered (with any seriousness) were it not for the extreme fiscal pressures.

In other words, these were recognized, during a period of greater levelheadedness, as radical, unhealthy, and unacceptable solutions, and gained acceptability only because of (a) the atmosphere of fiscal panic, (b) the perceived "need" for an absolute, far-reaching, even all-encompassing "clearing of the board," and (c) because The Savior SAID it was needed. And people listened with their quailing hearts rather than their brains.

Obama's been called "Lincoln-esque." What horse-pucky. The only thing remotely "Lincoln-esque" about Barack Obama -- aside from his long neck and big goofy ears -- is the fact that he rode into Washington for his inauguration in a TRAIN (which he chose to do for precisely that reason).

No, for all the reasons and historical parallels described above, Obama is purely 100% "Rooseveltish." And, much like FDR, he will likely be remembered (by the emotion-based crowd) as the calm, confident hand at the helm of the ship of state during its time of crisis... and (by the cold, clear examiners of data) as the disastrously naive, blindly idealistic, arrogant elitist, who exacerbated an otherwise easily corrected problem, prolonged and even worsened the country's agonies, and burdened the economy for generations to come... just like FDR.

He will also, in my opinion, be renowned (by anyone NOT completely smitten by his exalted visage) as a liar, a fraud, a reckless amateur, and from many perspectives, even as a traitor... the man who singlehandedly did his level best to end the most successful, fruitful, and beneficent experiment in self-rule in history.

Dick Morris was asked in an interview about a potential comparison between Obama and Clinton, economically speaking. When Clinton charged into HIS administration six-guns blazing, jacking up tax brackets, instituting retroactive debt loads on the wealthier demographics, and promising/threatening even more radical, draconian, and again SOCIALIST programs, he was pulled aside and basically told that he needed to calm down, slow down, and leave at least one piece of furniture upright in the house... and he DID. So, couldn't that be possible for Obama as well? Couldn't he be "whoa'd up" a bit by a few strong calming words? And Dick Morris -- who was one of those involved in the reining-in of Bill Clinton -- said, quite categorically, "No."

Unlike Clinton -- who had, as one of his primary motivators, the quest for a second term -- Obama is ALL ABOUT HIS AGENDA. He wouldn't MIND a second term, but the far greater priority for him is the establishment of his outright socialist agenda. So, no matter how many (or how firm) the hands are on his shoulders, Obama is going to blast full speed ahead on his "mission"... that being to nationalize as much of America as possible as QUICKLY as possible... before the momentum can peter out. And from what I've seen, his actions of the last eight to nine months bear that assessment out fully.

He wouldn't issue a statement of policy until a day or two before the first debates. Thereafter, he spun and evaded and stuck to carefully crafted (and Teleprompted) scripts that screamed vague promises of undefined Hope and radical Change. He kept his secretive past, his questionable affiliations, and his staggering lack of qualifications or experience as far from the limelight as he could manage. But still...

He was voted into office on the basis of only a handful of passionate but typically ill-informed reasons, ranging from the novelty of electing the nation's first (mostly) black president, to slapping the much-despised President Bush in the face, to the promise of freebies and bolstered welfare and "deserved" entitlements for the so-called "lower classes." And with the aid of an enamored media that not only went to great lengths to inflame the causes of panic, but smothered any negative examinations of the long awaited Savior, He was swept into office on the shoulders of adoring minions willing to turn a collective blind eye on His excesses, His reckless oversteps, and His baldfaced efforts to socialize the world's most successful capitalist nation.

