Happy Thanksgiving

Here's wishing you all a great thanksgiving. I will be taking the next few days off to spend with friends and family. I will return to spewing forth random effrontery on Monday or Tuesday.

Week 12 - O-U-C-H!!!

The 49ers came out and played the first quarter as if they truly believed they had a chance to whip up on the hated Cowboys. Oh sure, they squandered two great first-and-goal scoring opportunities and had to settle for field goals. But the way they were moving the ball you HAD to believe that they could do it all day long.

Then the second quarter -- and reality -- set in. The Cowboys turned on the afterburners, scored 32 unanswered points, and it was pretty much 'game over'. The Niners managed to score a couple of garbage-time touchdowns, so the final score (35-22) doesn't nearly represent the ass-whipping the Niners endured.

This is really a team in need of playmakers. The offense has Shawn Hill, a journeyman; Frank Gore, certainly Pro Bowl material, but a literal walking target for defenses; and 100-year-old Isaac Bruce. I guess you can add Vernon Davis to the list, since he's playing much better of late. That's it. With the exception of Gore, none of those guys is going to scare anyone.

The defense has All-World Patrick Willis and a whole lotta nothing. Manny Lawson shows up once in a while, as do Parys Haralson and Takeo Spikes. The defensive line appears to be over matched every game. The safeties play well at times, but their inconsistency is maddening. The corners are AWFUL. They paid HOW MUCH?!?!??! for awful Nate Clemons. Terrell Owens made NC his bitch on Sunday.

We'll be lucky to win 4 games this year...and next year doesn't look too promising. It could be a very l-0-o-o-o-o-n-g time in the losers bracket for the 49ers if they don't have a good free agent/draft year.

One last note. Why does "America's Team" get ALL of the calls by officials? On the second drive of the first quarter, Hill threw a pass to a receiver who was CLEARLY getting molested by the cornerback covering him. No flag. No effing flag! Man, I HATE the Cowboys!

TVL - one year anniversary

Today marks the one year anniversary of this blog. One year ago today I unveiled The Vulture Lurks in all of its fetid glory. The first post was the Vulture Manifesto. I very excited about my little blog and my ponderous, self-satisfied first post, so I sent out a blanket email to all of my friends and family. Then I sat back and waited for all of the visitors to pound on my site. What followed was the sound of crickets chirping. Not good

A lot has changed in the year since that inauspicious first post. 340 posts later I now have a small but loyal band of regulars who stop by to check out the latest here. The tone of the blog, initially quite confrontational and even rude at times (ask Mrs. Vulture: she'll tell you!), has evolved into a more thoughtful and reasoned tone. Things I write these days are heavier on facts and references and lighter on name calling. I credit Whateverman with a lot of the change of tone. He and I frequently disagree on issues, yet we're able to discuss our divergent points of view in a reasoned and reasonable manner. I really appreciate Whateverman; he's made me much sharper in terms of being sure that I say things the way I wish them to be understood and to hone my arguments so that there aren't any factual or logical errors in them.

One of the side benefits of having a blog that I certainly didn't anticipate was the opportunity to discover the work of other bloggers as a result of having them link to my stuff. I'm very happy to have made the acquaintance of Toes, whom I admire greatly for her efforts to bring Child Protective Services and their myriad abuses into the light of day. I also appreciate her comments, and the fact that she puts up with my whining about the 49ers.

This blog wouldn't be complete without yodaddy, dw, mark, and xfloggingkylex. They don't comment frequently, but they're loyal readers, they pass on a LOT of good leads to me for post topics, and when they do comment, they bring it strong. Thanks, guys!

My extended family discovered this blog as well. I appreciate them checking out my blatherings.

What's in store in Year 2 of TVL? On January 1st I will unveil the first class of inductees into the Wiener Hall of Fame. If there's someone living or dead who you believe deserves to have their lifetime "achievements" recognized in the WHOF, please feel free to pass on your nominees. Two of my front-runners are King George the Dim and Ted Kennedy. I may throw in Michael Moore as well. We'll see.

Here's hoping that Year 2 of The Vulture Lurks brings a whole slew of good topics for us to chew on.

Wiener of the Week

This week Team Donkey is once again in the spotlight. It seems that the moonbat Left of the House is finally stepping out from the shadows into positions of leadership. This past week the House Dems voted to replace long-time Chairman of the Energy and Commerce panel John Dingell with ultra-Left Henry Waxman.

Rep. Dingell hails from Michigan, and, as such, has long been one to drag his feet on some of the more loony and extreme environmental crap dreamed up by the loony Left. It's not like he does it on principle; he's as ultra-Left as Waxman on other issues. It's just that you don't stay in office long representing Michigan if you endorse policies that harm the auto industry (like it needs any help being harmed!).

Rep. Waxman, who represents Beverly Hills, has no master to serve other than those already served by members of Team Donkey. That frees him to pimp for master Big Enviro. That makes the moonbat Left ever so happy. And when the moonbat Left is happy, American is in trouble.

So...what does the appointment of Rep. Waxman to this Chairmanship mean? Well, for starters, forget all about offshore drilling. It's not happening for the next four years. Maybe never. And expect a raft of silly legislation "mandating" use of currently non-existing alternate energy. Oh, and don't forget cap-and-trade. This insidious farce, invented by (who else?) Al Gorebells, is nothing but another onerous tax on the productive, and yet another Team Donkey-sponsored blow to American industry's ability to compete.

Good job, Dems. We're teetering on world-wide financial ruin, and you've shown yourselves as indifferent to that ruin by placing a flaming Lefty like Waxman in a position to steer our nation's energy agenda. For that, you're the recipient of the Wiener of the Week.

Shoot the messenger

Report the truth, bear the wrath of the PC Police! Reuters found that out the hard way when they published the results of a Ziegler poll that pretty much confirmed something I've already alleged: most of those who voted for King Barack (cue choir of heavenly voices) know absolutely nothing about him.

Zogby and Zeigler have endured an excrement storm for DARING to poke their thumbs in the eye of Big Media (the BM for short) as well as to question the integrity and intelligence of those who voted for their lord and savior, Barack Obama (cue choir).

