WordParadigm

Classiest way to respond to a thoughtless interruption

2012-01-29T23:43:00.000-06:00

Way more gracious and spontaneous than I could ever be.

Other People Say Smart Stuff, Too - Part XXXIV

2012-01-24T19:55:00.000-06:00

John Ransom has written another column whose title spells it all out: "15 Questions the Mainstream Media Would Ask Barack Obama If He Were a Republican." Some samples:

In 2010 you said Solyndra, which gave your campaign a lot of money, was "leading the way toward a brighter and more prosperous future." Today, Solyndra is bankrupt and the taxpayers lost $500 million on loans that your administration was well aware might never be paid off when you made them. What do you say to people who say this is evidence of corruption in your administration?
Unions invested a lot of time and money in helping to get you elected. In return, they gained majority control of Chrysler, the taxpayers lost 14 billion dollars on General Motors, and General Motors received a special 45 billion dollar tax break. What do you say to people who view this as corruption on a scale never before seen in American history?
How do you decide which foreign leaders to submissively bow towards and why do you think that's appropriate for an American President?
If they could, don't you think the Nobel Committee would take back the Nobel Peace Prize that you were awarded?

You get the gist. Read the column.

The case against "mentee"

2012-01-17T22:21:00.000-06:00

The word mentor derives from Greek mythology. When Odysseus left to fight in the Trojan War, he left his friend Mentor in charge of Odysseus’s son Telemachus. When the goddess Athena visited Telemachus, she took the form of Mentor and advised him to resist the advice of others and to go in search of his father.

In modern usage, a mentor is an advisor and teacher to another person, usually someone younger and less experienced. In other words, we are calling that person the name of the historical Mentor, just as we call someone who gives presents a “Secret Santa,” or a smaller person (or company, etc.) going against a much larger entity a “David” going against a “Goliath.”

The backformation word mentee treats the word mentor, with its –or ending, as if it means “one who ments.” Thus a mentee would be “one who is mented.” This is clearly not the case. Although a contractor is one who contracts (for a particular job,) an author is not one who “auths.” Employers employ employees, detainers detain detainees, but mentors do not ment mentees.

There exists a perfectly good word for the role of someone who a mentor mentors – protégé. The dictionary defines protégé as “a person under the patronage, protection or care of someone interested in his career or welfare.” In other words, the exact description of one who has a mentor.

It takes the twisted mind of a sociopath or a bureaucrat to create a horrendous, misbegotten atrocity and encourage its use to replace a lovely, useful, and faithful word such as protégé. Those who repeat the process are just as guilty of verbal crimes against humanity as the creator (with its –or ending.) For the sake of your soul, use the correct word.

I thought I'd got sick of these things

2012-01-13T13:10:00.000-06:00

1. I'm not a Justin Bieber fan.
2. Over-choreographed wedding dances have used up their freshness.
3. Too many people these days want to video themselves, purely to feed their ego.
Having said all that, this one is kind of neat.

Yeah, let's run everything through the government

2011-12-30T07:00:00.001-06:00

From a recent column by Hadley Heath:

If we were to run the roughly $950 billion spent on anti-poverty programs in 2011 by the 49 million Americans who are poor, we'd have nearly $19,400 per person. That's $77,600 for a family of four, which would clearly surpass the federal poverty line. ($22,350 for a family of four.)

"Of course, instead of going directly to the poor, government money passes through the pipeline of federal, state and local-level bureaucrats paid to administer welfare programs. These additional costs mean fewer resources go to the people in need."

Forget "where's our Reagan?" -- Where's our Thatcher??

2011-12-29T19:04:00.000-06:00

Smart, well-spoken, quick as a whip and sharp as a tack -- "wiping the floor" with her opposition in debate. That was Margaret Thatcher.

Why Gingrich is the man, per Thomas Sowell

2011-12-20T07:09:00.000-06:00

Dr. Thomas Sowell is one of the best thinkers in America today. (I've quoted him numerous times before.) In this recent column, he spells out how Newt Gingrich has proven he should be the Republican presidential nominee.

Funny how time affects people differently

2011-12-19T09:19:00.000-06:00

Reductio ad Klanum, in the mainstream media*

2011-12-14T18:29:00.000-06:00

MSNBC "award winning journalist" and anchor Thomas Roberts reported that Mitt Romney's slogan "Keep America America" is similar to one the Ku Klux Klan used in the 1920s. The report includes a graphic stating "ROMNEY'S KKK SLOGAN?" Roberts made sure to include the fact that the slogan was "a rallying cry for the group's campaign of violence and intimidation against blacks, gays and Jews." That darn Mormon Romney must have the same intentions, right? At least that's what MSNBC implied.

* Or at least as mainstream as MSNBC can claim to be with its couple of dozen viewers.

The Fantastic Republican Field

2011-12-14T10:21:00.000-06:00

The narrative being put forth by the media and Democrats (technically separate groups, but the same) is that the Republican field of presidential candidates is weak. Here's what I had to say in another forum:

Republican candidates include a governor, two US Representatives, three former governors, a former Speaker of the House, and a former US Senator. This field is at least the equal of the '08 Democrats.

Having made that declaration, I took a look back at the Democrat field of 2008:
- Barack Obama - US Senator for only two years before starting his campaign for President. Survived being a member of Jeremiah Wright's church for 20 years without hearing any of the sermons; associate of terrorist William Ayres and convicted felon Tony Rezko. The claims of "lack of experience" by his opponents subsequently being proved true.
- Hillary Clinton – Elected US Senator of a state where she didn’t live because she was the wife of a popular ex-President. No prior elected office, but author of universal healthcare debacle and Travelgate scandal of 1993, while serving as wife of a popular President.
- John Edwards – Indicted on six felony charges related to his extramarital affair, facing 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine.
- Bill Richardson – Currently the subject of a grand jury investigation around his allegedly paying $250,000 to quiet a woman who had threatened to file sexual harassment complaint. The money came from donations raised for his presidential campaign, a federal no-no. (What? You hadn't heard about this?)
- Dennis Kucinich – Greatest claim to fame is being considered the most extreme Liberal in Congress.
- Joe Biden – Dropped his candidacy in 1988 after being busted for plagiarizing a speech. Most well known for his verbal gaffes. (Example: Urged a wheelchair-bound veteran to “stand up and take a bow.”) Chosen as Obama’s VP.
- Mike Gravel – Unknown Senator from Alaska. He’s most famous for this “artistic” campaign video:

- Christopher Dodd – Beneficiary of a sweetheart loan from disgraced mortgage lender Countrywide; defended Fannie Mae as “fundamentally sound;” authored a provision that allowed AIG executives to take government-provided “bailout” money as bonuses. The government gave AIG $170 million; executives took $165 million as their bonus. Most famous for a notorious sexual attack of a waitress (along with Ted Kennedy.)

