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

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

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

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?

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

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)

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...

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

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

How slavery really ended in America

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...

...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?"

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

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

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

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

"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

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

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

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

Obamacare keeps getting better and better

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

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