Here's the high-level results of the offending poll.

Just 2% of voters who supported Barack Obama on Election Day obtained perfect or near-perfect scores on a post election test which gauged their knowledge of statements and scandals associated with the presidential tickets during the campaign, a new Zogby International telephone poll shows.

Only 54% of Obama voters were able to answer at least half or more of the questions correctly.

Wait. Did I read that correctly? Just over half of the respondents were able to answer half of the questions? That would mean that 46% of those who voted for Obama (cue choir) were pretty much voting for the DoublePlusGoodHopeChange, and not for the actual person who represented those things.

Quoth Ziegler:

After I interviewed Obama voters on Election Day for my documentary, I had a pretty low opinion of what most of them had picked up from the media coverage of the campaign, but this poll really proves beyond any doubt the stunning level of malpractice on the part of the media in not educating the Obama portion of the voting populace.

Amen, brother! Preach it!

Obama supporters might not have known much about Obama, but they knew PLENTY about Sarah Palin and McCommie.

• Ninety-four percent of Obama voters correctly identified Palin as the candidate with a pregnant teenage daughter
  
• 86% correctly identified Palin as the candidate associated with a $150,000 wardrobe purchased by her political party
• 81% chose McCain as the candidate who was unable to identify the number of houses he owned.
  
• When asked which candidate said they could "see Russia from their house," 87% chose Palin, although the quote actually is attributed to Saturday Night Live's Tina Fey during her portrayal of Palin during the campaign.
  

Isn't that amazing?!?!? Especially in light of these numbers.

• 83% failed to correctly answer that Obama had won his first election by getting all of his opponents removed from the ballot
• 88% did not correctly associate Obama with his statement that his energy policies would likely bankrupt the coal industry
• 56% were also not able to correctly answer that Obama started his political career at the home of two former members of the Weather Underground
• 72% did not correctly identify Biden as the candidate who had to quit a previous campaign for President because he was found to have plagiarized a speech
• 47% did not know that Biden was the one who predicted Obama would be tested by a generated international crisis during his first six months as President.
• 57% were unable to correctly answer that Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate

All Zogby did was publish the results of a poll. The questions weren't slanted in a way that would elicit a predetermined response. The questions didn't employ inflammatory language or buzzwords. They were just simple questions designed to test the knowledge of the voter.

This poll and the resultant fallout are yet more evidence of something I harped on throughout the campaign: the BM was beyond "in the tank" for their candidate. They were actively steering the result through a premeditated campaign of impugning one side while heaping adoration on the other. The fallout is also proof of another truth: if you expose facts that buck the prevailing societal 'truth', prepare for the worst, because you're gonna get it!

Buyer's remorse

Apparently some members of congress are shocked....SHOCKED!....that Hank Paulson might be using the funds from the $700 billion Friends of Henry Paulson Bailout Bill to benefit...wait for it...wait for it...the friends of Hank Paulson!

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe said Saturday that Congress was not told the truth about the bailout of the nation's financial system and should take back what is left of the $700 billion "blank check'' it gave the Bush administration.

"It is just outrageous that the American people don't know that Congress doesn't know how much money he (Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson) has given away to anyone,'' the Oklahoma Republican told the Tulsa World.

"It could be to his friends. It could be to anybody else. We don't know. There is no way of knowing.''

Puh-lease! You can't be serious. I did a Google search on the exact phrase "friends of Henry Paulson" and got 26 hits! Bloggers (mostly) and a scattering of columnists were calling the bailout boondoggle the Friends of Henry Paulson Act before it was even signed into law!

Of course Hank Paulson is giving the money to his friends! That was the whole point of the bill -- to pass as much wealth as possible from the federal coffers to a targeted elite so that they would be shielded when the excrement impacts the oscillator.

For any member of Congress to feign surprise at the inevitable result of this excreable abortion of fiduciary accountability is beyond disingenuous. It's laughable.

Senator Inhofe, go sell your phony outrage somewhere else. The American people ain't buying.

Week 11 - Rivalry(?) win!

Once upon a time there was a fierce rivalry between two teams vying for supremacy in the tough NFC West. It was long ago, in a galaxy far, far away. Okay, it was the 1980's. It just seems far, far away, especially since both teams are experiencing hard times now, and the Rams are WAY beyond bad -- they're downright woeful, as a matter of fact.

The Niners poleaxed the pitiful Rams Sunday 35-16...and it wasn't even as close as the final score would seem to indicate. 28 second quarter points. 28! And 35 points in the first half! The Niners hadn't done anything like that since 1992! You know, 1992, as in the Dynasty years. *sigh* How I miss the Dynasty years.

But enough of that! I just LOVE what Singletary is doing with this team! The whole attitude is different. This is not a finesse team. This is a team that hits, runs with authority, and doesn't quit on plays.

Singletary is using Frank Gore the way he needs to be used. Gore had over 100 yards on Sunday, and scored 2 touchdowns. Singletary's decision to replace turnover machine J. T. O'Sullivan with Shawn Hill was also a savvy move. Hill was borderline brilliant on Sunday, completing 75% of his passes and using his uncanny pocket presence to extend plays when pressured. He ran for a TD and also threw for 2 TDs.

The defense played well in spurts. 2 interceptions. 4 sacks. But they also allowed who-dat running back Antonio Pittman to rush for 95 yards. It's still a work in progress.

Dallas is up next, in Big D. We'll have to see if the 49ers can take advantage of Team Turmoil and whether this past Sunday was a harbinger of better things to come, or just beating up on a weak sister.

Wiener of the Week

Perhaps I should develop an auto text for the WotW for this particular Wiener, since this is at least the third time she's garnered the award.

Nancy Pelosi is a walking nightmare. She has to be the all-time worst Speaker of the House ever -- and that's quite a rouges gallery from which to choose.

Her latest steaming pile of legislative "leadership"? She is willing to pass legislation to bail out the Big Three automakers...but only if the legislation is bound to requirements for the industry to meet new fuel-efficiency standards.

Earth to Nancy: the main issue that is causing the Big Three to fail is NOT the fuel efficiency of their vehicles, it's the horrendous financial drain of contracts they've made with Big Labor. But, since you're a Leftist ideologue, you surely can't be expected to pass legislation that would address the root problem of their inability to compete in a free marketplace, now can you?

