Oh wait! There's an election next year?

Better postpone implementing the (wildly unpopular and sure to put a dent in the economy) provisions of Obamacare (the media is back to calling it the Affordable Care Act now that they've twigged to the fact that the vast majority of Americans don't want it) until after the election so that people don't vote for Republicans.

Nothing political here folks.  Move along.

How about them speechwriters

President Reagan used to take a lot of flack from the left, who claimed that he was an ignorant buffoon whose only skill was the ability to effectively deliver a speech that was written by someone else.  The lie was put to that claim when his personal documents were released, showing the copious hand written modifications he made to his speeches before giving them, as well as communications he had with his speechwriters.  Turns our he wrote or edited most speeches he gave, in each case making them better.

Now we have the current president, who has been hailed as a brilliant motivator and speaker.  This short video suggests otherwise.

Here are the highlights

1) __________ (insert country name) punches above their weight.  (Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Ireland, Philippine)

2) No stronger ally than _______________ (insert country name).  (Netherlands, Australia, Poland, Great Britain, Germany, Republic of Korea, Israel, France, Italy, Japan)

Really too bad that this brilliant communicator can only come up with one metaphor and one way to describe our friends and allies.  And for you lefties out there who still rant about what an idiot Reagan was, maybe it's time to read some of the writings he left behind.  You might be surprised.

I'd start with Dear Americans, which contains many of the letters he wrote in response to personal communications he received as President.  Did you know that this warmongering idiot took the time to personally respond to dozens of letters that he received each week from private citizens?  Probably not.  Well worth the read though.

The Consistency of the Gray Lady

In 1995, with a Democratic President and a Republican Senate Minority, the NY Times editorialized that it was time to eliminate the filibuster.  They referred to Republican use of the filibuster as a "relentless abuse of a time honored tradition".

In 2005, with a Republican President and a Democratic Senate Minority, the NY Times editorialized that the filibuster was an important safeguard in protecting "unrestrained majority rule".  They referred to Republican's plan to eliminate the use of the filibuster for judicial nominations as a "dangerous game".

In 2012, just three days ago, with a Democratic President and a Republican Senate Minority, the NY Times editorialized that it is time to end the filibuster against judicial nominess.  They referred to Republican use of the filibuster as "cynical partisanship and cheap tricks".

Speaking of cynical partisanship...

Oh well, at least the Times is consistent.  Consistently in favor of anything that will allow the Democratic party to get whatever they want.

It's Just Surreal

The Republicans in the House pass a bill that extends the payroll tax cut for a year and unemployment benefits for a year.

The Democrats in the Senate pass a bill that extends the payroll tax cut for two months and unemployment for two years.

The President is widely reported as criticizing the House Republicans for attacking the middle class by refusing to pass a payroll tax cut.  (As noted above, his criticisms are an absolute lie.)

The House Republicans cave and pass the Senate bill at the last second, after being mercilessly hammered in the media for a solid week.  John Boehner, given an opportunity to explain the Republican position and the truth, gives a weak speech about how doing the right thing is difficult and never mentions the lies the President told.

Sometimes I feel like Moses in the wilderness. How many years must conservatives have the sensible ideas and the moral high ground, and get their figurative tails handed to them every single time by the Democrats and the media?  When will these politicians learn to actually attempt to communicate their ideas to the public instead of caving at the first opportunity.

The Tea Party is Violent, Part 213

In case you haven't been keeping track, the #occupy movement hit incident 213 today.  When I say incident I mean blatant lawlessness.  You may have seen the occasional story on the news but you probably aren't seeing them all listed at once to show the serious issues going on within the #occupy movement.  Contrast this to the fabricated stories put out about the violent tendencies and racist attitude of the Tea Party movement.

http://bigjournalism.com/jjmnolte/2011/10/28/occupywallstreet-the-rap-sheet-so-far/

PS Breitbart points out that he isn't even including collateral damage and law enforcement costs, and, in case you are wondering where the list comes from, he put it together from original news sources so no one can claim that these are fabricated reports.

