The Constitution Club

A little Ted Leo classic cover with a mash up of  “Since U Been Gone” and “Maps”.

When will people starting fighting back against such big brother, totalitarian minded schemes? This is one law I would actively scream to high heaven about and urge civil disobedience, vandalism of devices,  and any other possible idea to defeat this very un-American law. How far we have fallen from a liberty loving people.

Big brother is watching… as we drive

This is going to be interesting. My cable was out when I got home last night no cable, no cable modem, no Obama speech no Jindal response. It came back literally just in time to hear an NBC spokesperson announce that due to the Presidential address Law & Order SVU will not be seen tonight but now we bring you “The Office” already in progress.

 Clearly this is all part of the vast right wing conspiracy but nonetheless I perservere. So here it is. Unseen and unheard by yours truly, the transcript of the presidential address to congress last night. Just for fun I haven’t even read through it yet so I will reserve comment for the time being but as for the rest of you feel free to fire away. Text after the break

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Just before it plunged to the ground.

It may not have been aloft for long, but NASA’S “Carbon Observatory” has done its job! It recorded the highest atmospheric temperatures ever – over six thousand degrees – before crashing to earth.

“We’re just thrilled.” said NASA C limatologist Bucky “Fred” Savage. “The lower temperature numbers had been looking pretty grim for the last decade,  but now that we have that six thousand degrees to fold into the data – WOW!”

Al Gore flew from Davao in his new hypersonic jump jet “Bio Green Unicorn Rainbow” to bless the believers outside the New York Times building – soon to be renamed “El Casa Del Pepe” by its new Mexican Billionaire Owner.

“It’s a moral issue.” Gore said to the screaming multitude. “Show the unbelievers no mercy!”

When asked how he felt about the new Climate news, President Obama said “It’s good, unless it’s bad. Larry – do we have a position on this?”

The President promised to get back to us after his workout.

Dear Casey,   I was listening to tonight’s non-SOTU SOTU speech and it brought this song to mind.  Can you dedicate this 80’s hit to President Obama.

…At some of the ideas that I am exploring and writing about in my new book, No Apologies. You get an idea of the tone. I am trying really hard to not be snarky. I hate to emulate Amanda Marcotte too much. Dana told us it was something like 235 pages of pure snarkiness. Ugh. I can’t believe he actually read her mush. This is from a chapter focusing on explaining and exploring conservatism in general. I just started a new job last Monday so my focus, time and energy have been “elsewhere” but I would really love to get it out by the end of the year, God willing. I just have to keep plugging away. Even a little bit here and there every day will yield fruit in season. I feel like the poor, pathetic turtle trying to win his race. Hopefully, slow but sure will win the race. I wrote the following tonight. I tend to write in bursts and wax philosophical at times.  I guess you can file this under Dave’s “thought of the day”.

There is absolutely nothing common about “common sense”. Otherwise, this book would never have had to be written. Conservatism is a thinking mans ideology. It requires understanding and wisdom, research and knowledge, and the ability and willingness to judge right from wrong. It requires a moral compass, a fortitude for righteousness, and above all a love of liberty. To be a true conservative the value of the individual must be nourished and a fierce independence cultivated that can withstand the petty criticisms, persecutions and mockeries of those who have yet to see the light and embrace the truth. The conservative ideology cannot be separated from logic or from common sense.

To me being a political writer and commentator is less a hobby than a civic duty. It is my job to help the sheep think, and therefore not be sheep anymore.  

The conservative ideology is nothing to be ashamed of and it is important to point to the truth. There should be no shame in righteousness and living correctly. There is no shame in truth. People increasingly live in a culture where one’s conservative belief system can lead to social alienation, workplace isolation and even job loss. Certain professions are now completely dominated, and ruthlessly policed, by the pathetic peddlers of a discredited and disgraceful ideology. I constantly find myself in a position of reassuring people who are inclined toward the conservative persuasion that it is “OK” to be a conservative. I have to remind them that it is an honor to hold firm and live the lifestyle of a conservative. Popular culture may sneer at such ideas as morals and values, sexual restraint and personal responsibility, at patriotism and good citizenship, and at honesty, decency and respect. Those are the failings of liberalism, they should not be ours. Conservatives should know what are the right things to practice as well as to preach.

We should be proud to embrace the concepts of hard work and personal responsibility. We should be proud to defend, nurture and provide for our families. It is not we who should be ashamed of themselves but those who have decided to worship the “god that is dead” and swallow the swill of every faddish political “ism” that might be popular at the moment.

