The persecuted persecute

Hearken back to April 2008, when the State of Text staged an over-the-top paramilitary raid on the Yearning For Zion (YFZ) ranch and kidnapped the children of FLDS church members. I made multiple blog posts regarding this atrocity. In those posts, I called into question the actions of Texas law enforcement, which I (correctly) labeled as police-state brutality and wrong on all fronts. As a result, I was labeled pro-FLDS and an apologist for their practices.

I wonder what I'll be labeled now. 

It seems that the persecuted have become the persecutors. This story, which I'll summarize in the interest of brevity since the pertinent facts are spread throughout it, merits condemnation for those practitioners of the FLDS faith who were involved.

An individual in Colorado City, AZ, a former FLDS member and frequent critic of the sect, has for some time been receiving "gifts" of dead cats on his property. According to the story, the dead cats are supposed to be an intimidation tactic by FLDS members against said individual.

The latest incident, however, didn't involve a dead cat, but rather a live cat half-buried in concrete on his property. The animal was in incredible agony. After it was rescued, it was taken to a vet, but it died of its injuries in spite of efforts to save it.

You can tell a lot about a person by their treatment of animals. I'm no fan of cats, since they tend to make me stop breathing, but I would in no way ever condone subjecting a cat to the agony this animal endured. Only a monster would do such a thing. Or a sociopath. Either way, there's no denying that the persons involved here are evil to their core.

The FLDS church needs to "get it" here. If you condone intimidation of critics and torture of animals, you are no better than the mouth-breathers over at FLDS Texas who fanned the flames of persecution against you in the aftermath of the YFZ raid. 

Do the right thing. Identify the persons involved so they can stand before the law. Show everyone that you're not "those people" that the mouth-breathers accuse you of being. 

xfloggingkylex's reaction to the linked story was, "Fuck the FLDS!". Mine will be the same if you don't make this right.

How not to fix a wrongful prosecution

On Friday the news broke that the "infamous" Memphis 3 -- Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were freed. 

Freed, but not cleared. 

The trio, convicted nearly 20 years ago for the brutal rape and murder of three cub scouts in Arkansas, have spent half their lives imprisoned despite overwhelming evidence of their innocence. So why were they freed but not cleared? If you don't know the answer to that question, you haven't been paying attention to the horror that is the modern American "justice" system.

[A] 1996 HBO documentary titled "Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills" drew the attention of celebrities including Vedder and Maines. Joined by other stars, they helped fund a legal team that sought a new trial.

Last fall, the Arkansas Supreme Court ordered a new hearing for the three, asking a judge to consider allegations of juror misconduct and whether new DNA science could aid the men or uphold the convictions. Then, suddenly, there was the plea deal.

It involved an unusual legal maneuver that allowed the men to maintain their claims of innocence. But with murder convictions still on their records, supporters say they've got to find whoever's responsible for the boys' deaths to clear the men's names.

Just to clarify that last paragraph (the AP must have an affirmative action program that requires them to hire the mentally challenged as reporters). The three were forced to make an Alford plea, "admitting" guilt as "overwhelming evidence", before the execrable Arkansas "legal" system would free them. Actually, as bad as that sounds, it's worse than that. One defendant was told to take the Alford plea or his friend wouldn't be freed from Death Row!

These are not the actions of a justice system. These are the actions of predatory prosecutors who are only interested in keeping their won-lost record intact, the innocence of those prosecuted be damned. This was about prosecutors covering their ass rather than administrating justice.

This is, to put it bluntly, a complete miscarriage of justice.

Either give the three fair trails in which to prove their innocence, or pardon them, or exonerate them. But don't pull this obscene abortion aimed at deflecting attention away from criminal prosecutors (take that naming either way you choose) who are utterly disinterested in justice and only interested in winning.

I'm baaaaaaack

Just like a case of herpes, I have returned. My vacation was refreshing and invigorating. But now I'm back and it's time to address the "big issues of the day".

As if!

Nah, I'm going to dedicate my first post-vacation post to saying, "I told you so!"

Did I not tell you? DID I NOT TELL YOU?!?!?!?

When Il Duce named Jeffrey Immelt as his "jobs czar" back in January, I said that Immelt was a repugnant slug who represented the very worst in crony capitalism. I said that the company he chairs, General Electric, is "the #1 looter corporation".

Seems there are those who agree with me.

The New York Times reported last month that General Electric earned $14.2 billion in international profits, including, $5.1 billion in the United States. Yet GE did not pay a dime in federal income taxes last year. Oddly, President Obama chose GE Chairman and chief executive Jeffrey Immelt to head his President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

According to the Associated Press, Immelt's compensation package doubled to $15.2 million last year, while this year, GE is seeking major concessions from the unions that represent its shrinking American workforce. That makes Immelt the wrong guy for the job of jobs czar.

Or as former Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold wrote, "Someone like Immelt, who has helped his company evade taxes on its huge profits -- and is now looking to workers to take major pay cuts after his compensation was doubled -- should not lead the administration's effort to create jobs."

I almost wish I could just paste the whole essay, written masterfully by Debra Saunders, into this post. But in the interest of giving credit where credit is due, you should go to RealClearPolitics and read the whole thing yourself. You'll be glad you did.

One last quote from the opinion piece.

When Obama appointed Immelt to his jobs and competitiveness council, the president said that Immelt "understands what it takes for America to compete in the global economy."

Unfortunately, Immelt seems to have learned that the best way to increase GE's profits was to eliminate a fifth of its American workforce, ship jobs overseas and hire a small army of tax attorneys.

A generous person might argue that GE's experience makes Immelt the smart choice to reform the tax code.

