Quote For The Week

[W]e fashioned “gods of wood and stone and brass,” but now, thinking ourselves above superstition, “we make kings of common men, and are proud of our own handiwork.”

War Of Subterfuge And Politics

In the comment sections of any number of political blogs last year, there was someone always claiming to be a conservative but was 'worried' about McCain in some form or another. It was always the same formula. McCain's health, age, mental capability. The 'Concerned Conservative Christian Person' comments hit high gear after Gov. Sarah Palin was announced as McCain's running mate.

Their MO was obvious enough. Ace had them dead to rights.

The script--

1. The Pledge: I'm a conservative/I'm a Christian/I'm a conservative Christian

2. The Turn: My heart is with you guys, really... but I have these concerns...

3. The Prestige: I hear all these great things about Obama and/or did you hear this horrible stuff about Palin?

And of course the simple whitebread, just-plain-folks psuedonym. [Scott, Tom, Eric and the like]

The mission was obvious. To help demoralize the GOP into not voting or even switching their votes for Obama.

Which brings me to Andrew Breitbart.

Political leftists play for keeps. They are willing to lie, perform deceptive acts in a coordinated fashion and do so in a wicked way - all in the pursuit of victory. Moral relativism is alive and well in the land of Hope and Change and its Web-savvy youth brigade expresses its "idealism" in a most cynical fashion.

The ends justify the means for them - now more than ever.

Much of Mr. Obama's vaunted online strategy involved utilizing "Internet trolls" to invade enemy lines under false names and trying to derail discussion. In the real world, that's called "vandalism." But in a political movement that embraces "graffiti" as avant-garde art , that's business as usual. It relishes the ability to destroy other people's property in pursuit of electoral victory.

It's worth reading the entire article.

Heh

For this, I would take a trip to Gitmo.

We hung out with the guys from the East Coast and they showed us the boat inside and out, how they work and what they do, we took a ride around the land and it was a loooot of fun!

We also met the Military dogs, and they did a very nice demonstration of their skills. All the guys from the Army were amazing with us.

We visited the Detainees camps and we saw the jails, where they shower, how the recreate themselves with movies, classes of art, books. It was very interesting.

We took a ride with the Marines around the land to see the division of Gitmo and Cuba while they were informed us with a little bit of history.

I didn’t want to leave, it was such a relaxing place, so calm and beautiful.

Gitmo does sound nice. Shame about the rest of the place.

I Me Mine

From Victor Davis Hanson at the Corner.

I think our president needs to invest more in the use of the third-person "government," since his speeches more and more center on the narcissistic "I" and "me." Even the car-takeover speech was "I-ed" to death. E.g.

My Auto Task Force

And so today, I am announcing that my administration will...

In this context, my administration will offer General Motors adequate working capital over the next 60 days. During this time, my team will be working closely with GM to produce a better business plan.

I am committed to doing all I can to see if a deal can be struck...

Now, I know that when people even hear the word "bankruptcy" it can be a bit unsettling, so let me explain what I mean. What I am talking about is..

What I am not talking about is a process where a company is broken up, sold off, and no longer exists. And what I am not talking about is having a company stuck in court for years...

It is my hope that the steps I am announcing...

let me say it as plainly as I can ...

I'm directing my team to take several steps.

I want to work with Congress to identify parts of the Recovery Act..

I am designating a new Director of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers...

And on and on . . .

So, in honor of Barack Obama.

Just In Case There Hasn't Been Enough Spent Yet

A helpful guide to Obama's budget working it's way through Congress right now.

1. Congress holds the purse strings. [. . .] The goal: to try to contain skyrocketing deficits under Obama's proposal.
[. . .]
2. There will be a conference committee. Sometimes the two chambers are able to resolve their differences by ping-ponging the budget resolution back and forth between them [A good example of this: The Anatomy of a Scam]
[. . .]
3. Reconciliation is probably in the cards. Though Senate leaders have yet to officially declare their intention to use reconciliation, all but a handful of Senate Democrats support using the maneuver for health-care reform, as do senior administration officials. The powerful procedural maneuver creates a privileged bill that cannot be filibustered in the Senate. That means Democrats could pass the measure with 51 votes -- without any help from Republicans -- instead of the usual 60 votes needed to get anything significant and controversial accomplished.
[. . .]
4. The budget does not enact Obama's agenda.
[. . .]
5. Despite some squabbling, the Democrats have the votes [ed. They will OWN it]. Though centrist Democrats in both chambers have complained about the massive deficits, the party is united behind the president's core goals [Emphasis mine, so ignore step 4 above].

Thoughts About Animal House And Tea Parties

Mark you calendars: April 15th, Richmond Virginia.

The Post Office is open late that night for tax returns.

The tea party isn't. Do not miss it.

Ordinary Americans need to think about the nationwide April 15 Tax Day Tea Party protests as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the grassroots to do their own "rebranding." Thanks to Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, conservatives have been handed a chance to demonstrate our solidarity on one of the few issues on which we all agree: Economic liberty, as opposed to the neo-Keynesian, central-planning agenda of Obamanomics. (It Won't Work.)

Altogether Now

Who was the person related to Sarah Palin who got caught buying Oxycontin?

Trick question. She wasn't related at all. She was the mother of the ex-boyfriend to Sarah Palin's oldest daughter.

Now what has Joe Biden's daughter been doing? Only rumors of Ashley Biden snorting cocaine. The stories of which are buried.

The first story was all over Memeorandum -- a political online news finder.

The second story at WeSmirch. A celeb gossip news finder.

Update: Maybe, maybe not. Not until I can see the tape for sure.

Just A Dream

Carrie Underwood's tribute to the troops and those who got left behind.

Have You Heard About The 12th Commandment?

The first I heard of it was today. Read the read to find out what it is.

Success is attractive. But any successful effort also attracts cowardly punks, who desire to benefit parasitically from the vision and hard work of others. And so during what we might call The Golden Age of Conservatism -- the 25 years from Reagan's 1981 inauguration to the GOP debacle of the 2006 election -- the conservative movement attracted a lot of shrewd self-interested people who saw the "conservative" label as a vehicle for their own personal ambition. Hello, David Brooks.

Quote For The Weekend

"Excess is out of fashion."

The president held himself up as an example, saying that he had not yet renovated the Oval Office and was still using George W. Bush's furniture, even noting the stains on the carpet. He urged the banks to show comparable "constraint and responsibility," adding that the nation had undergone a cultural shift.

Obama is the perfect example of fiscal conservatism. Except he was wrong about the carpet stains. Everyone knows that those stains are from the Clinton administration. Not all of them made it on the blue dress.

More examples of constraint and responsibility:

Wagyu steak dinners.

The $160 million inauguration.

