Dave's Notepad

Change

2011-09-17T22:11:00.004-04:00

Having now taken some time off to recharge the old batteries and to deal with some rather pressing issues, I am now posting regularly over at Fellowship of the Minds.

I am also going to be getting the Notepad back up and running as well in the coming days, so be sure and take a peek once in a while.

-Dave

Wanna be Executed in Georgia? Just Have a Miscarriage

2011-02-24T10:30:00.002-05:00

Sounds crazy, right? Of course it does, but if one kook of a state rep. has his way, that is exactly what could happen here in my home state.

People like Bobby Franklin give Christianity a bad name, are an embarrassment to my state, and have no business in public office at any level.

Remember These Bricks?

2011-02-24T10:05:00.001-05:00

Palestinian Alarm Clock

2011-02-24T10:02:00.001-05:00

Busy Day in the House of Representatives

2011-02-18T15:59:00.003-05:00

Via Drudge:

House votes to overthrow 'czars'...

House blocks health care law funds...

Votes to defund Planned Parenthood...

Blocks 'net neutrality' funds...

It's a good start, but my question is, when are they going to vote to defund Obama?

The Repubs Aren't Getting It Done

2011-02-11T09:26:00.005-05:00

Via boortz.com:

Sorry, but thus far the new Republican-controlled House of Representatives has been anything but promising and stimulating. Okay, so they voted to repeal Obama care. Actually, that was an easy vote. They know it was going nowhere in the Senate, and it is said that happened the past that they knew that The Community Organizer would veto it, so let's just use the word "symbolic" and move on here. Then we have their attempt at cutting the budget. They announce a figure in the neighborhood of $75 billion. Then some reporters, including our own. Jamie Dupree, point out that the Republicans are using the old baseline budgeting trick. That is, they're announcing the budget cut not from present spending levels but from projected increased spending levels in future years. Now that's partially budget cut and partially reductions in future spending increases. This is not the sort of gamesmanship that the tea party voters signed up for last November. The real figure for Republican budget cut proposals? That would be somewhere in the $35 billion range; about one half of what they were trying to pass off to the voters as their grandiose attempt at cutting the federal budget.

The truth here is that we have Republicans that are looking harder at their reelection chances -- harder at protecting their privileges, their perks, and their power -- then they are at doing the job the voters sent them to Washington to do last November.

You will find the rest of Neal's take on things at this link.

While I, too, am disappointed, I cannot say I am surprised. After all, these are still politicians, and they all seem to have only one goal, and that is to win reelection, no matter what letter follows their name.

Neal gives the republicans a C+, but I'm giving then a D- so far. While I'm not yet ready to declare last November's election a bust, I'm getting awfully close.

Let's hope the TEA Party supporters who were so instrumental in flipping the House last November will keep the pressure on those they sent to Washington, as this country is fast running out of time, as well as excuses.

Just Exactly Who Is Barry Hussein Soetoro Obama?

2011-01-29T14:15:00.003-05:00

After listening very carefully to what our current POTUS and CIC had to say about the Egyptian uprising yesterday, I think it's time for the House of representatives to put aside the bug hunts for now, and start digging around in a very focused and expedited effort to find out just who exactly Barry Hussein Obama Soetoro is, as well as what foreign influences he may be working under.

This man has done nothing but stick his finger into the eyes of our traditional allies, sided with stinking communists (Honduras, China) and the camel-washing savages (Iran, Muslim Brotherhood, etc.) at every opportunity.

There is no possible way this impostor is an American, I don't care if he was born in the top of the Statue of Liberty.

As I see it, Barry Hussein Obama is the single greatest threat to this country currently out there.

They are Coming for our Guns

2011-01-28T10:02:00.005-05:00

Anytime there is a nationally reported shooting you can always count on the lefty gun-grabbers to start falling out of the rafters and, in unison, begin screaming for even more restrictions on law-abiding gun owners.

Notice I didn't say more restrictions on criminals, because the gun-snatchers don't care about criminals and their guns. After all, no gun law ever passed has ever kept a gun out of the hands of a determined criminal, and they know this, but it doesn't matter to them. Besides, the government pretty much knows who and where the criminals are, and they can round them up anytime they like.

No, the guns they fear and are working toward grabbing are the guns owned by you and me.

In the wake of the tragic shooting that recently took place in Tucson, the anti-gunners have wasted no time in pushing for even more restrictions on firearm ownership. Of course, further restrictions will do nothing to prevent future Tucsons from happening, but it does get the American sheeple more and more used to the idea of firearm regulation by the federal government - never mind that the federal government has no constitutional authority to regulate firearms to begin with.

In the days leading up to President Obama's SOTU address, many lefties in the MSM were expressing hope he was going to propose tougher gun restrictions. I, too, was expecting Obama to do so, but for whatever reason, that didn't happen.

That is not to say that the current administration isn't planning on exploiting the Arizona tragedy to further advance their anti-gun agenda. On the contrary, they are presently gearing up to do exactly that.

Via newsweek.com (emphasis mine):

At the beginning of his State of the Union address, President Obama tipped his hat to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who’s now recuperating in a Houston medical facility. But throughout the hourlong speech, he never addressed the issue at the core of the Giffords tragedy—gun control—and what lawmakers would, or should, do to reform American firearm-access laws.

[...]
But in the next two weeks, the White House will unveil a new gun-control effort in which it will urge Congress to strengthen current laws, which now allow some mentally unstable people, such as alleged Arizona shooter Jared Loughner, to obtain certain assault weapons, in some cases without even a background check.

Tuesday night after the speech, Obama adviser David Plouffe said to NBC News that the president would not let the moment after the Arizona shootings pass without pushing for some change in the law, to prevent another similar incident. “It’s a very important issue, and one I know there’s going to be debate about on the Hill.”

You will find the rest at this link.

I am not aware of any state that allows people who have a history of mental instability to legally purchase a firearm. I am not saying it doesn't happen, but I would be willing to bet it is a fairly rare occurrence. And even if a background check causes a licensed dealer to reject the sale, that isn't going to stop the would-be criminal from obtaining a firearm from other sources. No law that could ever be written would prevent that.

Many of my fellow conservatives appear to be taking comfort in the fact that the republicans now have control of the House of Representatives, and this somehow means there will be no further restrictions imposed on gun ownership for at least the next two years.

I'm not so sure about that, as if there is one stark lesson history has taught us about government, it is that the larger and more powerful government becomes, the more corrupt and tyrannical it becomes, and the party affiliation of those running it doesn't seem to matter all that much.

Our founders new how evil and tyrannical big government could be, which is why they strove to place limits on it in our nation's founding document.

Sadly, we have strayed so far from that original ideal that we now have government taking half of what we earn and giving it to others, bureaucrats telling us what kind of cars we may own, what kind of light bulbs we may use, what we can and cannot eat, how much energy we may use, what doctors we can and cannot see, and molesting our daughters and feeling up our wives at our airports.

I could go on and on, but you get the picture.

The way things are going in America these days, I can easily envision a day when our God-given 2nd Amendment rights might very well be the only thing standing between us and a tyrannical, oppressive government. However, if we continue to allow said government to chip away at those rights, we are going to wake up one morning and find ourselves to be little more than government slaves.

Don't think it can't happen here. As recently as five years ago, I didn't think something like Barack Hussein Obama could happen here, either.

If Dave were giving the SOTU speech:

2011-01-25T18:04:00.001-05:00

My fellow Americans, the state of the union currently sucks, and it sucks worse as each day (hour?) passes.

The state of our union will continue to deteriorate until Barack Hussein Obama has been bounced out of office, and his hideous policies have been reversed in their entirety.

We can either do that now, or we can wait until November of 2012 comes around, and hope we will have acted in time to save this republic as it was founded.

This is one case where good things are not going to come to those who wait.

Thank you, and may God bless America.

Obama Welcomes the Rise of the Chicoms

2011-01-19T22:34:00.004-05:00

Via cbsnews.com:

China's rapid growth is often painted as a threat to American interests. But President Obama said today that the country's economic progress benefits the United States and opens the door to greater international stability and humanitarian progress.

"We welcome China's rise," Mr. Obama said at a press conference at the White House with Chinese President Hu Jintao. "I absolutely believe that China's peaceful rise is good for the world, and it's good for America."

He added, "We just want to make sure that that rise occurs in a way that reinforces international norms and international rules, and enhances security and peace, as opposed to it being a source of conflict either in the region or around the world."

You can read the rest at this link, if you can stomach it.

China is poised to eat our economic breakfast, lunch, as well as our dinner, and it appears the former community pisser-offer just pushed their chair much closer to the table.

Perhaps Nixon's opening the door to China wasn't such a hot idea after all.

House Votes 245-189 to Repeal ObamaCare

2011-01-19T21:17:00.006-05:00

Well, that's all well and good, as it at least puts House critters on record.

What I want to know is, when are they going to pull out the knives and start gutting this atrocity, and thus de-funding it until there is no trace of it remaining - not a shadow, not even a speck of dust?

We're waiting, Mr Boehner.

(h/t: politico.com)

Royal Marshall Dead at 43

2011-01-15T14:17:00.005-05:00

Royal Marshall, the producer of the Neal Boortz Radio Show, passed away suddenly in his home early this morning. For Royal's family, Neal, Belinda, all of us Boortz fans, and the City of Atlanta, this is a God-awful loss, as Royal was one of the highly talented people who made Neal's show truly great.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Neal, Belinda, the wife and two young daughters Royal left behind, and to all of those who worked with him, knew him, and loved him.

I had the pleasure of meeting Royal at the book signing for Neal's Fair Tax book at the Barnes and Noble on Barrett Parkway a few years back, where I had a brief conversation with him. He came across to me as a super nice guy and cheerfully signed my copy of Neal's book. I have never heard anything even remotely negative said about the guy.

Please pray for Royal's wife and daughters, the rest of his family, friends, coworkers, and all who knew him.

You can read more about Royal, including a brief note from Neal, at this link.

Freedom On Global Decline

2011-01-14T09:30:00.003-05:00

Via breitbart.com:

Global freedom declined for a fifth straight year in 2010 as authoritarian regimes dug in worldwide and crime and unrest plagued democracies like Mexico, a US watchdog said Thursday.

In "Freedom in the World 2011" the Washington-based Freedom House said it had documented the longest continuous period of decline since it began compiling the annual index nearly 40 years ago.

"A total of 25 countries showed significant declines in 2010, more than double the 11 countries exhibiting noteworthy gains," the group said.

"Authoritarian regimes like those in China, Egypt, Iran, Russia, and Venezuela continued to step up repressive measures with little significant resistance from the democratic world," it said

You will find the rest at this link.

Sad to say, but the bulk of humanity has lived under some form of tyranny since the beginning of recorded history. Only a fortunate few have enjoyed living under relative freedom.

Our generation was among that fortunate few. I am not all that confident those coming behind us will enjoy the same level of freedom we did.

Former Community Pisser-Offer Pressing for Internet IDs

2011-01-08T12:34:00.004-05:00

Via cbsnews.com:

STANFORD, Calif. - President Obama is planning to hand the U.S. Commerce Department authority over a forthcoming cybersecurity effort to create an Internet ID for Americans, a White House official said here today.

It's "the absolute perfect spot in the U.S. government" to centralize efforts toward creating an "identity ecosystem" for the Internet, White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt said.

That news, first reported by CNET, effectively pushes the department to the forefront of the issue, beating out other potential candidates including the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. The move also is likely to please privacy and civil liberties groups that have raised concerns in the past over the dual roles of police and intelligence agencies.

The announcement came at an event today at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, where U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Schmidt spoke.

The Obama administration is currently drafting what it's calling the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, which Locke said will be released by the president in the next few months. (An early version was publicly released last summer.)

"We are not talking about a national ID card," Locke said at the Stanford event. "We are not talking about a government-controlled system. What we are talking about is enhancing online security and privacy and reducing and perhaps even eliminating the need to memorize a dozen passwords, through creation and use of more trusted digital identities."

The Commerce Department will be setting up a national program office to work on this project, Locke said.

Details about the "trusted identity" project are unusually scarce. Last year's announcement referenced a possible forthcoming smart card or digital certificate that would prove that online users are who they say they are. These digital IDs would be offered to consumers by online vendors for financial transactions.

Schmidt stressed today that anonymity and pseudonymity will remain possible on the Internet. "I don't have to get a credential if I don't want to," he said. There's no chance that "a centralized database will emerge," and "we need the private sector to lead the implementation of this," he said.

Inter-agency rivalries to claim authority over cybersecurity have exited ever since many responsibilities were centralized in the Department of Homeland Security as part of its creation nine years ago. Three years ago, proposals were were circulating in Washington to transfer authority to the secretive NSA, which is part of the U.S. Defense Department.

In March 2009, Rod Beckstrom, director of Homeland Security's National Cybersecurity Center, resigned through a letter that gave a rare public glimpse into the competition for budgetary dollars and cybersecurity authority. Beckstrom said at the time that the NSA "effectively controls DHS cyber efforts through detailees, technology insertions," and has proposed moving some functions to the agency's Fort Meade, Md., headquarters.

The Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2010

2011-01-07T10:12:00.004-05:00

I am posting this mostly for fun, but also to demonstrate just how ludicrous and out-of-joint our society is becoming in this grossly over-barristered nation.

Via cnsnews.com:

(CNSNews.com) – A lawsuit against a restaurant for failing to offer artichoke-eating instructions and a convicted killer’s lawsuit to receive electrolysis as part of a state-funded sex change are among the top five Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2010 compiled by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform.

