Is there a cure for blogger ennui?

It's been two months since my last, half-hearted post on this blog. I'm sure some of the dozen or so regular followers of this blog have been wondering where the hell I've been, why I've been so quiet, and why, with so much going on in the world, I haven't stuck my opinionated viewpoint into the middle of the goings on.

I've been here before. I've blamed it on "no interest in current events". Another time it was "burnout". Still another time I explained it as "inexplicable indifference". Then there was "my give a damn tank is on 'E'".

But I think the first extended period I had with no posts is the time I captured the essence best: "blogger ennui". It's a certain blend of general indifference coupled with the knowledge that one is powerless to do anything about what's going on.

"Take the red pill", they said. "You'll be able to see through the bullshit", they said.

Yeah. See through the bullshit...and see how hopeless any chance of correcting course is. For every person who has had the scales of cultural and political propaganda fall from their eyes so that they see clearly, there are 99 who not only don't see clearly, but are totally happy with the status quo.

Libs love the ever-encroaching socialist dystopia. "Conservatives" love the expansion of the military-industrial complex. "Bomb Iran - killing people makes them love and respect us". Every day freedoms are lost, in the name of the "common good", or "to protect us from" the current boogie man in the cross hairs.

Even if a libertarian were elected President with a libertarian majority in both houses of Congress, we wouldn't be able to fix the mess that is the USSA. Too many people are locked onto the guvmint teat -- both individuals and corporate looters -- to save this sinking ship.

But, hey, let's have a primary election coronation for Mitt Romney, so that we can have "Clinton-Dole" and "Obama-McCommie" redux. Let's pretend like the tea party hasn't been completely co-opted by the Elephants. Let's pretend that Occupy actually means something more than a bunch of spoiled 20-somethings whining that life isn't fair.

If I could still pretend, I'd be blogging. I can't pretend.

I'm not calling it quits. I'm just acknowledging the futility of it all.

The looming government shutdown - what to fear

I'm sure that most people who read my blog are rooting for the government to shut down, preferably for a long, long time. But there is a very real risk to a government shutdown, one that scares the living crap out of me.

From The Smoking Gun.

With a possible shutdown of the U.S. government looming, it is helpful to remember what happened the last time federal workers received a forced furlough.

According to an FBI interview report:

• Unable to begin a new paying job, a 22-year-old female intern continued to work at the White House.

• Said intern’s “personal relationship” with President Bill Clinton began on November 15, 1995, the day after the government shutdown began.

• On that Wednesday evening, the intern, seizing the moment, told Clinton she “had a crush on him.” The 42nd President responded by accompanying the intern to a back study behind the Oval Office, where he kissed her.

• “Unclothed genital contact” would later occur, along with “kissing, hugging, touching, and oral sex on the person of the President, but not intercourse.”

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Demagoging tragedy

Frankly, I don't know which sickens me more: the abhorrent mass murder committed by a sicko-psycho in Arizona that also left Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords critically wounded, or the reaction to her wounding in the media.

Big Media (the BM for short) -- the same BM that demanded that we "not rush to judgment" following the Ft. Hood mass murder by a sicko-psycho -- rushed to judgment bigtime this time.  "Right-wing rhetoric" was blamed by some, an ironic claim, it turns out.  The shooter was described as "quite liberal" and a "political radical" by classmates.

Turns out when it comes to hateful rhetoric, the left doesn't fare too poorly itself.  Caribou Barbie hung in effigy.  Il Duce quoted as saying, "If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun". Ironic.

  Sarah Palin Caribou Barbie was blamed for "putting a bulls-eye on Rep. Giffords", an ironic claim, it turns out.  A Daily Kos blogger said that Giffords was "dead to me" just two days prior to the attack.  Not quite a bulls-eye, but ugly nonetheless.

Of course, Faux News came out all in defense of Caribou Barbie.  What?  You expected differently?  Regardless of where you get your news, children, you're gonna get spin.

Naturally, the Tea Party was blamed as well.  Yeah, all of that "hateful rhetoric" about sticking to the Constitution really makes folks want to kill their Congress-critter [/sarcasm].

Naturally, the Succubus of State had to weigh in, calling the shooter, "an extremist".  Takes one to know one, I suppose...

But the simple fact is that the shooter is mentally unbalanced.  How unbalanced?  Enough to where his college classmates were scared of him.

No one is blaming Caribou Barbie, or the Tea Party, or even Calvin Klein for this kook who castrated a journalist.  Not the right political angle, I suppose.

Look, it's no secret that I hate Team Donkey and Team Elephant equally.  Anyone who thinks that either of them is "the good guys" is drinking the Kool Aid.  But the partisan demagoguery on display the past two days has been nauseating.  And frankly, you have to ask, if the wounded Representative had an 'R' after her name, would there be all of this finger pointing and whining about "hateful political rhetoric"?

I think you know the answer to that question...

Missed it by that much

Right about now Il Duce is feeling the sting of defeat. And the Vulture is enjoying the bliss that is schadenfreude. Why? Because health care legislation the forcible take-over of 1/7 of the American economy by the federal government has gone down in flames.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that she lacks the votes to move the Senate's bill through the House and to Obama's desk. Under a plan backed by the White House, the new law would be followed by a separate measure making changes sought by House members, such as easing the Senate's tax on higher-cost health plans.

"Air Force 3" lacks the votes? But...the American people demand government health care! Il Duce said so!