And the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act", better known as The Stimulus Package.



Linked by Little Miss Attila.

Reid: Nuclear Option for Me But Not for Thee

An interesting point at The Weekly Standard
By John McCormack:

At a briefing with reporters this morning, Harry Reid said that Republicans attempted to "ruin our country" when some tried to change Senate rules so that only a simple majority would be needed to confirm judges, a legislative maneuver dubbed the "nuclear option." But yesterday Reid said that it would be okay for Democrats to pass nationalized health care and massive cap-and-trade energy tax with a simple majority through a slightly-less-scary-sounding maneuver known as "budget reconciliation". Reid said today of the GOP's toying with the so-called "nuclear option":

The nuclear option is only one of the things that the Republicans in power at the time did or tried to do to ruin our country. As I said at the time, the nuclear option is the most important issue that I had worked on in my entire career because if that had gone through it would have destroyed the Senate as we know it. I said at the time that if I became a majority leader and the nuclear option were part of the Senate's [rules], I would change them. There is no way that I would be part of using the nuclear option. And I want every Republican to hear that.

So what are we going to do to lower the rhetoric? I think I've done a pretty good job. Let's just move forward. If Republicans want to filibuster a judge, that's directly contrary to what they said their political philosophy is. But I guess it's all subject to change. I think that what they did to President Clinton's judges was a dark point in the history of our country, and I would hope we would not have to go through that again. It's going to be a little different now because we have a lot more numbers than we did then.

Reid then took a shot at Chief Justice John Roberts.

It's not entirely clear why Reid thinks the right to filibuster judges is so much more important than the right to filibuster nationalized health care. Democrats often point out that Bush and Republicans used budget reconciliation to pass tax cuts. GOP Senator Judd Gregg has defended this use of budget reconciliation, saying: "It has always been on issues on policies which already exist -- adjusting tax laws, adjusting tax rates, affecting this program that already exists or that program."

A GOP aide objects to the Democrats' budget reconciliation plans because they would entail "not only a massive tax of more than a trillion dollars, but fundamentally change" the American health-care and energy sectors and fund a new entitlement program. Perhaps more important than GOP objections, it seems like Reid will have a difficult time persuading some Democrats to deploy their own "nuclear option" on health care and cap-and-trade. Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad says he opposes the tactic, as does Sen. Max Baucus.

Some Democrats opposed to cap-and-trade but in favor of health care reform are scared of allowing budget reconciliation. "We've checked with the parliamentarian, and we've confirmed that the rules don't allow you to limit the scope of" budget reconciliation to health care but not cap-and-trade, a GOP aide said. "You can swear it's only going to be health care, but it's not binding. If you type in health care [in the bill], that's non-binding."

Friday Night

3 Doors Down has their tribute to the US Armed Services with Citizen Soldier. It's a good song -- nothing against them. The comments on the YouTube page for this video, those will make your head explode.

Involuntary Servitude?

File this under 'Every Acronym Needs To Spell A Name'.

It also shows what a dog and pony show Congress is. Follow along as Congress gives the appearance of propriety with tax dollars on the front end and then strip out any protective measures on the back end in conference.

The bill is called GIVE – standing for “Generations Invigorating Volunteers and Education Act”. It’s the kind of obviously contrived moniker most grown adults would be too embarrassed even to admit having remotely considered. But, not the Criminal Class. In their rarified world of sheer self-indulgence, it’s well-nigh considered a stroke of genius. Almost Shakespearean. And one can’t help but wish they just would have settled for “Gee I’m Vacuous and Empty-headed.”

Yet, as bad as the title is, the content is even worse. For, at a time when most Americans are doing all in their power to tighten their belts and survive the government-induced Depression, the members of the Criminal Class have allotted at least $5 billion to increase taxpayer hand outs to ACORN, PUSH – and a plethora of other decidedly leftwing flimflam groups – to spend in perverting the electoral system.

H/T, RSM.

An Attack On US Soil?

I must be getting jaded. After I envisioned what might happen, I asked myself, "How will Obama and Rahm handle this crisis and not let it go to waste?"

There is a "100% chance that there will be . . . an attack on U.S. soil," conservative author David Horowitz said Thursday.

Horowitz made the prediction while speaking to a George Washington University student group, after being asked about the possibility of U.S.-Iranian conflict. In the event of such a terror attack against the American homeland, Horowitz predicted, there will be widespread public outrage against U.S. liberals.

Read the rest.

Free Markets As A House

This gets to the heart of the issue why the free market did not fail.

[. . .]Here’s an analogy that illustrates what happened.

In April, 2001, Private Sector Architects draws up plans for a three-story house. The prospective owner hires Capitalism Builders to construct it. The Free Market Sawmill is chosen to supply the lumber. The project is scheduled to take eight years. Construction begins.

Every night, men from the U.S. Bureau of Standards sneak into the Free Market Sawmill and the offices of Capitalism Builders and replace all of the rulers and tape measures. Some days the inches get longer, but most days they get shorter. By March, 2008, the inch is only 25% of what it was seven years before.

As a result, the two-by-fours being produced by the Free Market Sawmill in 2008 have only one-sixteenth the load-bearing capacity of 2001 lumber. Some workers express concern because the latest two-by-fours are looking pretty flimsy. However, when checked, the boards still measure two inches by four inches.

In September, 2008, a group of school children is taken on a tour of the just-completed third floor of the house. The building collapses, causing many injuries. The Krugman Blame Bureau surveys the wreckage and declares that Capitalism and the Free Market have failed.

Read the entire post. Thanks to Jim for the link.

Cross posted at the Richmond Tea Party: The Blog.

Pretty Funny:

Candidate Obama vs. President Obama

OUCH!

That Tax Credit? Uh, I'm Going To Need That Back Now

It was one of Barack's biggest campaign promise. The tax cut credit to 95% of the nation. The other 5% would get an increase to pay for the 95% (Congressional Math, I guess). Get ready for more broken promises.

The way things look, the government will need the money.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says Obama's proposed budget comes up short on its estimates for spending, revenues and deficits — virtually everything.

Over 10 years, the CBO says, the cumulative deficit will reach $9.3 trillion, $2.3 trillion more than expected in the White House budget. Spending would jump permanently to 23% of GDP — and possibly higher — from 20% last year, a $1.7 trillion gain over that time.
[. . .]
The math is clear. In the next five years alone, Obama's budget adds $5.7 trillion to the U.S. debt. That's $48,000 per household. Put in perspective, servicing that debt each year will cost as much as the annual defense budget by the end of the decade.
Today, the federal government spends about $24,172 per household. That will grow to $32,463 by 2019, after adjusting for inflation — for a real spending gain of 34%. Paying for all this will take money — vast, unprecedented amounts of it. Yet, on the stump last year, Obama promised that 95% of Americans would get a tax cut under him, and that only the very wealthiest would pay more.
[. . .]
From 1953 to 1982, tax rates were at their highest. As Heritage Foundation analyst Brian Riedl recently noted, during that time, the economy was in recession 21% of the time and the stock market rose 5.4% on average. This culminated in the 1970s, when inflation hit 13% and interest rates 19% under Jimmy Carter.