- Tom Vilsack – Best known for tying for the title of the least scandalous of 2008 Democrat presidential candidates.

- Evan Bayh – According to the Washington Post, “wasn’t a particularly distinguished senator…an ordinary politician.” Outstanding in not taking a stand. Tied with Vilsack.

In comparison, today's offering of Republican presidential candidates don't look so bad. Not bad at all.

Most patriotic house decorations in America

2011-12-08T13:48:00.000-06:00

As the poster on YouTube put it: "This is a light show as only Republicans know how to put on."

Rats, sinking ships, etc.

2011-11-28T10:37:00.000-06:00

Democrat congressman Barney Frank has announced his plans not to seek reelection in 2012. That handwriting on the wall for Democrats must be depressingly clear.

Frank is best remembered for his spirited (and videoed) defense of Franklin Raines and Fannie Mae in 2004. Or maybe it's the corrupt Dodd-Frank legislation. Regardless, it's another rat deserting the sinking Democrat ship.

What does Obama understand about economics?

2011-11-22T16:44:00.000-06:00

Not as much as you'd think.

Well, it's not so much what he understands, as what he believes. Democrats refuse to work on any deficit reduction that does not include tax increases. They euphemistically cite those increases to "increase revenue," but that's not what motivtes Democrats, particularly Obama. Here's why he wants tax increases:

To be more "fair"

To "spread the wealth around"

Because at a certain point "you've made enough money."

Gingrich kills again

2011-11-11T06:24:00.000-06:00

The best debater in the world, and the smartest man in any room he walks into, guts the MSNBC moderators and the media at the Republican debate.

Speaking of debates

2011-10-30T09:06:00.001-06:00

I wrote about one of our Presidential candidates, Newt Gingrich, back in 2007. He had engaged Liberal Democrat Mario Cuomo in an "elevated discourse" (a polite term for an in-depth debate) with amazing results. Again, I can't post the video because of copyright restrictions -- apparently C-Span has a tighter hold on information than Google does -- but the two-hour debate is available here. To quote the C-Span website, they had this debate "in the belief that national and international issues facing presidential candidates deserve full discussion and analysis in the style of Lincoln's time."

Now THIS was a debate

2011-10-30T08:43:00.000-06:00

The dog-and-pony shows trotted out recently and called "Republican Presidential candidate debates" have been shameful. Shameful to the candidates, shameful to the media for treating it seriously, and shameful to the American public for accepting something so far from an actual debate.

One of the masters of debate was William F. Buckley Jr., who for over three decades engaged his guests in spirited discussions on his television show Firing Line. Besides weekly conversations, Buckley also occasionally sponsored formal debates.

In 1978 two giants of the American conservative movement disagreed over whether or not the U.S. should relinquish control of the Panama Canal Zone. Instead of ignoring their differences on this issue, Ronald Reagan and William F. Buckley Jr. conducted a live debate to present their arguments to the public. With this, they set the standard of how to handle disagreements over ideas and issues in public policy – in other words, how to debate.

Below are two videos. One is the introduction of the participants by Senator Sam Ervin. The other is a video of Buckley's closing argument for his point (that the Senate should ratify the treaties giving the Panama Canal to Panama.) Copyright issues prevent posting sections of the meat of the debate, but the entire two-hour debate is available on C-Span here.

This video's title says it all

2011-10-21T08:44:00.000-06:00

The most eloquent, uh, um, .....

2011-10-15T06:41:00.000-06:00

At a recent press conference, Barack Obama used thirteen minutes to answer two questions. 2:47 of that time was in the form of verbal pauses such as uh, um, y'know, etc. BreitbartTV made a clip of "the greatest orator the office [of President] has ever known." *

* (According to former Democrat Representative Harold Ford.)

With Drudge, Nothing's Accidental

2011-10-14T06:16:00.000-06:00

From this morning's Drudge Report:

The deification continues

2011-10-06T17:24:00.000-06:00

A quote from a news story attempting to explain the continuing decline in crime, despite the economic downturn. It's because of Obama. "Obama's election has created such collective inspiration that it has changed the thinking and the behavior of would-be criminals."

The logical conclusion of such thinking, of course, is that anyone who isn't inspired by Obama is a potential criminal, Minority Report style.

Didn't Sarah Palin get creamed for this?

2011-10-04T16:33:00.000-06:00

From a transcript of Barack Obama's interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News last night:

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Finally, since we are on the web here-- live on Yahoo.com, everyone wants to know which-- websites do you surf?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: You know, I'm pretty eclectic. You know, I'll-- you know, I read a lot of newspapers that I used to read in print, I now read on-- on the web.

GS: Do you have an iPad or just--

OBAMA: I-- I've got an iPad. And-- and-- Steve Jobs actually gave it to me-- a little bit early. And-- (LAUGH)

GS: Oh, that's pretty cool.

OBAMA: Yeah, it was cool. I got it directly from him. And-- you know, I go to ABCNews.com, of course, and Yahoo.

GS: And Yahoo, too, thank you.

OBAMA: Of course. But-- you know, typically, my-- I-- I-- I read on the web what I read in hard copy. I mean, there-- there are some exceptions. There are some blogs and some websites that-- that are interesting that-- you don't have--

GS: --make a comment.

OBAMA: I-- you know-- I don't. I-- I figure if I-- if I got started-- I wouldn't stop. And I've got other things to do.

GS: Mr. President, thanks for your time.

Okay. With the exception of ABC News, who was hosting the interview, and Yahoo, which Stephanopoulos fed him, what was Obama's answer to the question "Which websites do you visit?" This is the same type of non-answer that Obama has given before, for which Palin was smeared by everyone in the media. Obama once again gets a pass. But we do discover that Steve Jobs himself gave Obama his iPad.

The bar for these things just keeps on getting higher

2011-10-03T05:35:00.000-06:00

Another flashy marriage proposal. I enjoy these.

Something I need to keep in mind more often

2011-09-30T06:55:00.000-06:00

Whatever is true,

Whatever is noble,

Whatever is right,

Whatever is pure,

Whatever is lovely,

Whatever is admirable —

If anything is excellent or praiseworthy —

Think about such things.

