Red State

I know as much about economics as I do about rocket propulsion. All this mess we keep hearing about in the financial markets has me glazed over and looking like a deer in the headlights. From Lehman, to AIG, to God knows who, everyone is having money problems, through every fault of their own. So, I get this memo today that tells me I have to pay to make things right in everyone else's world. Hmm. Something "not-quite-right" about that. But what do I know?

As I try to sort it all out, I'm taken back to the Social Security bailout President Bush attempted to enact, and the complete vilification he and his were made to endure for even suggesting people be allowed to invest their own money based on their own assumption of risk. Also, as I recall, the Democrats insisted that we should entrust our retirement futures to the Federal Bureaucracy because they promised our money would never be allowed to be put at risk. Why is an AIG bailout more important than my Social Security nest egg?

[Update: And by the way, I blame both parties equally. Y'all remember Bankruptcy reform laws that Congress passed back in '05? Yeah-THOSE reforms. The ones that made it much harder and much more expensive for the common folk to file Bankruptcy while providing for a more favorable environment for the lenders and creditors that feed on said common folk? Well, the GOP-led Congress delivered that master stroke back then, and now, the Democrats are ignoring it while kissing "big-Finance" butt and giving them our money so they don't HAVE to file bankruptcy. Am I missing something here?]

This trip down memory lane leads me back to two quick questions:

If the Federal Government can pick and choose which big companies to bail out with our money in order to keep the stock market calm, why couldn't they have planned for a similar "market malady" were we to have been allowed a 2% private investment portfolio? After all, if nobody ELSE needs to assume risk in the markets, why would they have allowed the individual taxpayer to actually shoulder the burden of a bad investment choice? They DO work for us, after all...yes?

Second, and I might have this wrong, if we can pony up a trillion large to keep all of our big-dollar campaign donors afloat, why are we fighting over chump change in trying to fund the new GI Bill, tax cuts for the poor, new refineries, nuclear plants, and expanded drilling? Have I gotten this right?

Our Government leaps into action in full-throttle crisis mode when a multi-jillion dollar corporation is faced with going bankrupt for being stupid with their money, but we can't scrape together a couple bills to prop up the people that actually make this place hum (when the Federales stay the hell out of our way, that is)?

I think I am missing something when my Congress can't be bothered to even TRY to fix this mess because they don't even know what to do about it and one of the candidates to be my next President doesn't want to talk about it just yet because he hasn't gotten his speechwriters to come up with anything messianic on the subject so far.

As the Founder and CEO of AMAWG, Inc. LLC (that would be "Angry Middle Aged White Guy" to you newcomers) I have the simplest of answers for Congress and Senator Obama:

Don't do a damn thing. Let these clowns clean up their own mess. Every time you actually DO something, you drive "we, the People" further into the ground.

Stop helping. You're killing me.

[image via Akeco Blog ]

[A brief half hour after the original post, the House passed the "Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act" and I apologize for not catching that the vote was to actually take place today after all. I share with you, for your reading pleasure, the GOP members that chose to stab us in the back over the Energy crisis. Thank any of them that represent YOU (but not your interests) if you are so inclined.

Buchanan, Castle, Gilchrest, Hayes, Inglis, Jones (NC), Kirk, Knollenberg, LaHood, LoBiondo, Porter, Ramstad, Reichert, Shays, and Smith (NJ)

Of course, with 13 Dems going with US by voting no, the margin was closer...and 8 Republicans chose not to drag their sorry butts to the floor to engage the fight...Ron Paul among them fwiw. Either way, the majority the Dems enjoy because of 2006 would have passed this thing no matter what. Elections DO matter folks.

Thanks for nothing you 15 GOP scumbags...no, really. We'll be thinking of you every day at the pumps...and on election day as well.]

I offered the House GOP a challenge a month ago today. Of course, being a nobody, no one in the House GOP actually got back to me...but hey-I'm not sensitive. Now that Congress is back in session, however, this deserves another shout out. Consider Congressman Pence today at Redstate and his urging that we all contact the Democrats and tell them to vote "NO" on Speaker Pelosi’s energy bill.

See, here's the thing GOP Congress critters...

I don't want you THERE at all.

More below the "we're begging you guys" fold...

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I live to the west of hurricane Ike's visit to Texas. Given the path and trajectory, it appears we will be spared much of the wrath of this hurricane. Local forecasts are calling for downgraded winds with a potential of 4 to 6 inches of rain. We'll see.

While we wait, I am reminded of Katrina and Rita, and I am - again - reminded of how easy it is for people to perform stupid human tricks in the face of a natural disaster. It seems we have learned nothing from the two ladies that preceded Ike...and perhaps this is the saddest commentary of all about where we are as a country, and how we behave as a people in moments of crisis.

As I live on one of the most popular evacuation routes for east Texans, Highway 290, I have the opportunity to see just how badly people can behave when they are directly affected by an impending disaster. I have witnessed death-defying road rage, pure idiotic levels of unwarranted panic, and a complete lack of fellowship between evacuees and their generous hosts. With hands extended (palm side up) there is a level of rudeness, a lack of courtesy and respect, and an outright disdain for shopkeepers, gas station operators, local business owners, and restaurateurs that seems to run amok at times like these. Hurricane Ike is no different. The sense of entitlement on the part of some folks these past several days amazes even me...one of the most jaded and cynical people I know...but there it is.

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[image via JohnDavidHead.com]

Many crises have befallen this great Nation throughout her history. We have faced each one in turn, and dealt with them accordingly. So, too, did we come together as ONE Nation, under God, in the face of the hell that was unleashed on September 11, 2001. We moved on, but lost sight along the way of where 9/11 took us as a Nation. Where we once stood together, we now treat each other as if there is no "Nation" but rather a very big island with 300 million people living on it with little or no compassion or acceptance of the others who live all around us. That was not supposed to be what 9/11 taught us, yet there it is.