Since the broad-based Reagan cuts in 1982, the economy has been in recession just 10% of the time, inflation has never gone above 5%, interest rates have never been over 12%, and the stock market — even after two record drops — has averaged gains of 7% a year.

Reagan slashed taxes and simplified the code, and revenues and growth soared. That's what works, as dozens of studies prove.

So if they're sincere, Obama's tax reformers have a choice: follow the tax policies of Reagan and thrive, or those of Carter and fail. To us, it's a no-brainer.

It's For The Children

Suzanna and Monique, you can't back out now.

The public demands it.

Cynthia, if you want to ref, you know when and where.

Quote For The Week

Without their votes, Mr. Obama and Democratic leaders don't have a majority in the Senate, let alone the 60 votes needed to break Republican filibusters. That gives Mr. Bayh and his group an opportunity to assert themselves.

"We really do need to change business as usual," Mr. Bayh said in an interview Monday. "People want results."

The group's biggest immediate impact may be on the president's budget, which is now working its way through Capitol Hill. The group has met privately with Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D., N.D.), who plans to pare back Mr. Obama's spending blueprint. The moderates will press for more cuts when the full House and Senate consider the budget next week.

Thoughts About Tea Parties

If a Tea Party happens and the news does not report it, does it still have the same effect?

But the real reason the major media aren't interested in these protests is that they don't agree with them. In the final analysis, these affairs are really taking issue with the political party they helped elect without hiding bias in the last election.

That's why a small scrum of Acorn-financed wackos on a bus tour to intimidate AIG execs last weekend made the news while the tea parties didn't.

Via Instapundit.

Update: Thank you for the links, Suzanna Logan and Stacy McCain.

Update II: Right Wing News and Monique, welcome as well. And I have lost track on how it got to wrestling.

Update III: For the wrestling, it will be the best of three rounds. A tub of jello, a tub of mud and a tub of a substance to be agreed upon at a later date. So much for the 'family friendly' theme.

Update IV: We have a ref too.

Whereas I Agree With Glenn

As Dave C can tell ya - I have never been a fan of Glen Beck. I have always put him in the same entertainer category with Rush and Bill - agreeing with many of their points but disagreeing with their approach. With that established let me just say... I think he has a pretty good message going and I am learning to like it.

O-Ri-On

I asked, I received.



Someone has to mention it. There was no end to the amount of jokes at Pres. Bush's usage of the word, 'strategery'. So when Obama can't even pronounce one of the most popular star constellation, damn straight he is going to be called out on it. Pundette has more but the TOTUS should have the final word in it all.

Thanks for the link, Nauta's Sapientia.

Zogby Announces New Poll - Continuing Trend in Rasmussen

From a report in the Boston Herald it looks like trouble looming in the polls for Obama:

Poll of change: Obama’s job approval slipping to ‘50-50’

The honeymoon is over, a national poll will signal today as President Obama’s job approval stumbles to about 50 percent over the lack of improvement with the crippled economy.

The sobering numbers come as the president backpedals from two prime-time gaffes - one comparing his bowling score to a Special Olympian and another awkwardly laughing about the economy, which prompted Steve Kroft of “60 Minutes” to ask “are you punch-drunk?”

More in the link


And from Rasmussen Reports we also see a continuing trend:


You can see the Rasmussen Reports trend here.

Half Of My Kingdom

Someone, anyone, please, tell me there is a video of this:

He saluted Orion and several other companies, including energy efficiency provider McKinstry & Co., during his talk.
[. . .]
All terrific press for Orion, except that Obama kept pronouncing the company’s name wrong, calling it OAR-ee-on.

Via Powerline and Instapundit

"Fly, My Monkeys, Fly"

Obama is getting his grassroots (I don't think that word means what he thinks it means) to get his message out as if the TV, print, and internet medium isn't enough.

In what’s shaping up to be a different kind of permanent campaign than is usually waged by Washington’s political consultants, thousands of volunteers across the country took to the streets over the weekend at Obama’s behest. They knocked on doors, stood in front of stores to collect signatures, and urged their neighbors to call their congressman.

With this canvassing operation, the Obama administration is taking traditional presidential strategies for building public support to a whole new level.

The Obamanaughts have their orders. Here are yours:

• Be welcoming and friendly. "Oh, I'm so glad you came by!" Invite them in, ask them to have a seat. Be the gracious host and offer them snacks and beverages. Assure them that you will do anything to help Obama.


• Remember your Prime Objectives. Your objectives are (a) to waste the maximum amount of the Obamanoid volunteer's time, and (b) to ensure that, when they eventually leave, they are as demoralized as possible. Only by intense concentration on these twin objectives can you be fully successful.


• Assure them that you are a loyal Democrat who voted for Obama. The fact that your address is on their clipboard list means that somehow, somewhere along the line, you clicked a link or signed up for something that makes them think you're one of them. Do nothing to spoil this valuable illusion.


• Express extreme disappointment with the president's disastrous beginning in office. You are disappointed -- nay, you are heartbroken beyond words -- by Obama's failure to fulfill his campaign promises of balancing the budget, cutting taxes, etc. You sincerely admire Obama, but are certain that there must be some bad advisors at the White House, or some evil influences among congressional Democrats, who have led Your Dear Leader astray. (Bonus points for you ladies if you can actually work yourself into a crying jag.)


• Draw them out. When you mourn that Obama is destroying the Democratic Party (and remind them again that you have devoted your life to being a loyal Democrat, of course) the Obamanoids will protest to the contrary. Let them talk. Hear them out. Waste their time. Engage them. "Let me get you some more sweet tea, dear . . ." And then find some new angle of attack.


• Be specific. Try to point out specific instances of Obama policies that will hurt women, minorities, the elderly, gays, etc. If you've got an elderly relative who's had his retirement savings wiped out by the market decline, make sure you blame Obama for that, and don't let the clipboard carriers persuade you that it's all Bush's fault.


• Know where to put the knife. Nothing, absolutely nothing, will guarantee a long rant from an Obamanoid as much as when you compare Obama to George W. Bush. "I can't believe it! I've been a Democrat all my life, and I never thought I'd live to see a Democrat president doing this to decent, hard-working Democrats like me. He's ruining my life! It's like he's a closet Republican or something. He's just like that damn George Bush!"