The turning point? No surprise there: it was the election of Scott Brown as Senator in Massachusetts.

Pelosi, D-Calif., spoke to reporters after House Democrats held a closed-door meeting at which participants vented frustration with the Senate legislation.

Many rank-and-file Democrats said the stunning defeat in this week's Massachusetts special election — in which Republicans captured the Senate seat held for decades by the late Edward M. Kennedy — meant it was time to seek more modest health legislation.

Let me translate. Team Donkey Congresspukes saw one of their own go down in flames in the most liberal place in America outside of Berkeley, and it occurred to them that their cushy gig in Washington would surely meet a similar fate if they were caught on the wrong side of the steaming legislative turd crafted by "Air Force 3" and Harry Reid.

One vote. One special election turned the tide. Pelosi and Reid and Il Duce were simply going to hijack 1/7 of our nation's economy, the people be damned. One vote saved us from that.

We missed this fate by the narrowest of margins (as Maxwell Smart would say, "Missed it by that much!"). We just missed having our very lives consigned to Der Staat, signed, sealed, and delivered. We would have gone from citizens to property overnight.

Now is the time to ponder whether Il Duce is a skilled politician or simply an ideologue who's in way over his head. As I wrote prior to Duce's inauguration, he can overreach and recover, like Clinton. Or he can overreach and expose himself as a simpleton W-A-A-A-A-Y out of his league, like Carter. Or - the worst scenario of all - he can go all Woodrow Wilson on us and unleash the deadly power of Der Staat against its citizenry.

Interesting times. Interesting times indeed.

Vulture Droppings - Il Duce's first year in office

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 been 1 year since Il Duce took his oath of office. 1 year ago, Il Duce put his hand on the Bible and swore that he would uphold the Constitution. And he has - if by "uphold" you mean "wipe your ass with it".

This special edition of Vulture Droppings is a look at the Obama presidency, year 1. And what a year it's been.

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The following is a list of Il Duce's greatest achievements from his first year in office.

* sound of crickets chirping *

Uh.....yeah.

Even the Associated Press expressed dismay with the lack of tangible achievements from the President's first year in office in a piece entitled "After year, hope turns into disappointment."

Forget "can," "change" and, above all, "hope." The new word echoing in the blogosphere and beyond as Obama enters Year Two: disappointment.

Disappointment may be the word of the day for supporters of the One World Socialist Utopia, but the rest of us are left jaws agape at the magnitude of overreach perpetrated by Big Media's (the BM for short) Chosen One.

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Where to begin describing the voracious magnitude of Il Duce's grasping? Here's the short list - I'm sure I've forgotten something.

• The nationalization of 2/3 of the American automobile industry
• The nationalization of a large number of financial institutions
• A cabinet full of tax cheats and grifters
• A racist Supreme Court appointee
  
• A gargantuan, monstrous stimulus package (read: corporate welfare)
  
• The decision to treat terrorists as criminals, complete with the rights guaranteed to American citizens
• A Nobel Peace Prize for.........hmmm, I STILL haven't figured that one out yet
  
• Cap-and-Trade legislation
• The Hopenhagen "deal" (non-binding, thankfully) for reducing greenhouse gases
  
• Escalation of the war in Afghanistan (breaking a campaign promise in doing so)
  
• Nationalized health care (read: the forced takeover by the federal government of 1/7 of the American economy)
• Trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see
  

Now, in fairness, it must be noted the the nationalization of the automotive industry and financial institutions was simply a logical continuation of King George the Dim's policies. It must also be noted that Mr. Obama inherited Afghanistan.

But the rest of it is all Duce's - every last fetid, steaming, freedom-sapping piece of it.

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Il Duce's stunning affinity for the fascist (or corporatist) economic model has been breathtaking. Many mistakenly call Duce a socialist or communist. Oh no, not he! He is a National Socialist in the tradition of Mussolini, Franco, Peron, and, of course, Hitler.

Mind you, I want to make clear that Duce's comparison to Hitler is economic only -- at least for now. We'll see if he goes "Woodrow Wilson" on us as his plans for the reinvention of America begin to run into increased opposition.

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So what can we expect in the coming year? It's hard to say, particularly today, when Massachusetts (WHA-WHA-WHAT?!?!?!?!) has elected a Republican to Teddy Kennedy's seat in the senate. There have been more documented Bigfoot sightings than Republicans elected to the Senate by Massachesetts, for crying out loud! I didn't think anyone could top Bill Clinton's feat of losing the House of Representatives to the Republicans after 40 years of Team Donkey control; this may, in fact, be bigger than that.

The fallout has been stunning. Many Donkeys are running for cover, not wanting any part of the healthcare legislation that Scott Brown used as the fulcrum to pry Kennedy's seat away from the Donkeys.

Il Duce insists that he is going to stick to his agenda. Apparently, that would include even more nationalization of private businesses, starting with student loans. It remains to be seen if Donkey party members of Congress will play along after losing the People's Republic of Taxachusetts.

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So here's hoping that the DoublePlusGoodHopeChange we were promised dies a quick and painful death before our nation does. The 2010 elections can't come soon enough.

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On Hypocricy

Apparently, only people with actual religious views and non-Liberal beliefs can be hypocrites. Let me explain.

I've been sitting here watching HLN (CNN Headline News) owing to the fact that (a) there's nothing else of interest on TV right now, (b) the changer is on the other end of the couch, and (c) I'm too lazy to reach for it.