The Faces of Lawsuit Abuse campaign was launched by ILR to raise public awareness of the impact that abusive lawsuits have on small businesses, communities, and individuals. Small business account for 64 percent of new jobs in the economy, and they paid $105.4 billion in tort liability costs in 2008.

“While many of these lawsuits are humorous and others quite troubling, the damage inflicted by abusive litigation is very real,” said ILR President Lisa Rickard. “More litigation is something we can ill afford in this troubled economy that desperately needs more jobs, not more lawsuits.”

Number five on the list was the lawsuit filed by Dr. Arturo Carvjal, a doctor with a family practice in Hollywood, who sued Houston’s Restaurant because he was sent to the hospital with severe abdominal pain and discomfort after eating an entire artichoke.

You can read the rest at this link.

And we wonder why our society is sliding into the gutter.

We need a Loser Pays system, as that would bring a swift end to much of this hideous, expensive nonsense that only lines the pockets of the trial lawyers and drives up the cost of everything for everybody.

Time to Erase the U.S. Department of "Education"

2011-01-07T09:19:00.007-05:00

It has only been around for thirty years, consumed hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money, and yet our government educational system seems to be turning out more morons than ever before.

Not only that, but this parking lot for otherwise unemployable bureaucrats is promoting things that are not a little hostile to my concept of freedom and liberty by using our tax dollars to push the written works of America-hating commie scum such as Saul Alinsky and Cloward Piven, to name just a few.

It's time to pull the plug on one of the most useless (not to mention dangerous) federal agencies in existence.

Via Doug Ross at directorblue.blogspot.com:

You may be surprised to discover that the Department of Education did not even exist until 1980.

Yet, over the last three years alone, the Department has spent roughly a third of a trillion dollars with copious amounts of 'Stimulus' spending sent directly to the bosses of the teachers' unions.

I think even progressives would agree that the Department of Education has been an abysmal failure. Hundreds of billions of dollars were spent in just the last few years alone with literally no measurable effect.

But the progressives claim they need more money.

I disagree. I recommend we excise the entire Department of Education and save tens of billions of dollars a year. Whatever they're doing isn't working and has never worked. And the United States survived just fine for over 200 years without an Education Department

You can read the rest at this link.

I am hoping (perhaps somewhat naively) that the 112th House of Representatives is serious about getting a handle on out-of-control spending and cutting out much of the fat that has built up in the federal government over the years.

It seems to me that the Department of Education is as good a place to start as any.

Then they can turn there attention (and their knives) to the EPA, DoE, PBS, NEA, FCC, IRS, and a whole host of other federal agencies that are nothing more than places for fat-ass bureaucrats to park their over-fed behinds for forty hours a week, and that have no constitutional basis for existence.

If the repubs have the stones to do it.

They'd better, as the near-term survival of this republic is at stake.

(h/t: Boortz.com)

Creeping Tyranny Confirmed: N.Y. Town Bans Smoking on Sidewalks

2011-01-06T09:31:00.006-05:00

If you smoke and are planning a trip to Great Neck, N.Y. any time soon, you had better refrain from lighting up on a sidewalk in front of a business, because it could end up costing you $1000.

Via myfoxny.com:

GREAT NECK, N.Y. - A village on Long Island's "gold coast" is banning smoking on public sidewalks in front of businesses. Violators could face a $1,000 fine.

The Great Neck village board approved the ban Tuesday night. It claims to be the first municipality in the state to enact such a restriction.

Mayor Ralph J. Kreitzman says the ban was enacted after officials got complaints about smokers standing outside stores in the village. He says the law will also benefit pedestrians who might have been subjected to second-hand smoke.

Kreitzman says, "I have no problem with people smoking. They just shouldn't do it in a place that harms other people."

Kreitzman tells Fox 5 that, despite the hefty fines violators could face, the ban is not an attempt to raise money for the village.

The mayor says code enforcement agents will be out to look for violations and he hopes the police will also help with enforcement.

One smoker told Fox 5 News, "I'm waiting for them to ban smoking in my yard, at my house, is it going to go that far?"

The law apparently has a loophole. It is not illegal to smoke in the street.

Neighboring New York City is currently considering a smoking ban in parks and pedestrian plazas.

There are local governments already passing laws to ban people from smoking inside their own domiciles.

How long will it be before the government starts telling people they can't light up on their own front porch?

This used to be a free country. I don't know what happened to it, but if the American sheeple don't soon wake up and pull their heads out of their asses, our chances of ever getting that country back are going to go up in smoke.

Is America (As Founded) Retrievable?

2011-01-04T12:27:00.006-05:00

I have to confess that I really don't know anymore. I once believed there was no way the American people would sit idly buy while their country was stolen right out from under their noses. Now that I am watching it happen, and in broad daylight no less, right in front of God and everybody, I am beginning to think our last chance to save our republic via the voting booth came and went in November of 2008. Perhaps it was even further back than that, now that I really think about it.

My friend Tom in NC at Fellowship of the Minds has written a piece that very much mirrors my own thoughts as to where we currently are as a nation.

It is not a comfortable read:

I don’t know what it is going to take before the American people say enough is enough. Do we not see what is happening? Do we not care that our government is ruining our and our children and grandchildren’s future for decades to come? Are we simply not willing to take own destinies in our hands and fight back?

This president and this government care nothing for our opinions, care not when millions of us gather in Washington, D.C. to protest their policies, and care not when we vote overwhelmingly against those policies. We now have control of the House but the liberals still control the Senate and the White House.

I fear that the Republicans are sometimes too willing to compromise instead of fight, and as we all know, we can’t take two more years of liberal policies. Our economy and our infrastructure will essentially collapse under the weight of socialism. It is only a matter of time before our country becomes a police state; it has already started in our airports with invasive searches and in our healthcare with bureaucrats making life and death decisions for us. Soon the FCC will control the Internet in direct violation of the first amendment to the Constitution.

You will find the rest of this excellent post here.

I hope, no, pray that now that the holidays are behind us that the American people will start to pay very close attention to what is happening in our nation's capitol, as any more complacency on our part could very well be fatal to our republic - and that right soon.

Creeping Tyranny?

2011-01-04T10:31:00.006-05:00

There were approximately 31,000 laws passed by state legislatures in 2010 - and that doesn't include what was passed by the 111th Congress on the federal side.

There are actually some pretty good laws in the mix. One example is a law passed in Iowa which makes it more difficult for local sheriffs to deny concealed carry permits.

But knowing government as I do, I am guessing the bulk of the laws passed across the fruited plain are just more restrictions on freedom, liberty and commerce. One example here are laws passed in both St. Louis and St. Louis County that prohibit smoking in bars and restaurants.

Yep, the tyranny of the pleasure police marches on.

You can read about it at this link.

NYC Marxists Prefer To Be Called "Progressives"

2011-01-04T10:18:00.003-05:00

A commie by any other name is still a commie

What I truly find fascinating about this is that these morons are too f'ing stupid to recognize that Barack Hussein Obama is putting their favorite form of government into place as I write this.

(h/t: weaselzippers.us via Boortz.com)

Congratulations to Mike Smith and the Atlanta Falcons

2011-01-03T09:07:00.004-05:00

Three years ago, Mike Smith took over the head coaching position of an NFL team that was in utter disarray. The Michael Vick fiasco was playing out, and the recently-hired head coach Bobby Petrino had left town under cover of darkness mid-season and had run off to Arkansas to coach the Hogs.

It was a very bleak time for us long-suffering Falcon's fans, as it seemed Arthur Blank, who had mercifully purchased the team from the Smith family, just didn't have what it took to be an effective NFL owner. Yes, he had brought the exciting Michael Vick to town, but then had run off Dan Reeves (the only coach to ever lead us to a Super Bowl), and had hired Jim Mora, Jr., and then Petrino when Mora didn't work out.

What happened next concerned many here in Atlanta when Mike Smith (who no one here had really ever heard of) was tapped for the head coaching job, and promptly named Matt Ryan, the just-drafted rookie from Boston College, as his starting QB. Thus began the Mike Smith era.

The Falcons took off and immediately started winning football games, which surprised many around here not a little bit. Hmm, maybe things weren't as bleak as we though. They fininished the 2008 season at 11-5 and a wild-card playoff berth, to the utter delight of us long suffering fans.

The Falcons went on to lose their wild-card playoff game, but even so, we here were pretty happy with the way the season had gone - much better than anyone around here had even dreamed possible, and we thus spent the off-season looking forward to 2009.

The 2009 season was a bit of a let down, though finishing 9-7 was still above .500 - the first time in franchise history the Falcons had managed to post back-to-back winning seasons. Matt Ryan had been injured for a time, as well as had some other key players, but one thing I was beginning to notice was an emerging MO that was very different from most Falcons teams from the past.

They weren't quitting anymore.

So many times, year after year, had I sat and watched the seemingly hapless birds blow a lead and then just give up and quit. This team was different in that respect, along with some others, too. They were fun to watch again, and the last time I could say that about the Atlanta Falcons was back in the '98 Super Bowl year, during which I attended every regular season home game.

This year, they managed a 13-3 record, their second best ever behind a 14-2 run in '98, and earned home field advantage in the playoffs which, given their stellar home record over the last three seasons, is huge for this team. Yeah, they lost a couple of tough ones, particularly that second to last game against the Saints, but you never once got the feeling they had given up at any time during the season.

The real football season starts next weekend with the wild card match ups. By next Monday we will know who the Falcons will be facing the following week.

Then we'll find out just what kind of team we really have.

GO FALCONS!

F.I.R.E. Going After Campus Speech NAZI's Wallets?

2011-01-03T07:37:00.006-05:00

I have posted previously concerning The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (F.I.R.E.), an organization I have been following for some years now, as they are among the few entities out there who are putting up a viable fight to see that the 1st Amendment rights of the students of our nation's institutions of higher learning are upheld.

Their successes have been many, yet even so, many university and college administrators/professors still seem to believe they can trample all over the rights of their student expressing themselves in the form of "speech codes," intimidation, threats, and other PC nonsense - and can do so with no personal financial risk to themselves.

Thanks to the efforts of F.I.R.E., that may be about to change:

PHILADELPHIA, December 22, 2010—Today, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) warned the presidents and top lawyers at nearly 300 public colleges and universities across the nation that they and their staff should be ready to pay out of their own pockets if they continue to violate their students' free speech rights.

"For too long, public college administrators have been intentionally violating the free speech rights of their students, secure in the knowledge that they won't personally lose a dime should a court rule against them," said FIRE Senior Vice President Robert Shibley. "This has given administrators the opportunity to censor whatever opinions they dislike and make all of us pay for it. But thanks in large part to FIRE, the excuse that makes this possible—that they 'didn't know' that students had free speech rights—is quickly vanishing."

FIRE is putting them on notice by sending a certified mailing this week to the presidents and general counsel of 296 of the biggest and most prestigious public colleges across the nation, highlighting significant legal developments from the past year. FIRE's mailing warns these top administrators that with the state of the law on campus speech codes clearer now than ever before, they and their employees violate the speech rights of students at their own financial peril, as they can no longer count on "qualified immunity" to shield them from liability.
[...]
Administrators should also be aware of a recent federal case in Georgia coordinated by FIRE, in which a federal district court determined that former Valdosta State University president Ronald Zaccari was not shielded from personal liability for violating the clearly established rights of student Hayden Barnes. (Zaccari is currently appealing that decision.) This is a major finding against a former university president, and if upheld, it will serve as important federal precedent for holding future administrative malefactors personally responsible for their abuses of student rights.

You can read the rest at this link.

It's about bloody time.

Funny how libs are always so generous when it comes to spending other people's money, but when it comes to their own, the weld their wallets shut tighter than Fort Knox.

Maybe now that the possibility of being held personally liable for defecating all over the rights of their students will cause at least a few of them to pause and consider the consequences of their blatantly illegal actions before implementing them.

I'll be keeping an eye on this latest development.

Who knows? Perhaps freedom of expression will survive in the last places you would ever consider it threatened.

Dave Barry on 2010: 'It Was...a Disaster'

2011-01-03T04:23:00.005-05:00

Dave Barry, in his usual irreverent and humorous style, takes a look back at the year that was, where he breaks events down by the month - the BP oil spill, runaway Toyotas, Iranian nukes, the economy, the November election, and a whole lot more. It is definitely worth a read.

Via miamiherald.com:

Let’s put things into perspective: 2010 was not the worst year ever. There have been MUCH worse years. For example, toward the end of the Cretaceous Period, the Earth was struck by an asteroid that wiped out 75 percent of all the species on the planet. Can we honestly say that we had a worse year than those species did? Yes we can, because they were not exposed to Jersey Shore.
So on second thought we see that this was, in fact, the worst year ever. The perfect symbol for the awfulness of 2010 was the BP oil spill, which oozed up from the depths and spread, totally out of control, like some kind of hideous uncontrollable metaphor. (Or, Jersey Shore.) The scariest thing about the spill was, nobody in charge seemed to know what to do about it. Time and again, top political leaders personally flew down to the Gulf of Mexico to look at the situation first-hand and hold press availabilities. And yet somehow, despite these efforts, the oil continued to leak. This forced us to face the disturbing truth that even top policy thinkers with postgraduate degrees from Harvard University — Harvard University! — could not stop it.
The leak was eventually plugged by non-policy people using machinery of some kind. But by then our faith in our leaders had been shaken, especially since they also seemed to have no idea what to do about this pesky recession. Congress tried every remedy it knows, ranging all the way from borrowing money from China and spending it on government programs, to borrowing MORE money from China and spending it on government programs. But in the end, all of this stimulus created few actual jobs, and most of those were in the field of tar-ball collecting.

You will find the rest at this link.

Not much you can add to that. Let us all hope things will get better in 2011. A lot better.