• Save your best for last. When, after you have wasted as much of his time as possible, the Obamanoid finally looks at his watch and says he must leave, be apologetic. "I'm sorry if I've been a little negative." Try to get the Obamanoid's contact information, "just in case I need to talk to you again." And as you walk them to the door, express regret that they are being "forced to work for those damned bastards" who have backstabbed Obama and are destroying the Democratic Party that you have supported your entire life. And then . . .

Read the rest to find out the killing thrust.

UPDATE: Virginia is on notice.

Not Quite A Shovel Ready Job

Obama's 'Stimulus' is in effect.

At a time when the federal government is spending billions of stimulus dollars to stem the tide of U.S. layoffs, should that same government put even more Americans out of work by buying cheaper foreign products?

In this case, Chinese condoms.

That's the dilemma for the folks at jobs, the government is switching to cheaper off-shore condoms, including some made in China.

Quality control, in regards to a barrier method of birth control, is high over in China. Nothing to worry about.

Update: In completely unrelated news, unplanned pregnancies are expected to rise within the next couple of years.

Hello, RSM Readers.

Obama's Faux Pas

I am sure that there is a simple explanation for this. And I am sure that Obama knows who the current President of France is. And I am also sure that Obama didn't actually do this on his own and that there are some people in his administration who are tap dancing today but this is too funny. Enjoy:

Confidentiel : Barack Obama a écrit à Jacques Chirac

Barack Obama a écrit à Jacques Chirac

Le président américain vient d'adresser une lettre «très sympathique » à Jacques Chirac, selon l'expression de ce dernier. «Je suis certain que nous pourrons au cours des quatre années à venir collaborer ensemble dans un esprit de paix et d'amitié afin de construire un monde plus sûr» , écrit le successeur de George W. Bush au prédécesseur de Nicolas Sarkozy. En évoquant le mot de « paix», Obama rend un hommage implicite à l'action de l'ancien président français qui s'était opposé à la guerre en Irak. Une intervention américaine contre laquelle le futur président américain s'était opposé comme sénateur, lors du vote au Congrès.

Translation:

Barack Obama wrote to Jacques Chirac

The U.S. President has just sent a letter "very sympathetic" to Jacques Chirac, in the words of the latter. "I am confident that we can over the next four years working together in a spirit of peace and friendship to build a safer world," writes the successor to George W. Bush's predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy. In mentioning the word "peace," Obama makes implicit tribute to the action of the former French president who opposed the war in Iraq. A U.S. intervention against which the future U.S. president had opposed as a senator, in a vote in Congress.

Geithner Could be in Serious Trouble

Breaking From Rasmussen Reports:

Just 12% of Populists have a favorable opinion of Geithner, and only 11% say he’s doing a good or an excellent job.

Most Populists (53%) rate Geithner's performance as poor, but not a single Political Class survey respondent said the Treasury secretary is doing a poor job.

The findings are especially telling as calls increase for Geithner's resignation following the disclosure that American International Group (AIG) paid its executives $165 million in bonuses after receiving a $170-billion taxpayer bailout to stay in business. Geithner was aware of the bonuses and did little or nothing to stop them.

Overall, among all adults, 24% have a favorable opinion of Geithner, 44% have an unfavorable opinion, and 33% are not sure. Twenty-one percent (21%) of adults say Geithner is doing a good or an excellent job while 40% say he is doing a poor job.

The Things Some People Do

Something I don't do very often but I am letting Kristan Cavallari have her very own guest post:

---

Hello, bitches. My name is Kristan Cavallari. I was totally on this show called 'Laguna Beach', I'm sure you've hear of it. We did like, really really good in the ratings for MTV. What? You don't watch MTV? Then I'm sure you've seen me on TMZ too. No? Anyway. I was needing to get more exposure so I can get on shows where you can really act. Not like I use to do with that pretend acting on those 'Reality Shows'. So I was talking to my agent and he told me I needed exposure to a more 'broader' audience. I told him I already did Maxim once but that wasn't what he was talking about. So he hooked me up with these folks from this organization called PETA or PETRA, I don't know. I all I needed to do was hold this cute bunny and say something like, 'fur is dead' (like, duh. It's no good to wear it live). And say that I don't eat meat. I'm like, whatever, how much are they paying me for this? I was SO pissed off when he told me the normal union rate. I at first said no. I am Kristan Cavallari. Do they know who my dad is? Yes, they did know and if I wanted more money I needed to be naked holding the bunny over my boobs. Are they shitting me? That bunny had claws and teeth. I mean, what if it bit or scratched me? So here I am, in my cloths sitting with Bugs Bunny telling the world not to test their food on rabbits. Or something. I walked out with money to go shopping with. That's what matters. You should see these leather boots I got. Anyway, it SO opened up my career. I was in a CSI TV show. I forgot which one. All I know it wasn't the one in Miami with that creepy dude with the sunglasses. Things are looking up. My agent said I might be the next Alicia Silverstone if things keep going this way. I think she did something for PETRO not too long ago. I wonder how she is doing?



Welcome, RSM and Smitty1e readers.

At Last, TOTUS

More fun stuff from the Teleprompter Of The United States.

"Teleprompter, is Joe Biden as buffoonish in private as he is in public?

Heh. Vice President Biden is the smartest person in the Administration. Seriously.

Remember that whole dustup about Big Boy giving back the Winston Churchill bust the British government had loaned President Bush after the terrorist attacks on September 11th (no terrorist attacks on our nation's soil since ... just saying, America)? It was Biden’s idea. He persuaded The Big Guy that it wasn’t appropriate for such a great Administration to have a bust of a frowning Benny Hill in the Oval Office. That’s not just street smarts. That’s Delaware street smarts.

That Is One Big S**t Sandwhich

The bill is coming sooner and bigger than we thought.

Deteriorating economic conditions will cause the federal deficit to soar past $1.8 trillion this year and leave the nation wallowing in a sea of red ink far deeper than the White House had previously estimated, congressional budget analysts said today.
[. . .]
By the CBO's estimate, for example, the nation's debt would grow to 82 percent of the overall economy by 2019 under Obama's policies, compared with a pre-recession average of 40 percent.
[. . .]
To reduce the deficits, Democrats could dial back Obama's spending plans or find new sources of revenue. [emphasis mine]

Now if I was a betting man. . .

(Cross-posted at Richmond Tea Party: The Blog)

Rules To Blog By

For only a part time blog and finally showing up on Memeorandum for the first time today (Under the Mark Steyn, The Corner link). I wanted to say thanks to the Blog Fu Master, Robert Stacy McCain (no relation to that other McCain guy). His five rules and the unofficial 6th rule have been very handy in executing blogging duties. Thanks to someone who has spent some time in the trenches* for the links, advice and the invite to the open bar I sadly wasn't able to attend.

