From each according to his ability...

Welcome to Amerika!

Americans break into two roughly evenly matched camps on the question of whether the government should enact heavy taxes on the rich to redistribute wealth in the U.S. Forty-seven percent believe the government should redistribute wealth in this way, while 49% disagree, similar to views Gallup found four years ago.

Republicans and Democrats have sharply different reactions to the government's taking such an active role in equalizing economic outcomes. Seven in 10 Democrats believe the government should levy taxes on the rich to redistribute wealth, while an equal proportion of Republicans believe it should not. The slight majority of independents oppose this policy.

I'm not at all surprised that 70% of Donkeys support wealth redistribution. I wish I could say that I'm surprised that 30% of Elephants support wealth redistribution...but I'm not. See McCain, John.

Of particular interest is the way men and women view wealth redistribution. Only 42% of men, regardless of political party, approve of it, while 52% of women think it's just ducky.

That any American citizen finds wealth redistribution acceptable saddens me. It is yet another example of how the public schools have failed us. Stealing from the productive does NOT end poverty. It just spreads it.

Dominoes

I've watched with some interest the goings on in Europe, particularly the spectacular meltdown occurring in Greece.  As much fun as Greece's chaotic reaping of the whirlwind they've sown has been to watch, you don't want to make the mistake of Big Media (the BM for short) in ignoring the other nations of the EU and their own slide toward oblivion.

Greece may simply be the first domino to fall.

Next up?  By all appearances, it would have to be Portugal, followed by Spain.  Or is that Spain, followed by Portugal?  Or will Great Britain jump the line and crash before Portugal and Spain?

I could go into all of the reasons why a single European currency pretty much guaranteed the domino scenario.  But I would just be parroting the words of others much wiser than I in matters of economics.  Stick to what you're comfortable writing about, that's what I say.

So where does it end? 

If, in fact, we're in full-blown dominoes mode, how many are going to tumble before it's all said and done?  Are we talking a handful?  Half-dozen?  A dozen?  The entire European Union?  And, if Europe tumbles, are we next?

The next few months will certainly be interesting; that is, if you consider economic anarchy "interesting".

The fraud, revealed

It turns out that "scientists", those paragons of virtue on whom the vast community of "Brights" would have us bestow our trust and blind faith, have been playing fast and loose with the facts. All of that "warming" we've been hearing about, ad infinitum? Let's just say it's been "massaged", and now there's proof. Hackers intercepted emails between the scientists of the East Anglia Climate Research Unit (CRU) and discovered this smoking gun.

I’ve just completed Mike’s Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (ie from 1981 onwards) amd from 1961 for Keith’s to hide the decline. Mike’s series got the annual land and marine values while the other two got April-Sept for NH land N of 20N. The latter two are real for 1999, while the estimate for 1999 for NH combined is +0.44C wrt 61-90. The Global estimate for 1999 with data through Oct is +0.35C cf. 0.57 for 1998.

Yeah, you read that right. These guys are deliberately fudging the numbers to make it seem that the planet is warming and continues to warm, while the reality is that we've been in a cooling pattern for at least a decade.

Base on the "evidence" provided by these "scientists", our "leaders" are seeking to pass legislation making each and every one of us responsible for our "carbon footprint".

It's patently clear that the AGW issue has never been about climate, but rather about enslaving people and yoking them to a One-World Socialist Utopia.

That and nothing more.

To the intrepid hacker who exposed these frauds, thank you. To the people who read this, ask yourself this: WHY is this not today's top story on every newscast?

Must be the Padre Kino

Fred Reed is an old curmudgeon. Like me. Only older. Naturally, I love the stuff he writes.

Fred was a reporter in some of the most dangerous places on Earth; Vietnam, Cambodia, the Middle East, Ward 8 in the District of Columbia. Fred has seen it all. So when Fred has a take that's 180 degrees tilted on its head from my take, I notice. And I listen.

Yesterday I went on ad nauseum about Fascism 2.0 Amerika. Fred sees it ever so differently. To him, this isn't textbook Fascism, Socialism, or any other "ism". No, this is something new and unique.

OK, a brief excursion into cosmic truth. First, socialism. Hard-line conservatives with little grasp of economics refer to anything they don’t like—Hillary, national health care, regulation of anything if it might cost them money—as “socialist.” It’s a utility pejorative, devoid of meaning, as “racist” and “elitist” are for political south-paws. Socialism is of course a system in which the government owns the means of production. Check your dictionary.

