LEE RODGERSMILITARY MIGHT VS. UNEMPLOYMENT ...
JAN VS. THE O-MAN
... DEMS & NEWT VS. SUCCESS
... DEMS & NEWT VS. SUCCESS
For your consideration ...
The Obama administration is about to make massive cuts in our military personnel.
We have a huge unemployment problem.
Among the people having the most difficulty finding jobs are returning veterans; nobody's hiring.
Therefore ...
Does it not make more sense to retain these people about to be cut out of the military to maintain them in the armed services, where they may be important to the defense of the nation, than to have them being paid unemployment compensation in a dead job market?
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At what point will Mitt Romney realize that the biggest burden he bears is his Massachusetts health plan and simply admit that he made a mistake? Prospective Republican voters are far more likely to forgive a mea culpa than his ongoing attempts to explain and excuse it. If he continues to cling to his rationalizations, the Democrats will use it against him -- and probably with great effectiveness.
There lingers the possibility that Santorum may supplant Gingrich as the anti-Romney candidate. He had a good night in the Thursday debate and there's always the chance the volatile Newt might yet implode.
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Despite the layers of male bovine excrement being spread by the Big Media, the basic facts about the Obama-Brewer airport contretemps are simple. Governor Jan Brewer and the Arizonans who elected her and who live on the most-crossed (illegally) border in the nation want our immigration laws enforced. Barack Obama doesn't want them enforced, and doesn't want to listen to anyone, even a governor, who disagrees. (see following item.)
Governor Brewer has released her handwritten letter to the president. There is absolutely nothing offensive in it. She does, however, repeat her invitation to join her on a visit to the border. Given Obama's avowed concern for the environment as just one facet of the dispute over law enforcement, we who live near the border (in my case, thirty minutes) have no doubt that anyone concerned about environmental issues would be dismayed at the destruction wrought by the illegal alien traffic.
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Al Cardenas in the Washington Times expands on Obama's blatant disregard of immigration law ...
"President Obama’s State of the Union address - coupled with recent troubling decisions by his administration to expand a pattern of de facto amnesty for illegal immigrants - cemented the unfortunate reality that this president continues intentionally to abdicate a responsibility to advance serious immigration reform. Empty rhetoric, repetitive platitudes and continued support for the already-rejected Dream Act do not make up a comprehensive proposal to this complex policy issue.
"These remarks follow the administration’s decision to ease certain regulations on the visa program and move to release some deportation cases by focusing solely on whether a person poses “a national security threat,” only the latest addition to a list of blatant unilateral White House orders intended to curry favor with Hispanics."
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What Obama left out of his State of the Union speech ...
Amount of government handouts to individuals ... up 32% in the three years of his administration.
Number of Americans on food stamps ... up 45% in three years.
(figures from the government's own Census Bureau)
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Mark Steyn offers a corrected version of Obama's State of the Union speech ...
"Had I been asked to deliver the State of the Union address, it would not have delayed your dinner plans: "The State of our Union is broke, heading for bankrupt, and total collapse shortly thereafter. Thank you and good night! You've been a terrific crowd!"
"I gather that Americans prefer something more upbeat, so one would not begrudge a speechwriter fluffing it up by holding out at least the possibility of some change of fortune, however remote. Instead, President Obama assured us at great length that nothing is going to change, not now, not never. Indeed the Union's state — its unprecedented world-record brokeness — was not even mentioned. (Investors Business Daily)
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Capital gains, a profit made on investments that create businesses and jobs, are taxed lower than regular income to encourage such investment. American business investment is hampered because our rates are still higher than those of countries competing with us. Criticism of money thus earned within the bounds of our tax laws shows either (A) no understanding of how an economy works, or (B) blatant demagoguery.
BTW, when Obama talks about how Warren Buffett's secretary pays "more in taxes than does her boss," he is -- how can I put this subtly -- a blatant liar.
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Consider the hypocrisy. Now that Mitt Romney is a possible -- or even likely -- Republican presidential nominee, the Democrats and their media whores are exercised about his wealth. Let's see ... Roosevelt was rich ... Kennedy was rich ... LBJ was rich ... Clinton has gotten rich off his years in the White House. But now, wealth is despicable. Candidate John Kerry was rich, largely because of his wife's money. But now, wealth is somehow ... evil.
Hmmm ...
And Newt Gingrich, who's hardly a poverty case, joins the chorus.
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Andrew McCarthy exposes the liberal fantasies about the now one-year-old "Arab spring" ...
"The most important fact in the Arab world — as well as in Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other neighboring non-Arab territories — is Islam. It is not poverty, illiteracy, or the lack of modern democratic institutions.
"The second fact is that Islam constitutes a distinct civilization. It is not merely an exotic splash on the gorgeous global mosaic with a few embarrassing cultural eccentricities; it is an entirely different way of looking at the world. Enthralled by diversity for its own sake, we have lost the capacity to comprehend a civilization whose idea of diversity is coercing diverse peoples into obedience to its evolution-resistant norms.
"We consequently pretend that Muslims who accurately invoke Islamic scripture in the course of forcibly imposing the dictates of classical sharia — the Islamic legal and political system — are engaged in “anti-Islamic activity,”
"In places where Islam is the central fact of life, even Muslims who privately dismiss sharia take pains to honor it publicly.
"If you understand this, you understand why Western beliefs about the Arab Spring — and the Western conceit that the death of one tyranny must herald the birth of liberty — have always been a delusion."
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Mr. RWS (he's shy) wants to broaden our foundation of knowledge with a few obscure facts ...
Look at your zipper. See the initials YKK? It stands for Yoshida Kogyo Kabushibibaisha, the world's largest zipper manufacturer. (Men: don't check in public!)
On the average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily. (So that kid DOESN'T really look like you?)
Chocolate kills dogs! True, chocolate affects a dog's heart and nervous system. A few ounces is enough to kill a small sized dog. (So I'll take Fido's share.)
Leonardo DA Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time. (And never had trouble handling the remote.)
Bruce Lee was so fast that they actually had to slow a film down so you could see his moves. That's the opposite of the norm.
Mosquito repellents don't repel... They hide you. The spray blocks the mosquito's sensors so they don't know you're there.
Marilyn Monroe had six toes on one foot. (Vital info for foot-freaks.)
Adolf Hitler's mother seriously considered having an abortion but was talked out of it by her doctor.
The three most valuable brand names on earth: Marlboro, Coca-Cola, and Budweiser, in that order.
To escape the grip of a crocodile's jaws, prick your fingers into its eyeballs. It will let you go instantly. (Always worked for me!)
The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.
A cockroach can live for 10 days without a head. (A good foundation for a political career.)