His first interview as a freshly inaugurated president was with el Arabiya, in which He fawned and patronized the Muslim world, apologized for American actions of the past, and promised to "listen" more and "dictate" less... only to be criticized by the Arab press days later as a coward for his weak and simpering sucking-up. His first "legislation" was the largest, most pork-laden monstrosity in American political history, which he handed off to the most unpopular congress in American history to do all the writing. Then he whipped up an even greater storm of fear and dread (which the media ran with, trumpets blaring) to ensure that everyone believed that any delay in signing this legislative outrage would result in hundreds-of-millions of jobs being lost EVERY MONTH... in a country with only THREE-HUNDRED-million men, women, senior citizens, and infants living within its borders (apparently there are many times more jobs in this country than there are people -- of ANY age -- to fill them).

And then... and THEN...

In that downright blasphemous "speech" he gave to Congress, he had the unmitigated gall -- the sheer baldfaced temerity -- to look into the eyes of the Republican ranks (who weren't leaping to their feet and shrieking like high school cheerleaders at every sentence he uttered) and into the eyes of every American watching on TV, and say staggeringly stupid and outrageous things like, "I'd like to thank the Congress for creating a bill WITHOUT A SINGLE EARMARK in it," and "I know this bill is a tough pill to swallow, but it is only the beginning... there will be more to come," followed shortly thereafter by, "I can assure you that by the end of my term in office, I will have cut the deficit IN HALF."

Outright lies -- so bold and cavalier that you almost have to believe he's joking -- followed by mathematically impossible fictions, undefined reparations that will magically fix everything, and wishful thinking on an epic scale... all "reassuring" little bandages to counter the added panic he took such pains to foment over the previous several months, and somehow "made more real" by his even more-utterly-baseless assertion that he'd "already found TWO-TRILLION-DOLLARS worth of budget cuts" that they could implement (one of which, by the way, was the cost savings of cutting short TEN-YEARS of full-scale military operations in Iraq, which wasn't going to happen anyway). Pure hog-twaddle.

This guy is either the most cynical, anti-American, anti-capitalist, politcal anti-Christ this country has ever seen, or he's the most blindly naive and amateurish political dupe the Demogogue... er, DemoCRAT party has ever had the good fortune to have as a frontman.

And either way, he's a disaster on the hoof.

Not a POTENTIAL disaster, or a disaster-waiting-to-happen, but a disaster HAPPENING RIGHT NOW, crippling and further burdening an already reeling economy, nationalizing everything he can get the government's tendrils into, ramming home the guaranteed ruinous and proven-failed tenets of socialism, screwing the achievers, success stories, and job-creators, and encouraging the unmotivated, the unprincipled, and the irresponsible... weakening our defenses and our global reputation, alienating our allies, emboldening our enemies, and killing the independent and self-reliant spirit of this once great pioneering nation.

He may be my president by name and by legal definition, but in every other way, he's my ENEMY just as much as the barbarians for whom he's swinging the door wide open.

To hell with him and the horse's asses he rode in on. Stop him... NOW. Bombard your "representatives" with protests, throw out the ones who refuse in 2010, and make a long-standing example of the catastrophic failings of unbounded liberalism, and heedless Marxism.

(*sigh*)

But at least, as one commenter once wrote, he's a nice guy, a bit of a geek, and a decent bowler.

I am completely reassured now.

GHS

Rush Limbaugh and Bricks on the Road to Hell

By now, I guess about 99.44% of the Dextrosphere has weighed in on the Obama Administration's attacks on Rush Limbaugh for the latter's statements that he wants the former to fail (to enact policies harmful to the nation). I figured I didn't have a lot to add to the discussion until just now. I can see this as just another example of an ongoing problem in arguing against leftists.

They always focus on intentions: The stated goal of one of their programs trumps any actual effect it may have. As a result, every debate is framed as virtuous crusaders for social justice against evil racist, sexist, homophobic despoilers of Gaia. How, for instance, could one vote against the "Employee Free Choice Act"? If you oppose it, you're against employee free choice! Well, we know the answer to that; the legislation isn't about free choice at all! It will deprive employees of the secret ballot in union organization elections.