I won't bother trying to ask this Country to remember how close we felt to each other that day, nor will I expect anyone to remember how it made us feel about our Country. I WOULD expect everyone to take a moment to remember the lost and repeat THIS prayer even if only under your breath so as to not disturb any around you that prefer to forget the day ever happened or who was to blame for it.

Almighty God, the past year will be indelibly inscribed in our memories.

We looked with horror on the terrorist attacks of last September 11th. But we looked with honor on acts of courage by ordinary people who sacrificed themselves to prevent further death and destruction.

We shed our tears in a common bond of grief for those we loved and lost. We journeyed through a dark valley, but your light has led us to a place of hope. You have turned our grief into determination. We are resolved to do what is good, and right, and just.

Help us to remember what it means to be Americans— a people endowed with abundant blessings. Help us to cherish the freedoms we enjoy and inspire us to stand with courage, united as one Nation in the midst of any adversity.

Lord, hear this prayer for our Nation. Amen.

God Bless America.

NEVER Forget.

Ruh Roh...Nancy REALLY stepped in it this time.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has accepted an invitation from San Francisco’s archbishop to discuss whether she should continue to receive communion at the Catholic Church in the wake of comments she made about abortion.

I think what entertains me most about this little bit o' news factoid, is that somewhere, SOMEHOW, one of our Political Heroes has SOMEONE they actually have to answer to. In the case of Nancy trying to help set up the apologentia for Obama's willingness to allow women to kill babies just whenever the heck they think they might want to, and still not hate himself in the morning over it, we find out that she may just actually have to answer for her transgressions...in the house of God.

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Joe Biden thinks (using the term loosely) that criminal charges should be pursued against the Bush Administration as soon as he and Obama complete their ascendancy to the throne of Liberalism. We could cast this aside as some feeble attempt at winning over a few tinfoil hat-wearing fringe kooks within the Democrat party but for the fact that Obama suggested as much back in April of this year. This idea of bogging the country down in partisan vendettas to gin up support among voters already in your pocket sounds eerily familiar, and promises to be as fatally flawed as it has been every other time it has been tried.

Having said that, Pelosi and Reid successfully rode that witch hunt pony to a "Majority status" in 2006. They have since squandered all that political capital, of course, but it doesn't mean they understand why just yet. Apparently the Democrats continue to believe they don't actually NEED to get any meaningful legislation passed to stay in power...they just need to keep talking about how awful George Bush is. And now that Biden and Obama are suggesting, again, that America needs investigations and hearings and subpoenas and Committees to chase the ghosts of the Bush Administration past, it says a great deal about how HARD they intend to work at making the same mistakes that have Congress enjoying its lowest approval ratings in modern American history.

As a partisan hack for the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, I personally rather enjoy the idea of Obama and Biden and their posse beclowning themselves so visibly...heck, look how they've mastered it with the Palin nomination and their new-found admissions of disgust at the idea of a woman wanting to have a family AND a career in politics. I'm delightfully entertained, but I'm sick of seeing NOTHING being accomplished for the people our Political heroes promised they'd take care of and represent when they got elected.

You Democrats out there would be well advised to tell your Messiah and his side-kick to let this one go...call it free and friendly advice. You guys are already in enough trouble with we, the Voters, as it is. Of course, you won't actually TAKE my advice, but I can say for the record I offered it. In the meantime?

Pass the popcorn and the beer-this is starting to get good.

Barack Obama has a problem with women. Seems every time he comes up against one, he beclowns himself. Now, I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to live in the Obama house, but I'm fairly certain he often finds his manhood challenged. And, while I'm not suggesting this is an all together bad thing, it would appear Obama doesn't quite know what to DO with himself when confronted with a woman of strength and chutzpah. Whatever else you might say about his lovely bride, Michelle Obama is a very strong-minded and iron-willed woman. With all that experience in dealing with a strong woman at home, how does Barack Obama continue to perform so many stupid human tricks when it comes to women outside the home? Inquiring minds want to know.

Consider how Obama played his campaign against Hillary. He happily allowed his surrogates to throw the race and gender card around wherever and whenever it suited the campaign, only to fire people or deny prior knowledge of the stunts his mud-slingers pulled on his behalf. It's no surprise, then, that Obama would find his panties in a twist over the Palin pick for Vice President; just when he thought he had his "woman" problems behind, along comes an equally strong-minded and iron-willed woman to muck things up for him all over again. This time, Obama has himself a real big set of problems to overcome, and his surrogates are ruining what little legitimacy his campaign has left. Problem is, Obama's own words are coming home to roost...and there's nothing he can do about it.

To re-read his acceptance speech in the shadows of Sarah Palin having been selected to run with John McCain, one would think Obama intends "to win this election and keep our promise alive as president of the United States" specifically BECAUSE of Sarah Palin and women like her:

[W]hen I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of making her way in the world, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle management, despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman.

If he really meant that, the campaign would NEVER have "gone there" in suggesting she didn't have enough experience" would they?

Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their job and caring for a sick child or an ailing parent.

Interesting that Obama would hold to such an opinion a couple days prior to finding out about Palin's selection...and her having kept her job despite having a baby with Down's Syndrome. Here she is doing EXACTLY what Obama suggests parents CAN'T do without him, only to be confronted now by a woman seeking to serve her country in a higher calling despite having a fairly big family with all the demands that accompany it... and the demanding work schedule of a Governor, to boot. Think he's eating those words now?

