Congressional justice quantified

I've written previously. about Charlie Rangel's troubles. An investigative Congressional panel has issued its recommendation.  Here's how the Democrat Congress metes out justice

Republican Representative Joe Wilson's offense -- He shouted out "You lie!" as Obama addressed the Congress. Penalty: Congressional reprimand.
 
Democrat Representative Charlie Rangel's list of alleged offenses:
1. Conduct in violation of the solicitation and gift ban
2. Conduct in violations of Code of Ethics for Government Service (clause 5)
3. Conduct in violation of the House gift rule
4. Conduct in violation of postal service laws and franking commission regulations
5. Conduct in violation of any franking statute
6. Conduct in violation of House Office Building Commission's Regulations
7. Conduct in violation of the purpose law and the Member's Congressional Handbook
8. Conduct in violation of the Letterhead Rules
9. Conduct in violation of the Ethics in Government Act (EIGA) and House Rule 16
10. Conduct in violation of Code of ethics for Government Service (clause 5)
11. Conduct in violation of Code of Ethics for Government Service (clause 2)
12. Conduct in Violation of the Code of Conduct: Letter and Spirit of House Rules
13. Conduct in Violation of the Code of Conduct: Conduct Reflecting Discredibility on the House
• House Rules state that a Member "shall behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House."
• Subcommittee finds Rangel violated this with the following offenses:
1. -Improper solicitations of potential donors to the Rangel Center
-Acceptance of favors and benefits from donors to the Rangel Center in a way that some might see as influence the job he does in Congress
-Knowingly accepting indirect gifts from donors to the Rangel Center
-Improperly using franking privileges to raise money for the Rangel Center
-Writing solicitations for the Rangel Center on House property
-Misusing House resources- staff, phones, e-mail and franking for work related to the Rangel Center.
2. -Misuse of Congressional letterhead to solicit donations to the Rangel Center
-Failing to disclose, from 1998 to 2007, full and complete financial statements
3. -Rangel's pattern of submitting Financial Disclosure statements that were incomplete and inaccurate
-Failing to make sure his Financial Disclosure statements were complete and accurate
-Violating the Ethics in Government Act
-Failing to report rental income from his villa in the Dominican Republic on his Federal income tax returns from 1998 to 2006
4. -Violating the Internal Revenue Code
5. -Receiving rent stabilized apartment, using it for campaign activities when the lease stated it should be used only for living purposes
6. -Accepting the rent stabilized apartment in a way that could look like he was influence in his government activities by the deal
7. -By breaking the law, Rangel violated the Code of Ethics for Government Service
8. -By not adhering to the letter and spirit of House Rules
-"Respondent's pattern of indifference or disregard for the laws, rules and regulations of the United States and the House of Representatives is a serious violation"
9. -"Respondent's actions and accumulation of actions reflected poorly on the institution of the House and, thereby, brought discredit to the House"

Recommended penalty: Congressional reprimand.

What's a "saved" job?

Barack Obama made a much-ballyhooed visit to The View recently, and in response to some of his claims, Conservative Elizabeth Hasselbeck asked him a question about the never-before-used measurement "saved jobs." You can watch the video of the exchange here.

A while back, Tony Fratto had a column discussing the concept of "saved" jobs. He had this great thought:

"There is only one necessary data point to make the "jobs-saved" claim: an accurate measure of expected employment levels in the future....

"To understand just how unknowable this data point is, it's not necessary to be an economist, a mathematician or a statistician.

"You only need to know this: the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) - thousands of the most professional and rigorous counters and analyzers of labor data in the history of mankind - makes TWO revisions of employment data for their ESTIMATE of the PREVIOUS month....

"That is, the best employment statisticians the world has ever known, people whose lives are dedicated to employment data, conducting labor surveys and research, constantly refining their complex models, have a difficult time telling you how many jobs were created in the PAST!"

It took a year-and-a-half, but...

Associated Press: "Panel hits Rangel with 13 alleged ethics charges" (Note: despite the AP's attempt to soften the blow, the charges are not alleged.)


I first wrote about Charlie Rangel's ethics problems back in December of 2008. Sometimes Congress takes a while to see if one of them smells worse than usual.

Surrounded by reality

In a recent column, Rich Galen perfectly described Washington DC:  "49 square miles surrounded by reality."


(The description was originally used for San Francisco.  Tomato, tomahto.)

