The Constitution Club

Saw this film today with Mr. Mo, friends Blondie and Mr. Blondie.

And I hate to have to say this, but….

…PARENTS!!!! Do NOT take your small children to see this movie, like some did seated behind us. It’s rated PG-13 for a reason. The innocent questions the little ‘uns asked just had us shaking our heads, wondering what in the hell Mommy and Daddy were going to say to explain it- – and if they spoke the truth, how to avoid nightmares in the days to come.

And even if you take your young teenage kids, be prepared to answer their questions.

Please do your homework. But not too much, because that would be a spoiler.

All of that said, this was an incredibly powerful film. Wonderful acting, direction, musical score (James Horner). It has Oscar written all over it.
Well. It should, anyway.

The Long, Slow, Torturous death of Zima

Many drinkers assume that Zima vanished shortly thereafter and has since existed solely as a punch line. But Zima actually survived for more than another decade, until MillerCoors pulled the plug on Oct. 10. Rarely has such a famously maligned product enjoyed such a lengthy run—a testament to its brewers’ Madonna-like knack for reinvention. The Zima that died a quiet death last month bore little resemblance to the malternative that swept the nation during President Clinton’s first term. . .

. . .To Coors’ horror, Zima proved most popular among young women—a demographic that, while generally fond of getting tanked, just doesn’t have the same thirst for hooch as its male counterpart. And once the ladies took a shine to the stuff, the guys avoided Zima as if it were laced with estrogen.

I think every guy in our generation can safely say that have had one Zima in their life.  But if you have had any more than one then your sexuality and gender will be called into question.  In any event, I’m always intrigued by the phases that young drinkers go through.  As a freshman in college I recall “Ice brewing” turning out products like Bud Ice and Miller Ice (it was just re-labelled beer).  The clear phase in the aforementioned time of the mid 90’s saw a resurgence a year or two ago with the Smirnoff products.  About five years ago, martini’s were all the rage.  Now its power drinks that include some kind of Red Bull or energy drink.  Did I miss any drink ‘phases?’

‘Twas the month before Christmas, and all through the store,
Each department was dripping with Yuletide decor.
The Muzak was blaring an out-of-tune carol,
And the fake snow was falling on “Ladies’ Apparel.”

I’d flown many miles from the North Pole this day,
To check on reports which had caused me dismay.
I’d come to this store for but one special reason,
To see for myself what went on this Season.

I hid in a corner and in a short while,
I saw the Store President march down the aisle.
He shouted an order to “Turn the store tree on!”
And also the “NOEL” in blinking pink neon.

Up high, grandly hanging from twin gold supports,
Four hundred pink angels flew over “Men’s Shorts.”
And towering over the Rear Mezzanine,
A 90-foot Day Glo “Nativity Scene.”

The clock on the wall said two minutes to Nine,
The floorwalkers proudly all stood in line.
I watched while the President smelled their carnations,
Then called out his final command – “Man Your Stations!”

When out on the street there arose such a roar,
It rang to the rafters and boomed through the store.
It sounded exactly like street-repair drilling,
Or maybe another big Mafia killing.

I looked to the doors, and there banging glass,
Was a clamoring, shrieking, hysterical mass.
And I felt from the tone of each scream and each curse,
That the “Spirit Of Christmas” had changed for the worse.

The clock it struck Nine, and the door opened wide,
And that great human avalanche thundered inside.
More fearsome than Sherman attacking Atlanta
Came parents and kiddies with just one goal – “Santa!!”

In front stormed the mothers, all brandishing handbags,
As heavy and deadly as 20 pound sandbags.
With gusto they swung them, the better to smash ears,
Of innocent floorwalkers, buyers, and cashiers.

Egged on by their parents, the kids had one aim,
To get to the man who was using my name.
They mobbed him and mauled him, the better to plead,
For the presents they sought in their hour of greed.

The President watched with a gleam in his eye,
As he thought of the toys that the parents would buy.
Of all Christmas come-ons, this crowd would attest,
That a visit to “Santa” was clearly the best.

It was all too much for my soul to condone,
And I let out a most unprofessional moan.
The crowd turned around, and I’ll say for their sake,
That they knew in an instant I wasn’t fake.

“I’ve had it,” I told them, “with fast-buck promoting,
With gimmicks and come-ons and businessmen gloating.
This garish display of commercialized greed,
Is so very UN-Christmas, it makes my heart bleed!”

Stolen from Morning Glory

Indeed. And there are other reasons to stay home today. Or at least avoid Wal-Mart!
Black Friday Kills

Of course, if you go now, you’ll have avoided the opening stampede, but still. There are reports of checkout lines going around the entire store. That’s just insane.
Most of the people I’m shopping for I won’t see over the holidays, so I’m ordering consumables to be direct-delivered. To me, it’s worth the shipping, and they already have the “stuff” they want anyway. Get ‘em something that doesn’t add to the house clutter.

YMMV, of course. It’s obviously different if you have kids or extended family close by and know what makes them tick.

I’m willing to bet that this wasn’t some renegade Baptist sect or some sort of offshoot of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. What do you think? Hmmmm… who could it be? Who could it be? Perhaps a fundamentalist follower of the prophet Muhammad giving his life for Allah? We’ll soon see.

War for Enduring Freedom 11/26/08 – Mumbai

This is definitely an exciting development for all those who enjoy history and should give you plenty to do whenever you tell yourself “I’ve got nothing to do”.