The truth is: if Detroit could waive a magic wand and go non-union (like semi-independent Saturn and most of the foreign automakers building vehicles in the US have), they would immediately retake their place at the top of the auto manufacturing food chain.

But it'll never happen, because politicians like Little Nancy are wholly-owned properties of Big Labor. They'll never bite the hand that assures their re-election. Neither will Little Nancy and her crew ever defy Big Environment, another of their core constituencies; hence the onerous "catch" attached to the proposed legislation on their behalf.

The fact is, for Little Nancy and her ilk, the constituency they are SUPPOSED to represent -- the American people -- is about 4th or 5th on their priorities list, behind enriching themselves, amassing more power, protecting their fellow elitists, and "payback" for those who fund (read: bought) them.

BTW, lest you think I'm singling out Team Donkey here, don't think for one minute that the Congressional parasites from Team Elephant are any better. They just serve different masters.

So, Little Nancy, for making sure that two of your most important masters -- Big Labor and Big Environment -- are served, and by putting their needs before those of the American people yet again, all while performing the unconstitutional act of using government funds to aid private industry, you are the Wiener of the Week.

Vulture Droppings - catching up

Vulture droppings is a semi-regular feature of this blog. It's a kind of "Random Thoughts" post in which I try to quickly summarize a particularly large event or series of events. Think of it being sort of like what a vulture leaves behind after devouring a horse. You don't get the whole horse, just highly processed leftovers.

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The past month it's been pretty hard to keep up with all of the stuff happening out there in the world. It's coming at us fast and furious, and it's not showing any signs of let up. As such, I wanted to 'drop' a bunch of items here so that I could clear some of the backlog.

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I've made the big time. I've been added to the Voxologisti - the blogger links on Vox Popoli, Vox Day's blog. Okay, so there are about 100 other blogs featured there. But I'm one of them!

BTW, I can't recommend Vox Popoli strongly enough. He's always got a strong take on the issues, and it's always a great read.

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Mark has a beef with Obama's early proclamations.

Subject: Gas

Heard on the news last night that one of Obama's 1st acts as pres. will be to overturn Bush's efforts to explore and drill for more oil & natural gas. Hello $5.00 gasoline and higher utility rates!! Boy I love Lefties!!!

I hadn't heard about this. I did a quick web-blast, and found stories saying that BHO was "considering" overturning this edict of the Rex Americana. To me, it seems that BHO is following in the footsteps of the Clintons by sending up trial balloons to see exactly what he can get away with. If there isn't a general public outcry about a particular "balloon", he'll know that it's something he can get away with.

Another trial balloon floating about is in regards to the restoration of the Fairness Doctrine. I want to emphasize in the strongest possible language that a reimplementation of the Fairness Doctrine, coupled with the extraordinary powers now vested in the Office of the President thanks to King George the Dim, could very likely spell the end of freedom of speech in this country. Don't think that the Lefties will limit its implementation to just TV and radio -- the Internet will be included, too -- maybe not right away, but eventually.

For a guy who's supposed to be a visionary and a uniter, he's sure quick to embrace (a) rule by edict, (b) sneaky Clintonista tactics, and (c) suppression of Constitutionally-guaranteed liberties.

Whether it's King George the Dim doing it, or BHO doing it, rule by Executive Order runs contrary to everything our founding fathers believed in. The fact that he's already deciding which edicts he will issue two months before he takes office leads me to believe that he'll follow in the footsteps of his predecessor and use the Constitution as toilet paper.

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dw also chimes in, on a different theme. This was obviously written before I had a chance to review the game.

Subject: WTF VULTURE

A Monday night like no other. Yes, I am talking the 9ers. OMG, were they something else. Down to the last 4 seconds. Oh, I forgot, you Eastern sleepy heads were fast asleep while this loyal fan in AZ watched the whole firggin game. A disappointment - NO!! I love Singletary - He walks the sidelines with AUTHORITY! I like the Cards since moving here but THE 9ERS LIVE ON and on my walls. So sad to see the Vulture swooped right over that one. Hey Vulture, take time to smell the desert. Great game and actually some hope for my beloved 9ers!!!

dw, I couldn't agree with you more. Yes, the result of the game was disappointing. But you can see a palpable difference in the attitudes of the players. Their attitudes are starting to mirror the attitude of the Head Coach. Mike Singletary is a man among men, a giant, a legend of the game of professional football. I love what he is doing with the team. I think that, ultimately, after he's done making all of his rookie coaching mistakes, he'll end up being one of the top-notch Head Coaches in the league. Mark. My. Words.

The Niners, like the South, shall rise again!

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Have you noticed the slew of articles pointing out that there is zero accountability over the financial bail-out money being distributed hither-and-yon to Friends of Henry Paulson, Inc? Have you noticed that, rather than purchasing the worthless mortgages from financial institutions, as Congress had promised they would do when they passed that steaming pile of legislation, they are, instead, purchasing stock in the financial institutions themselves? I wish I was making that up. I really do.

Fascist economics: Fascists believe in joint ownership of business/industry between private interests and the government, or private ownership with government oversight of said businesses.

Welcome to the Fourth Reich.

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Last item: the people who are constantly telling us how bigoted and intolerant we are seem to think its okay to threaten and harass those whose viewpoints don't match their own.

Letters containing a suspicious white powder were sent Thursday to Mormon temples in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City that were the sites of protests against the church's support of California's gay marriage ban.

The temple in the Westwood area of Los Angeles was evacuated before a hazardous materials crew determined the envelope's contents were not toxic, said FBI spokesman Jason Pack.

The temple in downtown Salt Lake City, where the church is based, received a similar envelope containing a white powder that spilled onto a clerk's hand.