I was watching the news, but the news morphed into Showbiz Tonight, a gawd-awful celebration of celebrities, their affairs, their drug problems, their journeys out of the closet, etc. And yes, I said celebration. Okay, maybe they don't CELEBRATE the drug problems, but they're sure happy to celebrate a celebrity's 18th "successful" completion of rehab.

Today, however, the subject is hypocrisy. Specifically, the hypocrisy of Carrie Prejean. Ms. Prejean is accused of hypocrisy because she pretends to a position as a Young Conservative Woman Role Model, but it turns out she made a sex tape. A sex tape! Oh, dear!

Understand, I have little use for Ms. Prejean. I'm not at all impressed with her as self-appointed voice for young conservative women. She talks a good game, but she has so many skeletons in her closet that she's useless as a role model.

Nonetheless, the over-the-top slamfest by HLN is grating. In extreme.

Returning to the premise of this post, that only people with actual religious views and non-Liberal beliefs can be hypocrites, I feel like my head is going to explode as I watch this. You want hypocrisy? Let's start with:

• NOW supporting Bill Clinton throughout his impeachment for having relations with a subordinate, but demanding action against David Letterman for essentially the same offense.
  
• The outcry over Larry Craig trolling for gay sex; contrast it with the muted reaction to Barney Frank's live-in lover hosting a gay brothel and dealing drugs in Mr. Frank's own residence.
• The media running wall-to-wall stories on Governor Mark Sanford's shameful affair while barely mentioning PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE and Breck Girl John Edwards fathering a child with a mistress while his wife was fighting cancer!
• Lastly, in their rush to see 1/6 of the US economy subsumed into the ravenous maw of the federal government, no one (except Camille Paglia) is decrying the fact that Congress is exempting itself from the draconian nightmare of collectivism being forced down the throats of the American people.

One could go on and on (and you know the Vulture LOVES to go on and on). But why? None dare call it hypocrisy when it benefits the coming One World Socialist Utopia or those who are working towards it. Apparently everyone is a hypocrite EXCEPT Big Media (the BM for short) and true-believer collectivists.

The irony of THAT hypocrisy is completely lost on hypocrites inclined to sling the "hypocrite" label at others.

Wiener of the Month - June

Honduras had the unfortunate distinction of being caught squarely in the cross hairs of major world Wieners this past month. Mary Anastasia O'Grady of the Wall Street Journal describes the situation thusly:

Reason has gone AWOL in places like Turtle Bay and Foggy Bottom. Ruling the debate on Mr. Zelaya's behavior is Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chávez, who is now the reigning international authority on "democracy."

Mr. Chávez is demanding that Mr. Zelaya be reinstated and is even threatening to overthrow the new Honduran president, Roberto Micheletti. He's leading the charge from the Organization of American States (OAS). The United Nations and the Obama administration are falling in line.

Shocker that. Il Duce falling in lock-step behind the leadership of Hugo Chavez.

All that the majority of the Honduran people want is to be free of this train wreck of a president. The man was engaged in all manor of reckless unconstitutional actions. And the United State (no misspelling; see Pro Libertate for the explanation) supports the crooked Leftist, not the people seeking to be rid of his nonsense.

Congratulations to Il Duce and Succubus of State Hillary Clinton - you're the Wieners of the Month for June.

UPDATE: The AP is reporting that Succubus of State HRC is flying Zelaya up to Washington to meet with him. Read the complete article if you want to see an example of one-sided pro-leftist reporting.

What's that sound?

That whirring sound you heard all day yesterday? That was our Founding Fathers spinning in their graves.

Far from viewing July 4th as an uplifting holiday and a cause for giving thanks to God for our blessings, I view Independence Day with mourning.

The oligarchs and special interests have effectively destroyed the work of our Founders. Need proof? Look no further than the news of Sarah Palin resigning as Governor of Alaska. The politics of personal destruction strikes again; it has become impossible for anyone resembling a human being to be part of the political process in this country. Only sub-human reptilians need apply. People (and I use the term loosely) like Il Duce, John McCommie, Vice-Hairplugs Biden, Succubus of State Hillary Clinton, Little Nancy "Air Force 3" Pelosi, Harry Reid, "Big" Dick Cheney, King George the Dim, etc, etc, ad nauseum.

Go ahead and celebrate, if you wish. But I won't be celebrating anything. Rather I'll be mourning that which we've lost.

Honduras (UPDATED)

In July of 2007 I spend 10 days in Honduras as part of a church mission trip. My primary responsibility was to serve as a translator for the medical team (yes, as a matter of fact, I DO speak quasi-passable Spanish). Those 10 days are forever etched into my memory and my heart. The grinding poverty in which the people of western Honduras live was mind-bending. Even more mind-bending was the attitudes of the people living in those conditions. They were......happy. They didn't sweat the things they didn't have. They didn't bitch about their lot in life. They lived, they loved, they worshiped God. For a typical materialistic American like me, that was an eye-opener.

Given my attachment to Honduras, you can imagine that I have been monitoring the events of the past week with considerable interest.

President Manuel Zelaya, a Leftist in the mold of Hugo Chavez, was deposed Sunday in a military coup that was.......wait for it......ordered by the nation's Supreme Court! It seems that the Supreme Court of Honduras, unlike that of the United States, actually cares about defending its Constitution from a power-mad and grasping President.

Zelaya was trying to ram through a referendum to change the Constitution -- in direct defiance of the nation's, well, Constitution, as well as defying the nation's Attorney General and Supreme Court.