---

*From my brother's one lined reply when I sent him a posting you did.

Typical HuffPo Blogger Responds In Typical Fashion

Frank Schaeffer is still in his perpetual tizzy because Republicans and conservatives will not line up and kiss the ring of Obama.

Shorter Schaeffer: Obama good no matter what. Republicans bad no matter what.

However, this one piece of ignorance (out of many) stood out:

There would be less special Olympians if we had decent health care for all, because less children would be born with problems.

How would that be possible unless abortion factored into the equation somehow? The ugly truth that 90% of babied diagnosed in the womb with Down Syndrome where aborted surfaced last election season, due to Gov. Palin's youngest child. With the universal health care, like Frank is calling for, that number of abortions for healthy children will go even higher if the mom-to-be does not need to pay for it. Not to mention the amount of abortions if the child might be diagnosed as special needs.

But that's okay because Barack will heal the world, in Frank's eyes. Much the same way Barack went out of his way to address the people of Iran but gave British PM Gordon Brown a diplomatic slap to the face (one of these countries is not like the other).

Linked by P and P. And by RSM.

---

With the exception of the open letter, which he saves for when he's outrageously outraged, he stuck to his four rules. He did mention two other books he had written instead of 'Crazy for God', one being the book he co-wrote with his son (who is a Marine). Kind of a hybrid twofer.

Too Good

Who is really calling the shots at the Obama White House? Barack's Teleprompter.

The good news is that he she it has started it's own blog.

Lessons In Diplomacy, Part I

I can see what Pundette sees in Mark Steyn. And am I asking too much for the media to eventually start to cover outright failures in diplomacy? This went beyond a gaffe.

The UK's Prime Minister Gordon Brown stopped by for an offical visit. Gifts where exchanged. Obama received a pen holder which took some thought, actually:

Mr Brown's gifts included an ornamental desk pen holder made from the oak timbers of Victorian anti-slaver HMS Gannet, once named HMS President.

Mr Obama was so delighted he has already put it in pride of place in the Oval Office on the Resolute desk which was carved from timbers of Gannet's sister ship, HMS Resolute.

Another treasure given to the U.S. President was the framed commission for HMS Resolute, a vessel that came to symbolise Anglo-US peace when it was saved from ice packs by Americans and given to Queen Victoria.

Finally, Mr Brown gave a first edition set of the seven-volume classic biography of Churchill by Sir Martin Gilbert. .

Barack gave Prime Minister Brown 25 DVDs.

Which brings us to today and Mark Steyn from the Corner on the National Review.

The films only worked in DVD players made in North America and the words "wrong region" came up on his screen...

[. . .]
But don't forget, folks: Somewhere in Texas a village has been reunited with its idiot, and we now have the whip-smartest administration of David Brooks' lifetime.

This would be pretty funny if it was a movie.

(H/T for the Steyn link to RSM)

Tea Party

I don't agree with everything in this Funbobasso video but this is entertaining nonetheless.

Good News For These Troubled Times

Help is on it's way. By way of the Federal Reserve dropping 1 trillion dollars (To do a touchback on the Austin Powers movies, I think Dr. Evil only was asking for a few billion) into the economy.

Saying that the recession continues to deepen, the U.S. Federal Reserve announced Wednesday that it would pump an extra $1 trillion into the economy by buying mortgage-backed securities and long-term Treasury issues.
[. . .]
Starting last September, the new lending programs — including money for bailouts of individual companies like Citigroup, American International Group and Bank of America — have caused the Fed to print new money at the fastest pace in history[emphasis mine]. But much of that money has remained dormant, because the economic downturn has made banks reluctant to lend and businesses and consumers either reluctant or unable to borrow.

A couple of exit questions for someone with only a public education of economics:

1: Would pouring one trillion dollars into the economy cause massive inflation of the currency?

2: Wouldn't it be cheaper in the long run to cut a check for every person in America for a million bucks?

SICKENING!!!!!

Everyone in D.C. should be fired.

Quote For The Week

Poor, benighted souls. They still think self-responsibility matters, not just allusions to it in Obama speeches, but the real thing. That would entail squashing policies in which the government robs hard-working, frugal Peter to pay slothful, reckless Paul while excusing the crime as social justice.
[. . .]
As obnoxiously avaricious as these AIG contractual bonuses were, it is authoritarian, unconstitutional overreach for the government to try to block them at this point. Obama does not care. He shares the blame for anger at the executives, having railed repeatedly and demagogically against economically insignificant CEO salaries, and now that this public fury is turning in his direction, his administration is making it clear it is perfectly happy to throw the rule of law overboard.

For all his articulateness and gift for oratory, this president seems to be spending his time in the Oval Office walking into walls. He has botched up more things in two months in office than most presidents manage over two terms, amply illustrating the campaign charge that his inexperience equipped him for next to nothing.

It's Been Said Before And Will Be Said Again.

Sure looks like we dodged a bullet with that Palin chick.

How right they were to insist that she was unfit for high office. Let’s just imagine what she might have done:

As president, she might have caused the stock market to plunge over 2,000 points in the six weeks after she assumed office, left important posts in the Treasury unfilled for two months, been described by insiders as ‘overwhelmed’ by the office, and then gone on to diss the British Prime Minister on his first state visit, giving him, as one head of state to another, a set of DVDs plucked from the aisles of Wal Mart, a tasteful gift, even if they can’t be played on a TV in Britain. (Note, the Prime Minister, who is losing his eyesight, may even be blind in one eye).

As vice president, she might have told Katie Couric that when the stock market crashed in 1929, President Franklin D. Roosevelt went on TV to reassure a terrified nation. Or on her first trip abroad as Secretary of State, she might have, as the AP reported, “raised eyebrows on her first visit to Europe...when she mispronounced her “EU counterparts names and claimed U.S. democracy was older than Europe’s,” then gave the Russian minister a gag “reset” button, on which the word “reset” was translated incorrectly. [overcharge]
[. . .]
“Having a first class temperament and first class intellect, President Obama will...surely understand that traditional left-politics aren’t going to get us out of this pit.” [Christopher] Buckley wrote last October. Surely he will.

Obama may be there, but your 401k isn’t. Buckley and [David] Brooks are now feeling queasy, while [Peggy] Noonan and friends are taking to Xanax. “The sale of antidepressants and antianxiety drugs is widespread,” she reported last Friday. “People feel ‘unled, overwhelmed.”’

But at least, we now have sophisticates running the country, not a moose-hunting ditz from Alaska. God knows what might happen then.

