John McCain: Still Pissy About 2008

Glad I'm not the only one that this occurred to. Had to go check to see if the "maverick" supported another Rice to be Secretary of State and, "Sacre Bleu," he did.

McCAIN: Condoleezza Rice is a great American success story. This is what America is all about. A young woman who grew up in a segregated part of America where Americans were not treated equally, to rise to the position of secretary of state. We should have been celebrating, I believe, this remarkable American success story.


Also, I thought that some of the remarks — and I’m not going to mention my colleagues’ names — some of the remarks aimed at her during the hearings challenged her integrity. We can disagree on policy and we disagree on a lot of things, but I think it is very clear that Condoleezza Rice is a person of integrity. And yes, I see this, some lingering bitterness over a very tough campaign. I hope it dissipates soon.

Surprise, surprise. McCain totally supported Ms. We Don't Want The Smoking Gun to Come in the Form of a Mushroom Cloud. And BTW, I hope John McCain's lingering bitterness over losing to Obama in 2008 dissipates soon. Though I would prefer if the good people of Arizona toss his sorry ass out the next chance they get. And yes, Lindsey Graham is a hypocrite asshole, too.

BuzzFeed’s Zeke Miller notes that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-NC), who is also opposing Susan Rice, backed Condoleezza. “[E]very intelligence agency in the world was misled. And to connect those two to say that she’s a liar is very unfair, over the line.”

Rich Guy For Romney

Hard to believe as it may be Sheldon Adelson was at one time a Democrat. Yeah, that's right but the "party left him." Apparently because they don't bow low enough to our Israeli overlords:

A sobering Gallup poll from last March asked: "Are your sympathies more with the Israelis or more with the Palestinians?" Barely 53% of Democrats chose Israel, the sole liberal democracy in the region. By contrast, an overwhelming 78% of Republicans sympathized with Israel.

I know I should wake up everyday and think about the well being of Israel before I do the US at least in Sheldon's world. I was afraid he had given all that support to Romney (at least after he beat out some of the even more extremist loons in the primary) because he was a greedhead who wanted his taxes cut to 0%. But no:

My critics nowadays like to claim it's because I got wealthy or because I didn't want to pay taxes or because of some other conservative caricature. No, the truth is the Democratic Party has changed in ways that no longer fit with someone of my upbringing.

There isn't a caricature strong enough for this guy. He's out of a Bond movie. Think Auric Goldfinger. Personally I think that as much as Sheldon LOOOOOVES the Israelis he might be trying to buy a "Get Out Of Jail Free Card" with a Romney win.

The WSJ wrote that the U.S. Attorney’s office in Las Vegas is looking into whether Sands and its executives violated U.S. anti-money laundering laws by failing to report suspicious activity by two big-spending gamblers.


The investigation involves Zhenli Ye Gon (who has been indicted on counts of trafficking methamphetamine ingredients) and Ausaf Umar Siddiqui, (a former executive of Fry’s Electronics who went to jail on bribe charges) who wired tens of millions of dollars to the Sands Venetian casino in Las Vegas during the mid-2000s.

In fairness this article does say that Adelson is not under investigation though God knows why.

For an alternate Republican viewpoint on Israel see Andrew Bacevich.

Peace means different things to different governments and different countries. To some it suggests harmony based on tolerance and mutual respect. To others it serves as a euphemism for dominance, peace defining the relationship between the strong and the supine.

No Word From Christie Yet

Let the two minutes of hate begin etc.

 New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg backed President Barack Obama over Republican Mitt Romney on Thursday, saying the incumbent Democrat will bring critically needed leadership to fight climate change after the East Coast devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy.


The endorsement from the politically independent and nationally recognizable mayor was a major boost for Obama, who is spending the campaign's final days trying to win over independent voters whose voices will be critical in determining the winner of Tuesday's election.

Voices of sanity do exist in the GOP.

Biden Wins Sartorial Debate

Joe Biden wins in the all important how-to-wear-a-fuckin'-baseball-cap debate:

vs.

It's no contest folks.



This Is a Real Picture?????

I can't believe this is not photoshopped. Put him and Ahmadinejad on an island somewhere because they deserve each other.

Bubble Boys

The Romney campaign seems to be illustrating the dangers of believing your own propagandists.