But Immelt can't be in charge of GE and reform a tax system it helped pervert. Obama must know that. Obama must not care.

The circus is in town

The execrable Rep. Peter King (R-NY) is holding hearings ostensibly to discuss how the US can mitigate the terrorism threat emanating from radical Islam. This is the same Peter King who for decades was an open supporter of the terrorist organization, Sinn Fein.

A periodic perversion of America's ideals, regrettably witnessed at the U.S. Capitol, is an "investigation" in which Congress labels people as unAmerican because of ethnicity, religious belief or conviction.

Rep. Peter King, R-New York, used to defend the Irish Republican Army as a "legitimate force" and once declared: "The British government is a murder machine."

Now, as chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, King is staging hearings on ""Muslim radicalization" aimed at exposing what he calls a "violent enemy from overseas . . . which is recruiting people from a community living in our country."

William Grigg details King's hypocrisy much better than I can in this meager post (see here).

Let's put this whole thing in its proper perspective. King isn't seeking a solution to radical Islam. King is seeking to stoke the fires of intolerance in order to fuel the war machine.

In my opinion it is King who should be subjected to hearings and jailed for his support of a terrorist organization. Let us not forget that the IRA was blowing innocent men, women, and children to smithereens long before Al Qaeda existed. Peter King has the blood of those innocents on his hands. It is the height of absurdity that this terrorist-supporting thug can hold hearings of this nature.

And yet, so-called "conservatives" are all gung-ho for the hearings and stand foursquare behind King. Last night on the drive home, I heard Spencer Hughes of Fox News Radio defending the hearings. He actually uttered this ridiculous line, "If you're Islamic and you're not involved in terrorist activities, you have nothing to be afraid of." Uh huh. Just like the innocents in Waco who didn't shoot at the ATF had nothing to be afraid of.

I'm becoming more convinced every day that the vast majority of "conservatives" are complete morons dancing to whatever tune Fox News is currently playing. In that aspect, they're every bit as dangerous to the survival of this country as the radical Left they so despise.

And just as stupid.

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.

What anonymity really means

There once was a blog called Coram Non Judice (known to regular readers of this fine blog as Caput Penitus Culus).  The blog was purported to present valid legal opinions on issues related to the FLDS raid in Texas.  The blog was run pseudonymously by a fellow identifying himself as TxBluesMan.  No one knew his real name.  No one knew what his credentials were to opine on legal matters.  No one.

When asked how he justified writing anonymously what essentially amounted to hate-filled propaganda in the guise of legal opinion -- citing precedent often, of course -- TxBluesMan compared himself to the Founders, who at times wrote anonymous tracts against the colonial government and the King.

This, of course, was complete horse hockey.  There was nothing remotely similar to what the Founders did in anything TxBluesMan wrote.  The Founders hid behind anonymity to avoid arrest for sedition.  TxBluesMan wrote anonymously for a far different reason.

Anonymity, Martha Nussbaum, a professor of law and philosophy at the University of Chicago observes, allows Internet bloggers “to create for themselves a shame-free zone in which they can inflict shame on others.” The power of the bloggers, she continues, “depends on their ability to insulate their Internet selves from responsibility in the real world, while ensuring real-world consequences” for those they injure.

As the tipster who passed this story on to me wrote, "That, boys and girls, is the story of TxBluesman."

100% true and accurate. Think I'm kidding? I was accused by TxBluesMan of being pro-polygamy and pro-pedophilia for simply opining that 4th Amendment protections were violated during the Texas Stoßtruppen's raid! 

TxBluesMan is an intolerant bully.  He desperately needed to be outed.  And he was.

TxBluesMan turned out to be Sgt. Gregory Prickett, AKA the Caput a Palos, AKA The Prickette.

Once he was outed, The Prickette immediately shut down his odious blog to try to bury the evidence.  You see, now his real self was linked to his Internet self -- and real consequences awaited.

It's not pleasant when the curtain is parted and the Great and Powerful Oz is revealed to be a two-bit loser with a penchant for throwing his weight around and playing the big shot.  At least, not for Oz.

UPDATE: The same tipster who passed on the NY Times article adds the following:

Just FYI: while online at any sites controlled by Google, your "anonymity" is subject to their selective authority that may or may not conceal it.

Wiener of the Year

Prior to 2010 I awarded the Wiener of the Week award and the Wiener of the Month award every week/month.  I discontinued that practice this year because it constrained my flexibility with regard to subject-matter selection.  It was a decision I'm glad I made, given that the past year I've had significantly less opportunity to post than in past years.

But at the time I announced the discontinuation of the Wieners of the Week and Month, I stated that the Wiener of the Year award would still be given out to the person or persons most deserving of that dishonor.

In past years I solicited nominations for the WotY.  Not this year.  There was no need for that.  The winner (wiener?) was decided months ago.  There aren't even any candidates for the runner-up spots.  Nope, for 2010 there's just one, and he may be the most deserving recipient yet.

Ladies and gentlemen, your Wiener of the Year for 2010 is: Sgt. Gregory Prickett (hereinafter referred to as The Prickette).

It's ironic, but The Prickette is a two-time Wiener.  Last year I picked co-Wieners when I awarded the WotY to two blogs noted for their anti-FLDS bigotry.  At that time the identity of the person behind the execrable Coram Non Judice (known by regulars here as Caput Penitus Culus - Head Inside Ass) was unknown.  Thanks to the efforts of The Pharisee and others, the identity of the Caput a Palos was revealed.  Rather than bore you with the history of what transpired in the wake of that revelation, you can read up on it here.  Suffice it to say that The Prickette has paid dearly for playing lawyer and accusing innocent persons of pedophilia.