10 Million Photos from LIFE Magazine Archives Made Public

…This is the first President/Secretary of State combo that has no combined experience in foreign policy since Woodrow Wilson appointed William Jennings Bryan in 1912, and we face real danger. Past presidents with no foreign experience have had the wisdom to appoint secretaries of state with significant experience in international relations. Truman had Byrnes and General Marshall. Johnson had Dean Rusk. Carter had Cyrus Vance. Reagan had Al Haig and George Schultz. Clinton had Warren Christopher and Madeline Albright. Each reached out to supplement their lack of experience, but not Obama. The appointment of Hillary Clinton does nothing to remedy Obama’s inexperience and the appointments of Holder and Napolitano indicate that terrorism in general is a low priority for the upcoming Administration.

-Dick Morris

As always, the task of recording the all-important discussions of the Conclub triune falls on me.  I suppose I am the James Madison of Conclub.  For those unaware, Constitution Club officially meets on the 1st Friday in June and the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. 

4:45  -  Eric drives to DFV’s house.  Knocks on doors and calls.  No answers.  E knocks louder and continues to call.  No answer.  Then, using some deductive reasoning, Eric goes into DFV’s unlocked car, pushes the garage door open, goes downstairs, bangs on the bathroom door, and wakes DFV up.  In case you didn’t know, DFV can fall asleep at a moments notice.  He is a bit of a narcoleptic.  He must have fallen asleep on the can!!  E affords DFV all of the dignity he possibly can but, really, who falls asleep on the can?

6:00 – Traffic sucks on the way up to Ft. Collins.

6:45 – Eric and Damien arrive at the Cork.  At about the same time, Scott arrives.  All exchange pleasantries.  Scott has a Coors light, DFV has a Bud light, E has a 7 & 7.  E’s brother also brings some Jaeger bombs and they toast to Thanksgiving.  Conversation immediately goes to our jobs, families, and original Conclub founder Jamie.  There is no band playing and no music blasting at all.  The bar is quiet and dead.  Only a few patrons scatter the joint. 

7:15  -  Dave arrives late as usual.  Once again, pleasantries are exchanged and beers are ordered.  Dave joins the Coors Light crowd and E orders up a Bud Light.  Since the bar was extremely slow, E was able to just pour the beers himself.  He then went downstairs to cook up a pizza and some wings (its good to be related to the owner).  Only Scott and Eric eat.  Dave usually arrives with some form of coin for the people but this time he must have forgot.  It goes unnoticed by all but the secretary.

7:43  -  While eating, conversation turns to the recent election.  Scott tells stories of how he went to both a Sarah Palin appearance and a Barack Obama appearance.  It turns out that the Palin rally was good but totally disorganized.  The Obama rally was packed and ran fairly smoothly.  All concluded that this is very indicative of the overall organization of the campaigns.  Discussion moves to the Obama reactions and how it is important to support the P.O.T.U.S.  Dave doubts the sincerity of the tears of many when Obama is elected, E and Scott beg to differ.  (update by Dave, I was more disgusted by than doubting of said tears)

8:05  – More beer.  Side discussion and smokes.

8:30  -  More beer.  Discussion turns to West wing and other assorted topics like China, college, Congressional idiots, smart people in political office, Lets get retarded music video, West wing again (isn’t there a statute of limitations?)

9:05  -  Scott throws out the idea of a political reality show that traces a candidate through running for office to getting into office.

9:15  -  Conversation takes a serious dive as E exposes DFV’s narcoleptic tendencies to the gathering (and now the world).   DFV says that the problem with a reality show on politics is that people won’t let themselves and their seedier motivations and strategies be exposed.  

9:35  -  More beers and drinks.  By now, DFV is drinking his 3rd scotch and water, E is on 7 & 7, and Scott and Dave continue to power Coors Light. 

9:45  -  DFV and Dave smoke, Scott and E play some hunting video game.

10:10  -  the foursome look at some platforms for ideas for the new and improved site.  They get diverted to some Youtube video.  Among them is ’show them to me.’

10:25  -  Discussion turns to the site name.  Most agree that THEconstitutionclub.com is fine.  E doesn’t really like “The,” but it isn’t really a big deal.  Quickly the discussion morphs into college drunken stories and adventures involving seizing flags.

11:20  -  Scotty departs.  The trio begins serious discussion about the blog look.  The discussion quickly morphs into how sensitive Dave was to PG’s criticisms.  DFV and E get all over Dave for chasing PG away.

11:55  -  The remaining three cash out and leave early with their senses in tact and their dignity in place (unless you count DFV who slept his dignity away).  For the most part, the social gathering accomplished little in the way of business but as always, it is always good to get together with the guys.  The song of the night and the tone of the evening was told in this whimsical diddy.  Enjoy!

Hitler is not happy about the mortgage crisis:

If you do not experience said emotions, you are not a conscientious member of community and shall be disposed of according to the Party Manual (Page 894, Paragraph 5) with all your belongings confiscated by the state and redistributed to the more worthy members according to their needs.

Have A Glorious Progressive Thanksgiving!

(courtesty of ThePeoplescube.com)

And the lesson to be learned here is that feeble old men should not be in charge of statue bearing litters. I like the hasty retreat at the end.