It may just be that (Romney) and those around him don’t grasp how the politics of foreign policy have changed in the Obama era – that the rhetoric Republicans routinely deployed against Democrats for the last decade doesn’t resonate anymore. There’s also the profound disconnect between the Obama caricature that the right has embraced – a weak, constantly vacillating leader who travels the world apologizing to other countries on America’s behalf – and the leader that the rest of the country sees. As Jonathan Chait theorized on Wednesday:

The miscalculation at work here is that Romney believed his “Apology Tour” method would neatly fit the events at hand — take an event that sort of vaguely resembled an Obama apology to Muslims who don’t like us, twist it around, and call it a day. But Romney had grown accustomed to spinning fantasies cobbled together from months-old Obama speeches and nurtured into legend by extensive repetition and exaggeration in the conservative subculture. What he failed to realize from the outset was that the embassy attack was an immediate, high-profile event that he could not hope to rewrite so brazenly.

Keep listening to Rush there Willard.

What if Ayman al-Zawahiri and other al-Qaida leaders gave up Osama Bin Laden for the express purpose of making Obama look good? Giving Obama stature, political capital. Obama got Osama! I mean really, do you think al-Qaida depends on Osama Bin Laden any more, like it did?… So they give him him, they give away his location. We go in, SEAL Team 6, Obama puffs up… Keep him in power, furthers the cause… Do you think the militant Islamists will be as hopeful of getting rid of Israel with a Republican president or with a Democrat president? Just throwing it out there.

The Republicans need to be beaten so badly that they come to their senses. It would be great to live in a country with two sane political parties.

Off to Local Fest 2012

In a bit of actual Hometown news today is local fest and I'll let Dave tell it since he's the professional writer.

The Shirt Factory in Glens Falls will be holding their inaugural LocalFest: Stuff Made Here event, on Saturday, September 8th.

The all-day festival is an exciting showcase of both the history and continued tradition of manufacturing in Glens Falls and the surrounding region. LocalFest will offer community members the chance to shop from local artisans, artists and locally owned businesses for a wide-range of unique products.

The Shirt Factory was once home to the McMullen-Leavens Company, one of the nation’s greatest shirt and dress manufacturers. Today the building provides a home to more than 70 artists and artisans, shops and creative and healing services.

Thanks Dave!

And that's how you copy and paste a post like a professor of polisci.

Defeat the Elites

I refuse to ask middle class families to give up their deductions for owning a home or raising their kids just to pay for another millionaire’s tax cut. I refuse to ask students to pay more for college; or kick children out of Head Start programs, or eliminate health insurance for millions of Americans who are poor, elderly, or disabled – all so those with the most can pay less.

And I will never turn Medicare into a voucher. No American should ever have to spend their golden years at the mercy of insurance companies. They should retire with the care and dignity they have earned. Yes, we will reform and strengthen Medicare for the long haul, but we’ll do it by reducing the cost of health care – not by asking seniors to pay thousands of dollars more.

Four more years!

A Modest Proposal From Tom Junod

Because they deserve some sort of recognition and because we are never going to have sensible gun laws in this country.

Republicans have won the gun-control battle. ... As such, the Republican Party now has the kind of historic opportunity that only victors enjoy. They have the opportunity to declare victory while at the same time extending a hand to the losers; to reach across the aisle and to relieve their Democratic counterparts of the terrible responsibility of actually doing something in the wake of national tragedies; to inject some realism into the gun debate while dealing with it on an entirely symbolic level; and most of all, to have something to offer grieving families beyond empty words, ineffectual promises, and hypocritical bromides:

A medal.

The medal would be called the Bearing the Cost of Freedom Medal, although, because it would be loosely modeled after the Purple Heart and would come with a black ribbon suitable for mourning, it could also be called the Black Heart.

Of course, it will never be as black as the hearts of those who support the NRA.

UPDATED: I really can't believe that so soon after putting up this post I have to update it with this. We have become a sick society.

Eight people were wounded, and at least two people are dead, after a shooting outside the Empire State Building in the Midtown area of Manhattan on Friday morning.

The shooting occurred at Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street around 9 a.m. ET. The New York Post reported that the incident was the result of a co-worker dispute; the gunman was fired from his job on Thursday and returned to his office today to target his boss, local and federal officials told NBC News, according to a tweet. The gunman, who was shot by police at the scene, and a bystander are both dead.

It's just disgusting.






 

GOP Convention News

That's if there is a GOP convention.

Tropical storm Isaac, which is gathering strength in the Caribbean, could strike Florida, hurricane forecasters say, triggering concern it might force a postponement or cancellation of the Republican National Convention in Tampa next week.

We'll see if God really is on their side. Worst case scenario for them is if Romney and Ryan get washed out to sea and they have to run Ron Paul because he isn't there because they didn't allow him to speak.