Win Some, Lose Some

Well, the State of Washington is finally out of the liquor sales business.  Finally we should get some reasonable prices and a decent selection.  Took long enough but obviously the voters saw past the lies of the opposition.

The thugs at the SEIU pulled out a victory though.  Once again, the only way the unions get membership is to force it on people, instead of letting them voluntarily choose.  The problem for the unions is that given the option, people are not joining unions.  They've got nothing left other than forced membership and initiatives that purport to protect people but really lead to required unionism.  The initiative just passed gives the unions $80 million of taxpayer money and provides it to the unions to run training programs.  No choice, just money to the unions.  Meanwhile, what do you suppose the chances of the training program including a big push to join a union.  All funded by you and me.  Great.

Down Twinkles

Remember ACORN? No? Corrupt left wing organization, taking millions of federal dollars to support left wing causes and Democratic politicians? Broke up and renamed most of their affiliates after they were exposed.

So what are they doing now?

Yup. Paying homeless people to show up at the OWS protests. Apparently the protests aren't meeting expectations and need some help.

Hypocrite, n: One who professes virtues that she does not respect

Unless you are a real news junky you may not have heard of Fast and Furious. No, not the movie, the federal operation run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) where they leaned on gun dealers to allow sales to buyers connected with the Mexican cartels. The idea was supposedly to build a case against cartel members but no one was ever arrested or charged and the program became public due to a whistle blower after a Border Patrol agent was killed with a Mexican drug running wielding one of the guns. So now you are up to speed. You haven't read about it on the front page of your local paper because it makes the Administration look particularly bad.

Why am I bringing it up now? Well apparently Dianne Feinstein, Senator from California doesn't think the problem is that the federal government shouldn't be allowing gun sales to Mexican cartels. Instead she think that the real problem is that we don't have tough enough gun laws on us regular folk. Yup, that's right. The feds break the law and the problem is that our laws are too lax.

So, how does that relate to the title of my post? Dianne Feinstein is one of the few people in California with a Concealed Pistol Permit. As a former mayor and current Senator, apparently she has more rights than the rest of the people in California.

Lies, Lies, and More Lies

So the people that don't want the sale of liquor to be inexpensive or convenient in Washington state are running an ad which is one giant lie. They claim that kids will be able to go to convenience stores and buy liquor just like they (apparently) go to convenience stores and buy beer and wine.

Well, first of all, the initiative, which they should probably read before they spend money running ads opposing it, specifically states that only large stores will be able to sell liquor (over 10,000 sq feet if I remember correctly) so there won't be a convenience store in the state selling liquor.

Secondly, if it is so darn easy to buy beer and wine and convenience stores, why the heck aren't these people out clamoring for better enforcement?

The reality is that stores that routinely sell to minors get their licenses taken away and pay hefty fines.

I don't mind people bending the facts to fit their side of the argument just a little bit, but outright falsehoods? Really? I don't know why I still expect better, but I do.

Update: Here's a video by from Washington state Attorney General Ken Eikenberry.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tgKVXTFvV_Q?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I'm So Confused

Greed is bad,

buy our junk.

Which is it? Seriously guys. I didn't buy a Jimmy Buffett T at the Fruitcakes tour in 1994 cause they wanted too much money for it. We spent the evening laughing about Jimmy "making music for money" but we didn't protest Jimmy or try to keep him from doing his thing.

If greed is the problem, why is OK to sell a crappy "Occupy Wall Street" t-shirt for $30 on ebay. Sounds pretty greedy to me. Maybe you should go get a productive job and make your own money instead of trying to tear down a system that has resulted in more productivity, more freedom, and more wealth mobility than any other system in the history of the world.

Seriously. Go away.

A Step in the Right Direction

From Geert Wilder's speech in Berlin:

"Without the nation-state there can be no real national political freedom. That is why we must be good patriots. Patriotism is often branded as fascism. But patriotism is no fascism. On the contrary. Every democrat and defender of freedom must by definition be a patriot. A soul needs a body. The spirit of political liberty cannot flourish outside the body of the nation-state. The nation-state is the political body in which we live. That is why we must preserve and cherish the nation-state. So that we can pass on the liberty and the democracy which we enjoy to our children."

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