The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910. (Horny little devils ... )
A person will die from total lack of sleep sooner than from starvation. Death will occur about 10 days without sleep, while starvation takes a few weeks.
An average person uses the bathroom 6 times per day.
Beards are the fastest growing hairs on the human body. If the average man never trimmed his beard, it would grow to nearly 30 feet long in his Lifetime. (If we all did it, Gillette would go broke.)
More than 40,000 parasites and 250 types of bacteria are exchanged during a French kiss. (But well worth it!)
The most common name in the world is Mohammed.
It is impossible to lick your elbow. (Too bad. I understand it's an erogenous zone.)
Don't say you didn't learn anything today!
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"Showdown at Generation Gap," produced by the Sky-Guy ...
Our 10 year old grandson was looking through some of my old pictures when he noticed me in my Army class "A" dress uniform.
"What kind of costume is that?" he asked.
"That's not a costume, I said. "Men have died for this uniform."
"Our grandson looked up at me and said, "So you stole it, then?"
MORE BLOWN BUX ON ELECTRIC CARS ...
MITT MAULS NEWT
... BARNEY-READY NUPTIALS
... BARNEY-READY NUPTIALS
Congratulations appear to be in order. Retiring Congressman Barney Frank, 71, is engaged to be married to Jim Ready, 42. Cong. Frank told interviewer Charlie Rose, “I’m in love for the first time in my life.”
The happy couple will be married in Massachusetts. No indication which, if either, will wear white.
We're attempting to ascertain whether Barney and Jim are registered at Walmart or Victoria's Secret.
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Here we ago again, with another expensive (to the taxpayers) flop by the enviro-nuts and their Maximum Leader in the White House.
The Ener 1 Company, which got a $118,500,000 "stimulus" grant from the Energy Department to develop batteries for electric cars, has filed for bankruptcy.
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Scott Rasmussen of the Rasmussen Reports poll was a longtime on-air regular during my lengthy broadcasting career and I have a high regard for the accuracy of his organization. (I often told him, "You're at the top of my list of pollsters. Of course, if you're wrong on a big one or two, I'll drop you like a bad habit." He took it in good humor.)
This is simply to preface his latest Florida polling of likely Republican voters, which at this writing has Romney over Gingrich, 39%-31%.
Of course, given the volatility of the race, along with polling that shows a third of those Republicans would like to have another entrant, current polls could be outdated by sunset.
There's a growing consensus, however, that Newt is getting sunburned in the Sunshine State and that Romney got the better of last night's debate and Gingrich faltered -- again.
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The Rasmussen daily presidential tracking poll, which measures those likely voters who strongly approve of Obama's performance against those who strongly disapprove, not long ago had the "disapprove" rating running upward of 20% over the approvals. As of yesterday, it's down to a 13% spread on the negative side. And still slipping as the Republicans continue to macerate each other.
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At times I have worked in TV and radio operations that used call-in audience polls (the same thing done now via internet, Twitter, etc.) as fodder for on-air discussion.
I always made it a point -- sometimes to the dismay of management -- to clearly state that since the participants in such a poll were self-selecting, it was in no way scientific or representative of the general public and was therefore unreliable. Fox News Channel polls today are a current example of such bogus "polling".
All this comes to mind because of Gingrich's demand for airing of audience reaction at the "debates". It is a tactic familiar to comedians, Elmer Gantry-type evangelists, et al. It's been a common tactic used throughout history to get momentum from a crowd. To choose another example from history, ol' Adolf wowed 'em at Nuremberg. Really got 'em fired up!
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Public figures, even in this age of massive data storage, seem to forget that their words can come back to haunt them. Reader Rick exhumed this Quote of the Decade:
"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US Government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies.
"Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that, 'the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better."
Who said it? The man who has increased the national debt by more than all previous presidents combined.
Senator Barack Hussein Obama, speaking in March, 2006.
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Economics Professor Walter Williams of George Mason University summarizes Obamanomics ...
"Last week, President Barack Obama, at a Capital Hilton fundraising event, told the crowd, 'We can't go back to this brand of you're-on-your-own economics.' Throughout my professional career as an economist, I've never come across the theory of 'you're-on-your-own economics.' I'm guessing what the president means by -- and finds offensive in -- 'you're-on-your-own economics' is that it's a system in which people are held responsible for their actions, that they take risks and must live with the results, that people can't force others to pay for their mistakes, and that they can't live at the expense of other people."
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Liberals threaten it when a Republican is elected; some conservatives actually do it when a socialist is elected president. Bail out, that is.
The numbers are relatively small, but the fact is that the number of Americans renouncing their citizenship to live elsewhere has drastically increased since the election that put Obama in office. Approximately 4,000 people gave up their citizenship from fiscal year 2005 to FY 2010. Renunciations increased sharply within the past three years, from 146 in FY 2008 to 1,534 in FY 2010. And during the first two quarters of FY 2011 alone, 1,024 Americans ditched their citizenship.
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John Crudele (NY Post) takes a shot at Ben-the-boob at the Fed ...
"Albert Einstein said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Federal Reserve bigwigs met Wednesday and said they would continue to keep interest rates low, probably through 2014. And Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, the biggest wig of all, is still seeing those green shoots in the economy.
"March, in case you’ve forgotten, will be the third anniversary of Bernanke first spotting those shoots that never seem to sprout into a full plant, despite being watered by historically low interest rates over an abnormally long period of time."
Addendum: Little Timmy Geithner, our tax-evading Secretary of the Treasury, has announced he won't be back if there's a second Obama term. Perhaps even someone as dumb as Timmy has figured out he's in line to be thrown under the bus as part of Obama's excuse-a-thon for his administration's economic failures.
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Reader Tom poses a pertinent question ...
“If liberals think that a SUSTAINABLE ecology is a good idea, and we all need to live SUSTAINABLE lifestyles, relying on SUSTAINABLE sources of energy, how come they don’t believe in a SUSTAINABLE economy?”
“Or, do liberals think that borrowing forty cents of every dollar spent by the government every year as far as the eye can see is a SUSTAINABLE fiscal program?”
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The Los Angeles Times reports that Robert Hegyes, an actor whose Jewish-Puerto Rican character Juan Epstein was one of the Sweathogs on the 1970s TV sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter, died Thursday of a heart attack in New Jersey. He was 60.
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Mr. Sorkin reminds us of a time-tested Milton Friedman quote. The great economist said, "I’m in favor of freedom, and freedom is not fairness.
Fairness means somebody has to decide what’s fair.
The society that puts equality before freedom will end up with neither.
The society that puts freedom before equality will end up with a great measure of both.
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It happened in Florida. A woman was stabbed in the chest by her fiance's ex-girlfriend. The victim was saved by a recently-acquired boob-job. The silicon implants protected her, stopping the knife from deeper penetration.