Comes this news that the Obama campaign is going to "disrupt" the convention which I see as a huge mistake. I really think the last thing you want to do is distract from the climate change denying, birth enforcing, granny killing, Kenyan Muslimming, birth certificating, God fearing all around craziness of the Republican convention.

Bucking protocol, President Obama and the Democrats are planning a full-scale assault on Republicans next week during their convention.
Presidential candidates have traditionally kept a low profile during their opponent's nominating celebration, but Democrats are throwing those rules out the window in an attempt to spoil Mitt Romney’s coronation as the GOP nominee.

It's so unfair. But Obama is from Chicago.

And just to prove that right-wingers don't "get" irony comes word that the theme of their convention is "we built this." This is in a stadium that was built with 62% of the funding coming from the public.

However, the stadium where the GOP will be announcing “We Built This!” was financed primarily by the government. The Tampa Bay Times Forum arena, which houses the Tampa Bay Lightning, was built in 1996 as the “Ice Palace” with 62% government funds. The total budget for the project was $139 million, of which public money accounted for $86 million and team money accounted for $53 million.

Hopefully no one in the nasty mainstream media will  point that out. Chances are. Not.

Norman Lizt Going Galt

I read this ad in the NYT this morning and am really disappointed in not being able to provide a link to it. Guess I'm not the only one who was impressed, though.

An eye-catching full-page advertisement appeared in The New York Times today from a self-described affluent business owner.

What will the world do without one fewer private equity investor? We'll soon know unless Romney pulls off a miracle.

The writer, Norman Lizt of La Jolla, Calif., says he pulls in “close to eight figures annually” and has built a substantial net worth as a sole, private equity investor. He says he also employs a half-dozen people and contributes to charities.

I certainly wish him a very happy retirement. He indicates in the article that it is the fault of President Obama that these 6 people will be out of work. I would like to suggest that at least one of them may be as capable of running a private equity firm as the super-genius wealth creator Norman Lizt. If they can't then I'm sure someone else can. I'm pretty sure that's how capitalism works.

And so, he says, “I probably will simply shutter my business and say my sweet farewells to a half dozen great employees (who are unlikely to equal their current remuneration elsewhere … if they are fortunate enough to get new jobs in this economy).”

Yeah, if these half dozen great employees can't run the business as well as whine-ass, greedhead Norman Lizt then maybe they were just dead weight to begin with. But once again have a nice retirement Mr. Galt Lizt.

“To Barack Obama, I say thank you …” he concludes, “… for freeing me from the yoke and bondage of my current endeavors and providing a newfound freedom. I just hope, however, that there are not thousands and thousands of others in the same position as I am in … the multiplier effect on jobs, the economy and charitable giving could be devastating!”

I'll take the liberty of saying you're welcome for the president. Since you've probably just been loafing the past few years anyway it'll be good to get some fresh blood into the economy. Don't worry I'm sure we're going to be able to survive without you. Bon Voyage!

What's Adelson Buying?

With all the cash Sheldon Adelson is spending on Romney/Ryan investment you can't help but wonder what kind of return he's expecting. A war with Iran is probably a given. A little help with the US attorneys might be a consideration, too.

Federal authorities are investigating whether Las Vegas Sands Corp. and several of its executives violated money-laundering laws by failing to alert authorities to millions of dollars transferred to its casinos by two Las Vegas high rollers, according to lawyers and others involved in the matter.

The U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles is examining the casino company's handling of money received several years ago from a Mexican businessman later accused of drug trafficking and a former California executive subsequently convicted of taking illegal kickbacks, according to the people involved.

And this,

The probe comes as the casino giant, controlled by billionaire Sheldon Adelson, faces possible legal trouble on another front. U.S. authorities are also investigating whether Sands violated U.S. antibribery laws in its operations in the Chinese territory of Macau...

Maybe ought to save some of the money he's putting into the Romney campaign and earmark for his defense fund.

Paul Ryan Suspended

It was announced today that the FEC has suspended Paul Ryan for 50 days for testing positive for an illegal substance. A Ryan spokesman explained that he didn't know how this could have happened unless it was the veep nominee's bull semen power drinks. While Ryan will miss the Republican convention his chiseled physique will return in time for the stretch drive to election day.

The White House released this statement, “Anytime you hear about something like that, with someone that’s had success against you, it’s disappointing.” He added, "the president wants to reassure all Americans that he will be sticking to the suds and avoiding performance and revenue enhancers."