Ignorance and apathy combined with a decadent popular culture  have spawned a generation that has swallowed the lie of “do what you will for tomorrow we may die” philosophy that lies at the heart of liberalism. It is a disgrace that the citizens of a great nation have rejected the wisdom of those who have come before and instead embraced self indulgence and the pleasure of the moment at often great expense to themselves and those around them. Liberalism may portray itself as compassionate but in reality it is a selfish way of thinking.

The suspension of judgment and the concept that there is no true right or wrong is a devious lie and one that often fools even educated and intelligent people. If you are willing to suspend judgment and the concept of right and wrong, then you will eventually accept anything that is presented to you as long as it is packaged just pretty enough for you to let it into your heart and mind. The “if it feels good, do it” mindset produces only heartache and disaster in the end. It is the wise man who rejects such childlike idiocy and expects adults to act like adults. With adulthood should come responsibility, self restraint, discernment and wisdom not dependency, irresponsibility, the inability to accept the consequences of one’s actions and the continued childlike dependency on others to fix one’s mistakes. With wisdom comes truth, and the truth is what I seek.

There is nothing wrong with uttering the truth, as uncomfortable or “incovenient” that may be for some on occasion. The application of medicine may initially sting when it is first applied to an open wound, but the initial pain is worth it if it helps heal in the end. The conservative ideology contains many time tested answers to today’s cultural, societal, economic and moral open wounds and, though it may be painful for some, it is indeed good for us to hear them so that the healing process for our communities, nation and culture can begin.

After being ridiculed by White House press secretary Robert Gibbs for trashing the Housing Rescue Bill last week on CNBC, Rick Santelli fired back during an appearance on Kudlow and Company. Viva capitalism!!

Apparently, companies like Nutrisystem and Jenny Craig are losing money, as well. Where’s their bailout? Afterall, they’re doing the gummint’s bidding by trying to get the country slimmed down and healthy.

I guess they didn’t lobby enough.

From the latest “Imprimus” newsletter:

…Third, the New Deal divided and politicized the country in tragic ways. Those who lobbied most effectively won subsidies and bailouts even if their cause was weak. Others, who had greater needs, received nothing…

This “stimulus” bill is such a load of horse manure. Liberals don’t really give a damn about us. It’s about power, and growing government.
All you people who think that’s what conservatism is about need a serious paradigm shift.

I’m not going to quote the whole article “Do We Need a New New Deal?” by Burton W. Folsom, Jr., because anyone who gives a crap should read the whole thing which ends with,

If history is a guide, we have every reason to believe that if President Obama institutes a New New Deal, then universal health care, federal bailouts, and jobs stimulus programs will be costly, will be politicized, and will fail.

I watched the HBO film “Taking Chance” this past Saturday, and I completely agree with this review.

When they ran the opening credits, I was encouraged by the fact that LtC Strobl wrote the screenplay.

So, while I also looked for a left bent here and there, it never materialized, and I was very pleased to see that. I hope Strobl is not (nor will he become) another “Murtha”.

It was a very uplifting film. It is a bit of a slow pace (not too much so, because it’s not padded with filler) but only 75 minutes.
It is “scheduled” to be 90 mins. long but I’m glad it was actually shorter than that, because as it was wrapping up, I kept thinking, were they going to have an “epilogue” or something.
It ended right when you would expect it to.

Kevin Bacon’s performance was wonderful, and I highly recommend the film.

Edit: Tom Shales of WaPo actually gave a non-snarky review. Bravo!

This is a piece written by “the Senior Sage”, my father. He is a minister and this was distributed in our church in response to a number of people asking about how they should be praying for those in authority over us.

In 1 Timothy 2:1-2, the apostle Paul says, “I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.”

Most of us realize that we should be interceding for our country’s leaders. But sometimes we have difficulty knowing what to ask. Below are a few suggestions. Pray that our elected officials would:

1. Recognize their personal sinfulness and need for the cleansing power of Jesus Christ.

2. Understand their personal sinfulness and need for the cleansing power of Jesus Christ.

3. Reject all counsel that violates the spiritual principles of God’s Word and be willing to trust God to lead them in the right direction.

4. Resist the pressures of those who would lead them astray or tempt them to disobey the Lord and His will for their lives.

5. Work to reverse the trend towards ungodliness in our land and to restore America’s Christ-centered values.

6. Be prepared to make godly choices in the best interest of America, regardless of the cost.

7. Rely on the Word of God and prayer for strength and success.

8. Maintain dignity, honor, trustworthiness, and righteousness in office.

9. Strive to be a godly example to the men, women, and children of this land.

10. Remember that while in office, they are accountable to God for their attitudes, actions, and motives.

If God’s people pray consistently and passionately for those in authority, the entire nation will be affected. “The effective prayer of a righteous man [or woman] can accomplish much” (James 5:16).

