Pointing fingers

For at least two months now all we've heard about is how important it is for Congress to pass a "health reform" (read: fascist take-over of health care) bill. No one -- and I mean NO ONE -- was pimping for the bill harder than Il Duce and Little Nancy "Air Force 3" Pelosi. Little Miss Nancy was particularly adamant about getting the bill passed prior to Congress going on a much-needed vacation (much needed by the Nation, that is) in August.

So here we are at the door of August...and no health care bill. *whew* Thank God!

Let the finger pointing begin! Up first, Little Nancy.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday ramped up her criticism of insurance companies, accusing them of unethical behavior and working to kill a plan to create a new government-run health plan.

"It's almost immoral what they are doing," Pelosi said to reporters, referring to insurance companies. "Of course they've been immoral all along in how they have treated the people that they insure," she said, adding, "They are the villains. They have been part of the problem in a major way. They are doing everything in their power to stop a public option from happening."

That's right, Nancy! They shouldn't stand in the way of your greatness! They should bow and scrape and get the hell out of the way!

Twit! (More on this particular "excuse" follows below)

Not content with scapegoating the Insurance industry, Team Donkey is also throwing their allies in Big Media (the BM for short) under the bus.

Senate Democratic leaders on Thursday blamed Capitol Hill media for setting an August deadline for health reform and Republicans for blocking the bill's progress.

[...]

[Majority Leader Harry] Reid said reporters created a fictitious deadline of a successful vote by the August recess, and downplayed the fact that the chamber won’t meet that mark.

“That is a deadline that you created,” Reid told a group of about 75 reporters. “It’s not like we don’t have a product. Significant progress has been made … The mere fact that this wasn't done by last Friday or by five o’clock doesn't mean we’re not going to get a quality product."

They must really think we're stupid. As recently as last Friday Rahm Emanuel and Little Nancy were hyping a vote on health care before the August recess. Hello, Nancy? Rahm? Harry? Ever hear of Google? Or the Drudge headlines archive? We can prove you're lying in under 3 minutes.

Now Team Donkey, heading home with their collective tails tucked between their legs (no Barney Frank jokes, please!), are planning to deploy a new tactic.

House Democratic leaders have developed a coordinated strategy for attacking insurance companies to ward off attacks from opponents of their health care overhaul during the August break, according to a strategy memo obtained by The Hill.

“Our message is simple. It is now being echoed by the White House,” said the memo sent to all Democratic members. “And it counters the Republican ‘government takeover’ message.”

The message in the memo, though, won't fit on a bumper sticker:

“Remove the insurance companies from between you and your doctor— capping what they can force you to pay in out of pocket expenses, co-pays and deductibles, and giving you the peace of mind you will be covered for the care you need, if get sick, or if you change or lose your job.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) brought out the new message in an exchange with reporters in the Capitol, when she said, “They are the villains in this.”

The attack comes even though the health insurance industry hasn’t attacked President Obama’s plan or the legislation being hammered out in Congress.

Read that last line again. The insurance companies are being scapegoated for doing...wait for it...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. They are just a convenient target for venal politicians content to play the politics of personal destruction card.

Do you want to know why the legislation never came up for a vote? I mean, the REAL reason, not Little Nancy's misdirection and excuses.

The health care take-over legislation failed because there were Democrats in the House who were scared (rhymes with) wittless at the fallout they knew would follow the passage of a hugely unpopular and doomed-for-failure steaming pile of legislation. They valued their potential re-election more than they valued what they could do for their party.

Now if only there were politicians of EITHER party who cared more about their Country than about their re-election chances...THEN we'd have something!

Curse you, Cyberdyne Systems!

For all of you who still think that the Terminator movies were just science fiction, I bring you this.

A Swedish company has been fined 25,000 kronor ($3,000) after a malfunctioning robot attacked and almost killed one of its workers at a factory north of Stockholm.

Where is John Connor when we need him?!?!?!

A bad omen as training camp begins

Didn't I tell you? Did I not tell you?!?!?!? This is exactly what you get when you draft a WR in the first round.

Training camp officially begins today for the 49ers. Rookies, quarterbacks, rehabbing veterans and other selective vets are expected to be at team HQ by the end of the day. Basically, it will be the same group that attended a rookie minicamp in May. Save for one high-profile rookie - some guy who played wideout at Texas Tech - everyone is expected to report on time.