What makes The Prickette Wiener-worthy?  Let me count the ways.

1. He shut down his blog once he was outed.   It's gone for good, deleted by its owner.  Note that The Prickette has never at any time denied that he is TxBluesMan, the sorry excuse for a human being who proudly used his purported legal "expertise" to espouse bigotry and hatred.
2. He presented himself to his blog readers as a legal expert.  He not only isn't a lawyer, he wasn't even a real law enforcement professional (campus cop does NOT count as law enforcement).
3. He lost his job as a campus cop.  It would be purely speculative on my part to posit a theory as to why he is no longer employed by UNT, but it is likely related to alleged misuse of university resources in furtherance of his malignant campaign of pure bigotry against the FLDS.
4. Now that he's been "outed", his relationship with Natalie Malonis has become fodder for speculation.  I wonder how Mrs. Prickette feels about the coziness between her pompous-ass husband and Ms. Malonis.
5. He has attempted to sue those responsible for outing him for "damages", yet, as noted earlier, he has NEVER denied being the cowardly subhuman behind Caput Penitus Culus.  Never.  Kinda hard to prove damages when the "damage" is the result of the revelation of the truth.

Face it, Prickette.  Your life is a colossal fail.  Epic.  You sat in judgment of others, flinging baseless accusations from behind the cloak of anonymity like an ape throwing feces at the zoo (a fitting mental picture of who you really are).  And you've proved to be a fraud, a loser, a nothing.

Congratulations, Prickette.  You're the Wiener of the Year.

 Pictured: the Caput a Palos himself

Piling on: more TSSA abuse

TSSA (you can't spell Schutzstaffel without the double S) is the hot topic these days, crowding out the G20 Summit, the ConAgra/Archer Daniels Midland/Big Agra food industry takeover bill, and, well, everything else. And why not?  After all, they make it so easy!

The latest is this tale of humiliation.

A retired special education teacher on his way to a wedding in Orlando, Fla., said he was left humiliated, crying and covered with his own urine after an enhanced pat-down by TSA officers recently at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

“I was absolutely humiliated, I couldn’t even speak,” said Thomas D. “Tom” Sawyer, 61, of Lansing, Mich.

Sawyer is a bladder cancer survivor who now wears a urostomy bag, which collects his urine from a stoma, or opening in his stomach. “I have to wear special clothes and in order to mount the bag I have to seal a wafer to my stomach and then attach the bag. If the seal is broken, urine can leak all over my body and clothes.”

Long story short...

I tried to warn him that he would hit the bag and break the seal on my bag, but he ignored me. Sure enough, the seal was broken and urine started dribbling down my shirt and my leg and into my pants.”

The security officer finished the pat-down, tested the gloves for any trace of explosives and then, Sawyer said, “He told me I could go. They never apologized. They never offered to help. They acted like they hadn’t seen what happened. But I know they saw it because I had a wet mark.”

Humiliated, upset and wet, Sawyer said he had to walk through the airport soaked in urine, board his plane and wait until after takeoff before he could clean up.

Ah, but don't worry, Mr. Sawyer.  Il Duce feels your pain.

President Obama said today he sympathizes with passenger complaints about aggressive body pat-downs at airports, but his counter-terrorism aides say they are necessary to guard against hidden explosives.

Balancing privacy and security is a "tough situation," Obama told reporters at a news conference following the NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal.

"One of the most frustrating aspects of this fight against terrorism is that it has created a whole security apparatus around us that causes a huge inconvenience for all of us," Obama said.

Uh, no, Mr. President. It is NOT a huge inconvenience for ALL of us.  You traipse all over the world in the opulence that is Air Force One.  And even those members of Congress who make a big show of flying commercial (hey, how 'bout that? [/sarcasm]) manage to skip the humiliation reserved for the rest of us (hat tip: Ye Olde Journalist).

No airport pat-down for the incoming House speaker.

On Friday, the GOP's John Boehner was guided past the metal detectors and hand inspections given to other passengers on his flight home to Ohio.

Boehner's spokesman Michael Steel said his boss followed procedures set by Capitol Police and the Transportation Security Administration. Steel said the same rules apply to other congressional leaders.

Yeah. The same rules apply to other congressional leaders. Because, after all, only we mundanes should be humiliated, NOT the elites who rule us.

Toes forwarded a proposed solution to the TSSA madness. I think it's a huge improvement over the current MCF.

Solution to issue of full-body scanners at airports: A booth you step into that will detonate any explosive device you may have hidden on or in your body. The explosion is contained within the booth. Win-Win? No profiling and will eliminate long and expensive trials. Hmmmm: In the airport you hear a muffled explosion. Later an announcement, "Attention, standby passengers! Seats now available on flight number...

Priceless.

White-hot Prickette

War.  Really, it's the only word that can begin to describe the escalation of the saga of The People vs. The Mall Cop a Palos.  To summarize the events to this point.

• The individual behind Coram Non Judice (or, as I prefer, Caput Penitus Culus -- Head Inside Ass) has presented himself/herself/itself as the legal expert for all things related to the illegal seizure of the FLDS children in Texas.
  
  
• Said individual -- while, mind you, remaining completely anonymous -- engaged in the worst sort of character assassination against those whose opinions differed from his own.  Said individuals would include The Pharisee, Bill Medvecky, ScottyL of Ye Olde Journalist, Toes, and The Vulture.  Among other slurs, these individuals have been accused of being pedophiles or pro-pedophilia.  All save Toes blog "in the clear", with their real name and other information there for all to see.  I think that all fair-minded people would agree that slurs against real people -- particularly heinous slurs like calling someone a pedophile -- done from cover of anonymity is the act of a total coward.
  