When President Obama says we have to pass <Noble-sounding legislation title here> because it will create/save <Made-up number here> jobs, he is stating an intention, a hope, and/or a wish. Well, out here in Flyover Country, we have a saying about wishes: "You can wish in one hand, and s--t in the other; see which one fills up first."

His camp hopes that the voting public will give them credit for that good intention/hope/wish; that their noble end will serve as a blank check justifying whatever means the legislation actually employs. To a thoughtful student of history, the phrase "the end justifies the means" should trigger mental alarms. I suspect those alarms are what's stimulating the sector of the economy that manufactures ammunition.

Since the Left uses intentions, wishes, and hopes to sell their policies, they are particularly threatened when someone like Rush comes along and says "I hope he fails (to enact his damaging agenda)". The only response they are able to make focuses entirely on the hope, the wish, the intention, the end (ironically, not as Rush, uh, intended that wish, but their reframing of it); they can't talk about the means because if they do, they won't be able to push their legislation through.

I once had occasion to encounter this at the local level. I was managing a small retail business in a municipality considering an ordinance regulating signs. At a meeting with Planning Commission staff, I pointed out that the wording of the ordinance would require a permit for the sticker that says "PULL" on the front door of the business. The staff member answered by saying "that is not the intent of the proposed ordinance". I then asked "if that's the case, will you amend the wording to conform to the intent?". The response was one word: "No." At that point, it was crystal clear what the true intent of the ordinance was: to give the Planning Commision staff arbitrary power to cite any business as violating the ordinance, so that their subjective whims be supreme. That's not the "government of laws, not of men" that our Founding Fathers designed.

Time and time again, we see how the actual effect of an action is not included in the stated intentions of its advocates. I'm sure that the vast majority of people who support the President's plans do so because they honestly hold those intentions, and only a very few have ulterior motives. But it doesn't really matter what the intent is; the only standard by which a rational person can choose a course of action is to extrapolate the potential consequences of that action, evaluate them (intended or not) and decide if the costs are justfied by the benefits.

It is absolutely imperative that we break the political ascendancy of Good Intentions. We have to demonstrate how reality is impervious to our intentions, and responds only to our actions. My late father taught me that the road to Hell was paved with good intentions. We have to tear those bricks up. Rush has on his hard hat, and is in the driver's seat of Excellence in Bulldozing, doing just that.
[Click on the title above, or date stamp below, to see the full article.]

So, what IS he trying to do?

Let's do some dot-connecting here...

So apparently our 44th President, Barack Hussein Obama, has decided that 'good judgement' means:

- Beefing up the Palestinian Army

In addition, U.S. President Barack Obama intends to add a budget of as much as $55 million for training the force at the base, according to the Reuters news agency. The current budget is $75 million, and such an increase would almost double American military assistance to the PA.

(supporting the standing-army of a not-country that largely longs for a second holocaust - no, that's an excellent idea)

- Inviting Iran to Afghanistan talks

"The new approach is expected to emphasize nonmilitary means of blunting the power of the Taliban and other insurgents..."

(last time I checked, 'nonmilitary means' of dealing with barbaric forces involved "Danegeld")

... because Iran is interested in peaceful existence in the ME... no, wait:

"Iran throws conference to support Hamas"

(Okay - back to The One's "judgement")


- Making deliberate, symbolic gestures...

"A bust of the former prime minister once voted the greatest Briton in history, which was loaned to George W Bush from the Government's art collection after the September 11 attacks, has now been formally handed back."

"But when British officials offered to let Mr Obama to hang onto the bust for a further four years, the White House said: "Thanks, but no thanks."

- ...to alienate America's closest Ally

"No British leader in modern times has been greeted with less decorum by his American counterpart, and the amateur reception he received was more fitting for the arrival of a Third World potentate than the leader of America’s closest ally."

- Slapping a gag-order on the DoD concerning any "changes" in Defense budget-spending

"The Obama administration has directed defense officials to sign a pledge stating they will not share 2010 budget data with individuals outside the federal government."
(Hm - 'Transparency'... What could those changes be, that Obama wouldn't want word of them getting out?)