Since racism's in the news

The Daily Caller -- admittedly a right-leaning website -- has recently posted a series of columns illuminating how Liberal media types conspired to promote the Liberal Democrat agenda, and Barack Obama's presidential campaign specifically. The series is explosive and revealing.


The media types, along with Liberal university professors and activists, were members of a now defunct listserv called Journolist. They would post comments in what they considered a private, safe and confidential environment, secure in the knowledge (or so they thought) that their posts would never see daylight. They were wrong.


Some of the participants:
Richard Kim - The Nation
Spencer Ackerman - The Washington Independent
Michael Tomasky - The Guardian
Thomas Schaller -- Baltimore Sun columnist and college professor
Jonathan Stein - Mother Jones
Jared Bernstein - eventual top economist for VP Joe Biden
Holly Yeager - Columbia Journalism Review
Joe Conason - columnist
David Greenberg - Slate contributor
David Roberts - The Grist
Todd Gitlin - journalism professor, Columbia University


Okay, you get the idea. These were people with influence. Literally hundreds of Liberal journalists were members of this listserv. The particular episode I want to address was what these folks did during the brouhaha over Jeremiah Wright during the 2008 campaign. Here are some examples of their postings during that time (with some summary.)

• Chris Hayes of the Nation urged "those in the ostensible mainstream media” who were members of the list.to ignore Wright.
• Spencer Ackerman: "What is necessary is to raise the cost on the right of going after the left. In other words, find a rightwinger’s [sic] and smash it through a plate-glass window. Take a snapshot of the bleeding mess and send it out in a Christmas card to let the right know that it needs to live in a state of constant fear."
• Ackerman again: "...take one of them — Fred Barnes, Karl Rove, who cares — and call them racists."

Some members of Journolist, disagreed with the tactic, saying that such a gutter fight would hurt the Obama brand. Ackerman's response: "I'm not saying Obama should do this. I'm saying WE should do this."


Makes you rethink all the media talk about Tea Party racism, doesn't it? (And yes, Andrew Breitbart really did offer $100,000 to anyone who could produce a video of Tea Partiers calling black congressmen racial epithets at the protest against the healthcare legislation in March. That money remains unclaimed.)

The Daily Caller also reveals how these same media conspired to ruin Sarah Palin's 2008 VP candidacy. Check it out.

The Oil Spill

CNBC.com has a nice graphic demonstrating what the amount of oil leaking from BP's Deepwater Horizon well looks like. This comparison really struck home:

"If the Gulf of Mexico - the 7th largest body of water in the world, containing approximately 660 quadrillion gallons of water (that's 660 with 15 zeros) - was represented by Cowboys Stadium in Dallas - the largest domed stadium in the world - how would the spill stack up? In this example, the amount of oil spilled - if the Gulf of Mexico was the size of Cowboys Stadium - would be about the size of a 24 ounce can of beer."

Another reason I shop at Wal-Mart

Paul Greenburg wrote an interesting column about Wal-Mart.  The government tried to fine Wal-Mart for unsafe working conditions that led to the death of an employee.  The store had a grand opening and the impatient mob broke down the doors and trampled the unfortunate man.


But Wal-Mart has spent a couple of million dollars fighting the $7000 fine and the feds don't like it.  They finally picked on someone their own size.  Read the column, it's fun.

I write like...

I write like
David Foster Wallace

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Shocked, but not surprised

Here's a Fox News story about a black USDA official resigning her job. Shirley Sherrod resigned because she admitted in a speech to the NAACP that she didn't help a white farmer as much as she could have. Read it carefully and fully, because there are lessons to be learned.


Okay, now here's the video, so you can see it for yourself. It's not really required viewing, other than to be able to say you saw it with your own eyes and heard it with your own ears.





Two points to be made here. First of all, Sherrod felt completely comfortable talking about her racism in a public forum. Even in the telling of her story, she displays her racism -- "one of his own" "it IS about white and black." She also tossed in that it (whatever "it" is) is about "poor versus those who have." Her whole message seems to be that opportunity is predatory. Blacks must fight whites, poor must fight those who are not poor.


Whatever the point of her story, she apparently believed that in that particular forum, the audience would either understand her racism, or sympathize with it. Now imagine the firestorm that would follow if a white official casually made such a statement. He would likely be prosecuted, and his name would be used as a verb for decades.


