New Tizona Post

If you get your news from any American paper that subscribes to the Associated Press feed (such as the Washington Post), you might be thinking right about now that the Team Elephant presidential primaries have resolved into a two-man race: "front runner" Mitt "Presidential Hair" Romney, and Rick "Bomb the shit out of Iran!" Santorum.

Just one problem: it's a complete lie.

Read more at The Tizona Group.

New Tizona Post

Ron Paul's self-inflicted wound

And here I was worried that the media, the Team Elephant establishment, and the other GOP candidates were going to take down Ron Paul. It appears he's pretty good at it himself.

Read more at The Tizona Group.

New Tizona Post

And it begins...

The pattern has been played out over and over. A potential Team Elephant presidential candidate starts to rise in the polls. A bulls-eye is affixed to that candidate. A combination of Republican elites, their allies in the punditocracy, and Big Media (the BM for short), which simply can't help itself when an opportunity to dump on a Republican presents itself, begin hammering on any and all perceived defects of said candidate. Next thing you know, the new frontrunner is cast on the scrap heap, either to quit (like Herman Cain) or to flounder haplessly trying to regain momentum (like Michele Bachmann and Governor Perry Gardasil).

Now that Newt Gingrich is dropping faster than shares in Freddie Mac, Ron Paul has surged into a virtual tie and perhaps even the lead in Iowa.

That's bad.

Read the rest at The Tizona Group.

So-called conservative comments on CPAC

In case you missed it, Ron Paul won the straw poll at CPAC, with Hairdo Healthcare finishing second. The indignity of this result was too much for one of Fox News' legion of Neocons to bear.

The top three winners of this weekend's CPAC straw poll will not win the 2012 presidential nomination. And if any of the top three do break through to prove that prediction wrong, none of them will go on to win the White House in 2012.

This year's top three placeholders in the poll were Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Gary Johnson. Ron Paul and Mitt Romney repeat their standing from the 2010 poll as No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.

If the results of this straw poll do not sufficiently demonstrate the bizarre nature and overall oddity of this year's gathering of "conservatives," nothing else can.

Ron Paul, though technically still a Republican, has given up his GOP identity to embrace the chance to be the poster child for the more libertarian streak that has run rampant through CPAC, largely unabated for the past two years. Mitt Romney, the virtual author of Obamacare, and 2008's third-place finisher for the GOP nomination, is weighed down by the fact that his universal health care mandate in Massachusetts has largely failed – with the exception being the $50 state-subsidized abortions. Gary Johnson was only added to the lineup at the last minute, his presence stoking the flame of immoral libertarianism that actually advocated for legalized pot and the redefinition of marriage to include homosexual unions.

In other words, this year's CPAC wasn't about advancing conservatism. Rather, it exposed the radically disrespectful element of the libertine.

It has been the inclusion of the libertarian aspects of the past two years that has thrown the message of conservatism askew in a widely disproportional way.

It is the libertarian in attendance that produced the free pornographic calendar passed out to attendees in 2010. It is the libertarians in attendance who openly promote the inclusion of groups like GOProud, largely as an attempt to silence groups who would speak in strong support of traditional moral values. It is the libertarian in attendance who slandered President George Bush, by claiming his appreciation for the Constitution was best summed up as a "damn piece of paper." It is the libertarian in attendance that proclaimed the war to prevent terrorists from regathering strength and coming after our homeland as "illegal." And it is the libertarian in attendance that eschewed, booed, cajoled and screamed "war criminal" to Vice President Dick Cheney, a man who served his country with commitment and still attempts to help the world understand the threat of the radical Islamic element devising plans to eliminate us and our allies.

Now the libertarians stuffed the ballot box of the CPAC straw poll, and for the second year in a row made it the laughingstock poll in the eyes of the voters. (This year's voters are perhaps more engaged, more aware and more plugged in than ever before.)

In head-to-head polling going back a full year to last year's CPAC, neither Ron Paul nor Mitt Romney has consistently topped a head-to-head match-up against a greatly weakened President Obama. Romney has only topped the sitting president once in that 12-month period. Gov. Mike Huckabee, a no-show at CPAC for the past years, has beaten the president head-to-head in nearly every poll taken.

David Keene, the American Conservative Union’s outgoing president, gave a lengthy discounting of this year's poll in the lead up to it. That should serve as a very clear indicator that next year's CPAC needs some significant changes if it is to become the great conference it has been in past years.

Libertarians and Conservatives are as different as Libertarians and Liberals. The truth is libertarians are the worst form of political affiliation in the nation. Combining the desire of economic greed, with the amoral desire to promote any behavior regardless of its cost to our culture is a stark departure from the intent of the Founding Fathers.

And it is not consistent with the average conservative voter in America.

Libertine? Legalized pot? Advocating behaviors? Not consistent with the average conservative voter in America? How extraordinarily rich! But my favorite part of his meltdown was this.