Let's just imagine, if you will, that the roles were reversed. Let's imagine that Prop 8 had WON, and the Mormons were picketing and heckling the gays. Then a package of white powder is received by a gay organization, requiring evacuation of the building and perhaps immediate medical attention for the poor clerk who opened the package. Under those conditions, would the news story have been buried about 12 column inches down the page on the Drudge Report? Or would it have been the headline? Would it be completely ignored by the websites of ABC news, CBS news, and NBC news? Would it be ignored by CNN.com, and hidden in the 'US news' page on MSNBC.com? Because that's the treatment the story of the Mormon temples receiving white powder is receiving as of 2:30 EST today.

I'm just saying...

The Washington Post issues a disingenuous 'mea culpa'

I think I made it quite plain during the course of the election cycle that I was thoroughly disgusted with Big Media (the BM for short) and their relentless campaign to see to it that their lord and savior Barack Obama would be elected as our next president. I guess their consciences must be bothering them now that the election is over. The Washington (Com)Post has printed the first of what I believe will be many articles in which the BM admits the obvious.

The Post provided a lot of good campaign coverage, but readers have been consistently critical of the lack of probing issues coverage and what they saw as a tilt toward Democrat Barack Obama. My surveys, which ended on Election Day, show that they are right on both counts.

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The op-ed page ran far more laudatory opinion pieces on Obama, 32, than on Sen. John McCain, 13. There were far more negative pieces (58) about McCain than there were about Obama (32), and Obama got the editorial board's endorsement.

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Stories and photos about Obama in the news pages outnumbered those devoted to McCain.

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McCain clinched the GOP nomination on March 4, and Obama won his on June 4. From then to Election Day, the tally was Obama, 626 stories, and McCain, 584. Obama was on the front page 176 times, McCain, 144 times; 41 stories featured both.

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Obama was in 311 Post photos and McCain in 282. Obama led in most categories. Obama led 133 to 121 in pictures more than three columns wide, 178 to 161 in smaller pictures, and 164 to 133 in color photos.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Spare me the numbers. Where's the beef? Where's the admission that (a) you were in the tank for BOH, as your own readers decried?; (b) How many of the overwhelming number of stories on BOH were journalistic fellatio and how many of the stories on McCommie were hatchet jobs?; (c) What about the glaring difference between your handling of Sarah Palin vs. your handling of "Hairplug" Joe Biden? Ah, they're glad I asked.

One gaping hole in coverage involved Joe Biden, Obama's running mate. When Gov. Sarah Palin was nominated for vice president, reporters were booking the next flight to Alaska. Some readers thought The Post went over Palin with a fine-tooth comb and neglected Biden. They are right; it was a serious omission. However, I do not agree with those readers who thought The Post did only hatchet jobs on her. There were several good stories on her, the best on page 1 by Sally Jenkins on how Palin grew up in Alaska.

"Several" good stories on Palin. Uh huh. Don't try to sell that manure to this Vulture. I'm not buying. Your readers are right, again. You set out, like every other organ of the BM, to destroy Sarah Palin, because she doesn't worship at the shrine of abortion and isn't part of the New York-Washington elites club.

As 'mea culpas' go, this one was lame. "We sorta admit we were biased because the numbers are skewed" doesn't go far enough. The truth is the (Com)Post and most other BM fish wrappers weren't "reporting" on the election, they were trying to influence its outcome.

But that's one admission you're not going to get out of anyone in the BM.

The top-10 irritating phrases

Apparently, someone at Oxford has a whole lot more time on their hands than I do. They've compiled a list of the 10 most irritating phrases.

The top ten most irritating phrases:

1. At the end of the day
2. Fairly unique
3. I personally
4. At this moment in time
5. With all due respect
6. Absolutely
7. It's a nightmare
8. Shouldn't of [instead of "shouldn't have"]
9. 24/7
10. It's not rocket science

This list has a decidedly British slant to it. We Americans have WAY more expertise at coming up with annoying catch phrases. I can think of a number of them right off the top of my head that are WAY more irritating than those in the list above. Here's a sampling.

1. It is what it is
2. New paradigm
3. Think outside the box
4. Be proactive

How about you? Do you have any pet peeve phrases that drive you bananas? Leave a comment to add your $.02 to the topic.

Week 10...missed it by THAT much

Mike Singletary's second game as head coach was significantly better than his first. That said, we still lost.

It was a tale of two halves. In the first half the offense was a dead ringer for the '85 Bears offense: pound the rock, pound the rock, pound the rock, then play-action deep pass. It was AWESOME! Frank Gore ran like the Pro Bowl-caliber running back he is. Shawn Hill only completed 50% of his passes, but, in his defense, he had a number of throw-aways to avoid sacks. And his two touchdown passes were things of beauty. He's got amazing touch on his deep ball. Another real positive on the offensive side of the ball is the continuing development of Josh Morgan, who looks to be developing into a quality NFL-ready wide receiver.

The defense didn't play great in the first half, but, because of the ball control offense, it played well enough for the Niners to lead 21-13 at the half.

Then, in the second half, Bad Martz came to visit. You know Good Martz: develop the ground game, establish short- to medium-range passes, then go for the jugular. Bad Martz is all about going pass-wacky. Why in the name of all that is sacred did he abandon a game plan that worked like a charm the entire first half?!?!?

Understand, I love what Martz has done for the offense. It was so cringe-inducingly BAD last year. This year it's been much improved, bordering on very good at times. But when Bad Martz comes out, everything goes into the crapper. My prediction: Martz will NOT be with the team next year if the York's retain Singletary as the head coach (which is my most fervent wish at this point).

While many will fault Singletary for the foul up in the last minute of the game where the Elephant package was rumbling out on the field when a "spike" play was needed, I believe that the brunt of the responsibility in that situation falls not on the head coach, but on the QB. Shawn Hill should have SPRINTED up to the line signaling "spike, spike, spike!" the whole way and trusted that the coaches on the sideline would handle everything else correctly. It's not that I'm throwing Hill under the bus, understand. It's that I recognize that this was only his 3rd or 4th professional start and it was his inexperience showing, nothing more.

Still, to go into the Cardinals' house and DOMINATE them offensively for a half, THAT to me is big time improvement. The 49ers under Singletary project a completely different attitude than they did under Mike Nolan. I like it. I'm looking forward to more of it.