Ah! But in America, the means of production own the government. Inverted socialism it is. Here is a far better thing. If you are a means of production, anyway.

Okay, let me see if I get this. This isn't business in bed with government cooperating as a means of saving their skin. This is business DRIVING government. This is business as boss, not government.

Heavy stuff, man. Heavy.

Now, I'm not entirely sure I'm 100% with Fred, because I don't believe for a second that ANYONE tells Der Staat what to do. What I think is afoot is a situation where Big Business THINKS it has government by the tail and under its control. Only one day in the not-so-distant future, they'll awake to the reality that they've sold out their country and their very lives to the Almighty State for a few measly depreciating dollars, as Uncle rears his ugly head and lays waste to those who think to tell him what to do.

But then, my mother always told me I'm so full of crap my eyes are brown, so what do I know?

Fascism for Dummies

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That and nothing more.

Bad Policy, Bad Ethics, Bad Karma

If this is true, and I have no reason to doubt either the source or the reporting, then King Obama is a worse snake than I had previously estimated.

The leader of the nation's largest veterans organization says he is "deeply disappointed and concerned" after a meeting with President Obama today to discuss a proposal to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries. The Obama administration recently revealed a plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in such cases.

"It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan," said Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion. "He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it."

Let's hit the bullet points, shall we?

1. Obama proposes to force private insurance companies to foot the bill for medical costs incurrened as a result of an individual's military service.
2. He 'refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations' he would abrogate.

I know what you're thinking: what do you expect from a Fascist/Socialist like Obama? To him, the government and the private corporations will soon be one entity anyway, so what not start now by forcing them to pay for military injury claims?

Striking, isn't it? What, you ask? Why, the ease with which Leftists like Obama casually throw around words like force.

Il Duce would be proud.

Vulture Droppings - The World Economy Craters

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.

---

You may have noticed that I haven't spent much time commenting on the impending financial implosion that will wreak havoc across the entire planet. Were I a betting man or a prognosticator, I'd say early to mid Summer should be the center of gravity tipping point for a number of the world's economies. Mexico won't last through the Summer. Eastern Europe (with the exception of Russia) is teetering. Much of Western Europe is wobbly as well. And South America? Fuhgedaboutit!

Who can save us from this dire dilemma? Why, His Eminence, King Obama! A trillion here, a trillion there...pretty soon we'll be talking serious money! But it's going to work. All of the Keynesian economists say so. That Keynesians are pretty much wrong 90% of the time is beside the point...

---

Okay, Vulture. You've had your little chuckle. Now get serious. Is it really that bad? To be honest, I don't know. I only know what I read. You see, given the location in which I live and the career field in which I'm employed, I'm extremely sheltered from the gyrations of the economy. I'm not saying that so as to brag; on the contrary, my situation makes me even more worried. Things aren't hunky-dorree in these parts; how bad can it be in, say, Michigan or California?

---

So...is King Obama's "stimulus" going to help? Are you sh**ing me? Of course not! Nor was it ever supposed to be anything more than expensive window dressing.

---

I'm of the opinion that King Obama would be all kinds of happy if the entire American financial system collapsed. After all, it's only in extreme times that extreme measures (like Fascism and Communism) can be made palatable to the sheeple.

While Obama's reputation is that of a lifelong Communist, his actions belie different leanings; he's a Fascist through-and-through. Lest there be any misunderstanding, by "Fascist" I mean a proponent of the Private/Public ownership of the means of production as implemented by Benito Mussolini. I am NOT using the word in the traditional Leftist pejorative way, which is, as a means to tar one's enemies.

And truth is we've been living in a Fascist system for years. It just wasn't codified until King George the Dim implemented his infamous bailouts last Fall. His bailouts established the precedent that profits belong to the corporations, but losses belong to the sheeple. If that's not Fascism, what, then, is it?

---

Okay, Mr. Gloom-and-Doom. So what can we do to protect ourselves? How the hell should I know? I'm just an ordinary man who happens to live in extraordinary times. I have no reference point nor sufficient knowledge to have the first idea what we the common folk can do, short of storming Congress carrying torches and pitchforks.