Dust. Wind. Dude.

Every time the Dems poke up their heads the Market crashes. Check out these two graphs:

1. This week. Note the steep drop between Friday and Tuesday. Did anything noteworthy happen in that time span? Hmmmmm….

2. Why yes – yes, something did happen this week!

3.And finally this from Investor’s Business Daily:

Quod Erat Demonstrandum.

UPDATE: More Causey-Effectyness from the WaPo

Last week, the scary word was “nationalization,” a government takeover of a business or industry. It’s pretty much the worst fear of every capitalist.

A number of the nation’s biggest banks — Citigroup and Bank of America, chiefly — are sick, their balance sheets poisoned with toxic assets they can’t unload, such as mortgage-backed securities.

They are so sick that Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), the powerful head of the Senate Banking committee, nearly sent them into cardiac arrest on Friday with a comment he made.

A little after 1 p.m. on Friday, while speaking on Bloomberg television, Dodd said that nationalization of some of the nation’s unhealthiest banks may be necessary “for a short time.”
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“I don’t welcome that at all, but I could see how it’s possible it may happen,” Dodd said.

It’s usually a mistake to link market fluctuations to moment-by-moment news.

Not this time.

The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 instantly dove nearly 3 percent following Dodd’s comments.

That’s not the worst of it: Shares of Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo responded to Dodd’s comments by each dropping a staggering 25 percent within minutes.

Dodd’s comment was so potent, the White House felt compelled to chime in quickly, saying “a privately held banking system is the correct way to go.”

The market recovered after the White House repudiated him. One has to wonder if the right hand knows what the left hand is doing up there.

     Remember 1997? If you have forgotten, here is a quick list of events from 1997-

• Hong Kong was returned to China from the U.K.
• Mike Tyson bites Evander Holyfield’s ear during boxing match
• O.J. Simpson found guilty by civil jury in deaths of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman
• The song “Bittersweet Symphony” by the Verve goes #1
• The closing low for the DOW Jones average in November was 7286

     Why am I reminiscing about 1997?  Because the DOW Jones closed today at 7365, only 79 points above that November low of 1997.  Over a decade of gains in the market have been obliterated (minus dividends).   At this point, there seems to be no bottom in sight.

     It’s not just that fact that the markets have dived to these decade old levels, but the rate at which it has happened.  Paul Volcker today described the current situation as the  “Mother of All Financial Crisis”.

I don’t remember any time, maybe even in the Great Depression, when things went down quite so fast, quite so uniformly around the world…

     Jim Cramer illustrated the staggering losses of capital today on his Real Money blog.

The declines are so staggering that you find yourself thinking only one thing: How could we have ever trusted these pieces of paper with our nest eggs? Plus, the “terminal” value of some of these stocks, such as BAC, C, AIG, is catastrophic. They aren’t coming back

     In the past, whenever everyone started to throw the baby out with the bathwater, it was time to cowboy up and start putting one’s money to work.  This just feels different and it seems as if there are so many macroeconomic hurdles to clear before we see light at the end of the tunnel.  The “stimulus” plan and “homeowner” plan are only patches that are delaying the inevitable market bottom.  We need to find that bottom, and fast, or we just may find out that there isn’t one.

This has been out since at least mid 2007? How did I miss it?

H/T: Kerri (again :^)

Fresh off their Monkey Cartoon smear victory, the Huffington post launched an attack at Fox News with a video purporting to show John Gibson comparing (Black Attorney General) Eric Holder To a “Monkey With a Bright Blue Scrotum”. Predictably,outrage followed. Here are some of the comments (they may sound eerily familiar to you).

* FOX continues to prove it is part of the most racist network since the KKK

* John Gibson should be fired.

* These guys are unbelievable. Racism and Gibson’s fixation for blue scrotums together would baffle when Freud himself.

* this is not surprising john gibson is a bigot and has never denied it.

* i hope Keith Olbeman has a special comment about this isses!!!

* Keep digging Faux, just keep on digging yourselves into a marginalize racist pit of despair.

There’s only one problem, the video they presented was doctored! Gibson said no such thing and HuffPo has retracted.

From the blog Johnny Dollar’s Place:

The Huffington Post claims they got the video from TVNewser, but obviously did not verify its accuracy. Several commenters note that an ‘annotation’ (words that pop on the screen) has now been added to the youtube video by its poster, admitting that Gibson didnt say ‘bright blue scrotum’. But the original doctored video (without the disclaimer) was saved and can be found here.

