Senseless Tragedy

It's a story as old as, well, stories. A promising young men with his whole life ahead of him, who seemingly has the world by the tail, is struck down, his promise and potential left hanging in the void.

Adenhart was among three people killed Thursday in a crash in Fullerton, Calif., when a minivan driven by an alleged drunken driver broadsided their car after running a red light, authorities said.

The crash occurred hours after Adenhart, 22, pitched six scoreless innings Wednesday night against the Oakland Athletics. Police arrested Andrew Thomas Gallo, 22, of San Bernardino, Calif., on suspicion of felony driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter, said Lt. Kevin Hamilton of the Fullerton Police Department.

Nick Adenhart was from Hagerstown, MD. Hagerstown is a mere 20 minute drive from the Vulture's nest, so when I say that Western Maryland is taking this hard, I'm not exaggerating.

Everyone is left to wonder what this reportedly outstanding young man could have accomplished had he not been so tragically and senselessly killed.

Tomorrow is promised to no one. I have a son Adenhart's age. I would be devastated to lose him. My heart really goes out to the family. May God's tender mercies be with them.

How to undermine your own argument

Joe Klein writes for Time Magazine. I suppose he's a pretty good writer. But in this article, he demonstrates the quintessential way to undermine your own argument. His choice of poisons? Boomer self-importance.

Here's a sampling.

For the past several years, I've been harboring a fantasy, a last political crusade for the baby-boom generation. We, who started on the path of righteousness, marching for civil rights and against the war in Vietnam, need to find an appropriately high-minded approach to life's exit ramp. In this case, I mean the high-minded part literally. And so, a deal: give us drugs, after a certain age — say, 80 — all drugs, any drugs we want. In return, we will give you our driver's licenses. (I mean, can you imagine how terrifying a nation of decrepit, solipsistic 90-year-old boomers behind the wheel would be?) We'll let you proceed with your lives — much of which will be spent paying for our retirement, in any case — without having to hear us complain about our every ache and reflux. We'll be too busy exploring altered states of consciousness. I even have a slogan for the campaign: "Tune in, turn on, drop dead."

He goes on to present a very detailed and convincing case for the legalization of marijuana. But, by the time he gets there, he's already used 3 column inches waxing self-important on just how wonderful his "generation" is. Were it not for my personal belief that the War on Drugs is an immoral and wasteful exercise in futility, I wouldn't have continued reading to see what his take was. As it was, it took every fiber of my being to suppress the urge to throw up in my mouth.

Boomers, please. STFU about how "wonderful" and "enlightened" and "special" you are in your own eyes. Everybody who isn't you hates you! You're the Chris Berman of generations: all bombast and self-congratulations all the time. Please just stop.

This guy could have been our President!

That Frankenstein-looking moron John Kerry is still trying to attain relevance. It's a pity.

Kerry had this to say during hearings on the escalating violence on the Mexico-US border.

At Monday's hearing, committee Chairman Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said he had been shocked to see killings and beheadings "just a stone's throw across the Rio Grande from where we're sitting this morning."

Across the border, thousands of Mexican soldiers patrol Ciudad Juarez, which saw about 2,000 murders in 14 months.

Kerry called for a ban on the imports of assault rifles, such as the AK-47, into the United States. (emphasis mine)

Let me break this down for you.

1. The violence is occurring between rival drug cartels in Mexico.
2. The AK-47 is illegal in Mexico
   
3. The AK-47 is manufactured primarily in China and Russia.
4. The primary smugglers of AK-47's into Mexico are the Chinese.
   
5. What violence has spilled over the border has originated from Mexico.
6. Full-auto AK-47s are already illegal in the US.

So...given these facts, what do YOU think of Senator Lurch's proposal?

The fact is that "make guns illegal" is the default liberal answer to every crime question. The asshats at the SF Chronicle try in vain to support the Senator's claim by citing testimony of an official from the BATF (a patently unconstitutional agency largely responsible for putting the match to the Waco powder keg back in '93). William McMahon is quoted as saying, "Assault rifles bought in the United States are favorites among cartel gunmen, who find them effective for the urban warfare." Yet the best "evidence" to support this that the Chronic could roust to support their claim was the seizure of 60 weapons used in an April 2008 shootout that were traced back to the US. I don't want to burst your bubble, Chronic, but there are certainly a lot more than 60 guns in use by the various cartels.

