Monday, May 11, 2009

SAVING THE WORLD

From a bumper sticker in the parking garage:

SAVE THE WORLD
VOTE DEMOCRATIC

Sounds good, but inaccurate. It should read

SAVE THE WORLD (from DEMOCRATS)
VOTE REPUBLICAN

Sunday, May 10, 2009

9/11 REMINDER

This morning dawned a perfect fall day; cool, crisp, cloudless, no wind. Squirrels were active in the yard, and the birds singing.



The first thing my wife said when she came out to the porch: “This reminds me of 9/11.”

Say what you will about the Bush administration, I always woke up in the morning believing that the government was doing its level best to prevent another terrorist attack.

Not any more.

FAUX OUTRAGE

The Left is all a-twitter with fake outrage over comments by CBS Sports commentator David Feherty, who wrote (third article)

“From my own experience visiting the troops in the Middle East, I can tell you this, though: despite how the conflict has been portrayed by our glorious media, if you gave any U.S. soldier a gun with two bullets in it, and he found himself in an elevator with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Osama bin Laden, there’s a good chance that Nancy Pelosi would get shot twice, and Harry Reid and bin Laden would be strangled to death,”

in a satire-heavy piece that also called for capital punishment for pro-lifers.

Liberal watchdog Media Matters for America demanded an apology. “Mr. Feherty’s violent comments about Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid are disgusting,” said Media Matters President Eric Burns. “Suggesting that our troops would attack the leaders of the very democracy they’ve sworn to sacrifice their lives for is an insult to their integrity, honor, and professionalism.

Oh, nuts. Anyone who’s served with the military in the Middle East knows that Pelosi and Reid would be treated with respect, no matter how dark the innermost thoughts. I know; I’ve been there – twice.

Via Jules Crittenden. Read the whole piece, including the comments.

POLITICS? OR PRINCIPLES?

According to the Washington Post, "the D.C. Council member [Marion Berry] chose politics over principle in a vote against recognizing same-sex marriages."

[I]t was heartening to see council members facing election next year ... vote their principles in the face of a hostile audience threatening political retaliation. By contrast, Mr. Barry said he had to oppose the measure because he believed that is what his constituents wanted.

Isn’t that what a council member supposed to do? Represent his constituents?

Throughout his career as an activist, school board member and mayor, Mr. Barry has supported gay rights, fighting the ouster of a gay schoolteacher and backing recognition of domestic partnerships.

And so he’s a bigot and racist because he voted against recognizing gay marriages?

Sorry, but the Post got this editorial exactly backwards. The DC Council voted politically (correct); Marion Berry voted principle.

As a person, Berry is detestable. As Mayor of Washington DC, he was arrested for cocaine use; and he is a serial tax cheat who by all rights should be in the Obama admi..., er, jail. But this once, he was right.

Saturday, May 09, 2009

POLAR BEARS, MEET BUS

The Obama administration announced that it would continue a Bush administration rule forbidding government scientists from considering global warming when protecting polar bears pursuant to the Endangered Species Act.

The Obama EPA justified their decision, “saying that it’s scientifically impossible to use the Endangered Species Act to regulate greenhouse gases, which are contributing to the warming of the earth and the resulting melting of bears’ habitat in Alaska. The emissions from a cement plant in Georgia, for example, can’t be tied directly to the precipitous decline in polar ice.”

Um, OK, then. By that same logic, the EPA has no business regulating carbon emissions pursuant to the Clean Air Act. If the emissions from “just one car tailpipe in Arizona can’t be tied directly to global warming” and it is “scientifically impossible to use the Endangered Species Act to regulate greenhouse gases” than shouldn’t it is also be scientifically impossible to use the CAA to regulate greenhouse gasses?

At least the polar bear should be well-fed under the Obama bus.

IN THE GARDEN



Growing daisies ... well, Daisy Mae.

CURAHEE

Wait for the ad to end ...


Watch CBS Videos Online

"REBRANDING" GLOBAL WARMING

"With a number of studies now showing there has been no global warming over at least the last 10 years and that the Earth is actually cooling, environmentalists are looking to re-brand their message."

"The Denver Examiner reports 'global warming' was found to be too political and polarizing, so 'climate crisis' is recommended. The group urges the use of 'pollution' instead of 'carbon'; [and] 'new energy jobs' instead of 'green jobs'."

New bottle, same whine.

Friday, May 08, 2009

NO MORE YARD SALES

”Th[e] ... Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reminds the American people that, thanks to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, the government is totally in charge of your yard sale:”

This [28-page] handbook will help sellers of used products identify types of potentially hazardous products that could harm children or others. CPSC’s laws and regulations apply to anyone who sells or distributes consumer products. This includes thrift stores, consignment stores, charities, individuals holding yard sales (emphasis mine), and flea markets.

“Selling old kids books, anything with metal, paint, or plastic that a kid might use, old clothes or shoes with metal components that a kid might wear? You know, any of the stuff people routinely sell at yard sales? Technically, you could be on the hook for thousands of dollars worth of fines.”

Do you have your ObamaCare permission slip?

via Instapundit.

PANDEMIC

Heh. A definition to be remembered.

