Is it just me?

Or is the internet really boring today?

In Conclusion

Well, some people * thought I was serious down there. I was just having a tad bit of fun about Twitter depressing me. I mean, sure the whole "social networking" thing didn't really work out so great, but perhaps my expectations were to high? So what if I didn't make a single connection ... I didn't meet anyone or find anyone I already knew on Twitter. Perhaps I should have stalked a few more total strangers? I guess I'll never know what could have been.




*my mother

My Twitter Experiment/ Alternate Title: The Day Twitter made me realize what a loser I am

I have only the foggiest notion of what Twitter is. I've seen the CNN guy doing it, and I found it irritating exercise which doesn't belong on a news show. Even if it's CNN we're talking about. It's some social networking thing, but isn't that what Facebook is supposed to be?

But, given that my IRL social networking skills are teh suxxor, I may as well work on my pretend internet social networking skillz, right? Yesterday, Michele had a big, long post about Twitter, and I was torn between feeling that I've really missed out on the Next Big Thing™ or that all these people really spent WAY too much time on AlGore's internet.

So ... today, I'm gonna check out Twitter and report back. WISH ME LUCK!

Update 1:

So, I'm signed up. And, apparently I'm sending out messages that are being read by ... only me. Shit, this fake social networking stuff doesn't seem much different from IRL stuff ...

Update 2:

I see the error in my plan. From the Twitter FAQ:

Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

I'm supposed to already have those friends and co-workers. I feel like I've been lied to.

Update 3:

Ok, I went over to Michele's place and somehow now I'm following her. Is it just me, or doest that have that creepy stalking vibe? To be honest I have no idea what this following entails or how to do it.

Update 4:

Ok, this Twitter thing is turning out to be a big mistake. I'm realizing and contemplating things one shouldn't have to do on their 41st birthday. Not only have I no friends or coworkers, I can't even get my family to read my blog, let alone "follow me" on Twitter.

It's my birthday, so it should be OK for me to start drinking at ... 9:07 am, right?

Update 5:

At this point, I'd have to give Twitter two thumbs down. It's left me confused, unfulfilled, and depressed. It would appear that if you have a great ACTUAL social life, you'll do gangbusters on Twitter. So ... what do you need it for? Those of us losers, stuck in the house with their kids with absolutely no social life? Twitter is a cold, harsh reminder of just how pathetic you are.

THANKS TWITTER!

Now Playing

Finally, a Michael Moore movie I want to see! It opens tomorrow in Michigan.

Check out Maggie's blog

She's got cupcake porn

View from my window

TV sucks

AoS has a discussion regarding the great tv theme songs. It doesn't get any better than this:



I want need my disks back! Greatest. Show. Eva.

I did this last year and it did me NO GOOD

But, you know ... hope spring eternal. To family members who don't know what to get me for my b-day or Christmas ... I would LOVE any of the following albums.

"R" by QOTSA - too late, I already downloaded it.
"The Downward Spiral" or "Year Zero" by NIN
"Master of Puppets" - Metallica
a gift of music from iTunes (they've got a complete The Smiths collection that I would love for the rock bottom price of $24.99

You Only Have Yourselves To Blame

Most of you have left me to entertain myself, so this is what you reap. Christmas songs. This is not only one of my favorite, but it also serves a double purpose. We can be "Thankful" that most of us live in the US with American dentistry. YEA for fluoride !



You guys think I can come up with a song a day from now until Christmas?

YES WE CAN! Hope and Change right here on this blog.

PS- PCachu posted a Christmas music recommendation in comments. Pour some nog and enjoy!

Annual Christmas Music Bleg

I heart the Christmas music. We did this last year, so try to be new and fresh. Unlike this blog.

So far, the only thing that has piqued my interest is Yo-Yo Ma's Songs of Joy & Peace." and he he loses MAJOR points for that horrible title. He does "The Wexford Carol" With Allison Krause which is all sorts of awesomeness.

So ... find something good for me and put it in the comments.

Or, go back to your Thanksgiving preparations and ignore me, bitches. I see how you guys are.

More fun

I've posted a little thingy over there ---->

It's my current reading list. Descending order, so I'm reading the top one now, and the ones below I've already finished. I added two previous books just to kind of get it rolling, ifyouknowwhatImeanandIthinkthatyoudo.

Feel free to drop in a comment about what you're reading, what you want to read, what you've intended to read for years and haven't been able to get through.

And, then go read Michele's slam of Twilight give her a big raspberry.

I ♥ Twilight like a teenage girl.

Charlie Rangel, a primer

Tax cheat or stupid?

1. Used a rent-stabilized NY apartment as an office.
2. Failed to report rental income ($75,000) of villa he owned in the Dominican Republic. Owed $9,500 in taxes.
3. Took "homestead" tax break on Washington DC house for years, while simultaneously living in multiple rent-stabilized apartment in NY, breaking a variety of laws in both locations.

Now Charlie, as you may know, is Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Which, ironically, is in charge of writing tax legislation and bills affecting Social Security, Medicare, and other entitlement programs.

Fox. Hen House.

Lookie!

At my kewel new blogroll! I'm going to move some more links over, but not all. Some links on that old list aren't even active anymore.

Also, blogrolling has been fubar for a long time and I've been unable to add or edit for a least two months.

As Seen on Other Sites

This image has been making it's way around the intertubes, but I really wanted it here where I could love and nurture it.


It's one of the ballots Al Franken is questioning. I mean, if only we could figure out the voter's intent! I suppose some mysteries are never meant to be solved.We should just put this ballot in Franken's pile and call it a day. I mean, after all, Franken voters are less educated and thus more likely to fill in those bubbles wrong. GOD KNOWS it takes a college education to fill in circles.

h/t:Hot Air

A day late

I missed the anniversary of the Jim Jones massacre. It's been twenty years since the atheist, marxist Jones, who dreamed of creating a socialist heaven-on-earth, convinced his followers to drink the Kool-Aid.

How did he do it? He was dynamic. He could draw a crowd. You know what else? The media gave him a free pass.

Jones wasn't some backwater preacher existing beyond the fringe and knowledge of those in power. He met with Rosalyn Carter and Walter Mondale and Jerry Brown. He was awarded the local Martin Luther King, Jr. humanitarian award. A few journalists try to uncover and reveal him for what he was, and those stories were squashed.

But all this is too uncomfrable to think about. Hows-about we just pretend that the Jim Jones Massacre was the result of a Christian zealot? Yess ... that feels much better ...

H/t:dicentra

Ayman al-Zawahri on Obama

Al-Qaida calls Obama a house negro.

I thought the world was going to love us? I'm gonna go hug my unicorn.

The Hope and Change of the Obama Cabinet

Truth be told, I'm beginning to thing that "change" doesn't mean what we thought it would mean. First we've got the name Hllary Clinton floated around as AG. Then we find Obama is hiring lobbyist left and right as part of his transistion team.

But, Obama's choice for White House Counsel certainly is a change. Who's familiar with the name Gregory Craig? Well, he defended Clinton during the impeachment, but he's got more experience than that:

Elian Gonzalez’s father - Craig represented the father who demanded the return of his son after his estranged wife died trying to take Elian to freedom. Most people saw this as a thinly-veiled publicity stunt from Fidel Castro, attempting to embarrass the US. The dispute got resolved when Janet Reno ordered an armed assault on the house where Elian’s family in the US provided him a home.

John Hinckley, Jr - Craig presented and won the insanity defense that allows Ronald Reagan’s would-be assassin to spend weekends with his family now.

Kofi Annan - The former Secretary-General of the UN hired Craig to defend his interests in the Volcker Commission probe of the Oil-for-Food scandal, which put billions of dollars into Saddam Hussein’s pockets while providing cash for Annan’s son, his deputies, and some allege Annan himself.