Happy New Year, everybody!

(h/t:) RealClearPolitics

The Camel-Washer's Very Busy Christmas

2010-12-27T09:20:00.004-05:00

While reading this, just keep telling yourself how peaceful the "religion" of Islam is.

Yeah, I know. Didn't work for me, either.

(H/T: My friend Eowyn at Fellowship of the Minds)

Christmas with Achmed the Dead Terrorist

2010-12-15T12:06:00.001-05:00

Too funny!

The Comrade Chairman Abdicates! (I Wish)

2010-12-11T01:20:00.017-05:00

Chicken-shit former Kenyan community pisser-offer turned POTUS apparently can't take the heat and runs for the tall grass, thus ripping off the training wheels and leaving former POTUS Bill Clinton to catch the arrows for him.

What a useless wussy Obama is!

You can click here to see what Billy Jeff had to say.

I have no use whatsoever for Slick Willie, but he is at least one notch above Barry Soetoro on the intelligence totem pole - but just barely.

I predicted back around the '08 election that Obama would not make it through his first term, and that it would be not the repubes, but his own party that would ultimately remove him from power.

I still stand by that prediction.

Assange: Don't shoot messenger for revealing uncomfortable truths

2010-12-07T23:34:00.008-05:00

Fair enough.

Then how 'bout we just shoot your fairy ass for releasing classified American intelligence information, and thus putting many of my fellow American's lives, not to mention the lives of their family members (not a few of whom I know personally), in serious danger.

How's that for 'uncomfortable truth,' you fucking America-hating puke?

Here's hoping you get the full Dahmer treatment in prison, you commie scrotum-licking bastard.

Fuck you and die.

-And I hope it's painful.

December 07, 1941/August 09, 1945

2010-12-07T22:45:00.003-05:00

'NOUGH SAID

Feds to Regulate School Bake Sales?

2010-12-06T11:56:00.003-05:00

It seems as though every time I detect a faint glimmer of hope for the future of our republic, something hideous comes along and my hopes crash upon the rocks of reality.

Via cnsnews.com:

Washington (AP) - Don't touch my brownies! A child nutrition bill on its way to President Barack Obama - and championed by the first lady - gives the government power to limit school bake sales and other fundraisers that health advocates say sometimes replace wholesome meals in the lunchroom.
[...]
"This could be a real train wreck for school districts," Lucy Gettman of the National School Boards Association said Friday, a day after the House cleared the bill. "The federal government should not be in the business of regulating this kind of activity at the local level."

The legislation, part of first lady Michelle Obama's campaign to stem childhood obesity, provides more meals at school for needy kids, including dinner, and directs the Agriculture Department to write guidelines to make those meals healthier. The legislation would apply to all foods sold in schools during regular class hours, including in the cafeteria line, vending machines and at fundraisers.

You will find the rest of the article at this link.

In the America I grew up in, this sort of tyrannical nonsense on the part of the federal government would not be tolerated - not even for three seconds.

I cannot help but think that that America may just be gone forever.

I know many are ecstatic over the election results last month, but there is a part of me that truly feels that our last real chance to save this republic as it was founded via the ballot box came and went in November of 2008.

I hope I am wrong.

(h/t: boortz.com)

Implant Allows Camel-Washers to Talk to God

2010-12-03T12:59:00.004-05:00

Click here to see just how awesome technology can be.

-Dave

(h/t: My friend Steve @ Fellowship of the Minds)

Philly Mayor Saves Christmas!

2010-12-02T14:36:00.006-05:00

Okay, that may be overstating things a bit - well maybe a lot, but even though this is a very small victory for our side in an overall much larger War on Christmas, a victory it still is.

Via philly.com:

Breaking News from City Hall:
Christmas is back.
Mayor Nutter, after sustaining two days of controversy, wants "Christmas" back up on the signs at the entrance to the German Christmas Village at City Hall. Nutter told PhillyClout he spoke with the village organizer and the sign should be back up by tomorrow.
Nutter said the decision came after "personal reflection" on the matter.
"We are an international, multi-ethnic, multi-faith city," Nutter said. "I took some time to step back from all of this to think about it in a larger context.

You can read the whole thing at this link.

It's too bad that in a supposedly free country we who know the true "reason for the season" are constantly subjected to the PC whims of a bunch of Christ, Christian and Christmas-hating bigots, who somehow have developed the belief that they posses the "right" to impose their bigotry on us by restricting our 1st Amendment rights.

What I have found so distressing about all this is the Christian community's tepid response to these assaults on our freedoms. It's time to grow a spine, start throwing this stuff back in their faces and tell them to get lost if they don't like it.

One thing I have been doing for years is that, every time I get the PC "Happy Holidays" greeting, I respond with, "Merry Christmas to you, too." I have often gotten some strange looks in return, and a few people appeared somewhat offended by my reply, but so what?

Just exactly where in the Constitution of the United States does it say people have a right not to be offended?

And if someone is truly offended by anything related to Christmas (and what sort of a miserable, self-hating wretch does one have to be in order to be offended here, anyway), perhaps they would feel more comfortable living in somebody else's country.

Like North Korea.

If you'll pop for the one-way ticket, I'll happily drive them to the airport - for free.

(h/t: Drudge)

Wanna Save America? Then Do Away With The EPA

2010-12-02T11:27:00.007-05:00

Via investors.com:

Republicans are assuming that cap-and-trade (aka cap-and-tax) is dead because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid lacks the votes to bring up the House-passed bill and because this issue proved a loser in the 2010 House races. Like the famous Mark Twain saying, its death may be exaggerated.
The Senate's environmentalism expert, Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., warns us that the Obama administration is trying to implement cap-and-trade anyway by bureaucratic regulations. Directives issued by the Environmental Protection Agency are coming down the pike to increase energy costs and kill jobs.

Last May, the EPA issued what it called a tailoring rule to govern new power plants, oil refineries and factories that yearly emit 100,000 tons or more of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons or sulfur hexafluoride. Inhofe reports that this tailoring rule will further reduce our manufacturing base and especially hurt the poor and elderly.

Inhofe predicts that the EPA standards planned for commercial and industrial boilers will cost 798,000 jobs. He also warns about the harmful effects on jobs caused by new rules on ozone emissions.

Since Barack Obama moved into the White House, the EPA has proposed or finalized 29 major regulations and 172 major policy rules. The EPA is, for the first time, simultaneously toughening the regulations on all six major traditional pollutants such as ozone and sulfur dioxide.

Before Climate-gate exposed the politics behind the "science" of global warming, a 5-to-4 Supreme Court ordered the EPA to consider regulating emissions based on that unsubstantiated and now largely discredited theory.

Despite a long record of supporting Obama stimulus and spending legislation, the expected chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., says, "We are not going to allow this administration to regulate what they have been unable to legislate."

Opposition to EPA's new rules is remarkably bipartisan. Seventeen Democrats signed a letter to EPA Director Lisa Jackson opposing them.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., was elected after running a TV ad showing himself firing a rifle to put a bullet through a copy of the cap-and-trade bill, and he promised to fight EPA attempts to curb greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants. He may have a difficult task because Jackson is plotting to force mass retirements of the coal plants that provide half of U.S. electricity.
EPA's aggressive overregulation is forcing the electric industry to choose between continuing to operate while taking on major capital costs of complying with heavy new burdens or closing down and building new plants that use more expensive sources such as natural gas. The public will surely end up paying higher electric rates (aka a big tax increase).

The ObamaCare law was deviously designed to take decision-making away from our elected representatives and give it to 15 "expert" members of the Obama-appointed Independent Payment Advisory Board. Many provisions of this law prohibit Congress from repealing or changing decisions of the "experts."

The Obama administration is using administrative regulations to implement what is known as card check, which even the Democratic Congress refuses to legislate. Obama's recess appointee to the National Labor Relations Board, Craig Becker, has lined up a 3-to-2 board majority to repeal the rule that requires secret ballots in unionization elections.

Currently, a secret ballot of workers is mandated to unionize a company. Becker's new regulation will eliminate workers' right and make them subject to coercion and bullying to induce them to vote yes on a card visible to union bosses.

The Obama administration is also toying with a plan to substitute administrative regulations for treaties. Several years ago, the Council on Foreign Relations fingered the treaty provision of the U.S. Constitution as its most objectionable section, and now an ex-Clinton administration State Department bureaucrat, James P. Rubin, has floated a New York Times op-ed suggesting that treaties are not "worth the trouble anymore," and we should substitute domestic regulations.

The globalists find it inconvenient that our Constitution requires a two-thirds Senate vote for treaty ratification. Horrors! That, they say, causes "international frustration" with America.

This frustration broke into print because there are not enough Senate votes to ratify the New START Treaty that Obama signed with Russia. Rubin's solution is to ditch the ratification process and substitute executive agreements and pronouncements.

Rubin reminds us that after it became clear the Senate was not going to ratify a climate-change treaty, Obama just used EPA regulations, and so we can do likewise with arms-control treaties. Let's just ignore the Constitution and let Obama bureaucrats make all important decisions.

Above article as originally posted.

I once referred to things such as this as creeping tyranny, but no more, as the tyranny has landed upon us and is now surrounding us on all sides.

I hope the GOP will act to put a swift end to this nonsense when the new congress is seated in January, because this nonsense, when combined with the implementation of CommieCare, as well as the coming tax increases - both the ones we know about as well as those yet unknown, could very well spell the end of our republic.

(h/t: boortz.com)

GOP Rep. Steve Buyer Rips Acting Speaker

2010-11-30T18:54:00.005-05:00

Good stuff. :-)

(H/T: Drudge)

WikiLeaks Hit With Cyber Attack - Moves to U.S. Servers

2010-11-30T12:02:00.007-05:00

Via CBS New York:

NEW YORK (CBS/AP) – The WikiLeaks website said it came under a forceful Internet-based attack on Tuesday morning, making some of the content, including the controversial “Cablegate” documents, inaccessible for hours to users in the U.S. and Europe.

The site appears to have responded by switching its main hosting base from Sweden to the U.S., making it available again.

On Tuesday, traffic to the site went to Amazon.com Inc.’s server-for-rent service, based in the U.S.

The site, which distributed a trove of U.S. diplomatic documents on Sunday, said in a Twitter message on Tuesday morning that it was under a “distributed denial of service attack,” a method commonly used by hackers to slow down or bring down sites. WikiLeaks didn’t identify the attackers.

“We are currently under a DDOS attack,” according to one tweet early Tuesday. Shortly after 9 a.m., another tweet was sent, saying, “DDOS attack now exceeding 10 Gigabits a second.”

The site, which is devoted to releasing anonymously submitted documents, also came under attack Sunday, but Tuesday’s attack appeared to be more powerful.

Calls to Amazon.com were not immediately returned. Bahnhof, the Swedish Internet company that has been WikiLeaks’ main host, had no immediate comment on Tuesday.

In a typical denial-of-service attack, remote computers commandeered by rogue programs bombard a website with so many data packets that it becomes overwhelmed and unavailable to visitors. Pinpointing the culprits is difficult.

WikiLeaks said the malicious traffic was coming in at 10 gigabits per second on Tuesday, which would make it a relatively large effort. According to a study by Internet security company Arbor Networks, the average denial of service attack over the past year was 349 megabits per second, 28 times slower than the stream Wikileaks reported.

Sunday’s attack didn’t stop the publication of stories based on messages leaked from the U.S. State Department in several major newspapers. WikiLeaks had given the media outlets prior access to the diplomatic cables to publish in conjunction with their Sunday release on its site.

The cables, many of them classified, offer candid, sometimes unflattering assessments of foreign leaders, ranging from U.S. allies such as Germany and Italy to other nations like Libya, Iran and Afghanistan.

The above article as originally posted.

Why the site wasn't taken down before the first series of leaks was posted is beyond me, as everybody knew they were coming, just like with this latest leak.

What is also puzzling is why they were allowed to move their hideous site to U.S. Servers. I mean, have the people of America really become this stupid?

Where is Ronald Reagan when we need him?

(H/T: Drudge)

Dave's Smoked Turkey

2010-11-23T21:09:00.008-05:00

This recipe was developed for indirect grilling using charcoal on either a Weber 18.5" or 22.5" kettle, but you can do it on a gas grill as well, if you must.

Note: Best results are obtained if prepared one day before serving, allowed to cool for one hour, then wrapped tightly in aluminum foil, refrigerated overnight, and removed one to one and 1/2 hours before carving. Warm birds are difficult to carve neatly.

You will need:

1) One 10-12 pound (preferably fresh) turkey. Larger birds do not cook all that well, so if you need more, add a second bird or, as I often do, a fresh turkey breast.

2) One marinade injector.

3) One cup of white wine (any cheap chardonnay will work here).

4) One slightly rounded tablespoon of kosher salt.

5) 6 to 8 cloves of fresh garlic cloves split in half.

6) One stalk of celery cut into 2" pieces.

7) 1/2 of a medium onion cut into 1/2" wedges.

8) One fresh lemon, quartered.

9) Kosher salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste.

10) A fair amount of your favorite smoking chips. For me, that means hickory, but apple, cherry, pecan, etc. work, too.

11) Plenty of your favorite holiday adult beverage.

12) A little patience.

Directions:

1) Remove turkey from refrigerator and combine one tablespoon of Kosher salt with one cup of white wine. Stir until salt is dissolved.

2) Inject turkey all over with the white wine/salt mixture.

3) Put a little salt and pepper in the bird's cavity, add the garlic cloves, celery, onion and lemon. Tie the legs together with butcher's twine and allow to stand for 30 minutes.

4) Coat the outside of the turkey liberally with cooking oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.