- Continuing to Do Everything that is Demonstrably Wrong for the Economy

"It's hard not to see the continued sell-off on Wall Street and the growing fear on Main Street as a product, at least in part, of the realization that our new president's policies are designed to radically re-engineer the market-based U.S. economy, not just mitigate the recession and financial crisis."

So - to Recap:

- Sucking up to avowed enemies...

- Alternately imperiling and alienating avowed allies...

- Instituting a "leaks-for-me-but-not-for-thee" policy regarding "changes" to Defense-spending...


And all while, doing everything he can think of to make sure that the U.S. economy goes all-the-way into the tank ... and stays there.

.......................................*

I submit to you my opinion that this much propensity for 'Wrong' in such a short amount of time - from someone who has successfully survived to adulthood - cannot merely be "Bad Judgement".

With a "Leader" like this....

God help us.

- MuscleDaddy

Another jolt of Perspective...

...try this one on for size.
(H/T - Pops in FL)

Full Government Ownership of Citigroup to Commence

President Barack Obama said Wednesday he had “determined the necessity” of the nationalization of the remaining holdings of the U.S.-based banking giant Citigroup and is considering the same for similarly-embattled Bank of America.

"This process is already begun with Citigroup through repeated bailout payments," he said in a press conference in which he accused the company of investing in specialized forms of equities in an attempt to evade the tax increases of his upcoming budget.

The president called the company's practices "a flagrant violation of everything that we have been doing."

Mark Klein, a spokesman for Citigroup, said the New York-based company "is committed to providing banking and investment services that comply with all laws and regulations."

He said the specially-structured equity investment cited by Obama "was designed exclusively for investors who want a slower, more secure gain over a longer period of time, which the company has provided in the US for the last seven years and elsewhere in the world for 13 years."

Klein added, "Citigroup expects the opportunity to clarify the situation with the government and is respectful of President Obama’s arguments."

Citigroup, which is publicly traded, has been doing business since 1812, with operations ranging from personal banking and international finance, and reaching into every aspect of finance worldwide.

It has over 200,000 employees in nearly every country in the world, according to its Web site.

About Bank of America, Obama said, "The extensive width and breadth of their need for a bailout clearly demonstrates a system too unstable, left for too long in the wrong hands. There will be lawyers and arguments saying that this is a governmental overreach and a violation of the constitution. Well, it's not about the government, it's about the good of the people!"

Horrifying.
... with negative repercussions to be felt for years to come.

But surprising?

If you opened the New York Times tomorrow and saw this story, would you be all that surprised?
(consider your answer carefully, and be honest)

And now consider what your answer says about how far toward real Big-"S"-Socialism our country has slid in an amazingly short time, ...

...when I tell you that this is actually a story about Hugo Chavez nationalizing Cargill in Venezuela...

...retouched with only a woefully light hand.

- MuscleDaddy

(apologies to any caught in a 'War of the Worlds' - loop by this exercise)

Iowahawk: on Operation Rushbo

The incomparable Iowahawk has done it again. The latest installment from "T. Coddington Van Voorhees VII": I Daresay It Is Time We Deal With the Mutineers Aboard the S.S. Conservatism explains the current contretemps over Rush Limbaugh's desire that the President fail to enact his agenda.

Good show, Coddington old boy! I say, good show indeed!

Again, Nuthin' but Chicago-Politics-Style "Class"...

...from the Obama administration

State Senator Kim Elton to serve as Director of Alaskan Affairs at the Interior Department.
(h/t to Wayne)

"Kim Elton?" you ask...

He would be just another Dem party-faithful-hack of little accomplishment/consequence,

...aside from being the Dem party-faithful-hack who 'bravely spearheaded' the curiously-timed "Troopergate Scandal", for the benefit of The One's campaign and a Flushed-And-Hyperventilating MSM last summer.