Pedro Gonzalez Pinzon - A Panamanian legislator wanted for murdering an American soldier in 1992. The Dallas Morning News demanded that Obama force Craig to drop the case during the campaign, but no report of whether he did is easily available.

Now, I don't think anyone can deny that having such a defender of assassins, scandals, and Castro as White House counsel is some CHANGE you can dig your teeth into.

heh

DNC plan for fiscal responsibilty - T-shirts!

The DNC raised $100 million dollars on top of the $600+ million raised by Obama. The latter was a record-breaking number, and the DNC’s wasn’t too bad, either. Instead of simply spending what they raised, though, Howard Dean took out massive loans that left the Democrats in the red by $15 million.

In government, we call that deficit spending, something Democrats decried during the 2006 elections. And who gets to pay for all the overspending and fiscal mismanagement? The contributors who already coughed up record amounts of money for Hope and Change, that’s who. And the new administration will hold the Hope and Change hostage until it gets all of the loose change possible first, Plouffe tells us.

Can we wear those shirts to our mandatory volunteer service? You know, like uniforms?

While I'm at the dentist this morning ...

You can enjoy this loverly Tool Video:

The candidate who just keeps asking for your money

The election may be over, but Obama and the DNC still want your money.

h/t: Hot Air

Sarah Palin is NO LONGER RUNNING FOR OFFICE

My new sub-header is my feable attempt to pacify my disgust with radio talk-show asshole Mitch Albom. Some may be familiar with his books or perhaps with his career as a sports writer. But, here in Detroit, we have the burden of being at the receiving end of his radio show. He started out with a lot of sports talk and local issues. But, through the years, his ego has grown and now he drons on (and ON) about national politics. He appears to be mortally wounded that he failed in his attempt for national syndication, and daily attacks (like a crying bitch) popular syndicated radio shows that are heard daily on the same very station from which he broadcasts, attacking listeners who turned in earlier to listen to the other radio personalities.

Anyway, yesterday he opened his show with a fifteen minute attack on Sarah Palin. I listened only to see HOW long he'd go on about it, then I quickly turned it off and washed my brain with some Metallica. At that point, though, I vowed that somehow I would get my personal message to Mitch. I need to to tell Mitch that's he's a flaming asshole. I don't know if I CAN make my dream into reality, but a gal can try.

Not everyone is of the opinion that Sarah Palin is teh stupid.

Liberal Democrats are going to wake up from their sadomasochistic, anti-Palin orgy with a very big hangover. The evil genie released during this sorry episode will not so easily go back into its bottle. A shocking level of irrational emotionalism and at times infantile rage was exposed at the heart of current Democratic ideology -- contradicting Democratic core principles of compassion, tolerance and independent thought. One would have to look back to the Eisenhower 1950s for parallels to this grotesque lock-step parade of bourgeois provincialism, shallow groupthink and blind prejudice.

I like Sarah Palin, and I've heartily enjoyed her arrival on the national stage. As a career classroom teacher, I can see how smart she is -- and quite frankly, I think the people who don't see it are the stupid ones, wrapped in the fuzzy mummy-gauze of their own worn-out partisan dogma. So she doesn't speak the King's English -- big whoop! There is a powerful clarity of consciousness in her eyes. She uses language with the jumps, breaks and rippling momentum of a be-bop saxophonist. I stand on what I said (as a staunch pro-choice advocate) in my last two columns -- that Palin as a pro-life wife, mother and ambitious professional represents the next big shift in feminism. Pro-life women will save feminism by expanding it, particularly into the more traditional Third World.

As for the Democrats who sneered and howled that Palin was unprepared to be a vice-presidential nominee -- what navel-gazing hypocrisy! What protests were raised in the party or mainstream media when John Edwards, with vastly less political experience than Palin, got John Kerry's nod for veep four years ago? And Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, for whom I lobbied to be Obama's pick and who was on everyone's short list for months, has a record indistinguishable from Palin's. Whatever knowledge deficit Palin has about the federal bureaucracy or international affairs (outside the normal purview of governors) will hopefully be remedied during the next eight years of the Obama presidencies.

People need to get a grip. Attacks on Palin aimed at her values or style or beliefs reveal the disdain you have for women with similar traits. And, there's a whole bunch of us. It belies your bullshit "let's all unite" message. You don't mean it.

'Cause if you did, you wouldn't still be attacking Palin.

Headache, tired ...

But, I had to make mention of Oceancat calling Bob a conservative. Heh.

Oceancat, I've decided you are completely humorless. Did you get your sense of humor removed? Donate it to those less fortunate? It's really rather sad.


And, despite Michele's non-review panning of the new Metallica album, I bought it anyway. I've only give it a first one-through, so I can change my mind, but so far I like it.

If I don't, I'm blaming Michele. I know, how fair does that seem? But, asked her to REALLY review it, or suggest something else. And she didn't.

Palin, NAFTA, and Africa

I know all those haters out here just LOVE the stuff coming out (unsourced) about Palin- but until you can put a name to the smears, I think you need to STFU about it.

NRO has a name. Steve Beigun:

He says there's no way she didn't know Africa was a continent, and whoever is saying she didn't must be distorting "a fumble of words." He talked to her about all manner of issues relating to Africa, from failed states to the Sudan. She was aware from the beginning of the conflict in Darfur, which is followed closely in evangelical churches, and was aware of Clinton's AIDS initiative. That basically makes it impossible that she thought all of Africa was a country.

On not knowing what countries are in NAFTA, Biegun was part of the conversation that led to that accusation and it convinces him "somebody is acting with a high degree of maliciousness." He was briefing Palin before a Univision interview, and talking to her about trade issues. He rolled through NAFTA, CAFTA, and the Colombia FTA. As he talked, people were coming in and out of the room, handing Palin things, etc. She was distracted from what Biegun was saying, and said, roughly, "Ok, who's in NAFTA, what's the deal with CAFTA, what's up the FTA?"—her way, Biegun says, of saying "rack them and stack them," begin again from the start. "Somebody is taking a conversation and twisting it maliciously," he says.

So, if any commenter is going to repeat those smears, I'm going to call you on it. You'd better have a name.

Last post

Glad to see Obama's presidency is healing the racial divide. This from Michelle Malkin:

My senior at an upscale Cobb County Georgia (Newt’s old district) high school came home today in tears. Every black student at this school, where race isn’t usually an indicator of whether or not the teens are friends…they all get along and are for the most part, almost all college bound… was wearing their Obama t-shirts today. Many of them said, “My president is BLACK.” Many had Obama’s head printed on cardboard and waved them through the halls taunting the white kids with, “McCain sucks” and “F– McCain.”
Anyone who’d previously professed support for McCain is being taunted with “racist.”

Fuck McCain! But, let's unite! Dear 52 ...

Change you Can Believe In

All you Obama voters? I think you should start signing your kids up FIRST for those 50 and 100 hours of mandatory volunteer service for students PER YEAR.

"Mandatory Volunteer Service?" Sound DOUBLEPLUSGOOD!

More 52 to 48 stuff

Heh.


Comments on that post have a wonderful answer to those who are requesting that we unite under the mantle of Obama's Hope and Change. We're not Ready To Make Nice.

I mean, did you think we'd just forget this:



I mean, is HE gonna send up a "from-52-to-48-with-love" note?

Oh Honestly

This is specifically what Treacher was talking about below. It's worse than I thought.

Don't click over if you've recently eaten lunch. Hypocrisy, thy name is democrats.

I sorta want to respond to this, and I sorta don't.

Mostly I take issue with:

The same crowd that vilified the left wingers for disowning their president, for threatening to move, for calling him a dictator, are doing the same exact thing now to Obama. The people who were in an uproar in 2004, calling the wingnuts on the left traitors for saying they would never support the president are claiming the same words as their own.