5) If you are going to soak your smoking chips in water or wine, now is a good time to immerse them.

6) Prepare your grill for indirect cooking as per manufacturer's instructions, and don't forget the drip pan on the charcoal grate, unless scraping a lot of congealed fat out of the bottom of your grill is a favorite pastime for you. If you are using a gas grill, you can place the bird directly into the pan on the cooking grate.

7) Once the grill is ready (a cooking temperature of 350 degrees is optimal), add the smoking chips and the bird, close the lid and don't open it for at least one hour.

8) Add charcoal every hour and additional smoking chips as needed.

9) Once the turkey has reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees as measured in the thigh (away from the bone), remove turkey from grill, cover tightly with foil and let stand for at least twenty minutes before carving, or one hour if you are going to refrigerate it for the next day.

10) Chow down.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

Fear Green Energy, and the Creeping Tyranny Coming With It

2010-09-20T11:40:00.008-04:00

Via cnsnews.com:

Washington (CNSNews.com) - Assistant Energy Secretary Cathy Zoi said Thursday that the U.S. Department of Energy has a “mandate” to issue regulations to determine what household appliances are available to Americans in the future.
Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the recently reestablished Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB), Zoi pointed to four tactics the Obama administration intends to use to advance the “deployment of clean energy.”
The first three include government subsidies for private-sector green energy projects; special tax incentives for green energy projects; and low-interest government-backed loans for green energy projects.

“The fourth one, which the secretary and I love,” said Zoi, “is where we have a mandate. Where we can actually just issue regulations and do market transformation.”
Zoi was referring to authority the department has under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, as amended by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. That law gives the DOE the power to set efficiency standards for energy-consuming products.

You will find the rest at this link.

Cathy Zoi is just the sort of government bureaucrat that scares the Hell out of me.

I can just see it now - refrigerators that don't chill, freezers that don't freeze, stoves that can't bring water to a boil, ovens that can't even bake cookies, microwaves that can't melt ice, washers that don't wash, dryers that don't dry, showers you cannot even get wet in, HVAC systems that freeze you in winter and cause you to sweat through summer, and probably another round of Gore toilets that require multiple flushes - until the feds notice on your remote flush-meter that you are flushing too much and remotely disconnect the flush lever.

And just try selling your humble abode without having ripped out and replaced every single appliance that does not meet with the government's approval. My guess is you would be facing a level of unpleasantness that would turn even the most fervent HoA NAZI green with envy.

This is just more creeping tyranny from an out-of-control federal government run amok.

Perhaps, just maybe, this will be among the Obamanista regime lunacy that will be added to the GOP's supposed "de-funding" list I keep hearing so much about.

We must run these hideous people out of power before they have destroyed every last vestige of freedom and liberty remaining in America.

Government School Children Forced to Pray to Allah

2010-09-17T10:27:00.003-04:00

Via americanthinker.com:

The video was taken inside the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center - Boston's controversial Saudi-funded mega-mosque - during a Wellesley Middle School social studies trip to the mosque, ostensibly taken to learn about the history of Islam first-hand. Yet the video reveals that the students are being blatantly mis-educated about Islam. A mosque spokesperson is seen teaching the children that in Mohammed's 7th century Arabia women were allowed to vote, while in America women only gained that right a hundred years ago. This seems to be an increasingly recurring theme in American schools - the denigration of western civilization and the glorification of Islamic history and values. In fact, just recently, the American Textbook Council revealed that the New York State high school regents exam whitewashes the atrocities that occurred during the imperialistic Islamic conquest of Christian Byzantium, Persia, the African continent, and the Indian subcontinent, even as it demonizes European colonialism in South America.

The mosque spokesperson also taught the students that the only meaning of Jihad in Islam is a personal spiritual struggle, and that Jihad has historically had no relationship with holy war. As far as we know, the school has not corrected these false lessons.

You can read the rest, as well as view the video at this link.

I have to disagree with the author on one point, as I think all the parents should sue, as well as demand the school officials responsible for this be terminated immediately.

Like I have always said, packing off a child to a government school is a flagrant act of child abuse.

Happy Constitution Day!

2010-09-17T08:26:00.003-04:00

Haven't read it in a while?

Click here for entire text.

Dinesh D'Souza: How Obama Thinks

2010-09-16T15:12:00.004-04:00

Via Forbes.com:

Barack Obama is the most antibusiness president in a generation, perhaps in American history. Thanks to him the era of big government is back. Obama runs up taxpayer debt not in the billions but in the trillions. He has expanded the federal government's control over home mortgages, investment banking, health care, autos and energy. The Weekly Standard summarizes Obama's approach as omnipotence at home, impotence abroad.

The President's actions are so bizarre that they mystify his critics and supporters alike. Consider this headline from the Aug. 18, 2009 issue of the Wall Street Journal: "Obama Underwrites Offshore Drilling." Did you read that correctly? You did. The Administration supports offshore drilling--but drilling off the shores of Brazil. With Obama's backing, the U.S. Export-Import Bank offered $2 billion in loans and guarantees to Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras to finance exploration in the Santos Basin near Rio de Janeiro--not so the oil ends up in the U.S. He is funding Brazilian exploration so that the oil can stay in Brazil.

You will find the whole thing at this link.

So far, this is the best article I have seen yet that comes close to explaining what and who this nation voted to send to the White House in November of 2008.

John Stossel on the Lunacy of the ADA

2010-09-13T22:23:00.007-04:00

Creeping tyranny brought to us by George Bush 41.

As usual, Stossel nails it most securely.

I wonder if the repubs will have the balls to dismantle any of this freedom-destroying insanity should they actually regain the majority?

I shan't hold my breath waiting for it.

Guv'mint Stoopidity Raht Heas in Geowjia

2010-09-13T21:36:00.006-04:00

If you are a farmer in Dekalb County, you better not grow more than the government thinks you should be, else the crop NAZIs will be hauling you into court.

Somewhere along the way, this country took the wrong fork in the road and swerved into the land of rapidly mounting tyranny.

I hope we can start finding our way back to the right road starting this November.

We'd better.

More Evidence of the 'Peaceful, Tolerant and Loving' Nature of the 7th Century Illiterate Barbarians

2010-09-13T20:44:00.005-04:00

Not that this should surprise anyone outside of the Islamo-ignoramus* community.

I wonder what the outcry would be from the camel-washer bucket-carriers in the leftisphere if a Christian minister were to call for the deaths of Muslims who torch Bibles, Christian Churches, and Christian people on a regular basis.

I bet they would be rather swift in loud condemnation of these ministers, as they know they have nothing to fear from Christians strapping bombs onto young children and blowing their liberal asses into human hamburger while they sit in their favorite snooty, elitist coffee shops sucking down their $8/cup organic brew.

*An Islamo-ignoramus is someone who attended government school, and knows absolutely nothing about the true history of Islam (nor anything else, including America) nor knows anything about the Islam of today (which is no different from the Islam of the 7th Century), as these people actually believe Islam is a legitimate religion, and that there is actually such a thing as "moderate" and "radical" Islam.

There is only Islam.

(h/t: Drudge)

Nine years ago today, Islam killed American infidels right here on American soil

2010-09-11T13:24:00.011-04:00

Nine years later, Islam is still killing American infidels right here on American soil.

Ours vs. Theirs

2010-08-30T21:29:00.004-04:00

Ours.

Theirs.

I think I like theirs better.

(h/t: Drudge)

Outrage! Daisy Khan's $12K Taxpayer-Funded 'Hate America' Tour

2010-08-25T11:50:00.013-04:00

Okay, so it's only a mere $12,000 of our tax money, which doesn't even rate a spit in the ocean in the overall scheme of things, but it is what that money is funding that infuriates me.

This, coming on top of another taxpayer-funded outrage involving this woman's jihad-supporting, camel-washer husband, is appalling beyond words.

Suppose during WWII our tax dollars had been used to send Heinrich Himmler on a fund-raising tour to raise money for the NAZI death camps while trashing America, or to send Vice Admiral Nagumo around to raise money so that the Japanese could replace the carriers we destroyed at the Battle of Midway while also trashing America.

The American people would have had a collective conniption over it, and probably would have demanded the immediate arrest of the government officials responsible, if not the outright impeachment of FDR himself.

Today, we sit and watch the GWOT equivalent as our government uses our tax dollars to send a couple of jihad supporters to trash America in front of our enemies, as well as probabaly raise money for their trophy Mosque, and mmany of the American people yawn and reach for the TV remote.

Assuming the American sheeple actually do wake up from their slumber and vote the commies and their RINO enablers the hell out of congress come November (and I say the chances of that are still only around 50/50) , We the People need to pressure the next congress to start cleaning some serious house.

They can start with the idiot bureaucrats at Foggy Bottom, right after dragging Broom Hilda up to the Hill and grilling her in an effort to determine whether or not she has totally lost her mind.

The idiot far-left's shameless pandering to the jihadists and their enablers who are working for the destruction of America is bad enough, but using our tax dollars to do it is not only reprehensible, in my opinion, it's not a little treasonous, either.

John Stossel on Where'd the Jobs Go?

2010-08-25T10:51:00.003-04:00

Via realclearpolitics.com:

Why isn't the economy recovering? After previous recessions, unemployment didn't get stuck at close to 10 percent. If left alone, the economy can and does heal itself, as the mistakes of the previous inflationary boom are corrected.

The problem today is that the economy is not being left alone. Instead, it is haunted by uncertainty on a hundred fronts. When rules are unintelligible and unpredictable, when new workers are potential threats because of Labor Department regulations, businesses have little confidence to hire. President Obama's vaunted legislative record not only left entrepreneurs with the burden of bigger government, it also makes it impossible for them to accurately estimate the new burden.

You will find the whole thing at this link.

We had better all hope that the American people walk into the polling stations this November and start the process of halting and reversing the economy-killing insanity that began with the passage of TARP and has only accelerated since.

We are running out of both chances as well as time to keep the good ship America from rolling over for good, as it is now listing perilously close to the tipping point.

What Happens When Government Teaches Kids to Drive?

2010-08-24T11:01:00.003-04:00

We get more hair, teeth and eyeballs on the highways and byways of America.

Via wishtv.com:

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Indiana lawmakers say they are puzzled by a study that shows teenagers who take driver's education classes are more likely to crash than those who do not take the classes.

The Indiana BMV released the study that it says shows current drivers under 18 who took driver's ed had nearly four times the crashes than those without the training.

Some lawmakers say it might be time for an overhaul. The state's drivers ed program has not changed in the past 30 years.

But the BMV says the numbers might be skewed by the fact that teens with driver's ed get their permits earlier and have more time on the road.

The above was originally posted here.

Heh, government can't even run a lemonade stand. I have no clue why the parents of America's teens think it can teach their kids to drive safely.

Short Take: Big Brother Invades Your Trash Can

2010-08-21T04:01:00.004-04:00

I really have to wonder when the "turd counters" are coming, lest we flush too soon and waste more water than the monitoring government goon of the moment thinks we're entitled to.

And don't think for a minute something like that won't be tucked deep into whatever "climate" bill the commies are feverishly brewing up.

After all, they know their time is short.

The Real Islamophobes

2010-08-20T21:54:00.002-04:00

The true Islamophobes among us are those who seek to appease the jihadists, as well as their sympathizers and supporters, at every possible opportunity.

These spineless cowards will even manufacture a reason to appease the 7th Century barbarians if one is not already present.

People are motivated to appease purely out of fear - often to the point they will willingly surrender their very freedom to do it.

If the Islamo-appeasers wish to give up their hard-won freedoms and liberties in the hopes they will be beheaded last, that is their business.

I just don't want them making that decision for me.

Banned From HotAir

2010-08-19T22:40:00.010-04:00

Well, it's official. My nearly five year-old account at HotAir is toast.

Burnt, nuked, and buried for all time.

I got the word straight from AP two nights ago.

My offense? Using the term "closet camel-washer" in reference to the Imam-in-Chief's outing himself over the trophy Mosque.

It's not exactly as if I haven't posted what in many ways has become my "signature term" over there tons of times, as well as on many other blogs.

I guess that was one time too many for them.

Of course, I could have used rag-head, camel-jockey, dune-monkey, or chosen among a whole host of other derogatory terms often used (practically interchangeably) to describe the brainwashed adherents to this fourteen century-old tyrannical political movement that has managed to successfully disguise itself as a "religion" in the minds of many millions of at or near illiterates, as well as many millions who are literate, and should know better.

Sad to say, it appears political correctness has now seriously taken root over at HotAir, just as it did at LGF (which I admit apparently coincided with an in-home lobotomy that went hideously awry) and which is now taking over at RedState, as well.

Too bad, as I have had a long association with both RedState and HotAir, and LGF was once on my daily Must Click list. Now I wouldn't allow my dog to read it.

I was given the option of appealing directly to Ed Morrissey, but I am not in much of a mood these days to grovel my way back onto a site that appears to be lurching toward the squishy middle.

Y'all know me. I don't do squishy middle. Not even a little bit.

LOL - Hell, I don't even flirt with it.

There is one thing about this I find not a little ironic: I got my plug pulled by a guy who has been posting all over the Internet for years under the name Allahpundit.

Yeah, like that hasn't put a knot in a few Islamic turbans along the way.

I'll miss some of my friends over there, but most I have hooked up with elsewhere, anyway.

HotAir was once the best place to be on the net, but apparently it has decided to appeal to a wider audience, and the contributers now appear to have become somewhat concerned with the perceptions of the RINOs of the world.

Fine, it's their site, and they are free to take it wherever they wish, but the squishy middle isn't a place I am interested in visiting myself, not even for a brief period.

Even so, I want to wish everybody at HotAir good luck and a great future.