To its credit, the NAACP has condemned Sherrod's statements and actions. My first point is this -- why would anyone ever feel comfortable enough to admit such a thing in public? Doesn't such conduct call for head-bowing, toe-scuffing embarrassment?


My second point is at the very end of the Fox story. Here's the quote from Sherrod: "There are jobs at USDA and many times there are no people of color to fill those jobs because we shy away from agriculture. We hear the word agriculture and think, why are we working in the fields?" she said. "You've heard of a lot of layoffs. Have you heard of anybody in the federal government losing their job? That's all I need to say."


'Nuff sed.

Slanted Snopes

Just an observation that even non-political websites as trusted as Snopes.com has a political agenda sometimes.  This came to mind recently as Liberals jumped on a Sarah Palin tweet in which she had a typo, interpreting it as her being a "dumbass" and "anti-intellectual."


Here's how Snopes excused Barack Obama's comment during the presidential campaign that he had visited "fifty-seven states" -- First of all, they mixed that fact with e-mails in which nutjobs referred to some fifty-seven Muslim states in whacko e-mails.  In doing that, they move the rumor from being "True" to being "mixture of true and false information."


Then they say this:  "...in May 2008, an obviously tired Barack Obama mistakenly told a crowd..."  (highlights mine.)  And "The actual intent behind Senator Obama's misstatement is easy to discern."


First Snopes diluted the real accusation, which was entirely true.  Then they excused it.


Republicans (like me) made fun of Obama for the slip, but we understood that those things happen.  Nowhere did I ever see someone who made a serious judgment on Obama's intellect based on it.  Liberals, on the other hand, have no qualms on making such a judgment promoting the idea that Sarah Palin is intellectually sub-par. She's another in the long line of prominent Republicans who have been attacked on their supposed lack of intellect, going back (as far as I know) to Reagan, who was described in his time as an "amiable dunce."


One last note -- Al Gore and later John Kerry were described by admirers during their campaigns as "brilliant."  George W. Bush, whose mind Democrats constantly made fun of, had a higher GPA in college than both of them.

Obama White House goes SCREEEECCHH as they slam on the brakes

NASA head Charles Bolden told al-Jazeera (!) that he was charged by Barack Obama to "first and foremost reach out to the Muslim world."   Here's that shocker:



Now, though, the White House says Bolden "misspoke" when revealing that tidbit.  From the video above, you can see that Bolden hid his uncertainty very well.  In fact, his statement was pretty definitive.  It's interesting how the Obama administration is now backing away from the comments, after Liberal pundits went to the trouble of defending the remarks as "noncontroversial."


Funny how cockroaches scurry for cover when the lights come on.

Democrats Play Rough, Part 2

We saw Democrat operatives rough up a journalist in Massachusetts.  A while back we saw Democrat congressman Bob Etheridge grab and manhandle a student reporter.  (Okay, if you didn't see it, here it is.)



In the latest episode of Jerry Springer -- er, Democrats in Public, Texas Democrat Congressman Ciro Rodriguez stops just short of assaulting one of his constituents at a public meeting.  But man, that lady was lucky there were witnesses around.

All for a good cause, right?

From a Fox News story headlined "Ex-Official Accuses Justice Department of Racial Bias in Black Panther Case" (You'll recall this incident -- see the video below.)




The Bush Justice Department filed a civil suit against the Black Panthers and won a judgment.  After Obama won the election, a whistleblower testified that they were told not to pursue cases with black defendants and white victims.  The Obama administration, according to the Fox story, "moved to dismiss the charges the following month after getting one of the New Black Panther members to agree to not carry a "deadly weapon" near a polling place until 2012."
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That is, not until the tactic is useful again.

Old wine in a new bottle

"He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them." -- Declaration of Independence, 1776
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"Obama administration to sue Arizona over anti-immigration law" -- news headline, 2010

Born on the 4th of July

Allegations against Gore

I've made no secret of my disdain for Al Gore in the past, and how his self-serving campaign on the theory of man-made global warming has hurt the world.
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I think, however, that the sexual assault allegations made against him by a masseuse seem a little shady, at least so far. Police have reopened the investigation, and more evidence may come to light. Until that time, I have to (gulp) give Al Gore the benefit of the doubt.