The Free Market System In Action

My six year old daughter has had a loose tooth for some time now. When I wiggled it for her, she paniced slightly, not wanting it to be pulled. Last night, the tooth finally worked itself loose enough to pull. So when I offered her a dollar if I can pull it, on top of what the Tooth Fairy would bring her, she agreed.

A quick tug later, we both walked away, feeling richer than we had before. I had my fatherhood memento and she had a new, crisp one dollar bill in her hand. She soon doubled that by putting the tooth under her pillow and another dollar appeared that morning. The magic of the free market at work.

Belated St. Patricks Day Tribute

Even if it is a day late, I'll try to keep up with the theme.

Two Irishmen, Patrick and Ben, were working on a road outside near a house of ill repute.

At one point during the day, they see a car pull up and the local Baptist minister walk out, look nervously about, and walk into the brothel only to leave about twenty minutes later.

Ben taps Patrick on the arm and points the minister out, saying, "Would you look at that? That minister stopping in there to sow his seeds. With his wife and children at home too."

"Aye."

A short time passed and another car pulled up. This time a Rabbi gets out, looks around, then hurries inside. After about 30 minutes, he walks out, gets into his car and leaves.

"Patrick, can you believe that? That Rabbi stopping in there. He's doing his wife and synagogue shame, he is."

"Aye."

As the day starts to draw to a close, one last car slowly drives into the parking lot. A priest gets out, takes off his clerical collar, and sprints inside.

"Patrick, take off your hat. One of those poor girls in there must have died."

Chris Dodd, Biter Of Hand That Feeds Him

As a chief architect of the the Stimulus Package, Chris Dodd (D, Conn) is now doing a dog and pony show of attacking one of his campaign contributers. AIG gave more to Dodd than any other Congressman.

To get this straight, Dodd wrote the bill, the bill contained contractual agreements to pay out bonuses. Dodd is mad because AIG obeyed the law that Chris Dodd helped create.

Dodd’s original amendment did not include that exemption, and the Connecticut Senator denied inserting the provision.

“I can't point a finger at someone who was responsible for putting those dates in,” Dodd told FOX. “I can tell you this much, when my language left the senate, it did not include it. When it came back, it did.”

“Because of negotiations with the Treasury Department and the bill Conferees, several modifications were made,” Dodd Spokesperson Kate Szostak in a response to FOX Business.
[. . .]
“Senator Dodd was completely unaware of these AIG bonuses until he learned of them in the past few days,” wrote Szostak. To suggest that the bonuses affecting AIG had any effect on Senator Dodd’s action is categorically false.”

Dodd wouldn't give any favors to one of his campaign donors, would he?

When Names Matter

Good news. There will be no more enemy combatants in Gitmo anymore. Not because the camp was closed down but the Obama Administration will no longer be using the term, 'Enemy Combatants'.

The Justice Department said in legal filings that it will no longer use the term "enemy combatants' to justify holding prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
[. . .]
Retired Army Lt. Col. Stephen Abraham, a former Guantanamo official who has since become critical of the legal process, said it's a change in nothing but semantics.

"There's absolutely no change in the definition," Abraham said in a telephone interview. "To say this is a kinder more benevolent sense of justice is absolutely false. ... I think the only thing they've done is try to separate themselves from the energy of the debate" by eliminating Bush's phrasing.

Why not call the current economic downturn another word to make it bright and cheery. Crisis averted.

Who Watches the Big Spenders?

These guys do.

For the Record

Let the record show that Russ Douthat is a man that really knows his porn.

Belated tip of the hat to Stacy.

Not Just A Pretty Face

(click the picture for the story behind the smile)

Welcome, The Other McCain readers.

Saturday Night Serial

This was and still is one of the best anime around. And one of my guilty pleasures.

With talks about a live action version of it being filmed. Cowboy Beebop is about a hodgepodge crew of bounty hunters chasing bad guys through out the solar system. The other thing that struck me is the soundtrack rocks. A very eclectic mix from episode to episode.

Part I of the first session.



Parts II and III below the fold.







And a quick link for the obligatory rule 5.

At Least On Two Levels

Somewhere, somehow, this is so wrong.

This, however, not so much.

Could It Be

That every time Obama mentions the word 'crisis' the market falls and people are starting to notice it in their retirement funds? Baby Boomers are due to retire en mass and they are waking up to realize that they are not as rich as they use to be. That Wal-Mart Greeter job is looking better and better to supplement the salad years.

The stock market started to tank in 2008. Bush abandoned free market principles to 'save' that market. Obama is doing exactly the same thing on a much grander scale.

Mother Jones and Conservatives For Palin

It boggles the mind at times. How trained journalists can keep getting the basic facts of a news story wrong and an army of Davids at their keyboards are setting the record straight. David "Indigestible Waste" Corn gets it wrong and Conservatives for Palin is once again, setting the record straight.

Who Needs Checks And Balances Anymore?

Matthew Yglesias doesn't think so.

I would say that this is another good reason to rely more heavily on career civil servants and less on subcabinet political appointees. The president could have a White House of his own choosing, not subject to confirmation. Then cabinet departments and major independent agencies could have their own appointed heads with the approval of the Senate. But for the “guts” of the work of implementing White House and/or Congressional mandates, doing analysis of what program changes would entail, etc. we would do well to expand the Senior Executive Service model and rely less on Assistant Secretaries brought in from the outside. That would make it a lot more viable to reduce the number of positions requiring Senate confirmation without freaking people out about abusive or corrupt staffing decisions.

The main flaw in his arguement is if this is in place, a Republican President can nominate someone without the normal checks and balances as easily as the Democrat. I doubt Yglesias would want that.

This Saturday

In a time of crisis, it's nice to see that Congress has it's priorities set.



It's going to be this Saturday. Which reminds me, this is also on the same day.

"This Is Diet?"

H/T, Hot Air.

If Frum Knows What Is Good For Him, He Would Throw In The Towell

If there is a last word on the Rush Limbaugh vs. David Frum stand off, I think Victor Davis Hansen has it.

I don’t see how Frum can win this argument, since he does not seem to understand the Limbaugh brief, which I think is something like the following:

Conservatism, to the degree it is failing, either has gotten off message (e.g., the mega-deficits of the irresponsible Republican Congress between 2001 and 2006, or the shamelessness of a Ted Stevens or Duke Cunningham or Larry Craig, or the inability of the Bush administration to convey to the public our aims and objectives in Iraq) or simply cannot communicate in an effective way why lower taxes, smaller government, individual freedom, muscular national defense, and traditional emphasis on the family and community are of interest to everyone, regardless of age, race, or class

Once More

(click the pic for more)

Carville Backpeddles

James Carville, Democrat Party bigwig(think about it), is out playing a game of cover his ass today. After first saying he wanted Pres. Bush to fail on the morning of September, 11th, he's now saying that he took it back too so it shouldn't count.