The guy hasn't played a single down of NFL football. He didn't even participate in any of the mini camps because he has a boo-boo (a "broken foot"...probably just a hang nail).

He was drafted 10th in the first round -- but he wants top five draft pick money because he's "that kind of special player".

Didn't I tell you? Did I not tell you?!?!?!?

We could have had a pass rusher. A cornerback. A really top-of-the-line tackle. But NOOOOOOO! We had to buy the Ferrari instead of the Ford F-150. F'ing Niners!

We're doomed. 5-11 here we come.

Cause for optimism?

There is a trend afoot - a trend that may actually signal a pendulum swing towards a return to Constitutional principles.

Gov. Sarah Palin has signed a joint resolution declaring Alaska's sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution – and now 36 other states have introduced similar resolutions as part of a growing resistance to the federal government.

36 states? 36 states are showing some spine after nearly 150 years of acquiescing to Federal supremacy? Now THAT'S something!

What remains to be seen is whether this is simply legislative grandstanding by cynical politicians who want to give the appearance of representing the interests of the people while at the same time remaining true to their one all-important constituency: themselves.

If it is legit, it's a breakthrough of huge importance. HUGE! It it's legit, it could be the start of actual reform in Washington, as the federal government has the choice of either stepping up to the plate and honoring the wishes of the states, or......

Never mind. What was I thinking?

Life imitates South Park

You may be familiar with the episode of South Park where all of the residents purchase Hybids to reduce smog...but disaster follows when an ugly cloud of smug replaces the smog.

In addition to the eminent threat of "smug", there is another danger associated with these heinous vehicles - the sanctimonious asshats who drive them are terrible drivers!

A insurance data-analysis firm studied the driving habits of about 360,000 vehicle owners and found that hybrid owners are by far the worst drivers on the road:

The writer of the linked post thinks he knows why.

There are many reasons why hybrid owners drive more than regular car owners, get into more accidents, and get more tickets: because they’re assholes. Fully and completely.

Now, how to you improve on that sort of terse, targeted analysis? You don't. Because...he's right.

Take it as fact: hybrid drivers are not just self-important, trendy tools. They can't drive, either.

Wiener of the Week

As tempting as it would be to name Caput Penitus Culus the WotW (just on general principle), there's someone MUCH more deserving. That would be Il Duce.

Il Duce had a tough week. Not a tough week as in "things didn't go my way". No, he had a tough week as in "I'm not just losing the American people, but my party as well".

It went something like this:

• Democrat Congressmen openly challenge Il Duce for acting like King George the Dim with regards to signing statements.


• The Health Care takeover is taking on water. You know you're in trouble when (a) Charlie Rangel is overheard questioning your strategy, (b) Team Donkey Senators are on the record as being "baffled" by your strategy, (c) a number of Team Donkey Congressmen are in open rebellion, saying that Il Duce is destroying the party, and (d) the talks break down with members of your own party angrily claiming they'd been "lied to" by the administration.
  
• You are accused of being "in bed" with special interests by The Associated Press. What's the matter with these people? They used to love you so much!


• Government Motors sales are dropping like a rock; sales are down 22% from last year's disastrous numbers.


• You open up stimulus money to the very same lobbyists you swore would have no say in how that money was distributed, earning a rebuke from the ACLU.
  

Then there was the uncommonly inept "press conference" Tuesday night. Oh boy! Let me count the ways where he made of hash of things with THIS masterpiece.

• He claimed that his administration had "rescued the economy", a statement that earned him open mockery from Team Elephant.


• He presented his health care "plan" in such an erratic way that even the Washington Compost was left second-guessing him.


• He made the outrageous claim that cops who arrested his friend, Henry Gates, for acting erratically when confronted for breaking into his own house, "acted stupidly". This has, of course, generated a shit storm of Biblical magnitude. The police union blasted him. A black officer who was on the scene stated that the arresting officer acted properly and deserves an apology. And, even though Il Duce called the officer in question, his attempted "apology" was a complete lead balloon.

All of these events, of course, lead to this:

49% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President’s performance. This is the second straight day that his overall approval rating has been below 50% among Likely Voters nationwide. Fifty-one percent (51%) disapprove.

Six months. It took Il Duce six months to piss away his popularity. Ah, sweet schadenfreude!

Il Duce, you are the Wiener of the Week!