  
• A Wikipedia administrator, investigating allegations of sock puppetry/meat puppetry and of using multiple identities in those activities (clearly against Wikipedia regulations), discovered two individuals, Sgt. Greg Prickett (hereafter referred to as The Prickette*) and Natalie Malonis (a prominent anti-FLDS lawyer) were engaged in meat puppetry.
  
  
• In the course of that administrator's investigation, the admin found a link from one of The Prickette's aliases (TxBluesMan) to the execrable POS Caput Penitus Culus.  He also discovered The Pharisee, looking for TxBluesMan.
  
  
• Long story short, The Pharisee became aware of The Prickette's real name, and he was formally "outed".
  
  
• All of the aforementioned individuals previously slandered by The Prickette (save Toes, who remains ever polite) had a field day with this information.  The Prickette was called everything but a Child of God by said individuals.  Not coincidentally, every word of what was said about the Prickette by these individuals was....wait for it....TRUE.
  
  
• Bill Medvecky wrote an open letter to The Prickette's boss detailing the kinds of activities he had been involved in.
  
  
• The Prickette issued a Cease and Desist order to The Pharisee, Bill Medvecky, and ScottyL to "stop calling him names and telling on him".  Big pussy!  At the time, I was just a wee bit bent that he hadn't included me in that order.  I didn't realize how lucky I was.
  
  
• The Prickette escalated.   He published pictures of The Pharisee's daughter on that cesspool of a blog, FLDS Texas, in a clear effort to intimidate and extort The Pharisee to back off.
  
  
• The Pharisee countered by contacting just about everyone associated with the university where The Prickette works to alert them to the kind of stalker sociopath they have working for them.
  
  
• The university, clearly seeing the potential liability they faced if they did nothing about this whack-job placed The Prickette on Administrative Leave.
  
  
• Now the other shoe has dropped, so to speak.  The Prickette has sued The Pharisee, Bill Medvecky, ScottyL, and the Wikipedia administrator for $1 million big ones and filed an ex parte which enjoins these gentlemen to desist in their accurate but hurtful name calling against The Prickette (Greggie!  Whatever happened to "sticks and stones..."?).   The full document can be read here.
  

Does anyone still doubt that we're dealing with a borderline personality here?  The Prickette sees absolutely nothing wrong with slandering innocent people, threatening their employment, threatening their relatives(!).  But reveal who he is and the kind of things he's done over the past two years...and he's first in line at the courthouse, ready to sue your ass.

Prickette, you're every bit the sniveling coward I thought you were the first time we had the opportunity to exchange views.  Wait, we didn't exchange views so much as I shared an opinion regarding the 4th Amendment violations I perceived regarding the flimsy warrant the Texas Stoßtruppen used as an excuse to search EVERY HOME IN THE FREAKING COMMUNITY and you called me a pedophile.

If I were the gentlemen named in your lawsuit -- particularly if I were The Pharisee -- I'd counter-sue your sorry ass.  I would guess that the aforementioned folks kept records of their "interactions" with you, just as I have.  I believe the things you've done to all of us from cover of anonymity completely dwarf the things these guys have allegedly done to you "in the clear".

Loser.

* Prickette was chosen as Mr. Prickett's non de guerre for the following reasons.  First, the name "Prickett" is pronounced "prick-ETT".  Second, the suffix "-ette" is used as a feminine diminutive.  This results in Prickette - a prick, only smaller and less masculine.

Pledge to America is lame

Nearly assured of a massive victory at the polls in November, Team Elephant did what it does best: it undermined its own chances for success.  Their chosen mode of self-immolation this election: Son of Contract With America.

This propaganda masterpiece, called  A Pledge to America, is a real head-scratcher.  There is no reference to nor acknowledgment of the Tea Party.  Why would the Elephant elites give any credit to people they both loath and seek to discredit?

A lot of slick pictures accompany the propaganda piece.  These are images meant to elicit an emotional, patriotic response from the reader.  It made me sick.

The document is divided into sections tailored at issues the elitists think are important to ordinary Americans. The promise in the preface to "honor the Constitution" and "those precepts that have been consistently ignored – particularly the Tenth Amendment", is broken right away in the Foreword, where they state that, when it comes to spending cuts, "common-sense exceptions for seniors, veterans, and our troops" will be made.  Business as usual, anyone?

Here's the worst from each section.

Section 1, Job Creation.  Job creation.  Job creation.  They still think the GOVERNMENT creates jobs.  Nevertheless, the steps they propose to take, while hardly representing job creation, do at least improve the business environment to where employers MIGHT consider hiring.

Grade: B

Section 2, Reduce the Size of Government.  The people who gave us King George the Dim's War Without End are trying to sell us reduced government spending and the size of government?  That's rich. 

They promise to "act immediately to reduce spending" (yawn).  They promise to cut government spending to "pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels".   Hey, how 'bout that? [/sarcasm]   Pre-bailout levels?  That's it?  WTF!  I think the American people -- and particularly the people who make up the Tea Parties -- want more than that.  Much more.  This "promise" is a joke.

They want to put "limits" on the growth of Government.  Limits?!?!? On growth?!?!?  Are you effin' kidding me!  A real plan would seek to reduce the size of government by at least 15% JUST FOR STARTERS.

They plan to hold weekly votes on spending. Hey, how 'bout that? [/sarcasm] And this dog and pony show will achieve what exactly? 