Gibson’s response today: “The Huffington Post, in its zeal to slime me, went over the line and posted a phony, fabricated quote, attributed it to me, and which actually constitutes a lie, and a slander. The Huffington Post plays fast and loose on a regular basis, but this time it was caught in an out and out fabricated falsehood.” It’s going to be “All Racism All The Time”, kids.

H/T: Kerri

Is this where I get to cheer or say “don’t mess with the Jews”? The Israelis have vowed “never again” and unlike the slushy, nutjob, campus activist types they actually mean it. It is an exciting time in history to live my friends.

Israel Launches Covert War Against Iran

Israel has launched a covert war against Iran as an alternative to direct military strikes against Tehran’s nuclear programme, US intelligence sources have revealed.

“As US-Israeli relations are bound to come under strain over the Obama administration’s outreach to Iran, and as the political atmosphere grows in complexity, an intensification of Israeli covert activity against Iran is likely to result.”

Mossad was rumoured to be behind the death of Ardeshire Hassanpour, a top nuclear scientist at Iran’s Isfahan uranium plant, who died in mysterious circumstances from reported “gas poisoning” in 2007.

Other recent deaths of important figures in the procurement and enrichment process in Iran and Europe have been the result of Israeli “hits”, intended to deprive Tehran of key technical skills at the head of the programme, according to Western intelligence analysts.

“Israel has shown no hesitation in assassinating weapons scientists for hostile regimes in the past,” said a European intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity. They did it with Iraq and they will do it with Iran when they can.”

My friend Matt, who is also an occasional Conclub commentor (as Mbucky), will be on the radio in the morning (Friday the 20th) from 7 – 8 am (Mountain time) on 600 KCOL talk radio.  They are bringing him in to get his perspective on the stimulus bill and how it will affect homeowners.  You can listen on the Internet too if you go to http://www.600kcol.com .   There’s a link at the top of the page that says “LISTEN LIVE”.

In the middle of an increasingly severe financial crisis, a national debt that is out of control, and soon to be truly massive unemployment, it would appear that the Obama administration has decided to contribute to the scuttling of the ship of state, instead of taking steps to truly save it from sinking. The Environmental wackos have finally got their man in the white house and if we are not careful he may make Gore look like a raging moderate on the subject. Fascism never takes over in a single night, but is a path taken one step at a time. Can you hear the pitter patter of little feet?

E.P.A. Expected to Regulate Carbon Dioxide

The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to act for the first time to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that scientists blame for the warming of the planet, according to top Obama administration officials.

The decision, which most likely would play out in stages over a period of months, would have a profound impact on transportation, manufacturing costs and how utilities generate power. It could accelerate the progress of energy and climate change legislation in Congress and form a basis for the United States’ negotiating position at United Nations climate talks set for December in Copenhagen.

In response to conservative critics, liberals complain it’s too early to judge team Obama, and they are right in a general sense. It’s too early to proclaim success or failure for the Administration as a whole – way too early. That doesn’t mean its individual actions are above scrutiny. Even Obama admitted – in the aftermath of Tom Daschel’s exit – “I screwed up.”. If Obama can judge himself we can too.

Enter this Tony Blankley column. He argues that Obama’s response to four items – Cabinet selection, closing Gitmo, the stimulus package and bipartisanship – gives us clues as to his future governing style. Blankley begins:

In the Middle Ages, when a young prince suddenly and prematurely became king, the royal court, the church leadership and other senior aristocrats would scrutinize his every word and habit for signs of what kind of mind would be deciding their country’s fate and their personal prosperity and safety. Today, around the world, President Barack Obama’s every word, every action, every inaction is being likewise scrutinized for similar reasons.

Prior to the November election, the only evidence we had of Mr. Obama’s managing style — and that evidence was indirect — was the management of his campaign, which was brilliant. But whether he was its active manager or merely took guidance from a shrewd Svengali remains to be known.

Blankley proceeds to break down Obama’s performance on each of these four issues from the perspective of what it tells us about Obma as a future manager. Not suprisingly (given the author of the column) Blankley paints an unflattering portrait of an executive in over his head – at least for now.

The second item, President Obama’s performance at the Gitmo executive order, provided brief but revealing insight into the president’s personal involvement in vital decision making. He had campaigned hard on closing Gitmo. His first public signing as president was that executive order to close it down. The central issue of Gitmo’s closing was and is: What do we do with the dangerous inmates? President Bush kept it open primarily because his administration couldn’t figure out an answer to that question.

Thus, it was breathtaking that at the signing ceremony, President Obama didn’t know how — or even whether — his executive order was dealing with this central quandary.