— Phillippians 4:8 (NIV)

Brought to mind by this story, which will both break and lift your heart.

About that "consensus" on manmade global warming....

2011-09-28T06:34:00.000-06:00

Often global warming alarmists will argue as though the science on manmade global warming is settled, that a mere handful of kooks disagree with their conclusion, and that few, if any, reputable scientists disagree with it. The editor of "Physics and Society," a publication of the American Physics Society, wrote these words:

There is a considerable presence in the scientific community of people who do not agree with the IPCC (United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) that anthropogenic CO2 emissions are very probably likely to be primarily responsible for the global warming that has occurred since the Industrial Revolution.

Sigh...Lubbock hits the (questionable) big time....again

2011-09-26T16:25:00.000-06:00

Now when somebody asks "Where you from?" and you answer "Lubbock, Texas," expect a few snickers.

Another Obamacare Revelation

2011-09-26T08:40:00.000-06:00

Congressman Tim Huelskamp of Kansas has written an Op-Ed in the Washington Examiner detailing a proposed rule request by HHS. This rule would require insurers and healthcare providers to hand over patient information to the government. The rule request is listed in the Federal Register. The pertinent section of this mind-numbing piece of literature is section 153.340, "Data collection under risk management."

Hmmm....I wonder what the government could do with everyone's individual medical records? Maybe ration care? Maybe determine who is healthy enough to approve medical treatment for, and who is not?

Nancy Pelosi said they had to pass Obamacare so we could find out what was in it. Now we know.

Another take on "fair share"

2011-09-26T07:20:00.000-06:00

I thought I'd take my last post and put it into a more visual medium. Incidentally, these figures were compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

"Fair share" = "Wait, what?"

2011-09-24T08:45:00.000-06:00

As Barack Obama pounds the bully pulpit to let us know that he thinks the "rich" should pay their "fair share," what almost no one outside of Washington knows is that the top income earners in the United States pay a higher percentage of taxes in relation to their income than those in any other industrialized nation in the world. But Democrats in Washington sure know it.

No "Present" vote for Obama this time

2011-09-23T11:43:00.000-06:00

In direct defiance to a request by the United States, the Palestinian Authority has issued an official request to the United Nations for the UN to recognize a Palestinian state.

This puts Barack Obama in a pickle. He has tried to play both sides of the Arab/Palestinian - Israeli conflict since taking office. His sympathies lie naturally with the Muslim Palestinians, but Israel is a devoted ally and the Jewish vote is vital to the Democrat party. With the move by the PA, Obama has two choices: veto the PA's request in the UN Security Council, or do nothing and allow the vote, which is almost sure to pass (with the Arab world united against Israel.)

One small sticking point: The Palestinian Authority's charter calls for the destruction of Israel. In a meeting with Palestinian leaders, Mahmoud Abbas, head of the PA, made it clear. "They talk to us about the Jewish state, but I respond to them with a final answer: We shall not recognize a Jewish state,"

Obama has been careful his whole political career to avoid making decisions that might have a negative effect on his career. He has been mocked for the number of "Present" votes he cast on controversial issues when he was a member of the Illinois legislature. He has played both sides of the budget debate. He really, really hates being nailed down.

So Obama is forced to make a decision, and that decision will redound throughout the world, and will have a major impact on the 2012 elections. Obama would give anything to let this decision simmer until 2013 (like all the extra taxes that will be forced on Americans because of Obamacare,) but he may not have that choice.

I'm finally excited about fashion

2011-09-23T10:42:00.004-06:00

The Ohio University football team had been bugging their coaches about getting something a little more stylish than their traditional green or white jerseys. See what happens when their wishes come true. It's kind of cool to see a bunch of young guys get this excited about something relatively small. This video helps me remember that very often it's the little things that count.

Here's the "reveal" video.

It's only fair (to Obama)

2011-09-19T11:27:00.002-06:00

Big coverage of Obama’splan to raise taxes on “the rich” ($1.5trillion in higher taxes is the number being quoted.) The stories portray thisas his move to fight the budget deficit, which is on everyone’s mind right now.

A few points:

Obama added at least $3 trillion tothe deficit in two years (with his “stimulus” package and Obamacare,)

He advocated higher taxesin his book The Audacity of Hope in 2006 (when the economy was still relativelygood and no one was taking about the deficit.)

The math doesn’twork. The government will spend about$3.8 trillion in 2011. If you taxed thetop 1% of taxpayers at 100% -- every single bit of their income – you’d collectabout $1.7 trillion, or only enough to pay one year’s bills through about June12th. Guess who will pay for the rest of the year? (And every year after that,as all those people leave the country.)

Is it not reasonable to assumethat his push for higher taxes --

Has nothing to do with thebudget deficit, and

Has nothing to do with theamount of revenues that would be collected, and

Has everything to do withexploiting class envy for political purposes?

The Chicago Obama Way

2011-09-16T06:36:00.001-06:00

Among the many advantagesBarack Obama enjoys heading into the 2012 elections is the fact that he has sofar managed to avoid any major political damage from scandals. However, given that he was trained in the Chicago school of corrupt politics,the phrase “it’s just a matter of time” comes to mind.
It looks as though thattime may be closer than you think.

Scandal #1. First, there’s the matter of Solyndra, asolar panel manufacturing company that recently went bankrupt. Solyndra received a taxpayer-guaranteed loanof $500 million in 2010. Obama made a specialappearance at their plant to tout the success of his “green” agenda. A year later, taxpayers are on the hook foranother half a billion dollars.

The Bush administrationhad previously rejected Solyndra’s loan application because of concerns overthe company's finances. Government accountants hadwarned the Obama White House about the company’s problems. Despite those warnings, Obama & Co.approved the loan. Why? One of the major shareholders of Solyndra is alsoa major fundraiser for Obama. Thisfundraiser made several visits to the White House in the months just before theObama administration approved Solyndra’s loan.

The FBI and a HouseCommittee are now investigating Solyndra, and the evidence is piling up. The political backscrubbing has become soundeniable that even the major networks are covering it.

Scandal #2. A four-star Air Forcegeneral said he was pressured by the Obama White House to alter histestimony to a House committee investigating the company Lightsquared. Lightsquared is a satellite broadband companythat has proposed a project for the military. The Pentagon has expressed concerns over the company’s technology, andits effect on GPS systems.