In our sporadic discussions on gay marriage the conversation seems to always turns to this main point; what should society morally tolerate and why do conservatives care?  One of the latest posts on Keith Olbermann  and his tearful defense of gay marriage demonstrates this point.   In it, Andre ponders: I guess the one thing I still don’t get is why this is so important to people on your side of the aisle. If you really want to protect marriage, where are the bans on no-fault divorce?  On the same link, DFV wrongly declares that, “it’s just that with me being the increasingly faith-deprived, secular humanist that I am, I tend to value the collective wisdom of the many over the declamations of the few.  Right.

I might have some cause to sympathize with their views if I hadn’t read Michelle Malkin’s piece on the eHarmony shakedown.  In case you were unaware, here is what has happened: eHarmony, a Christian based website that caters to those looking for serious relationships has been successfully sued by a gay man named Eric McKinley because they do not provide services for ‘men seeking men.’  Tragic indeed!  According to Malkin:

Neil Warren, eHarmony’s founder, is a gentle, grandfatherly businessman who launched his popular dating site to support heterosexual marriage. A “Focus on the Family” author with a divinity degree, Warren encourages healthy, lasting unions between men and women of all faiths, mixed faiths, or no faith at all.

This is the classic case of the oppressed (McKinley and all other gay people) vs. the oppressors (eHarmony and Warren).  Except in this case, McKinley is far from oppressed and has plenty of other dating web site options.  In a story by USA Today, we learn that McKinley had gotten his little feelings hurt when he discovered that eHarmony had no options for men to meet men on their website.  When McKinley saw that only straight couples could meet on eHarmony he found it “very frustrating… very humiliating to think that other people can do it and I can’t.”

But what the militant wing of the gay community will never publicly acknowledge is that they probably have more options for dating than the average Christian single person.  Match.com and other lesser known sites have included men looking for men for years.  But militant gays aren’t happy with having only some options available to them – they want all options available to them. Regardless of who owns the sites (or businesses), and regardless of what religious affiliation that site (or business) might have, every knee shall bow to the gay agenda or face discriminatory charges.   For the Left, its all about creating a new agenda, not introducing and arranging marriages for couples in the name of love.  Moreover, the tactics of the Left are not only anti-choice, but anti-free market.  Militant gays most certainly could have launched a gay web site to compete with eHarmony.  But instead, they go to court in an attempt to change social behavior.  They opt not for competition but political and judicial coersion.    

This is all the same twisted logic that has infected our classrooms, playgrounds, athletic fields, and now our businesses and halls of Congress.  At the heart of the issue is that there are things that necessarily exclude some people.  The response is then to attempt to make those things inclusive through the courts or through legislation, or to shut them down entirely.  The Left will use the ‘fairness doctrine’ in this same nefarious way.  Even though the Left already has liberal talk radio via taxpayer funded N.P.R. and the awesome “Air America” network, which has proven unable to attract the advertising dollars necessary to pay staff salaries, they want to tell the rest of America’s radio station owners what can and cannot be aired based on political ideology. It’s not that they will then listen to the stations; it’s just that they want to control the stations.

In the end, all of the discussions about the humanity, the love, the legalities of gay marriage ring hollow.  When Andre wonders why conservatives even care and when DFV harps about the consensus of European society, the true objections I have are that these things are simply a means to an end.  They are power plays designed to completely transform our society into a socialist wasteland where citizens and businesses kneel at the altar of secularism.  After the settlement was announced (eHarmony has to pay New Jersey $50,000 and McKinley $5,000) McKinley called it “fabulous” and said he was happy with the outcome.  In fact, he was so excited that he is “considering signing up for the new site once it launches.”  So after all of the litigation, all of the cost, all of the discrimmination and all of the ”humiliation” (McKinley words) that has now been solved, McKinley might use the site. 

But it never was about using the site at all.  They just wanted to know they could.

Ben Smith immediately picks up the most eyebrow-raising part of Obama’s press conference:

Obama’s staff won’t elaborate, but the President-Elect said just now that he’d roll out a plan to cut the federal budget tomorrow — something both presidential candidates said they’d do, but neither detailed.

“[T]o make the investments we need, we’ll have to scour our federal budget, line-by-line, and make meaningful cuts and sacrifices as well – something I’ll be discussing further tomorrow,” Obama said.

He said later that he’d be rolling out “some reforms in Washington” tomorrow.

So apparently, tomorrow Obama makes his first official political enemy as President. Who will it be? Tradition would say defense, and there have been murmurs of Pentagon cuts (and I don’t just mean Barney Frank). I wonder who else will wind up on the chopping block.

I think this would make a great theme for the soon to be the president-elect Barack Obama. Be sure to listen to the whole clip, especially the theme song. With Obama’s promise to heal the planet, slow the rising of the oceans, cause electricity prices to skyrocket and bankrupt the coal industry I can’t find anything more appropriate than this early, cult like, attempt at wacko Liberal indoctrination by Ted Turner and gang.

Captain Planet. He’s our hero. Going to take pollution down to zero…

Sometimes the worst thing you can do to a person is give him what he wants.

For decades the Anti Nuke crowd clamored for Disarmament and an end to the East/West cold war standoff, but when it came they found themselves with no reason to get out of bed in the morning to not bathe and not shave. The money hose got turned off. So did the media hose.

Now, Global Warming cultists who were so discombobulated by high temperatures throughout the 1990’s are facing the stark reality that as the mercury falls – so goes their careers.  They wanted the globe to cool and they are getting their wish. One would think this would be good news, but no.