OBAMACARE



SHOE, by Chris Cassatt & Gary Brookins (Washington Times, 7 May 2009)

Says it all, doesn't it?

FROM MY EMAIL

I called my stockbroker yesterday and asked him, "What are you buying?"

His answer: "Canned goods and ammunition."

Thursday, May 07, 2009

HERE WE GO AGAIN

Does the Obama administration vetting process require them to be crooks?

President Obama's choice for the government's No. 2 housing job is embroiled in the largest fine in U.S. history for "blatant violations" of open records laws ... [T]he Washington State Supreme Court found the actions of Mr. [Ronald] Sims' office to be so "egregious" that they scrapped a lower court's order of a $123,780 fine - the largest ever assessed in a public records case - and recommended that the penalty be increased to as much as $825,000.

I’d almost rather it be so; the only other explanation is a frightful degree of arrogance and/or incompetence.

How many tax cheats and crooks has Obama nominated so far?

ALL THE NEWS ... (AGAIN)

On Tuesday, the D.C. City Council voted overwhelmingly (12-1) to approve a bill to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. The lone dissenter, Council Member Marion Berry was accused by a fellow council member of bigotry for his vote. It was worthy of a 17-paragraph above-the-fold front-page placement in the Washington Post.

On Wednesday, there was a school choice rally (reported by Instapundit; follow his links) on Pennsylvania Avenue across the street from the D.C. City Council. The rally had an attendance estimated at over 1000.

Of course, there was no news story ... nothing! ... in the Washington Post this morning. In a separate Metro-section story on President Obama's D.C Voucher compromise proposal, there was one sentence referring to the protest in a 17-paragraph story.

Gay rights and bigotry – newsworthy. School choice – not newsworthy.

All the news that’s fit to print. Right.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Post Script: I was hopeful the Washington Times, D.C.'s conservative newspaper, would do better. Sadly, I was wrong.

QUESTIONING THE VALUE OF REGULATION

ObamaCare in a nutshell:

“Fundamentally, the regulatory approach is focused on the lowest common denominator: the person who needs a warning sign to ensure that he doesn’t spill hot coffee on himself or who shuns any responsibility for his own decisions. Acting in his name, regulators restrict everyone’s choices and freedoms.”

Yes.

HEARD ON THE RADIO

The World Health Organization is afraid that “even more people will be susceptible to the next flu pandemic” because the current swine flu pandemic turned out to be a dud.

Well, yeah. Has anyone at WHO ever read about the little boy who cried wolf? After weeks of yelling “The swine flu is coming! Panic! You’re gonna die! News at 11 ... and at 10 ... and at 9 ... and at 8:45 ... and at 8:40 ... and at ...,” of course people are going to ignore you.

So what’s the typical reaction of the Nanny Statists? “Next time we have to yell louder.”

[Update] Don Surber comments, with more links.

WHY GOVERN WHEN YOU CAN BULLY?

Amity Shlaes: "In the past, politicians and policy thinkers tended to be magnanimous in victory. They and their friends focused, post-victory, on policy and strategy -- not on trashing individuals."

But now ... according to posts on three left-leaning blogs:

"Michele Bachmann’s version of history is 'from another planet.' Bobby Jindal, the Republican governor of Louisiana, is 'chronically stupid.' And Eric Cantor of Virginia, the second-ranking Republican in the House, is 'busy lying constantly.'

[T]he magnanimity isn’t there. Indeed, the closer the Democrats get to total power, the nastier the commentators friendly to them have become.

Shlaes attributes the nastiness to a combination of the internet, historical ignorance, and Democrat discomfort with power.

I’m not as generous. To me it’s arrogance born of certainty and a firm belief that anyone who dares dissent must, of necessity, be evil. Secular extremism, if you will.

CASH FOR CLUNKERS

[The] Obama administration says it will stand behind deal struck by House Democrats to push forward legislation to stimulate car sales.

The Obama administration has signaled its support for a congressional effort that aims to boost the troubled car industry by subsidizing new cars sales for consumers who scrap old ones.

Under the so-called cash-for-clunkers legislation, consumers with old, gas guzzlers could get $3,500 or $4,500 in government vouchers to use toward the purchase of new cars that get gas mileage that exceeds [that of] the old cars.

This is really a matter of getting the camel’s nose into the tent. The goal is to get Americans into “green” transportation by the simple expedient of offering only “green” vehicles for sale and removing "non-green" vehicles from the resale market.

I suspect the only effect of this legislation will be to increase the resale value of used cars.

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

COMBATING THE RIGHT

At the City University of New York:

THE RIGHT IN THESE TIMES:
UNDERSTANDING AND COMBATING CONTEMPORARY SHIFTS TO THE RIGHT
Second Annual Conference on "Rightist Movements"

Friday, May 1, 2009
The Graduate Center, City University of New York

Hmm. At a taxpayer-funded public University. When, do you think, will we see CUNY sponsor a first annual conference on “Leftist Movements"? About the time airborne swine droppings hit the pavement, I suspect.

Follow the links above and check out the participants.

ON CONSERVATISM

Don Surber gets it.

Republicans and the nation need to get back to the Ronald Reagan principles of less government and more individual freedom.

Conservatives will return to power when they give the nation what it needs — upfront and without apology.

Read it all.