Times are hard, and they're going to get harder. The Russians are fairly certain that we're going to self-destruct.

If you're inclined to believe Igor Panarin, and the Kremlin wouldn't mind if you did, then President Barack Obama will order martial law this year, the U.S. will split into six rump-states before 2011, and Russia and China will become the backbones of a new world order.

Panarin might be easy to ignore but for the fact that he is a dean at the Foreign Ministry's school for future diplomats and a regular on Russia's state-guided TV channels.

As much as I hate to say it, if the scenario painted by Mr. Panarin plays out, we will do in 2009 what the mighty Soviet Union did in 1989-1991; we'll splinter into regional factions with an impotent central government trying vainly to hold it all together. Perhaps we'll be as lucky as Russia and manage to hold together enough substance in one of the splinters to serve as a counterweight to the Russians and Chinese. But I doubt it.

---

Feeling good and depressed yet? Feeling hopeless? Don't. There is One far mightier than those pitiful perfumed princes and princesses who lust after the power to rule over us all. My trust is in Him, though my actions may not always reflect that.

Paul said it best:

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. -- Romans 8:38-39

Amen.

If [insert candidate name] is elected...

I've become immune to it, but apparently it still works. "What?", you ask. Scare mongering, of course! I've never in my life seen anything like this. Oh wait, yes I have...just 4 short years ago! Remember how, if John "Frankenstein" Kerry were elected president, the radical Islamists would celebrate in the streets and we'd all be individually attacked by terrorists? Only King George the Dim could save us!

This go-around has had more than its share of fear mongering. Some of it is downright comical. I'll start with the anti-McCommie scare tactics (age before beauty, you know).

If McCain is elected...

• It'll prove that this is a racist nation!
• He'll invade Iran & Syria!
• He'll tax your health care!
• Corporations will:
• Use his election as an excuse to cut commissions and overtime!
• Stop providing health care!
• Downsize to take advantage of tax breaks!
• Deaths from terrorist attacks will skyrocket under McCain!
• Women will be forced into lesser lives!
• The US will become a 3rd-world nation!
• He'll start a new Cold War with Russia!
• It'll be economic suicide because he thinks the economy is sound!
• African Americans will riot!
• There'll be a full-fledged race and class war!
• We'll become a deflated and depressed country!
• Crime will soar!
• Homelessness will increase!
• The country will succumb to hopelessness!
• He'll die in office and Sarah Palin will prove just how unprepared she really is!
  
• He'll cut social welfare but increase corporate welfare!
• He'll return the southwest US to Mexico!
• He'll ruin the Supreme Court for generations with ultra right-wing appointees!
• He'll revoke Roe v. Wade!!!
• He'll re-institute slavery!

That last one is my personal favorite. Thanks, Whoopee, for trying to lend credence to the stupidest scare tactic yet!

Now for the other side. I actually left out a bunch of stuff I heard on the radio because I just couldn't recall the exact verbiage. There's some lulus in here.

If Obama is elected...

• He'll destroy the Constitution!
• The stock market will crash!
• There'll be an international crisis! His own VP nominee says so!
• God will smite America!
• I'll have to quit my job because it'll be more beneficial to mooch off the government than to work!
• The KKK will have a resurgence and will attack minority schools!
• Taxes will go up and:
• The rich won't have any incentive to make more money!
• The rich will hide their money in offshore accounts, causing a depression!
• There'll be layoffs and an unemployment nightmare!
• People won't donate to charities any more!
• Israel will attack Iran!
• The cost of goods and services will rise!
• We'll have an energy crisis of Biblical proportions!
• The productive will pull a "John Galt" and everything will go to shit!
• There will be a civil war!
• There'll be a Muslim takeover and we'll all end up as Dhimmi!
• He'll abolish the Boy Scouts!
• You'll lose your 401(k)!
• Affirmative action will be emphasized and there'll be quotas and fines for non-compliance!
• Terrorists will attack us at will!
• He'll ruin the Supreme Court for generations with ultra left-wing appointees!
• He'll shut down talk radio and Fox News using the Fairness Doctrine!
• He'll confiscate everyone's guns!
• He'll surrender in Iraq!
  
• He'll give us "Hillary Health" and we'll be forced to use government-provided health care.
  