From the WaPo via Drudge:

NBC Universal made the first of potentially several rounds of staffing cuts at The Weather Channel (TWC) on Wednesday, axing the entire staff of the “Forecast Earth” environmental program during the middle of NBC’s “Green Week,” as well as several on-camera meteorologists. The layoffs totaled about 10 percent of the workforce, and are among the first major changes made since NBC completed its purchase of the venerable weather network in September.

The timing of the Forecast Earth cancellation was ironic, since it came in the middle of NBC’s “Green Week,” during which the network has been touting its environmental coverage across all of its platforms. Forecast Earth normally aired on weekends, but its presumed last episode was shown on a weekday due to the environmentally-oriented week.

Forecast Earth was hosted by former CNN anchor Natalie Allen, with contributions from climate expert Heidi Cullen. It was the sole program on TWC that focused on global climate change, which raises the question of whether the station will still report on the subject. Cullen’s future role at the network is not known.

Cullen, you should remember, is the Global Warming Guru at the Weather Channel who called for the firing of Meteorologists who publicly disagree with AGW. She’s still got her job for now, however her future prospects look pretty – what’s the word…?

Just a quick quote from Haaretz in a story covering Hillary accepting SoS:

Clinton has stressed the need for Arab-Israeli peace, but is considered a favorite of the pro-Israel lobby in the United States.

She has said the fundamentals are a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank in return for a declaration that the conflict is over, recognition of Israel’s right to exist, guarantees of Israeli security, diplomatic recognition of Israel and normalization of its relations with Arab states.

“U.S. diplomacy is critical in helping to resolve this conflict,” she said in her article in Foreign Affairs in November-December 2007. She said the United States should help get Arab support for a Palestinian leadership that is willing to engage in a dialogue with the Israelis.

I have a riddle for you all. One that I wasn’t quite able to solve for awhile.

Q: Why would Hillary Clinton leave the Senate for a subordinate role in an Obama administration that would take her away from her domestic pet projects?
A: Because she would be the one that could broker Arab/Israeli peace. That means a Nobel Peace Prize and a lasting place in history if she could get it done. With Iran developing a nuclear weapon, the time has never been better because neither side has had a bigger impetus for peace.

John Cole just set foot in San Diego for the first time.

I keep trying to get Veatch to come for a visit.  Someday he will understand.

A double dose of The Minutemen.

Corona (The theme to Jackass)

Little Man with a Gun in his Hand

For the unaware, the title of this diary is named after the singer who once spent most of her already thin public goodwill urging Americans to boycott eating turkey on Thanksgiving.

It seems Sarah Palin took part in the grand political tradition of pardoning a turkey for Thanksgiving. Then she did a media availability. Unfortunately, it was right in front of a man slaughtering turkeys, and she has NO IDEA. This video is one of the funniest things you will ever see. Saturday Night Live could never make this up, the way that the guy keeps turning towards the camera, as if to say, “you know, maybe you shouldn’t film here” is just too perfect.

NOTE: I’m not making fun of Sarah here. This could have happened to anyone and it would have been every bit as funny. Just picture Joe Biden standing there.

Update: We welcome all our townhall.com visitors. Please take the time to look around. We know that you’ll enjoy your visit with the Conclub bloggers.

The Freedom of Choice Act Endangers the Lives of Women and Silences the Voices of Everyday Americans.

Sign the Fight FOCA petition

FOCA Would Wipe Away Every Restriction on Abortion Nationwide

This would eradicate state and federal laws that the majority of Americans support, such as:

• Bans on Partial Birth Abortion
• Requirements that women be given information about the risks of getting an abortion
• Only licensed physicians can perform abortions
• Parents must be informed and give consent to their minor daughter’s abortion

FOCA would erase these laws and prevent states from enacting similar protective measures in the future.

The latest one from my favorite YouTube’r, Zo.

Are they going to declare the CA Constitution in violation of the CA Constitution? How would you declare a constitutional amendment “unconstitutional”? I’m sure the CA Supremes will find a way. And if that happens it is just another nail in the coffin of this nation. The fact that any of this is an issue, or that somehow we have got to now “clarity” what marriage is, and has always been, is ridiculous. It’s enough to make you sick.

Prop. 8 gay marriage ban goes to Supreme Court

This is the plea now rising from the throats of millions..

Can We Please be Conservative Now

In practice, there is very little left of the founding principles. The Founders simply would not recognize the eternally-evolving ethereal cacophony of politically correct juris-imprudence that the left now calls the Constitution.  One can imagine the disbelieving reply of a Signer of the Constitution: “A fundamental right to brutally take the life of an unborn child? . . . A fundamental right to have the state steal from one citizen to give to another? . . . The ability to tax a church into oblivion if it dares speak out against a political candidate? . . .The power to force the removal of the Ten Commandments from the public square? . . . What?. . . In the Constitution we wrote?. . . Heaven forbid!” …

 

“The science of politics is the one science that is deposited by the streams of history, like the grains of gold in the sand of a river; and the knowledge of the past, the record of truths revealed by experience, is eminently practical, as an instrument of action and a power that goes to making the future.” 

-Lord Acton

….but that really makes you want to cry. Call it the “retro” administration.

Daschle the choice for Health and Human Services

Most significantly, Daschle negotiated that he will also serve as the White House health “czar” — or point person — so that he will report directly to the incoming President. The significance is this guarantees that by wearing two hats Daschle, and not White House staffers, will be writing the health care plan that Obama submits to Congress next year.