Hey, right wingers? You have become the people you hate. You have become everything you screamed at people for being in 2004. You are running around claiming that Obama cheated, lied and bought his way to the White House. Looking around the blogosphere and its comments I see the words slimy, corrupt, devil, Antichrist, communist, evil, Stalin, Lenin, Hitler. That the people who voted for Obama are ignorant, idiots, stupid, corrupt, racist, Jew haters, the enemy.

In two days? Two days and we've equaled the vitriol spewed for the last 7 years? While there are some unhinged people making unreasoned arguments against Obama, many others are making perfectly reasonable ones. Get back to me when there are assassination fantasy plays, and people cheering when Chavez calls President Obama the devil.

Jim Treacher, though really has a better response to arguments such as Michele's, which were stated in her PMJ article a few days ago:

There's nothing easier than telling the guy you just beat that he should forget the depths you plumbed to do so.

And I forgot to mention the whole deal with, y'know, the last 8 years of lefty rage? It's just become such a part of the scenery, you almost forget sometimes. Plus Obama's voter fraud and credit-card fraud and constant lies about his past and false accusations of racism and the fact that he's already making far-left appointments and he wants to shut down talk radio because he can't handle criticism and all that other silly stuff we all need to get past now because we're going to need to work extra hard to pay for our own oppression. Whoops, there I go again!

As I've said, if you expect me to give Obama half a chance, howz-about you don't preface that request by mentioning Bush's stupidity?

Beware, the stupid, it burns

h/t: Darleen, AGAIN from the Protein Wisdom pub.

Obama Zombies! Shoot 'em in the head ...

It's The Onion and it's really funny. Trust me. Clicky now

h/t Darleen

What media bias?

Offered with minimal comment:

On Friday, Politico's, Kenneth P. Vogel and Michael Calderone reported on the sky-high cost of covering the campaigns. Apparently media organizations have paid $9.6 million to the Obama campaign in travel expenses. (By contrast, they spent $4.4 million to travel with Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Pali

Why, do you think, the media spent more than twice as much covering Obama? In your answer, explain how this is NOT media bias.

If you've come here to gloat .../with updates

Well, then you've come to the wrong place. For a variety of reasons.

First, and foremost, I'm saving you from yourself. Any assholish comments made will magically disappear, because Baracky's Hope and Change™ for America doesn't need your classless comments polluting this day.

Second, and listen closely, McCain wasn't my man. Sure, he was NotObama, which was a good enough reason to vote for him, but overall he was a rather poor choice. He didn't really espouse the tenets of classical liberalism which I've come to love. And, if you need a definition of Classical Liberalism I'll find it for you.

A McCain presidency would have probably been bad news for republicans. He would have had NO support, and the derangement from the left would have continued. Possibly to epic proportions if Teh One had been defeated.

I'm going to say this only once, and it's only because the left is so unhinged that I have to type it at all, but I did NOT oppose Obama because he was black. Oceancat/Meya - your comments accusing me of racism will be deleted, so spare us both. I could go on and on about which views of his with which I disagree, but we'll have plenty of time for that later.

But, Obama ran as a moderate. So, I expect my taxes are going to go down as he promised, right? And he's going to be bipartisan, right? He's gonna reach across that isle. He's going to heal America. Oprah said there is no red and blue anymore, we're all purple. Well ...alllright. I'm HYPED! Plus, the whole world loves us now, so we've got that going for us. This is a day of victory for all of us!

I've been looking around what others have to say, and thought I'd share:

Lileks:

I’m off to the Mall to sell razor blades so people can scrape off their “Question Authority” bumper stickers. Just remember: Dissent is still the highest form of patriotism. Except now it will be practiced by the lowest form of people.
Seriously, though: congratulations to President-elect Obama. Right or wrong - and I hope for more of the former, obviously - he’s my President now, dammit, and I’m not going to spend four years treating him with the contempt the Kos side heaped on Chimpy McPretzelchoker. He could turn out to be a horrible President. He could turn out to be a great one. History pushes people in unexpected directions.
More to come, of course, but let’s not spoil the moment.

Byron York:

How many times did you hear that voters believed this was the most important presidential election of their lifetime, and therefore that turnout would be through the roof? Voters waiting in line for hours. Huge numbers of early and absentee ballots. Unprecedented get-out-the-vote operations. Well, as I add the totals on CNN's election website now, it looks like about 117.6 million votes have been counted so far — which is less, I believe, than in 2004. There are still votes left to be tallied, but I think it's safe to say that there wasn't a historic leap in turnout this time around. After all the hype, what was the reason for that? (H/T Seth Liebsohn)

John Derbyshire:

I'm sour about the GOP too. What did it all get us, those 8 years of pandering and spending? If GWB had turned his face against new entitlements, closed the borders, deported the illegals, held the line on calls to loosen mortgage-lending standards, starved the Department of Education, and declined those invitations to mosque functions, would the GOP be in any worse shape now?

What won this election was the packaging skills of David Axelrod, the swooning complicity of the media, the ruthless opportunism of Barack Obama, and the unprincipled thuggishness of his supporters.

What lost this election was the cloth-eared cluelessness of George W. Bush, the timid squeamishness of John McCain, and the deep lack of interest in conservative principles among Republican primary voters.

Sour? You bet I’m sour. Where was conservatism in this election? Where was restraint in government? Where was national sovereignty? Where was liberty? Where was self-support? And where are those things now? Where are they headed this next four years? Down the toilet, that’s where. Pah!

Lord news I've been in agreement with Derbyshire for a while, but he knocked that one out of the park.

Novak:

Obama won the Democratic primaries by getting to the left of Sen. Hillary Clinton and all the others on foreign policy. The most activist part of the Democratic party is its most passionate left wing. Winning their hearts, Obama then gradually moved toward the center—making his views on the war in Iraq barely distinguishable in practical fact from those of Senator McCain. In any case, the foreign-policy issues that dominated the primary season dropped speedily out of sight, as it began to become clear that violence was dropping very quickly in Iraq, and something like “normalcy” came ever closer. The press virtually stopped covering Iraq. (Their passion had been to humiliate Bush; and when things turned better, they seemed no longer interested.)

Does the victory of the Left in 2008 mean that President Obama will try to make the United States more like a Euro-socialist nation? All the signs he has given us of where his heart really lies suggest that he will try to do that, within some rather severe limits. In particular, he will surely try to rush through a program of U.S. government-run and -managed health care. But under President Clinton, Hillary Clinton came to grief trying to do that.

The United States is a large nation, with an extraordinarily diverse range of populations, regions, climates, and cultural habits. Imagine trying to run one single continental health-care system that embraces Germany and Portugal, Scandinavia and Greece, and Albania through Belgium. That image suggests how difficult it will be to run one single health-care system from Washington, from Maine and Florida out through Alaska and Arizona, and everything in between. The United States is more culturally unified than Europe. But it is far from uniformly so.

Besides, Americans do not much respect the government-run programs that are now in place. Rather than rely on the inefficient Post Office, for important matters Americans prefer to pay a little more for the reliability, good manners, and good spirit of private carriers such as FedEx and United Parcel Service. Service is so much better and more cheerful in the business sector than in the government sector.

It will be interesting to see whether or not the far left continues with it's drumbeat against Iraq if Obama merely continues along the same path established by Bush. Of course, I am prepared for Obama to take credit for any success that may be achieved there.

Saving the BEST for last, the master Den Beste comes out of hiding to comment:

The main reason this will be a "coming of age" moment is that now Obama and the Democrats have to put up or shut up. Obama got elected by making himself a blank slate, with vapid promises about "hope" and "change" -- but now he actually has to do something. Now he has to reveal his true agenda. And with the Democrats also having a majority in both chambers of Congress, now the Democrats really have to lead. And they're not going to do a very good job of it. It's going to be amusing to watch.

And the people who fell for the demagoguery will learn an invaluable lesson.

But, you HAVE HAVE HAVE to read the whole thing. And here's another link.