But it's the last "promise" that really set my teeth on edge.  "We will make the decisions that are necessary to protect our entitlement programs for today’s seniors and future generations".  You can't make this stuff up. 

Grade: F

Section 3, Health Care.  They promise "repeal and replace".  70% of Americans support repeal.  But replace? 

Part of what constitutes "replace" is to "ensure access for patients with pre-existing conditions."  I kid you not.

Grade: D-

Section 4, Reform Congress and Restore Trust.  I laughed my ass off when I read that.  Seriously?  Among the promises in this section is a promise to "adhere to the Constitution".  How, precisely, do you plan to do that AND "ensure access for patients with pre-existing conditions" AND "maintain entitlements", neither of which is Constitutionally permitted?

Grade: F

Section 5, National Security.  I can summarize this in two sentences.  Spend more money on defense systems like missile defense.  And continue the War Without End.  There is also a hollow promise to "enforce our immigration laws".  Nobody believes that.  Nobody. 

Grade: F

Section 6, Checks and Balances.  The shortest section, this is yet another attempt by the Elephant elites to sucker us.  I can sum this section up in two words: "Trust me".  The right answer -- No way!

Grade: F

There you have it.  Aren't you impressed?  Doesn't this steaming POS make you just long to rush to the polls to vote for the guy with the 'R' by his name?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll get a shower.  I feel dirty.

Escallation

Ron in Houston has apparently LOST IT.  Check out the comments he made about my last post which, paradoxically, had absolutely NOTHING TO DO WITH HIM OR HIS VILE ILK.  It's even worse over at FLDS Texas.  Here is a sampling of what Ron wrote there.

Oh, no, no. None of you mess with me tonight. I’m not in the mood. If you want to mess with me, read this first.

Ron in Houston said this on September 19, 2010 at 11:39 PM
[...]

OMG

I know that apparently I “control” you guys.

You evil a$$hats are nothing more than my sycophants.

I’d love to claim your collective hatred for people that view sex with 14 year old girls as socially acceptable but unfortunately I cant.

My advice to you? Be active. When you see dickheads like Vulture, don’t be afraid to speak out. If the (deleted) tries to suppress your free speech rights then send an email to his employer an ask them if they support Michael Fulmer’s positions on sex with 12 year old girls.

These dickheads deserve it. Go for it.

Ron in Houston said this on September 20, 2010 at 12:10 AM
[...]

Hey Mike – where do you work? Want to play anymore with me?

Ron in Houston said this on September 20, 2010 at 12:41 AM
[...]

The greatest irony to this?

I’m a freaking pacifist.

However, there comes a point where you can even piss off a pacifist.

I will say this. Don’t be evil. However, sometimes the only way to stop evil is to meet it with evil of equal or stronger force.

Sometimes evil (deleted) -tards need to be smacked down. I’m must aaying….

Ron in Houston said this on September 20, 2010 at 1:01 AM
[...]

So, where I am now is willing to fight against the proxies. See, no one can fire me. I work for myself. However, if Michael Fulmer of Frederick Maryland wants to screw with me and call me an “asshole” well perhaps his employer needs to see how he’s spending his time at work.

See, I didn’t start this fight with these assholes. However, if they want to fight, then I’m more than willing to get it on with them.

In the end, all I want is to be left alone. I think another of Hugh’s proxies get’s that and actually respects it. I have no problem at all with him. After resolving our disputes, the guy has treated me with a fair degree of dignity and respect. I more than intent to repay that in kind.

The bottom line with Ron is that he doesn’t want to hurt anyone. You leave me alone, and I’ll be more than happy to leave you alone. I actually don’t necessarily agree with the 75 year sentence for Michael Emacks. I don’t disagree with it, but I do appreciate that 75 years is an awful long time. Really, is the guy that evil that he deserves to be locked away the rest of his life? Like I say, whether you agree or disagree, that is a very harsh sentence. The bottom line is that I don’t disagree with the premise of the guy being punished I’m just not sure that 75 years is really in the long term interests of society.

Obviously folks feel quite strongly on both sides of that issue, and I’ll let all you guys have at it. I’m just not certain that from a public policy standpoint it’s wise.

Ron in Houston said this on September 20, 2010 at 2:48 AM

Emphasis mine

Ron has threatened me. He has threatened my employment. He has slandered my good name by AGAIN accusing me of being pro-pedophilia (something I have NEVER supported and am on record as being FULLY AGAINST).

Do you have any further doubt about the kind of people we're dealing with here?  All I've ever done is bring up the Constitutional issues I see with regard to the raid on YFZ ranch.  And I've been called everything but a Child of God.  I've been called pedophile, pro-polygamy, and everything else you can think of.  These vile cowards threaten real people from a position of anonymity.  They are the worst.

I left every one of Ron's foul comments intact.  Yet EVERY LAST COMMENT I've made at the FLDS Texas site over the past few days has been summarily deleted, including this.

Mr. Lawyer,

I'm sure you'll delete this, like have all of my previous comments. But I wish to go on record as warning you that if you ever accuse me of wanting to marry 12-year-olds and threaten my employment again, I will retain a REAL lawyer and sue your sorry ass.

Put that in your culus and smoke it, palos.

Anonymity.  Threats.  Silencing opposing viewpoints.  Who's the bad guy here?  Me?  Or them?

If there are any real lawyers out there reading this (not wannabe almost high school teachers like Ron in Houston or the Mall Cop a Palos, please weigh in here.  I want to know if I have grounds to sue that asshole.

NO ONE threatens Michael Fullmer of Frederick, MD (yeah, asshole, I DON'T HIDE WHO I AM -- NEVER HAVE, NEVER WILL) and gets away with it.