So with whom does the US side in this matter? The media, naturally sides with Zelaya. Reading the linked Reuters article cited above, you'd think that the bad-old military launched their coup in a vacuum against the sainted President, who was only trying to serve the people.

But what about the government? The President (Il Duce) and Succubus of State (Hilary Clinton) are both on the record as supporting.......wait for it.....President Zelaya! Why should anyone be surprised? Il Duce's only beef with Zelaya is that he's too conservative. [/sarcasm]

So the good-old USA is siding with Hugo Chavez and Raul Castro (via his puppet-master brother, Fidel) against a nation trying to save itself from a Constitution-shredding megalomaniac. And why not? Il Duce has already shown that he's of like mind.

For the best rundown of the situation in Honduras, read this.

My prayers are with the people of Honduras. May God protect them in this time of trial.

Update: Atlas Shrugs reports that, contrary to the pro-Zelaya crap we're seeing from Big Media (the BM for short), the Honduran people are turning out in massive demonstrations AGAINST Zelaya. Typical. Oh so f'ing typical.

Fascism for Dummies

I've grown tired of having to provide a parenthetical or footnoted explanation every time I describe the current direction of our country as Fascism. I wouldn't have to, except that, as a result of the dumbing-down of 4 generations of public school graduates, people have no clue what the word really means. To most, the word is synonymous with repression. While repression was a major component of nearly all Fascist regimes, that isn't the sum of what Fascism was and is.

This post is my attempt to enlighten the dumbed-down as to what Fascism really is so that they don't resort to the kind of knee-jerk emotional response most commonly associated with calling someone a Fascist.

Fascism, or Corporatism, as it is sometimes called, can be described thusly.

[A] system of economic, political, and social organization where corporate groups or interest groups, such as business, ethnic, farmer, labour, military, or patronage groups, are joined together under a common governing jurisdiction to try to achieve societal harmony and promote coordinated development.

I would condense that wordy definition even further: Fascism is the marriage of government and corporations whereby the means of production are owned jointly in a private/public partnership. Think of it as oligarchy-friendly Socialism.

Socialism? But Vulture, isn't Fascism an ideology of the Right? That would be 100% wrong. 60+ years of disinformation have resulted in most people associating Fascism with the Right, when, in fact, it is most commonly identified by its adherents as the "third way" alternative to Communism or Capitalism. The third way....hmmm, wasn't that Clinton's pet identifier for his policies? But I digress...

Fascism is, by point of fact, a Leftist ideology, falling somewhere on the political spectrum between Democratic Socialism and Communism.

Fascism has been attempted - always with predictably bad results - in Italy (1920's-1940's), Germany (1930's-1940's), Spain (1930's-1970's), and Argentina (1950's). Spain? Argentina? Nobody told us about THAT in public school. No shit! That's because, for whatever reason, our "betters" want us to associate Fascism with brutal totalitarianism and attempted world domination as demonstrated by the Third Reich and the Italian Fascists. While it is true that both the Argentine and Spanish Fascists were authoritarian and repressive, neither attempted world domination and both were extremely popular with the so-called "workers".

So the next time I speak of Fascism, I won't be using parenthetical explanations nor footnotes. I'll simply link back to this post. I want it understood when I say that King George the Dim and Il Duce led this nation into Fascism I'm referring to things like the government take-over of the banks and auto industry and (coming soon to a Fascist nation near you) health care.

That and nothing more.

Bolt shoots, bolt scores

From time to time I like to highlight the work of my favorite bloggers and columnists, particularly when they've hit upon something important or administered a particularly good beatdown on some asshat who desperately needs one.

Andrew Bolt is Australia's preeminent libertarian columnist. In this column, Andrew takes on the shrill crowd of politically correct yentas doing their damnedest to take down Miss California for the "sin" (read: thought crime) of making an anti-gay marriage statement.

While he does his usual admirable job of applying the beatdown to the appropriate parties - particularly drama QUEEN Perez Hilton - he also hit upon something that I had missed in my prior assessment of this sort of Leftist elite feeding frenzy.

You see, defending the tribe counts more than defending a principle. That is why the people tearing into Prejean refuse to say that Obama, who shares her opinion on gay marriage, is also a bitch, boob and moron who has buttock fat for brains and needs a heart transplant, the dumb bastard.

(Actually, I suspect these people excuse Obama as a liar, just saying what he must. And a liar is good, but an opponent of gay marriage evil.)

So what is this tribe that's being defended so viciously, and with such hypocrisy? It's the tribe of the Left. Of privilege, too. And patriarchy.

It's also a class - the kind of people who'd look down on a Miss USA audience, and would use the weapons of power, sex and caste to crush them in precisely the ways the Left once claimed to oppose.

We've seen this phenomenon played out before, of course, and recently.

Last year it was the turn of Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, to be monstered for being a conservative woman from small-town, Christian USA.

Palin, although a successful and popular corruption-buster and Governor of Alaska, was pilloried by the largely Left media as some thick hick, with white-trash morals and ideas above her station.

Class! Of course. The snobbery of the Left knows no bounds. But Vulture! Bill Clinton was a small-town rube, and the Left LOVED him. Ah, grasshopper, but Bill Clinton also attended Georgetown, Yale, and even Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar! That's cachet, people. And Sarah Palin? A degree from the University of Idaho? And JUST a BA at that? What a rube!