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So Pat Sajak 'fesses-up to taping some episodes of "Wheel of Fortune" while he was drunk. Of course, his job didn't exactly present great intellectual challenges.
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More media mangling of the language ...
To DEFUSE is to remove the fuse from an explosive, or in common usage, to minimize friction or disagreement. To DIFFUSE is to scatter something thinly.
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Sam proudly (?) presents Socially Unacceptable Humor ...
I saw a poor old lady fall over today on the ice. At least I presume she was poor. She only had $1.20 in her purse.
A wife says to her husband, “You're always pushing me around and talking behind my back.” He says, “What do you expect? You're in a wheel chair.”
Sam, go to your room! You're grounded for a month!
NEWT NEWS ... BUFFETT'S PITIFUL
SECRETARY ... EDUCATORS?
As of this morning, the latest Florida Republican primary polls show Gingrich's suddenly-developed (post-South Carolina) lead just as suddenly shrinking. Gallup has Gingrich up by 3. Insider Advantage, the latest polling available as of this pre-dawn writing, has Romney up by 8. The Florida Chamber of Commerce's poll finds Gingrich and Romney in a dead-heat at 33% each. Quinnipiac has Romney back on top by two points, 36-34%.
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Newt Gingrich now cloaks himself in the mantle of the Republican party's icon, Ronald Reagan and emphasizes his alleged role in the policies and events that have elevated the late president's stature.
This is from Newt in 1986: “Measured against the scale and momentum of the Soviet empire’s challenge, the Reagan administration has failed, is failing, and without a dramatic change in strategy will continue to fail ... President Reagan is clearly failing, due to his administration’s weak policies, which are inadequate and will ultimately fail ... The burden of this failure frankly must be placed first on President Reagan.”
He called Reagan's summit meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev, “The most dangerous summit for the West since Adolf Hitler met with Neville Chamberlain in 1938 in Munich.”
All President Reagan did, of course, was bring down the Soviet Union.
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From Obama's tepid, re-run State of the Union speech: "This nation is great because we built it together." Who's "WE", bucko?
Not that any of the Republican candidates will have the guts -- or sense -- to use this nonsensical boilerplate mendacity against him.
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Forbes, the business magazine, was curious about the salary of Warren Buffett's secretary, Debbie Bosanek, since she was used as a prop at Obama's State of the Union speech and is held up as an example of "unfairness" because she allegedly pays more in taxes (actually in percentages, not real dollars) than her employer; his income is largely from long-term capital gains, taxed at 15%. (Anyone who's ever sold a house at a profit after holding it for more than a year has benefited from the same rate.)
It seems that, in order to exceed her boss's rate, Ms. Bosanek is being paid between $200,000 and $500,000 a year, the next bracket upward of 15%. Not bad for Omaha, so a pity-party may be premature.
The Smoking Gun website also finds that she owns a four-bedroom second home in a suburb of Phoenix.
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Did the hideous left-wing propagandist Andrea Mitchell of NBC really say that Mitt Romney's parents were illegal aliens? And she still has a job?!
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When Obama talks about "more support for education," this is what he really means: "I want more borrowed money or tax dollars to give to the teachers' union and the education establishment because I know that those people have bought into a socialist agenda and are among my biggest supporters. They're mostly leftists -- just like me."
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What are you getting for your tax dollar spent on education? Prof. Walter Williams of George Mason University offers ...
" ... some sample test questions for you to answer. Question 1: Which of the following is equal to a quarter-million? a) 40,000, b) 250,000, c) 2,500,000, d) 1/4,000,000 or e) 4/1,000,000. Question 2: Martin Luther King Jr. (insert the correct choice) for the poor of all races. a) spoke out passionately, b) spoke out passionate, c) did spoke out passionately, d) has spoke out passionately or e) had spoken out passionate. Question 3: What would you do if (someone) sprained an ankle? a) Put a Band-Aid on it, b) Ice it or c) Rinse it with water.
Guess whether these questions were on a sixth-grade, ninth-grade or 12th-grade test. I bet the average reader would guess that it's a sixth-grade test. Wrong. How about ninth-grade? Wrong again. 12th-grade test questions? Still wrong.
According to a Heartland Institute-published School Reform News article titled "Who Tells Teachers They Can Teach?", those test questions came from prospective teacher tests. The first two questions are samples from the Praxis I test for teachers, and the third is from the 1999 teacher certification test in Illinois. According to the Chicago Sun-Times (9/6/01), 5,243 Illinois teachers failed their teacher certification tests."
-- (Townhall.com) --
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If the Big Zero really wants everyone to "pay their fair share," he should start with the 47% of Americans who pay no income taxes at all, and explain how THAT is fair. What's the word? Oh, yes: Freeloaders.
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Democrat #2 in the House, Cong. Steny Hoyer, must have a short memory as he insists that no president in thirty years has shown Obama's "willingness to compromise." It was only two dozen years ago that Bush Sr. compromised himself right out of the White House by caving in to the Democrats and violating his "no new taxes" pledge.
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The public is tired of the same old hollow promises from The Great Imposter. According to the Nielsen ratings, the audience for Tuesday night's re-hash was down 21% from his first State of the Union speech ... and down 12% from last year's harangue. This decline despite the fact that no fewer than fourteen networks, on-air and cable, carried his speech.
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Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels seems like a level-headed fellow. Making it all the more a pity that he didn't have the ... whatever it takes ... to run for the Republican nomination, himself.
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Definition: AFFORDABLE, as used by liberals. A subsidy, using taxpayer money to provides goods and/or services to selected beneficiaries of a politician's largesse in exchange for votes.
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Erick Erickson in the RedState morning briefing ...
"Mitt Romney will find it very hard to beat Barack Obama because of what Barack Obama will do to him. Newt Gingrich will find it very hard to beat Barack Obama because of what Newt Gingrich will do to himself.
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Why am I concerned about the possible, even likely, outcome of November's presidential election? For all the bungling by the incompetent racist and socialist, Obama, I cannot help but recall the Winston Churchill quote used a few days ago in this space. The great man of the 20th century said, "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."
Years of media work involving volumes of feedback from the public long ago convinced me that a frightening portion of the population consists of mindless two-legged cattle. Combined with the likelihood of a seriously-flawed opponent, I regard the threat of an Obama re-election seriously.
Footnote: As Republican candidates savage each other, the Rasmussen continuing poll shows that the disapproval margin of public opinion re Obama is slowly but steadily shrinking.
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My often-stated view is that this nation has not had a real president since Reagan. Is Newt Gingrich the man to succeed to that mantle? When every credible poll shows that he'd lose to Obama by a big margin (Reuters News Service poll finds the margin 53-38%), one wonders if the cheering throngs in the debate halls are eager to take off on a kamikaze mission.