The real kicker for me, however, is that Obama has finally checked his manhood at the door of campaign hell with this little clip:

And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work, because I want my daughters to have the exact same opportunities as your sons.

Funny that. With nothing else to go on, he NOW suggests Palin is against equal pay for equal work at a time when he stands ready to see her make MORE of it than him. With all his care and concern over his daughters and their future opportunities, how does he square that with being against Sarah Palin's own ambitions for better pay and opportunity? Well, he can't of course, but it's no less fun to see him eat all his fancy words.

Obama says this in his speech:

If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from. You make a big election about small things.

I would say that is EXACTLY where Obama finds himself right now. He has no record to run on, and he's painting his opponent as someone to run from. HE is "small things" and nothing he says or does will change that...Palin has brought him to his knees, and I want some more beer and popcorn.

AP is reporting that the US Military has handed control of Anbar over to the Iraqis. This is a major accomplishment for both the US AND Iraq, and further indicates the substantial progress the Democrats continue to deny and the media refuses to report. The surge worked, the Iraqis are stepping up, and Iraqis living in Anbar have rejected al-Qaida:

The province was the base of the shadowy al-Qaida in Iraq and its leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who used the area as a staging ground for attacks in Baghdad until he was killed in a 2006 American airstrike.

Just two years ago a Marine intelligence report had concluded that al-Qaida had made such inroads that the war was "lost" there.

But later that year, a backlash was born in Anbar against al-Qaida among Iraq's Sunni Arab community because of the group's attempt to dominate the insurgency. Many Iraqi tribal leaders opposed al-Qaida's brutal tactics, including mass killings of Shiite civilians and Sunni leaders who would not accept the movement's rule.

Disaffected Sunni sheiks organized awakening councils that joined forces with the Americans to push al-Qaida from the province. That enabled U.S. forces to gain control of the provincial capital of Ramadi and other cities long considered killing zones for Americans.

Now Anbar is considered one of the quieter parts of the country, though bitterness between the awakening councils and the central Baghdad government, which is predominantly Shiite, remains and could complicate political reconciliation efforts.

While cautious in their enthusiasm, officials are saying that "Al-Qaida has not been entirely defeated in Anbar, but their end is near and they know it." The Sunni awakening, and the refusal of the US Military to give up, brings renewed hope for the region and the country as a whole.

There is reason to be optimistic here; 11 of the 18 provinces are now under Iraqi security control, agreements on the withdrawal of American troops are near completion, and Iraq is starting to build an economy. We may be too busy in this country focusing our media outlets on the wonders of an Obama Presidency, but in Iraq the only news that matters is that they are fast approaching an end to their pain and suffering...and our Men and Women are getting closer to coming home.

Is this what Nagin has in store for New Orleans, AGAIN?

It was just 3 years ago that America (not just New Orleans) was devastated by hurricane Katrina. Can we PLEASE remember how the Mayor of New Orleans handled himself during that crisis? Please recall the screaming and railing from the still-Mayor of New Orleans:

I need reinforcements, I need troops, man. I need 500 buses, man. We ain't talking about -- you know, one of the briefings we had, they were talking about getting public school bus drivers to come down here and bus people out here.

I'm like, "You got to be kidding me. This is a national disaster. Get every doggone Greyhound bus line in the country and get their asses moving to New Orleans."

That's -- they're thinking small, man. And this is a major, major, major deal. And I can't emphasize it enough, man. This is crazy.

I've got 15,000 to 20,000 people over at the convention center. It's bursting at the seams. The poor people in Plaquemines Parish. ... We don't have anything, and we're sharing with our brothers in Plaquemines Parish.

It's awful down here, man.

Mayor Nagin played a great game of making everything that went wrong with Katrina everyone else's fault but his own. And, lest some of you were hiding under a rock, let us also remember that the storm was alleged to have been made by President Bush himself, because he's a racist you know, and America hates Black people. Katrina made deep cuts in this country that STILL haven't sufficiently healed, and we lie in wait for yet another hurricane of potentially epic proportions to make landfall somewhere near the Big Easy.

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Calling Obama's speech "transcendent" the world's most powerful woman said she cried her eyelashes off while listening to the Messiah accept his nomination from the Democrat party to be the Nation's very first Kenyan-American President. Yes, I said "Kenyan."

African American status is reserved for those descendants of slaves in America. Barack Obama is not such a descendant...and doesn't have the right to call himself "African" American.

Oprah seems to agree, saying "he's not an African-American candidate, he's a candidate for Americans." Nah-I guess she meant something altogether different...but I digress.

The Ghandi of the finer gender went on to suggest the speech was "the most powerful thing I have ever experienced." MY eyelashes were effected by Obama's tripe too...mine, however, were singed off instead of having been washed away by tears of rapture.

If she finds Obama's pontifications and empty words more powerful than looking at the balance sheets of her bank accounts, she might as well just hand all that cash over to me...THAT would be the most powerful thing I would ever experience.

TX-22's own Nick Lampson, failed Democrat toiling fruitlessly under the disastrous reign of Nancy Pelosi, is at it again. Like so many OTHER of his Democrat colleagues who have insisted on being on the wrong side of the Energy debate, Lampson has gotten religion ...JUST in time to come back from a vacation he didn't earn to pretend to care about legislation his lunatic Speaker will make sure never gets passed. Interestingly, while his official US Congress website pimps a drill petition he calls his own, his personal re-election campaign website, has NOTHING mentioned about Energy in the "Issues" drop-down tabs.