Yes, even you, AP.

Okay, I'm Back Again

2010-08-19T22:37:00.001-04:00

Hopefully for good this time.

Still not sure what is going on, but I replaced my security software completely and was able to pop right in here.

I am a little behind, but plan to catch up on things as quickly as I can.

I'm Back!

2010-08-15T21:59:00.000-04:00

Not sure what the problem was, possibly my security settings, but I haven't been able to get in here for several weeks now, and often wasn't able to get into Gmail, either.

I started tweaking this and that, and am finally able to get into my own blog again.

Random Thought

2010-07-29T11:43:00.005-04:00

I am beginning to foresee a day approaching in the near future when merely running the commie/statists out of power isn't going to be enough.

It may become necessary to run them completely out of America itself.

Judge Says No to Parts of Az Illegal Immigration Law

2010-07-28T13:31:00.003-04:00

This is why elections matter.

Judge Susan Bolton was appointed by Bill Clinton.

What s surprise.

25 Reasons to Boot the Bamster

2010-07-28T09:01:00.006-04:00

Personally, I say it will never happen, as the impeachment process itself would probably take far longer than the time remaining in the Kenyan statist's first (and hopefully only) term.

Another reason is that the repubs simply don't have the balls, and are unlikely to grow any anytime soon, even if they were to put enough fannies in congress this November to actually be able to do it.

I can think of a whole host of reasons why Barack Hussein Obama should be driven from power, as he has been steadily defecating on our nation's founding document since 12:01 pm, January 20, 2009.

Whether he one day winds up back in Chicago stapling 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper to utility poles (perhaps the only thing he is any good at), or gets whisked off to some private island somewhere to spend the balance of his remaining days picking the lint out of George Soros' belly button, that day will be a good day for America - however much is left of it.

That day cannot come soon enough for me.

Where'd the Oil Go?

2010-07-28T07:51:00.003-04:00

Hmm.

Something tells me our planet is nowhere near as fragile as the eco-kooks have long asserted.

While the spill in the Gulf was bad, I don't think it was anywhere near the disaster many were predicting.

"Recovery" Summer

2010-07-28T07:03:00.004-04:00

Via www.atr.org:

The Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats have said that they want to raise taxes in the top two income tax rates in January 2011. Under their plan, the 33 percent rate will rise to 36 percent, and the 35 percent rate will rise to 39.6 percent automatically in January. These rates affect families and small business owners earning at least $200,000 per year.

Unlike corporations, small businesses usually don’t pay their own taxes. Rather, business profits flow through to the business owner. The business owner pays taxes on her small business by adding the profits to her income tax form. Therefore, personal income taxes are the same thing as small business taxes.

According to the IRS, most small business profits pay taxes in households making more than $200,000 per year. The IRS keeps track of two types of small business income: sole proprietors, and “pass-through” entities like partnerships and S-corporations.

All small businesses. There were 30 million tax returns reporting small business income in 2008. On net (profits reduced by losses), these owners reported business profits of $631billion. A large chunk of this net profit--$457 billion—faced taxation in households making more than $200,000 per year. A majority of small business profits will face a tax rate hike under the Obama-Pelosi-Reid plan.

Sole proprietors. There were 22 million tax returns reporting sole proprietor income in 2008. On net (profits reduced by losses), these owners reported business profits of $264 billion. A large chunk of this net profit--$90 billion—faced taxation in households making more than $200,000 per year. 34 percent of sole proprietor profits will face a tax rate hike under the Obama-Pelosi-Reid tax hike plan.

S-corporations and partnerships. There were 8 million partners and S-corporation shareholders in 2008. On net (profits reduced by losses), these owners reported business profits of $367 billion. Virtually all of this profit faced taxation in households making more than $200,000 per year. Aggregate pass-through entity profits will almost entirely fall in households making more than $200,000 per year.

The above can be found in its original form here.

The Wall Street Journal has more here.

For someone who claims to want to "fix" our ailing private sector economy, the former community agitator seems to be doing all he can to destroy it.

There Is Stoopid, And Then There Is Government Stoopid

2010-07-28T06:40:00.005-04:00

And only Government can be this stoopid.

Via tampabay.com:

But government regulations are requiring that their headquarters on the beach be made handicapped-accessible, even though the only people who ever use the two-story building are the lifeguards.

Another example of your tax dollars at work.

"It's odd. Obviously no one here is handicapped. No one in a wheelchair has ever asked to come up here," head lifeguard Donovan Burns said during an interview on the building's second floor. He noted that disabled people can borrow fat-tired beach wheelchairs from the lifeguard station for free, but those are stored on the ground floor.

The little yellow building near Pier 60 has to be brought into compliance with the state building code and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

You will find the whole thing at this link.

This is still further evidence (as if we needed any) supporting my long-held belief that America has become too stupid to survive as it was founded.

Yet Another Turd Found in the Bowels of CommieCare

2010-07-21T06:15:00.006-04:00

Via CNNMoney.com:

NEW YORK -- An all-but-overlooked provision of the health reform law is threatening to swamp U.S. businesses with a flood of new tax paperwork.

Section 9006 of the health care bill -- just a few lines buried in the 2,409-page document -- mandates that beginning in 2012 all companies will have to issue 1099 tax forms not just to contract workers but to any individual or corporation from which they buy more than $600 in goods or services in a tax year.
The stealth change radically alters the nature of 1099s and means businesses will have to issue millions of new tax documents each year.

Right now, the IRS Form 1099 is used to document income for individual workers other than wages and salaries. Freelancers receive them each year from their clients, and businesses issue them to the independent contractors they hire.

But under the new rules, if a freelance designer buys a new iMac from the Apple Store, they'll have to send Apple a 1099. A laundromat that buys soap each week from a local distributor will have to send the supplier a 1099 at the end of the year tallying up their purchases.

You can read the rest at this link.

So, just how is that hopey-changey thingy working out for you stoopid Obamabots?

I can tell you this, it is sucking big hairy ones among intelligent Americans.

Lindsey Graham: Communist Enabler

2010-07-21T05:53:00.004-04:00

Via the Ass. Press:

WASHINGTON – Pushing toward an election-year Supreme Court confirmation vote, a polarized Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday approved Elena Kagan to be the fourth female justice. Just one Republican joined Democrats to approve Kagan's nomination and send it to the full Senate, where she's expected to win confirmation within weeks.

"Elena Kagan will be confirmed," predicted Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the Judiciary chairman. "She will go on the U.S. Supreme Court."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., broke with his party to cast the sole GOP "yes" vote on President Obama's nominee to succeed Justice John Paul Stevens, who retired in June. The vote was 13-6.

"What's in Elena Kagan's heart is that of a good person who adopts a philosophy I disagree with," Graham said. "She will serve this nation honorably, and it would not have been someone I would have chosen, but the person who did choose, President Obama, I think chose wisely."

At the White House, Obama hailed the vote as a "bipartisan affirmation of her strong performance" in confirmation hearings, and said Kagan would be "a fair and impartial" justice who understands the impact of Supreme Court decisions on everyday people's lives.

He called on the Senate to confirm her before Congress takes a monthlong summer break starting August 7 — a deadline Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he looks forward to meeting.

Strategists on both sides expect a few more Republicans to back Kagan in the full Senate, where Democrats have more than enough votes to confirm her.

Several Republicans believed to be potential supporters of Kagan's said in brief interviews Tuesday that they had yet to decide whether to back her. They include Sens. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire and Olympia Snowe of Maine.

But Kagan is likely to win fewer GOP supporters than Obama's first high court pick, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in part because of the heightened political pressures facing senators little more than 100 days out from midterm election contests.

Most Republicans are against Kagan, arguing that she would put her political views ahead of the law. They point to what they call her liberal agenda and on such issues as abortion and gun rights, and have chastised her for the decision as dean of Harvard Law School to bar military recruiters from the campus career services office because of the policy against openly gay soldiers.

"She has deeply held liberal, progressive views," said Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the top Republican on the Judiciary panel. As a justice, he said, Kagan "will not be the objective, impartial arbiter and settler of disputes, but someone who would use the opportunity to redefine words to advance an agenda that's not in the court's role to advance."

Democrats praised Kagan, the 50-year-old who has served as the Obama administration's solicitor general, calling her a highly qualified glass ceiling-shattering nominee who could bring consensus to an ideologically divided court.

"It becomes more and more apparent that we need a return to the center and a justice who will urge moderation and who will push for consensus. Elena Kagan's record gives me confidence that she could be just such a voice," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

If confirmed, Kagan would be the fourth woman to serve on the court and her swearing-in would mark the first time that three women have served together on the nine-member Supreme Court.

The debate over her nomination has unfolded against a highly partisan backdrop, at a time when Republicans are focused on making sharp distinctions between themselves and Obama, whose approval ratings are sagging.

"It's a tough political environment out there," noted Graham.

Republicans have been quicker to announce their opposition to Kagan than they were last year to Sotomayor. Graham is the only Republican so far to say he'll vote "yes."

Democrats attributed the difference to political considerations by the GOP.

"Sadly, it appears election-year politics may deprive her of the vote total that her nomination deserves," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Politically active conservative groups are pressuring GOP senators to oppose Kagan's nomination. The National Rifle Association is urging a "no" vote or a filibuster to block Kagan outright, saying she's hostile to the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms, and has warned that it will downgrade supporters in candidate ratings that are circulated to millions of gun-owning voters.

The Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion rights group, wrote to senators Monday urging opposition based on Kagan's actions as a Clinton administration official to resist a broad ban on a procedure opponents call partial-birth abortion.

The group pointed to Kagan's intervention with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in the mid-1990s to prevent the professional group from issuing a flat statement saying the controversial procedure was never medically necessary. Notes and documents released by Clinton's presidential library last month show that Kagan suggested the group qualify that position — which she wrote would be a "disaster " — by saying that the method is sometimes best or most appropriate to preserve the mother's health.

"(A) willingness to bend medical facts to support an ideological point of view is inconsistent with the temperament required of a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court," wrote Marjorie Dannenfelser, the group's president.

Aren't you people in South Carolina just peachy proud that one of your two U.S. senators voted to put a justice on the SCOTUS that thinks it is perfectly okay for the federal government to ban books?

I bet George Soros had an orgasm when he got the news.

Sucks to be you, I guess.

J. R. Dunn: President Haters

2010-07-20T11:34:00.004-04:00

This is so good, I am posting it in its entirety.

Via American Thinker:

William Burroughs will never be an icon of the conservative movement. A proud junkie, an aggressive homosexual, a leader of both the Beat movement and the Counterculture, a man who shot his wife by "accident" while playing a party game, Burroughs was, if anything, the polar opposite of the conservative ideal.

But there was one element of Burroughs' thought not altogether alien to conservatives: his opinion of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Relatively late in his career, Burroughs published a short piece titled Roosevelt after Inauguration, which featured FDR swaggering around Washington (this is fiction, remember), wearing a purple toga and accompanied by a gang of killer baboons whom he sends after his enemies. The story climaxes with the massacre of the Supreme Court by the baboons, whereupon FDR gazes contemplatively across the Potomac at the country now lying at his feet and utters the line quoted above.

What inspired Burroughs to embark on this exercise in nastiness remains unclear. He himself claimed that he was promised a high position in the St. Louis sewer department only to be denied it by New Deal do-gooders, but this may be only part of the legend. Whatever the case, Roosevelt after Inauguration remains one of the purest expressions of political hatred ever put into writing. If every foul attack made over the years against Nixon, Reagan, Gingrich, Bush, Cheney, and Palin were rolled into one, the result would not match a single paragraph. Roosevelt after Inauguration is a masterpiece of political scurrility.

Which brings us to Barack Obama.

Two weeks ago, the White House informed the state of Oklahoma that it could expect no federal aid to help deal with the damage caused by recent flooding. There was no explanation, no expression of sympathy, no offer of alternatives.

Last week, it was revealed that NASA's new mission will be centered on making Muslims "feel good" about their scientific achievements of roughly a millennium in the past. This comes right on the heels of the cancellation of the Constellation program, which employed tens of thousands and promised to put the U.S. back into space in a big way.

At roughly the same time, J. Christian Adams, a former Department of Justice attorney, revealed that the voter harassment case against the New Black Panthers had been dropped for purely racist reasons, and that the word had come down to "never bring another lawsuit against a black or other national minority, no matter what they do."

While this doesn't match killer baboons, it'll do until Obama gets his pack trained.

Consider these actions. If anyone during the 2008 elections had implied, or even speculated, that Obama was capable of anything of the sort, he'd have been dismissed as a demagogue, a hater, even a lunatic. But today, after his abandonment of the state of Tennessee (also wracked by flooding); his betrayal of the Georgians; his pulling the rug out from under the Poles and Czechs; his dragging and cold response to the Gulf blowout; and his insults to the U.K., the GOP, the Supreme Court, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Dalai Lama, it scarcely raises a shrug. That's Obama. That's how he acts -- with arrogance, superciliousness, and indifference. We can search the entire roster of American presidents, and we will not find a match. This is not the behavior of an elected chief executive; it's the conduct of a divine right monarch, and a pretty inadequate one as well.

Conduct of this sort inevitably produces a reaction -- contempt from equals and hatred from victims. Obama has created a lot of victims in eighteen months of power, and that reaction has been growing. In plain fact, Obama is on his way to becoming the most hated president of the modern epoch. More so than Roosevelt, more so than Nixon, more so than Bush -- keep in mind that W. was truly hated only by the hard left. With steady and unrelenting pressure over a period of six years, the left did succeed in planting doubts and discomfort in the country as a whole...but never extending to actual hatred.