AOL responds

In all of the excitement of the election and whatnot, I neglected to pass on to you the response I got from AOL regarding my scathing Wiener of the Week post on 11/1. Was I surprised to hear from AOL? You bet your sweet bippy I was! Who would have thought that my little blog, with its tiny following, would be worthy of the attention of a multi-million dollar corporation?

This is, verbatim, what AOL said in an email to me on 11/3.

Dear Mr. Fullmer,

I understand via your blog that you recently experienced some issues with the AOL Pictures site. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

Although you may have experienced some problems accessing your images through your website, we want you to know that we have not deleted these images or their permalinks in any way and that the permalinks will not be impacted until 12/31/2008. If anything, you were unable to access your images simply due to the overwhelming traffic we have experienced in response to our communications with users with respect to the AOL Pictures service. We have put additional servers in place to accommodate this increase in traffic and believe that you should be able to view your images via the permalinks and embed code as you have in the past.

We encourage you to visit the AOL Pictures site (pictures.aol.com) to make future arrangements for your images. Again we apologize for the inconvenience.

If you have any questions about the closure or transition options for AOL Pictures, please feel free to respond to this address, and we will be more than happy to help you out.

Sincerely,
The AOL Pictures Team

Pretty nice, right? However.........

It is indisputable that my images all disappeared. Yes, I know - the original pictures are still there. They just don't "show" anywhere.

It is certain that, had I not gone to the extraordinary efforts of that weekend, my blog would still look like ass.

I appreciate that AOL has apologized. But I am still salty about the suddenness with which a previously reliable service provider suddenly yanked the rug out from under me.

But I'm not one to hold a grudge. And AOL's sincere apology has left me feeling mollified. I'll go back to rooting for the Capitals again. :)

Thanks, AOL, for taking the time to respond. It is appreciated.

Wiener of the Week

The WotW has seen some real asshats in its time. But this week's winner is one for the ages.

It seems that the Team Elephant establishment (you know -- Biff, Buffy, Chauncey, et al.) is determined to destroy Sarah Palin. She has been alternately described as (a) dragging down the ticket, and (b) a prima donna diva, impossible to work with, a loose cannon.

Hey assclowns! Time for a reality check! Your hand-picked candidate for president, the completely unpalatable John McCommie, would have lost the election by double digits were it not for the presence of Sarah Palin on the ticket. Double. Frickin'. Digits. The only drag on the Team Elephant presidential ticket was the surly old fart at the top of the ticket.

And as for the prima donna part of your whining, let me say this -- out of the four individuals on the two (well, one bipartite) party's tickets, only Sarah Palin came across as a genuine human being. She may be a lot of things behind the scenes that we don't see, I'll grant you that. But no one can pull off the genuineness she projects for any period of time without actually BEING genuine.

But you're bound and determined to destroy that lovely lady because she's not on board with the ridiculous Team Donkey Lite direction in which you're taking the party. You're smearing her as stupid and difficult. You're calling her everything but a white woman. And you're doing it anonymously! Such courage! [/sarcasm]

Team Elephant is a party is a suicide spiral. Liberty-loving Republicans have left and are leaving the party in droves. And yet, they not only fail to read the writing on the wall, they are trying to move even FURTHER to the left into the mushy middle as opposed to distinguishing themselves as the party of small government, personal liberty, and Constitutional principles. How's that working out for you? So far, in 2 short years, you've gone from possessing the Presidency and both branches of Congress to having none of them -- plus, to add insult to injury, the Senate is almost veto-proof for Team Donkey! Good job, clowns!

So, what we have now is a party of the squishy middle, signifying nothing, and a party of the über-Left, representing the principles of Big Government, collective identity, and collectivist economics. What's a freedom loving American to do? Follow the example of Toes, and leave the Republican party! Send a message with your feet!

Team Elephant, for showing yourselves to be cowardly elitist snobs determined to excise all remnants of libertarian or conservative thought from your party, you are the Wiener of the Week.

Easiest job in Washington, bar none

(Image borrowed from IBDeditorials. Kudos to political cartoonist Michael Ramirez for capturing the Big Media/Obama relationship just as it is. Click on the image to see it full-size at the IDBeditorials web site).

What will be the easiest job in Washington come January 20th? Why, that's easy! Press secretary for Barack Obama! So who's the lucky guy who gets to serve as Aaron to Barack Obama's Moses? Robert Gibbs. Robert who?

Robert Gibbs, a top aide to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on his campaign and in his Senate office, will be named the White House press secretary, a top Democratic official said.

Gibbs was usually the senior official on Air Obama, the campaign plane. As communications director of Obama's Senate office, Gibbs was a key strategist in Obama's rapid move to the national stage.

Transition planning is still at an early stage and the job has not been formally offered or accepted, officials said.

The announcement is likely to be viewed favorably by reporters because Gibbs has unquestioned authority, access and institutional memory.

No, the announcement is likely to be viewed favorably because the so-called "reporters" who will be covering the Obama White House are a bunch of lickspittle sycophantic fawning toadies who worship Obama.

What I don't understand is this -- why wasn't Chris Matthews offered the job? He'd gladly fall on his sword daily for his idol, Obama. Maybe he's being considered for the Monica Lewinsky position on the White House staff. I mean, that's figuratively where he spent the entire campaign anyway...

What will an Obama presidency look like?

Okay. Take a deep breath, all. It's time to put the emotion of the campaign behind us and take a dispassionate look at what an Obama presidency could look like. Using American history as my guide, here are the four presidents whose terms in office Obama's presidency could end up mirroring.

Scenario I - Obama as Jimmy Carter
The last Team Donkey candidate for president to receive more than 50% of the popular vote, Jimmy Carter began his presidency on a wave of popular support very similar to what Obama will have when he takes office in January. It didn't last. It took Carter less than two years to self destruct. It wasn't just that he was incompetent and clueless. He was incompetent, clueless, and sanctimonious.

The "center of gravity" moment of his presidency was his "malaise" speech. In that speech, he basically threw up his hands and said that the American century was over; we'd all better get used to living lesser lives.

Gasoline shortages. Double-digit inflation. Double-digit interest rates. Double-digit unemployment. And let's not forget his performance in Iran. First he threw the Shah under the bus, allowing Iran to fall into the hands of the Ayatollahs. Then he stood by, impotent, as our embassy was stormed and American citizens were taken hostage for over 440 days.