• His cabinet and advisers will be:
• People like Bill Ayers and Rev. Wright!
• Black people exclusively!
• A dead-ringer for the old Soviet Politburo!
• He's a Marxist! A Communist! He'll:
• Redistribute the wealth!
• Confiscate our property!
• Be like Stalin and kill millions of his own people!

The "Stalin" one really made me chuckle. Now THAT'S some quality fear mongering!

Face it, people. We're screwed if McCommie gets elected. We're screwed if Obama the Savior of all mankind gets elected. The government is bankrupt, both fiscally and morally. All we can do now is wait for the inevitable implosion and hope that somewhere there are Washingtons, Jeffersons, Adamses, George Masons, and others who can rebuild this nation to it's original model.

Enjoy the election. I'm sure it'll be high drama.

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!

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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?

---

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

---

Vulture Droppings - the second debate, voting, etc

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 didn't watch the second debate. Are you kidding? I only made it though about a 1/2 hour of the VP debate, and I actually like one of the two people involved in that debate. Why in the name of all that is holy would I watch a Marxist debate a Social Democrat? Particularly when the SD is so freaking unpalatable.

---

The debate turned out to be yet another look at the real John McCommie. He has no core beliefs. He simply supports whatever issues serve to increase his popularity. The idea that the government should buy up bad homeowner mortgages is the absolute apex of asshat non-thought. Ron Smith of WBAL in Baltimore has a saying, "That which you subsidize you get more of". By effectively subsidizing bad mortgages, McCommie would guarantee even more mortgage irresponsibility.

But if it gets him elected...why should he care?

---

Obama was fine, from what I read. He was also predictable. Like the good Marxist he is, Obama promised that the government would provide the sun, the moon, and the stars to every American now and forever more. The clincher: [on health care] "Well, I think it should be a right for every American". A right. Nice. And predictable.

---

It saddens me that the American public can't see through the sparkle of the promises to the reality of the costs. A major part of the world-wide meltdown is the debt that was run up by our government "servants" who were using goodies in an effort to buy every available vote.

These guys are engaged in an effort to "out-goodie" the other. They don't give a rat's ass about the consequences of those reckless plans that, once implemented and turned over to the bureaucrats, will result in nightmarish costs that will further exacerbate the financial crisis. If it will get them elected, they'll promise it.

---

The reasons I won't vote for the "lesser evil" major party candidate any more hearken back to around 2002, when I started reading Vox Day's excellent WorldNetDaily column and then started following his blog, Vox Popoli. I entered 2004 ready to hold my nose and vote to re-elect King George the Dim. By election day I was convinced that to do so would be immoral. His latest column does an excellent job of summarizing his voting philosophy. I can't do it justice with random quotes, but I do want to leave you with his last paragraph. A more succinct explanation of my position on voting cannot be found.

It would be a massive mistake for conservatives, libertarians and capitalists to continue supporting Republicans when there is clearly nothing conservative, libertarian or capitalist about the Republican Party. The Republican Party does not value freedom, it does not value capitalism, it does not abide by its republican principles and it does not honor the Constitution. Regardless of whether you vote Libertarian, Constitution Party or do not vote at all, you can be sure that your vote will not be wasted. – because, as events have proven time and time again over the last eight years, the only wasted vote is the vote that is cast for a Republican politician.

Preach it, Brother Vox!

---

Steve Czaban is joining the ranks of the disgruntled. In a blog entry that I couldn't BEGIN to do justice with mere excerpts, he lays out his case against McCommie.

"The Maverick" is so afraid of ruffling his pious sense of always "reaching across the aisle", he won't blast those who deserve it and make this case.

In the process he's doing incredible damage to the Team Elephant football program going forward. Remember, the "Oval Office Bowl" only comes around once every four years, and I do hate losing it.

But the coach of the winning team is given a no-cut 4 year contract for that win, and the fight for ideas is far from over. That coach has to keep recruiting, keep winning the small games, keep booster money coming into the program, and on and on.

Four years of McCain, flush with even MORE hubris as President, might just kill the Republican party as we know it. He would almost surely be the worst head coach our team ever had in my lifetime.

Even those who worry about up to 3 new Obama picked Supreme court justices should have been staggered by McCain's suggestion that he would sack Republican SEC Chairman Chris Cox and appoint Democrat Andrew Cuomo if he were President.