General William Shelton wasscheduled to present prepared testimony to the House committee. Such testimonyis usually vetted to make sure of accuracy. According toofficials familiar with the situation, Shelton’s prepared testimony was leakedin advance to the company. According to General Shelton,the White House asked him to alter his testimony to reflect more favorably onLightsquared, its technology, and the project. General Shelton was understandably miffed at this, both by the politicalinterference (since when do we let the subject of an inquiry influence expert testimony?)and the prospect of compromising military effectiveness.

Lightsquared’s majority owner isan investment fund run by – you guessed it – a big Democrat donor.

Obama managed to avoid majorpolitical damage when he took Chrysler away from legitimate stockholders and gave it to his buddies in the autoworkers union. We’ll see if his luck holds out against thesetwo newest scandals.

Hello Racists!

2011-08-29T05:18:00.002-06:00

High Priest (and major profiteer) of global warming Al Gore says that global warming skeptics "are this generation's racists" and must be marginalized just as racists were during the civil rights movement. "My generation asked old people 'Explain to me again why it is okay to discriminate against people because their skin color is different?' And when they really couldn't answer that question with integrity, the change really started."

"Answer the question with integrity." This lies at the heart of the matter. PRO-manmade (anthropogenic) global warming (AGW) activists such as Gore have been caught time after time cheating, misrepresenting, and deceiving in order to score points in the "conversation."

Gore admitted pushing subsidies for corn-based ethanol, despite evidence showing lack of results, simply to score political points in Iowa.
The Climategate e-mails show that scientists privately conspired to punish editors of peer-reviewed journals for publishing studies that disputed AGW, while publicly deriding any research that was not published in those same journals.
Hysterical claims -- inevitably followed by calls for more government funding -- have been shown to be based on a single author's words, discredited data, or sloppy research.
Claims of horrendous consequences have been "adjusted" when reality fails to match earlier predictions.

The lack of integrity in the methods shown by the pro-AGW side, combined with their religious fervor in attacking anyone who dares to even question them -- Gore's "marginalization" process -- is enough to make a reasonable person question their conclusions.

A-J Headline Editor Abuse

2011-08-17T03:44:00.003-06:00

Apparently, they're putting headlines in alphabetical order at the A-J. A story about "Avery and the Calico Hearts" had a secondary headline about A&M's attempts to join the SEC. Let's see how long it stays up. (I'm guessing until just a little after Bill Kerns wakes up.)

(Edit, 11:30 a.m. -- Now we know what time Kerns goes to work.)

Reflections on Wisconsin

2011-08-15T08:36:00.001-06:00

Several months ago, Wisconsin teachers and their union supporters protested a budget proposed by Wisconsin governor Scott Walker. They staged walkouts from their classes, encouraged students to join them in the protests, closed schools, and occupied the state capitol building. The fight, fueled by union and Democrat activists, was angry and bitter. The protests were against particular provisions of the budget – some public employees (including school teachers) would lose collective bargaining rights, they would have to contribute to their own retirement funds, and they would have to pay a higher percentage of their health insurance premiums.

Democrats, ever-loyal supporters of unions, screamed that Walker’s budget would be disastrous for the state. But in at least one case, a school district turned a $400,000 deficit into a $1.5 million surplus. That’s great in and of itself, but the reasons for the turnaround are revealing.

In the past, teachers and staff of the Kaukauna School District paid nothing toward their pensions; it was all paid by the state. Now they will have to contribute 5.8% to their pensions. They also paid only 10% of their health insurance premiums. They will now have to pay 12.6%, less than employees in the private sector pay on average. Obviously, getting public employees to pay part of their own insurance and pension saves money.

What’s interesting is that the total cost of their insurance coverage, as a result of Walker’s budget, went down. Here’s why.

As part of the teachers union collective bargaining agreement that had been in place, the school district was required to buy health insurance from a company set up by the Wisconsin teachers union. The district was forbidden to negotiate with anyone else. This company, the WEA Trust, charged rates higher than the competition, and had informed the district that there would be a “significant increase” in premiums this year.

With the implementation of Walker’s budget, and the end of collective bargaining, the school district was able to shop around for the best deal. Lo and behold, the WEA Trust notified the district that it would match the lowest rate.

There is much more to the story, which can be found here. What this illustrates is that in direct contrast to what Democrats and union activists claimed would happen, in at least one case Wisconsin taxpayers have benefited greatly, along with the students in the classrooms. The union had negotiated conditions that worked against taxpayers, and which were designed to line the union’s pocket with inflated prices. The union's demands were like a festering wound that was killing the patient. Heal that wound, and the patient immediately returned to health.

Because sometimes it's just fun to remind people

2011-08-14T08:21:00.002-06:00

That's what we tried to tell you

2011-08-11T16:03:00.001-06:00

From an opinion piece titled "What Happened to Obama?" by devoted Liberal and Democrat Drew Westin in the New York Times:

"... [Obama] is simply not up to the task by virtue of his lack of experience and a character defect that might not have been so debilitating at some other time in history. Those of us who were bewitched by his eloquence on the campaign trail chose to ignore some disquieting aspects of his biography: that he had accomplished very little before he ran for president, having never run a business or a state; that he had a singularly unremarkable career as a law professor, publishing nothing in 12 years at the University of Chicago other than an autobiography; and that, before joining the United States Senate, he had voted "present" (instead of "yea" or "nay") 130 times, sometimes dodging difficult issues."

Well, this distinguished professor of psychology finally got the message -- thirty-three months and four trillion dollars too late.

(Note: When I looked at the web address for Professor Westin's piece, it reads "What happened to Obama's passion?" Apparently his original title was too harsh for them.)

Other People Say Smart Stuff, Too - Part XXXIII

2011-08-09T08:41:00.003-06:00

Yep, a twofer.

From a Peter Wehner column in Commentary magazine:

Standard & Poor’s downgrade of America’s credit rating is a crushing political blow to President Obama. It reinforces, perhaps like nothing else has, the impression Obama is overseeing, and in some respects engineering, the decline of the American republic.

Other People Say Smart Stuff, Too - Part XXXII

2011-08-09T07:59:00.001-06:00

From a "Random Thoughts" column by Thomas Sowell:

Three little words -- "We the people," the opening words of the Constitution of the United States -- are the biggest obstacle to achieving the political goals of the left. For that, they must move decisions away from "We the people" -- from individuals to government; from elected officials to unelected judges; and from national institutions to international institutions like the United Nations -- all safely remote and insulated from "We the people."