Given Obama's complete lack of experience, there is a fair chance that the Obama presidency could mirror the Carter presidency.

Scenario II - Obama as Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton took office in 1993 to the strains of "Don't stop thinkin' about tomorrow". To his supporters, Bill Clinton represented a new dawn after the "dark night" of Reagan/Bush (their perspective -- certainly NOT mine!).

But Clinton took this period of euphoria to mean that he had a mandate from the American people to implement all of his policies right now. He overstepped badly.

"Hillary Health" was a colossal flop; even the most liberal Democrats in Congress were scared to vote for its passage. Clinton's flip-flop on a middle class tax cut angered even more Americans. "Don't ask, don't tell" angered gays for not going far enough, but angered conservatives who thought it went too far. The Clintons were seen as arrogant, condescending, and out-of-touch with mainstream America.

When the Senate and the House of Representatives, which had been in Democrat hands for over 40 years, fell into Team Elephant hands in 1994, it looked like the Clinton presidency would be every bit the flop that the Carter presidency had been.

But fortune smiled on Bill Clinton. He was able to turn the corner, triangulate his way around the Republican-controlled Congress, and take credit for a Welfare Reform bill initiated by the Republicans. Fortune smiled again in the form of Bob Dole, the Team Elephant candidate for president in 1996. Dole's campaign made McCommie's look positively inspired by comparison.

Because Clinton was able to turn the corner from his early failures, he was able to complete his rather rocky presidency viewed by at least a portion of the population as a successful president.

Obama's cockiness could get him into the same sort of overstep quagmire that Clinton experienced. But if he is as savvy as Clinton, he too could weather the overstep, scale back his agenda -- perhaps even moving to the right on the issues -- and finish as a successful president.

Scenario III - Obama as FDR
FDR was the original cult of personality. He ran roughshod over the Congress and the Constitution for over 13 years. If he hadn't died in office, he might still be president today!

There is STILL a certain element of the population drinking the Roosevelt Kool-Aid, mostly on college campuses. But anyone who is a student of history know that Roosevelt's 13 year neo-fascist reign over America was the second time in our nation's history where we just missed being enslaved by a megalomaniac.

The FDR presidency had it's moments. The administration's execution of WWII was exemplary. And the worst excesses of the FDR administration were successfully thwarted by the Supreme Court. But FDR left us with a legacy that included Social Security, minimum wage laws, government favoritism towards organized labor, and a network of spies in the State Department (only proven conclusively in 1994 when the Venona papers (captured Soviet communications to Americans acting as spies for the USSR) were released).

Could Obama be the next FDR? It's certainly probable. After all, he's every bit the socialist/fascist in his core ideology that Roosevelt was. And he's quite the spell-binding speaker, as was FDR. With term limits on the office of the Presidency, we don't need to worry about 13 years of Obama. But he could be a two-term president and he could ram through a formidable FDR-like array of socialist nonsense in that time.

Scenario IV - Obama as Woodrow Wilson
This is the scenario that scares the Bejeezus out of me, because Obama's personality seems to mirror that of Wilson. Wilson projected an image of a calm, scholarly man. But he was a thug and a megalomaniac. His administration was marked by brutal physical attacks against those who opposed him. And he was, in point of fact, the very first Fascist; there was nothing implemented by Mussolini that wasn't a core plank of Wilson's administration.

Wilson leveraged WWI as an excuse to implement "war socialism". Trust me, he had no intention of "undoing" that economic stance upon completion of the war. But with the war ending as quickly as it did following the US entry into it, and with his subsequent stroke a year later, Wilson was thwarted in his goal to make America the first Fascist state.

This was the first attempt at enslaving the American people under a stateist ideology, and, had WWI lasted longer and Wilson remained healthy, it could have succeeded!

Obama shows every sign of being the petulant megalomaniac that Wilson was. Is he capable of being the thug that Wilson was? That I don't know. But if he is, we could be in for a WORLD of trouble.

Obama as Wilson is the most dangerous of all scenarios. Obama is much more popular than Wilson ever was (he squeaked by in the 1912 election only because of a third party run by Teddy Roosevelt against incumbent President Taft). Obama has another advantage Wilson lacked; he has Big Media (the BM for short) under his spell. They're more than happy to carry his water and run his propaganda as fact.

Watch carefully to see if Obama pushes for a return of the Fairness Doctrine, which, like all good Marxist efforts, has nothing to do with "fairness" and everything to do with removing all dissenting voices from the public discourse. If he pushes hard for the Fairness Doctrine within his first 100 days, we'll know that we've got Woodrow Wilson on our hands...and we're f***ed.

Okay, I've made my case. Let me know what you think about what an Obama presidency will look like. I'm curious to see if you see the different scenarios the same way I do.

Congratulations to Team Elephant!

Uh.....Vulture? Why are you congratulating Team Elephant? They got their collective asses kicked last night. Why, yes they did! There's no wound as painful as a self-inflicted wound -- that is, unless there's a chorus of 'I told you so!' salt to be rubbed into it. And I'm rubbing.

You sold us the Contract with America. Then within 10 years you were worse drunken sailor spend-a-holics than the Team Donkey congresses had ever been!

You sold us King George the Dim as a 'compassionate conservative'. He turned out to be a stateist thug with a Jones to avenge daddy in Iraq.

You rammed the completely unpalatable John McCommie down our throats this election cycle, believing that the threat of a neo-Communist like Barack Obama or a strident Marxist true-believer like old Slewfoot Hillary Rodham Satan Clinton would be enough to scare the credulous into continuing to vote Team Elephant.

You have molded the party into a sort of Team Donkey Lite in an attempt to....what? Gain acceptance from your friends on the Upper East Side? Garner the approval of the New York Times? Deny power to the unwashed Bible-believers who vote for your team but embarrass you to no end?

You elitist snob bastards! We're now doomed to at least 2 years of the closest thing to one-party rule that has existed in this country since Roosevelt. You did this. You need to own this. Americans need to have a party that stands in REAL opposition to Team Donkey's now-unopposed march towards One-World Socialist Dystopia. We don't have that now. And we don't have that now because of YOU.