There is a good reason: Nick Lampson has a poor record on Energy, and he hopes we won't find out about it...at the very least he means to lie to us about it ...and his opponent, Pete Olson, in a piece over at The Hill Blog, doesn't think Lampson should get off so easy:

Nick Lampson helped create America’s energy problems. Now, he’s touting a bill that is a compilation of all of the things he’s opposed for so long – domestic drilling, new refineries, alternative energy technology and the rest. It’s the same tactic he’s taken in the past, and it’s all about politics – not about solving our energy problems. Once this election passes, so will Nick’s new-found love for American energy independence – mainly because he’ll be back at his home in Beaumont.

More below the "boy but do these Democrats suck" fold...

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PM Maliki announced agreement on a security pact with the United States to end any foreign military presence in Iraq by the end of 2011. This is excellent news no matter which side of the Iraq divide you consider yourself to be on. Excellent because the Iraqis now consider themselves ready to confront their own challenges with no outside assistance. What remains to be seen, however, is whether their confidence can be supported by the "realities on the ground" that President Bush and General Petraeus and Lt. Gen. Odierno routinely warn us about.

The "official" US position is that the agreement is not completed, but it seems imminent that a final deal will be reached and signed and announced. When that comes, Maliki will likely reap huge political rewards in Baghdad... and Americans can finally take Iraq, the political tug-of-war toy, OFF of the Election '08 debate podium. It will come up to be sure, but a withdrawal agreement can NOT be claimed as a victory by either side of the aisle in Washington-they've both screwed the issue up so bad over the last three years that NEITHER side of the 2 contradicting war agendas can claim victory.

The Left has changed its position on WHY they want US Troops out of Iraq at least half a dozen times (I am being very generous), while in every instance suggesting we need to be spending that money here at home. The Right, to their credit, has consistently held that leaving Iraq before undeniable victory would have disastrous long-term consequences for both American AND Iraq...yet they, too, have changed positions on why that mattered to us nearly as many times.

What seems most indicative of the conflict in Iraq fought here on American soil up on Capitol Hill can be found in reading the news "headlines" and comparing them with the actual words coming out of PM Maliki's mouth. The announcements refer to security agreements which, in part, include reduced American presence on the ground in cities around Iraq. The President, and those of us that support staying at Iraq's side until they can stand up on their own, has repeatedly said we will "stand down when Iraq is ready to step up." We appear to be reaching such a point in Iraq's recovery.

The Left, of course, has stuck with "exit strategy", "withdrawal timetables," and "if we leave, they'll be MADE to fend for themselves."

Whatever the slogan, we are winding down in Iraq. We are doing so just at a time when Congressional approval remains at historical lows. And this is timed, intentionally or otherwise, around a US Presidential election cycle...and a looming election cycle in Iraq.

I remain moderately encouraged by this news, but nonetheless suspicious of the true motivations for Maliki's Government to tell their enemies when they will no longer have anyone watching their backs. And I will continue to pray for the Iraqi people who still, after all these years, just want to be left alone to live in peace and take care of themselves and their families...and get ON with their lives without having to live in fear of the next car bomb or explosive vest-wearing lunatic around the next corner.

Whatever genuine motivations might be at play here, our brave Men and Women will be home soon, and we can all thank God for that...and we damn sure better thank THEM when they get here.

The selection of Joe Biden to be a heart beat away from the Presidency re-invigorates and refreshes this politics-weary old guy. All that clap trap about hope and change and fixing Washington because it was "broken" from our poor misguided Barack Obama had a lot of people going...for awhile. Long enough to get Hillary out of the spotlight - and we thank you for that Senator. A lot of us had already had more than a gullet-full of "that woman" and you were at least able to make her disappear.

Well done.

A lot of us have been ambivalent about John McCain because, on the one hand he is not a surgically clean "Conservative" nor does he espouse many of the principles and ideals we so-called "movement Conservatives" hold so dear. On the other hand, of course, he is not Barack Obama. Having said that, however, "movement Conservatism" is not what this election is about. In fact, this election may really have become that moment in history that sees "ideological purity" finally removed from political discourse all together. Clearly, the selection of John McCain from a field that had, arguably, a decent number of "almost-purists" has made it abundantly clear to we "far right-wingers" that winning is far more important than being right, and we have settled into this new place reserved for us within the GOP (albeit kicking and screaming).

But Barack Obama has a lot of really bad ideas for what America needs, and he has no clue about what America wants. He is as far removed from the rank and file American citizen as a politician can be. So, too, is his running mate. And for Biden to misspeak, on day 1 of his candidacy, of a Barack America and to hear Obama himself misspeak in referring to Biden as the next President, it's obvious we are about to embark on a 2 month mystery tour with the two stooges; sounding pretty and trashing the competition is what the dream team wishes to subject us to and, frankly, they'll un-elect themselves without any assistance from Johnny Mac. That these two men would have us believe they know best what we'll need to focus on for the next 4 or 8 years is beyond comedy. It's just theater, and we're going to be asked now to engage in a few months of rock 'em sock 'em robots between the young black guy and his old white guy sidekick as they go toe to toe with another old white guy...and presumably... another old white guy.

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To do so would relegate me to dropping the 501's and exposing the paisley boxers and the knee-high black nylons complete with the garters...and sucking down twinkies and Big Reds in the dead of night. THIS...I will not do.

I could justify donning the "downtrodden-internets-loser" apparel whilst living in my Mom's cellar by reminding you all of the comers and goers here over the years and the numbers of times they made my head explode.

I could name names,you see, but then I'd have to send this post into the 3.0 admin panel abyss taking you all down with me.

I could dredge up the "hazmat team to aisle 7" memories, but then I'd need to sign on with the local monastery or curl up into a rocking fetal position...sucking my thumb and tugging on my ear and rocking back and forth looking for my happy place. No...I won't go there-it's not pretty.