"Thank God that I had the good sense to realize that the United States was at war and that changed everything, Carville said. "Once I found out that the country was at war, I said: Whatever I said, disregard it; it's inoperative."

Whatever you said, you had meant, James. The fact of the matter is that you didn't want to appear to be the world's biggest asshole wanting the Commander in Chief to fail minutes before a very obvious act of war was waged on US soil.

H/T to the Hot Air Headlines.

The Ultimate Ponzi Scheme

It's all in the size of the scam, I guess.

Steal $5, no one hardly bats an eye.

Steal $500, someone will notice.

Steal $5,000,000, the FBI gets involved.

Steal from the pockets of the working public to pay off senior citizens, it's called Social Security.

Quote For The Week

Mr. Steele said he is in stage two of a two-stage process to reform and transform the Republican Party. He won't reveal details, because, "The mice who are scurrying about the Hill are upset because they no longer have access to the cheese, so they don't know what's going on." He says his process has been "insular" because he doesn't want people "pontificating" on his decisions or second-guessing them before they are made.

Barack Obama talked during the campaign, and since becoming president, of the need for a new bipartisanship. Does Mr. Steele believe he is serious?

"No! Having a photo-op with a bunch of Republicans, inviting them to have a beer with you, or watch a football game is great theater, but when you don't take our suggestions seriously, when you don't respect our staffs and involve them in the vetting process; when you don't confer with the minority party ... you're not serious about bipartisanship."

Pelosi and her Military Travel

How Nice of Judicial Watch to keep an eye on PlaneGate for us.

The Award for Great Timing Goes To...

Jack Skellington James Carville.

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."

What is wrong with the patriotism of Carville? Frank Schaeffer, certified preacher's kid, has no issue taking Rush Limbaugh to task for what he said. As well as using that as another chance to lay out Frank's four mantras. Will he address Carville at all? I'm not holding my breath.

From Drudge

Welcome, Protein Wisdom.

Frank Schaeffer's Four Inevitable Truths

Angry preacher's kid, Frank Schaeffer cannot post something without mentioning 4 things:

• He will mention that he is a father of a Marine.
• Talk about when he left the Religious Right.
• Mentions his book, Crazy for God.*
• And every post is an open letter to someone.**

All four might not be in there every post but you can find a good three out of four in any one post at random.

* Amended 3/20/09: If not that book, at least one or two of his other titles.

** Only when he's righteously outraged. His normal indignation does not count.

A Nugget Of Truth

If this didn't write itself in under 10 minutes, I would be shocked.



H/T, The Liberty Papers

Say It Ain't So

Ye Gods, John McCain needs help with principles?

Bless his heart and call me old fashioned but didn't principles use to be what helped make a man's character?

This is why the Republicans have lost and lost big these last two election cycles. To have to go to an outside source to see what they should believe.

Sen. John McCain is putting together a major economic plan that will be structured, in some ways, off of Newt Gingrich's famous Contract With America.

In an email obtained by the Huffington Post, the Arizona Republican's chief of staff, Marc Buse, asked an outside adviser for help with a "ten principles" program that the senator could use as a "definitive" platform.

"We are looking for some guidance on a definitive plan (aka contract with america style) on the economy...principles," writes Buse. "Ten principles that JSM could point to on what MUST BE DONE to address the problems our nation faces."

No principles to stand on, no character, and no dinner plate at the policy table.

The Frankness of Fisking

After reading Frank Schaffer for a while, you will learn several things. One is that his son is currently a Marine. Second is that he left the Religious Right back in the 1980's. Third, he has written a book called Crazy For God, which is the closest thing Frank has ever done to call out the old man, if only from beyond the grave. Last, he has a predilection for writing open letters to people. It's almost as if the Huffinton Post has a blog spot open for the Unibomber.

Mr. Schaeffer.

First off, I do not want Barack Obama to come to any harm when I say I want him to fail. For starters, the line of succession will fall to a lying moron, then to a NAMBLA supporter, a Klansman, then finally to someone who is the most qualified of the bunch, Hillary Clinton. She recently gave a button to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that she thought said 'Reset'. It actually said 'Overcharge'. In trying to symbolically reset all of Pres. Bush's foreign policy with Russia, the symbolism of giving the Russians a big red button after spending the entire cold war trying to prevent them from pressing theirs was lost on her. Like I said, the most qualified of the bunch.

You sit in your chair and say with scorn that how DARE people want Obama to fail when you piss yourself in excitement now that Bush is out of office. You had no issues with wanting him or John McCain to fail. If McCain won, you would still be calling him a Neo-Con, praying that congress will oppose, oppose, and oppose all and any of his policies that the Republican-Light would want passed. Only after reminding everyone that your son is a Marine serving under McCain. Then cuss out anyone who openly supports McCain as uneducated rubes from the south.

The opposing party is doing it's job. To oppose. They are also in a position of not being able to stop anything through Congress because of their super minority status (Regarding the Senate, with Specter, Snow, and Collins, filibustering is out of the question). There is nothing in it for the Republican Party to go along with the so-called unifier, Barack Obama. Their only hope is to communicate as to why they oppose, oppose, oppose in the hopes that Obama will stumble out of the gate (he's already admitted to being 'Overwhelmed', it is his first job with actual responsibilities, after all.) For the main fact is that Obama is mandated a very radical agenda with the Freedom of Choice Act, Cap and Trade, National Health Care, and Centralizing the banking system. These will all be forced upon and paid for by Americans at the point of a gun. Almost along the lines of having to pay for your dinner on a date then being raped later on.

The Republicans are lost in a wilderness, as it's been bantered about along all of the talking heads. Rush Limbaugh may as well be the leader of the party. And for all his faults, I will take him as leader of the party over you. He at least was able to face his problems and take steps to deal with addiction.

The fact that Rush or anyone else who wants Obama to fail is that if the man succeeds, his policies will succeed. But not to worry, it won't work. The new prosperity that you creamed your jeans over will never work. For the simple reason is that you can't take a dollar out of your right pocket and put it in you left and expect to get rich.

Besides, the stimulus package is a democratic power grab, regardless of the cost. It is a scorched earth policy but no one has ever accused a democrat politician of looking to the long term survival of our country either.

You cry of illegal and unjust wars. Forgetting that the leaders in Congress were privy to everything Bush knew and approved his actions, including waterboarding. If Bush is ever tried for war crimes, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi should rightfully be shoulder to shoulder with him.