Never mind that the UI educational experience is probably every bit as good as Georgetown's (I'm talking the actual classroom instruction; you don't think Georgetown's prestigious professors actually teach, do you?). It just goes to show you how shallow and petty the Left actually is. If you're (a) from money or (b) have attended one or more "prestige" universities, and you embrace the Leftist catechism, you're a member of the club; nothing you do is worthy of criticism, except, perhaps, the occasional rebuke to placate the rubes from time to time. If you do not embrace the Leftist catechism, but satisfy requirement (a) or (b), you will be criticized, perhaps even rudely, but you will not bear the full heat that those who satisfy neither (a) nor (b) will.

Oh, and don't think for one second that top-level Republicans and their spokesmonkeys in the neocon commentariate are any different. They are every bit as shallow and petty. After all, some of the most scathing criticisms of Sarah Palin came from the likes of Peggy Noonan! The Left-Center neocon wing of the GOP (you know, the group that is killing the party) is every bit as snobby as the Left.

Great catch, Andrew. And create article, as always.

Domestic terrorists...us?

DHSS (not a misspelling - you can't spell Schutzstaffel without the double 'S') has determined that there is a grave threat of internal terrorism in this country. This threat isn't from active, organized groups like ALF (Animal Liberation Front) or ELF (Environmental Liberation Front), groups who have an actual history of terroristic acts. No, this threat is from Right-Wing Extremists. You know, like....well, apparently, anyone to the right of Mao Tse Tung.

The Department of Homeland Security is warning law enforcement officials about a rise in "rightwing extremist activity," saying the economic recession, the election of America's first black president and the return of a few disgruntled war veterans could swell the ranks of white-power militias.

A footnote attached to the report by the Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis defines "rightwing extremism in the United States" as including not just racist or hate groups, but also groups that reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority.

Yep, that's right. As someone who 'reject[s] government authority in favor of state or local authority', yours truly is, according to der Staat, a domestic terrorist. Never mind that this Vulture has neither engaged in nor advocated any act of violence against the US government (or, for that matter, acts of violence against anything at all with the exception of computer keyboards). Never mind that this Vulture is a hard-working taxpayer living what's left of the American dream and whose only 'crime' is a wish to return to the founding principles of Life, Liberty, and Freedom. I oppose collectivism; I am, therefore, a thought criminal.

And it isn't just me! If you're ex-military, you're a likely terrorist! Why is that? Why, Tim McVeigh was ex-military. Ergo, all ex-miltary are suspect, according to chief DHSS asshat Janet Napolitano.

"I was briefed on the general topic, which is one that struck a nerve as someone personally involved in the Timothy McVeigh prosecution," Ms. Napolitano said.

Quod erat demonstrandum. NOT!

The White House has distanced itself from this inflamatory report (WHY does that seem to be a running theme with the Obey-me administration? One of the organs of der Staat issues a controversial 'ruling', and the White House runs for cover).

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi, a Democrat, was extremely unhappy with the report and wants answers - now!

"This report appears to raise significant issues involving the privacy and civil liberties of many Americans -- including war veterans," Mr. Thompson said in the letter sent Tuesday.

"As I am certain you agree, freedom of association and freedom of speech are guaranteed to all Americans -- whether a person's beliefs, whatever their political orientation, are 'extremist' or not," Mr. Thompson said.

The report "blurred the line," and Mr. Thompson said he is "disappointed and surprised that the department would allow this report to be disseminated" to law enforcement officials nationwide.

The American Legion has slammed the report as well.

American Legion chief David Rehbein on Tuesday blasted the report as "incomplete, and, I fear, politically-biased" and took special aim at its warning that returning veterans having difficulties reintegrating society could be recruited by right-wing groups for possible terrorist attacks.

In a letter to Napolitano, Rehbein underlined the document's mention of Oklahoma City bombing author Timothy McVeigh's US Army background and called it "as unfair as using Osama bin Laden as the sole example of Islam."

"The American Legion is well aware and horrified at the pain inflicted during the Oklahoma City bombing, but Timothy McVeigh was only one of more than 42 million veterans who have worn this nation's uniform during wartime," said Rehbein, who group comprises some 2.6 million members.

So what's my take on it? It's simple, really. When King Obey-me took office, he appointed former Clinton administration cronies to head key federal agencies and cabinet positions. Hearken back with me to those halcyon days of yesteryear, when Clinton administration paranoia about Right-Wing Extremists ran amok. For the nostalgic among you, this is just like going back to 1993 all over again...except without the dreadful Mariah Carey soundtrack.

This is DoublePlusGoodHopeChange. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.

Update: William Norman Grigg hits it out of the park. Seriously, if you haven't checked him out, do so! He's positively brilliant.

Vulture Droppings - Amateur Hour

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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You may have noticed that Vulture Droppings has been more "semi" than "regular" lately. Mainly that's because there has been a dearth of the kind of seminal events that occasioned the creation of the feature in the first place -- things like political conventions, the 2008 election campaigns, etc. Hopefully, I'll be able to go to the 'droppings' well a little more often in the future. It is one of my favorite features.

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President Obama - "King Obama, the Media's Anointed One" is too large a moniker for regular use - has now been president for one month. It's been a scream. I speculated in the days after the election as to what kind of president Obama would be. I broke it down into four archetypes, each personified by a past president: Carter, Clinton, FDR, and Woodrow Wilson. Silly me! I left out Gerald Ford! If Mr. Obama's first month on the job is any indication, his destiny seems more Ford than any of the other four.