Obama on immigration

I just heard a bit of Obama's speech touting comprehensive immigration reform.  In the part I heard, he discussed the struggle that Jewish immigrants had when they came to America in large numbers just over a century ago.   Very poetic and lyrical words....but he forgot to mention that the vast majority of immigrants --  millions of them -- came here in an orderly way via Ellis Island. 
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Even as he cites the experience, Obama neglects the very thing that made that wave of immigration from the 1890s to the 1950s a boon to America.  (First of all, it was legal.)  Apparently the lessons of history are lost on him.

Obama's Bass-ackward Administration

Arizona's much-discussed law regarding illegal alien status is in line with the federal laws regarding immigration. The Obama administration has vilified, and now is expected to file a lawsuit against the state of Arizona, citing as its reason that immigration policy is a federal responsibility, and a state doesn't have the right to address illegal alien problems.


At the same time, there is dead stone silence from the Obama administration regarding so-called "sanctuary cities" that offer to help and/or hide illegal aliens -- which is in direct violation of federal immigration law. Sanctuary cities also, just as the Arizona law does, make policy regarding illegal immigration, the basis for Obama's potential lawsuit.


Punish those enforcing the law, ignore those violating the law -- does that sound sensible to anyone?

Supreme Secrecy

Today is Day 2 of the Senate confirmation hearings of Elena Kagan. Barack Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court. A Yahoo News story carries the headline "On Day 2 of hearings, Kagan employs artful dodge."

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Kagan wrote in 1995 that Senators should pursue more "substantive inquiry" and push nominees to be more open about their views during confirmation hearings.

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Now, of course, she's the one being questioned, and she said today that there are limits to the amount of openness that potential Supreme Court justices should be expected to show during nomination hearings.

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Since she has never held a court position as a judge, her writings and her testimony are the only indications that Senators have of whether she should be a justice or not. With her testimony today, she has effectively cancelled both of those out.

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The opposite of openness is secrecy. "Limits to openness" means that there should be more secrecy. Not a very reassuring philosophy from someone who is applying for a job which she will likely hold for the next 30-40 years.
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These are the people who are in charge of our country. Start stocking up food and ammo.

John Adams

From John Adams' 1765 work "A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law" 

"Be it remembered, however, that liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood. And liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right, from the frame of their nature, to knowledge, as their great Creator, who does nothing in vain, has given them understandings, and a desire to know; but besides this, they have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge, I mean, of the characters and conduct of their rulers. 

[The people] have a right to that most dreaded and envied of knowledge…of the character and conduct of their rulers.

Rulers are no more than attorneys, agents, and trustees for the people; and if the cause, the interest and trust, is insidiously betrayed, or wantonly trifled away, the people have a right to revoke the authority that they themselves have deputed, and to constitute abler and better agents, attorneys, and trustees."

Obamaisms

Similar to his claiming that he had visited "57 states" during his campaign, Obama -- the professed "greatest orator" of his followers' time -- recently added another goof.


Visiting a software company's headquarters with Russian president Medvedev, Obama referred to the building as the "headquarters of Twitters."


Anyone remember what was made of Bush's gaffes? A year and a half into his Carteresque presidency, Obama may not be as immune to ridicule from the media as he once was.  (Having said that, the Mikkelsons went to great lengths at Snopes to excuse Obama's innumeracy.  They've been pretty blatant in their support of Obama.)

Do you really like mysteries?

Democrat Senator Christopher Dodd, referring to the financial overhaul legislation that he co-sponsored and which the Democrat Congress is likely to pass: "No one will know until this is actually in place how it works."

Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, referring to the Democrat health care legislation:  

“We have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it.”

Is "let's give it a shot and see what happens" really a wise governing philosophy?

Listening to those who know best

Louisianans were polled in mid-June for their opinions on offshore drilling, and how various politicians have handled the situation with the BP oil spill.  (You can see the full poll results here.)  What was particularly striking is their attitude about Obama.  The residents of the unluckiest state in recent years think Obama has done worse in handling the spill than Bush handled Hurricane Katrina -- the former "worst response ever" example.

Obama on (No) Border Security

Here is what Senator John Kyl from Arizona says happened in a private conversation that Obama told him why Democrats refused to secure the border.



The White House denies the account.  Senator Kyle refused to back down from his story, saying “They want to get something in return for doing their duty. You don’t have to have comprehensive reform to secure the border, but you have to secure the border to get comprehensive reform.”