McCain: "Let's go find 3 more David Souters!"

Tell me again why anyone would want a McCommie presidency?

---

I'll leave you with this last item. This guy is the front runner as of right now for the Wiener of the Year award.

A Marianna middle-school teacher has been suspended for 10 days without pay after he wrote a racially charged interpretation of a commonly used phrase in the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama.

---

It said, "C.H.A.N.G.E. — Come Help A (N-word) Get Elected."

OMG! Can a person really be THAT stupid? I'm telling you, he's going to be hard to beat.

---

Economic Pearl Harbor

Warren Buffet says it's an "Economic Pearl Harbor". Geez, you'd think the world as we know it was ending, what with all of the hand wringing (here, here, here, and here). Can we all take a deep breath, please? Let uncle Vulture explain it all to you. Come over here and sit on my lap.

What we have here is a combination of market-driven economic factors (including but not limited to the bursting of the housing market bubble), the fruits of decades of Congressional meddling, and greed. The conditions that made this mess possible? Speculators with elite connections figured they could gamble in the arena of mortgage securities and never lose, firm in the knowledge that, if the worst-case scenario ever happened, their friends in high places would bail them out.

And, Shazzam! Looky here! The biggest players (Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae) have their bailouts, and today's vote on the next wave of bailouts will take care of the next bunch of players.

The pro-State media is parroting the administration's dire assertion that it will be economic Armageddon if this bailout doesn't pass. Team Donkey is on board with the plan because (a) most big players on Wall Street are pro-Democrat (based on their campaign contributions), and (b) it's yet another opportunity to foist more socialism upon us. Many members of Team Elephant are balking, but they'll go along in the end to retain the favor of big money donors.

Is this bailout good for America? Will it stave off a depression or recession? No and no.

Trying to legislate market forces is as futile as trying to legislate gravity. You can't defeat a force as old and powerful as The Market.

So...if the bailouts won't save us from a period of economic difficulty........why are they being hyped the way they are? Easy! Because the elites always take care of their own. They couldn't give a flying rat's ass what happens to you and me when the excrement hits the fan. But, by God, they're going to make sure that they and their connected friends have a soft place to land!

I'm afraid it's going to be a bumpy ride. Rest assured that neither of the mainstream presidential candidates can fix this problem; there's not a soul on this planet who can fix it. I pray that none of you are severely impacted by the impending crash.

Can anything good come out of this? Sure. If enough of the American people wake up in time, we can take control of our government again and recreate the free Republic envisioned by the Founders. But don't hold your breath.

Somewhere Woodrow Wilson is smiling

It's a fascist's dream: nationalizing key industries, such as, oh, I don't know, maybe the largest home loan mortgage institutions in the nation.

Today the federal government officially took control of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) and the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae).

Woodrow Wilson and Benito Mussolini would be SO proud!

The blathering heads, the Bush Administration, and the lapdog media can spin this any way they want, but what happened here is no different from any of the State ownership takeovers engineered by Britain's Labor governments of the 1970's. And it will be just as successful (/sarcasm).

Government, much like Daniel Snyder, has a reverse-Midas touch. Everything they touch turns not to gold, but to excrement.

This is a dark day in the history of our dying Republic. A dark day indeed.

Wiener of the Week

The WotW for this week is not a single person. It is not an organized group of people. No, this week you can think of the WotW as a class-action award. This week the "wieners" are the tens -- hell, maybe HUNDREDS -- of thousands of people who plan to hold their nose and vote for John McCommie this November.

William Grigg, a man of principle, has said:

[T]he "lesser" evil isn't; when it is chosen it is always the greater evil, because it's the one that is actually done, rather than serving as a convenient rhetorical device.

Those people who will vote for McCommie because "Obama is worse", or their fear is of "the damage Obama could do with court appointments", or who have the mistaken notion that "we'll be able to have some input with McCain that we won't have with Obama" are drinking that Team Elephant Kool-Aid.

The worst damage done to personal freedoms and the most long-term damage done via creeping Socialism post-LBJ has been done by REPUBLICANS. See, Bush, George W., if you doubt what I'm saying.