The ruthlessness I saw during the election cycle (Wilson) seems a thing of the past. The imperiousness and openly Socialist Obama of the campaign (FDR) also seem to be missing. The rush to do great things at the risk of overstepping (Clinton) has been there, but mostly via passive-aggressive hints and stealth riders in the phony Stimulus bill. And the pious holier-than-thou attitude and hubris (Carter) have been beaten down by Harry Reed and Nancy Pelosi, who seem to be poised to make Obama their bitch.

But Gerald Ford...ah, there's a match. So far the Anointed One has tried to exit a press conference through a window he thought was a door. He has banged his head getting into Marine One (Air Force One is the President's airplane, Marine One is his helicopter). I'm waiting for him to fall tuckus over teakettle down the stairs next, only to rise from the floor and proclaim, "Live from New York! It's Saturday Night!"

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President Obama's first month has been enlightening. As I mentioned earlier, it appears that Senate Majority Leader (and planet's biggest flaming a-hole) Harry Reed and House Majority Leader (and single most imperious, hypocritical, and corrupt politician outside of Hugo Chavez) Nancy Pelosi have set out to make Obama their bitch. The two of them wrested control of the Stimulus bill from the President and made it apparent through their actions that he needed to sit down, shut up, and let the REAL politicians handle this.

Obama needs to put those two in their place -- and soon -- if he wants to have any chance at all at a successful presidency. It will be a long 4 years if he doesn't.

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I am truly thankful that Obama has shown little of the Wilson-like ruthlessness I saw in him shortly after the election. That said, he and his Team Donkey cohorts seem bound and determined to ram a raft of socialist BS down our throats, recession/depression be damned!

There is also the little matter of the Fairness Doctrine. The Dems and the President seem to be taking baby steps -- mostly through veiled statements, hints, and posturing -- towards reimplementing this patently anti-First Amendment POS in order to shut out opposition voices. Will it happen? Sure! These people are not just ruthless, they're megalomaniacal. But -- and it's a big "but" -- I'm convinced that it won't survive a Court challenge...at least for now. If Obama can be patient and wait for one of the more conservative Justices to retire.........who knows? It's not like the Courts actually enforce the Constitution as written any more.

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Political pundits make it a game to "grade" a President. "His grade for the first [n] days is...". I'm not going to go there...at least not in the traditional sense. I don't grade a President for "effectiveness", as Big Media (the BM for short) would. I grade a President on how his policies and leadership affect the lives and liberties of the American people.

For his first month in office, I give The Anointed One a D. His grade reflects the following negatives.

1. The feelers he's put out about the Fairness Doctrine
2. His (hijacked by Reed/Pelosi) phony Stimulus bill.
3. The new "Health Effectiveness Czar" position created in the Stimulus bill; it's the 'camel's nose' into the tent of socialized medicine.
4. His pre-selection of which White House reporters will be allowed to ask questions at press conferences.

He didn't get an F. Why? Because, as of the moment, he hasn't imposed any new enslaving burdens on the American people. It's something to hang your hat on, I suppose. He's ahead of King George the Dim, who gets an 8-year grade of F.

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Look for His Holiness to be more aggressive in the next month or so, as the "Amateur Hour" effect starts to dissipate. Who knows? He may shed Jerry Ford and take on one of the other four presidential personalities by then. I hope not. Jerry Ford I can live with.

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For unto us a tyrant is born

On February 12th, 1809, the man who set our Nation on its course towards eventual governmental enslavement was born. The irony of the life of this man is that he's viewed by most Americans as the greatest American President. He was nothing of the sort.

Abraham Lincoln. Honest Abe. The Great Emancipator. The man who Saved the Union.

It's all crap.

Lincoln was a thug and a dictator. He took a situation that could have been resolved via diplomacy -- a group of States that were part of a voluntary union formed by our Founders who had decided to leave said union and form their own nation -- and turned it into the bloodiest war in this nation's history. His unconstitutional acts are legion: the suspension of Habeas Corpus, the coercion employed to "keep" Maryland in the Union against the wishes of the citizens of that State, the brutality employed against the Draft protesters in New York City.

Irony. His life is replete with it. How ironic that this racist bastard, who considered Blacks as little more than animals, should be remembered as the Great Emancipator, the man who freed the slaves.

His worst legacy, however, is the establishment of the Federal government as superior to the rights and wishes of the individual States. This set the stage for every anti-freedom assault for the next 150 years. Without Lincoln, the atrocities of Woodrow Wilson would have been impossible. Without Lincoln, the patently unconstitutional acts of Franklin Roosevelt would have been unthinkable. Without Lincoln, the freedom-sapping Great Society of Lyndon Johnson would have been nothing but a pipe dream. The actions of Bill Clinton and King George the Dim? Impossible!

Happy 200th, Abe. May you burn in Hell forever, MF'er.

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...

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 - stuff that ruffles my feather

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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I hope I don't come off sounding like Andy Rooney here. But let's face it, there is "stuff" out there that ruffles my damn tail feathers, and I'm gonna vent!

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Let's start with the Baby Boom. Technically, I'm a Boomer. Some definitions of "Boomer" span from 1946 to somewhere in the 50's, with 1958 being the most common. Others go as late as 1964! People, let's get real! To say that I, born in 1958, have ANYTHING in common with the real Boomers is ludicrous! Here's the bottom line: to say that someone born in 1958 (like me) = someone born in 1946 (like King George the Dim) is almost as stupid as saying that someone born in 1946 (like Bill Clinton) = someone born in 1934 (like my dad). But they've been doing it for around 40 years now! Let's cut the crap: if you weren't at least a freshman in High School by 1970, you're NOT a boomer (for the record, I graduated from the 6th grade in 1970, hence, you can count me out!).