Meanwhile, here's an example of the federal government's "work" on border security:

Yetzer hara

Yetzer hara  (YET-zehr hah-RAH)  -- The Hebrew term for the "evil inclination," or  the inner impulse or tendency within the human heart to gravitate toward selfish gratification.


An interesting concept that I recognized immediately.  My own constant battle.

"Chief Executor of Good Intentions"

Byron York has a column highlighting what Conservatives have been saying since Obama became the Democrat candidate for President -- he has no practical experience running an organization.  The federal government's confused response to the BP oil spill shows no coordination or accountability.  Obama is used to other people making the decisions, and the bureaucracy is going to destroy the Gulf Coast.  From York's column:


"The oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico is gushing out of control. The Obama administration is at first slow to see the seriousness of the accident. Then, as the crisis becomes clear, the federal bureaucracy becomes entangled in itself trying to deal with the problem. "At least a dozen federal agencies have taken part in the spill response," the New York Times reports, "making decision-making slow, conflicted and confused, as they sought to apply numerous federal statutes....


The direction from the top was not clear. And accountability? So far, the only head that has rolled during the Gulf crisis has been that of Minerals Management Service chief Elizabeth Birnbaum. But during a May 27 news conference, Obama admitted he didn't even know whether she had resigned or been fired. "

Sarah Palin's résumé looks pretty good in comparison about now, doesn't it?

And so it begins....

Headline: "Insurance regulators miss early deadline on premium spending rules"
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"Implementing a controversial provision of the new health-care law [a/k/a "Obamacare" - kw] is proving harder than planned. A national assembly of state insurance regulators, which is helping the federal government translate the law into more specific rules, said it was unable to meet a Tuesday deadline for standards meant to ensure that consumers get value for their premium dollars."

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Headline: " Running late on the EARLY act"
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"Although it’s racing to roll out consumer-friendly aspects of the health care law before November’s midterm elections, the Obama administration has just missed the deadlines to set up task forces on breast cancer and health care in Alaska."

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Let's discuss again how effectively the federal government will run the healthcare system.

AZ Immigration Law: Read it for yourself

You can read the full text of the Arizona immigration legislation (both the Senate and House versions) along with the Governor's Executive Order, which expressly prohibits using a person's race, color or national origin as "suspicion" that a law has been violated.  Here.

Mexican President Calderon Admits the Truth

CNN's Wolf Blitzer: "Do Mexican police go around asking for papers of people they suspect are illegal immigrants?"
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Calderon:  "Of course."
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It's at the 5:35 mark if you want to skip Calderon's Democrat talking points.




Kudos to Wolf Blitzer for asking the right questions.

If It Were Only About Mexicans

A great firestorm has come up over Arizona's recent immigration law.  While it's intended to stem the damage done by illegal immigrants from Mexico, a recent report from an Atlanta television station paints an even more serious issue -- terrorists crossing the same borders, mixed with the Mexican nationals.


From the report: 


"[Border control] agents say most of the illegals caught crossing are from Mexico or South America. Still, they say thousands of people caught are classified as O.T.M.'s, which stands for "other than Mexican". They report that includes hundreds of people from nations that sponsor terrorism."


The reporter  viewed records that show illegals in custody from from Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan and Yemen.


"A recent congressional report on the border threat confirmed members of Hezbollah have crossed the Southwest border. It shows photos of military jackets with Arab insignias found on the border. One depicts a picture of a plane crashing into the twin towers in New York City....


"The congressional report also revealed the route Middle Easterners take to get the United States. It showed they travel from Europe to South America, then to the tri-border region. That's where they learn to speak Spanish. The report said they then travel to Mexico and blend in with other illegals."


Hundreds or thousands of possibly hostile non-Mexicans crossing the border from Mexico.  Is the Arizona law all that's protecting America from terrorism?  And why has that congressional report not received wider media coverage?

Republican Smackdown

Maybe NJ Governor Chris Christie will teach other Republican politicians how to act.

How Did I Miss This?

Penn State climate professor Michael Mann, creator of the now-it's-just-a-joke hockey stick graph formerly used to support the manmade global warming theory, has threatened to sue the makers of a satirical video on YouTube.  (I've discussed Mann before.)  They answered properly, "Bring it on."

Are Tea Parties All About Racism?