"Attention millionaires and billionaires"

2011-08-04T08:49:00.000-06:00

Last December, Barack Obama blasted the Bush tax cuts as being for "millionaires and billionaires." Several days ago, he blasted Republicans, particularly the Tea Party, for refusing to increase taxes, for only wanting to benefit "millionaires and billionaires" (especially those who have corporate jets.)

Today is Obama's 50th birthday. The birthday boy attended a party for himself last night in Chicago. A thousand people were expected to attend -- at a cost of up to $35,000 per couple. For those who really wanted to wish him well, another party was planned for afterward, limited to only 80 or 100 people. You know, VIPs.

Hmmm....what kind of people could afford to attend such celebrations in Obama's honor?

What's this "compromise" thing?

2011-07-28T05:29:00.001-06:00

Recently the news stories covering the debt ceiling situation in Washington have zeroed in on Republican freshmen in the House of Representatives. Many of them were elected with Tea Party support, with a mandate to reduce the size of government and its role in our lives. Taxation being a major part of that philosophy, the Tea Party has influenced negotiations. To wit – no new taxes.

This “ideological rigidity” (as Obama characterized it) has been accused of being the major reason no deal can be reached. Words such as compromise, bipartisanship, and a “balanced approach” (definition: more taxes) are seen as necessary so that the U.S. government, its reputation, and the world economy don’t come crashing down. Republicans must agree to increased revenue (definition: more taxes.)

The current debt is (supposedly) capped at $14.2 trillion.

In January of 2009, two days after Obama had been sworn into office, in response to a Republican Senator’s objection to increased taxes in the upcoming stimulus plan, Obama killed all dissenting voices by responding, “I won.”

In February of 2009, Obama signed the Democrat stimulus bill into law. The bill was written by Democrat leaders and their staffs, behind closed doors, with no Republican input at all. The actual legislation was posted on the Congressional website late the night before the vote was scheduled. The vote was taken before the wording was finalized – additional points were handwritten on the pages – meaning that no one knew what was actually in the legislation when they voted on it, because no one could have read it. Contribution of the Democrat stimulus bill to the federal debt: $1.2 trillion.

In December of 2009, the Democrat Congress passed Obamacare, again without any Republican input. Again, the legislation was crafted by Democrat leaders behind closed doors. Contribution of Obamacare to the federal debt: Over $2 trillion.

Transition to today. Everyone is up in arms because America’s credit rating is about to be downgraded, Social Security checks are threatened, and the nation’s financial status is about to be destroyed – all because (if you read the papers) Tea Party-influenced Republicans refuse to be “fiscally responsible” and compromise on a bipartisan balanced approach.

Who's the ideologue?

2011-07-24T05:26:00.005-06:00

ideologue - one who zealously advocates an ideology.
ideology - the body of doctrine or belief that guides an individual.

In discussing the Republican position in negotiations about the federal debt ceiling and spending, Barack Obama said this: "If a party or a politician is constantly taking the position my-way-or-the-highway, constantly being locked into ideologically rigid positions, that we're going to remember at the polls."

One of the major obstacles in negotiations is the Democrat insistence that taxes have to be raised. The euphemism of choice is "increased revenues," but revenues come from taxpayers, so ....

The Democrat position is political and ideological, not practical. They use taxation as a way to create, exacerbate and exploit class envy, and to show constituents how they are punishing the enemy; i.e., selected segments such as the "rich" and "big business." Obama and the Democrats are so insistent on this ideology, that they will do it even if it means decreasing the amount of revenues the government receives:

So when Obama talks about those who are "locked into ideologically rigid positions," he's really talking about himself. (Again.) And follow his advice -- remember at the polls.

Surprise! (Not.) Chrysler's going to cost taxpayers

2011-07-22T09:11:00.000-06:00

Word's out today that with the federal government unloading its (our) shares of Chrysler, taxpayers are likely to lose up to $1.3 billion. Fiat will own more than 58% of the company after the dust settles, and the Democrat-friendly auto workers union will own the rest. As for those shareholders and bondholders who were left with nothing because of the Obama-brokered deal? Obama and Democrats have one word: Tough.

"Leading on reporters at press conferences is not leadership"

2011-07-20T07:31:00.000-06:00

Republican Paul Ryan doing it again.

Obama supporters, the poster

2011-07-18T13:24:00.001-06:00

Translation: "How do I vote for Obama?"

(Actual meaning may be lost in the translation.)

Our solar-powered front porch

2011-07-15T07:45:00.000-06:00

The rising sun puts out some heat in the mornings.

How's that re-election coming along, Mr. President?

2011-07-14T16:16:00.000-06:00

From the most recent Gallup poll:

Obama loses to (any) Republican candidate by eight points!

The "Anybody But Obama" ticket's looking pretty strong.

Washington and the Debt Limit

2011-07-12T06:31:00.000-06:00

Barack Obama, Senate Democrats and House Republicans are negotiating raising the federal debt ceiling. The Democrats are insistent on raising taxes. (Politics dominate: In 2009, Obama said "The last thing you want to do is raise taxes in the middle of a recession.") The Democrats have offered a combination of spending cuts along with the tax increases.

In 1982 Reagan agreed to a deal with Congressional Democrats -- $3 in spending cuts for every $1 it raised in tax increases. He later called this deal the biggest mistake of his Presidency. Democrats imposed the tax increases they wanted, but broke their promise and failed to implement the spending cuts. Reagan remarked, “I’m still waiting on those $3 of spending cuts I was promised by Congress.”

Other than the obvious fact that Democrats are untrustworthy, there is another point. The federal government is notoriously and brutally efficient when it comes to legislating, imposing and collecting taxes from us. (The IRS, with an annual budget of more than $13 billion, is a government agency solely created for this purpose.) How efficient do any of the Democrats appear when it comes to lessening the amount of our money that they spend? The old saying goes that there are only two sure things in life, and neither one of them is federal spending cuts.

Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue

2011-07-04T08:06:00.000-06:00

Pay special attention to the reactions of the troops in this video. See how American soldiers feel about America.

About media bias

2011-07-02T06:02:00.002-06:00

Other People Say Smart Stuff, Too - Part XXXI

2011-06-27T06:31:00.000-06:00

From Lurita Doan's recent column, "The New Desperation of Team Obama."

"Any but the most die-hard sycophants now realize that Obama's ideological policies have been failures"

You can't say you weren't warned.