President Obama: “And we then provide, uh, the process whereby Guantanamo will be closed, uh, no later than one year from now. We will be, uh. … Is there a separate, uh, executive order, Greg, with respect to how we’re going to dispose of the detainees? Is that, uh, written?”

White House counsel Greg Craig: “We’ll set up a process.”

To be at the signing ceremony and not know what he was ordering done with the terrorist inmates is a level of ignorance about equivalent to being a groom at the altar in a wedding ceremony and asking who it is you are marrying.

The Beast won’t steal Blankley’s thunder by quoting his conclusions, read them for yourself and see.

Ultimately the question is – will Obama swim or will he sink? Right now he’s treading water, buoyed up by high personal approval ratings and a return to campaign mode. Right now he’s burning muscle.

Inside the Meltdown

If you have an hour you must watch this PBS Frontline special. It gives a decent behind-the-scenes look at the dynamics of the market/banking meltdown related to the housing crisis and follow on credit crunch.

Are you a Facebook friend padder?

Crissakes. I admired Ronald Reagan because he actually stood for what I believe in.

We still don’t know really what the heck Obama believes in (aside from socialism), and yet these people are just over-the-top infatuated.

I’d like to think they are “one offs”, but I’ve got at least one “live one” in my neighborhood.

Late January, I was taking a different route out of our ‘hood. I noticed that there were still a very few houses with their Christmas lights on. I came upon one with a spotlight on the side of the house and I could tell there was a portrait in the window. I thought it might be of Jesus, but nope– you guessed it– it was an illuminated portrait of Obama. If I hadn’t been in a hurry, I would have parked my car and taken a picture as proof. I drove by last week and noticed the photo is no longer being displayed. It was up for at least 10-14 days, though, cuz Mr. Mo saw it, too.

Most Obamanites don’t go to that extreme, but they still feel that he will end all their worries.

I’m going to be frank here, and I don’t care if you’re offended. I really think less of people who support him, because he doesn’t inspire us to be responsible for our own lives. All he does is encourage people to want handouts.

(Wes, I know you’re going to point out Bush, the Republicans, yada yada. I AGREE with you. I want CONSERVATISM, not the Republican party in its current form.)

I remember seeing this at the Ronald Reagan Award Gala in 2005. I was fortunate enough to be invited by (who quickly thereafter became) a very dear friend.

Not a dry eye in the house.

(Didn’t realize Jason Wright produced it until now. BTW, “Christmas Jars” is an excellent short story.)

How a Reagan/Obama debate might sound.

God help us under Obama’s administration.

And knowing that the USA’s total debt now exceeds The World’s??

I swear. The next Obama voter who whines about how fiscally UN-conservative Bush was, I just may have to punch in the nose.

In the modern liberal age of symbolism over substance, the professional victims look to everyone else but themselves to “provide for their needs”.  “Where’s government? Where’s charity? Dang it, I’ve got expenses!” And what does this ladies son do? I mean besides apparently nothing and living off his mother. You just can’t make up this stuff.

Henrietta Hughes says she’s not milking the system

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA – A woman making national headlines after a tearful moment with President Obama has a new home.

Thursday morning, Chene Thompson handed Henrietta Hughes the keys to her home in Hendry County. Thompson is the wife of State Representative Nick Thompson (R-District 73). Hughes and her son will live at the home rent free.

At President Obama’s town hall meeting in Fort Myers on Tuesday, Henrietta Hughes stood up and told the President she has been homeless since 2003 and can’t find a job.

She also says she’s reach a dead end with government assistance and none of the local charity agencies will help.

However, a local organization is coming forward saying Hughes isn’t being honest about how much help she’s had in the past.

 From Moderate Muslim Beheading in New York: “Honor Killing” via Atlas Shrugs.

Beheading in Buffalo – at Muslim TV Station Northeast Intelligence (hat tip Taylor)

13 February 2009: Muzzammil “Mo” HASSAN, the founder and chief executive officer of Bridges TV, a Buffalo, NY based Islamic television Network he helped pioneer in 2004 amid hopes that it would help portray Muslims in a more positive light, reportedly admitted to police that he beheaded his wife at the television station yesterday afternoon.The victim was identified as Aasiya Z. Hassan, 37, who just last month, filed for and received an order of protection against her husband.

According to police, HASSAN walked into the Orchard Park police station shortly after 6:00 PM

yesterday and admitted that he murdered his wife earlier in the afternoon. While Erie County, NY District Frank A. Sedita III stated about the murder that “”…this is the worst form of domestic violence possible,” it is more pertinent to understand that the act of beheading in Islam is frequently and closely associated with “honor killings.”