Read any online discussion about the Tea Parties, and sooner or later (usually sooner) a Liberal will either imply or explicitly state that the Tea Parties are full of racists -- reductio ad klanum -- intent on establishing white supremacy (as well as putting women back in the kitchen where they belong.)

Interestingly, one of the major Tea Party organizations, Tea Party Patriots, ran an online poll to see what tea partiers wanted to see in a "Contract From America."  Hundreds of thousands of votes were cast, and the following ten planks were the most popular:

1. Protect the Constitution
2. Reject Cap and Trade
3. Demand a Balanced Budget
4. Enact Fundamental Tax Reform
5. Restore Fiscal Responsibility and Constitutionally Limited Government in Washington
6. End Runaway Government Spending
7. Defund, Repeal, and Replace Government-run Health Care
8. Pass an ‘All-of-the-Above” Energy Policy
9. Stop the Pork
10. Stop the Tax Hikes

Nary a mention of race in there at all.  As I said -- interesting.  Are there any points that should appeal only to white people?

"I Will Always Love You" -- Again

The hottest video online today is a version of the song, "I Will Always Love You" from a Chinese version of American Idol:

The Chinese video, and most other sources, identify this as Whitney Houston's song, because of the popularity of her version, from the movie The Bodyguard:



The song, however, was written by and first made a hit by Dolly Parton in 1974.  She wrote the song about her breakup with longtime musical partner and mentor Porter Waggoner.  Here's an early performance of the song on the Porter Waggoner Show from 1974:



According to Wikipedia, Kevin Costner brought Linda Rondstadt's version of the song to Whitney Houston's attention, which inspired her to record it. 



Finally two more videos featuring Dolly Parton.  The first one, from the movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,  represents what I think is the most accurate sentiment from the song -- a love that simply won't work for the people involved:



This last video is what I consider one of the most beautiful duets of the song (Dolly has performed this song with others a million times over the years.)  She recorded it with Vince Gill and had yet another hit with the same song:

Obama's Pitch

As Harry Doyle (Bob Eucker) said in Major League, "JUST a bit outside." (Note that the mascot put the catcher between him and Obama.)

Obama, for all his vaunted athletic skills, seems not to have practiced pitching much since last July.  Together with his terrible bowling during the campaign, this shows that Obama's "athleticism" seems to be pretty much restricted to basketball.

"Embrace Life"

One of the most powerful public service ads I've ever seen.

The Bathroom Rule of Texting Etiquette

Switched.com sponsored a contest to see who could come up with the best rule on texting etiquette, and the following rule is the winner:

If you're in a situation where you'd excuse yourself to go to the bathroom, you should also excuse yourself before reaching for your phone. Otherwise, go ahead without asking. Either way, don't play with your phone longer than you'd stay in the bathroom.

They Can't Help Themselves

Sometimes Democrats can't keep from blurting out their real agenda.  Speaking on a radio talk show, Democrat Representative John Dingell of Michigan made the following comment when asked about the delay in implementing health care legislation:

"It takes a long time to do the necessary administrative steps to control the people."

Demotivators - Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Near Miss Day.  Huge asteroid almost collided with earth.  (1989)

Demotivator - March 22, 2010

James T. Kirk born in Riverside, Iowa.  That's Stardate 1277.1 for you Trekkers.  (2233)

Demotivators - Sunday, March 21, 2010

Jack Dorsey posts the first Twitter (then twttr) message.  (2006)

Demotivators - Saturday, March 20, 2010

Extraterrestrial Abductions Day!

Wear your aluminum foil hat or else!

Top Ten Coolest Movie Fighting Skills

Since I'm sort of a martial arts movie geek (among other deficiencies) this is the kind of column I love, because I've seen nearly all the movies. I've even seen "Gymkata."  My favorite?  I really liked Bourne, but it's hard to beat the coolness of Darth Maul.

Tough Interview for Obama

Barack Obama finally faced a tough interview (from Fox News, of course.)  He didn't come out looking very good.  His comment that the deal with Louisiana would help Hawaii because of the earthquake Hawaii had (????) was especially interesting.  Notice the way he avoided answering as much as he could, and how he tried to give extemely long answers to limit and diffuse questions.

Demotivator - March 18, 2010

Patent #2417786 was issued to Hurley Smith for the "Pocket Shield Or Protector."  The nerd is born. (1947)

Demotivator - Sunday, March 14, 2010

It's International Pi Day!