More Updates:

This is just plain creepy.

Working today

So, don't interpret my non-presence as some sort of avoidance. I'm working, then voting.

If you need a place to hang out, I'd recommend Ace's today, because he's got a ton of co-bloggers, and they're going to be all over the election.

If you want something less coverage aimed, I'd go hang at Protein Wisdom.

Did he, or didn't he?

$9000 "Chump Change" to someone making $250,000

So says Obama.

Someone making $250,000 owes $90,000 in taxes. Under Obama, that goes up to $97,500.

That is simply a phenomenal amount of money to pay in federal taxes alone.

After Election, Obama's gonna shift (even further) to the Left

Which, of course, we know would happen. Memo to voters: he's not going to cut your taxes, he's going to raise them. OR, he's going to be unable to carry out all those campaign promises. Obama says he's going to cut spending by streamlining government, but that goes against everything all the liberal activists want.

he Campaign for America's Future, a progressive Washington group founded by a former adviser to the Rev. Jesse Jackson's presidential bids, is organizing a conference for this month on creating a government-funded investment fund for public works projects. The Center for American Progress recently released a two-year, $100 billion plan for producing renewable energy, and its president, former Clinton administration Chief of Staff John Podesta, has been tapped to lead the Obama transition team.

Last month in Washington, an organization recently formed by Martin Luther King III, son of the slain civil-rights leader, attracted more than 100 leading activists on poverty and other social issues to a daylong conference. Mr. King demanded that the next president appoint a cabinet member dedicated to eradicating poverty. In a keynote address, Columbia University economist Jeffrey Sachs called for substantially higher tax collections to fund government investments in energy production, public works and eradicating poverty and other ills.

You know, I'm gonna try-out for that cabinet appointment dedicated to eradicating poverty. My plan? Simple:

Go to school, and STAY in school until you graduate.
Don't break the law.
Get a job.
Don't have a baby before you are 25, unless you are married and have a job.

How much do you think I'll get paid?

Obama: Under my plan electricity rates would skyrocket

Oh goody! Can't wait!

You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know — Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.

They — you — you can already see what the arguments will be during the general election. People will say, “Ah, Obama and Al Gore, these folks, they’re going to destroy the economy, this is going to cost us eight trillion dollars,” or whatever their number is. Um, if you can’t persuade the American people that yes, there is going to be some increase in electricity rates on the front end, but that over the long term, because of combinations of more efficient energy usage, changing lightbulbs and more efficient appliance, but also technology improving how we can produce clean energy, the economy would benefit.

And skyrocketing energy prices won't disproportionately effect the middle class or the poor, will it? Hope and Change.

Sunday Morning Newspaper Rant

I don't even know what I pay for that piece of garbage anymore. Before I go off to church to pray for our country, I must pass along this piece of utter nonsense. From Ron Dzwondkowski, Free Press editorial page editor.

Whatever happens in Tuesday's election, don't worry, be happy, get spiritual. A new age is dawning in America, to be marked by four "metamovements that separately and together are redefining the American Dream."
And these are according to pollster John Zogby, living with limits, embracing diversity, looking inward, and demanding authenticity.

Zogby's got a new book, and in it he predicts a future "of a more tolerant America living frugal lifestyles." Oh boy.

Today's young adults - growing up amid the Panic of '08 or however it will be known - will get used to living with less after decades marked by America's conspicuous consumption. The country, Zogy says, will by 2020 have "embraced the Zen of more minimal lifestyles" and will expect our leaders to talk straight; Hype, hokum and hooey, in politics, in advertising, wherever it appears will be punished.

See, our youth are simply better than us. Smarter. More wordly. And if you believe that ...

Honestly, I have so much to say about this article, I can't even begin. So I'll go to church and pray.

This Just In

Bush WON the 2000 election. From the New York Times:

A comprehensive review of the uncounted Florida ballots from last year's presidential election reveals that George W. Bush would have won even if the United States Supreme Court had allowed the statewide manual recount of the votes that the Florida Supreme Court had ordered to go forward.

Contrary to what many partisans of former Vice President Al Gore have charged, the United States Supreme Court did not award an election to Mr. Bush that otherwise would have been won by Mr. Gore. A close examination of the ballots found that Mr. Bush would have retained a slender margin over Mr. Gore if the Florida court's order to recount more than 43,000 ballots had not been reversed by the United States Supreme Court.

The only last straw you have to cling to is this :

The race was so close that it is possible to get different results simply by applying different hypothetical vote-counting methods to the thousands of uncounted ballots.

Maggie's panties aren't in a bunch. The 2000 election is the casus belli [ed. THANKS OCEANCAT, isn't she GREAt?] of BDS, and the only hope for a cure is to repeatedly force truth into the face of those afflicted.

Words of Wisdom from Barack

It's that fundamental belief — I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper — that makes this country work. Barack Obama, July 27, 2004

And by that, he means, he's going to make the government take care of his brother and sister. Because, Michelle and he are only making a couplea million a year, and fruit and arugula don't just grow on trees. Well, fruit does, but not arugula.

Who watched Teh Obama show last night?

I have to admit, I haven't really kept up with the new fall line-up, but I had NO idea we were going to have an Obama show. I missed it last night, I was too busy checking my toes for jam, but hopefully you guys can tell me what the plot line was...

Regardless, I'm a bit worried about the Obama show; both the AP and CBSare criticizing it. From the CBS link:

Without question, the Barack Obama infomercial served as a very slick and powerful recitation of the biggest promises he's made as a presidential candidate. But the very bigness of his ideas is the problem: he seems blind to the concept his numbers don't add up.

The AP story runs pretty much the same criticism.

Not amused

Some Obamabot stole my McCain sign, and I'm really pissed. I've noticed that McCain signs appear to be disappearing on the major road I live on.

I guess owning the media isn't enough. They need to "own" my lawn and my speech as well.

Fascist fuckers.

I'm standing over there with THAT guy.

The Hammer:

I stand athwart the rush of conservative ship-jumpers of every stripe -- neo (Ken Adelman), moderate (Colin Powell), genetic/ironic (Christopher Buckley) and socialist/atheist (Christopher Hitchens) -- yelling "Stop!" I shall have no part of this motley crew. I will go down with the McCain ship. I'd rather lose an election than lose my bearings.

Word.

Isn't this supposed to "bother" people

Via Protein Wisdom, Velociworld:

I am not a reactionary person by nature, but trust me when I say the first 100 days of a Barack Obama presidency will bring holy hell upon those who adhere to a classical liberal philosophy. This man is a radical of the first stripe, and he has left no stone unturned in his quest. He has not committed voter fraud in the good old fashioned way. He has a vast network of ACORN operatives stealing votes through fraudulent means by the hundreds of thousands. This man has not committed campaign finance fraud in the good old fashioned way, squirrelling away Chinese monies like Bill Clinton. This cocksucker actually disabled his credit card verification system to allow tens of millions of illegal dollars to flow into his coffers from any number of enemies of the state. The droid army of the legacy press is aware of this, of course, but who wants to be the whistleblower once this man assumes power? No one. No fucking body. Wouldn’t be prudent at this fucking juncture, as 41 might say.

Just take yourself out of your liberal mind-set for a moment, and imagine that this was being done by McCain. What would be your reaction, and what would be the reaction of the media?

Doesn't it frighten ANY of you that the media is totally in the tank for Obama? Remember way back in school, where we were told the media was supposed to be one of those checks and balances of the government? One of the fucking pillars of democracy? Do you honestly believe that once the O has ascended, the media will switch into scrutiny mode?

Oh, I can hear you wailing already - BUT FOX! BUT FOXNEWS. Fox news is ONE fucking channel. One need to simply turn it off, and virtually every other news source is speaking Obama's language. The Joe Biden gaffee wasn't even covered until the alternative media was howling it from the hills.