Strap yourselves in ladies and gentlemen, we are all in for a hell of a ride.

I think we need more “holidays” like this one. Thanks to Mo K. for informing us that this was coming up. I hope your day is a bang. I’d suggest you’d pick up a rifle or semi-auto today as well. With the Obama regime coming into power soon, being armed and prepared with plenty of ammunition is no longer a suggestion but a requirement for all patriotic, constitution respecting Americans.  The Founding Fathers would be so proud.

November 19 is National Ammo Day.

It is a nationwide BUYcott of ammunition.  You buy ammunition.  100 Rounds a person.

The goals of Ammo Day:

The goal of National Ammo Day is to empty the ammunition from the shelves of your local gun store, sporting goods, or hardware store and put that ammunition in the hands of law-abiding citizens.  Make your support of the Second Amendment known–by voting with your dollars!

There are an estimated 75 MILLION gun owners in the United States of America.  If each gun owner or Second Amendment supporter buys 100 rounds of ammunition, that’s 7.5 BILLION rounds in the hands of law-abiding citizens!

The gun/ammunition manufacturers have been taking the brunt of all the frivolous lawsuits, trying to put these folks out of business.  Well, not if we can help it!  And we CAN help it by buying ammunition on November 19!

Nate Silver conducts what is easily the most hostile interview I’ve ever seen with John Ziegler, the “How Obama Got Elected” guy. I added a few thoughts to the end of some of these answers, but the full interview is worth a read. Overall, this guy comes across as a real piece of work.

Ziegler had contacted me by e-mail, asking if I’d like to interview him; the interview itself was conducted by telephone. Ziegler asked, among other conditions, that I post a full transcript of the interview, which I have.
(So keep in mind, this is an interview he knew would be on record)

. . .

NS: Were the interviews conducted by telephone or online?
JZ: How can you ask a question like that and pretend that you have any clue what you’re writing about! That’s unbelievable that someone could write what you did! That is unbelievable that you wouldn’t know that it’s a telephone or an online poll and that you went on my summaries of the questions before the questions were even released!
(Why didn’t you wait until you had the poll results ready before doing press, then? –Wes)

NS: We’ve heard reports from our readers that very similar questions had been asked in an online format. There was no online component at all?
JZ: That is correct, which you would have known if you had looked at the information. Before you called this a push poll — you don’t seem to know the definition of a push poll. How do you have this website?
(These were push poll questions, though, and it would have been qualified as such two weeks ago)

NS: Is the complete interview available anywhere — complete results for the interview?
JZ: Yeah if you had done your research it is all online, every question, all the cross-tabs. Man, you’re never going to post this [transcript], are you?
(Almost certain it wasn’t available when Nate made the post or when Ziegler went on TV)

. . . .

NS: What did Zogby charge you — what did you pay for this survey?
JZ: I’m not going to tell you that, I’m not a fucking idiot.

NS: Did he charge you at his usual rates or did he ask you for extra?
JZ: You’ll have to ask them. I’m not going to respond how much money I paid for this. It was substantial but I’m not going to say anything more than that.

NS: In the Youtube video, how were the Obama supporters identified for the Youtube video?
JZ: I had nothing to do with it. I had a person who was working with me who happens to be a black female since you seem to think I’m a racist who was the one that chose all of the respondents based on conversations we’d had prior, people who were well-spoken, thought they were informed, willing to come on camera and [who] voted for Barack Obama.
(Which he later admits were done in “black sections” of Los Angeles. I could go into the outskirts of Ellijay, GA, and see how many intelligent and representative Republican opinions I find.)

. . . .

NS: Well, since you’re running a website calling people misinformed, I’d like to see if — there are certain things you’ve said that I would consider misinformed.
JZ: Misinformed? You’re a piece of work! You are never going to have the guts to post a representative transcript on your website! I thought you actually ran a legitimate website!
(Among other things, Ziegler’s poll directly implied Obama said “his policies would likely bankrupt the coal industry and make energy rates skyrocket”, which is not only misleading, it is also based on an initiative John McCain supported.)

NS: Thank you, have a good day.
JZ: Go fuck yourself.

“The Spartans do not enquire how many the enemy are, but where they are.”

-Agis II, 427 B.C.

I have to wonder if Mr. O would get this teary eyed advocating polygamy. Without interjecting any undue personal opinion into the matter, the fact is that marriage is between one man and one woman as it has generally been defined as throughout history, or it simply becomes whatever anyone defines it to be, with all the myriad of variances and possibilities that implies. As a culture America, and Western Civilization in general, will have to make that decision. Hopefully they will make the correct one, and continue to frustrate Mr. Olbermann to no end.

Olbermann’s twisted version of theology, principle, tradition, marriage and concept of ‘love’ aside I must say it is indeed far better to have your name in the Book of Life than this world’s “Book of Love” (as defined by him). The Left has managed to turn nearly every issue on it’s head. Right is wrong, perversity is normal, lust is love, deviancy is desirable, immorality is morality and that which rejects values is in itself a treasured value. As a culture, you know we are approaching the brink when every thing that is wrong is called “right” and those who stubbornly cling to what is right, and condemning what is wrong, are mocked, vilified, branded as bigots and themselves considered by the popular culture as being wrong. I have been mockingly referred to as a “modern day Isaiah” in the past and though I am nothing of the sort I do believe the original Isaiah (as in the Old Testament Hebrew prophet) had some wise things to say. “Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” It is as true today as it was then.