Topic revisited -- Team Elephant's "reformation"

I last spoke on this subject some days before the primary elections.  Now the primaries for Delaware, Maryland, New York, and various other states are complete.  Let's see what Team Elephant has been up to in the time since my last taunt post.

Wanna see true colors?  See this.

In an extraordinary move, the state Republican Party began automated phone calls attacking O'Donnell in the campaign's final hours. The calls feature the voice of a woman who identifies herself as Kristin Murray, O'Donnell's campaign manager in her 2008 unsuccessful Senate campaign, accusing the candidate of "living on campaign donations — using them for rent and personal expenses, while leaving her workers unpaid and piling up thousands in debt."

O'Donnell's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Republican officials have said privately they intend to write off the seat if O'Donnell is victorious against Castle.

The establishment would rather lose than support a candidate whose views aren't those of John McCommie, Lincoln Chafee, and other stalwart "conservatives".  What is it you're not seeing here, conservatives?  These people hate you and hate everything you believe in.

Most telling was the establishment response to O'Donnell's win.

However, a top Republican official told CNN on Tuesday night that O'Donnell will have to show she can generate viable support before the national party will give her money.

"It is now incumbent on Sarah Palin, (U.S. Sen.) Jim DeMint and the Tea Party Express to help support her," the official said on condition of not being identified by name. "They got her here. Now make it happen."

After the establishment said they wouldn't support O'Donnell financially, she made her own pitch -- and picked up $1.5 million dollars just since Tuesday!  You're looking bad, Rockefellerites!

New York posted a stunning upset as well.  Carl Paladino upset RINO Rick Lazio.

The Team Elephant establishment is grossly out of touch with its base.  I would say DELIBERATELY out of touch; they really would rather see grassroots candidates lose.  They will only support "their kind".  WHY you people still affiliate yourselves with that party, I cannot understand.

UNMASKED!!!!!

The Modern Pharisee has done it!  He not only unmasked the execrable Ron in Houston but now he's hit the ultimate target - the Caput a Palos himself!

Via Free the FLDS Children, Bill Medvecky's excellent blog:

Hugh McBryde has flushed TBM out of the woodwork, the cockroach is a rent-a-cop for the University of North Texas (UNT).

His name is Greg Prickett (What a surprise), and he and Natalie have been running around erasing all the e-mails and incriminating evidence (Also illegal) they can locate to try to thwart the on-going investigation of their criminal State and Federal violations of Law.

I REALLY wanted to keep the knowledge of his discovery quiet until the investigations were complete, but sadly, he was called by an over-zealous investigator of ours prematurely. Since the cat is now out of the bag, he’ll be happy to know that we’ve already stockpiled all the e mails and correspondence between himself, Natalie, The Banana, Lover boy and Wisan needed, and those we don’t have, can’t be erased from the net anyway.

He reports that he walks around with a gun. Be careful Greg, you don’t want to shoot your Prickett off before we send your ass to prison.

I can hardly contain my joy at the thought that this flaming asshole has finally been outed!

THIS is the guy who called ME a wannabe lawyer?  Who mocked ME for being "just a programmer"?  Who accused ME of being a pedophile?  THIS hayseed POS?  This clown who put the "prick" in "Prickett"?

He's not only NOT a lawyer, he's not even a REAL law-enforcement officer.  His job is one step above Mall Cop.  Worse yet, he's the kind of nightmare cop Will Grigg writes about.

Wait.  It gets better.  From the comments of the referenced Medvecky post, an open letter to the Prick's employer:

Dear Mr. Price,

It is my understanding that you employ Mr. Prickett as your Chief of Security.

In view of the findings of the Appeals Court concerning his involvement in the assault of a student of the school a few years ago, I can honestly say I don’t understand the University’s continued support of this person, but that is not the main purpose of this letter.

I am here to address Mr. Prickett’s blatant use of the University’s name and his position with it, as well as his use of the Universities computers to repeatedly violate the Privacy Act with regards to HIPPA Laws, both State and Federal.

Mr. Prickett authors a site on the web entitled “Coram Non Judice”. He fancies himself a legal expert and, with the assistance of a rogue Attorney named Natalie Malonis, distributes the private, confidential Medical and Psychological Records of children and adults he opposes on his site as well as on a site entitled “FLDSTexas”.

Further, calling himself “Texas Blue’s Man” Mr. Prickett uses his position and the equipment of the University to disseminate on his and other websites what he pro-ports to be “Child porn”. They are un-redacted pictures of children which he claims are in sexually explicit poses. As you may know, presenting a picture of a child as a sexual object or in a sexual light is illegal and considered child porn even if the child is fully clothed.

In a recent letter of explanation to Wikipedia concerning his conduct, Mr. Prickett self reported that he has now taken to wearing a concealed weapon at all times.

Mr. Prickett is running around your campus and is, frankly, a lit fuse ready to explode at those he fears “Might kill me”.

What you do about Mr. Prickett is up to you, but you HAVE been advised that he is potentially a far greater liability for the University than he was in the case of the student he allowed to be assaulted by Campus Security.

We intend to bring charges against Mr. Prickett for the HIPPA violations and for attempting to portray the children of a religion he does not favor in a sexual light, as well as bringing charges against those who aid and abet him in his perverted goals.

Thank you,

W.J. Medvecky

Is this simply the greatest thing ever? If the 49ers had beaten the Seahawks 49-0 I wouldn't be as happy as I am right now.  Sweet, sweet, schadenfreude!