And talk radio is only listened to by a small fraction of the entire country. It is no match, it is no balance, to the enormity of the liberal forces.

TV: Does anyone watch it anymore?

Discuss.

The ONLY show that's on right now that I "watch" is "House", but when I turned it on the other night there were two chicks making out. At 8 pm. WTF is up with that?

Un-fucking believable.

From Aldo and Jeff over at Protein Wisdom, a story from Powerline. More Obama illegal donations. Does anyone care?

I understand the Palin-clothes story is so much more important but you'd think people could at least fake some interest.

And, FTR - Hillary Clinton's outfits ran over $6000 a piece.

Un-fucking believable.

Another Socialist Success Story

Venezuela can't keep the lights on. See, the issue conservatives have with socialism, is that the government REALLY sucks at running things. I know Baracky is super-duper intelligent, but he still won't be able to "do" socialism any better than anyone else.

So, when the grand experiment starts here, when Baracky starts taxing business and "rich" folks so he can pay for healthcare and green jobs and everything else he's promised, don't be surprised when things don't work out.

Don't be surprised when people start losing their jobs and companies move over seas. Don't be surprised when young folks can't find jobs.

Seemed Appropriate

QOTSA - The Sky is Falling

Pithy truth of the day

Truth/comment uttered (typed?) by Peter Jackson over at Protein Wisdom:

Businesses don’t pay taxes. They collect them.

Obama can stick that in his socialist pipe and smoke it.

Another racist attack!

As noted on other blogs - let's remember what the "Joe the Plumber" controversy is really about.

Obama wants to spread the wealth around.

Things that don't bug those who are gonna vote for Obama

Questionable campaign donations. Very questionable. Foreign donations which could add up to $63 million. Spokesmen lying about returned donations that exceeded the legal limit.

The Obama camp claims to have 2.5 million donors in all. But until now, they have kept secret the names of the overwhelming majority of these money-givers. According to a Newsmax analysis, the Obama campaign finance records contain just 370,448 unique names.

Even accounting for common names such as Robert Taylor or Michael Brown, which can signify multiple donors, Obama’s publicly known donor base is less than 20 percent of the total number of donors the campaign claims to have attracted. But the identity of the other 2 million donors is being kept secret.

As of the end of August, those secret donors have given an incredible $222.7 million to Obama, according to the FEC -- money whose origin remains unknown to anyone other than Obama’s finance team, who won’t take calls from the press.

While no exact figures are available, if the same percentage of potential foreign contributions found in the itemized contribution data is applied to the total $426.9 million the Obama camp says it has taken in from individuals, this could mean that Obama is financing his presidential campaign with anywhere from $13 million to a whopping $63 million from overseas credit cards or foreign currency purchases.

The sum of all unrounded contributions in the itemized FEC filings for the Obama campaigns comes to $6,437,066.07. That is the actual amount of money that appears to have been charged to foreign credit cards that the Obama campaign has disclosed.

Ayers.
Wright.
Most liberal senator.
Democratic supermajority.

H/T :The Pub

Memo to America

If you speak out against The One™, the media the Obama affiliated task force will ruin you. **

Current focus: Joe the Plumber.

**Shamelessly borrowed from a comment over at (cough)Policitco(cough).

A thousand-dollar lien? The MSM has no shame. This story has already hit Kos, Huffpo, Politico and friends. Go at it, guys! RUIN HIM!!!!

I had this horrible thought ...

While in the shower this morning. I'm imagining an Obama presidency. And, they're going ahead with prosecuting the Bush administration for war crimes.

And me? I'm going full moonbat, papier-mache-puppet-making, spittle-flecked crazy.

I wonder what the left will think if the right goes as insane as the left has been these last eight years.

I may get a t-shirt to answer those "Sarah Palin is a Cunt" ones. I'm thinking ... "Than I must be a Cunt too." Has a nice ring to it.

So ... Obama ...

How's that windfall profit tax dealo coming along? With oil below $80 a barrel, it appears you're gonna have trouble funding that $1000- a-household tax relief plan.

h/t: Hot Air

OMG, have you seen this?

It's long, but it is SO GOOD:



h/t: Baldilocks.

Here's his web site

Words of advice from across the pond

First, I'll note that this is my THIRD post this morning. I know i shouldn't crowd them in, because then no one reads the ones that get pushed below, but there is simply too much good stuff out there to not bring it up.

So, onto a great article in WSJ :

Sometimes it takes an outsider to help us gain perspective. Deep within the condemning speeches delivered by Mr. Sarkozy, both in New York and Toulon, are the grains of a new approach to capitalism that should give Americans reason to hope, not only for economic salvation but for a sense of redemption on a deeper level. France's president held out the possibility that all is not lost, that we can fix what is broken. "The financial crisis is not the crisis of capitalism," according to Mr. Sarkozy. "It is the crisis of a system that has distanced itself from the most fundamental values of capitalism, which betrayed the spirit of capitalism."

You gotta read the whole thing, of course. It's good stuff. On last quote:

Yet it was Mr. Sarkozy, speaking before Congress last November, who offered the most profound assessment of our nation's gift to the world. "What made America great was her ability to transform her own dream into hope for all mankind," he said. "America did not tell the millions of men and women who came from every country in the world and who -- with their hands, their intelligence and their heart -- built the greatest nation in the world: 'Come, and everything will be given to you.' She said: 'Come, and the only limits to what you'll be able to achieve will be your own courage and your own talent.'"

Courage and talent. Indeed.

Offered with minimal comment, IV

The blocked-out word is Cunt



click to embiggen

Better pictures here

How the Magic Man turns "Income Redistribution" into "Tax Relief"

What Obama calls tax relief (for 95% of working people) is actually no such things. Taxes go on as always (except the go up for top earners - you know, those folks who invest and create jobs for us?), but O! is going to pretend he is giving folks "tax cuts" when what he's really doing is doling out check to folks, many of whom didn't pay any taxes to begin with. The reductions are named "credits", whether or not you actually pay tax. Today, about 38% of us don't pay any income taxes. Under Obama, that rate is going to go up to 44%. From the WSJ:

The total annual expenditures on refundable "tax credits" would rise over the next 10 years by $647 billion to $1.054 trillion, according to the Tax Policy Center. This means that the tax-credit welfare state would soon cost four times actual cash welfare. By redefining such income payments as "tax credits," the Obama campaign also redefines them away as a tax share of GDP. Presto, the federal tax burden looks much smaller than it really is.

That 44% are gonna get checks from the government the other 56% of us.

Obama's Magic

Heh.

To kick off our show tonight, Mr. Obama will give 95% of American working families a tax cut, even though 40% of Americans today don't pay income taxes! How can our star enact such mathemagic? How can he "cut" zero? Abracadabra! It's called a "refundable tax credit." It involves the federal government taking money from those who do pay taxes, and writing checks to those who don't. Yes, yes, in the real world this is known as "welfare," but please try not to ruin the show.

Healthcare? A Right?

I just had the kids do a quick search of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and they were unable to find the "Right to Healthcare" anywhere. Perhaps it's in the new and improved Constitution?

Anyway, Bill Whittle hits one OUT OF THE FREAKING PARK:

But these new so-called “rights” are about the government — who the Founders saw as the enemy — giving us things: food, health care, education... And when we have a right to be given stuff that previously we had to work for, then there is no reason — none — to go and work for them. The goody bag has no bottom, except bankruptcy and ruin.

Does that ring a little familiar these days? Because isn’t the danger here that if you’re offered something for nothing… you’ll take it?

Only it’s not something for nothing. “Free” health-care costs us something precious, and no less precious for being invisible. Because there’s a word for someone who has their food, housing and care provided for them… for people who owe their existence to someone else.

And that word is “slaves.”

Of course, RACIST!!ELEVENTY!!!!11!!

There, I've saved Mai the trouble.