"Okay, you're not a Boomer. BFD." BFD, you say? How about it IS a big deal to me? Why? Because I consider the Baby Boom 60's maggot generation to be the cancer that sucked the life and vitality out of this nation and turned it into the whining collection of professional victims it has become.

"Oh, come ON, Vulture! You can't condemn everyone born in a 8-10 year span as being a cancer to our nation!" And I don't. I'm as cognizant as anyone to the fact that less than 1/3 of Boomers fit that "cancer" description, as the rest are normal, hard-working Americans just like their parents, their neighbors, or you. But that 1/3...that steaming pile of communist-sympathizing, grievance-mongering, America-blaming (and -hating!), losers? I don't even want to be linked with them by something as broad and meaningless as birth year.

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Another feather ruffler is the arrogant way that state-worshiping elitists accuse anyone who disagrees with them of being stupid, ignorant, or (my favorite) lacking in intellectual curiosity. King George was tarred with this label (okay, sometimes they're right). But so was Reagan, a man of extraordinary ideas (and ideals), and now it's Sarah Palin getting the rap. Unfortunately, with Sarah Palin it's not just the left tarring with that broad brush, it's also shriveled bitter shrews like Peggy Noonan of the "conservative" commentariat.

I'm throwing down the gauntlet, Lefties! Show me your "brains", and I'll show you those of the libertarian and conservative side. On the libertarian/conservative side: Ron Paul, Vox Day, Dr. Thomas Sowell, Dr. Walter Williams, and the now-deceased William F. Buckley. On their side: what? Where exactly are their "brains"? Nancy Pelosi? Puh-lease! That lightweight couldn't think her way out of a wet paper bag. The Clinton's? Yeah, right! He's nothing but a grifter and she's a power-mad parasite. Obama? Everyone alleges that he's "brilliant", but I've yet to see it from Mr. 57 states.

The fact is that the "intelligence" of the Left is a myth, perpetuated by and for the Left. The Left can't get beyond hackneyed bumper-sticker mantras (No blood for oil!), can't be reasoned with (You can't drill your way out of this problem!), and doesn't give a flying rat's ass if they completely torpedo this country, just as long as they get their long-awaited One-World Socialist Utopia Dystopia.

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Another thing I deeply resent is the disingenuous use of language by politicians of all stripes. My first recollection of it (which I'm sure wasn't anywhere close to the first time it was employed -- I just happened to have sobered up by the early 90's) was the Clinton's describing taxes as "contributions". Yeah. Sure. "Contributions" at bayonet point! Let's see what happens if I decide I don't want to "contribute" this year!

Clinton used to the military for "nation building". Team Elephant went nuts and decried the policy. But, once elected, King George the Dim used the 9/11 attacks as a pretense for...wait for it...nation building! Only he didn't call it that. He calls it sewing democracy in the Middle East. Assclown!

Now Obama is promising "tax cuts" for 95% of Americans, neglecting to point out that, of that 95%, a full 40% or more don't pay a single dime of federal tax! What those people will receive is NOT a tax cut; it is redistributed wealth, money taken from the top 25% of wage earners and passed on to them. It's socialism -- call it what it is!

Orwell was a prophet. Once you've made language meaningless, you've conquered the stupid and the unthinking.

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One last item...I'm sick and tired of politicians and their "let them eat cake" mentality when it comes to building new roads! "Let them take mass transit or move closer to where they work", they cry. The problem with that?

• Who lives or works right next to a Metro station? I don't. I have to drive (depending on traffic) nearly 45 minutes JUST TO CATCH THE EFFING THING!!! And with the Blue Line transfer, plus at least one, maybe two bus transfers, I've turned a gawd-awful 1.5 to 2 hour commute into a 3 hour commute!

• If I could afford to live in Bethesda or Potomac or Fairfax, I sure as hell wouldn't be working for a living! There's a reason I live in Frederick (besides the fact I actually like living there): it's the only place we could afford to purchase a single family home at the time!

• What about carpooling? *Buzzer* Doesn't work for consultants like me. I might be working in Bethesda this week, in Tysons Corner next week, and in Hanover, MD the week after that. YOU try to set up a car pool around that schedule!

• What the eff do we pay taxes for if not with the expectation that the government could take time out from destroying the monetary system and creating more dependents to suck at the government teat to at least toss the mules paying the taxes a bone in the form of a less stressful commute? Is that REALLY so much to ask?

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Enough of my bitching. What are the things that cheese you off? I'm dying to hear.

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Just when I thought I understood...

Every so often, something happens that has me shaking my head and wondering if I really understand what's going on. An example is my new favorite Senator, Russ Feingold, who is working tirelessly to protect travelers from having their laptops, PDAs, and other electronic equipment confiscated by der Schutzstaffel...excuse me, the Department of Homeland Security. Given that Senator Feingold is generally one of the more left-leaning members of Congress, chances of my seeing eye-to-eye with him on any issue would have to rank as slim-to-none. And yet, here is the good Senator, fighting to preserve the protections of the 4th Amendment against the wishes of the regime of King George the Dim.