Obama is different -- in part because of the way he was so relentlessly hyped during his ascension to office, and the way he played along with it, toying with the public's expectations and transparently enjoying his status as demigod. But he is no longer the godling of legend, the Illinois messiah here to lead us to a left-wing Eden. He is merely a community organizer in over his head. The blowback triggered by disappointments of such depth can be ferocious. FDR was never foolish enough to make promises on this level (listen to his 1933 inaugural speech), and it served him well over three full terms. Obama was, and now he must pay the piper.

Obama is hated for a good reason -- for causing suffering to no purpose. A president must cause grief and pain; in this fallen world, he has no choice. He must and he will make decisions that hurt people. Hard decisions, decisions that kill. This is one of the reasons that presidents age so swiftly. The classic case here is Lincoln. No president caused more bloodshed and sorrow than Lincoln. No president suffered more for it, as much as it was done for a good and transcendent cause. The result is apparent in his photographs -- the somber but healthy figure about to take office transformed into the wraith of 1865, with his haunted eyes and skin stretched parchment-tight across the bones of his face.

But the suffering generated by the reign of Obama is unnecessary and uncalled for, as any short examination will reveal:

The Economy - Obama has made the same errors as FDR in his first term, without FDR's charm and earnestness to make up for it. Without even grasping that they were errors, for that matter. Of course, giving most of the stimulus money to the same financial industry that kicked off the crash was a brilliant ploy. We have to admit that worked.

The Border - A state under siege attempts to reimpose order through accepted legal means, and Obama's response is to unleash Eric Holder, the only person in the country (possibly even the galaxy) more arrogant than he. This is going to haunt him.

Health Care - Even now, the chicks are coming home. The system is starting to go, four years before anything will be ready to replace it. A former colleague of mine was told this week that her doctor will no longer accept Medicare. She lives in New York City, not friendly to Medicare patients in the best of times. She is understandably distraught. That story is being repeated across country in thousands -- perhaps hundreds of thousands -- of cases. And what is O's Plan B? You tell me.

The Gulf - During the worst ecological disaster of the era, as all levels of his administration repeatedly fumbled the ball, Obama golfed, partied, listened to Paulie Beatle, and went on vacation no fewer than three times. Let them eat cake!

In direct consequence of these actions and countless others, Obama has become a hated man. That hatred will only grow.

What would the prudent man do? He'd put away his purple robes, give up his grand schemes, cease the bullying and arrogance, and simply try to get through the next two years without civil disorder or other forms of ugliness. But Obama is not a prudent man. Nor are the members of his personal baboon pack -- Emmanuel, Axelrod, and the rest.

So to avoid a state of permanent crisis, it will be necessary to dismantle the Obama presidency while it still exists. The new Congress will put a halt to much of the programs already in motion and must also move to assure that the levers of power are moved out of Obama's reach. The Supreme Court will step in regarding a number of questionable decisions and programs. The sheer pressure of democratic checks and balances, so blithely ignored by Obama up until now, will begin to squeeze like a vise.

His own cronies, with no honor among them, will peel off as the downward spiral becomes evident. They will move to save themselves -- cut their deals, make their testimony, cop their pleas. We will learn a lot we don't now know about why certain decisions were made. The collapse will accelerate.

Thanks to the Gulf blowout, we know that Obama's crisis mode is to retreat. And retreat he will, until he can retreat no farther. Eventually he will become a ghost in his own White House, querulous and isolated, afraid to go out among his own people. In the end, he may well become the first president forced to live in foreign exile. And this is the best he can expect.

It will not be an easy period. The Iranians, the Chinese, and the jihadis will take what advantage they can. All the figures Obama has so assiduously courted, everyone he bowed to, will simply stand aside. Contempt felt for a ruler extends as a matter of course to his country, and we cannot avoid that. Regaining international respect will take time, and it will not happen under this regime.

But it's far from hopeless. Those of us who lived through Watergate are aware that this country prevails even when the leadership is derelict. America is resilient, Americans at their best amid crises. America's "decline" is situational, not permanent. We can look forward to a period of renewal when it's all over and we've cleared away the Styrofoam columns. A lot of illusions will be dead, a lot of worthless ideas exposed. Those who hold them will be have to come to terms with the fact that no, Americans will never be glad to "mutate."
And who will be Obama's Burroughs? Who will be the one to define him for all time with a few well-chosen, vicious words? We may have to wait -- it took Burroughs himself nearly forty years. But we can be sure of one thing -- a lot of people will be trying. I'd give it a shot myself, but you know...I'm not sure I'm enough of a hater.

This article was originally published here.

The Declaration of Independence

2010-07-04T17:13:00.000-04:00

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

Random Thought

2010-07-03T06:32:00.000-04:00

America is deathly ill. It is eaten up with a cancer known as socialism. If the patient is going to survive, it will require two successive, massive radiation treatments.

The first of these must take place in November. Should that not happen, the patient will die before the second treatment becomes available in November of 2012.

They Are Coming For Your IRA's

2010-07-01T12:16:00.003-04:00

Via Boortz.com:

So how's that working out for Argentineans? Back in 2008, Argentina decided that it really didn't want to let the financial crisis go to waste. So the wealth redistributionists thought that this would be a great time to seize all private pension funds! Remember that? The government nationalized $30 billion worth of assets under the guise of "protecting" the people from the perils of a volatile capitalists system.
Less than two years later, what is the government doing with that private money that it has now seized? It is using those nationalized pension funds to finance its current spending. How do you like that? From what we can put together from the Spanish reports in La NaciÃ³n, the government is funding its overhead costs with billions from the guarantee fund for the nationalized pension system. So the government seizes these private pension funds and then "borrows" the money to cover its overhead costs, promising people that there funds will be there when they are ready to retire. Meanwhile, Argentina keeps spending and debt continues to rise. Sounds like a Ponzi scheme to me!
You do know, don't you, that at this very moment the Obama administration is conducting studies on the possibility of seizing or gaining control over your pension plans ... much like they did in Argentina. Just something to keep on your radar screen.

I have been warning about this for years, yet I usually get nothing but blank stares in response - the exact same blank stares I got back when I said ObamaCare was most likely going to pass.

As I have been saying for eighteen months, we are under a rapidly-advancing communist coup, and the communists are serious.

Damned serious.

Boortz Explains It All

2010-06-30T09:48:00.006-04:00

Via Boortz.com:

Did you catch the Dow yesterday? Not what you might call good. So, how's this economic recovery working for you folks?

Truth is, we may be about the fall off the edge of an economic cliff. We are roaring toward the precipice at 100 while Biden is touring the country trying to tell us we're well within the speed limit. It may well be that by the time the American people fully realize how dire our economic situation is .. and how bad it is going to get under Obama's policies .. it may well be too late.

We are approaching that point. Fast. Yesterday's 2.7% drop in the Dow Jones was just an indicator that we are not on a fast track to recovery. In fact, quite the opposite. While Joe Biden tours the country on a "Summer Recovery" tour, trying to convince you how the Obama administration saved us from disaster ... our economy is slowing. Businesses aren't hiring. And Democrats in Washington are poised to only make matters worse. The Royal Bank of Scotland is warning that the global economy is stalling out and that this could lead to a massive flooding of the money supply by the Federal Reserve in efforts to fight off a world-wide deflationary recession.

You can read the rest at this link.

Fasten you seat belts, folks, as I see some major turbulence coming our way.

Just Say No to Obama's Tax Hike

2010-06-29T08:51:00.001-04:00

It has to start somewhere.

SCOTUS Upholds 2nd Amendment - Barely

2010-06-28T17:01:00.004-04:00

The ruling was 5-4 in favor. What concerns me is that four of the nine justices sitting on the highest court in the land are all reading, "...the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed" and seeing something else.

This one was a little too close for comfort.

Make that way too close.

A Must-Read from Thomas Sowell

2010-06-22T10:10:00.002-04:00

Note: Due to computer performance issues, I am unable to insert the link into text, so you may have to copy and paste.

Via Investors.com:

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/537967/201006211813/Is-US-Now-On-Slippery-Slope-To-Tyranny-.as

Message from Dave (Updated)

2010-06-03T12:45:00.002-04:00

We took a direct lighting hit that blew out just about everything in the house, including my ethernet port. The bolt first hit a tree about 25' from where my machine was set up in the dining room. Where it went from there is anyone's guess, but it blew out the cable modem immediately, which took care of the phone and TV, too.

Comcast gave us a new modem, but I am having to replace light fixtures, TV cables, etc, myself.

Will try to be back on the net this weekend.

Update 07/22/10:

Apparently we had more damage than I had thought. I have gotten back on the net, but at only about 1/3 of the speed I am used to.

I won't be doing any major posting here until I get it back up to speed, which I hope to be soon.

I'll post some links and some short blurbs to things I think are important in the interim.

David Horowitz Destroys Student Camel-Washer

2010-05-20T13:37:00.004-04:00

I think the Stoopid Factory had to buy a new mold after they popped this moron out.

(h/t: my buddy Earl)

A Message from Obama

2010-05-20T09:32:00.004-04:00

(h/t: boortz.com)

'Super Tuesday'

2010-05-19T12:17:00.006-04:00

I really don't know what to make of yesterday's primaries as they relate to the upcoming election in November, but at least Arlen Specter will not be part of it. That is a good thing, regardless of what happens. I can only hope (as well as pray) that John McCain suffers a similar fate.

I look at yesterday as being somewhat of a mixed bag, really. The two bright spots were the aforementioned Specter defeat, and the impressive win Rand Paul enjoyed in Kentucky.

Paul, a libertarian, basically ran on a conservative "stop the spending" platform, and beat his RNC-backed opponent by an eye-opening twenty-four points. I hope the vapid leadership at the RNC put down the champagne and caviar long enough to take notice.

Of course, the dems retained Jackass Murtha's seat in the 12th District of Pennsylvania, but I wouldn't read too much into that given the gerrymandered, lop-sided makeup of the electorate there.

I have been truly enjoying watching the State Controlled Media (SCM) contort itself into pretzels trying to convince us that this is all due to "voter anger" and "anti-incumbent" fever, in an effort to deflect attention away from the real issue that has people steamed - Barrack Hussein Obama and his hideous freedom and nation-destroying Marxist agenda.

The SCM is right about one thing - incumbents that have voted with the Comrade Chairman are in trouble, be they dems or repubs.

The question is, are enough of them in trouble to matter come November? I guess we'll see what we'll see.

I think next November is the election that will make or break America as it was founded.

And even if it goes they way I hope it will, it will only be the beginning of the real battle ahead, as it will not be enough to just slow or even stop Obama's rapidly moving Marxist coup, it must be reversed.

Suns Fans Booted From Arena for Wearing Shirts in Supprt of Arizona Illegal Alien Law

2010-05-19T11:49:00.005-04:00

Via dailycaller.com:

Two fans at a Phoenix Suns basketball game were ejected from their first row seats and removed from the arena last week after refusing orders from security guards to take off their shirts in support of Arizona’s recently passed law against illegal immigration.
One of the fans, businessman Jim Clark, said he and a friend, who were wearing orange shirts that read “Viva Los 1070,” eventually were allowed to return to their seats during last Wednesday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs after speaking with a security director.

This is not the first occurrence of politics creeping into the Suns basketball games: On Cinco de Mayo, team owner Robert Sarver came up with the idea for the team to wear “Los Suns” on their jerseys in protest of the immigration law. That’s what drove Clark to don his own shirt.

“If they’re going to shove their politics down my throat, I’m going make a message of my own,” Clark told The Daily Caller.

The phrase “Viva Los 1070” is in reference to the recently passed Arizona immigration law, Senate Bill 1070.

You can read the rest at this link.

I wonder if those government "educated" security guards, as well as their employer, have ever heard of the 1st Amendment?

Last time I checked, political correctness doesn't trump the God-given right to freedom of expression.

I have asked several people who oppose Arizona's new law to please point out to me just exactly what that law authorizes law enforcement to do in Arizona that federal law doesn't?

I'll get back to you if I ever get an answer.

(h/t: Boortz.com)

The Best Campaign Commercial I Have Ever Seen

2010-05-17T17:33:00.002-04:00

I am about half tempted to move next door to Alabama just so I can vote for the guy.

(h/t: Too many to list)

Illegal Criminal Invaders Threaten to Kill Americans

2010-05-14T20:01:00.003-04:00

Somehow I do not think this is going to end well.

For them, I mean.

(h/t: My freind Eowyn at Fellowship of the Minds)

Kagan the Kommie Gun Grabber

2010-05-14T08:05:00.007-04:00

Via Bloomberg.com:

Elena Kagan said as a U.S. Supreme Court law clerk in 1987 that she was “not sympathetic” toward a man who contended that his constitutional rights were violated when he was convicted for carrying an unlicensed pistol.
Kagan, whom President Barack Obama nominated to the high court this week, made the comment to Justice Thurgood Marshall, urging him in a one-paragraph memo to vote against hearing the District of Columbia man’s appeal.

The man’s “sole contention is that the District of Columbia’s firearms statutes violate his constitutional right to ‘keep and bear arms,’” Kagan wrote. “I’m not sympathetic.”

You can read the entire article here at this link.

Hmm. She is a devout socialist, and isn't too fond of freedom of speech, either.

This woman has absolutely no business sitting on the highest court in the land.

More Nanny State Nonsense

2010-05-14T07:47:00.003-04:00

Via CNSNews.com:

A bill introduced this month in Congress would put the federal and state governments in the business of tracking how fat, or skinny, American children are.