Why Obama's tax relief isn't any such thing

One of Obama's biggest campaign promises is that he is going to cut taxes for 95% of Americans. Laying aside the fact that almost 40% of the population doesn't even pay taxes, only a fool would believe this claim. His $1000 checks he's going to send to those who don't pay taxes (income redistribution) is a patent attempt to simply buy votes. With OUR money. But, let's get to the issue of how he's going to offset these tax cuts. Real Clear Politics:

Then we come to the Team Obama fantasy that the Obama plan would cut taxes for most Americans. Yes, Mr. Obama says he will cut rates for lower-income Americans, but will more than offset that by raising taxes on dividends, capital gains, higher incomes, corporations, estates, and payrolls. But most Americans own stock, either directly or through their IRA, 401k or union pensions. Dividend and capital gains taxes will take money from all those. Those Americans on Main Street who own a house or have other investments will be punished by a capital gains tax increase.

Businesses and corporations do not pay taxes; we do. Businesses don't have huge piles of money sitting in the closet that they simply turn over to government when taxes increase. For every dollar that you increase taxes on a business, they simply increase their prices by a dollar. Who then pays the tax? We do. We do, when the product that we bought last week for $20 suddenly costs $21.

So, anyone with the foresight to invest in their own future is going to be taxed. And, of course, anyone who buys stuff. Those who's taxes will be unchanged? I'm thinking the homeless are gonna make out pretty well under Obama's plan. They usually don't buy much and their investements are usually rather limited.

Another claim that has stuck in my craw is Obama's promise to cut government. Anyone know what the heck he is going to cut? I'm going to have to research that one, because a quick search comes up with nothing more than the standard "make government more efficient" pablum.

What the future holds, should Obama win

One of the most frightening aspects of an Obama presidency is the horrible thought that what we've witnessed during his campaign will continue once he takes office. Don't know what I'm talking about? That is EXACTLY the problem. Dan at the Pub explains.

I'm not yet ready to talk about it ...

While in Florida, we were shocked and saddened by an unspeakable tragedy. I only had time to snap this one picture of the event. At least their last moments appeared to be happy ones.

Buried in the bottom of the story

Newsweek

This summer, watchdog groups asked both campaigns to share more information about its small donors. The McCain campaign agreed; the Obama campaign did not. "They could've done themselves a service" by heeding the suggestions, said Massie Ritsch of the Center for Responsive Politics.

And why would it be important for the Obama campaign to be more transparent about it's small donors? Because it's raised $200 MILLION from small donors.

Donors like Good Will ($11,000)and Prodad ($17,130) who gave in amounts of $10 and $25 increments.

You know, I thought Obama was about change. He was going to bring transparency to government. He hasn't even brought it to his campaign. Any of you who believe things will be different if (God forbid) he is president are chumps.

Obama supporter beats down an elderly Vet.

This is why I don't have a McCain sticker on my car. Obamabots are scary.

h/t:Darleen over at the Pub.


I'm BACK!

Anatomy of a Smear

Since the media isn't going to to the job (unless the smear is directed at Obama), here is the McCain $5 million quote in full:

On August 16, Pastor Rick Warren asked John McCain how much money someone would have to make to be considered rich. McCain didn't answer directly. "I think that rich should be defined by a home, a good job, an education and the ability to hand to our children a more prosperous and safer world than the one that we inherited," he said.

Then he made a joke: "So, I think if you are just talking about income, how about $5 million?"

The audience laughed, immediately understanding that McCain was being facetious. Just in case there were any doubts McCain started his next comment by saying "seriously," to underscore the joke. Then he made a prediction.

"I'm sure that comment will be distorted," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Thinking people should be able to figure out that McCain was joking. Apparently Obama couldn't figure it out, since he's repeatedly used it to smear McCain.

Do we want someone so dense running our country? Unless ... you don't think Obama KNEW it was a joke and is simply using it to smear McCain? That can't be true. He was going to be the ONE of HOPE and CHANGE. New Politics. Not the politics of destruction!!11!

Certainly The One wouldn't use cheap smear tactics to lie about his opponent in order to win? Time tells me it's McCain that is using dirty tricks, and we all KNOW there is no such thing as media bias.

The phrase by any means necessary keeps running through my head. And it makes me very nervous.

Smear Campaign? Who Me? HOPE! CHANGE!

"I'm Barack Obama and I .... mumble mumble mumble."

So who did pay for the ad that smeared Sarah Palin? The ad that was pulled merely hours after connections between it and a major PR firm close to Obama and Axelrod were discovered by bloggers?

"Time" mag just recently had an article about how dirty a campaign McCain was running. Yet, which candidate has raised "record" amount of money to spend on advertising? Which candidate has the likes of Time, CNN, MSNBS, Oprah, 90% of Hollywood and friends to push it's message? Which candidate had Matt Damon tells LIES on national tv?

And now, which campaign is (most likley) using a major PR firm to produce and distribute ads under the guise of "grassroot movements?"

Hope. Change.

It's working ... but ...

I'm going to Florida this week. So ... I'm not sure how much I'll be posting.

Besides, I had/have so much to catch up on.

In limbo

My satellite is dead. boohoo. No internet until I don't know when. Pity me.

ZOMG, this show is AWESOME

Is it new?



h/t Ace.

The Hammer takes it to Charlie

Gibson, that is. Regarding Palin's handling of the "Bush Doctrine" question.

[T]he most sweeping formulation of the Bush approach to foreign policy and the one that most clearly and distinctively defines the Bush years: the idea that the fundamental mission of American foreign policy is to spread democracy throughout the world. It was most dramatically enunciated in Bush's second inaugural address: "The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world."

This declaration of a sweeping, universal American freedom agenda was consciously meant to echo John Kennedy's pledge in his inaugural address that the United States "shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty." It draws also from the Truman doctrine of March 1947 and from Wilson's 14 points.

If I were in any public foreign policy debate today, and my adversary were to raise the Bush doctrine, both I and the audience would assume -- unless my interlocutor annotated the reference otherwise -- that he was speaking about the grandly proclaimed (and widely attacked) freedom agenda of the Bush administration.

Not the Gibson doctrine of preemption.

Gibson got it WRONG. There is no "ONE" Bush doctrine. The policy has changed over the years; pre and post 9/11, for example.

Yes, Sarah Palin didn't know what it is. But neither does Charlie Gibson. And at least she didn't pretend to know -- while he looked down his nose and over his glasses with weary disdain, sighing and "sounding like an impatient teacher," as the Times noted. In doing so, he captured perfectly the establishment snobbery and intellectual condescension that has characterized the chattering classes' reaction to the mother of five who presumes to play on their stage

Indeed.

Obama Camp sinks to new low

This reported on Huffpoo

"The McCain campaign's lies make it clear that John McCain would rather lose his integrity than lose this election. The fact is, John McCain has voted for millions in earmarks and his running mate has requested more pork per person than any governor in America -- including $2 million to study the mating patterns of crabs. Barack Obama has stood up to the lobbyists and corruption in Washington, and will bring real change that puts middle-class families first," said Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor.

I don't think the Obama camp should go in this direction. Fact is, Obama has also voted for (and requested) millions in earmarks. $740 million to be exact.

You know who else was a community organizer?

Lenin. That's who.

And Pol Pot.

Shamelessly stolen from a comment from here

Bob should be proud of himself

His satire/parody has turned into full-blown propaganda used by Matt Damon.

Matt Damon and Maureen Dowd (among others), repeated your satire as fact. Honestly, I just don't know what to say.

Look,you asshats, if you hear stupid things attributed to Sarah Palin, just PERHAPS you should research before you look like a total idiot. Remember this, friends, next time ANY celebrity talks about politics.

In addition, ole Matt is wrong about the actuary tables. He says it's a one-in-three chance that McCain will die in office. Wrong Harvard drop-out. It's one in seven.