You wail of a ruined economy and for two of the last four years, it was democrats lead by Barack Obama leading the charge. Within the first month of his administration, Obama has spend more than the previous 8 years of Pres. Bush. The top fifteen percent who will be getting hosed by taxes won't take that for long. Do you understand where the term 'Going Galt' came from? They won't sit there and provide for everyone else for long.

Dissent was patriotic for the last 6 years. Nothing has changed that, even if you remind everyone that you left the Religious Right and that your son is a Marine.

The Fisking Will Continue Until Moral Improves

Everything I've read by David Brooks has been wasted time. Except for this.

The "weaknesses" of capitalism are not what this crisis is about. Economies expand, economies contract. Old businesses go bankrupt, new businesses are launched. "Economic stability" is (a) an impossible Keynesian fantasy that can never be achieved, and (b) arguably a bad thing. We don't want "stability," we want dynamism -- innovation, creativity, new businesses being launched, new technologies developed, new markets emerging, etc.

Welcome, RSM, readers.

Heh

(click the picture)

Greed and Bail-Outs

I only need about $500,000 for my stimulus amount. Anything more would just seem greedy. And I'm being environmentally friendly about it too by posting it only online and not on any paper products.

h/t, RSM.

A YouTube from Michelle Malkin

Gotta love it.

And They Claim To Be Pro Growth

Funny how the three democrats running to be Governor of Virginia all claim to be for job growth. But when an actual chance for them to prove how pro-job they can be, they balk.

we must focus more on bi-partisanship and less on ideology," he said. Natural gas exploration is fine, but oil should be off limits in Virginia waters -- a position already backed the General Assembly, [Terry McAuliffe] he said.
. . .
Another Democratic candidate, former Del. Brian Moran of Alexandria, also took the green route, but wants no drilling offshore.
. . .
"That's why Creigh [Deeds] is fighting right now in Richmond to create jobs in alternative and renewable energy, which will put Virginia on the cutting-edge of job creation," she said.

Drilling for oil will help provide jobs immediately. Short and long term jobs will be filled for Virginia. When the entire infrastructure is based on burning fossil fuels, turning away from that is like steering a luxury yacht with a paddle.

To put energy in it's simplistic form, it's what can you burn for the longest and the hottest. Right now, like in the past, that is fossil fuels. Wind stops blowing for the wind turbine and corn is harvested only once a year inducing natural shortages with bio-fuel. Drill, baby, drill.

With Cuba drilling off the coast of Florida, why not Virginia? I would put up the safety and environmental record of any US company to those of the Cuban Roughnecks.

With the market falling every time Obama speaks, it's time to strengthen the dollar by creating much needed jobs in Virginia's private sector.

Thanks to

Cap And Trade, Part Two

If you do not use electric light, store food in a freezer or refrigerator, or drive a car to a job, then there is nothing to worry about. Everyone else, however, will be hit in their pocket book in the back-end of this deal.

Hit hardest would be the "95% of working families" Mr. Obama keeps mentioning, usually omitting that his no-new-taxes pledge comes with the caveat "unless you use energy." Putting a price on carbon is regressive by definition because poor and middle-income households spend more of their paychecks on things like gas to drive to work, groceries or home heating.

It's a make believe tax that hits producers and manufacturers that will pass the cost down the line. It won't stop supposed global warming anymore than a property tax on Neverland will help to fix local roads.

More talk about Cap and Trade here and here.

Thank you, Stacy, for the FMJRA.

Elaine Goes Green

Bumped and Updated:

Welcome, RMS readers.



Best known for her role as Elaine from 'Seinfeld' Julia Louis-Dreyfus has found something noble to support. Going green.

But meeting environmentalist Robert Kennedy Jr. at a dinner party in the late 1990s compelled her to do more. “Kennedy is a true leader, a visionary, and an inspirational person. He connected all the dots for me.”

After 11 seasons of Seinfeld and her current successful sitcom, one episode where she contemplates on getting high off of some weed she found, Julia is seems to be on the brink if making people laugh isn't good enough. After being the one who coined the term, 'Sponge-worthy'.

ELAINE: So, you think you're sponge-worthy?

BILLY: Yes, I think I'm sponge-worthy. I think I'm very sponge-worthy.

ELAINE: Run down your case for me again...?

BILLY: Well, we've gone out several times, we obviously have a good rapport. I own a very profitable electronics distributing firm. I eat well. I exercise. Blood tests - immaculate. And if I can speak frankly, I'm actually quite good at it.

ELAINE: You going to do something about your sideburns?

BILLY: Yeah, I told you...I'm going to trim my sideburns.

ELAINE: And the bathroom in your apartment?

BILLY: Cleaned it this morning.

ELAINE: The sink, the tub, everything got cleaned?

BILLY: Everything, yeah. It's spotless.

ELAINE: Alright, let's go.

Yes, saving the planet is more much worthy cause than being known for being 'sponge-worthy' and Thumb Dancing.

More below the fold.

Barack Obama "too tired" to do his job!

"Barack Obama's offhand approach to Gordon Brown's Washington visit last week came about because the president was facing exhaustion over America's economic crisis and is unable to focus on foreign affairs, the Sunday Telegraph has been told. Sources close to the White House say Mr Obama and his staff have been "overwhelmed" by the economic meltdown and have voiced concerns that the new president is not getting enough rest."

Everyone Needs Something Like This

I found that if you turned down the music all the way, this was much more bearable to watch.



Two more below the fold.


These popped up in the related videos link but where too cool to pass up.

From the Collectivist Jokebook

The People's Cube has one of the most consistent takes on collectivist theory's and twists them into a bull nelson to find the funny. As of late, the crew there has been able to find the funny -- a lot.

One of my favorite political jokes is this:

The six dialectical contradictions of socialism in the USSR:

* There is full employment - yet no one is working.
* No one is working - yet the factory quotas are fulfilled.
* The factory quotas are fulfilled - yet the stores have nothing to sell.
* The stores have nothing to sell - yet people got all the stuff at home.
* People got all the stuff at home - yet everyone is complaining.
* Everyone is complaining - yet the voting is always unanimous.


It reads like a poem - only instead of the rhythm of syllables and rhyming sounds, it's the rhythm of logic and rhyming meanings. If I could replicate it, I might start a whole new genre of "contradictory six-liners." It would be extremely difficult to keep it real and funny at the same time, but I'll try anyway.
. . .
Public education:

* Liberals have been in charge of education for 50 years - yet education is out of control.
* Education is out of control - yet liberal teaching methods prevail.
* Liberal teaching methods prevail - yet public schools are failing.
* Public schools are failing - yet their funding keeps growing.
* Their funding keeps growing - yet public schools are always underfunded.
* Public schools are always underfunded - yet private schools yield better results for less.
* Private schools yield better results for less - yet public education is the only way out of the crisis.

There is much more. Not just these two nuggets.