Why won't I quit you, let me count the ways:

I won't quit you because that would mean you all were the big dogs and I was a little wussy-dog that had to scamper up on to the porch and hide like a little girl.

I won't quit you because no matter HOW many times flyerhawk quits us, or jonlester or any one ELSE for that matter, they'd come back JUST to say they "lived" longer than I did. THIS, I can NOT allow.

I won't quit you because Sister C would mock and embarrass me for not even lasting as long as a "girl" in this "man-cave" and this...ESPECIALLY...we can not have.

I won't quit you because no matter how hard I might try otherwise, I would STILL lurk every morning-first through the diaries, THEN the Pejmalanche, and THEN the RedHots...and I would be fooling myself to pretend I would do otherwise...in ANY order.

Crack, you see, is a buzz one cannot do without.

Besides, who the hell else would even LISTEN, except you crazy sob's I've spent the last 4 precious years of my life with, were I to try and explain the Hinz rule...or just what the hell a "Kowalski" was? Nope-you ain't getting rid of me, I can tell you that much. I ain't goin' down without a fight...Uber Moby ain't got NUTHIN on me.

I won't quit you because there ain't a force on this earth strong enough, no matter HOW good looking DeVine might be, to get me in a sleeping bag with him in the mountains...under ANY circumstance...not even a Republican landslide on Capitol Hill in 2008. [Not that I have to worry about THAT, thank God]

I won't quit you because I can not live without spewing coffee number 2 on the laptop as I read yet another installment of Mr. Lane's taunts and tormentations of the leftroots and the humiliation he makes me feel FOR them as I wonder how they go home at night and explain to their families and loved ones that...no matter WHAT Moe says, they really ARE decent and sane human beings...no, REALLY. [blink] No REALLY...

I won't quit you because without blackhedd and Soren and Adam and Kevin and streiff and Leon and Neil and the two Marks and Jeff and CY and Crank and Feddie and Krempasky and Hunter and absentee and Ben and that Cella fella and (last but certainly not least) the inimitable Academic Elephant - why - I wouldn't even be able to SPELL "political pragmatism"...let alone grasp its intergalactic meaning.

Oh, and did I mention my idol Thomas? Oh, nevermind-if you're younger than two you have NO FREAKING IDEA how many limbs you might otherwise have already had to learn to function without...

Now, as for that Erickson character...well, there's always at least ONE thorn on every rose bush. But even HE can't break my crack habit that is known as...

Redstate.

The Constitution requires a simple majority to be present for the House to conduct business. I have a challenge for each member of the GOP, and any Democrat who now suggests they support legislation to allow offshore drilling. Block a quorum, and do NOT return to Capitol Hill until October 2nd. You guys are still out on your 5 week vacation, and we're all still alive and well out here in the heartland. Do what any organized labor union would do - stage a walk out and go on strike until the offshore drilling ban lifts itself.

No one has to sign their name to any bills that might endanger their re-election chances. No one will be held accountable, and no one will be blamed...except the Speaker, Nancy Pelosi...and no one will hold it against you.

Do it, and do it now.

Congressional inaction has gone on for two years now. While you have been on the clock you have accomplished nothing meaningful that addresses the needs of "we, the People." Here is your chance to actually DO something meaningful by actually doing nothing at all. You failed us on spending. You failed us on Iraq, and on entitlements and a whole host of other issues we told you were critical when we elected you. Here's your chance to actually DO something we need, critically, by not showing up for work. There's little difference either way, at this point, and you'll actually be doing our bidding for once. For the first time in your lives let your inaction actually WORK for the American people - go on strike.

Do not return to Washington until the ban expires. I dare you.

That appears to be the latest Obama marketing strategy for pandering to the pro-life crowd at least. Sadly, there might just be something to this grand little master-stroke from the soulless Messiah.

Over the years since Roe, many of us have said that we MUST improve the options for expectant Mothers such that they wouldn't even dream of killing their babies. From improving the adoption system and eliminating all the bureaucratic red tape, to enhancing medical care availability, to establishing Mother-specific welfare and public assistance programs designed to actually encourage women to become Mothers, the things that have been in the way of them being able or willing to carry their pregnancies to term need to be reduced or eliminated if we are going to expect them to go through with such a life-changing experience: being a Mother.

We haven't done these things sufficiently and, millions dead later, just exactly where are we now given that we have a potential President with no regard for unborn life? Why, we are right where Barack Obama wants us to be:

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and his supporters are working to win over voters who want to ban or reduce abortions with a call for measures to help women keep their babies.

The party's platform supports the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that made abortion legal and adds a twist, saying the party "strongly'' backs a woman's decision to carry a pregnancy to term. The compromise language is the result of behind-the-scenes negotiations with abortion-rights groups and religious leaders on both sides of the issue.

[...]

The section comprises three paragraphs of a 54-page document that will be approved at the party's nominating convention in Denver Aug. 25-28. To reassure abortion-rights groups, the first paragraph has stronger language than in past platforms, saying the Democrats "strongly and unequivocally'' support Roe v. Wade and oppose efforts to "weaken or undermine'' it.

The next paragraph, similar to past platforms, outlines the need for sex education and family-planning services that can reduce unintended pregnancies.

The final paragraph represents a departure: "The Democratic Party also strongly supports a woman's decision to have a child by ensuring access to and availability of programs for pre- and post-natal health care, parenting skills, income support and caring adoption programs."

This is a master stroke by the Democrats and their "chosen one." Those of us with a life-long commitment to cynicism can easily see this for what it really is, but the folks out there who are against abortion yet have come to accept that Roe is under no short-term risk of being overturned might very easily fall for it. After all, we have ALL asked for more help to address the many issues and concerns pregnant women must confront...why would any of us be upset by this? And how could we NOT be called hypocritical were we to denounce this plank from the left?