A liberal-leaning Republican is several orders of magnitude worse for the nation than the most Marxist Democrat. A Democrat could have never normalized relations with Communist China; it took Nixon to do that. A Democrat could have never implemented wage/price setting tyranny; it took Nixon to do that. Democrats couldn't get socialist health care passed; it took GWB to get an incrementalist version of that passed.

Pay attention, people! The worst possible thing that can come out of this election is a McCommie victory! Just because he has an 'R' after his name doesn't mean he's playing for the same team as you. He isn't. He's a One-Worlder, in the mold of his idols, Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. You're idiots if you waste your vote on him. Idiots. And well-deserving of the Wiener of the Week.

Government health care: a reality check

One thing that no one ever seems to mention in their arguments about universal health care provided by the government is what the trade-offs will be. Honestly, as much as politicos would like you to believe that government can provide you with everything, cradle-to-grave, the truth is that even government is subject to the realities of cost at some point. If government provided every imaginable medical service on-demand for every American regardless of cost, the system would collapse within a year.

Having established that "all-everything, all-the-time, cost-is-no-object" is out of the question, a legitimate follow-up question is, "Where do you draw the line?" It's easy under the current "system"; your health insurance has established limits for various services. Once you've hit your limit, or come across a treatment not supported by your insurance, you reach into your own pocket to pay.

In the real world of socialized medicine, this it how it plays out.

State officials have offered a lung cancer patient the option of having the Oregon Health Plan, set up in 1994 to ration health care, pay for an assisted suicide but not for the chemotherapy prescribed by her physician.

UFB! Un-freakin-believable!

But, you go right ahead and push for government health care, you sheeple, you lemmings. By the time you need YOUR cancer treatment, the suicide option might not be voluntary.

Don't think it can't happen here!

You hear about these things happening in China. In Saudi Arabia. In Pakistan. In Indonesia. In parts of Africa. But in Norway?!?!?

Two preachers, including an American who specializes in delivering the message of the Gospel in public places, have been arrested and face a July trial for carrying a sign telling people about Jesus at a freedom celebration in Norway.

We're talking about Norway, a country that has a long history of Christianity -- in fact, more than 1,000 years of history as a Christian nation. Norway's constitution is SUPPOSED to permit the free exercise of religion.

In Norway's case, the concept of being a "Christian nation" has to be defined legally, culturally and historically. Article 2 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway declares that:

All inhabitants of the Realm shall have the right to free exercise of their religion.

And yet, when you read this article, you are saddened to see that Norway has become part of the post-Christian socialist morass that is modern EUtopia.

As recently as the early 1970's Norway was culturally Christian. Now Christianity is oppressed. Don't think it can't happen here. It's already on its way. They call it multiculturalism. I call it "divide and conquer".

Maxine Waters shows her true colors

Maxine Waters is a moron. No, seriously. She has got to be the most simple-minded individual in an extremely simple-minded Congress. But at least she's honest -- she has no qualms about showing her true colors. Or, rather, color. And, no it's not black. It's red.

In a grilling of oil executives by a House panel yesterday, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., threatened to nationalize the industry if it didn't do something about the rising prices at the pump.

---

Waters responded, in part, "And guess what this liberal would be all about. This liberal will be about socializing … uh, um. …"

The congresswoman paused to collect her thoughts.

"Would be about, basically, taking over, and the government running all of your companies. …"

The oil executives responded, according to Fox News, by saying they've seen this before, in Hugo Chavez's Venezuela.

I believe this is called Fascism. It's what Mussolini did. It's what Peron did in Argentina. It's what the Labor governments of the 60's and 70's did in England (and what a rousing success THAT was -- one labor strike after another).

A wise man once said, "There is nothing new under the sun." No, there certainly isn't.

Our "choices" for President (read: none)

In case there was any lingering doubt in your mind that McCommie is every bit the left-wing nut job that 666 and "Mr. Change!" are, here's yet more evidence that, come November, our "mainstream" choices for president are Socialist A, Socialist B, or Socialist C.

It’s not quite Birkenstocks and tie-dyed T-shirts, but presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) has shown he’s willing to go the extra mile to embrace the global warming movement.

The latest sign of that is the recently introduced "eco-friendly" campaign merchandise the McCain campaign has showcased on its Web site. Included are his and hers "Go Green" McCain embroidered polo shirts, T-shirts, hats and visors with or without the recycle logo. Organic cotton onesies for the babies. You can also find "Go Green" McCain tote bags, notebooks and travel mugs (with up to 100 percent recycled material and an "enhanced biodegradability additive").