You want to regain power? (What a stupid question! Of COURSE you want to regain power! That's all you're about, really, in the end.) You need to get back to the Ronald Reagan/Barry Goldwater roots. Better yet, you need to start listening to Ron Paul and other defenders of the Constitution and start to make those principles part of your permanent platform. You need to offer a distinguishable difference between yourself and Team Donkey. Team Donkey Lite isn't a viable option. It's a recipe for party suicide.

But, hey....it's your funeral. At least you'll go down knowing that your friends on the Upper East Side approve of you.....

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Coming later today...What kind of president will Barack Obama be?

Vulture Droppings - Election Day

Vulture droppings is a semi-regular feature of this blog. It's a kind of "Random Thoughts" post in which I try to quickly summarize a particularly large event or series of events. Think of it being sort of like what a vulture leaves behind after devouring a horse. You don't get the whole horse, just highly processed leftovers.

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It's finally here. Thank God! I couldn't take much more of this election BS. I've already voted today, tallying my vote for Ron Paul, thank you. If you haven't voted yet, please consider reading from these past links before you do.

• On voting
• Ron Paul, Superstar
• Black Democratic voters = Conservative Republican voters

Okay, now on to the last minute election-related tidbits that will be stale and unusable tomorrow.

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First, there is a myth that I wish to squash, posthaste. That myth is that it is important for everyone to vote. I wish to register my contrarian answer to that myth.

Everyone should NOT vote. Why not? Because "everyone" includes people who aren't paying attention! Because "everyone" includes people who think it's important to vote for the candidate who promises the most "stuff" for them. Because "everyone" includes people who know more about Madonna than they do about Barack Obama. And because "everyone" includes people sucking on the government teat, draining our national vitality and sapping the resources of the middle class. If you don't know who the candidates are, don't vote. Please. If you don't know how the candidates stand on issues that are important to you (or you don't even have a clue what the issues are), don't vote. And if you're voting for a candidate based on the color of his skin or the "stuff" they've promised to give you, please FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON'T VOTE!!!!!!

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There's an email going around that purports to prove that BHO is the Antichrist. One of the "proofs" of this assertion is this.

According to The Book of Revelation:

The Anti-Christ will be a man, in his 40s, of MUSLIM descent, who will deceive the nations with persuasive language, and have a MASSIVE Christ-like appeal....the prophecy says that people will flock to him and he will promise false hope and world peace, and when he is in power, he will destroy everything.

There's just one problem with that. IT ISN'T TRUE!!!

The Book of Revelation doesn't say jack about the age or ethnicity of the Antichrist (though some have come to the conclusion that he would be Roman or Italian). As a point of fact, Islam wasn't established until about 600 AD, so John the Revelator wouldn't really have a term for a Muslim nor any kind of context of who they are, now would he?

If you're going to malign a candidate, at least get your facts straight!

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One final item. This is the text of an email from Pastor Richard Fredericks I received just today. It's wise council for all of us, regardless of how the election turns out.

Dear Family and Friends,

Tomorrow the election is over and the country has decided. May I make a few post-election observations, not about the candidates (who cares what I think), but about our processing of politics as Christians.

For the record, I really admire both McCain and Obama. To last through the gauntlet of a presidential campaign takes an exceptional person, and the strength under fire and tenacity of both candidates deeply impressed me.

John McCain is not only a true war-hero, he is a stamina super-hero. When most 72-year olds with a 401K only dream of their well-earned retirement, Senator McCain is energetic and proved he could shoulder the weight of the presidency. He ran a campaign schedule that would kill most young men—including clear, rousing speeches in SEVEN states on the final day: try that sometime. He is a model of making your whole life count for the things you care about.

Barack Obama brought an eloquence of communication to this race unseen since John Kennedy, and his position papers on race and religion (the two hot buttons of his candidacy) are, in my opinion, must reads for their thoughtfulness—especially if he emerges as the winner.

Finally, the fact that we had: the oldest presidential candidate ever, the first black (bi-racial) candidate ever and that two strong women (Senator Clinton and Governor Palin) played central roles in this election definitely marks a new era of maturity and openness in American politics.

Now three observations about us:

Once we decide for a candidate and against the other, based on their positions (a good thing) there is a tendency to impugn the motives and character of the candidate we did not chose. Fiery zeal and words like idiot, crazy and dangerous get applied to both. I would be willing to wager a year’s salary that if you spent a long weekend with either candidate (and with an open heart) you would leave with great respect—perhaps not for their positions—but for their character and sincerity.

Second, my prayer for the American church is that we always respect the political process but stop believing anything other than the church sharing Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord can transform America. Political leadership matters, especially in a crisis (as Lincoln and Roosevelt demonstrated). But throughout history, whenever Christians believe their political party will usher in God’s righteousness—without exception—things have gotten corrupt at best and deadly at worse. Our hope is God’s grace alone, shared by Christians who believe Jesus alone is the answer, not legislation. I think perhaps Christians bent on political salvation may be the new legalism.

Third, God’s Word calls us to be “completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” Ephesians 4:2. There is no clause that says ‘except for politics.’ Christians should be marked by passion for beliefs coupled with an equal dose of civility because of genuine humility about our own sinfulness and lack of infinite perspective on what God is up to. NOW—let’s pray for our new president—whoever he is. Love Ya, R

Amen, Richard. Amen.

Media bias - a journalist speaks out

Thank God there are still some honest journalists left! Michael S. Malone of ABCNews.com has restored my hope that someday a career in journalism can be something more than that of pro-government propagandist.

Mr. Malone had the courage to take on his peers in this article posted on ABCNews.com on October 24th. From the opening paragraphs to the end of his essay he expresses deep concern for the future of his craft in light of the fawning obsequiousness of Big Media (the BM for short) with regard to their lord and savior, Barack Hussein Obama.

The traditional media are playing a very, very dangerous game -- with their readers, with the Constitution and with their own fates.