Well done, Democrats...well done.

Of course, on the Conservative side we had suggested these things be addressed by communities, churches, faith-based initiatives, families and friends, and through legislation that got Government OUT of the way...but, if you're a liberal, having the Government take over for you makes perfect sense. Cradle to grave and all that...

Barack Obama considers getting pregnant (if that's not what you were aiming for when you took your clothes off) to be a punishment that no woman should have to face. Couple that with his positions to date on what to do with babies that survive a botched abortion, and you can clearly see he doesn't give a rip about the babies in this issue...just the votes of the Moms to be, and whether they might take him over the top to winning in the Fall.

The BBC brings us news that Random House doesn't have the testicular fortitude to publish a book about Muhammad's adventures in what we would consider in today's world to be felonious sexual assault of a child by refusing to publish a book about his marriage to A'isha...aged 10 at the time of their marriage. Why, you ask?

Plans to release a novel about Prophet Muhammad's child bride A'isha have been scrapped by US publishers Random House over fears it could spark violence.

The Jewel of Medina, the debut novel by journalist Sherry Jones, was due to hit shelves on 12 August.

Random House said it had been advised the book "might be offensive" to some Muslims, and "could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment."

"We decided, after much deliberation, to postpone publication," it added.

If swearing was allowed here, I would now proceed to hurl expletives of every nature and kind...but the posting rules precludes my being able to DO that without being subsequently banned...and beaten bloody by Moe and Neil.

Interestingly enough, we published the DaVinci code...and we aired Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" against ALL manner of protest. But, we reprobates out here in the hinterland have learned how to get over it.

I find it funny that, however pissed off we Christians and Jews were about running an art exhibit called Sensation which included a depiction of the Virgin Mary smeared with elephant dung... the freak show went on all the same. Did we blow ourselves up, or threaten to? Nope. Did we kill a bunch of innocents in an open-air market? Nope. Did we rant and rail...and not go? You betcha.

We Christians need to take a lesson. Apparently, if you don't want your religious symbols dirtied and soiled, you need to blow yourselves up and KILL a bunch of people...if you do this, everyone will stop staining your ideology. That, or Muslims need to take a breath, and shut the (expletive removed in deference to the posting guidelines) up already...and get over it; "artists" like to trash norms. You no likey? Don't buy the (expletive removed in deference to the posting guidelines) book.

We have had "tolerance" crammed down our throats in the Christian world for just about as long as our Muslim friends...a little advice, Islam? Take a beer chaser - it works wonders.

I've had about all I can stand of our culture and society worrying about angering Muslims, when Christianity (and our OWN symbols) continue to be trashed and denigrated with no care or concern for our feelings...get over it Islam...we ALL have our beasts of burden.

Fox news tells us that Nancy Pelosi is unimpressed by House GOP efforts to bring the House back into session to address gas prices and get an Energy bill done. According to Fox, Pelosi sent a letter to Minority leader Boehner suggesting this:

The facts are clear. The Democratic-led Congress has repeatedly brought forth proposals to increase domestic supply, reduce the price at the pump, protect American consumers and businesses and promote renewable energy and conservation.

To date, Democrats have brought forward 13 major initiatives to accomplish the above goals and each time a majority of House Republicans have voted against these proposals.

What doesn't square with this whiny response from Pelosi is the fact that she and her party are in the majority in the House. Further, in suggesting that "a majority" of Republicans have been voting against these proposals, she fails to explain why some Republicans are voting with her majority...yet she routinely FAILS to pass her so-called "Democrat initiatives." We should be very unimpressed with how well she has managed her power as Speaker of the House.

Have I mentioned yet that she has also failed to impress her adoring book-reading fan club yet? The irony is not lost on me that her book is titled "KNOW YOUR POWER" while she has been completely incompetent in knowing her own power...

To her credit, though, I would offer that she has certainly done an outstanding job of squandering the power she "worked so hard to acquire" since the 2006 mid-terms handed her the gavel.

It's not too hard to figure out what's atop her priority list; book sales suck and Nancy needs to get on that tour...STAT! Again, from Drudge:

Pelosi's sales debacle [#41 on the Non-Fiction Chart] is dramatically overshadowed by the first high profile anti-Obama book, OBAMA NATION, which debuts at #1 on both the BOOKSCAN and the NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller List, with 21,466 copies moved, industry insiders tell DRUDGE.

"The speaker was pre-occupied with house business last week," a source close to Pelosi explained Thursday morning. "She has now turned her focus to promoting this extraordinary book... doing local signings and speeches. I think we'll see an uptick."

I see, so running the "People's House" is a distraction from what really matters to Nancy Pelosi - selling crappy books that no one wants to read. Our gas prices and the overall lack of ANY Energy legislation to address the current crisis matters far less to Nancy Pelosi than getting an "uptick" in her book sales.

Color me unimpressed.

It's fitting that we begin with a reminder of what Barack Obama said about Rev. Wright back on March 18, 2008 during his big speech on race titled "A More Perfect Union." In defending him and making excuses for his behavior, Obama said that Rev. Wright "contains within him the contradictions – the good and the bad – of the community that he has served diligently for so many years." The same can certainly be said about the man they call Barack Obama as well.

As Wizbang would subsequently point out, the irony is not lost on many of us cynics out here that a scant 42 days later, Obama would kick the Reverend to the curb AND quit his House of Worship all together, in the name of political expediency. Morphing from

"I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community"

to

"And I want to be very clear that, moving forward, Reverend Wright does not speak for me. He does not speak for our campaign. I cannot prevent him from continuing to make these outrageous remarks, but what I do want him to be very clear about, as well as all of you and the American people, is that when I say that I find these comments appalling, I mean it"

was an amazing spectacle to behold.