...you know, the one that was plastered across the "News" for weeks - except for the part about how the "investigation" found no evidence of wrongdoing.

Strangely - that part seemed to have missed the notice of the throngs of objective and umpty-leventy-fact-checked "reporters" that were scouring Wasilla at the time... odd, that. /sarc-off

So - in yet another exercise of his classy, "I Won" position, Barack Obama has paid-in-full for Elton's sometimes-daily updates to the press, on his waste-of-resources, come-to-nothing, baseless bit of tittilating kabuki-theater.

Sarah's reaction to the news said it best:

“Senator Elton pledged his allegiance to President Obama last summer,”

“We wish him well as he moves on and hope that he uses this job for Alaska’s benefit - to advance the state's oil and gas issues, including the natural gas pipeline, and to work diligently to remove the barriers imposed upon all states that want to open up their shores to off-shore drilling.

I hope he can represent Alaskans by opening ANWR, conveying the importance of responsible mining development, and building roads­ ­- all issues crucial to the future of our state."

Absolutely perfect.

- Acknowledging that Elton was bought-and-paid-for,

- Wishing him well,

- And then following up with a quick list of all the things that he's absolutely not going to do for his state,

... as the latest bobble-head in The One's administration.


Quite the Statesman, that Obama is.

- MuscleDaddy

Obama's Nominee for U.S. Trade Representative has....(wait for it)....

...Tax Problems.

[Audience: "Ooooooo!"]

Tax Problems Surface for Trade Rep. Nominee Kirk

"Former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk, who is President Obama's nominee to be the U.S. Trade Representative, failed to pay almost $10,000 in taxes during the past three years because of a series of mistakes, the Senate Finance Committee announced today."

I think this demonstrates a progression of gained-experience on the part of Barack Obama.

After all, that mere $10,000-tag makes Mr. Kirk the least eggregious tax-cheat nominated to a Presidential Cabinet position in the history of this administration!

When taken within a properly-nuanced context, it's almost as though he wasn't breaking the law at all!

....you know - when compared to those other tax-cheats favored by The One.


Hmmm... I am suddenly reminded of that old addage about "If you say "dog" enough times, the word ceases to have meaning."

Could that be it?

Could it be that Obama's hoping that if we hear the phrase "Tax-Cheat Cabinet-Appointee" enough times, it will just eventually stop bothering us?



... I think he's going to need a bigger cabinet.

- MuscleDaddy

Simulating Sully

Now I'm even more impressed,

What would some solid, grounding perspective be worth?

...think you can carve 11 minutes and 22 seconds out of your day?

I did - and I have to say, it was worth it.

Because it happens, whether in actual combat, politics or practically any other protracted, high stress, confrontational situation... 

Sometimes we can get so caught up in what we're fighting against that we can forget what were fighting for ... what brought us to the dance in the first place.

If you can't manage the 11:22 right now, then go do whatever it is you need to do and come back when you can sit down, take a couple of breaths and really listen - I promise that you'll be glad you did.

First, we open with the Old Man reminding us why it's important - more important than we necessarily remember all-of-the-time - and what has already been lost and why it makes the fight today that much more difficult.

It's eerie how timely this is - even 20 years later.


(I wish I knew how to take that title out - redundant as it is)
Next up is a compare & contrast between what Reagan knew was/is important, and what The One's "new" ideology is:

(palmed this one from Cmblake6's site - thanks for the find, my friend)


Don't put it off - make the conscious effort *today* to teach your children and/or your grandchildren what it is that makes America - in all the great, wide world, so very special.

And not just the kids, either.

Take every opportunity to present to whomever will listen that which they should already know.

What they should remember.

What they, in point of fact, do remember and still have within their embattled American souls - if they can just just be coaxed to reach through the noise, and take hold of it.

If we can re-kindle the flame of that knowledge, we won't have to worry about winning this fight... we will have already won.

 - MuscleDaddy