But this one really floored me. I always thought of Alec Baldwin as a blowhard suffering from Bush Derangement Syndrome. But last week, appearing on the repellent Bill Maher's show, he dropped this bombshell that, once again, has me questioning if I understand anything.

The, the thing we have to remember, a friend of mine who is very close to the financial community in New York pointed out that Democrats have a lot of the responsibility for this as well. I mean, it was Clinton who killed the Glass-Steagall, and it happened under a Democratic president. Barney Frank and his committee, they, they kept propping up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac saying everything's fine, everything's fine, everything's good. And it was his job to know everything wasn't fine. And Barney Frank let you down and let us down as well. And so, but I want to say there's blame to go both ways. But I will say, I want to, I maybe keep beating this to death, but I still think anyone in this Congress who voted to add $140 billion to that bill, they should be ashamed of themselves. That is a disgrace. It's a disgrace. This Congress is a disgrace, Democrat and Republican.

Uh, wow! I'm floored.

I guess this is proof yet again that no one is 100% right -- not even Ron Paul -- and no one is 100% wrong. Not even Alec Baldwin.

Vulture Droppings - the VP Debate, the bailout

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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I watched about half of the VP debate live before I had to leave the room, lest my head explode. We don't have debates in this country anymore. We have staged kabuki dances where a moderator serves up questions requiring hard answers to which the trained political artisans respond with the poliverbiage equivalent of "yo mama!", directed at their opponent. There were glimpses of answers, policy statements, really. But it was mostly "Your guy supports wife beating and legalized prostitution"-style ad hominem attacks.

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Senator Hairplugs is the quintessential slick politician, foot-in-mouth-disease notwithstanding. His answers were glib, tailored for a centrist audience, and delivered without a glitch. He definitely told the Big Lie of the night with this knee-slapper:

Do I support granting same-sex benefits? Absolutely positively. Look, in an Obama-Biden administration, there will be absolutely no distinction from a constitutional standpoint or a legal standpoint between a same-sex and a heterosexual couple.

The fact of the matter is that under the Constitution we should be granted -- same-sex couples should be able to have visitation rights in the hospitals, joint ownership of property, life insurance policies, et cetera. That's only fair.

It's what the Constitution calls for.

It's what the Constitution calls for. Can you show me exactly where in said Constitution it says that? Or did you get that from Neil Kinnock, too? This is what passes for a Constitutional scholar in today's America. Sad, isn't it?

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Governor Palin was better than I expected...and I expected her to be good. That said, she also disappointed. She alternated between folksy brilliance and "Oh my God where's the duct tape so when my head explodes I'll still have a brain" recitations from the One World Elitists Handbook.

She blamed Wall Street greed for the financial crisis while failing to mention that it was the policies of the Clinton administration, which effectively held a gun to the head of lenders to force them to make more loans to people with no hope of ever replaying them (in the name of eliminating "red-lining"), that created the environment in which said crisis would occur.

I sincerely hope she was just following the McCommie campaign talking points when she called for more government involvement in the financial sector and more government action on Global Warming. She spoke as if she's a true believer in Big GW, facts be damned.

She did get off the best slam of the night, at least in the opinion of this formerly-West Coast-dwelling bird.

It's a nonsensical position that we are in when we have domestic supplies of energy all over this great land. And East Coast politicians who don't allow energy-producing states like Alaska to produce these, to tap into them, and instead we're relying on foreign countries to produce for us.

Preach it, girl!

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So who won the debate. Don't ask me...I didn't have the stomach to sit through it. However, the fact that the BM (Big Media) spin machine wasn't dancing all over Sarah Palin like a downed piñata indicates to me that she won. Good on her! She remains the only factor keeping McCommie in the race, the efforts of the BM notwithstanding.

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More on the Sarah Palin front. Pre-debate, one of the BM news organs, in previewing the debate, said that the debate would happen on the first day since Palin was named as the VP nominee that her approval rating among women was less than 50%. No mention, of course, of the role that the BM played in said sagging approval rating. Disingenuous bastards.

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Now, on to the "there's a financial crisis, let's protect our friends!" bailout bill.

Tax breaks for wooden arrow manufacturers. Tax breaks for Hollywood(?!?!?!?!). Tax breaks for rum producers in Puerto Rico. Money for the very scumbag greedy bastards who created the effing crisis in the first place. Because, in the logic of Washington, all of this makes perfect sense.

Oh, and let's not forget additional powers for Das Überwachenden (courtesy of CNet):

The bailout bill also gives the Internal Revenue Service new authority to conduct undercover operations. It would immunize the IRS from a passel of federal laws, including permitting IRS agents to run businesses for an extended sting operation, to open their own personal bank accounts with U.S. tax dollars, and so on. (Think IRS agents posing as accountants or tax preparers and saying, "I'm not sure if that deduction is entirely legal, but it'll save you $1,000. Want to take it?")

So, where's the help for the little guy, the small businessman who can't get a line of credit because of the FUBAR banking system? HAHAHAHAHA!!!! You didn't REALLY expect anything like THAT to be in there, did you? As I've said before, these elitists don't give a rodent's hindquarters about you and I. As the ship sinks, they'll vote more and more money to themselves and their friends.

I originally thought that we were headed towards 1929 (Black Tuesday). Now I think we're headed towards 1989 (the collapse of the Soviet Union), or worse: 1789 (Bastille Day).

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Last note on the "my friends and me" bailout. King George the Dim signed the bill before the ink was even dry on the document. Would you expect any less from that traitorous bastard?