Libertarians and Conservatives are as different as Libertarians and Liberals. The truth is libertarians are the worst form of political affiliation in the nation. Combining the desire of economic greed, with the amoral desire to promote any behavior regardless of its cost to our culture is a stark departure from the intent of the Founding Fathers.

Seriously? "Amoral desire to promote any behavior"? Where does this jerk get THAT from? No libertarian is actively promoting ANYTHING except freedom from government.

His whole article is an attack against liberty-loving people everywhere. His thesis is predictable, because it's the Team Elephant establishment and Neocommie platform: war without end, big government in our image, and "you're either with us or against us".

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: if you're a conservative, Team Elephant is NOT your friend. And Fox News is NOT conservative: it's nothing but the organ of propaganda for the Neocommies.

Put up or shut up

The small-L libertarian has for years sat on the sidelines when it comes to our ability to actually effect change in Washington.  That has effectively changed.

After years of blocking him from a leadership position, Mr.Paul’s fellow Republicans have named him chairman of the House subcommittee on domestic monetary policy, which oversees the Federal Reserve as well as the currency and the valuation of the dollar.

Finally! This is awesome news. But, as Vox Day so adroitly noted in his WorldNetDaily column published today, getting the position means it's "put up or shut up" time.

Ron Paul, sound money champion and author of "End the Fed," has been named chairman of the House subcommittee for monetary policy.

Note to Paul: I am your biggest fan at WorldNetDaily, but put up or shut up time has now officially arrived. There is no time for meandering lectures on the theoretical advantages of a gold standard or esoteric soliloquies regarding the correct definition of money. The American people just want the facts about their money and where it has gone. They need the facts. And then they need action.

He's absolutely right. It's one thing to "talk the talk", something we small-L libertarians have been limited to in the past. Now he has to "walk the walk".

I have the utmost faith that Representative Paul is up to the task. Where I have my doubts is with the Team Elephant leadership. Will they allow him to do the things he needs to do -- like, for instance, a complete audit -- in order to bring the Fed to task for their crimes against the U.S. economy? Lest you think I'm being over-the-top hysterical in referring to "crimes", let me remind you that the U.S. Dollar has lost 96% of its buying power since the Fed came into being. If that's not a crime, tell me what is?

Go to town, Dr. Paul. Slay the dragon.

The trouble with elephants

I approach this post with a little bit of hesitation.  I don't want to look like I'm picking on a fellow blogger and singling him out as being...how do I say this delicately?...easily duped.  But the posts of this blogger go a long way towards proving a point I've been trying to drum home for some time now.  Please indulge me a little on this one.

The blog to which I refer is called Elephants in the Blue Grass.  Now, I'm sure Mr. "Grass" is a nice enough fellow.  But he needs to cut down on his Kool-Aid intake.

Mr. "Grass" has a real issue with Rand Paul, Ron Paul's son and candidate for the Senate from Kentucky.  I am aware that "Grass" is touting another candidate for Senate, Trey Grayson, who I'm sure is a swell fellow.  And far be it from me to get my panties in a wad because an individual supports a candidate other than the one I would favor.  But I can tell when someone has gone beyond hyping their candidate and "downing" the opponent to a nasty place from which they can only produce hyperventilated girly smear.  You know, the stuff we usually get from Team Donkey.  Thank I'm kidding?  How would YOU characterize his calling Mr. Paul "part of the blame America first crowd."

Mr. "Grass" is quite unhappy with the desire on the part of Mr. Paul (and his dad, I might add) to scale back the mission of the US military to that of....wait for it...defending the nation.  You know, abandoning the Bush doctrine of War Without End.  This causes Mr. "Grass" to lapse into fainting spells. 

He's also just a wee bit butt hurt that Mr. Paul has vowed to vote to repeal the Patriot Act.  Personally, I can think of nothing more patriotic than repeal of the Patriot Act.  But I'm more concerned with personal liberties than in creating an All-Powerful Staat in the image of the Team Elephant Pax Americana pipe dream.

I hate to pick on the guy.  I really do.  He's done nothing to wrong me.  But his wrong-headed jihad against Paul is just baffling.  Rand Paul sounds to me like exactly the kind of guy the Tea Party folks are trying to get elected.  But Mr. "Grass" and the Team Elephant elites are fighting him tooth and nail.

And therein lies my point - the point I've been hammering on like a jackhammer on steroids most of this year.  If you're a person who believes in the principles of the Constitution as written by the Founders, a person who wants to live in the nation they envisioned, you need to leave the Republican party.  Team Elephant is not your friend.  Team Elephant does NOT represent small government, personal liberty, and fiscal responsibility.  They represent intrusive Überwachenden-style snooping, War Without End, and spending til the cows come home...just spending on different stuff than the Donkeys want to spend money on.