This is not a Romney endorsement; simply a recognition of presently-perceived reality.
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Now wonder so many dolts ... products of the American public education system ... delude themselves that Obama is a "great orator". The non-partisan Flesch-Kincaid readability test, applied to his State of the Union speech, finds that it was written at the eighth-grade level.
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Investors Business Daily summarizes another Obama foreign/economic policy disaster ...
"President Obama last year hailed a new era of energy cooperation with Brazil, vowing to make America Brazil's best customer. Brazil's response? To sell its oil to China.
"We want to help you with the technology and support to develop these oil reserves safely, and when you're ready to start selling, we want to be one of your best customers," Obama told Brazil.
"Ten months later, what does Obama have to show for this? A Brazil that has dismissed the U.S. as a lightweight and opted to sell its oil to China instead."
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Reader Lewis takes note of this explication of capitalism by Daniel Hannan, a member of Britain's parliament ...
"There’s nothing selfish about capitalism. Like every economic model, it is a matrix within which individual actors can behave morally or immorally. But here’s the thing: no one has yet come up with a system that rewards decent behavior to the same extent.
"In an open market based on property rights and free contract, you become wealthy by offering an honest service to others. I am typing these words on a machine developed by the late Steve Jobs. He gained from the exchange (adding fractionally to his net wealth) and so did I (adding to my convenience).
"Under the various forms of corporatism tried by fascist and socialist regimes, by contrast, someone else – generally a state official – gets to allocate the goodies, guaranteeing favoritism and corruption."
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A reason to be proud of being an Arizonan: Governor Jan Brewer chewing out Obama on his arrival in Phoenix yesterday. Seems the Big Nothing was annoyed by her book, "Scorpions for Breakfast," which discusses her signing of the state law cracking down on illegal immigration -- something the Marxist president doesn't want done.
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Dan Sorkin passes along some timeless quotes ...
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. ~Aesop
If we got one-tenth of what was promised to us in these acceptance speeches there wouldn't be any inducement to go to heaven. ~Will Rogers
Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber. ~Plato
When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I'm beginning to believe it. ~Clarence Darrow
Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other. ~Oscar Ameringer
A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country. ~Texas Guinan
There ought to be one day - just one - when there is open season on senators. ~Will Rogers
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A dying dynasty ...
Former listeners to my joint radio alma mater, KGO/KSFO, may be interested in the latest San Francisco ratings. The two former powerhouses continue to sink into insignificance. KGO is now in 12th place with a 2.8% share of the audience ... KSFO has dropped to 20th place with a 2.2% share.
Sic transit gloria.
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The Washington Times carries word that ...
... a new report from NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies titled "Global Temperature in 2011, Trends, and Prospects". It says, "Global temperature in 2011 was lower than in 1998."
"The truth is this: There is no such thing as an "average" global temperature. The history of our planet is a history of wildly fluctuating temperatures, locally and globally, from season to season, century to century, epoch to epoch.
"Only a generation as narcissistic as the baby boomers would assume that the temperature they were accustomed to as they came of age in the mid-20th century is the "correct" or "average" global temperature, which must be maintained in perpetuity no matter the costs."
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Crime news...
In Chicago, a building was stolen. A developer had put up the steel superstructure for a new commercial building ... and it disappeared.
Scrap-metal thieves apparently dismantled the construction and hauled it away.
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And the winner is--!
A wild moose was no match for an 85-year-old woman.
Dorothea Murphy of Anchorage, Alaska, who saw a moose attack her 82-year-old husband. The 97-pound woman grabbed a shovel, charged the moose and whacked it over the head. The moose quickly vacated the premises.
An adult moose can weigh as much as 1500 pounds, recalling the ancient wisdom that states, "It's not the size of the dog in the fight that matters ... it's the size of the fight of the fight in the dog."
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More mangled language ...
RUNG is a step on a ladder. WRUNG is the past and past participle of WRING; to squeeze out liquid or, colloquially, to pressure information or action from a person.
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The Sky-Guy says ...
All parents are proud of overachieving children. Yesterday while driving downtown I saw a bumper sticker on a car reading "My Kid Made Your License Plate".
OBAMA TRIES TO "SEAL" THE DEAL ... WHO
REALLY SHARES WEALTH
... THE OUTDATED "RACISM" ARGUMENT
... THE OUTDATED "RACISM" ARGUMENT
Obama touts "his" accomplishment in the rescue of hostages from Somalian pirates by ... Navy Seals.
He boasts of "his" achievement in the killing of Osama bin Laden ... by Navy Seals. And this is the same anti-military blowhard who is plotting drastic cuts in our defenses. The hypocrisy is staggering.
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Since the government's own figures show the number of Americans living in poverty is now higher than in many decades, one wonders why the Big Media aren't recycling their headlines of many years, inserting the name "Obama" in the stories that used to lament the plight of poor folk in "Reagan's America" or "Bush's America".
Ah, but we already know the reason, don't we?
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Mitt Romney finally got around to emphasizing the obvious regarding illegal immigrants and made the point that many of us have enunciated for years.
Contrary to all the liberal bullfeathers bemoaning the "impossibility" of rounding up millions of illegals and sending them home, all that has ever been necessary to drastically thin their ranks is enforcement of EXISTING employment laws and putting a stop to the granting of free or subsidized benefits.
In short, remove the bait that attracts illegal immigrants, whether they come here to work or freeload, and the problem is solved.
Now ... that wasn't hard -- was it?
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Anyone bother to compare, both in percentages and real-dollar terms, the money paid in both taxes and charitable donations by Romney (30%-plus) vs. Obama, Clinton, et al? And if Warren Buffett's secretary is actually "paying more in taxes than Mr. Buffett," as Democrat demagogues endlessly repeat, either she or her accountant is guaranteed the title of Stupidest Person on the Planet.
If Democrats don't like the capital gains tax law that they helped write, they should try to increase the taxes, then take the blame as investment in businesses that actually employ people diminishes even further. As it presently stands, our capital gains taxes are the most burdensome in the developed world; a major reason why more and more businesses relocate to other nations. And it happens even as union bosses whine and bellow for higher taxes, even as that policy drives away jobs.
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Today's must-reading: Victor Davis Hanson's dissection of the many and manifest failures of Obama's fantasyland foreign policy. It's at National Review Online.
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Common sense to the contrary notwithstanding, it's guaranteed that Obama's campaign will rely heavily on the allegation that racism is behind all his difficulties and motivates opposition to his failed presidency. This is already evident in statements by his supporters and quotes from his wife. Only the willfully stupid would fail to recognize that it was millions of white voters who put this fraud in the White House. Perhaps a loudly -- and often -- repeated reminder that black Americans now trail Latinos as a percentage of the population; they're no longer the largest minority and the gap vis a vis those of Latin heritage is widening.