I wonder if Mr. Olbermann ever bothered to read Romans 1:28-32. It sounds like Paul could see him directly through the sands of time.

 28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Let us count the ways.
This is certainly one, which confirms results of a recent Zogby poll.
(My former co-worker friend who is a lifelong Dem and Hillary supporter but voted McCain-Palin sent it to me, and I later saw on Hannity & Colmes.)

It confirms some of my firmly held beliefs, which still gives me hope in the American voter.
The People will make the right decisions when they are properly informed. Unfortunately, they don’t seek information, because it requires a bit more work — i.e. turn OFF the freakin’ TV, (or turn ON FOX News on occasion– usually from 6:00 pm on, though Cavuto knows what he’s talking about, too), and tune IN to talk radio and newspapers other than NY Times, WaPo, etc.

Is it any wonder that the so-called “Fairness Doctrine” targets radio?!
Come on, people. Wake the hell up!

When Michelle Obama proclaimed that “for the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is making a comeback,” conservatives took note of the extremely narcissitic and self-centered view of the most free and pluralistic nation the world has ever known.  Clearly, she could only muster pride in this nation when her husband’s run for president became a success.  Naturally, this conditional patriotism is now evident throughout the country.  But don’t take my word for it, listen to the ‘new patriots’ of the left:

Ronnie Chapman has hidden away his American flag for much of the past eight years. “I felt it was no longer a symbol of the country I love, but of Bush and support for his war,” said the 48-year-old pharmacist from Cary. “The first thing I did the morning after the election was take it from my den and fly it proudly in front of my house.”

Chapman’s response to the presidential election reflects the emergence of an unusual — and some might say contradictory — new figure: the flag-waving liberal.

After a divisive presidency and strident campaign in which patriotism was used as a wedge issue, supporters of President-elect Barack Obama are hanging flags, donning Old Glory lapel pins and humming the national anthem.

“We just feel this pride and this swelling of joy,” said Cheryl Kimmel, 49, of Cary, who worked on Obama’s campaign with her 18-year-old daughter, Jeanelle Alexander. “We’re extremely proud to be Americans today.”

“For years it’s felt like patriotism was a Republican thing,” said Raven Moeslinger, 21, a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill. “Now I feel like we’ve reclaimed it.”

“The night after the election, I got in bed and started reading the Declaration of Independence for the first time in a long time,” said Sherry Harmon, 55, of Cary. “I felt I needed to touch base with our roots because I think we need to refresh our ideas of who we are as Americans.”

For the last eight years, whenever Republicans have questioned the support of the left for the war or for legislation that will secure our country, the right has been greeted with the standard response.  The left, perhaps justifiably, have said that there is no disconnect between loving your country and disagreeing with the policies of its leaders.  Yet while this is true, it is obvious that many Obama supporters view their support of this great nation as conditional.  In the same way that elections are peachy if their guys win (or “stolen” and “illegitimate” if their guys lose), this nation is just splendid when their guys are in power (and evil when their guys are not).

“Democrats are suggesting, however, an even more ambitious reason to nationalize [the auto industry]. Once the government owns Detroit, it can remake it. The euphemism here is ‘retool’ Detroit to make cars for the coming green economy. Liberals have always wanted the auto companies to produce the kind of cars they insist everyone should drive: small, light, green and cute. Now they will have the power to do it. In World War II, government had the auto companies turning out tanks. Now they would be made to turn out hybrids. The difference is that, in the middle of a world war, tanks have a buyer. Will hybrids? One of the reasons Detroit is in such difficulty is that consumers have been resisting the smaller, less powerful, less safe cars forced on the industry by fuel-efficiency mandates. Now Detroit would be forced to make even more of them. If you think we have economic troubles today, consider the effects of nationalizing an industry of this size, but now run by bureaucrats issuing production quotas to fit five-year plans to meet politically mandated fuel-efficiency standards — to lift us to the sunny uplands of the coming green utopia.”

–columnist Charles Krauthammer

As always, I must inform the public of the impending semi-annual Conclub Conclave.  The Thanksgiving meetings always take place on the Wednesday night prior to Thanksgiving.  We will be in Ft. Collins around 6:00 at the Cork.

If you can’t make it, don’t fret.  The Grand Triune of Conclub will be in attendance and will certainly take care of the beverage consumption.  On the docket will be a discussion of a domain name redirect and getting a web person that DFV knows who can remake our site.  I need DFV (the head of the web functions committee) to call the wife of his friend prior to this meeting to give us specifics and costs. 

Also, if there are other concerns to be addressed, your comments are always valuable.

“A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has conquered itself from within.”

-Ariel Durant

I heard a slight mention of this on the radio (not TV, though. Anyone else still wondering why we need talk radio and Internet/blogs?) .
For the record, this will be an extremely rare thing I ever do — I am copying this post in total (which is really a no-no), and it happens to be from one whom I consider my second Blog Father [the first one being Kim du Toit. OK, yes, I'm shamelessly linking to the recent post with pic where I was his T-shirt ad gal for the NoR a coupla years ago. But what the hell. BTW, sadly (for us Constitutionalists), he's retiring from blogging the end of this month]

Thank you, Denny, for your post. I couldn’t agree more:

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Going old school with this one. Have a great weekend everyone.