A party that thinks Romney-Palin would be a swell ticket for the Presidency is a party in need of euthanasia.  And those who put their faith in such a party need to get used to the idea of serfdom.

A wolf in Caribou Barbie clothing

Those who were reading this blog way back around the time of the 2008 Presidential election (both of you) are aware that I was quite taken with Sarah Palin at that time.  I remarked that, of the four individuals on the major party tickets, she was the only one with redeeming human qualities.

But over time she started to wear on me.  I think the final straw for me was her whiny performance when Rahm Emmanuel dared to use the word "retard" to describe Congression Democrats.  Personally, I can't think of a better word to describe them.  And whining about words is not what freedom fighters do.

And yet, even from that previous low, she has managed to reach a new one.

Conservative superstar Sarah Palin opened the door yesterday to joining forces with Mitt Romney for a 2012 White House run - a hot ticket that has some Republicans licking their chops at the prospect of unseating President Obama.

“Sounds pretty good,” Palin declared at yesterday’s Tea Party Express rally on the Common when asked about pairing up with the former Bay State governor - giving the idea a big thumbs-up as she left the stage after her headline speech.

Last night, as Palin stopped for cannoli at Mike’s Pastry in the North End, she said she was “serious” about the idea.

“I have a lot of respect for Mitt,” she told the Herald.

You have a lot of respect for Mr. Taxachewsetts health care?  You would accept the second-banana role on a ticket under Mitt "I have no principles" Romney?  Madam, have you no shame!

Tea partiers, beware.  Anyone trying to sell you "Mitt Romney, Conservative" is no friend.  That she would do so exposes her as a fraud.  Do not trust her.  Do not put your confidence in her.  Find other, more principled leaders for your movement.  She is not one of you.  She is one of them.

So where DO we go for leaders?  Have they all been compromised, save for one 74-year-old man, marginalized by his own Party, actually hated by some Conservatives, and ignored by Big Media (the BM for short)?

I'm not optimistic for the future.  Who can be?

Ron Paul as Rodney Dangerfield

I tell ya, he just don't get no respect.

Almost as interesting is that Ron Paul only lost to Romney by a single vote. It looks like the Paulistas continue to infiltrate these GOP conferences and demonstrate outsized influence.
[...]
Maybe it just reflects a fundamental split. A quarter just want someone who can win, a quarter want to completely overhaul the GOP in Paulist direction, and half are split up among various socially conservative long-shots.

Sorry, but no. You're completely wrong, wrong, wrong.

There are, in fact, a number of schizophrenic camps masquerading as Team Elephant.  But the breakdown (and boy do I mean breakdown) is more like this:

• Rockefellerite elitists
• All war, all the time Neocons
• Big government in our image Republicrats
• RINOs
• People who want to blow up the GOP and start over

Everyone from the first four categories hates Ron Paul.  H-A-T-E-S him.  Hates him to the point where they'd vote for a liberal Mormon who advocated a Massachusetts health care debacle before they'd vote for him.  Hates him to the point where they disparage his supporters as Paulistas (like some sort of insurgency) who "skew" the results of their precious straw polls.

But you "conservatives" just go ahead and continue to waste your votes on these creeps.  I'm the crazy one, because I walked away from Team Elephant when I realized that they didn't give a rat's ass about anything but the acquisition and exercise of power.  You know, just like the "bad guys", Team Donkey.

One final note on the SRLC.  Ron Paul upset the assembled Elephants by speaking the truth regarding the economic policies of Il Duce.

Republicans and tea party activists are fond of accusing President Barack Obama of being a socialist, but today party gadfly Ron Paul said they had it wrong.

“In the technical sense, in the economic definition, he is not a socialist,” the Texas Republican said to a smattering of applause at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference.

“He’s a corporatist,” Paul quickly added, meaning the president takes “care of corporations and corporations take over and run the country.”

Gadfly. There's that "no respect" thing again.

For those of you a little unschooled in economic systems, Corporatism is the official name of Fascism.  Fascism is the name that gained popularity as the description of the Corporatist economic model in the 1920's due to the success (to that point) of the original Il Duce, Benito Mussolini, in making it work.

But Team Elephant would rather Red bait than speak the truth, so Socialism it is.

CPAC shocker

Will wonders never cease? The annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) presidential straw poll wasn't won by that phony Mitt Romney. It wasn't won by that phony Mike Huckabee. It wasn't even won by whiny "you hurt my feelings talking about retards" Sarah Palin. It was won by the man himself.

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, a stalwart foe of government spending, won a blowout victory Saturday in the annual Conservative Political Action Conference presidential straw poll.

With participants naming "reducing the size of federal government" as their top issue, the 74-year old libertarian hero captured 31 percent of the 2,400 votes cast in the annual contest, usually seen as a barometer of how the GOP's conservative wing regards their potential presidential candidates.

Right on Dr. Paul! And right on Young Conservatives.