Zakaria (interviewer): “Mr. President, how will you deal with the Obama administration because you did get on well with Bush. President Obama says that ‘Karzai has a bunker mentality.’ He has said that the Afghan government seems detached from what is happening in the rest of the country. Richard Holbrooke has made similar criticisms. Do you feel that these people — President Obama, Special Representative Holbrooke — do not understand what is happening in Afghanistan?”

Afghan President Hamid Karzai: “I saw that statement and I was surprised to see that statement. Perhaps it’s because the administration has not yet put itself together. Perhaps they have not been given the information yet. And I hope as they settle down, as they learn more, we will see better judgment.”

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I have probably belabored this point already, but I am attempting to write a book on the conservative ideology and that has prompted me to read through four and a half years of posts from a variety of different blogs I have been a part of during that time. I am also currently going through nearly six hundred pages of Conclub comments and it has been an amazing trip through time. There is some brilliant, fun, coarse, angry, insulting, snarky and occasionally incredibly wise “stuff” sitting in the Constitution Club archives. Perhaps one of my favorite comments I have found so far was this one from an apparently exasperated Wes which I have taken the liberty of reposting here. It was in response to the post DePalma’s “Redacted” Newest B.O. Flop.

It had Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. Of COURSE it was given a giant budget. You’d have a better case if there had been even ONE real ad for Redacted or if there were a wide release in the works. I certainly didn’t see anything promising in that guy’s articles. Don’t know who he writes for. And the movie he mentioned, 300, is an example of a conservative movie that actually worked. Funny that it was an adaptation and not an original script.

And of course the professor shit is all the fault of liberals. How silly of me to think that there was anything ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever wrong with conservative philosophy. Just like pgwarner, you are 100% incapable of considering any alternate thought from your own. I wonder why liberals wouldn’t want you guys on campus? You’re like a virus. A virus that slowly but surely stifles all dissent, all ambiguity, all doubt. All things that are fundamental to an education.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all my fellow hopeless romantics out there.

Sorry that it’s not the best quality but the venue brings back some fond memories. I remember the Bouncing Souls back when they were a no name band in the Rutgers bar scene in New Brunswick and CBGB was where I learned to love punk rock. It was the size of the  living room in a nice home and the men’s room hadn’t been cleaned since the Ford administration but the music there was incredible. It WAS punk rock.

I’d send this out to all of the ladies in conclub but since there’s only one Happy Valentine’s Day Mo. Mr Mo is a lucky man. Eh what the hell happy Valentine’s Day to you too Dre even though I don’t swing from that side of the plate I’ll still spread some love especially since I’m usurping FNP.

And a reminder to all of the rest of you TOMORROW’S VALENTINE’S DAY!! Don’t forget how much your better half has to put up with. Go out and get some roses at least.

Dems target right-wing talk radio

House Approves Final $787B Stimulus Bill

Will the Stimulus Actually Stimulate? Economists say no.

A look at the “non-stimulus” bill

“We will go through our federal budget — page by page, line by line — eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way.”

 –Barack Obama, 25 November 2008

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In December 2007, Global Americana Institute president and blogger Juan Cole said of Bush’s grasp of the Iranian nuclear situation:

Uh, I don’t think that substance is typically smoked so much as snorted. Or maybe his current favorite is just a stong bottle of beer. . . At his press conference Bush reverted to his old ploy of declaring people and things dangerous even when there is no objective measure of such things. He used to say that Saddam Hussein had been “dangerous” even when it was discovered that Saddam had no chemical, biological or nuclear research facilities. Now Iran is intrinsically dangerous, regardless of whether it has a weapons program or not. Does anyone still believe this sort of essentializing and fear-mongering?

That same month, HuffPo’s Michael Roston argued that the children need to face reality that Iran is really not that big of a deal.  That day he proclaimed:

Pity the conservative thinker and reader haunted by the specter of a nuclear Iran. How would you feel if you got halfway through your day and someone punched a big hole in your already tenuous grasp on reality?

Vice President Cheney tried so hard to play his role of Big Daddy within the Big Daddy Party and protect the kids from facts that they were too young to deal with. But the intelligence community won, and finally we have professionals telling us what some of us knew: Iran’s nuclear weapons program has long been more of a virtual threat, a diplomatic tool to keep its head above water in a complicated diplomatic ocean.