2011-06-27T06:14:00.001-06:00

An ad from the Cato Institute run in January 2009, before the trillion-dollar Democrat stimulus bill was passed. That month's unemployment rate was the lowest it's been since Obama's been in office. Obama told us millions of jobs were "shovel ready," then after the legislation was passed and the jobs failed to materialize, he said "shovel ready was not as shovel ready as we expected." You can't say you weren't warned.

The good news is....

2011-06-26T15:26:00.000-06:00

...it feels like only 102°.

"General, that's a hell of an act"*

2011-06-24T18:54:00.000-06:00

Actor Peter Falk, known to most people as Columbo, died today. While Columbo was great, I remember him best as CIA agent Vince in the movie The In Laws.

"Serpentine, Shel, Serpentine!"

*This is what Vince says to General Garcia upon seeing the general's "Señor Pepe" act:

Now I'm reassured about Social Security

2011-06-22T11:03:00.000-06:00

Jack Coffee, professor of law and securities law expert at Columbia University, quoted in a story in USA Today: "Social Security is not a Ponzi scheme because it wasn't an intentional fraud."

"A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to separate investors, not from any actual profit earned by the organization, but from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors. The Ponzi scheme usually entices new investors by offering returns other investments cannot guarantee, in the form of short-term returns that are either abnormally high or unusually consistent. The perpetuation of the returns that a Ponzi scheme advertises and pays requires an ever-increasing flow of money from investors to keep the scheme going." -- Wikipedia

"Good intentions" seems to be a common excuse for disastrous Liberal Democrat policies.

Everything Great About YouTube

2011-06-13T06:50:00.003-06:00

Note: NSFW (language)

Milton Friedman on Greed

2011-06-11T12:18:00.000-06:00

Economist Milton Friedman, in a 1979 interview with Phil Donahue: "There is no alternative way, yet discovered, for improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by a free enterprise system." Donahue does his best to argue against capitalism, and extol the virtues of socialism -- and Friedman absolutely crushes him.

Pledges of Allegiance Across America

2011-06-11T07:17:00.000-06:00

Obama vs Obama

2011-06-10T07:08:00.000-06:00

The results of Barack Obama's actions are the worst enemy of Barack Obama's words. In the latest incarnation, last week Obama cited a Columbus, Ohio restaurant near an auto plant as a beneficiary of the auto bailout. The restaurant, New Chet's, will close its doors for good on Sunday. Here's the story.

As if that weren't good enough, the story cites a voter-imposed smoking ban imposed in 2006 as a major reason for the 31-year-old restaurant's decline in business.

Remember this:
February 11, 2009: Barack Obama, trying to win support for the Democrat trillion dollar stimulus legislation, claims that heavy machinery manufacturer Caterpillar will rehire thousands of workers it laid off.
February 12, 2009: Caterpillar CEO Owens, asked if the stimulus would cause them to rehire workers, said, "Realistically, no. The truth is we're going to have more layoffs before we start rehiring again."

or this:
February 9, 2009: Obama, once again stumping for his stimulus plan, touts thousands of "shovel ready" jobs that will benefit from the legislation.
October 13, 2010: In a magazine interview, Obama admits that "there's no such thing as a shovel ready project."

Obama's caught-with-his-hand-in-the-cookie-jar moments would be funny if the consequences weren't so serious.

One of my greatest fears...

2011-06-02T10:55:00.001-06:00

...is that I'll wake up some morning and think I'm Ringo Starr.

Obama in trouble in '12?

2011-06-02T08:20:00.002-06:00

The UK Telegraph published an article by foreign affairs analyst and political commentator Nile Gardiner with the title "Why Barack Obama may be heading for electoral disaster in 2012." Gardiner reflects on the problems caused by Obama's policies, and how in our current economy -- growth sluggish, if not non-existent; house prices down 33% since 2006; the stock market just took a huge tumble; people feel terrible about the economy and about Obama's performance -- the "hope and change" promises of Obama now taste bitter.

The biggest electoral problem for Obama, however, is the political makeup of Americans. A Gallup poll showed that most Americans are Conservative. As Gardiner puts it: "America is unquestionably a conservative country ideologically, but one that is ironically led by the most left-wing president in the nation’s history."

Indeed

2011-06-01T12:32:00.000-06:00

"The unemployment rate in 2009 was 7.8% it is now 9.0%. The [national] debt was $10.7 trillion, it's now $14.3 trillion. Gas was $1.80 a gallon, it's now $3.80. Why should the American people continue a Democrat in the White House with that kind of record?"
Good question.

Term Limits redefined

2011-05-28T08:46:00.000-06:00

A commenter to a recent column by John Ransom made a pithy observation: "Politicians should be limited to two terms -- the first in office, the second in prison."

Interesting O-care waiver facts

2011-05-26T06:48:00.000-06:00

The most recent count on "waivers" from Obamacare is 1,372. That is, 1,372 businesses, state and local governments, labor unions and insurers have been exempted by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius from the requirements mandated by Obamacare for at least one year.

These 1,372 entities cover 3,095,593 individuals. More than half of those individuals are in plans issued by labor unions, the Democrat party’s biggest political ally. Union members make up just 12 percent of all employees but have received 50.3 percent of Obamacare waivers.

Recently, Obama’s HHS Secretary granted 38 waivers to higher-end restaurants, nightclubs, spas and hotels in former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco congressional district.

Apparently, in Obama’s administration how much you suffer under the federal government’s mandates depends on who you know.

"Michelle, let's not come to the UK again any time soon!"

2011-05-25T08:05:00.002-06:00

First there was Obama's "Stuck in the Middle with You" moment in Ireland.
Then there was Obama's "That was the best year of my life" snafu at Westminster Abbey.

And the UK police (Scotland Yard) gave Obama the code name "Smart Aleck." *

Finally, Barack "At last we have a President with great speaking skills" Obama bungled his toast to the Queen of England.

So way to go, Obama! Way to represent!

*Turns out the code name was for the entire visit, not specifically Obama. Still appropriate.

Doctor My Eyes

2011-05-24T12:43:00.000-06:00

Haven't thought of this song in years, but this morning I woke up with it in my head. A classic.

Now that's ironic, or symbolic, or something

2011-05-23T11:40:00.001-06:00

Obama's huge armored limousine, nicknamed "the Beast," got stuck on a ramp in Ireland.
This could, of course, with a bit of imagination, serve as an analogy for what he's done to the American economy. He's weighted it down with so much junk that it can't get going.