Paul's victory might be seen, in part, as a result of his support among anti-establishment Tea Party activists -- who turned out in force at this year's conference and expressed some frustration with the Republican Party.

Reflecting the college atmosphere of the annual event, young people dominated the voting: 54 percent of participants were between the ages of 18 and 25.

It seems that the generation that will get stuck with the bill for government's profligacy wants its voice heard.

Team Elephant's neocommie wing had a beef with the poll results.

The announcement of Paul's win, a surprise victory unlikely to have a major impact on the 2012 presidential contest, drew a volley of loud boos from the CPAC audience.

"How dare those impudent curs vote against our platform of fascism (albeit implemented more slowly than it has been by Il Duce) and war without end!"

Two positive things or one negative thing can come out of this straw poll. Guess which I'm betting will happen?

• More and more mainstream Elephants will get behind Ron Paul and his vision of a return to Constitutional government.
  


• The Rockefeller wing of Team Elephant will kick and scream and fight, driving the Tea Party wing to split and form a third party with Dr. Paul as its standard bearer.
  


• The Rockefeller wing of Team Elephant will rig the next straw poll to favor a candidate more to the liking of the oligarchical elite that has run the party since...well, for as long as I can remember.

Team Elephant hasn't got the brains to see the writing on the wall. They will once again buck the will of the party faithful in favor of the party elite and push forward with their stubborn neo-commie agenda and slate of bland, phony-baloney candidates. They're too stubborn and too stupid to realize the gift that Il Duce has laid in their laps that could lead to them dominating the political scene for generations if they'd only listen and act accordingly.

Expect Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee in 2012. Trust me on this one.

Wiener of the Year - 2009

It's time for the least prestigious unknown award currently offered on the old WWW - The Vulture's Wiener of the Year.

I started with a list of potential nominees I considered to be quite deserving. Toes made some suggestions of her own.

My nomination for WotY is the Prezbo. Second is a 3 way tie between Pelosi-Reid-Nepolitano. Can't forget Al Gore or the Nobel Committee

All good candidates, all deserving of the dishonor.

Before I name the Wiener, I'd like to give appropriate "props" to the also-rans.

• President Obama, Il Duce to you regulars. What an MCF of a presidency this guy has had so far! Stimulus dollars for his well-heeled buddies. The Fascist takeover of a large portion of the financial sector and 2/3 of the Big Three auto makers. Special deals for his "friends" buried in the disastrous health care reform Fascist takeover of 1/7 of the nation's economy. And let's not forget his participation in the grotesque charade that is the AGW myth. He's awful, and most deserving of a Wiener.
  


• Al Gore and his sycophants who comprise Big Warming. Not even the smoking gun of the leaked emails of faux scientists actively perpetuating fraud in the service of One World Socialist Utopia (AKA Climategate) has slowed Mr. Gore and his ilk from pursuing new ways to destroy the economies of the West and bring about their desired One World government. He's deserving of a Wiener; hell, he's deserving of a Lifetime Achievement Wiener!
  


• Pottawattamie County, Iowa, prosecutors. As I detailed last April, these execrable slimeballs deliberately hid exculpatory evidence that might have cleared two innocent men from prosecution for killing a police officer. For these lowlifes, winning the case took precedence over justice. They deserve to spend the same 25 years in jail that the two defendants endured. Wiener worthy? You bet!
  


• Congress. Where to begin? (I believe I used those same words for last year's detailing of Congress' Wiener qualifications). Ah, the accomplishments of this Congress! Nationalization of a large percentage of our nation's financial sector. Nationalization of 2 of the Big Three automakers. Passage of Cap and Trade. Passage of health care reform the fascist takeover of 1/7 of the nation's economy, pending committee resolution of the House and Senate bills. And let's not forget H.R. 4173, the "financial reform" legislation passed by the House earlier this month, which provides for as much as $4 trillion in emergency funding the next time Wall Street crashes. God help us when these avaricious clowns are in session. Most Wiener-worthy, particularly leaders Nancy "Air Force 3" Pelosi and Harry Reid.
  


• Big Media (the BM for short). These Il Duce-worshiping tools have been most successful at ignoring news that is inconvenient to his royal worship's dismantling of our economy. They've also managed to almost completely ignore Climategate. Virtually all news related to Climategate and its particulars has come from the British press. The BM should be ashamed. As I wrote last year, they are, collectively, as pompous, imperious, and out-of-touch a group of people as anyone on this planet outside of Congress. Their Wiener-cred is unchallengeable.
  


• Judge Barbara Walther (last year's Wiener). She has done everything in her power to steamroll through convictions against FLDS men accused of crimes in the wake of the militaristic (and questionably Constitutional) raid on the Yearning for Zion ranch last year. She has shown her true colors as an authoritarian who wipes her ass with the Constitution. She is worthy of a Wiener, but more appropriately deserves prison time for judicial malpractice.
  