States receiving federal grants provided for in the bill would be required to annually track the Body Mass Index of all children ages 2 through 18. The grant-receiving states would be required to mandate that all health care providers in the state determine the Body Mass Index of all their patients in the 2-to-18 age bracket and then report that information to the state government. The state government, in turn, would be required to report the information to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for analysis.

The Healthy Choices Act--introduced by Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee--would establish and fund a wide range of programs and regulations aimed at reducing obesity rates by such means as putting nutritional labels on the front of food products, subsidizing businesses that provide fresh fruits and vegetables, and collecting BMI measurements of patients and counseling those that are overweight or obese.

You will find the rest at this link.

One common trait among virtually all totalitarian governments throughout history is the idea that children belong to the state rather than the parents.

I see this as just one more lurch in that direction.

(h/t: Drudge)

Medals for Wussing Out on the Battlefield?

2010-05-14T07:14:00.005-04:00

Via NavyTimes.com:

U.S. troops in Afghanistan could soon be awarded a medal for not doing something, a precedent-setting award that would be given for “courageous restraint” for holding fire to save civilian lives.
The proposal is now circulating in the Kabul headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force, a command spokesman confirmed Tuesday.
“The idea is consistent with our approach,” explained Air Force Lt. Col. Tadd Sholtis. “Our young men and women display remarkable courage every day, including situations where they refrain from using lethal force, even at risk to themselves, in order to prevent possible harm to civilians. In some situations our forces face in Afghanistan, that restraint is an act of discipline and courage not much different than those seen in combat actions.”

You can read the rest at this link, if you can stomach it.

To me, this is just one more sign of the overall decline and wussification of Western society.

You have to wonder that if this medal is introduced, will its recipients still be alive to wear it? What is more, would real soldier would want to be awarded this medal? Somehow I don't think so.

George S. Patton, Jr. must be spinning in his grave right about now.

God help us all.

The Debt Monster is Upon Us

2010-05-12T10:10:00.007-04:00

And it's about to bite us right in the ass.

Via Reason.com:

America’s financial situation is unsustainable. In 2009 the federal government spent $3.5 trillion but collected only $2.1 trillion in revenue. The result was a $1.4 trillion deficit, up from $458 billion in 2008. That’s 10 percent of gross domestic product, a level unseen since World War II. Worse, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that we’ll be drowning in red ink for the foreseeable future, with annual deficits averaging $1 trillion during the next decade.
While these figures are dramatic, they pale in comparison to what the federal government owes foreign and domestic investors. According to the CBO, in 2009 America’s public debt reached $7.5 trillion, or 53 percent of GDP, the highest it has been in 50 years. In 2010 the debt will cross the 60 percent threshold, a level at which many economists believe a country is putting itself in financial peril.

And the situation is deteriorating rapidly. Figure 1 compares the CBO’s long-term public debt projections from 2010 with long-term projections calculated in 2007. Three years ago, the CBO projected that the debt held by the public would not surpass 60 percent until 2023.

You will find the entire article at this link.

Scared yet? You should be shaking in your loafers.

I hope the American people are finally waking up to the imminent financial peril we face as a nation, as I believe the time we have to avoid disaster is growing very, very short.

A Glimmer of Hope? 14 Term Commiecrat Ousted

2010-05-12T09:26:00.005-04:00

Via MyWay.com:

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) - A West Virginia congressional seat that's been held by a Democrat for generations is now up for grabs after 14-term incumbent Rep. Alan Mollohan was swept out of office on a wave of voter unrest that an opponent called a referendum on President Barack Obama.

The congressman is the first U.S. House incumbent to be ousted this spring primary season amid widespread anti-incumbent sentiment. The same unrest helped end the 17-year career of Utah Republican Sen. Bob Bennett, who lost a GOP convention on Saturday.

State Sen. Michael Oliverio carried 56 percent of the vote to Mollohan's 44 percent Tuesday night after an aggressive campaign that questioned the incumbent's ethics and support for issues including federal health care reform.

You can read the entire article at this link.

I still remain somewhat skeptical that the "oust the incumbent" thingy is still going to play out come this November, but things like this do afford me at least some glimmer of hope, which is at least somewhat better than the despair I have been feeling for my country for the last 16 months or so.

Of course. ousting the incumbents who voted for TARP, Porkulus and CommieCare won't be worth a damn if those who replace them are unwilling to make the difficult choices we all know are necessary if we are to avoid going the way of Greece.

Best Comrade Chairman Bumper Sticker I have Seen To Date

2010-05-09T21:53:00.003-04:00

(h/t: My friends Eowyn and May at Fellowship of the Minds)

Students Sent Home for Wearing American Flag Themed Clothing

2010-05-06T18:01:00.005-04:00

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/video.

If I were the parent of one of these kids, I would be suing the school district into bankruptcy over this outrage.

Great Pic!

2010-04-29T02:02:00.004-04:00

(Click on image to enlarge)

(h/t: My friend Eowyn at Fellowship of the Minds)

Why is America in such Seriously Deep Doo-Doo?

2010-04-19T10:58:00.004-04:00

Because we allow morons like this to vote in our elections:

Perhaps this blissfully ignorant Obamabot should have spent his time in government school actually learning how to read.

(h/t: Boortz.com)

The RNC Just Doesn't Get It

2010-04-13T07:53:00.012-04:00

I am not currently a member of the Republican Party. I do not donate to the party, or its candidates. In fact, I left the party back in the late 1990s, as their leftward lurch into areas once owned by the dems was more than I could stomach as a conservative.

In 2000, I voted for Harry Browne, the Libertarian Party candidate, as I knew that George W. Bush, while a decent human being, was a product of the anti-Reagan movement of the country-club set of the party that began even before Reagan had left office.

Translation: George W. Bush was no conservative.

My fears came to fruition when Mr. Bush, along with his own party in control of congress, went on to nearly double the size and scope of the federal government during his tenure.

I ended up voting for Mr. Bush in 2004, but I didn't make my mind up fully until I was in the voting booth with a ballot right in front of me. We were, after all, at war, and as much as I agreed with Mr. Badnarik on so many crucial issues that faced us, coming from a large military family, I just couldn't stomach the idea of John Kerry as Commander in Chief.

I once again voted for the republican candidate in 2008, but the reasons for that should be obvious. McCain has his flaws, in fact, a suitcase full of them, but one thing is for certain, unlike his somewhat mysterious opponent, he was no communist.

I held my nose tightly, pictured Sarah Palin in my mind, and pressed the touch screen for McCain.

I had thought that the Republican National Committee would certainly get its act together once the hideous disaster I knew Obama was going to be became blatantly obvious even to the thick heads of the tone-deaf republican "leadership."

Apparently I was a little naive in my assumption. Okay, maybe a lot naive, but one uncomfortable fact remains:

The only thing standing between the Obama regime and the irreparable demise of America as we knew* it is the Republican Party.

Yes, that is scary as hell, I know, but there is no other viable political organization in place that can stop Obama cold, in time, and even begin to reverse the hideous damage this fraud of a POTUS is rapidly carrying out on this nation.

As you all know, the RNC just refused to oust Michael Steele as the party's chairman. I have a sick feeling inside that was a hideous mistake.

Via nymag.com (emphasis mine):

This week, Steele did what any sufficiently desperate captain does in such a parlous situation: summarily chuck his first mate overboard. The victim in this case was Steele’s chief of staff, Ken McKay, who reportedly learned that he’d become chum when his wife saw the news on cable. But the ouster of McKay and his replacement with an Ur–Steele loyalist did little to quiet the waters. Instead, the GOP consultant and former Steele adviser Alex Castellanos went on CNN and became the first big-name Republican to call for Steele to quit. “We still have seven months to pull our act together,” Castellanos said. “I think a change at this moment would be a good thing.”

[...]

Yet even if Steele does survive, the RNC may not, at least not in anything like the form it has traditionally taken or with the power it has traditionally wielded. In the wake of McCain-Feingold and more recently the landmark Citizens United Supreme Court decision on campaign spending, both national parties were already in the process of seeing their roles weakened dramatically and taken over by private interests. That trend is secular and has nothing to do with Steele. But his gaffes, mismanagement, and all-purpose absurdity may very well exacerbate the trend within the GOP—in the process presenting a short-term opportunity for Democrats to do better in 2010 than the political class expects.

You will find the rest of the piece here.

I hate to tell you, Mr. Castellanos, but you and your party have right now to get your act together, not seven months.

Should angry conservatives bolt in a misguided effort to form a third party at this stage, it will all but ensure the communist left will be seating a permanent, defeat-proof socialist congress come January.

Should that happen, it will be all over for America.

I would like to see a much greater sense of urgency on the part of the party leadership, and I would like to see it right now, not four months hence, and certainly not seven. They seem, however, to be stuck in "business as usual" mode, and that does not bode well for the future of this republic.

I firmly believe that the fate of America, as it was founded, will be decided this coming November, not in November of 2012. We cannot afford for the republicans to screw this up. Not even a little bit.

If the leadership of the Republican Party doesn't "get it," then perhaps it is time to oust that leadership in favor of one that fully appreciates the precarious state this nation now finds itself in - while there is still time to possibly reverse course.

Should the communist left maintain its grip on power, and Barack Hussein Obama is allowed to continue his destructive policies unmolested for another thirty-one months, the America we all were born into is finished.

There will be no retrieving it in November of 2012.

*That is not a typo. This country was fundamentally changed the instant Obama signed CommieCare into law. There is still time to change it back, but that time is growing perilously short.

Obama Bows to a Commie

2010-04-13T07:26:00.004-04:00

One commie to another.

You will find more photos here.

(h/t: Drudge)

Tea Party Crashers

2010-04-12T13:17:00.009-04:00

(See update at bottom)

Well, you just knew it had to happen. A bunch of stinking, freedom-hating, communist supporters of the Comrade Chairman have put up a website dedicated to the 'destruction' of the Tea Party movement.

Apparently, their plan is to infiltrate Tea Party events and do anything they can to try and make those attending look bad in the eyes of the American people.

What is truly funny is these Obama boot-licking commie goobers claim to have the support of a lot of republicans and independents.

Right.

Just how many repubs and independents do you know who support Obama's turning this nation toward communism?

Yeah, me, neither.

Here is a direct link to their comments page. Have fun.

As one who is involved heavily in the Tea Party movement, I can tell you first hand these "crashers" do not know what they are talking about. I have met a large number of Tea Party goers and supporters, and they are about as middle of the road as you can possibly get - a very good cross-section of our society, who have become alarmed at the crushing debt we are now saddling on future generations, our seemingly out-of-control federal government, and the economy and job-killing taxes on the horizon.

I have yet to meet even one that matches, or even comes close to matching, what these "crashers" are trying to portray us as.

I know many of you will be attending Tea Party and other similar events on or around April 15th.

Keep you eyes peeled for these communist saboteurs.

Update: Michelle Malkin has much more on who these commies are, as well as some advice on how to deal with them.

Phil Mickelson Closets Third Green Jacket

2010-04-12T10:16:00.008-04:00

With apologies to the three other "major" golfing events of the year, nothing quite matches up to the prestige and excitement of a Thursday through Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club during what I believe is the most prestigious golf tournament on Earth. Period.

The Masters is special. It just is. Unique among the major tournaments, it is played on the same course every year, which has to be the best maintained facility of its kind you will ever see. For some reason, the grass is just a little greener, the sand in the bunkers just a little whiter, and even the sky seems a tad bluer at Augusta National, a hallowed place that most of us mere mortals will never even set foot on, much less play.

Okay, maybe I am a little biased, as I do live in Georgia, but Masters week, second only to Christmas, is my favorite time of the year. The tournament itself is always fun and interesting to watch, no matter the outcome, and far more often than not extremely exciting, and at times, breathtakingly so. This year was no different. In fact, it was the best in my memory.

Normally, I like this tournament to come down to the last putt on the 18th hole, or better yet a playoff, such as there was last year, but even though Phil Mickelson won it with a comfortable 3 shot lead over the rest of the field, this was still the best Masters tournament I have ever witnessed.

Mickelson made his move on Saturday, which is traditionally referred to as "moving day," when he went on a remarkable eagle run on the 13th and 14th holes, and came within about a foot or so of getting yet a third on the 15th. He finished out the third round with a very respectable 67 for the day.

He started off on Sunday playing somewhat flatly, as he neither helped nor hurt himself until reaching the 6th hole and finally scoring a birdie. He picked up another birdie at the 12th, then drove his subsequent tee shot into the woods to the right of the fairway.

In what has to be one of the gutsiest shots I have seen at Augusta, he went right for the pin with his second shot, which made the green and left him with the opportunity for his second eagle in two days on the same hole.

He missed the eagle putt and walked off the 13th green with a 'mere' birdie, but I was pretty sure by that point the green jacket was his to lose. He went on to birdie 15 and 18 for a bogey-free round of 67, which tied his scores on both Thursday and Saturday, and putting him three shots ahead of Lee Westwood, who had started the day as the leader.

Fifty year-old Fred Couples, one of my all time favorite players, and who had inspired us middle-aged guys by firing a first round 66, found himself in contention on Sunday as well, but began to fade late in the round. I hated to see it happen, as he would have been the oldest player to ever win a major. Fred finished all alone in 6th place. Not too shabby.

Tom Watson, also one of my favorites who I had grown up watching, raised a lot of eyebrows by posting a 67 on Thursday, but was unable to break 70 for the next three rounds, but still walked off the 18th green on Sunday at -1 for the tournament. Not bad for a man of sixty. Not bad at all.

There were a lot of other great moments, as well, too numerous to mention here, but I will long remember this as the best and most exciting Masters I have ever seen - until one comes along that is even better.