Funny, that last...he means everything he says...until he doesn't, and the contradictions Obama "contains within him" continue to grow.

There have been a number of recent Obama flip flops, again in the name of political expediency - but this "race" business just seems to haunt him at every turn. On the one hand Barack Obama insists this race isn't about race yet he can't seem to help himself, bringing it up over, and over, and over again. Then he denies trying to play the race card, only to ultimately admit to having done so.

It's been fairly clear to me for many many years that Democrats enjoy living a double standard and having it both ways, but why does Obama care so much more about his race than most of the rest of us? Inquiring minds really want to know. I don't claim to have the answer, but understanding his obsession with an issue that is supposed to be a NON-issue will go a long way in vetting the man who would be Commander in Chief. For my money, I don't see much there there.

Back in June, Obama opposed expanded drilling, calling it futile yet a scant 40 some odd days later now hesuggests he "might" support it. Obama is fast earning the nickname "40 day Man" among we cynics out here.

Back in April when John McCain proposed a gas tax holiday and Obama called it a bad idea, saying it would force "big oil" to pass the cost on to us (missing the point, apparently, of the holiday being from Federal tax dollars). He went on to lament that this proposed tax holiday "would deprive the federal highway fund of its revenue source for needed infrastructure repairs", yet mentioned none of these concerns when he suggested $1,000.00 rebates that he says he'll fund by grabbing big oil by the throat and making them cough up BILLIONS for his folly.

Perhaps the most concerning of Obama contradictions comes in this latest exchange on the idea of reparations and apologizing to descendants of slaves in particular, and people of color in general. As I reported a few days ago, Obama left open the idea of reparations in this article calling for deeds not words.

Now?

Well, now he is against both reparations AND apologies.

Trust is impossible when it comes to the relationship between Politicians and their constituents. Obama gives us every reason to remain cynical in that regard. I forget who said it, but "better the devil you know than the devil you don't" and all that...

Obama can't stay in one place more than 40 days. Where do you think he'll be by the mid terms?

Like her soul sister from a bygone era, Nancy Pelosi (the Arch Duchess of California turned Queen of Congress) has no regard for the sufferings of her people. Either she has no capacity for comprehending the depth and breadth of the effects this energy crisis is having on Americans, or she just flatly doesn't care. More interested insaving the planet than in saving the lives and livelihoods of her fellow homo sapiens, Nancy Pelosi is doing everything in her power to ruin our lives (if need be) in order to stay in power.

It's clear that she understands the potential wealth she can bring to her district were she to force "green" down our throats because of the density of tree huggers and environmentalist whackos that reside there. She understands the nature of the vile and disgusting culture of corruption and greased palms that IS the Democrat-controlled Congress under her leadership, and I'm fairly certain she sees far too many opportunities to hold on to, and deepen, her power as the Speaker of the House of Representatives with all the votes she'd get for all her "yeoman’s work" of bringing home the bacon to her constituents. What is less clear, however, is just how much farther she'll take us before our backs break under the weight of her isolation from our realities out here in America's streets and neighborhoods.

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Well, the cigarette Nazis are at it again.

Our Political Heroes, ever-looking for new ways to take care of us, look out for us, and make sure we don't do anything stupid to ourselves, have voted to allow the Federal Bureaucracy to "Regulate Tobacco as a Drug." They manage all the other things they regulate so well that this should be a no-brainer, right?

[Disclaimer - I am a life-long smoker]

Of course, if any of YOU smoke, you should clearly see where this will take us eventually...but if you don't, or you actually LIKE the Feds controlling the things we enjoy where said things might actually be BAD for us (I'm thinking trans-fats etc), consider this:

The bill specifically states that the F.D.A.’s new powers would stop short of the ability to order the elimination of nicotine from tobacco products or place an outright ban on all tobacco products.

But the agency could reduce nicotine to nonaddictive levels if it determined that doing so would benefit public health. The F.D.A. could also require changes in tobacco products, like the reduction or elimination of other harmful ingredients.

The bill bans flavored cigarettes that appeal to young people but exempts menthol from that ban. The exemption raised objections from black antismoking advocates because mentholated cigarettes are frequently chosen by black smokers.

To satisfy the Congressional Black Caucus on that issue, last-minute changes were made in the bill to direct a scientific advisory committee to issue recommendations on menthol in cigarettes within one year.

Umm, yeah...they can't ban nicotine NOW, but being able to mandate nicotine levels is the gateway drug for our bureaucrats to ultimately banning it...or making smoking no longer pleasurable for those of us that actually CHOOSE to smoke (knowing full well that it's bad for us).

In the world of unintended consequences, lawmakers continue to miss the point; smokers want to smoke and they are sick and tired of being singled out as sinners guilty enough to punish through Governmental interventionism. Need money for schools? Tax cigarettes. Need money for State-run medicare for the uninsured? Tax cigarettes. Need money for ad campaigns warning teens of the dangers of smoking? Tax cigarettes. And, the "up-line" and "down-line" implications of all this "feel good nonsense" continues to be ignored.

We subsidize tobacco growers [farm bill fiasco] using tax dollars. We get tax dollars back by taxing tobacco related products. We kill the tobacco industry and the farmers go broke and the schools go broke and the hospitals go broke and the teens wander around aimlessly in the streets [ok, that last was intentionally hyperbolic, but you get the point].

Taking from smokers the things they enjoy surely may drive us to quit... but what will happen then? Where will all that tax revenue come from? Hold on to your Jack in the Box gift cards folks...they're coming for you fatties next.