• The Team Elephant establishment, who insist on marginalizing populists like Ron Paul and Sarah Palin in favor of Rockefellerite losers. There will be no two party system in this country so long as elitists run the Republican party. Wieners? You betcha.
  


• The Team Donkey establishment. The party of John Kennedy, Scoop Jackson, and Hubert Humphrey is now the party of Bill Ayers, ACORN, and Nancy Pelosi. This is NOT a party interested in advancing America or American interests. They are all about establishing a One-World Socialist Utopia. The only question is whether they are more deserving of a Wiener or to be brought up on charges of treason.
  


• Janet Napolitano. What a waste of oxygen! From the minute she took her position as the head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHSS - you can't spell Schutzstaffel without the double S) she has been an epic fail. Her handling of the latest act of terrorism was epic in its incompetence. She needs to be fired. She's a walking example of what the Wiener award is all about.
  

This year's Wiener was chosen because of the harm that people like these pose to a free Constitutional republic (or, in the case of the USA, what REMAINS of a free Constitutional republic).

The 2009 Wiener of the Year is shared by two blogs: Caput Penitus Culus and FLDS Texas.

These two sites exist solely as a meeting place for bigots where they can share their bigotry in a little echo chamber.

They are openly hostile to arguments that bring their bigotry into question. They engage in the worst sort of character assassination imaginable against those whose views are different from their own. I was actually called a pedophile for simply opining on the Constitutionality of the YFZ raid!

Commenters who persist in questioning their views - particularly if those commenters match venom with venom - are banned as "trolls". There is no reaching these people with logic, reason, or even baseball bats.

So what makes them a threat to our Constitutional freedoms?

These are the very sort of people who made the Third Reich possible. They are people who are more than willing to attribute the worst sort of crimes to people different than themselves. They are people who are more than willing to see these scapegoated outsiders punished to the fullest regardless of what kind of shady actions were taken by the government to secure those convictions. All that matters to them is that the outsiders are punished (or, preferably, expelled).

They willingly sell our freedoms - particularly the 1st and 4th Amendments - just to assure that the government can "get" the outsiders. Then, as if that weren't enough, they pronounce legal justification for what has happened!

They are too caught up in their hatred and bigotry to figure out that they have imperiled anyone who is "different" in any way to be a target of voracious agents of der Staat. They're too stupid to realize that they've imperiled THEMSELVES.

You may disagree with my choice for WotY; if so, have at me via comments.

Congratulations, bastions of bigotry! You're the Wiener of the Year!

Ron Paul speaks

Ron Paul is like E. F. Hutton to me: when he speaks, I listen. If you get the reference to E. F. Hutton, then you're old, just like me.

Ron Paul is now officially on the record in declaring that Il Duce and Congress are trying to trigger an economic collapse.

“An economic collapse seems to be the goal of Congress and this administration,” Paul said during his weekly radio address Monday.

“Washington spends with impunity, domestically bailing and nationalizing basically everything they can get their hands on,” Paul said.

So far, so good. But he's just getting warmed up. Now he takes on one of government's sacred cows - the International Monetary Fund.

Perhaps most outrageous, Paul said, is the $108 billion loan guarantee to the IMF.

“These new loan guarantees will allow that destructive organization to continue spending taxpayer money to prop up corrupt leaders and promote harmful economic policies overseas. Not only does sending American taxpayer money to the IMF hurt citizens here, evidence shows that it even hurts those it pretends to help.”

Paul said that IMF loans require policy changes called “structural adjustment” programs, which amount to “forced Keynesianism.”

“This is the very fantasy-infused economic model that has brought our own country to its knees,” Paul said, “and IMF loans act as the Trojan horse to inflict it on others."

Preach it, brother man! Such a pity no one is listening.

And now for the coup de grace.

“We are buying nothing but evil and global oppression by sending [our] taxpayer dollars to the IMF — not to mention there is no constitutional authority to do so.”

Amen.

Why don't we have more men like this in Congress? WHY?!?!?!?

GOP RIP

What do you get when a political party has:

1. An obese self-parody clown talk show host as its defacto voice?

2. A party chairman who first attacks said clown, then grovels before his throne?

3. A straw poll winner who is not the leader who will bring them back to political prominence (the two best candidates for said roll -- Ron Paul and Sarah Palin -- finished 3rd and 4th, respectively) but rather an intellectual zero with no core beliefs (but a really great head of hair)?

4. A parade of bozo "experts" who insist that, since moving left worked so well in 2008, that's the only answer for the party to be successful in 2010 and 2012?

Why, you get political suicide, of course! That shadow you see circling Team Elephant? That would be me and my friends, waiting to devour the rotting carcass that awaits.

Watching a political party commit suicide is an ugly thing. Ugly indeed.