Thank You David Simon

I promise if I ever spring for cable TV I will start watching your shows. In the meantime thank you for saying what was going through my mind, but saying it all so much better.

Mitt Romney paid taxes at a rate of at least 13 percent. And he’s proud to say so.

Can we stand back and pause a short minute to take in the spectacle of a man who wants to be President of The United States, who wants us to seriously regard him as a paragon of the American civic ideal, declaiming proudly and in public that he has paid his taxes at a third of the rate normally associated with gentlemen of his economic benefit.

Well this part I've been saying for years.

This republic is just about over, isn’t it?

And I'm afraid it is. Nice while it lasted.

Et Tu Stockman

It's one thing for Romney and Ryan to have Paul Krugman telling them they're full of shit.

 Ryan has a completely undeserved reputation in the media as a bluff, honest guy, in Ryan’s case supplemented by a reputation as a serious policy wonk. None of this has any basis in reality; Ryan’s much-touted plan, far from being a real solution, relies crucially on stuff that is just pulled out of thin air — huge revenue increases from closing unspecified loopholes, huge spending cuts achieved in ways not mentioned. See Matt Miller for more.

It seems like quite another to have David Stockman doing so.

Thirty years of Republican apostasy — a once grand party’s embrace of the welfare state, the warfare state and the Wall Street-coddling bailout state — have crippled the engines of capitalism and buried us in debt. Mr. Ryan’s sonorous campaign rhetoric about shrinking Big Government and giving tax cuts to “job creators” (read: the top 2 percent) will do nothing to reverse the nation’s economic decline and arrest its fiscal collapse.

Mr. Ryan professes to be a defense hawk, though the true conservatives of modern times — Calvin Coolidge, Herbert C. Hoover, Robert A. Taft, Dwight D. Eisenhower, even Gerald R. Ford — would have had no use for the neoconconservative imperialism that the G.O.P. cobbled from policy salons run by Irving Kristol’s ex-Trotskyites three decades ago. These doctrines now saddle our bankrupt nation with a roughly $775 billion “defense” budget in a world where we have no advanced industrial state enemies and have been fired (appropriately) as the global policeman.

And this from the Matt Miller link.

Ryan’s revised plan, passed by the House in 2011, wouldn’t reach balance until the 2030s while adding $14 trillion in debt. It adds $6 trillion in debt over the next decade alone — yet Republicans had the chutzpah to say they wouldn’t raise the debt limit!

 Over time, Ryan’s “vision” would decimate most federal activities beyond Social Security, Medicare and defense.

So, I Was Feeling All Sad and Blue

I had gone over to faux professor Donald's place and he was all happy about the Ryan pick. No links cause he hates the traffic especially from Nazi progressives. And I went and read Roy's Voice column about how it's the Second Coming of Saint Ronnie now that Willard and Paul have hooked up. BTW, go visit Roy, he loves the company. The Reagan loving is laid on very thick, though.

So I was feeling very down until I went and visited my second favorite wingnut. Bob Lonsberry is kind of a local boy made, well not much. He's on the radio out Rochester way and writes a web column. When I saw the title of his column,  RYAN WAS THE WRONG CHOICE, my spirits were immediately elevated.

He has decided to throw the race and he has decided not to be subtle about it. Here’s the bottom line: Paul Ryan doesn’t bring a vote to the ticket.

Now Bob's a fellow Mormon so he probably has the inside scoop from himself. And I'd been thinking for awhile that Romney was taking a dive. To have it confirmed is some really good news, though.

 In a race where the fight is for the flakes in the middle, Paul Ryan absolutely does not move the needle.

We see here that Bob himself is not much the politician or he doesn't think "the flakes in the middle" are going to read his web musings. And not that I would want Paul Ryan in charge of anything, but from the point of view of the opposition this makes sense.

Having Paul Ryan’s knowledge and intellect guide the restructuring of the federal budget in a Romney administration is a good idea. To do that, you make him Treasury secretary, or director of the budget, or create some czar position. Almost never has a vice president been selected on the basis of some specialized skill which he would use in the administration. That’s what cabinet secretaries are for.

Fortunately Bob and I agree that Ryan is not going to get to do that either.

And, incredibly, by his choice, Mitt Romney has ended the congressional career of the only guy with the brains and the guts to say what needs to be said about the budget.

Say it loud, proud and often you zombie eyed granny starver!

And Mitt Romney has played directly into it. The Democrats have invested a year in making Paul Ryan’s last name a cuss word in American politics, and Mitt Romney has made sure that that Democrat investment doesn’t go to waste. We have agreed to argue their issue, and that is almost never a smart move.