Pardon me while I puke.

And, of course, McCommie's mouthpiece spouts the Liberal orthodoxy regarding Global Warming.

"The evidence is clear, climate change is real," Jeff Sadosky, a spokesman for the McCain campaign, told the Business & Media Institute on May 14. "It is not simply an environmental problem, but one that affects our national and economic security. One extreme thinks that high taxes and crippling regulation is the solution. Others deny the problem even exists. John McCain feels that there is a better way, and voters from all backgrounds understand that’s what we need to bring about the right change in Washington."

Please, please, please! I'm begging you! Don't throw your vote away on this asshole. Vote Libertarian. Vote Constitution party. Hell, vote Communist! You might as well; we're headed that way anyway. Just don't vote for any of the unholy trinity of socialist phonies.

The final sell-out

If you listened to blathering-head talk radio over the past two weeks, you may have heard a lot of talk about the Bush administration being pushed to designate the polar bear as an endangered species. Never mind that, by some estimates, there are as many as 5 times as many polar bears now as in 1970. It's Global Warming! It's going to drown all of the polar bears. Al Goerbells says so!

Anyway, the radio blatherers mostly ranted on about how this would spell the death knell to any hope of ever drilling in ANWR and would certainly hasten the advent of carbon taxes and such nonsense.

Well, the worst fears of the talkers came to pass yesterday, as the sniveling, cowardly, treasonous Bush administration caved to the pressure from the State-Sanctioned Religion (Environmentalism) and designated the polar bear as an endangered species.

But Vulture! How can the bears go from "threatened" to "endangered" when their numbers are...increasing?!??!? My son, that's not how it works in the surreal world of politics. It's what COULD happen, not what IS HAPPENING, that matters.

The department, in deciding to list the bear as threatened, will cite studies by its own scientists that the decline of Arctic sea ice off Alaska and Canada could result in two-thirds of the polar bears disappearing by mid-century, said federal officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been announced. [Emphasis mine]

And, of course they fell back on the usual old chestnut to justify their actions.

"The science is absolutely clear that polar bear needs protection under the Endangered Species Act," said Andrew Wetzler, director of the endangered species program at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

"The science". Damn the f'ing science! The only "science" promoting the Global Warming scam is that which is funded by those with something to gain from the resulting policies that are justified by the need to "fight" warming. There are enough rational (and qualified) voices shouting from the rooftops that there is no man-made Global Warming to cast doubt on THAT assertion. Of course, they're not funded by the right people.

And the radio talkers are absolutely right this time. Kiss ANWR drilling good-bye forever. Kiss pretty much ANY new oil exploration and drilling good-bye forever. Embrace the coming One-world Socialist Utopia! Embrace carbon taxes! Embrace rule by bureaucracy!

Like you have a choice.

Thanks, Bush. Thanks a butt load. Traitor.

Occupation: student, Pay: ???

Imagine my surprise. I was watching the Glenn Beck show on CNN Headline News the other night with the missus. Glenn casually dropped a few facts about ways the left has succeeded in implementing socialism. Then he drops this bombshell about how students are getting paid to go to school -- in MARYLAND!!! After his "bomb", I dropped some "bombs" of my own, if you catch my drift.

You don't believe me? Believe this!

In Baltimore, students at four middle schools are already earning money - albeit money they won't be able to spend for some time. The Stocks in the Future program, also offered at two schools in Baltimore County, teaches students about the stock market and allows them to earn up to $80 a year based on attendance and grades to spend on stocks. They can cash in the stock when they graduate from high school.

Are you kidding me?

Then, today I read that a similar scheme is in place in Connecticut.

Students who pass Advanced Placement tests at Wilby High School in Waterbury will be getting hard cold cash rewards.

The students who pass their final AP tests next year will earn $100 for themselves for every test they pass.

Isn't that nice? It's not bad enough that I had to pay over $8k per year to put my kids in private schools because the Middle School and High School in our district suck, but now more of my money in the form of state and federal tax dollars is going to be redistributed to little asshats for doing nothing more than what's expected from a f'in student!

It sort of puts yesterday's rant about Tax Day into perspective, doesn't it?