Ron Paul Update

Ron Paul made an appearance on Bill Maher's dreadful program the other night. He may be the only human being to the right of Mao Tse Tung to be treated with respect and dignity by the unctuous and unlikeable Mr. Maher.

They spoke on a number of topics related to the bailouts and stimulus and whatnot. Nothing really stood out -- except that everything stood out. This wasn't a politician pandering to his core constituency. My guess is that the core constituency of the Maher show mostly wears Che T-shirts and votes Green Party.

No, this was a man of principle, speaking from principle, never deviating from his principles. Watch the video or read the transcript, and see what principle looks like. You certainly won't see it following the garden variety politician around.

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.

---

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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On voting

I had originally planned to do a major screed on the philosophy of voting prior to the elections in November, but an ongoing discussion thread has convinced me that the time is now.

However you want to boil it down, there are three predominant philosophies for voting in an election where two unpalatable candidates are representing the major political parties:

1. Boycott the election - it's futile, because the elites have stacked the deck. Major proponents: Vox Day and Nate (Der Hausfraurer).
2. YOU HAVE TO VOTE!!!!!!! Vote the lesser of two evils! Hold your nose and vote for the guy with the 'R' or 'D' after their name, regardless of whether you like, respect, or agree with them, because this is the most importantest election ever and the future of the Supreme Court depends on it!!!!! Major proponents: Rachel Lucas and Dr. Helen.
3. Vote for anyone BUT the major party candidates. Major proponent: the Vulture.

Each approach has its pros and cons. But only one is a winner.

Boycott the election!

The "boycott" crowd gets to stand up and say, "This government is illegitimate and I refuse to participate in its sham elections." They get to stand off to the side and (rightfully) point out that whether you vote for the guy with the 'R' after his name or the guy with the 'D' after his name, you'll get the same results, because the president isn't really "running" things, the elites are.

But this is where the "boycott" crowd has it all wrong. The elites don't give two shits whether you vote or not. In fact, the statist media will point to your non-vote as "apathy among the electorate". Your "boycott" will be viewed by the elite as a de facto acquiescence to "the system". You meant to send a message saying the process is illegitimate. The message that is received is "we don't care who's in charge". That's a very bad message, trust me.

Vote for 'our' guy

The "OMGs YOU HAFTA VOTE FOR 'OUR' GUY!!!!!!!!!" crowd is just a little too tightly wound for their own good (sorry mark and dw). I know that Limbaugh and other blatherers have you all wound up because of the Supreme Court. It's the trump card for the pro-status quo crowd. "Sure, Candidate A sucks...but at least we can count on him to appoint the right judges to the Supreme Court".

Again, wrong. Ronald Reagan, the gold standard for Republicans, appointed Sandra Day O'Connor, William Rehnquist, and Anthony Kennedy. One dud, one excellent choice, one statist/leftist. In fairness, it must be noted that Reagan also nominated Robert Bork, who was rejected by the Senate because he actually believed in the Constitution. Bush 41 appointed David Souter and Clarence Thomas. One ultra-leftist, one excellent choice. King George the Dim succeeded in getting John Roberts and Samuel Alito appointed. Both are generally conservative, sure, but both are pro-Homeland Security apparatchiks. And let's not forget that he originally nominated the gawdawful Harriett Miers before Alito. Call that three bad choices.

So the scorecard reads: 2 excellent choices (and 1 excellent choice rejected), 2 bad choices (and an additional horrendous nominee), 1 dud, and 2 leftists. And this is from the last three presidents from Team Elephant!

How'd Clinton do? He appointed Ruth Vader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer - two gawdawful ultra-leftists.

The previous Team Donkey president, the peerlessly awful Jimmy Carter, didn't have the opportunity to appoint any justices. Thank God! The way he effed up everything else, there's no telling who he would have nominated!

Aha, you say! You just made my point! No, sadly, I didn't. With Team Donkey, you know what you're getting with the Supreme Court: Ultra-leftist nominees. A Senate with any stones will REJECT those nominees; sadly, the Team Elephant-dominated Senate of the 90's approved Clinton's nominees. Aha, I say! I just made my point!

Team Elephant gets about 1 in 4 nominees right. Team Donkey gets all of theirs wrong...but it doesn't matter because Team Elephant doesn't have the spine to oppose gawdawful candidates! Voting based on who will appoint Supreme Court justices is a losing argument.

Last point: there is no such thing as voting for the lesser of two evils. Once elected, the "lesser evil" becomes "the evil". If you wouldn't have voted for candidate A in the primaries, based on their unsuitablity for the office, then don't vote for candidate A in the general election, either. Be consistent and vote your conscience, always.

Vote for anyone BUT the mainstream candidates

The Vulture's way is simple: vote contrarian. Send the elites this message: "I care enough to vote...and I reject your hand-picked BS candidates!" No ambiguity, as is the case with the boycott crowd. No "I'm perfectly fine with the elite's choices of candidates" message, as with the "VOTE OUR GUY!!!!" crowd. Just a protest vote, pure and simple.