The fact that the weapons utilized by the drug cartels are (a) already illegal in Mexico, (b) most likely from China, (c) already illegal in the US in full-auto mode (which, one would assume, is the preferred mode of the cartel "warriors"), and (d) illegally smuggled into Mexico, not legally imported (a not-too-subtle distinction lost on the dim-witted Senator), should be cause to make a thinking man reconsider requesting a total ban on a reliable weapon that "looks menacing".

It's a pity he's not a thinking man.

And to think he could have been our President! *shudder*

Wiener of the Month - March

I hate to pick on poor Ben Cardin (the Junior Senator from Maryland) again. He really is a stand-up kind of guy. But this is too much!

With many U.S. newspapers struggling to survive, a Democratic senator on Tuesday introduced a bill to help them by allowing newspaper companies to restructure as nonprofits with a variety of tax breaks.

"This may not be the optimal choice for some major newspapers or corporate media chains but it should be an option for many newspapers that are struggling to stay afloat," said Senator Benjamin Cardin.

A Cardin spokesman said the bill had yet to attract any co-sponsors, but had sparked plenty of interest within the media, which has seen plunging revenues and many journalist layoffs.

Cardin's Newspaper Revitalization Act would allow newspapers to operate as nonprofits for educational purposes under the U.S. tax code, giving them a similar status to public broadcasting companies.

Under this arrangement, newspapers would still be free to report on all issues, including political campaigns. But they would be prohibited from making political endorsements.

That's it? You give newspapers -- some owned by Fortune 500 companies -- the same special status as, say, the United Way............why? Because they can't survive in today's marketplace? That's weak!

Mr. Cardin, they'd have a much better chance of surviving in today's marketplace if they didn't talk down to their customers and present such a one-sided view of the world. When you deliberately demean and insult 50% of your target audience on a regular basis, you're going to take your lumps. There are WAY too many other options available now for getting your news, and the vast majority of them don't treat people who reject lock-step liberal orthodoxy like they're neanderthals or morons.

This is a case of the BM reaping what they have sown. And it couldn't happen to a more haughty, self-absorbed, dogmatic, and outright ignorant bunch of people.

Senator Cardin, you're a good guy. But you're on the wrong side of this one. And you're the Wiener of the Month for March.

Wiener of the Week

This is yet another example of the unbridled arrogance of the self-important ass-clowns who run Big Media (the BM for short). Ladies and gentlemen, your WotW.

Commenting on the keep-the-Times alive movement, Keller said: "Saving the New York Times now ranks with saving Darfur as a high-minded cause."

The "Keller" mentioned in the quote would be Bill Keller, the Executive Editor of the New York Times.

Notice the unabashed hubris of equating a situation in which thousands of real human beings are being enslaved, tortured, and killed with the survival of a second-rate leftist newspaper! You wanna talk self-important? This guy's the poster child!

Bill Keller, you're a most-deserving Wiener of the Week.

Is this guy an egomaniac, or what?

ABC News' website has reported that King Obama presented a gift of an iPod to Queen Elizabeth, who, for her part, presented Obama with a signed picture of herself and Prince Whats-his-name (her husband) in a silver frame.

One would say, on first glance, that Obama gave the better gift, particularly since in addition to the pre-loaded iPod, with all the accessories, he also gave her a rare musical songbook signed by Richard Rodgers.

So...with what content was the iPod pre-loaded? In addition to show tunes, it included:

* Photos from the Queen's 2007 White House State Visit
* Photos from the Queen's 2007 Jamestown, Va., Visit
* Photos from the Queen's 2007 Richmond, Va., Visit
* Video from the Queen's 1957 Jamestown Visit
* Video from the Queen's 2007 Jamestown Visit
* Video from the Queen's 2007 Richmond Visit
* Photos from President Obama's Inauguration
* Audio of then-state senator Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, and
* Audio of President Obama 2009 Inauguration Address

Let me get this straight. King Egomaniac presents an iPod to the Queen that includes, among more appropriate content, pictures of him along with his dopey speeches? What a tool!

I thought Bill Clinton was the consummate egomaniac. He's SOOOOOOOOO minor league compared to ObEGO.

I can hardly wait for his next trick.