Check it out, bigots!  Your champion, your hero, your great legal mind, is nothing but a glorified Mall Cop with a bad attitude and a sociopathic need to throw his weight around.  At least Ron in Houston is almost a lawyer, almost a professor, almost SOMETHING.  The Caput a Palos is a gigantic fraud.  And a colossal pussy; once he caught wind that he had been outed, he marked his execrable blog "private".

Hey Prickett!  I got yer Coram Non Judice hangin' RIGHT HERE!

Asshole.

---

One more thing. I went over to FLDS Texas to see what the bigots had to say about their legal hero (and, let's be honest, to poke a stick through the bars and laugh at them). Apparently Ron in Houston (if that is, in fact, his site) is every bit the coward that the Mall Cop a Palos is: all of my attempts to post comments were deleted.

Warren Jeffs freed

The Modern Pharisee messaged me yesterday afternoon with the good news.  His post about it can be found here.  The Salt Lake Tribune (probably grudgingly) wrote:

The Utah Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned polygamist Warren S. Jeffs’ convictions on rape as an accomplice and sent his case back for a new trial, finding there were “serious errors” in instructions given to the jury that deprived Jeffs of a fair hearing.

The justices unanimously ruled 5th District Judge James Shumate erred when he rejected a defense request to instruct jurors that in order to convict they had to find Jeffs knew when he performed a 2001 marriage that unwanted sex would take place and intended for a rape to occur.

Unanimous.  Let me repeat that so that it can sink in.  The decision to vacate Jeffs' conviction was UNANIMOUS.  Unambiguously unanimous.

The wheels are falling off the witch hunt against the FLDS, it would appear.  Good, says I.  The whole effort on the part of the so-called "Justice" system has been driven by pure, raw bigotry, and nothing more.

It looks like the "Justice" system is running out of ways to persecute the FLDS and has effectively boxed itself into a corner.  Let's hope this will result in the Texas FLDS men convicted in the aftermath of the YFZ raid being freed as well.

---

Continuing on the same general theme of the bigots who hate the FLDS.  There was additional good news breaking just today.  Flaming anti-FLDS bigot Ron in Houston (who, I believe, is the proprietor of FLDS Texas, the most virulently bigoted of all of the bigotry blogs) has been outed by the Pharisee.  Only one thing would make me happier: for the Caput a Palos (TxBluesMan) to be outed.

It turns out that self-proclaimed smart guy Ron is a middling lawyer in Houston.  By "middling", I'm implying that he's not very good or very reliable.  Keep in mind that this is one of the people who accused me of being "not too bright". 

Hey Ron!  Sux when you can't call names and accuse real people of being pedophiles when you can't hide from the consequences, doesn't it.

Asshole.

Same shoe, different foot

In all of the hullabaloo about Shirley Sherrod being accused of racism, being forced to resign her government job at the prodding of the Duce administration, and then being exonerated and restored to a position at the USDA, one extraordinarily large question has remained unanswered: wither those who have worn the scarlet "R" prior to Ms. Sherrod?

Video taken out of context showed Ms. Sherrod expressing some extremely hateful sentiments ("let his own kind help him" was my favorite).  However, Ms. Sherrod, in the 24-year-old video, was using those hateful sentiments to make a point: that she came to the realization that her thoughts about the white farmer were bigoted and she vowed to change and never again let such thinking impact her decision making ever again.

I'm glad that Ms. Sherrod was able to return to her employment.  The haste with which she was "encouraged" to resign was beyond ridiculous.  Nice show of leadership, Duce.

But I return to the question I posited in the first paragraph: wither those who have worn the scarlet "R" prior to Ms. Sherrod?

Who will reclaim the reputation of Al Campanis?  Mr. Campanis was the general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1980's.  He was no racist; it could be argued that he provided more opportunities in Major League Baseball to minorities than any other GM of his era.  Yet one bad Nightline interview torpedoed his otherwise stellar career.  Paradoxically, the one opinion he expressed that drew major scorn upon him - that blacks weren't built for swimming - has been scientifically proven based on navel position!  Mr. Campanis is dead, but certainly his memory deserves to be expunged of the scarlet "R", does it not?

Who will reclaim the reputation of Jimmy the Greek?  He made off-hand comments to a TV reporter at a bar that ended up costing him his career.  His crime - stating that blacks had been bred to be big and strong during slavery - was insensitive and un-PC...but also historically accurate.  I mean, what slave owner wants a crop of Urkels in the fields?  He was fired by CBS Sports and never worked in TV again.  Mr. "Greek" is dead, but certainly his memory deserves to be expunged of the scarlet "R", does it not?

Who will reclaim the reputation of Trent Lott?  His comments in praise of Strom Thurmond - that the country would have been better off had he won election to the Presidency as a pro-segregation Dixiecrat in 1948 - were in reference to his political stances in general.  The fact that he had run as a pro-segregationist probably didn't even cross Lott's mind.  There are plenty of reasons to despise the big-government whore that is Trent Lott.  But what of the scarlet "R"?  Can his reputation be cleansed at last from that moronic smear?

The blathering heads of CNN were in high dudgeon on Tuesday about the whole Sherrod affair.  But....where were they when Messers Campanis, "Greek", and Lott were being pilloried?  If the sound you hear is that of crickets chirping, then you've comprehended my point.

It's time for the smear of "RACIST" name-calling to end.  Now.  It was bullshit 20 years ago when Al Campanis had his career ruined.  It's bullshit now when Shirley Sherrod nearly has her career ruined.  Stop it!  We're not little children.  You or I can have an opinion that is offensive; said opinion should NOT ruin our life!

It's time for the professional race baiters and racial ambulance chasers like Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson to be shown the exit.  

It's time for America to grow up. 