While the nation may never shed itself of the racial tinge appearing somehow in discussion of virtually every issue that claims public attention, the plain fact is ... the nation elected a black president ... and he failed. Just as have many white presidents. Jimmy Carter comes first to mind. And the only possible cure -- and it's not always successful -- is replacement.
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The enviro-nuts' argument against the Keystone pipeline is ridiculous, yet the wimpy "leadership" of the Republican party continues to fail to counter it. "Environmental threat?" Then why are there already pipelines, many in place for years, crossing the disputed territory?
This is yet another example in a long history of such failures by Republicans; failure to use factual, clear-cut arguments to demolish the myths perpetuated by the lunatic left. It's as if most Republican politicians have a mental disorder that causes them to shrink in fear from challenging such silliness. Pathetic.
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If further evidence of Obama's stupidity in blocking the pipeline is needed, here it is: Crazy Al Gore supports his decision.
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Jonah Goldberg dissects Obama's opposition to the vital Keystone pipeline ...
"(Obama) administration officials have a rare form of Keynesian Tourette's syndrome whereby they blurt out phrases like "Infrastructure!" ... "Spending multiplier!" ... "Shovel ready!" ... "Nation-building at home!" ... "Investment!" almost as often as they draw breath."
"Just last week he announced that he wants to streamline government to cut red tape and make both government and the economy more efficient.
"It's all a farrago of lies.
"Now, maybe they believe all of this stuff, but that doesn't disprove they're lying; it just proves they're lying to themselves, too.
"Opponents say it would threaten the groundwater in Nebraska, where some 21,000 miles of pipeline already exist. But, as the American Enterprise Institute's Kenneth Green notes, any spilled oil would have to flow uphill to reach the Ogallala Aquifer.
"He's an ideologue who, like his environmental base, just doesn't like oil."
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If you have access (via internet or newspaper) to a transcript of last night's State of the Union speech, Arlys forwards a translation of the of the terms used by President Obama ...
"Investment" – Spending taxpayer money on Obama re-election constituencies such as government employee unions.
"Energy" – Something that flows from good intentions, government programs, "stimulus" spending but not pipelines.
"Sacrifice" – Tax hikes.
"Fair" or "Fair Share" – Tax hikes.
"Balanced" – Tax hikes.
"Special interests" – Taxpayers who do not wish to give their money to my friends.
"Regulations" – The governmental leash attached to the choke collar around the neck of the economy.
"Infrastructure" OR "Roads and Bridges" – Spending taxpayer money on those states voting Democrat in '08.
"Obstructionists" – House Republican lawmakers who have actually passed a budget -- NOT the Senate Democrats who have refused to pass a budget for 1,000 days.
"Wall Street" – 1. Where your IRA and 401(k) live. 2. A bauble to distract you from noticing my bailout of Fannie and Freddie.
"Profit" – Money without which jobs would never be created.
"I" or "Me" – Center of the known universe.
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A serious person might well wonder when -- or if -- the American public really becomes aware of the catastrophic future the current crop of politicians is creating for them ... there will be a major outcry for more serious punishment than a few congressional hearings that yield nothing. The kind of retribution that might have them shivering in cells, wondering what their own future holds -- if they have one.
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Burt Prelutsky defenestrates a recurring Ron Paul theme ...
"If Timothy McVeigh hadn’t existed, Ron Paul would have had to invent him. I mean, has there ever been an occasion when sane people have been discussing the existential danger of Islamic extremists when Rep. Paul hasn’t felt it necessary to climb aboard his portable soap box and remind us all that native-born terrorist McVeigh was not a Muslim? Apparently at some time in the distant past, someone told the congressman that he had come up with an excellent reason not to take the fight to Al Qaeda, the Taliban and the Iranian mullahs, but someone should tell Mr. Paul that it’s not quite the argument clincher he seems to think it is."
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The hill Gingrich has to climb ...
In national polls, his unfavorable votes far outweigh the favorables. In the Fox News-sponsored poll, for example, 27% of people surveyed hold a favorable view of the former Speaker of the House, while 56% have an unfavorable opinion of him.
... and Romney's persistent problem ...
Republicans with Tea Party inclinations, up to here with eastern-establishment types (which, in fact, both Bushes were, despite giving a Texas home address) still see Moderate Mitt as a hollow shell with no deeply-held conservative principles.
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Richard Rahn in the Washington Times attempts to lift the veil of ignorance that blinds far too many ...
"Last week, ABC News ran a story that led with the statement, “Mitt Romney has millions of dollars of his personal wealth in investment funds set up in the Cayman Islands, a notorious Caribbean tax haven.” What the reporters failed to mention was that ABC, a unit of the Disney Corp., also has millions of dollars in Cayman-registered funds. Probably most employees at ABC, including the reporters who wrote the story, have some of their money in Cayman-registered funds, as probably do many of you reading this column, even though you don’t know it.
"This is how the real world works. Most large- and midsize companies, unions, universities and other nonprofit organizations, including environmental organizations and state and local governments, have pension plans for their employees.
"The fund administrators properly diversify the risk of the pension monies and maximize the return by allocating portions of the funds to the various types of fund managers. Mr. Romney’s Bain Capital is an example of the type of firm that specializes in new companies and troubled companies."
It might be added that intelligent investors have long since figured out that there are offshore banks -- and some domestic banks -- doing business in Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, etc., that are far more stable than many of our own worrisome home-based institutions.
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A dude's gotta try ...
Russel Gentile of Melbourne, Florida, told the IRS he was not subject to mortal man’s laws but “resided in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Amazingly, the IRS was not sympathetic to his argument.
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The sensitive Arthur offers this ...
A Sunday school teacher was telling her class the story of the Good Samaritan. She asked the class, "If you saw a person lying on the roadside, all wounded and bleeding, what would you do?" A thoughtful little girl broke the hushed silence,
"I think I'd throw up."
OBAMA'S "STATE" SPEECH: HO, HUM
... A FLORIDA PREVIEW
... HANSON ON CALIFORNIA SCREAMIN'
... HANSON ON CALIFORNIA SCREAMIN'
I may watch the State of the Union speech, but like most people, I don't really need to do so because we already know our national situation after three years of the Obamination. Wretched.
We're really supposed to listen to a speech on economics from a man who's never run so much as a sidewalk lemonade stand? Really? I don't think so ...
One daily or weekly reminder comes with every visit to the gasoline pump. Remember what you were paying three years ago, before the Great Imposter moved into the White House?