Sure, I'll watch the other three majors, along with a lot of regular events this year, but it just won't be quite the same. Something will be missing - whatever it is that makes a Masters special, be it the action, the course, the mystery, or event he intrigue of that wonderful, almost mystical place known as Augusta National.

And like most other Masters fanatics, I'll be not-so-patiently counting down the days until April 6th, 2011, when they gather to play it all over again.

Photo credit: telegraph.co.uk

John Voight's Letter to Comrade Chairman Obama and the American People

2010-04-12T09:59:00.003-04:00

In one year, the American people are witnessing the greatest lie that is cleverly orchestrated by President Obama and his whole administration. The lie is a potent aggression that feeds the needs of people who either have not educated themselves enough to understand the assault upon us all or the very poor and needy who live to be taken care of.

President Obama feeds these people poison, giving them the idea that they are entitled to take from the wealthier who have lived and worked in a democracy that understands that capitalism is the only truth that keeps a nation healthy and fed. Now the lie goes very deep and President Obama has been cleverly trained in the Alinsky method and it would be very important that every American knows what that method is.

It is a socialistic, Marxist teaching and with it, little by little, he rapes this nation, taking down our defenses, making new language for the Islamic extremists. The world looked up to us as a symbol of hope and prosperity now wonders what will become of the entire world if America is losing its power.

The American people who understand exactly what is taking place have come together in the thousands, vowing to try to stay together as a unit of love and freedom for all men and women, from all walks of life, shivering to think that this once great nation will be a third world country.

This will be the first president to ever weaken the United States of America. President Obama uses his aggression and arrogance for his own agenda, against the will of the American people when he should be using his will and aggression against our enemies.

Every loving American for peace and truth and the security of our nation must come out and join the Tea Parties in their states. The opposition will continue their tactics; they will lie and plant their own bullies amongst us. Everyone must pay close attention to who stands next to them. We can weed out the liars and agitators.

Let us all stay in Gods light. Let no man put asunder. We can and we will prevail. God bless us all!

~Jon Voight, April 10th, 2010

Bart "Benedict Arnold" Stupak To Retire

2010-04-09T13:28:00.007-04:00

The man who's stupidity and treachery helped the Kenyan commie to end freedom as we once knew it in America, has decided to retire rather than seek reelection.

Via Politico:

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), who had a central role in the health reform fight as the leader of anti-abortion Democrats, plans to announce Friday that he will not run for reelection, a Democratic official said. Without Stupak on the ballot, the seat becomes an immediate pickup opportunity for Republicans.

"Now with health care done, he’s retiring," a friend said. "He has thought about retiring for the last three cycles, but was always talked into staying: to elect John Kerry to help end the war, to elect a Democratic majority to get health care done."

You will find the entire article at this link.

Too bad, really, as I was rather looking forward to (hopefully) watching this treasonous commie bastard's constituents vote his freedom and liberty destroying ass out come November.

Oh, well. There will be plenty more to watch having their heads handed to them.

Sometime in the distant future the historians of the day are going to start digging around, looking for the names of those responsible for the demise of that once great republic called America, which plunged the world into what may be referred to as the second Dark Age.

Two names they are going to come up with will be Barack Hussein Obama and Bart Stupak.

The 2010 Masters is (finally) Underway

2010-04-08T10:59:00.007-04:00

The first round of the major golf tournament of the year has begun just up the road from here in Augusta.

I have only been waiting anxiously for this moment for the last 361 days.

With the exception of Christmas, this is my favorite week of the year. Period.

For those of us who truly love and respect this wonderful game (even if we can't play it worth a damn), the next four days will be golf nirvana. It just doesn't get any better than this.

Like many millions of golf fans around the world, I will be spending the next four days glued to my monitor and the TV, as I don't want to miss a minute of it.

I don't have a favored player for this year's tournament as yet, and probably won't until Saturday, which is known at the Masters as moving day - the day the real tournament starts in earnest.

Whoever ultimately puts on that coveted green jacket this Sunday evening in Butler Cabin will have my eternal respect.

Stoopid Obama Supporters

2010-04-07T11:50:00.004-04:00

Via mcclatchydc.com (emphasis mine):

Questions reflecting confusion have flooded insurance companies, doctors' offices, human resources departments and business groups.
"They're saying, 'Where do we get the free Obama care, and how do I sign up for that?' " said Carrie McLean, a licensed agent for eHealthInsurance.com. The California-based company sells coverage from 185 health insurance carriers in 50 states.

McLean said the call center had been inundated by uninsured consumers who were hoping that the overhaul would translate into instant, affordable coverage. That widespread misconception may have originated in part from distorted rhetoric about the legislation bubbling up from the hyper-partisan debate about it in Washington and some media outlets, such as when opponents denounced it as socialism.

You can read the whole thing at this link.

Somehow, it doesn't surprise that the moochers, leaches and ticks who dwell among us are too stupid to understand that CommieCare doesn't actually "kick in" for another four years, even though it is going to kick our asses economically in terms of increased taxes, fees and penalties during the time leading up to it.

After all, these are the brain-dead idiots that voted this Kenyan commie into the White House in the first place, thinking they were going to be getting even more goodies from the taxpayers, like free heath care, and a lot of other things.

I have felt over the last several years, and particularly after the last election, that this country has very possibly become collectively too stupid to continue in the form of it's founding.

This is just further evidence supporting that view.

God help us.

Spot-On Political Cartoon

2010-04-06T15:15:00.004-04:00

(Clink on image to enlarge)

(h/t: My dear friend kangaroo)

Perfesser Barry Soetoro

2010-04-02T22:49:00.008-04:00

My friend Eowyn over at Fellowship of the Minds dropped this little gem of a post on her blog today, and I thought I would share it with you:

This is MAJOR news.
One of the accomplishments much trumpeted by Obamabots is that their man, the Punk, after he graduated from Harvard Law School was a “professor” at Chicago University Law School. Finally, a leading faculty member at Chicago Law has come forth with the truth on Obama’s teaching, including:

How Obama got a job teaching law: It was a political favor. The law school actually had turned down his application to teach there.
What his academic title was: Obama was a “lecturer,” never a “professor,” not even an “adjunct” professor. The distinctions between/among these academic titles are important. A lecturer is someone who is hired on a year-by-year basis, without going through rigorous screening or possessing sterling academic credentials.
How other faculty members regarded him: They thought him lazy and unqualified.
What he taught at the law school: Although he was hired to teach Constitutional Law, Obama instead taught Machiavellian power politics à la Saul Alinsky, the Marxist ideologue who dedicated his book on community organizing, Rules for Radicals, to the fallen evil angel Lucifer.

I hope this revelation of Obama’s Chicago Law School “teaching” will be the first of more truth-tellings by those who had known the Punk.

You will find the rest at this link.

I think we are beginning to get a much clearer picture of who, not to mention what, Barack Hussein Obama actually is.

We are also gaining a much better understanding of why this supposedly highly-educated, "eloquent" man requires the aid of a teleprompter to string even two coherent sentences together.

We are also beginning to see why he has shelled out nearly $2 million to keep large parts of his past hidden from public scrutiny.

Of course, this was all out there in plain sight for people to see way back when this mysterious protege of the America-hating George Soros first announced his candidacy for POTUS. It's just too bad that 65 million of our fellow Americans couldn't turn off American Idol and put down their stupid People Magazines long enough to take notice.

Elections, after all, have consequences, and the one that took place in November of 2008 may have reverberations that last well beyond our lifetimes.

Speaking purely for myself, I now see the elevation of Barack Hussein Obama to the presidency as surpassing Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, gun control, and government "education" as the most colossal scam ever perpetrated on the American people.

I really want to believe that America has not become too stoopid to survive as it was founded, but I am truly beginning to wonder whether or not it has.

God help us.

Why November Matters

2010-04-02T21:00:00.002-04:00

How do goober-cheeses like this idiot get elected to congress in the first place?

Is RedState Destined to be the next Little Green Footballs?

2010-03-31T14:59:00.010-04:00

I attempted to log in to my RedState account the other night only to discover that it had been deleted.

I did a cursory search of the site to see if I could discover why, but didn't find anything. Then again, I only spent about a minute and a half looking for it, anyway.

Even though I was an avid reader of the site, I was an infrequent commenter, and my recollection of my last post there was that I was in a somewhat spirited disagreement with one of the members on some issue or other. I don't recall using profanity, or committing any other violations of the terms of service in force there.

Apparently, someone there with the hook felt otherwise.

As those of you who are regular readers of RedState know, Erick Erickson decided a while back to ban "truthers" and "birthers" from the pages of his site. I am neither, though I do question Obama spending $2 million to hide much of his past.

Fine. RedState is a private site started by Mr. Erickson, and he has the right to ban anyone he wishes for any reason he chooses, or for no reason at all.

My problem with it is that when you become so heavy-handed with the "it's my way or the highway" approach that you start banning conservatives from your "conservative" site with whom you disagree, you begin to move toward Charles Johnson territory, and your credibility will eventually suffer. After all, Little Green Footballs is now a mere shadow of its former self.

I certainly hope RedState isn't heading in that direction, but I have to wonder if Mr. Erickson's having recently landed a TV gig at the Communist News Network doesn't have something to do with all this.

Anyhow, it doesn't much matter to me, as I will no-longer be reading RedState, which I had been doing since the site first began.

That also means I will no-longer be posting links to RedState articles on any of the other blogs I avidly participate in, such as HotAir, NewsBusters, and many others.

I don't put up with or promote speech fascism on the part of liberals, and that goes double when it comes to so-called conservatives.

FBI Raids in Three States

2010-03-29T01:24:00.007-04:00

Via Foxnews.com:

ADRIAN, Michigan -- The FBI said Sunday that agents conducted weekend raids in three states and arrested at least three people, and a militia leader in Michigan said the target of at least one raid was a Christian militia group.
The raids took place in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, the FBI said. Federal warrants were sealed, but a federal law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity said some of those arrested face gun charges and officials are pursuing other suspects. Some of the suspects were expected in court Monday.

FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold confirmed the FBI had been working in two southeast Michigan counties near the Ohio state line. FBI spokesman Scott Wilson in Ohio said agents arrested two people Saturday after raids in two Ohio towns.

A third arrest made in northeast Illinois on Sunday stemmed from a raid Saturday just over the border in northwest Indiana, both part of an ongoing investigation led by the FBI in Michigan, according to a statement from agents in Illinois.

It wasn't clear what prompted the raids, but Michael Lackomar, a spokesman for the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia, said one of his team leaders got a frantic phone call Saturday evening from members of Hutaree, a Christian militia group. They said their property in southwest Michigan was being raided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to Lackomar.

You will find the rest of the story at this link.

Detnews.com has more on this here.

My friend Eowyn at Fellowship of the Minds has still more here.

I don't know what to make of this as yet, as there isn't much information available. More will probably be coming out tomorrow after those who were arrested make their court appearances.

This could be a legitimate law enforcement operation by the feds, or something else.

One thing is certain: I am going to be very interested in seeing exactly what laws these people will be alleged to have violated.

I am quite sure I will not be alone in that.

(h/t: Everybody who emailed this story to me)

Bibi Dissed by the Comrade Chairman

2010-03-26T16:21:00.004-04:00

This is disgusting beyond words.

Via the timesonline.co.uk:

For a head of government to visit the White House and not pose for photographers is rare. For a key ally to be left to his own devices while the President withdraws to have dinner in private was, until this week, unheard of. Yet that is how Binyamin Netanyahu was treated by President Obama on Tuesday night, according to Israeli reports on a trip viewed in Jerusalem as a humiliation.
After failing to extract a written promise of concessions on settlements, Mr Obama walked out of his meeting with Mr Netanyahu but invited him to stay at the White House, consult with advisers and “let me know if there is anything new”, a US congressman, who spoke to the Prime Minister, said.

“It was awful,” the congressman said. One Israeli newspaper called the meeting “a hazing in stages”, poisoned by such mistrust that the Israeli delegation eventually left rather than risk being eavesdropped on a White House telephone line. Another said that the Prime Minister had received “the treatment reserved for the President of Equatorial Guinea”.

You will find the entire article at this link.

This is a new low even for the Comrade Chairman. For some reason, the former community agitator feels compelled to treat our traditional allies in a horrendous manner at every opportunity, such as he did the British shortly after he came to power.

I do not always agree what the Israelis do, but they are the only democracy in the region, and one of our staunchest allies on the planet.

Something tells me that if that Iranian Hitler Akhmedinadinnerjacket was to pay a visit to the White House, he would have been given the red carpet treatment for the duration.

The Comrade Chairman owes Mr. Netanyahu, and the Israeli people, an engraved apology.

I won't hold my breath waiting for it, as that would require class beyond anything this hideous fraud of a POTUS possesses.

(h/t: Drudge)

Castro Praises ObamaCare

2010-03-26T15:45:00.005-04:00

Never mind that the old commie bastard had to fly a doctor in from Spain to be treated for his own illness given that Cuban "health care" is a myth.

Via Yahoo Finance:

Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro on Thursday declared passage of American health care reform "a miracle" and a major victory for Obama's presidency, but couldn't help chide the United States for taking so long to enact what communist Cuba achieved decades ago.
"We consider health reform to have been an important battle and a success of his (Obama's) government," Castro wrote in an essay published in state media, adding that it would strengthen the president's hand against lobbyists and "mercenaries."

You can read the entire article here.

I'm guessing once CommieCare is in full swing here in Comrade Chairman Obama's Amerika, it will take about eight to ten years for our health care system to "progress" to the same lofty heights as that wonderful "free" system those lucky Cuban's currently enjoy.

(h/t: Drudge)

Self Explanatory

2010-03-26T02:02:00.003-04:00

(h/t my friend Eowyn via Logistics Monster)