The sheer bias in the print and television coverage of this election campaign is not just bewildering, but appalling. And over the last few months I've found myself slowly moving from shaking my head at the obvious one-sided reporting, to actually shouting at the screen of my television and my laptop computer.

But worst of all, for the last couple weeks, I've begun -- for the first time in my adult life -- to be embarrassed to admit what I do for a living. A few days ago, when asked by a new acquaintance what I did for a living, I replied that I was "a writer," because I couldn't bring myself to admit to a stranger that I'm a journalist.

This is a man who is obviously concerned not just for his craft's deviation from its natural calling (to factually report on what is happening in the world), but the impact this could have on our nation long-term. After describing at length his journalistic background (4th generation journalist!), and exploring how we got to the point where journalists have gone from observer/reporters to cheerleaders, he drops this nugget.

But nothing, nothing I've seen has matched the media bias on display in the current presidential campaign.

Republicans are justifiably foaming at the mouth over the sheer one-sidedness of the press coverage of the two candidates and their running mates. But in the last few days, even Democrats, who have been gloating over the pass -- no, make that shameless support -- they've gotten from the press, are starting to get uncomfortable as they realize that no one wins in the long run when we don't have a free and fair press.

And then, the coup de grace.

[W]hat I object to (and I think most other Americans do as well) is the lack of equivalent hardball coverage of the other side -- or worse, actively serving as attack dogs for the presidential ticket of Sens. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Joe Biden, D-Del.

If the current polls are correct, we are about to elect as president of the United States a man who is essentially a cipher, who has left almost no paper trail, seems to have few friends (that at least will talk) and has entire years missing out of his biography.

That isn't Sen. Obama's fault: His job is to put his best face forward. No, it is the traditional media's fault, for it alone (unlike the alternative media) has had the resources to cover this story properly, and has systematically refused to do so.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the whole issue, summed up, rung up, and tied with a bow. The BM has systematically refused to cover Barack Obama. They've been happy to fawn over him with sycophantic exuberance. They've been happy to serve as his propagandists. But they haven't offered so much as a peep about the multitude of peripheral issues surrounding Obama that might serve to indicate what kind of person he is and what kind of president he might be.

His latest little hissy fit, throwing reporters from the Washington Times, Dallas Morning News, and New York Post off of his campaign jet because their papers have endorsed John McCain, has completely disappeared from view already -- and it just happened on Friday! Don't say I'm exaggerating! I checked AP National, AP Washington, Reuters Politics, and UPI, and there was squadoosh, nada, nil. I don't know what's on TV right now, since I'm at work, so, for all I know, the airwaves could be all abuzz about it. But my experience is that where the print media goes, there also goes the TV coverage.

"So what", you say? "So the press is in the tank for BHO. Does that REALLY hurt anything?" Uh......YEAH! Without a free press serving as a watchdog, an ambitious politician like Obama can really cause some major damage to this country, damage from which we may never recover.

The BM should be ashamed of themselves. That is, if shame is an emotion they're still capable of.

Wiener of the Month - October

While it would be tempting to tag AOL for this "honor" in the wake of its WotW award earlier today, the fact is that there's a more worthy recipient.

Big Media (the BM) has distinguished itself during this current election cycle with the cynical way it has waived the pompoms for Barack Hussein Obama and savaged anyone who stood as a potential obstacle to the ascension of their lord and savior.

Thanks to the BM, I know more about Sarah Palin (most of it cartoonish and exaggerated) than I know about BHO. Thanks to the BM, I know more about Joe the Plumber (most of it cartoonish and exaggerated) than I know about BHO.

And it's not just Chris Matthews sporting wood at the mere mention of BHO's name. It's the way the BM has ignored everything about BHO that might hurt his chances of being seated on the thrown of One-World Socialist Utopia. Tony Rezko? Associations with radical leftists, anti-America zealots, and communists? Share the wealth? 57 states? * sound of crickets chirping *

They shamelessly harp on Sarah Palin's inexperience, when all she's done is serve as Governer of an energy producing state, clean up statewide corruption (including exposing corruption by members of her own party!), and serve as commander-in-chief of the Alaska National Guard. But Mr. Community Organizer (leftist-speak for "communist agitator") has all of the experience you could EVER ask for.

They take an unknown small businessman, pull all of his data from government computers in collusion with corrupt Ohio government officials, and crucify the guy for having the audacity to ask His Holiness a question!

The media has been in the tank for a candidate before (see Clinton, William J.). But never before has it served as an actual propaganda agent for a campaign. This is the most shameless thing I've seen in my lifetime.

Congratulations to the BM for their victory in tomorrow's elections! And congratulations...you're the Wiener of the Month.

Wiener of the Week

What we have here isn't your run-of-the-mill garden-variety WotW. What we have here is a candidate for the Wiener of the Year. What we have here is a candidate for the Wiener Hall of Fame (coming soon!).

AOL has pulled the plug on its AOL Pictures feature, effective 12/31. Of course, if you have a website that pulls nearly all of its pictures from AOL Pictures, you discovered, to your horror, that 12/31 means 10/31 with regards to your web pages. Yes, children, let me tell you about the swell weekend I had, courtesy of A friken O-L.

Saturday I was puttering around with my little blog and discovered, to my horror, that every last picture, background, and inset I was pulling from AOL Pictures was showing as an ugly gray box with the words "Image currently not available". As you can imagine, background images with a 'repeat-x' or 'repeat-y' option (repeat along the 'x' axis or repeat along the 'y' axis of the page) were showing MULTITUDES of ugly gray 'Image currently not available' boxes all down the screen.

I scrambled on Saturday to fix all of the image issues I could so that at least the main page one sees upon stumbling upon my little blog would be presentable. Then I spent over 12 hours on Sunday cleaning up the archives and trying to see what else was broken and where.

AOL, I'm completely done with you. This is how done with you I am. Ted Leonsis is the head of AOL and the owner of the Washington Capitals, heretofore my favorite hockey team. However, in light of this blind-side assault on your customers, I am boycotting all things AOL...including the Capitals! I'm now officially a Toronto Maple Leafs fan until such time as Ted Leonsis sells the team or makes restitution for this evil that has been perpetrated on his customers.

AOL, you suck! And you're the Wiener of the Week.