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It's old news, discussed here months ago, but it's good to note that Bloomberg biznews again points out that a big winner in Obama's refusal to okay the Keystone pipeline project is his pet George Soros lookalike (i.e., rich socialist), Warren Buffett. Mr. Buffet's Burlington Northern railroad will profit hugely by transporting oil from western Canada that would otherwise be diverted -- and moved much less expensively -- via the pipeline.
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It is widely accepted that Mitt Romney is viewed by many conservatives as untrustworthy; a flip-flopper. I also subscribe to that view.
Today's recommended viewing is on the Drudge Report website and it may cause some to wonder about Newt Gingrich's reliability, as well.
Barry Goldwater, the late and longtime Senator from Arizona, is widely regarded as the father of the rebirth of conservatism. His adversary, representing the eastern so-called "moderate" wing of the Republican party, was New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller.
They were opponents in the 1964 Republican race for the presidential nomination.
Last night at the Florida debate, Gingrich said he supported Goldwater in that race. Two dozen years ago, he said the opposite. Video of both statements are side-by-side on the Drudge site.
Because long experience and extensive up-close contact with many high-level politicians in my longtime role in major-market media has led me to a healthy attitude of skepticism -- indeed, cynicism -- about the breed, I have developed a certain disdain for my fellow citizens who eagerly swallow the words they want to hear from aspirants to office. Thus my oft-stated refrain, "Never fall in love with a politician. They'll break your heart every time."
Again, I feel it necessary to re-state my position on the current race: I don't have a very high regard for Gingrich ... or Romney ... or Santorum. Nevertheless, they are the choices offered, like it or not. And I will (unenthusiastically) vote for whichever is nominated because I have a deep-seated fear of the consequences of re-electing a man whose deeds -- and words -- make it clear that he is hostile toward everything this nation is built upon and stands for.
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The crucial Florida primary takes place a week from now. As a one-time resident (Coral Gables), I humbly offer a brief primer on the political environment of the Sunshine State.
First, South Florida, dominated by the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale metroplex, is culturally northern with a large transplant population from New York, New Jersey and other northeastern liberal hell-holes ... the exception being the Cuban and Cuban-descended population, which has had more personal experience with the extreme version of liberalism, i.e., communism.
Conversely, from mid-state northward, starting around Orlando, North Florida is southern, akin to neighboring Georgia.
Thus, it is reasonable to expect that Gingrich will garner his votes primarily from the northern geographical part of the state, with Romney doing better among the fewer hardy Republicans who've survived the liberal domination of the southern region.
Who'll win? No idea, other than the polls that have had Romney with a big lead -- like Rasmussen -- seem to be swinging to Gingrich, bigtime. I would not, at this point, advise a wager either way that involves the title to your house, your car or your first-born child.
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Bret Stephens in the Wall Street Journal expresses the pessimistic fear nibbling at some of us ...
"Let's just say right now what voters will be saying in November, once Barack Obama has been re-elected: Republicans deserve to lose.
"It doesn't matter that Mr. Obama can't get the economy out of second gear. It doesn't matter that he cynically betrayed his core promise as a candidate to be a unifying president. It doesn't matter that he keeps blaming Bush. ... It doesn't matter that Tim Geithner remains secretary of Treasury. It doesn't matter that the result of his "reset" with Russia is Moscow selling fighter jets to Damascus.
... It doesn't matter that the Evel Knievel theory of fiscal stimulus isn't going to make it over the Snake River Canyon of debt.
"Above all, it doesn't matter that Americans are generally eager to send Mr. Obama packing. All they need is to be reasonably sure that the alternative won't be another fiasco. But they can't be reasonably sure, so it's going to be four more years of the disappointment you already know."
Tremble in fear.
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As of today, it has been 1,000 days since the Democrat-run Senate has passed a budget bill. This violates the law of the land, which requires an annual budget. Do you think those Democrats care?
-- (Thanks, John Hinderaker) --
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Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court is absolutely correct. If you don't like negative political advertising, the first and obvious solution is ... turn off your TV. Most of what's on it is junk, anyway. But forget exercising any holier-than-thou protest over the tactics used by politicians. They do negative ads about opponents for one reason. THEY WORK.
It is naive in the extreme to expect candidates for high office (or even low office) to shun the opportunity to savage opponents in a close race. The ego that impels them to run is unwilling to settle for less than victory at almost any cost.
Negative advertising works because many voters -- and I'm one of them -- more often are really voting AGAINST a candidate rather than FOR the opponent because experience has taught us that placing unrealistic hopes in any office-seeker is likely to end in disappointment. Just making an effort to keep the worst aspirants out of positions of political power is noble, in itself. And most of the time, it's the best we can do, anyway.
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Victor Davis Hanson considers where a generation of liberal madness has taken his home state ...
"... the veneer of civilization is proving pretty thin in California. Hospitals no longer have the money to offer sophisticated long-term medical care to the indigent. Cities no longer have the funds to self-insure themselves from the accustomed barrage of monthly lawsuits. When thieves rip copper wire out of street lights, the streets stay dark. Most state residents would rather go to the dentist these days than queue up and take a number at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Hospital emergency rooms neither have room nor act as if there’s much of an emergency.
"Traffic flows no better on most of the state’s freeways than it did 40 years ago — and often much worse, given the crumbling infrastructure and increased traffic. Once-excellent K–12 public schools now score near the bottom in nationwide tests. The California state-university system keeps adding administrators to the point where they have almost matched the number of faculty, though half of the students who enter CSU need remedial reading and math. Despite millions of dollars in tutoring, half the students still don’t graduate. The taxpayer is blamed in constant harangues for not ponying up more money, rather than administrators being faulted for a lack of reform.
"The average Californian ... forgot that civilization is fragile. Its continuance requires respect for the law, tough-minded education, collective thrift, private investment, individual self-reliance, and common codes of behavior and civility — and exempts no one from those rules. Such knowledge and patterns of civilized behavior, slowly accrued over centuries, can be lost in a single generation."
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For what it's worth ... Judicial Watch’s Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians for 2011
Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL)
Former Senator John Ensign (R-NV)
Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL)
Attorney General Eric Holder (D)
Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)
President Barack Hussein Obama (D)
Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA)
Rep. David Rivera (R-FL)
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
Rep. Don Young (R-AK)
Dishonorable Mentions for 2011 include:
Former Senator John Edwards (D-NC)
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA)
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano (D)
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)
Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY)
Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius (D)
-- thanks, Rick --
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I long ago got fed-up with the pointless hassling by the airport Gestapo, A/K/A the Transportation Security Administration. Some are nice about their necessarily intrusive jobs; others are seething with arrogance and rudeness. They have made travel even more annoying than our pathetic, mismanaged airlines.