The downside? If the Vulture goes to the polls and casts his one lonely protest vote, he's just a crank and can be easily dismissed by the elite. But if the Vulture is joined by several million of his fellow citizens? THEN the elite has to sit up and take notice! My way only works if it becomes a grass-roots movement; sadly, in 21st century America, my way isn't even on the cultural radar.

So what's a curmudgeonly avian to do? I'm voting my conscience. I voted for Ron Paul in the primaries. I'm writing in Ron Paul in the general election. He won't win. I know that. But I won't send a message of apathy to the elites, and I won't send a message of "your candidates are swell!" to them, either. It'll be one lonely vote. But it will be done with a clear conscience and without compromise to my principles.

Really, should a person ever vote any other way?

Rioting....for peace?!?!?!?

Well, it looks like I'm getting my Chicago '68 after all, complete with unwashed hippy(-like) maggots and cops in riot gear busting heads. I just thought it would be for the Team Donkey convention, not the Team Elephant convention. The irony of destructive violence as part of a protest for peace apparently hasn't crossed the cerebral cortex of these reptilians.

Police said Tuesday they arrested 286 people during Monday's event. Most of the estimated 10,000 people in the march were peaceful, but small groups that police said numbered about 200 broke windows, slashed tires and harassed delegates.

Harassed delegates? How about assaulted delegates.

Look, if you want to protest, protest. It's a Constitutionally protected right. But when you resort to violence against innocent persons, you've crossed a line.

Yes, it is an unjust war. Yes, we shouldn't be there. Yes, we need to stop playing policeman for the planet. Just try to get your message across like an adult, okay?

Ron Paul did.

Ron Paul, Superstar

Every time I think that Ron Paul couldn't possibly do anything more to endear himself to me, he does something more. Earlier this week, Rep. Paul appeared on the Glenn Beck radio program, and, since I was running late and traffic was abysmal, I actually got to hear it live. Here is an excerpt.

GLENN: You don't have to tell me who it is, but do you know who you're going to vote for for President yet?

CONGRESSMAN PAUL: Not exactly, you know, because we don't even know who will get on the ballots. I've actually?--?

GLENN: Could you see yourself?--?

CONGRESSMAN PAUL: I couldn't vote for McCain.

GLENN: You can't vote for McCain?

CONGRESSMAN PAUL: No, I can't vote for him. I've said that publicly. That, of course, gets me in trouble with my Republican friends. No, he doesn't stand for essentially anything that I believe in. So I wouldn't be able to do that.

Imagine that! He can't vote for his party's candidate for President because "he doesn't stand for...anything that I believe in". I'd like you to contrast that with Harry Reid's parrot, Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, who must have Senator Palpatine's hand up his ass, given the way he recites almost verbatim the Team Donkey talking points of his master.

Couple that with this speech given on the House floor July 9th (not a comfortable read, but a necessary message), and you can see why I have so ardently supported Dr. Paul throughout his run to the presidency. I just wish more Americans understood the principles that Dr. Paul espouses. If they did, then only a beneficiary of the status quo or the truly evil could possibly vote against him.

Ron Paul is a true man of principle. He has core beliefs and he is true to them. He is the anti-Clinton, the anti-Bush, the anti-Obama, the anti-McCommie. This country needs leaders like him.

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Unrelated, but important (to me). I'd like for you all to keep in your prayers two regulars to this blog who are ailing.

yodaddy had knee replacement surgery and is recuperating from the surgery and post-surgical complications.

dw broke his leg riding his quad out in the AZ. He's all kinds of messed up.

My prayers are with you, guys. Get well soon.

Calling out prophets for hire

William Grigg from Pro Libertate has an uncanny knack for calling out people of power and influence. He's especially good at pegging phonies. In this article, he takes on the "palace prophets" of our age.

The object of sharing this rather emancipated paraphrase of I Kings 22 is to underscore the moral and practical futility of seeking wisdom from religious leaders who are on the state's payroll, or who covet the power that comes from proximity to the politically powerful.

I do not intend to interpolate my own views into the Scripture, but from what I know of human nature it seems likely that many of the payola prophets who took part in Ahab's “Faith-Based Initiative” probably believed that their compromises were necessary in order to advance some worthwhile objective or another. After all, working in partnership with the government is the key to getting things done, isn't it?

Here's a critically important principle: In any “public/private partnership,” the state is always the senior partner. When Christian leaders are on Caesar's payroll, they have to render to him things to which he is not entitled. And when Caesar's tactical priorities change, those religious leaders who thought they could co-opt the power of the state to do good will discover, to their dismay, that the state has co-opted them, leaving it stronger and more hostile toward the values those leaders supposedly served.

Chief among those who serve on Caesar's payroll, and the main target of Mr. Grigg's article, is faux-Evangelical "Doctor"* James Dobson.