That’s the rumor going around for whatever rumors are worth. Of course not too long ago the rumor was Vice President Clinton. I suppose they could do worse. Since Obama’s almost certainly going to pick a Democrat for the position I would prefer Bill Richardson since he has some foreign policy experience. I’d really rather not have John Kerry in there.

Of course I’m an insane optimist sometimes so I’m still holding out hope that Obama will cross party lines and pick Rudy G for Attorney General. I wasn’t a huge supporter of Rudy’s for President but he did a fantastic job of cleaning up NYC when he was their Attorney General years back. Rudy’s probably considering a run again in 2012 so I doubt he’d take the job even if it were offered but it’d be nice. So would a winning lottery ticket……

I really do think the Clinton pick is pure speculation. Obama’s going to go with Kerry. They’ve been BFFs for quite some time now and I suspect some sort of deal was struck early on.

“Many of the indices for the GOP are dreadful, especially that they lost the vote of two-thirds of those aged 18 to 29. They lost a generation! If that continues in coming years, it will be a rolling wave of doom.”

–Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan

“Obama will try to convert those temporary moderate and conservative votes of his into permanent liberal and moderate voters — just as Reagan did in reverse between 1980 and 1984. If we conservatives can make our case, the election of 2008 will be a blip, just a kick-the-bums-out election. If Obama makes his case, he may have moved the center of political gravity to the left for a generation. Every conservative man and woman, to battle stations.”

–columnist Tony Blankley

“The substantially enhanced Democratic majorities in Congress stand poised to pass a raft of legislation that ranges from the destructive to the abominable and the tyrannical. It will serve as an early challenge to the judgment of President Obama, and to the efficacy of the loyal opposition.”

–Claremont Institute Fellow Scott Johnson

“If you believe the left is tolerant, open-minded and democratic, you’re in for a rude awakening.”

–columnist David Limbaugh

“Without a doubt, the most dangerous idea to liberty would be a reincarnation of the Fairness Doctrine in one form or another. Oh, it won’t be called ‘The Fairness Doctrine’ … It will be called ‘The Freedom in Broadcasting Act’ or some such Orwellian formulation in order to give the perpetrators a veneer of deniability. This is a favorite game of the left who never tire of redefining basic terms and changing language to suit their political needs of the moment.”

–columnist Rick Moran

All quotes courtesy of The Patriot Post

Up next in the great bailout bonanza of 2008 is the US auto industry. Long suffering US auto makers are now petitioning congress for a bailout package of their own to help their struggling industry and supply chain. While I do sympathize with those who stand to lose their jobs if it should crumble I’m really not too crazy about spending more taxpayer money to bail out the auto industry especially considering we just gave them $25 billion not even 2 months ago! http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/daily-news/080929-Auto-Bailout-Passes-Big-Three-to-Get-Big-Check-from-Uncle-Sam/

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I first saw a reference to the puppy cam at CuteOverload, but had trouble with the link (I’m sure it was just my ‘puter).

Anyhoo, Ms. Hill over at RealTechNews has posted the same, and I think we could all use a little dose of cuteness right about now (and anytime we feel the need to reach for the duct tape, as Glenn Beck would say).

Oh, here’s one more. Cuteness begins around 1:30 into it.

For Democrats it is count, recount, and recount again until you get the result you were looking for. It does appear that this may be happening in Minnesota.

Mischief in Minnesota?

For example, there was Friday night’s announcement by Minneapolis’s director of elections that she’d forgotten to count 32 absentee ballots in her car. The Coleman campaign scrambled to get a county judge to halt the counting of these absentees, since it was impossible to prove their integrity 72 hours after the polls closed. The judge refused on grounds that she lacked jurisdiction.

Up in Two Harbors, another liberal outpost, Mr. Franken picked up an additional 246 votes. In Partridge Township, he racked up another 100. Election officials in both places claim they initially miscommunicated the numbers. Odd, because in the Two Harbors precinct, none of the other contests recorded any changes in their vote totals.

Obama Team Sheds Light on New Administration

The group is filled with second-tier veterans of the Clinton administration and workers in the technology and financial sectors. It includes four former lobbyists, three top campaign fund-raisers and two former employees of troubled mortgage giant Fannie Mae, with some overlap among them. Four people in the group have ties to the consultant McKinsey & Co. and two have experience leading high-tech start-ups…

…The Treasury review will be led by Josh Gotbaum, a Clinton administration veteran and long-time investment banker at Lazard Freres, and by Michael Warren, the chief operating officer of Stonebridge International LLC, a Washington lobbying and consulting firm.

So somebody remind me again how “change” is just recycling lobbyists and Clinton era officials in to create the “most ethical and transparent administration in history”. By the way, the co-chairman of Stonebridge International is no one else other than Sandy Burger of “covering Clinton’s butt by stealing and destroying top secret documents” fame. The stories of him sticking documents into his socks and hiding them under dumpsters for later removal and destruction was straight out of a spy novel. Many of us think he was desperately trying to cover for Clinton’s bumbling in regards to turning down multiple offers from other countries to turn over Osama bin Laden and his general incompetence in dealing with terrorism in general.

Remember all that criticism dished out on McCain during the campaign by Obama’s minions for having lobbyists on his staff?  It’s called hypocrisy and I eagerly await the frothing media to descend upon the President-elect to fillet him alive on this one.

I have a feeling I’m in for a long wait.