Thanks Bob.

UPDATE: My hopes are confirmed after coming back from viewing the stock markets' nearly half a percent nosedive on the first open since the Ryan pick. I know how the Right likes to put so much weight on every little movement up or down. Obviously this is a slam dunk.

Death of a Gun-Loving Meme

Know it's not going to happen but I'd like for this to end the bullshit "if only someone had been packing heat.

The madman who gunned down Sikh worshippers blew his own brains out after he was blasted in the gut by a crack-shot Wisconsin cop, the FBI said yesterday. “I’ve seen the video — it was an amazing shot. And thank goodness,” FBI Special Agent Teresa Carlson said.

Brian Murphy was the name of the officer and he himself sustained injury from 9 shots.

Or Maybe Ron Paul

The White House is offering to help expand Willard's Veep choices.

Pick Paul Ryan! Bobby Jindal! Rob Portman! Tim Pawlenty! When it comes to advising Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on choosing a running mate, it seems as though everyone inside the Beltway is getting in on the act—including, now, the Obama campaign.


"Newt Gingrich or Michele Bachmann would be an excellent choice for Mitt Romney to choose," Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters aboard Air Force One.

I understand Dr. Paul is not on the scheduled speaker's list yet so maybe he is on their RADAR.

ROMNEY/PAUL 2012 - Rich and Crazy!

UPDATE: Looks like it's Paul Ryan.

Romney/Ryan 2012 - Rich and Zombie Eyed Granny Starver

When is Enough Enough?

I realize that I don't post much here, but to have two posts in a row about the actions of murderous psychopaths is a disgusting trend I'd like to stop. In order not to focus on the individual responsible for the latest mayhem, I'll post on what little "good" news there is.

Satwant Singh Kaleka, president of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, would do anything for his beloved, tight-knit community, relatives say.On Sunday, he died standing up to the horror of a gunman's attack on his house of worship in the Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek. Kaleka, 65, managed to find a simple butter knife in the temple and tried to stab the shooter before being shot twice near the hip or upper leg, his son said Monday.

Mr. Kaleka showed more bravery and adherence to his religion than I'm sure 99% of the gun-toting, God-fearing right wing nutjobs currently running amuck in this country. You know, I was getting sick of the idiocy of the Romney campaign but now I'd really like to get back to that.

Waiting Period for Blogging

It's good to take a cooling off period after a tragedy such as occurred on Friday. Otherwise, who knows. You could falsely accuse an innocent Tea Party member of being the shooter or you could falsely identify the shooter as a Democrat. And we all know that Dems are the real gun nuts in this country. That's why gun "aficionadas" are so apt to vote for the Democratic Party. Anyway, best thing I've read on it is from Jason Alexander who is not just a pretty face. You should be proud Reppy to have been linked to him by Donald. I'll just link it. It's worth reading the whole thing.

Out Drudging Drudge

This Just In:

From our top secret source inside the Romney campaign comes word of a change in the Veep pick. Apparently Bain Capital was too contentious a choice. Playing it safe, Willard is going with Kelsey Grammar. But since Mr. Grammar is currently busy with his hit TV program his role will be played by Fred Thompson. I'm sure this announcement will prove to be as accurate as the "scoop" on Condi Rice.

Optimistic Much?

Admittedly that title could refer to me. I am the eternal optimist. But it, in this case, refers to Jennifer Rubin.


Obama is now committed to a strategy that isn’t working. He’s left to unleash his attack dogs and to pray for a miracle. Maybe the economy will rebound. Perhaps Romney will implode or pick a Sarah-Palin-type for vice president.

As evidence of the coming Willard landslide she points to the Obama campaign asking for contributions and running attack ads.

Why has the Obama team been publicly wailing about losing out to Mitt Romney in the money race? Why would the president accuse his opponent of not merely being wrong or unqualified but criminal? After all, the polls are tied, so why so much worry in Obamaland?

And the ads the Obama campaign ran were not just negative.

Virtually all of the ads were viciously negative, and judging from the number of Pinocchios they’ve racked up, continually and materially false.


But it didn’t work. Romney and Obama are still deadlocked. (The AP quoted Republican operative Carl Forti: “I don’t think . . . [Obama’s] got a choice. He has to try to change the dynamic now, but the polling indicates it’s not working. He doesn’t appear to be making any headway in the polls.”)

Just how bad does it look for the president?