How do you like them apples?

New smear

Obama = Jesus
Palin = Pontius Pilate

Another Obama Supporter

Comes out with his ringing endorsemen of the One™.

9/11 Who Done It?

While the folks at "South Park" declare that 25% of Americans are retarded, apparently in other countries this percentage is bit higher.


(click to embiggen)

I'd like to salute our friends in Germany for being total asses. Twenty-three percent think the US government was behind 9/11? It's sad that Kenya and Nigeria - countries with fewer opportunities - have more sense.

Also, rather startling are China's response. Fifty-six don't know? I thought those commie bastards were supposed to be so smart?


H/t Hot Air

Palin a bookburner!!Eleventy!!

This from Howie Carr

Twelve years ago, she considered banning books at the Wasilla Public Library, which is a chilling assault on the First Amendment, unlike Barack Obama, whose campaign 12 days ago tried to shout down an appearance on Chicago radio of an investigative reporter looking into ties between Barack and rabid terrorist Bill Ayers. But that mob of Barack brownshirts besieging WGN can in no way be compared to what Palin did because well, uh, um, it just can’t be, if you know what’s good for you

Book banning? Outrage! Actual squelching of actual speech? Bored now ...

Don't call it a comeback

Yesterday, while most of the world got to listen (if they chose) to the talking heads discuss Palin's speech, I was tortured with wall-to-wall Kwame coverage. As I predicted days ago, a deal was made. Kwame gets jail time, loses his law license, and needs to pay back $1 mill in five years. The head of city council moves into the role of mayor, and Monica Conyers become City Council President.

Last night, Kilpatrick gave a speech while surrounded by teary-eyed supporters. His closing comment? He promises to return and says This city always gets up. I want to tell you, Detroit, that you done set me up for a comeback.

A comeback? Dear lord no, young fella. You need to go AWAY.

He couldn't help but take a stab at Jennifer Granholm:

Rather than focusing on the huge issues that are facing our state -- from the record home foreclosures, the lack of affordable healthcare, a record unemployment in our state, Kwame Kilpatrick was at the top of her list," he said.

"I wish her well and hope that the same tenacity, the same professionalism, if you will, and intensity that went around putting together a quasi-administrative court will also be the same tenacity to solve the problem of the people of the state of Michigan."

That there statement could be used to explain the proper meaning of "irony" to Alanis Morrrisette.

Crossposted at the Protein Wisdom Pub.

Free at last ...

Detroit is free at last of Kwame Kilpatrick, as a plea was finally struck between the mayor and Kim Worthy.

As part of the deal, Kilpatrick will spend four months in jail and pay the city $1 million over a five-year probation period.

The embattled mayor entered his plea Thursday in the courtroom of Wayne County Circuit Court Judge David Groner.

Pride and arrogance led to this moment.

NEWSFLASH!

Gloria Steinem NOT won-over by Palin. I know, shocka!

This isn't the first time a boss has picked an unqualified woman just because she agrees with him and opposes everything most other women want and need. Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It's about baking a new pie.

Gloria Steinem doesn't speak for me. She offers me nothing. She has stood on the shoulders of giants, and then spat on women who don't support the radical feminist agenda.

I apologize

Because Karl Rove calling Joe Biden a "big fat doofus" is EXACTLY the same as the media frenzy currently swirling around Sarah Palin.

Exactly.

Update:
Huffingtong Post is on the case!

BREAKING NEWS: LEVI JOHNSTON STATES ON FACEBOOK PAGE THAT HE DOES NOT WANT KIDS!!11! Admits that he is a "F---in' redneck".

I smell a Pulitzer.

Update 2:Media, New and Old, Vet Palin, Do McCain's Job for him.

And someday, they may get around to vetting Obama and Biden, but right now they're just too busy.

Since I hate black people ...

I will obviously be all over the Kwame thing today. I mean, boy would I love to stick it to the black (shudder) mayor who has been serving his black constituency so well. Without Kwame to lead Detroit ... well, they're just no saying how low it will sink.

Yes, this was a perfect plan to destroy a "Chocolate" (thanks Nagin!) city. Prosecute the poor, innocent Mayor for doing practically NOTHING wrong. Since when was it a crime to use taxpayer's money to cover up an affair and lying to city council and a judge in the process? And, so he shoved a process server. Who hasn't? Am I right?

Us racists will stop at nothing. Of course, Didn't Oceancat say I mostly hated black people? Whatever. Same thing, right?

Michael Moore is a big pile of crap

Gustav is a gift from God.

Knowing that he must have looked like a big pile of crap, he then posts this on his crap-site.

h/t: Dan over at the Pub

UPDATE- Perhaps God does love Republicans. Gustav just downgraded to a cat 2.

Having trouble ...

...keeping up with the latest criticism and conspiracy theory related to McCain's VP pick? Jeff has got them all right here.

It's crazy-delicious.

A new one. Her earrings are disrespectful to GustoV victims. Even before Gustov hits. FOR SHAME MCCAIN/PALIN.

They grow them crazy out in California

I'm no fan of California - a personal prejudice - but some crazy California activist has come up with a GREAT way to totally kill the state. I'm thinking this has no chance of even coming close to becoming reality, but it's got one interesting caveat which makes it noteworthy. See if you can spot it:

Impose a new 35% income surtax (in addition to federal taxes and the existing 10.3% top state rate) -- 17.5% (on all of the taxpayer's income) when income exceeds $150,000 (single)/$250,000 (joint), and an additional 17.5% (again, on all of the taxpayer's income) when income exceeds $350,000 (single)/$500,000 (joint).

Impose a one-time 55% wealth tax on assets exceeding $20 million held by a California resident or held in California by nonresident.

Impose an exit tax of between 36.5% to 54.3% on both income and unrealized appreciation in asset values over $5 million when a resident dies or leaves California.

Now, for those who believe a 35% tax on the rich ain't all that bad, you have to remember this is on TOP of Federal taxes. These fine folks filthy Capitalists will be paying upwards of 80% of their income to taxes. So, earners of half-a-million dollars will be able to keep $100,000 of their own hard-earned money.

But, my favorite part is the last bit. The part about an exit tax. You are not allowed to LEAVE California without handing over half your assets to the State. You know, I think the commies used to built big walls with armed guards.

h/t some Moron blogger over at Ace's.

Monica in Denver

Monica Conyers takes her class act on the road with her to Denver.

DENVER - Police were briefly involved in a dispute, hotel employees reported Tuesday, between Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers and a downtown Denver hotel.
Magnolia Hotel spokeswoman Dana Berry said a police officer assigned to the hotel during this week's Democratic convention called for additional police Tuesday afternoon after Conyers caused a disturbance in the hotel's lobby.

Quick, someone cross John Conyers off the short-list of those who can "bring" Obama to Michigan.

QOTD

Reading This over at ABV, Michele mentions her favorite song off of "OK Computer" is No Surprises which made me think of one of the most narrowly asked questions (EVA) on my blog.

What's your favorite Radiohead song?

Just because.

I'm not sure if I can just pull my favorite song right out of my ass. Black Star. 2=2=5. Go to Sleep. I Will. A Wolf at the Door. Paranoid Android. I.Just.Don't.Know. Backdrafts. Bones.

McCain adoption "lie"

More proof that liberals are absolutely batshit crazy. Read the comments too for full deliscious crazy nouget

McCain doesn't know how many houses he owns!11!1Eleventy!

So ... since we care so much about the wealth of a public servant, and how much they own, shouldn't we ask Nancy Pelosi how many properties she owns?

Real estate investments include a four-story office building at 45 Belden St. in the Financial District, office buildings on Battery and Sansome streets near the Embarcadero, a building housing a Walgreens drugstore near Ocean Beach and other commercial property in San Anselmo.