… In the name of Multiculturalism we completely ignore all ethnic, religious, cultural and, yes, racial differences, because we have decided that these things don’t matter. But in real life, ethnicity, culture, religion and race do matter.

Policy needs to be rooted in a realistic assessment of human nature, not in wishful thinking. Good intentions are far from sufficient to ensure good results. History is full of well-intended policies gone horrible wrong. We know from past experience that basing an ideological world view on a fundamentally flawed understanding of human nature is bound to end in disaster. Society will become more and more totalitarian in order to suppress all the information that doesn’t conform to the official ideology. Isn’t this what is happening in the West now?

I used to believe until quite recently that skin color was irrelevant. I was brought up that way. I still don’t think ethnicity or race does or should mean everything. In fact, I would say it is patently uncivilized to claim that it means everything. But I can no longer say with a straight face that it means absolutely nothing, and if it means more than nothing, it needs to be taken into account. Whether we like this or not is immaterial. …

-noted  Norwegian essayist Fjordman

Roughing up old ladies in the name of “equal rights”.

My distrust and distaste for Sarah Palin, including my skepticism about the story of Trig’s birth, has nothing to do with wanting to abort down syndrome babies.

Barone was speaking at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, to the 121st annual meeting of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, which calls itself the nation’s oldest higher-education association.

“The liberal media attacked Sarah Palin because she did not abort her Down syndrome baby,” Barone said, according to accounts by attendees. “They wanted her to kill that child. … I’m talking about my media colleagues with whom I’ve worked for 35 years.”

I have a cousin with down syndrome that I hung out with at family gatherings growing up. I don’t wish she didn’t exist or hold irrational hatred towards her mother. Oh, I know, it was a joke. But sometimes people say they’re joking when they secretly think they’re telling a partial truth, and I’ve heard this particular joke before. And in case anyone here had any doubts, just because I support the right for women to choose whether or not they can or should deliver or raise a child doesn’t mean that I hate anyone who doesn’t. Even intense critic of Palin and borderline misogynist Andrew Sullivan has always held what a brave and admirable decision that was.

This is the Beast’s favorite Soviet joke. You can be the judge as to its appropriateness.

In October of 1964, party insiders fed up with what they perceived as poor judgment by Soviet Premiere Nikita Kruschev in the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Chinese Cold War and an economic collapse, oust him from office. His replacement, Leonid  Brezhnev, comes into the Kremlin for a final meeting with him before taking power. Kruschev picks up three sealed envelopes and says “My friend, when I found out my job here was over I sat down and wrote three letters. They are numbered one, two and three. I will put them in the top drawer of what will now be your desk.”

“What are they for?” Brezhnev asks.

Kruschev smile wryly. “A day will come when you and the Motherland will be in grave trouble. And after you have exhausted all options and it appears nothing will save you I want you to open this first letter, do what it says, and you will be saved.”

“And the second letter?” Brezhnev asks.

“The second crisis.” Kruschev says. “And so on.”

Brezhnev thanks his predecessor, sits down at the desk and promptly forgets the whole exchange. But a few years later he finds himself embroiled in a deep crisis from which he can see no way out. Then he remembers the letters and opens the first one. It says:

“BLAME ME.”

Brezhnev blames Kruschev and it works. The crisis passes.

A few more years go by and another crisis hits. This time Brezhnev is not worried because he knows he has two letters left. He opens the second. It says:

“BLAME AMERICA.”

He blames America and it works. The crisis passes.

A few years after that a third crisis hits, but again Brezhnev’s not worried because he has one last letter. He opens it. It says:

“SIT DOWN AND WRITE THREE LETTERS…”

Oil is down to $59.00 a barrel http://money.cnn.com/data/commodities/ 

So if we all still have jobs and can afford to make our car and mortgage payments gassing up our cars and buying heating oil should be a little easier.

EDIT: I just noticed that I mimicked the title of another post. Sorry Dave. This one is more apropriate to the content anyway.

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all the veterans who have fought for their country. Thank you for your service and your sacrifices on behalf of our nation.

The History of Veterans Day

Truth must prevail – whichever side of the argument it comes from, whether it supports your argument or not.

-Keith Allen Lehman

On Sunday I gave two presentations about Operation Christmas Child. Once to the kids in our church’s “Children’s Church” and then once to the church as a whole. Operation Christmas Child is a large project of the Christian relief agency and evangelism organization Samaritan’s Purse.  The Rev. Franklin Graham is the son of the Rev. Billy Graham and has helped to transform Samaritans Purse and Operation Christmas Child into an amazingly large and effective outreach.

My daughters school participates in Operation Christmas Child to the tune of several hundred boxes collected from the students and their families. Last year I accompanied my oldest daughter and her class on a field trip to the regional processing and distribution center in Denver, Co. An impressive 1.2 million different gift boxes were put together, inspected, processed and shipped by hundreds of volunteers to Mexican orphanages and poor villages last year from that location and all together seven and a half million were collected nationwide and distributed throughout the world. This year their goal is to collect and distribute eight million gift boxes to children in some of the most backward and poverty stricken regions in the world.

We are doing our small part to help out in this gargantuan effort and my presentation on Sunday netted us pledges of about another dozen boxes or so in addition to the three my family has already put together. It is just a small gesture in many ways, but the least we can do as a family to spread a little good cheer, generosity and the Christian message to someone less fortunate than ourselves. We are very blessed to live in this great and prosperous nation.

You can read last years Operation Christmas Child 2007 report here…