And like a child who has just been given a blue ribbon for finishing fifth in the race, Americablog’s Joe Sundbay gloated about the NIE conclusion that Iran had stopped trying to build nuclear weapons in 2003:

Yes, stopped in 2003. All this war-mongering towards Iran from Cheney, Bush, Kyl and Lieberman has been based on false and misleading information. The 16 U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Iran isn’t in the process of building a nuke weapon — and hasn’t been for four years. That’s according to an article just out from Mark Mazzetti at the New York Times:

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Last night CNBC aired a special appropriately titled “House of Cards”  documenting the recent collapse of the housing market and the massive ripple effect it created. If you haven’t seen this I highly reccomend it. It’s a fairly non-partisan unflinching look at who was to blame for the recent collapse and why. I’ll give you a little spoiler EVRYONE was to blame. From the borrowers for lying on thier applications, to the lenders for basically encouraging them to lie on thier applications, to the rating agencies for taking these garbage mortgage backed securities and in explicably giving them a triple A rating to the government for sitting back and letting it happen and on and on.

They do lean toward being a bit sympathetic toward the borrowers but do point out that some of them WILDLY overstated thier income in order to be approved for loans. I didn’t see it on the listings quite yet but I believe the special is being aired again on Sunday. I suggest you all check it out

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29163182/

Some employees are simply irreplaceable. Take Michelle Obama: The University of Chicago Medical center hired her in 2002 to run “programs for community relations, neighborhood outreach, volunteer recruitment, staff diversity and minority contracting.”

In 2005 the hospital raised her salary from $120,000 to $317,000 – nearly twice what her husband made as a Senator.

Oh did we mention that her husband had just become a US Senator? He sure had. Requested a $1 Million earmark for the UC Medical Center, in fact. Way to network Michelle!

But now that Mrs Obama has resigned, the hospital says her position will remain unfilled. How can that be, if the work she did was vital enough to be worth $317,000?

We can think of only one explanation: Senator Roland Burris’s wife wasn’t interested.

—The Editors of National Review, writing in the Magazine’s Feb 9 issue.’

Welcome to the Fascist Nanny State

 There was NO CRIME. But it gets worse. Much worse.

The college still got to “try” Jeff Maxwell. And they did tonight.

The tribunal that tried Marine veteran Jeffery Maxwell laughed after suspending him from Western Oregon University and sentencing him to:

a “psychological evaluation stating he is not a threat to himself of others” and

a mandatory “ten page paper” ” with references, “citing, but not limited to:
1) the importance of following the law,even through civil disobedience.
2) the importance of accepting responsibility for one’s actions
3) and recognizing the impact possession of weapons on college campuses has on others.”

So, Maxwell has been told his lawful possession of a firearm on campus is evidence of mental illness and he must “confess his sins.”  Welcome to the new Politburo. Maxwell may as well been judged by the Hitler youth for his “thought crimes.”

Jeffery Maxwell’s “jury” were four unnamed students and one staff member of WOU.

The “prosecutor” was Patrick Moser moserp@wou.edu “Acting Coordinator of Campus Judicial Affairs”

This is outrageous and ridiculous. We’ve been following this on the news for the last couple of nights. Our society is so twisted and idiotic that logic no longer reigns and intellectual discretion is just a shadow of a memory. Such “pretend to make us safe” laws do little or nothing to protect lives and when administered incorrectly like in this case, actually serve to make a mockery of the rule of Law itself.

Plastic drill team prop earns student 10-day suspension
Student’s predicament prompts lawmakers to seek change in law

Don’t Miss This

UPDATE: After this was initially posted Mo K was kind enough to post a link to a speech by Geert Wilders which I have now reprinted below.

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The MSM don’t seem to care that their abandonment of all journalistic principles have brought them to the brink of extinction, but the comedians are less sanguine. Now that Bush & Co wells have dried up, Comics can ill-afford to ignore the rich spring of new material spurting from Congress and the Oval Office. They are beginning to tap in.

Check out the link just for the John Stewart clip – it’s a true joy. We have lots to look forward to in the next four years, assuming we have homes and tv’s to watch.

Breaking News: Late-night comedy shows make fun of Pres. Obama

Of course, one night does not a trend make.But — Jumpin’ Jon Stewart, Batboy — was that seven minutes of jokes about Barack Obama on late-night TV? The Barack Obama. The One who’s president right now? President Obama jokes on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show”?

Jokes about Obama’s speaking style. Jokes about Obama’s mannerisms. Jokes about his answers. Jokes about his tedious but very thoughtful-looking pauses, despite the TelePrompter feeding him lines. And about the media’s predetermined adoration/critical complex (think Bill “The Guy Just Bores Me” O’Reilly and Chris “Thrill Up My Leg” Matthews”). See the video for yourself down below.