Other investments include a St. Helena vineyard worth between $5 million and $25 million, a $1 million-plus townhome in Norden (Nevada County), and minority interests in the Auberge du Soleil resort hotel in Rutherford, the CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin, and the Piatti Italian restaurant chain.

Ninth richest person in the House, and seventeenth in the entire Congress.

Michigan, Kwame, and O!

Rochelle Riley highlights the Obama/Kwame problem in today's Free Press.

WANTED: Surrogate mayor to stand with Sen. Barack Obama when he campaigns in Detroit. Must not own two-way pager. Must not have been in jail.
With three months left in the presidential campaign, party leaders must replace Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in helping Obama woo voters in a state Democrats need and in a city on which the election could turn.
*****
When Kilpatrick one day counts his regrets, among them should be losing a chance to campaign with the nation's first African-American presidential nominee. And he will have to regret it; Republicans already are trying to link him with Obama, with a Tennessee GOP ad featuring old video of Obama and Kilpatrick greeting each other months before the text message scandal broke in January. It recites the mayor's problems and implies that Obama would offer the same.

Well, no, that's not exactly what the ad suggests. Here it is:



What is implied is that 1) Obama has poor judgement (hello Rezko?).

Regardless, this leaves O! in a trickbag. He needs Michigan to go blue, but who is going to hold his hand and parade him around the state?

But, Liz Kerr, spokeswoman for the Michigan Democratic Party, said the campaign already is set.

"We have a number of people who can stand with Sen. Obama as a surrogate," she said. "We have good local leadership."

She cited state Sens. Buzz Thomas and Tupac Hunter, cochairs of the campaign, and U.S. Rep. John Conyers as stand-ins. She also said the campaign has signed up an unprecedented 1,500 volunteers.

John Conyers? As in Monica's husband? The city council member being investigated by the FBI? Perhaps they should keep looking ...

Word of the day:

Ghettofabulous.

Thanks Lisa!

Charles Murray has a new book out ....

It's called "Read Education: Four Simple Truths for Bringing America's Schools Back to Reality." And what are these four realities?

-Abilities vary
-Half of us are below average
-Too many kids go to college
-The academic elite need to be encouraged

While some of it sounds controversial, in my mind it isn't. Makes perfect sense. Number three is a real bugaboo of mine.

Totally, utterly, random tip of the day

If you let your dog out at 11:30, and he comes back smelling like he's been sprayed in the FACE by a skunk, the proper treatment is peroxide mixed with Dawn soap and baking soda.

You may need to apply it three times.

You're welcome.

Kilpatrick gets to go to the DNC!

Joyous day!

Wayne County Circuit Judge Leonard Townsend earlier this morning ruled that the mayor may attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver later this month and may take off his electronic tether, but in a decision that may surprise even Kilpatrick's attorneys, Townsend said the mayor otherwise may not leave Wayne County.

Oh ... poor boy. But, let's focus on the positive here. He CAN go to the Democratic National Convention. Kwame's a Super, don't you know. And I thought the convention was going to be dull ...

But, Jenny wants to rain on my parade:

v. Jennifer Granholm said today it would be “incredibly cynical and wrong” for Republicans to use Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s growing controversy as a campaign bludgeon against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

“I fear they will do that. It’s been their practice in the past,” Granholm told reporters outside the Capitol building.

Those wasckely epublicans!

Granholm denied that she is under pressure from Democrats to resolve the crisis surrounding Kilpatrick in order to help Obama. She has set a Sept. 3 hearing on the Detroit City Council’s request that she remove Kilpatrick from office for misconduct.

“It’s not a political issue,” Granholm said.

Sure it's not. Why would ANYONE ever get that idea?

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's General Counsel Sharon McPhail on Wednesday sent a letter to Gov. Jennifer Granholm's attorney Thursday suggesting that Granholm offer to pardon Kilpatrick on criminal charges in exchange for his testimony at the Sept. 3 removal hearing.

Heh.

Who could have seen this coming?

Certainly not me. No, I saw tons of potential in young Nathaniel Abraham. Now, he's headed back to prison for violating his bond while he awaited trial for selling drugs. Yes, this young man certainly is a poster child for the whole juvenile corrections system. Ten years served for murder, and now this young man is bound and determined to live a criminal life.

Abraham was given a GIFT of a short sentence. But, apparently it's not enough.

BDS prolly rots the brain

Here in comments you find people wishing Jenny Granholm could be O!'s VP. Oh, what fun that would be! If she wasn't Canadian, of course. But the mere thought that people are ruminating about it just boggles the mind.

Must Read

The girl in the window. My sister sent me the link.

Obama's early years

No, I'm not talking about his life at Harvard, or growing up in Hawaii. I'm referring to his early political years. Stanely Kurtz has a piece in The Weekly Standard about those missing years of 1995-2004. It doesn't appear that Obama is the post-racial candidate he claims to be. That discussion on race we're supposed to have (sometime in the future, please not know) is going to have lots attention to affirmative action and racial set-asides. That is, if were are to go by Obama's past. Which, in truth, is what we're supposed to go by, right? Can't we assume that the issues he addressed a young politician (as in, his political career up to the point he started running for the highest office in the country) are his core issues?

In 1999, for example, he made news by calling on the governor to appoint a minority to the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), a body that had previously attracted little notice among Chicago's blacks. In 2000, the Chicago Defender named Obama one of a number of "Vanguards for Change," citing him for "focusing on legislation in areas previously unexplored by the African-American community including his call that a person of color be appointed to the ICC." Obama did bring a somewhat different background and set of interests to the table. Yet the upshot was to expand the frontiers of race-based politics.

Oh, but there's more:

When the 2000 census revealed dramatic growth in Chicago's Hispanic and Asian populations alongside a decline in the number of African Americans, the Illinois black caucus was alarmed at the prospect that the number of blacks in the Illinois General Assembly might decline. At that point, Obama stepped to the forefront of the effort to preserve as many black seats as possible. The Defender quotes Obama as saying that, "while everyone agrees that the Hispanic population has grown, they cannot expand by taking African-American seats." As in the casino dispute, Obama stressed black unity, pushing a plan that would modestly increase the white, Hispanic, and Asian population in what would continue to be the same number of safe black districts. As Obama put it: "An incumbent African-American legislator with a 90 percent district may feel good about his reelection chances, but we as a community would probably be better off if we had two African-American legislators with 60 percent each."

Kinda ironic, given that the man announced, at the keynote adressas the DNC of 2004 that "There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America-there's the United States of America. Yea, sure there is O-man.

There's more to the O-man, though. He's racial politics PLUS progressive policies. "When you combine  .  .  .an energized African-American voter base and effective coalition-building with other progressive sectors of the population, we think we have a recipe for victory." Oh yummy. But, that's exactly what he's done with this election. He's got 95% of the black vote (no racism there, thankyouverymuch) and has built upon that with his progressive-can-do spirit. HOPE! CHANGE!

You gotta read the whole piece. My summarization can only go so far. But, I will quote Kurtz this one last time.

Obama's overarching political program can be described as "incremental radicalism."On health care, for example, his long-term strategy in Illinois was no secret. He repeatedly proposed a state constitutional amendment mandating universal health care. Prior to the 2002 budget crisis, Obama's plan was to use the windfall tobacco settlement to finance the transition to the new system. That would have effectively hidden the huge cost of universal care from the taxpayer until it was too late. Yet Obama touted his many tiny expansions of government-funded health care as baby steps along the path to his goal. The same strategy will likely be practiced-if more subtly-on other issues. Obama takes baby-steps when he has to, but in a favorable legislative environment, Obama's redistributionist impulses will have free rein, and a budget-busting war on poverty (not to mention entitlement spending) will surely rise again.

And, when those windfall tobacco revenues went away, the regular old taxes go up. That's the way they backdoor these things into existence. See, it's not painful! We're not going to raise taxes to pay for this new government freebee! We've got it paid for ....

Don't fall for it.