It's also Einstein's birthday. (1879)

Confusing News on Obamacare

Two stories hit today with different spins on the "reconciliation" maneuver Democrats hoped to use on their healthcare legislation.

Roll Call, the official newspaper for Congress, reports that the Senate Parliamentarian has ruled Obama must sign existing legislation before any reconciliation process can begin.  This eliminates the possibilty that the House could vote to accept the Senate version prior to it receiving Obama's signature.

Almost simultaneously, Harry Reid sent a letter to Republicans that he intends to move forward with the reconciliation process.  Since reconciliation is designated only for use on budget-conforming items, apparently the move is to make the motion only on a few thrown-in parts of the legislation which -- using imagination -- can be construed as budget-related.

Of course, voting for the reconciliation would in effect be voting for the healthcare legislation, regardless of Reid's claims in his letter.  House Democrats, who are much more nervous about their seats in Congress and the upcoming November elections, are given a bit of an "out."  They can claim that they didn't vote for the whole thing, but only for those few tchotchkes the Democrat leadership tossed in as a diversion.

Let's hope that Republicans can keep the pressure on House Democrats.  Such sweeping, invasive seizing of power by the federal government should not be approved by a narrow majority of politicians against the will of the American people.

Oops I Did It Again

Yes, I know.  Just watch the video. (Language warning: Slightly NSFW toward the end.)

Demotivator - Wednesday, March 10, 2010

NASDAQ closes at 5048.  The Dot Com Bubble bursts. (2000)

Demotivator - Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Liquid water is discovered on Enceladus, the 6th largest moon of Saturn  (2008)

Demotivator - Monday, March 8, 2010

Ralph Baer, iventor of the home video game console, is born.  He has an X, circle, triangle, square birthmark. (1922)

Democrats: They don't even trust each other....

According to recent news reports, Barack Obama is pushing for the parliamentary trick I mentioned earlier to get some sort of healthcare legislation passed.  Reconciliation means a series of maneuvers would have to happen between the Senate and the House.

One point is this: the House would have to pass the Senate version of the legislation, which is very different from the House version, then trust the Senate to pass legislative "fixes" to adapt the law to fit the House version.  Interestingly, the House Democrats do not trust Senate Democrats and Obama to fulfill their part of the bargain, despite assruances from top Democrat Senators.

The lack of trust between the chambers of Congress is telling.  If they don't even trust each other, then why in the world should ordinary Americans trust any of them?

Demotivator - Friday, March 5, 2010

Multiple Personality Day.
Multiple Personality Day?
Multiple Personality Day!

Demotivator - Thursday, March 4, 2010

Gary Gygax passes.  He will be critically missed by many generations.  (2008)

Kamikaze Democrats?

Andrew C McCarthy has written a column that proposes a very scary scenario; to wit, that Congressional Democrat leaders are willing to sacrifice their majorities in the House and Senate so as to get their healthcare legislation passed before November. The thinking is that, once they have rammed through sweeping control over Americans via nationalized healthcare, the machinery will be in place, and the government will have unsurpassed power even when Democrats are not in power.

Democrats know that anyone who votes for the legislation will likely face tremendous blowback from voters come election time. The Democrat leadership (Obama, Pelosi, Reid) are willing to accept such self-destructive losses to accomplish their bigger goal of transforming America.

This strategy only works if Republicans don't have the guts to repeal healthcare legislation once they are in office. This question needs to be asked of every candidate who runs in November:

"If elected, will you vote to repeal Democrat healthcare legislation?"

Obama = Broken Promises?

Doctors have confirmed that Barack Obama broke his promise to his wife that he would quit smoking. How do you think his promises to the rest of us will hold up? (Answer: Not too well.)

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Obama apparently also drinks too much. (If you interpret doctors' orders for him to "moderate alcohol intake" as an acknowledgement of that fact.)

Global Warming - The Other Side

Sine Al Gore has decided to come out of his brightly-lit bunker, I thought it appropriate to give airtime to what the arguments are that counter his. (Yes, this is long. You have to want it.)

PART ONE


PART TWO


PART THREE


PART FOUR



PART FIVE



PART SIX


PART SEVEN

Demotivators - March

The Demotivator slogan for March: "Marketing - Because making it look good now is more important than providing adequate support later."