Hope for the future?

2011-05-20T06:14:00.002-06:00

Headline from the Daily Caller: "Recent college grads sour on Obama, surveys say."

"A very large proportion of recent university graduates have soured on President Barack Obama, and many will vote GOP or stay at home in the 2012 election, according to two new surveys of younger voters...83 percent voted for Obama in 2008. But only 27 percent are committed to voting for Obama again, and 80 percent said they would consider voting for a Republican..."

Of all things for me to say, this has to be the one of the oddest: the Daily Kos was right about Obama way back in 2008. "Obama is an empty suit into which people pour their dreams." Now that his supporters have had a chance to see the empty suit in action, many of them realize they chose a poor vessel for their dreams.

America the Dictatorship

2011-05-08T15:31:00.000-06:00

John Ransom wrote a column recently, one in which he brings up an enormously important point.

   "On issue after issue, Americans are fed up with the fact that they feel they can’t trust Washington. It doesn’t matter what new laws they pass; they either pass the wrong ones or won’t enforce the ones they do pass.
   I always use illegal immigration and the tax code as twin examples of what’s wrong. These two areas of the law present the gravest threat to our liberty. And here’s why:
   The easiest way to create a dictatorship is to pass laws that you don’t enforce. That way, everyone becomes a criminal and the government gets to decide who get prosecuted and who gets to skate. We are at a point in our history where the government will not enforce immigration laws and has made the tax code so complex that it’s impossible to follow.
   We’ve created a permanent under-class of criminals in this country, completely at the leave of the federal government."

An example of the selective enforcement of laws is Tim Geithner, Obama's Secretary of the Treasury. During his nomination hearings, we learned that Geithner had neglected to pay income taxes for several years. It was only after he learned that he had been nominated to the Treasury job that he paid the past-due taxes. The IRS charged him interest, but no penalties -- a most unusual decision. As Secretary of the Treasury, he heads the Treasury Department, one part of which is the IRS.

Thus begins dictatorship.

Other People Say Smart Stuff, Too - Part XXX (Special Edition)

2011-04-25T10:06:00.000-06:00

Recent headline: "Taliban Break at least 480 Out of Afghan Prison."

Best comment regarding that story: "I'm amazed the screws at the Kandahar prison didn't recognize something was afoot when inmate Akbar Dufresne asked for that Rita Hayworth poster."

Like the light bill, groceries, clothes...

2011-04-13T15:22:00.000-06:00

In his speech about the budget today, Barack Obama said that we couldn't "afford" tax breaks (for the wealthy, of course -- to him, they get all the tax "breaks.")

A tax "break," a tax "cut" -- whatever you want to call it -- means that people get to keep more of their own money. To most of us, that translates to "take-home pay." So his point of view is that letting Americans keep more of their own money is an expense. To him, to Democrats, to the government.

Your paycheck is a bill the government has to pay, a bill Obama thinks the government can't afford..

A guy's movie - in the form of a BMW commercial

2011-04-04T07:21:00.000-06:00

Tony Scott's Beat the Devil, a 2002 commercial for German carmaker BMW.

How slavery really ended in America

2011-04-04T06:14:00.001-06:00

A fantastic New York Times article -- yes, I said it -- adapted from Adam Goodheart's book 1861: The Civil War Awakening. The article details how a northern military commander, Major General Benjamin Franklin Butler, forced Abraham Lincoln to actually confront the issue of slavery and compelled the Emancipation Proclamation.

The article is timely in that it shows how decisions made by small, relatively (and previously) unknown citizens, clerks and bureaucrats can determine the fate of the larger world. A clerical error and an East German commander who couldn't get anyone on the phone brought down the Berlin Wall. A Tunisian fruit vendor who refused to pay a bribe sets off the revolution currently rocking the Arab world. And a fort's commander who couldn't get a straight answer from politicians -- sound familiar? -- formed the philosophy and established the practice that freed slaves in America.

I normally hate soccer, but...

2011-03-22T05:59:00.000-06:00

...this short film/ad about the Panyee (Thailand) team was pretty good. See, the kids started a soccer team -- on a floating village. Take the five minutes and watch it. (And what's the deal with Thailand and their commercials?)

UK headline - "Barack Obama: The Weakest President in History?"

2011-03-19T06:59:00.000-06:00

Here's a passage from the story in the Daily Express:

"Every day for almost the last two months our television screens, radio broadcasts and the pages of our newspapers have been filled with the pictures, sounds and words of the most tumultuous events any of us can remember in the Arab world. The outcome of these events, once the dust has settled, could literally change the world. Yet Obama seems content to sit this one out. He has barely engaged in the debate. Such ostrich-like behaviour is not untypical of the 49-year-old President....it is starting to look as if Obama and the Democratic Party have but one aim for the rest of this presidential term: to get elected to a second."

The comments to the story are almost as good.

That sound you hear is Liberal heads exploding

2011-03-18T04:18:00.000-06:00

Column headline: "Palin Doctrine Emerges as Arab Nations Echo Her Demarche on Libya."

The column, written by Benjamin Korn, goes on to cite how her foreign policy advice has been on the money, as opposed to Obama's, um, "leadership."

(demarche - "a statement, protest, or the like presented to public officials by private citizens, interest groups, etc.")

I'm less than reassured

2011-03-17T07:56:00.000-06:00

Heard on KFYO radio this morning (paraphrased): "Experts and officials in the United States say that Japanese officials have downplayed the dangers stemming from Japan's nuclear reactor disaster.... BUT....

"U.S. officials reassure Americans that they are in no danger."

Obama's Views on the Redistribution of Wealth

2011-03-12T20:56:00.000-06:00

From a 2001 radio interview with Barack Obama:

His economic objective has never been a secret at all, has it?

Forget polls, this headline says it all

2011-03-08T11:36:00.000-06:00

"White House memo notes shortage of applicants for contest to have Obama to speak at high school graduation"

Other People Say Smart Stuff, Too - Part XXVIII

2011-03-01T07:46:00.000-06:00

All of the craziness in Egypt and the rest of the Arab world remind me of an old quote from George Will:

"Iraq is just three people away from democratic success. Unfortunately, the three are George Washington, James Madison, and John Marshall."

Rhetoric vs. Reality

2011-02-23T04:00:00.002-06:00

Sure we put a man on the moon, but THIS.....

2011-02-18T06:55:00.000-06:00

...was done in some guy's garage.