And not one joke about the old guy from Arizona? Or the Alaskan gun-runner? Or about George W. Bush, who’s been the late-night joke-butt staple for most of a decade now? And still is, on most of these shows, even though he’s way back in Texas attending girls basketball games at Baylor and still not watching.

Well, actually that’s not totally true. Jon did show GWB one time in this routine (video below). But only to mock those stilted town hall meetings the Texan used to change the public discussion topics that Democrat Obama is now taking up because things have gotten a little messy back in D.C. and he’s tired of talking about somebody else’s taxes. Thank God for Lincoln’s birthday.

But, wait, there’s more late-night breaking comedy news! Last night Jay Leno actually made an Obama joke too. No, really.

He was talking about ex-Washington Mayor Marion Barry possibly going to jail for not paying taxes in eight of the last nine years. So, Jay said, “it’s either jail or a Cabinet position in the Obama administration.” Hey-oh!

Pretty tame stuff from Jay, but you got to crawl before you can walk, right?

Eric Cantor FTW!

Slightly inspired by the dead squirrel post and apparently with nothing better to do, I decided to see what I could do with what I had on hand. Which turned out to be a couple of scorpions and some assorted action figures. Now if I could just get my hands on some roadkill there would be no stopping me…

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Downright inspirational. How come they didn’t sing at the Superbowl?  The two on the right are 6, the two next to them are seven, and the one on the far left is 8.

The folks at CNBC want so much for a bottom to be called…they have been calling bottoms for about a year. But if you listen to Roubini and Taleb, this deleveraging process will continue for quite some time. Cash is King.

Thanks for welcoming me back. Its been a long time.

“Until the 1930s, the Constitution served as a major constraint on federal economic interventionism. The government’s powers were understood to be just as the framers intended: few and explicitly enumerated in our founding document and its amendments. Search the Constitution as long as you like, and you will find no specific authority conveyed for the government to spend money on global-warming research, urban mass transit, food stamps, unemployment insurance, Medicaid, or countless other items in the stimulus package and, even without it, in the regular federal budget.”

–Independent Institute senior fellow Dr. Robert Higgs

“[Sens.] Specter, Collins and Snowe sold out their 38 GOP colleagues and every Republican member of the House by cutting a deal and giving Harry Reid the 60 votes he needed for this ‘trillion dollar turkey’ to go through. In doing so, they not only assured the socialist-Democrats now running the country a huge and expensive political and legislative victory, but they stopped dead in its tracks the momentum Republicans had been successfully building with the American people against this proposal. Why, oh why, did we ever stop the practice of tar-and-feathering?”

–columnist Chuck Muth

It has been said that the ancient Romans would shout out that “the enemy is at the gates”. Under Obama we are opening the gates and waving them through. And you are paying for it. No discussion, no vote, no debate. Some legacy.  He may not “pray to the east” but he might as well when he does things like this. We have seen what these kind of policies have done to the UK, and the result is that the UK is all but “done”. Obama has been president less than a month but the damage he is already inflicting upon this nation for decades to come is staggering.

Here’s the order:

[Federal Register: February 4, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 22)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Page 6115]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04fe09-106]                         

                        Presidential Documents 

[[Page 6115]]

                Presidential Determination No. 2009-15 of January 27,
                2009

                Unexpected Urgent Refugee and Migration Needs
                Related To Gaza

                Memorandum for the Secretary of State

                By the authority vested in me by the Constitution and
                the laws of the United States, including section
                2(c)(1) of the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of
                1962 (the ``Act''), as amended (22 U.S.C. 2601), I
                hereby determine, pursuant to section 2(c)(1) of the
                Act, that it is important to the national interest to
                furnish assistance under the Act in an amount not to
                exceed $20.3 million from the United States Emergency
                Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund for the purpose
                of meeting unexpected and urgent refugee and migration
                needs, including by contributions to international,
                governmental, and nongovernmental organizations and
                payment of administrative expenses of Bureau of
                Population, Refugees, and Migration of the Department
                of State, related to humanitarian needs of Palestinian
                refugees and conflict victims in Gaza.

                You are authorized and directed to publish this
                memorandum in the Federal Register.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    Washington, January 27, 2009

[FR Doc. E9-2488
Filed 2-3-09; 8:45 am]
Billing code 4710-10-P

Pres. Obama Invites Hamas Terrorists to America

No other word for them. Just effing sheeple.

Listen to how they talk. Brain-dead followers, lemmings who will follow him right off the porkulus cliff. And all the way down to the sharp rocks at the bottom they’ll be grinning and patting themselves on the back for doing what their “leader” expects of them.

Just.. gag.