Colin Quinn - role model

I was never a fan of Colin Quinn before.  I thought he was a big tool.  How wrong I was.  I just happened to catch the last few minutes of the Joy Behar show (a show I normally wouldn't watch on a bet) and witnessed this exchange (the subject being Jesse James).

BEHAR: I see, well he did have a little bit of a Nazi thing, he dressed up like a Nazi. But he`s just --

QUINN: Oh so what, I like the fact -- here`s how politically correct our country is. That he`s actually more horrified, the worst part is that people think he`s a racist. That`s how politically correct our country is. All the other stuff, like, whatever, but people might perceive me as a racist. I`m sick of it.

BEHAR: What are you sick of, which part?

QUINN: People acting like racism is the worst crime than murder in the (EXPLICATIVE DELETED) country.

MO ROCCA: Well he didn`t murder -

QUINN: That`s what I`m sick of.

MO ROCCA: Did her murder somebody?

QUINN: Well it`s funny you bring that up -

BEHAR: What are you saying?

QUINN: I`m saying did you see how he goes the worst thing of all is people think I`m a racist.

BEHAR: Yes, yes.

QUINN: Right. I`m saying this -- the culture that we live in, everything else is -- if you`re a racist that`s the worst thing in the country.

BEHAR: Well he`s saying it`s worst than being a philanderer. I agree with that. Don`t you?

QUINN: No I don`t.

BEHAR: Because racism causes more trouble than philandering.

QUINN: I don`t know about that, not in this country.

BEHAR: Not in this lifetime for you but other people in Arizona, for example, they`re having problems.

QUINN: You`re right, I can`t believe that -- that`s brutal, trying to get people to show their I.D.

BEHAR: Yes.

QUINN: Anyway --

MO ROCCA: should we be talking to Paula Abdul?

QUINN: That`s brutal.

BEHAR: OK speaking of "AMERICAN IDOL" --

QUINN: I had to show I.D. to get into this building.

That. was. AWESOME!  "I had to show I.D. to get into this building."  Priceless.

He's right.  He's absolutely right.  People view racism as worse than cheating on your spouse.  Worse than beating your children.  Worse than embezzling, fraud, or lying under oath. 

Notice how both host Behar and guest Mo Rocca kept trying to change the subject.  The truth tends to bring out that reaction in the politically correct.

Colin Quinn, I salute you.  You're an American Hero.

Man bites dog

Criticism of Il Duce and his administration by Big Media (the BM for short) and popular commentators of the Left (is that redundant?) has been virtually nonexistent up to this point.  But the times, they are a changin'. It seems that the near non-response of the Duce administration to the impending ecological catastrophe about to hit the shores of the Gulf states is a chicken come home to roost.

Of all of Il Duce's cheerleaders, no one has been as "in the tank" for their Messiah as the editorial writers of The New York Times.  Until now.

BP seems to have been slow to ask for help, and, on Friday, both federal and state officials accused it of not moving aggressively or swiftly enough. Yet the administration should not have waited, and should have intervened much more quickly on its own initiative.

A White House as politically attuned as this one should have been conscious of two obvious historical lessons. One was the Exxon Valdez, where a late and lame response by both industry and the federal government all but destroyed one of the country’s richest fishing grounds and ended up costing billions of dollars. The other was President George W. Bush’s hapless response to Hurricane Katrina.

Now we have another disaster in more or less the same neck of the woods, and it takes the administration more than a week to really get moving.

Wow! You could knock me over with a feather.  Every word of that critique is true.  And damning.  And, had the President in question been King George the Dim, this singular criticism would be echoing from every media orifice.  But, given that so much of Big Media follows in lock-step behind The Times, more criticism should be forthcoming.

But if you think that The Times criticism of the administration is unbelievable, this is even more unbelievable.

HBO's Bill Maher on Friday asked an extraordinary question of his guest panel: "Why isn't Barack Obama getting more s--t' for the oil spill in the Gulf?

Almost as surprising, the studio audience applauded after the "Real Time" host said this.

Talk about your "man bites dog" moment! Bill Maher, as big a Lefty as you'll ever find in a "political" context, a man who excoriated King George without mercy, questioning why his Messiah wasn't being (correctly) criticized for his lackadaisical response.

Just when you think you have it all figured out, something like this happens [/sarcasm].

I'm the first to criticize the BM and pundits like Maher when they go 24x7 hammering on something that matters to them and harms opposing points of view and then, predictably, fall silent on issues that make "their side" look bad (Climategate, anyone?).  So I salute The Times and Bill Maher for breaking from the pack and criticizing where criticism is due.

Well done, chaps.

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?

The lapdog growls

This is truly a "man bites dog" story.  Okay, I'm being snarky.  What it really is is a bunch of whiny snivelers griping because their hero isn't as nice to them as they are to him.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs met with a delegation from the White House press corps for 75 minutes on Thursday in an effort to improve frayed relations between the two sides.

Ed Chen, a White House correspondent for Bloomberg News who is president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, said he asked for the meeting “to clear the air because in my 10-plus years at the White House, rarely have I sensed such a level of anger, which is wide and deep, among members over White House practices and attitude toward the press.”

Stop, please! I'm laughing so hard I'm about to wet myself! "Anger" at the White House and its attitude toward the press. Child, please!

I'll grant that the press has been disrespected by the White House, particularly the little incident on April 10th when Il Duce took off for a "soccer game" and ditched the press.

But COME ON!  For this bunch of ass-kissers to whine about their "treatment" by the White House is beyond laughable.  Write a story that's actually critical of Il Duce once in a while, and then I'll take your "grievances" seriously.

Pompous douchbags.