Obamacare keeps getting better and better

2011-02-11T08:08:00.000-06:00

Headline: "CBO Director says Obamacare would reduce employment by 800,000 workers"

It's a shame we couldn't have had that info before the Democrats forced the legislation through.

A funny invocation

2011-02-04T11:12:00.000-06:00

Not something you see everyday. Brilliantly performed, with respect and humor.

Sad news -- Charlie Callas has died

2011-01-29T06:45:00.000-06:00

This was a guy who worked to tell a joke. Brilliant and funny.

Some days nothing goes right

2011-01-28T21:10:00.000-06:00

Headline: "Text message blows up suicide bomber by mistake"

Your classical music fix

2011-01-27T06:48:00.000-06:00

Well, sort of.

I'm usually not one for wacky conspiracy theories...

2011-01-26T12:49:00.004-06:00

...but this one's got some legs. Hawaii governor and Democrat Neil Abercrombie, a fan and friend of Barack Obama's, set out to provide a birth certificate to prove that Obama was indeed born in Hawaii and finally lay to rest those "birther" claims. He seems to have run into some trouble though -- as in he can't find one. When an Obama supporter inadvertently promotes the rumor regarding Obama's birth, it carries weight. Listen to the clip below.

(Edit: Mike Evans has backtracked on his comments. The theory returns to its previous level of wackiness.)

A quick break for me - State of the Union response

2011-01-25T15:53:00.001-06:00

A break from doing the writing that I get paid to do, that is.

Barack Obama is to give his State of the Union speech tonight. The Republican response will be delivered by Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. I've heard of Ryan, but had never really paid enough attention to see him in action. Boy, was I surprised.

Here is Ryan at the "bipartisan summit" on healthcare legislation last year. He surgically vivisects all the tricks and gimmicks in the Democrat plan. It didn't affect the outcome of the vote, but boy did he do a good job.

A list of scheduled tax increases to pay for Obamacare

2011-01-14T13:05:00.000-06:00

According to Ryan Ellis of Americans for Tax Reform, about two dozen new or increased taxes. Read the "Comprehensive List of Tax Hikes in Obamacare."

Heck yeah

2011-01-06T17:02:00.000-06:00

Headline: "Passengers overpower would-be hijacker on Turkish Airlines flight." First line: "A large, brave passenger on a Turkish Airlines flight overpowered a would-be hijacker by sitting on him, passengers and authorities said."

No, I'm not traveling.

Something smart people need to realize

2011-01-06T15:15:00.000-06:00

I recently read a column by Emmet Tyrell in which he says of George Washington: “He was courageous, occasionally brilliant, and endured setbacks and despair.”

It reminded me of something I realized a long time ago – it’s not enough to simply be intelligent. If you do stupid things, then your intelligence is wasted. And everyone thinks you're stupid anyway.

So who can we trust now?

2011-01-06T14:49:00.001-06:00

From AOL Health: "Article calls study linking vaccines to autism a fraud."

(The actual article in a British medical journal is here.)

The tradition of ethical science continues.

Other People Say Smart Stuff, Too - Part XXVII (Parenting edition)

2010-12-29T11:52:00.000-06:00

From Sh*tMyDadSays.com, (yes, I know that's not the real website name):

"A parent's only as good as their dumbest kid. If one wins a Nobel Prize but the other gets robbed by a hooker, you failed."

Other People Say Smart Stuff, Too - Part XXVI

2010-12-29T09:43:00.001-06:00

From a recent Thomas Sowell column entitled "Promises and Riots" -

"Economists are the real "party of No." They keep saying that there is no such thing as a free lunch -- and politicians keep on getting elected by promising free lunches."

Well, yeah

2010-12-29T08:45:00.000-06:00

From AOL this morning:

I can see where you could get into a bit of trouble over something like that.

(Okay, okay, here's the story.)

Unreliable Research?

2010-12-29T08:18:00.003-06:00

“There is an intellectual conflict of interest that pressures researchers to find whatever it is that is most likely to get them funded.” – John Ioannidis

The Atlantic magazine recently published a story entitled “Lies, Damned Lies, and Medical Science.” The story is a profile of statistician and medical doctor John Ioannidis, and of his work. His work -- the debunking of medical research, specifically medical research that is flawed, biased and potentially harmful. Among his most startling conclusions:

>> Forty-one percent (41%) of the most highly regarded medical findings from 1992-2005 had subsequently been shown to be wrong or significantly exaggerated. These were widely accepted and commonly used findings such as hormone-replacement therapy for menopausal women, vitamin E to reduce the risk of heart disease, coronary stents to ward off heart attacks, and daily low-dose aspirin to control blood pressure and prevent heart attacks and strokes.

According to Dr. Ioannidis, the reason for such flawed research becoming common practice was basically this –

1) if a researcher is attracted to a concept that has a good chance of being wrong, and

2) said researcher is motivated (for whatever reason; “money and power” come to mind) to prove it right, and

3) there is wiggle room on how the evidence is collected or assembled, then

4) the researcher will probably succeed in proving wrong theories as right.

The kicker, as it almost always is, is money. Sound familiar?

A deadlocked Congress is no victory

2010-12-28T08:16:00.000-06:00

Yesterday morning, Cole Shooter, a "guest host" on KFYO's LFN (Lubbock's First News) commented that he would be perfectly happy with a deadlocked Congress, because if they were deadlocked then government spending couldn't increase.

It's a mistake to perceive a deadlocked Congress as any sort of victory for limited government. The ratchet effect toward a bigger government still works -- first, in that many entitlement programs have automatic increases which add to federal spending, and which increases continue even if Congress does nothing.

Liberals also advance the power and scope of the federal government when in office (as we've seen so well the last two years.) If Conservatives merely keep the status quo when they're elected, rather than reverse the growth, the result is a slow but sure realization of Liberal objectives. A slow defeat is still a defeat. The only victory possible for Conservatives is the appropriate reversal and cancellation of government programs (including unlegislated mandates by government regulatory agencies; e.g. EPA.)

A great Christmas story that doesn't involve Christmas

2010-12-24T07:47:00.001-06:00

Instead, it involves Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

This story sort of puts the spirit, not only of the holiday, but of our humanity, into context. (And it's not what you expect.)

A Modern Version of the Christmas Story

2010-12-22T09:42:00.000-06:00

Read "The Year Kenny Loggins Ruined Christmas." Seriously. It's worth it. Slightly disrespectful of the season and laugh-out-loud funny.