So I hope Senator Rand Paul's encounter with the "security" people inspires some soul-searching by the idiotic Janet Napolitano, who runs the Department of Homeland Security and has oversight power over the TSA.
It may have escaped my notice, but have the TSA airport maulers ever caught a confirmed, for-real terrorist? Or do they simply fill their hours by annoying handicapped grandmothers and small children? And what are the hiring standards for this bogus operation?
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Thomas Sowell in Investors Business Daily unburdens himself re the plauge of rampant outspoken ignorance ...
"This may be the golden age of presumptuous ignorance. The most recent demonstrations of that are the Occupy Wall Street mobs. It is doubtful how many of these semiliterate sloganizers could tell the difference between a stock and a bond.
"Yet there they are, mouthing off about Wall Street on television, cheered on by politicians and the media. If this is not a golden age of presumptuous ignorance, perhaps it should be called a brass age.
"One of the reasons for so much presumptuous ignorance flourishing in our time may be the emphasis on "self-esteem" in our schools and colleges. Children not yet a decade old have been encouraged, or even required, to write letters to public figures, sounding off on issues ranging from taxes to nuclear missiles.
"Our schools begin promoting presumptuous ignorance early on. It is apparently one of the few things they teach well."
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A contributor who writes under the name Dumbplumber (he's anything but) offers this ...
"Thanks to a pandemic of short term memory loss shared by the ‘Moderate’ Right and the Left, the tentacles of the socialist hydra are simply multiplying and creeping into every nook and cranny of our government.
"And what do we get as a result? The ‘Have-Nots’ rallying for more of the pie supplied by the ‘Haves’; more rights for the minorities than the majority; more taxpayer cash going to bought-and-paid-for "allies"; more drip-drip-drip of eco-regulations chipping away at our productivity; more bureaucrats sucking the freedoms out of our lives; more vote-pandering by entrenched politicians at the expense of the nation."
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London Dave corresponds from across the Atlantic and submits this quote by THE great man of the 20th century, Winston Churchill, who evaluated the plague of socialism thusly ...
"Socialism is inseparably interwoven with totalitarianism and the object worship of the state. It will prescribe for every one where they are to work, what they are to work at, where they may go and what they may say. Socialism is an attack on the right to breathe freely. No socialist system can be established without a political police. They would have to fall back on some form of Gestapo, no doubt very humanely directed in the first instance."
Now, remind me: what was that Obama announced goal about a civilian police force equal in power to our military? Does such a prospect call to mind a fun bunch created by Mr. Hitler and his National SOCIALIST Party? As I recall, it was called -- oh, yes! The Gestapo!
(By the way, the photo of Winston and his tommy-gun sent by London Dave from the Churchill museum in London occupies a place of honor on my office wall.)
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Automotive News reports that Chevy dealers are refusing their GM-mandated quotas of the Chevy Volt for the very good reason that the electric junkers don't sell. Government Motors, of course, operates on the old Soviet principle that products should be forced upon customers, whether they want them or not.
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You should be aware of this. I received an e-mail from a "Peace" group wanting petition-signers opposed to taking aggressive action against a threatening Iran. I responded with, "We should have bombed the murderous bastards on 9/12, 2001."
In return I got a virus-laden response, which my computer's anti-virus program fortunately blocked.
Be aware that some of the "peace" pursuers are vicious criminals.
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From Founders Quote Daily --
"The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse." --James Madison, speech in the Virginia constitutional convention, 1829
- - - - -
Jay Leno --
"A hiker who was lost in a blizzard said he stayed alive by digging a snow tunnel and burning dollar bills for warmth. Today he was offered a job as President Obama's economic adviser."
NEWT WINS SOUTH CAROLINA; WAS THAT
ABC-TV's GOAL?
... BIG LIBERAL UNION BUYING ADS -- FOR NEWT
... BIG LIBERAL UNION BUYING ADS -- FOR NEWT
If you were one of the many feeling conflicted about where to place your support in the Republican primary race last week, you may be even more so after the Gingrich tidal wave rose in South Carolina. I certainly am, even though it was no great surprise.
It's been apparent for some time that, barring a political earthquake, the race was between Romney and Gingrich, offering a choice between doubts about Romney's commitment to conservative principles and the smell of demagoguery emitted by Gingrich.
Two things sealed the deal for Newt in South Carolina. First, Romney's floundering response about questions regarding his taxes and the company with which he was formerly associated, Bain Capital, doing banking business in the Cayman Islands.
On taxes: There is a word for his handling of the issue. The word is ... STUPID! A child could/should have expected that a rich man would be confronted with a demand to reveal his tax returns, and been prepared to do so. Immediately.
Unless he has something to hide, it courts such suspicion when he equivocates. There is nothing wrong with Romney or Bain doing banking business in the Cayman Islands or anywhere else as long taxes are not being illegally evaded. Neither he nor the company wrote U.S. tax laws; if they followed them, no one has grounds for complaint.
The oft-quoted late federal judge Learned Hand enunciated it clearly: "Anyone may arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which best pays the treasury. There is not even a patriotic duty to increase one's taxes. Over and over again the Courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everyone does it, rich and poor alike and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands."
The second factor was utterly predictable. When ABC-TV decided to run the allegations of his second wife that Newt wanted an "open marriage", it was guaranteed that the response from conservatives would be fury at ABC-TV that could be satisfied only by a pro-Newt vote because conservatives detest the liberal media.
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Mark Steyn in National Review gets to the crux of Romney's problem ...
"The nature of this peculiar primary season — the reason it seems at odds with both the 2009–2010 political narrative and the seriousness of the times — was determined by Mitt Romney. Even if you don’t mind Romneycare, or the abortion flip-flop, or any of the rest, there’s a more basic problem: He’s not a natural campaigner, and on the stump he instinctively recoils from any personal connection with the voters. So, in compensation, he’s bought himself a bunch of A-list advisers and a lavish campaign."
-- (more at National Review Online) --
Advice to Mitt from the Boys in the Backroom: Grow a couple.
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There is a question about the heated reaction to the ABC-TV story that will make Newt supporters uncomfortable but must be considered. Did ABC-TV achieve its goal by the unsubstantiated revelations?
Every major poll shows that Romney would be more likely to defeat Obama. If decision-makers at ABC-TV's news operation have an agenda to help re-elect Obama, would they not believe that cause would be best supported by promoting Gingrich? And how better to push his candidacy than by an attack that would provoke a predictable response by South Carolina conservatives?
If the real ultimate goal is to defeat Obama, from ABC-TV's perspective the hidden message to conservatives may well the encapsulated in the old adage, "Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it."