“President Barack Obama’s campaign has spent nearly $100 million on television commercials in selected battleground states so far, unleashing a sustained early barrage designed to create lasting, negative impressions of Republican Mitt Romney before he and his allies ramp up for the fall.” Think of it like the Confederacy’s artillery barrage on the third day of Gettysburg before Pickett’s charge — you have to in essence disable the other side before the charge begins or its curtains.

Somehow it seems ironic to be comparing the re-election campaign of a black president to a military campaign conducted by the losing side in a war to sustain slavery in this country. But that could be just me. Maybe Ms. Rubin is one of those right wing folks who think the Civil War had nothing to do with slavery.

Anyway I was getting all despondent about the coming Romney regime so I went over to the folks at Gallup and guess what.




And it almost looks like they're moving in opposite directions.

I like being contrarian too. But not just for the sake of being contrarian.








He doesn't look worried.

Saturday Paranoia Special

Just for you Michele:

Well, I was feelin’ sad and feelin’ blue


I didn’t know what in the world I wus gonna do

Them Communists they wus comin’ around

They wus in the air

They wus on the ground

They wouldn’t gimme no peace . . .



So I run down most hurriedly

And joined up with the John Birch Society

I got me a secret membership card

And started off a-walkin’ down the road

Yee-hoo, I’m a real John Bircher now!

Look out you Commies!



Now we all agree with Hitler’s views

Although he killed six million Jews

It don’t matter too much that he was a Fascist

At least you can’t say he was a Communist!

That’s to say like if you got a cold you take a shot of malaria



Well, I wus lookin’ everywhere for them gol-darned Reds

I got up in the mornin’ ’n’ looked under my bed

Looked in the sink, behind the door

Looked in the glove compartment of my car

Couldn’t find ’em . . .



I wus lookin’ high an’ low for them Reds everywhere

I wus lookin’ in the sink an’ underneath the chair

I looked way up my chimney hole

I even looked deep down inside my toilet bowl

They got away . . .



Well, I wus sittin’ home alone an’ started to sweat

Figured they wus in my T.V. set

Peeked behind the picture frame

Got a shock from my feet, hittin’ right up in the brain

Them Reds caused it!

I know they did . . . them hard-core ones



Well, I quit my job so I could work all alone

Then I changed my name to Sherlock Holmes

Followed some clues from my detective bag

And discovered they wus red stripes on the American flag!

That ol’ Betsy Ross . . .



Well, I investigated all the books in the library

Ninety percent of ’em gotta be burned away

I investigated all the people that I knowed

Ninety-eight percent of them gotta go

The other two percent are fellow Birchers . . . just like me



Now Eisenhower, he’s a Russian spy

Lincoln, Jefferson and that Roosevelt guy

To my knowledge there’s just one man

That’s really a true American: George Lincoln Rockwell

I know for a fact he hates Commies cus he picketed the movie Exodus



Well, I fin’ly started thinkin’ straight

When I run outa things to investigate

Couldn’t imagine doin’ anything else

So now I’m sittin’ home investigatin’ myself!

Hope I don’t find out anything . . . hmm, great God!



Thanks Bob, the more things change...





Good luck all you nutters!

In Case You Forgot Him

Willard is bring back into the daylight one of the most beloved Republican politicians ever. No, he didn't dig up Ronald Reagan.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney will host a high-priced fundraiser for Mitt Romney at his Wyoming home Thursday night.

Think you might like to go?

The $30,000-a-couple dinner at Cheney's home outside of Jackson Hole will follow a reception at the fancy Teton Pines country club nearby.

Eh, maybe not.

Together, the two events are expected to raise more than $2 million for the Romney campaign.

Is it worth the 2 million to put the Penguin back in the minds of voters?

The Associated Press says Romney rarely appears in public with Cheney or with former President George W. Bush, and even goes out of his way at times to avoid saying Bush's name out loud, simply calling him President Obama's "predecessor."

Apparently worth it with Cheney but not Bush President Obama's "predecessor."

Back in September 2011, Romney said that when it comes time to choose a vice president, he'd pick someone like Cheney.

Well just don't let him lead the search for one anyway.

"That's the kind of person I'd like to have--a person of wisdom and judgment," Romney told a crowd in Arizona.

What more can you say after that?

How Much is in Your IRA?

Bet it's not as much as Willard has in his.

(Q)uestions have persisted for months about an individual retirement account held by the Romneys valued at upwards of $100 million — a stunning amount for a savings vehicle designed to provide middle class retirees comfortable, but non-lavish retirement.