"Doctor" Dobson has walked down the same unholy path as his predecessors, Jerry Fallwell and Pat Robertson. To say I have nothing but the highest contempt for those two asshats is to understate the loathing I have and have ALWAYS had for them. They were Christianity's worst enemies, the fifth-column undermining us from within with their trust in the arm of Government over the arm of God.

"Doctor" Dobson has now supplanted the dead Fallwell and doddering (and utterly sold-out) Robertson (remember: he endorsed Rudy f'ing Guiliani earlier this year). He stands alone as the "palace prophet" in the ignoble tradition of Zedekiah and the other 399 sell-outs of Ahab's court. His allegiance is no longer to the things of God. No, he wants to be on the side of power.

Earlier this year, the "Doctor" boldly proclaimed that he would not under ANY circumstance EVER vote for John McCommie. Yeah, sure. Now he's hedging and saying that he might "reconsider" and actually endorse McCommie since Obama is so antithetical to his beliefs. And what beliefs might THOSE be, "Doctor"? Your belief in remaining close to the levers of power?

By their fruits you shall know them. If "Doctor" Dobson really cared about the things of God, he would decry BOTH candidates and BOTH major political parties and work his ass off to throw Evangelical support behind either Dr. Ron Paul or Libertarian Bob Barr. But he'd never do that, because, given the libertarian beliefs of both of those good men, there wouldn't be any perks or goodies to be garnered from their presidency.

"Doctor" Dobson, you're a phony and a false prophet. Those of you who call yourselves Christians need to distance yourselves from this charlatan posthaste, or you'll sink with him when Caesar decides he's done with him.

* Bias alert. I have a default posture of negativity towards anyone who insists on being called "Doctor" who isn't a practicing clinician or professor. My pastor has a Doctorate: he insists on being called "Richard". My kinda guy!

The Revolution Continues

All along I've been of the opinion that the Team Donkey convention was going to be a SHOW, a battle royal with the potential to turn into Chicago '68. But it turns out that Team Elephant has its own convention turmoil possibilities.

[T]he forces of Rep. Ron Paul have been organizing across the country to stage an embarrassing public revolt against Sen. John McCain when Republicans gather for their national convention in Minnesota at the beginning of September.

Yee hah! Now we're talking!

The Rockefellerite Republican establishment needs to be shaken awake. They've foisted a grossly unpalatable candidate upon us who virtually guarantees a Team Donkey victory in November regardless of whether it's Barak {don't say his middle name or you're a racist} Obama or the Antichrist running as their standard bearer. A nice little revolt in Minneapolis would serve them right.

I'm going to have to Tivo the conventions for both parties now.

The Vulture grins a maniacal grin

Is there any reason to hope?

I'm sure you were wondering what our friend Ron Paul has been up to lately. Turns out he's been on the lecture circuit when he's not in Congress or in his district campaigning. He recently visited Baltimore's Goucher College, then paid a follow-up call-in to the Ron Smith Show on WBAL. Judging from this report from a listener to the show, there isn't much reason for hope if Goucher students are in any way representative of their generation.

"They almost universally like what he says about the war, but they simply don't understand constitutional government. Almost without fail, they could not help but ask him what he'd replace things with.

”For example, one girl asked, ‘Since No Child Left Behind has been such a failure, what would you replace it with?’ Ron answered about how it could do nothing but fail and how it was absurd for Washington to get so involved in education. The girl still didn't get it, she restated her question – ‘but what would you do instead?’ Ron replied, ‘I think we've done too much already. I would get Washington out of your hair.’

“Another girl asked about the wage gap for women (obviously not aware that there really is no such thing), and what Ron would do about it. ‘Nothing’ was his basic answer. He said he couldn't wrap his head, as a Libertarian, around treating one person differently than another. She walked away with her head held down.

“One of the boys asked about how Ron would create jobs. Once again, Ron talked about how that is capitalism's job, not government's.

”The kids just didn't get it. They can't really grasp the idea of Washington doing nothing about a problem, as Paul is undoubtedly the first politician they've ever heard propose doing nothing, insisting rather that you can do it better than they can. You could see the confusion on their faces when he said ‘As president I would get Washington out of the abortion business, putting the decision back in the states, where it belongs.’

“The realization that all these kids know is politicians promising to fix everything, never having seen one tell the truth - that they can't fix it, filled me with shame.

”The one thing they do understand, however, is that the central bank is a problem. I found that very illustrative.”

Well, at least they understand that the Central Bank is an unmitigated disaster. But...and I can't stress this strongly enough...can you really blame the kids? After all, their stupid parents still think that government has all of the answers. I mean, look at the three steaming piles of disaster we've got left in the race for the White House. There's no way anyone who understands the principles of limited government could vote for ANY of them. Not even for dog catcher.

This story -- the story of the US of A -- is going to end badly. Very badly.