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The Democrat-supporting American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) apparently shares the liberal belief that Gingrich would be more easily defeated. According to Federal Election Commission records, that union has spent $1 million on an ad accusing Romney of greed.
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Veteran ABC broadcaster Jim Eason speaks from experience about media bias ...
"My first job in commercial broadcasting in San Francisco was with ABC Television during the 1964 political campaign between Johnson and Goldwater...ancient history. I know a little bit about commercial broadcasting, mostly radio but some television, and what I know isn't all good.
"Both before and after that summer, I reallized how far to the left our mass media had become, and I didn't like it. In the decade since I retired I see the leftward slant is worse, much worse, than it was. I have nearly stopped relying on the major news sources, but when I do check them out, I see the situation is terrible.
"The hit-piece by ABC news against a major candidate for President is disgusting. While I do believe the private life of a public figure - especially in government - IS, in fact, our business - I also believe there should be a line that won't be crossed.
"If the media had thoroughly investigated Barack Hussein Obama as seriously as they should have...he would have never set foot in the oval office.
"Shame on ABC News, shame on ABC - my alma mater."
And mine.
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Gingrich will now likely get the financial support necessary to carry the fight to the convention, but it nevertheless seems likely that the next primary, Florida, will be a major -- perhaps conclusive -- turning point. To win the White House, Republicans have to win that state. So more than any other, the Sunshine State may be decisive in choosing the nominee -- and the president.
With several sizable media markets, Florida is an expensive state in which to campaign.
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I believe we can all agree on this. Any supporter of Newt should retroactively swallow any critical words ever uttered about Bill Clinton's sexual ... peccadilloes.
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The importance of defeating an anti-American president became even more obvious when Obama, bowing again to his left-wing constituency, repeated his determination that a pipeline to bring Canadian petroleum across the border not be built. His action, if sustained, simply means that instead of from importing product from a friendly neighboring country, we will be further dependent upon long-haul shipments from nations that are hostile to us.
Canada, obviously and properly putting its own economic interests first, has expressed frustration with the White House buffoon and plans to build a pipeline instead to its own west coat in order to ship to an eager market in China.
Sheer idiocy on Obama's part. Unless, of course, his goal is that long suspected by many: an ever-weaker U.S.
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How stupid does even a Democrat have to be not to recognize that (A) gasoline prices have doubled since Obama took office and (B) the fool turned down the opportunity to increase supplies by rejecting the pipeline from Canada.
- - - - -
Then comes word from Brazil, where Obama's been eager to extend financial aid to develop that nation's offshore oil resources, even as he denies exploitation of our own similarly-situated petroleum. Word that, instead of exporting that oil to the U.S., Brazil has signed contracts to ship it to -- where else? -- China.
- - - -
-
Obama's pro-Muslim proclivities are surely further gratified by the election results in Egypt, where the final count shows that Islamist parties won nearly three-quarters of the seats in that nation's parliament.
Our domestic liberals are doubtless also thrilled at the prospect of an emerging Egypt controlled by people whose goal is clear and oft-stated: Undermine the western world, destroy democracy and prepared the way for ultimate world domination by a repressive medieval theocracy.
And Jimmy Carter, previous holder of the title "Worst President in History", is happy.
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An immigrant thug from Haiti named Kesler Dufrene was convicted of a felony for the second time in 2006. He was ordered deported. The Obama administration stopped the deportation. So he stayed. And murdered three people in North Miami, Florida.
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Thomas Sowell addresses the envy-based class warfare Obama is promoting ...
"Whole totalitarian governments have risen to dictatorial power on the wings of envy and resentment ideologies. Intellectuals have all too often promoted these envy and resentment ideologies. There are both psychic and material rewards for the intelligentsia in doing so, even when the supposed beneficiaries of these ideologies end up worse off. When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.
"Both politicians and intellectuals have made their choice."
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In one of the stupidest PR moves in business history, Carnival Cruise Lines, which owns Costa Cruises, is offering to survivors of that sunken ship refunds -- and a 30% discount ON A FUTURE CRUISE! It's an effort to allay lawsuits. The futility of this little exercise is magnified by the fact that an internet search often yields discounts of 50% and upward on cruises.
The industry is already hurting with excess capacity. This Costa debacle may hasten the demise of some lines.
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As usual, mistakes decided the NFC and AFC championship games. The Niners' defense was outstanding, but flubs by their punt returner handed victory to the Giants. And little need be said about the missed short field goal attempt by Baltimore's kicker which could have sent their lost game to the Patriots into overtime.
In the long and often-embarrassing history of performance of the National Anthem at sports events, Steven Tyler's butchering of "The Star Spangled Banner" at New England is a contender for the title Worst Ever. Only the utterly tone-deaf could have failed to shudder. My ears are still bleeding. And to think: this guy judges the talent of OTHER people on TV!
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Jim Eason also caught this latest exercise in media illiteracy as Fox News announced the death of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno ...
"Joe Paterno, the most winningest coach in college football..."
MOST WINNINGEST??
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A wretch is a vile, miserable or despicable person. To retch is to throw up.
And two words that are useful in print but should never be used orally are RAISE and RAZE. The potential for confusion is obvious.
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Thanks to Mike and the several others who noted the sinking of the Costa liner by recalling the dark humor attributed to Winston Churchill.
After his retirement he allegedly was cruising the Mediterranean on an Italian ship and some Italian journalists asked why an ex British Prime Minister should choose an Italian ship.
“There are three things I like about being on an Italian cruise ship,” said Churchill. “First, their cuisine is unsurpassed. Second, their service is superb. And then, in case of an emergency, there is none of this nonsense about women and children first."
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Peter reminds us of a another timeless quote by Winston Churchill ...
"The biggest argument against democracy is a 5-minute conversation with the average voter . . ."
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Crime does not pay ...
In Oregon a high-speed police pursuit ended with the fleeing criminal crashing his car ... into another car driven by a criminal who had also just fled from the police.
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"It's oh, so nice to go trav'ling but it's so much nicer ... yes, it's so much nicer to come home." -- Sammy Cahn/Jimmy Van Heusen.
We who are fortunate enough to live where we like and like where we live know that satisfaction. After a few days' sabbatical to recharge the batteries, it was very nice to return to our little town in Arizona to sunshine and a perfect 72-degree day. The Arid Zone never looked better.
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It costs nothing to forward this column -- or link -- to any number of people. Remember -- and act accordingly.
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Craig Ferguson --
"The first couple of episodes of "American Idol" are usually the highest rated of the season. Because there is something magical about watching people with dreams beyond their talent going on national TV and having those dreams crushed."
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Jimmy Fallon --
"Obama’s a big environmentalist. In fact, for the election he plans to recycle the same promises he made four years ago."
"...and now, if you'll excuse me..."