I'm not hating on the rich here. And I'm really not even envious since I'm a man of simple tastes. Keep the caviar and I'll just have sardines and crackers please. But:

His IRA raises two key questions, both of which his campaign has consistently declined to answer: How, despite a $6000 legal limit on annual contributions to an IRA, did Romney’s IRA grow to over $100 million? And did he avoid any U.S. taxes on its enormous returns?

Just call me curious. It's only recently that the limit has gone up to $6000. I'm 55 years old and have been relatively diligent about funding my IRA and Willard has me by a thousandfold.

Anyway, if there is a God in Heaven and Romney loses in November he can always do the latenight TV infomercials and explain to us po'folk how to get as rich as he is. But then I'm lower income and not that edumacated:

"We've got the message," she added. "But my college kid, the baby sitters, the nails ladies -- everybody who's got the right to vote -- they don't understand what's going on. I just think if you're lower income -- one, you're not as educated, two, they don't understand how it works, they don't understand how the systems work, they don't understand the impact."


So, I'll probably never be able to say, “Is there a V.I.P. entrance? We are V.I.P.”

We'll always have gruel or maybe soylent green.

Give Me Big Gulp or Give Me Death

I suppose they're not mutually exclusive in the long run where we're all dead anyway. Might come a little faster with enough Big Gulps. That may not be the actual size in the link.

Anyway thanks to a junk voicemail I have been informed of the "Million Big Gulp March" taking place today in NYC to protest the latest effort by Mayor Bloomberg to impose the nanny state on freedom loving NYer's.

About 1,000 protesters chanting “Drink Free Or Die” are expected to take part in the “Million Big Gulp March” in City Hall Park at 4:30 p.m. Monday.

By my math that's a thousand Big Gulps apiece. Good luck guys. That's a high price you're paying for the cause of liberty. Maybe get a few Nathan's hot dogs while you're out and about.

Fiddling With Mitt

     It will come as a surprise to learn that htis blog has a mole in the Romney camp. Our source is an associate of Willard Augustus' known only to us as Deep Kibble. He has let us have a sneak preview of things to come if Romney attains the crown.

     Mitt has vowed to slash the "federal firefighter, police and teacher budgets" once elected. He is backed in this by the Cato Koch Institute. Spokeperson Ayn Rand IV stated, "home schooling, guns and fire extinguishers made this country great along with free enterprise, freedom from taxation and buy one get one free sales."

     Willard has retained the Bush playbook on Katrina and pledges to do the same heckuva job on national disasters (his presidency excluded). Brownie will be coming back to head FEMA until it's outsourced to China. Outsourcing will come within the purview of his vice- president, Bain Capital. Since corporations are treated as individuals under the law, the GOP has decided to just go ahead and run them for office. Since they're controlling us anyway. It's refreshing to be given this small bit of honesty.

     Bain Capital narrowly beat out Mitt's first choice, the ghost of Ronald Reagan. Unfortunately for Gipper fans the planchette kept moving to "NO."

     Those who feared the imposition of Sharia law under Barack Obama can rest easy. Willard I is set to make the US the first country to be ruled by Mormon law. States which have grown fat and happy off the taxes imposed on cigarettes, alcohol and caffeine drinks will have to look elsewhere for easy money. Since there will be no cops or regulations addicts of these once legal substances will easily be able to find them on the black market.

     With the election of Willard Romney the devolution of the US is nearly complete. The declaration of war against Iran should increase our debt to the point of inevitable collapse. The Chinese will foreclose and continue to run our country via the departments of government we have outsoured to them. Our military will be dissolved since we can no longer finance it. And it ends happily with a whimper not a bang.

Slow Down and Chill Out

I thank God that I live in a high regulation, low handgun state. Also that most of our politicians are passably sane and we don't border a country with access to large quantities of illegal drugs (only cheaper pharmaceuticals than are available to US patients). My sympathies go out to anyone with the misfortune of living in Arizona.

Those feelings are amplified after reading Fortune's explanation of the Fast and Furious "scandal." Reading this I see where the rightwing among us have no one to blame but the NRA and the cowardly politicians of both parties who kowtow to them.

 No federal statute outlaws firearms trafficking, so agents must build cases using a patchwork of often toothless laws. For six years, due to Beltway politics, the bureau has gone without permanent leadership, neutered in its fight for funding and authority. The National Rifle Association has so successfully opposed a comprehensive electronic database of gun sales that the ATF's congressional appropriation explicitly prohibits establishing one.

Voth's mandate was to stop gun traffickers in Arizona, the state ranked by the gun-control advocacy group Legal Community Against Violence as having the nation's "weakest gun violence prevention laws." Just 200 miles from Mexico, which prohibits gun sales, the Phoenix area is home to 853 federally licensed firearms dealers. Billboards advertise volume discounts for multiple purchases.