'Martyrs' List' tallies Mahdi Army's troubles"

Let that roll around in your brain a sec...

Bwahahahahahaha...I'm ok now, phhhhhhhhhhhhttttttttttttttttt... a ha ha ha ha ha....[big breath] BWAHHAHAHAAHAHAHHHAHHHAHAHA....ok-I'm composed...no really-hand me a napkin?

Apparently this Martyr gig is causing a snidge of a problem for Mookie's army...phhhhhhhhhhhhtttttt...sorry...the more of them that kill themselves, the less they have to fight the war...bwahahahahahahahah....I just can't stop...

Ya know, maybe-JUST maybe, this lunatic "Fundamentalist Jihad" thing is turning out to be a piss-poor strategy after all. Of course, what do I know.

Shiite rivals are waging gangland-style hits with diminishing fear of reprisals. Iraqi-led forces, meanwhile, are pressing their advantage against al-Sadr's weakened network - militia cells, quasi-civic groups and street-level operatives who have all crafted reputations as the champions of the Shiite poor.

Each chip in al-Sadr's power base seems to tip the scales a bit more in favor of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his pro-American allies. Most important, the shifts give the government more confidence and room to widen its influence over Shiite politics, the key to control of the country.

As recently as this spring, the Mahdi Army still looked to be gaining ground on its dream of influencing Iraqi affairs the way Hezbollah exerts itself in Lebanon. Now, the al-Sadr leadership is penning more names onto its list and looking how to rebound.

These freaks are killing themselves faster than they can be replaced...seems to me to be a war of attrition at this point; kill enough of yourselves and you ain't got no one left to fight against the infidel. I'm going out on a limb here, I know, but I'm willing to bet even money they're runnin' outta virgins (where ever it is they go after they blow themselves up) pretty quick too...it must really suck to "git r' dun" only to wind up "gettin' none" once they cross over...

A HA HA HA hahahahahah

This is too much...

So, Ramos and Compean get their day in court at the 5th Circuit...and the Appeals Court thinks they should sit in the cooler for a good long time regardless the insanity of putting Border Patrol agents in jail for doing their freaking jobs...

Not everyone agrees with the sentences, but they have been handed down and today they were upheld. The matter at hand is clear to me, at least; these guys did what they thought they needed to do to neutralize a person they had stopped driving a van full of weed...sorry, Marijuana... who decided to jump out of the vehicle and try to escape American justice. He got shot at, hit in a "non deadly" place, and ultimately escaped.

Putting aside for a moment the back and forth about legal jiu litsu and what the Prosecution was able to block from being introduced into evidence about this guy's criminal record, and the "victim's" willingness to turn State's evidence in exchange for immunity, these Border Patrol agents were convicted for [again, in my personal opinion] only doing their jobs. Today, the 5th circuit upheld them...I disagree...and so does Texas Senator John Cornyn:

While I am still reviewing this opinion, it’s clear that Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean will not receive the relief that they deserve. It’s been more than one year now since Senator Feinstein and I first called on the President to address this miscarriage of justice. With this court decision, it is now more important than ever for the President to act.

As I have long said, it is incomprehensible to me that an illegal alien drug smuggler was allowed to violate his immunity agreement, perjure himself and be granted a series of unlimited visas to roam free in our country while two border patrol agents were given excessive prison sentences. The sentences of 11 years for Agent Ramos and 12 years for Agent Compean were significantly higher than for many other serious crimes.

This administration has now had ample time to carefully gather and review the facts of this case. The facts, in my view, point to a clear case of prosecutorial overreach and a case where the sentence does not match the crime. This case cries out for a commutation that is fair and just, and I once again call on President Bush to act.

Our President has done plenty of things over the last 7 years to both excite us and drive us crazy. He has signed bills we railed against, and vetoed ones we had a hard time understanding his intention...fine-this is a gimme Mr. President.

The convictions stand...now, cut them loose to get their lives back and move on to something a whole lot less ridiculous than trying to enforce laws with no Judicial system out there to watch their backs...

Cut 'em Loose Mr. President, and do it now.

Sorry - a la "The Exorcist" - that's all that ran through my head as I listened to the Obamessiah give his sermon at a place that once enjoyed a similar spectacle when Hitler addressed his OWN zealots...and we all know how well THAT worked out, don't we?

I'm likely "dirtied" by the speech because I first heard it as Limbaugh threw down his commentary throughout the hand-picked snippets he selected to further his points against Obama, but a read-thru later only helped support the Godfather's initial claim; Obama is staggeringly stunning with all this pretentiousness. Never before have I witnessed such reverence and grandeur for a kid who has no business being where he is, save for the love train he enjoys from the enabling media conglomerates and a lot of interesting personal connections.. This man makes me ill.

As Rush pointed out, Obama actually apologized for America, and he lifted himself up above his "American-ness" declaring he is a "citizen of the world"...

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Jesus and Obama...together in a group photo with a couple OTHER interesting folks...

Can we recall a time not so long ago when the big hullaballoo was made over Huckabee's allegedly intentional religion-based subliminal imagery? I sure do...the collective hair of the Democrats went into spontaneous combustion. Ol' Huck had lots of splainin' to do, as I recall, and all this over a book shelf in the background that looked like a cross.

Help me understand why there will be no such similar upheaval when the world sees this photograph (H/T Drudge) appearing to put Obama on an equal footing with Jesus...and all this while he and Jesus are depicted alongside Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and whoever that other guy is...that's not Che Guevara is it?

Boy howdy...go to the Middle East, pontificate about your righteousness, and get your pic alongside Jesus...white dove in full tow...all while you're hangin' at the Temple of Hercules no less.

I'm SURE there will be an uproar from the left..right?