Customers can legally buy as many weapons as they want in Arizona as long as they're 18 or older and pass a criminal background check. There are no waiting periods and no need for permits, and buyers are allowed to resell the guns. "In Arizona," says Voth, "someone buying three guns is like someone buying a sandwich."

Somehow the right would like to see next to no regulation of gun sales in this country, but have none of them end up in hands of those who should nto possess them. They cry crocodile tears over Brian Terry who was killed by a weapon purchased in Arizona, but damn the ATF when they try to do their job.

The ATF is a bureau of judgment calls. Drug enforcement agents can confiscate cocaine and arrest anyone in possession of it. But ATF agents must distinguish constitutionally protected legal guns from illegal ones, with the NRA and other Second Amendment activists watching for missteps.

Critics have depicted the ATF as "jackbooted government thugs" trampling on the rights of law-abiding gun owners. From the deadly standoff with the Branch Davidian cult in Waco, Texas, in 1993 to allegations that ATF agents illegally seized weapons from suspected straw purchasers at a Richmond gun show in 2005, these scandals have helped cement the bureau's reputation in some quarters for law-enforcement overreach.

There were a few loose cannons in the detachment who on one instance conducted an operation where guns were "walked." This was not at the behest of anyone in Justice or their superiors.

Dodson then proceeded to walk guns intentionally, with Casa and Alt's help. On April 13, 2010, one month after Voth wrote his schism e-mail, Dodson opened a case into a suspected gun trafficker named Isaiah Fernandez. He had gotten Casa to approve the case when Voth was on leave. Dodson had directed a cooperating straw purchaser to give three guns to Fernandez and had taped their conversations without a prosecutor's approval.

This is the case that Congressional Republicans have based their outrage upon.

On Feb. 4, 2011, the Justice Department sent a letter to Sen. Grassley saying that the allegations of gun walking in Fast and Furious were false and that ATF always tried to interdict weapons. A month later, Grassley countered with what appeared to be slam-dunk proof that ATF had indeed walked guns. "[P]lease explain how the denials in the Justice Department's Feb. 4, 2011 letter to me can be squared with the evidence," Grassley wrote, attaching damning case reports that he contended "proved that ATF allowed guns to 'walk.'" The case and agent names were redacted, but the reports were not from Fast and Furious. They came entirely from Dodson's Fernandez case.

Can't help but feel Mexico would be justified in legalizing any and all drugs. If the US is going allow the purchase of any and all weaponry without restriction, then why not. Can't make things much worse there.

Issa's claim that the ATF is using the Fast and Furious scandal to limit gun rights seems, to put it charitably, far-fetched. Meanwhile, Issa and other lawmakers say they want ATF to stanch the deadly tide of guns, widely implicated in the killing of 47,000 Mexicans in the drug-war violence of the past five years. But the public bludgeoning of the ATF has had the opposite effect. From 2010, when Congress began investigating, to 2011, gun seizures by Group VII and the ATF's three other groups in Phoenix dropped by more than 90%.

If you have a strong stomach you can go over to Townhall and get a dissenting opinion. Also available there is the latest update on the president's birth certificate. Who to believe? Fortune or the internet version of Weekly World News.

Would You Look at the Dust!

I guess sitting around untended will lead to dust, cobwebs, weeds and such. I feel a bit like Arthur returning from the Crusades except there's no John usurping my blog. Just the damn dust bunnies. Anyway, the Holy War against the Long Beach infidel has been concluded and we are returning to our loved ones a little bloodied but unbowed. At best the years long blog war with "Saint Donald" seems to have ended in a stalemate. God knows what a victory would have looked like. I believe the battle may have cost him his sanity so perhaps victory went to the nihilists after all. Reppy, Truth and I seem to all be operating at the same level of rationality as always. And Donald likely is still looking for anti-semitic Sasquatch haters.

I have no idea what this blog will be. Probably will be mostly me talking to myself which I do on a regular basis anyway. And that's not a sign of craziness because I remember Ann Landers saying so. Couldn't find a link to that so this will have to do. Nothing beats an internet diagnosis of mental or physical health. Cheaper than going to a real doctor as I recently found out when it cost me 50 bucks to walk in with an infected finger. Glad I have health insurance and hopefully no serious problems.

Enough rambling. I'll try to get back here for a visit sometime before the Mayan calendar and the Earth simultaneously come to an end.