Claire (Bear) McCaskill (Worst MO Senator Ever) wants my opinion on Spending Limits.

My. Gawd. Woman.  But you are a glutton for punishment aren’t you?  Just to bring the folks up to speed here is an email from Claire-Bear  Read it and be amazed at the temerity of the woman. 

 

Dear Friend,
It's going to take full, comprehensive budget reform to break the cycle of debt and put us back on track. I am committed to making that reform a reality. (!)
But the first piece of the puzzle is holding down government spending where we can. (!!)That's why Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) and I are offering an amendment that would cap increases in discretionary spending through 2014 and encourage the President to renew the caps when they expire.
Read about the amendment, and let me know what you think.
Discretionary spending only makes up about a third of the federal budget, so this amendment alone won’t solve our huge fiscal problems.
Much more will need to be done. I introduced legislation that would reinstitute a Pay-As-You-Go law (!!!)that would force across-the-board spending cuts if Congress passed any legislation that increased spending or cut taxes without offsetting the cost. I also support efforts to create a Fiscal Task Force, which would propose legislation to close the long term budget gap and submit it to Congress for a vote.
The reason this is so important is our back is against a wall – unless the debt limit is raised our country will default on our debt, our nation’s credit will be ruined, inviting a new global economic crisis. (!!!!)
People who say we should let our nation default are being irresponsible, but we can’t keep kicking the can down the road – that's why I’m introducing this amendment.
Please share your thoughts here after reading about the spending caps:
http://tinyurl.com/spendingcaps
All the best,
Claire

Now. I. Swear.  if this does not take all the nerve in the world.  I bet this woman could actually say this stuff with a straight face.  First lets run down some facts.  Depending on who you listen to these proposed cuts would be between 12% and 15% of the budget. So as much as 15 cents on the dollar.  Of that, it does not, DOES. NOT. include Medicare, Medicaid, OASDI, or other entitlement programs.  Plus there is around 500 billion in “stimulus” money that can be spent on whatever they want but has not been spent on anything yet, that these proposed cuts would not take into account.  Lastly, and this is key, even in the extreme event that they passed this, they would not follow it.  These people are categorically incapable of fiscal restraint.  One last thing, the final point.  The most important part of this whole piece.  A spending freeze will freeze the spending at the HIGHER BLAOTED OVER INFLATED RATE that we have now.  That means NO REDUCTION FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS.

Now item for Item: Item (!) Claire, when did this become a priority?  Was this after Missourians chewed you out for months over ZeroCare, or was it after Scott Brown won in Massachusetts?  Do you see the writing on the wall?  Sister, you better.

Item (!!) Really Claire, really?  The first piece of the puzzle is holding down spending where we can?  Really?  What caused this fast switch?  I thought that from your earlier missives that spending billions and bailing out banks and nationalizing healthcare and ensuring free homes to everyone, a chicken in every pot and forty acres and a mule was our ticket to prosperity…  Now you are saying it is fiscal responsibility.  Wow.  Hmmm.  I think the ticket to Missouri's prosperity is first to get rid of you and then our new Governor. 

Item (!!!) PayGo… what a blast from the past.  I think I heard Botoxi say that about a year ago.  Democrats (Republicans too) always talk of this as if it means something.  It doesn’t and the ZeroCare fiasco proves it.  You will cook the books however is necessary to make it appear that things are deficit neutral or even save us money and they never do.

 

A task Force, wow.  Another blue ribbon panel of do-nothings that will submit some meaningless report that no one will follow and we will never hear from again. 

Claire, you want my opinion, this is all so much hogwash, political spin, and window dressing, because you know that your days are numbered.  We are on to you Claire.

You want to impress me? Let’s start talking about budget reductions, back to at least 2005 levels (not counting defense spending), let’s talk repeal of the stimulus, pay back the Chinese, stop the healthcare nonsense, quit talking about commuter trains and anything else your Obamessiah talks about. 

P.s., we are also on to the fact that the so called upcoming “jobs bill” is Stimulus 2…and that stimulus 1 is a failure as far as jobs are concerned.

-KOOK

UPDATE:  Item (!!!!) Global. Economic. Crisis.  Seriously weak.  Get a new mantra.  You worthless politicians should just be on television like the guy selling the slap chop.  “hurry now, while we still survive, we created the problem, but now we want to fix it, hurry hurry hurry, or all the CHILDRENS WLL DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”   So to borrow your hero’s phrase, Let Me Be Clear®, the orgy of spending that you partook in didn’t contribute to the Global Economic Crisis® but if we don’t do this new WhizBang thing you have cooked up, we will experience armageddon.  puhlease. 

-KOOK

ps I loathe you.

Of all the people in the world to piss off…

Obama picks the Supreme Court Judges.  While I am basically appalled and amazed that even he would go wagging his finger and scolding the Justices, I have a different take on it than anyone else I have seen so far this morning.


G’head tell ‘em off Big O, you don’t have to take that sh*t from them!  That’s right, you are the Big Man on Campus.  You tell em’ They better start making better decisions and by that you mean decisions you like!
(*humming as I type “you don’t tug on superman’s cape, you don’t spit into the wind…you don’t pull the mask off the ol’ lone ranger…”*)
Then maybe they will remember what they were all put there for, (well except that lackey Sotomayor) and they will begin showing you who’s got more cajones.
I mean in all the excitement I forgot myself, did I fire six shots or only five, I  dunno, but being this is the Supreme Court of the United States and and will blow your head clean off, you gotta ask yourself…do I feel lucky…well?  Do ya?  PUNK.
That’s right you tell them jive turkeys what’s what!
Healthcare – Unconstitutional
I mean who do they think they are?  You da Man!
Gun Laws - Unconstitutional
I mean they are lucky you even let them come to last night’s big telemprompter reading…
Roe v Wade – see ya
If you want their opinion, you will give it to them
Waterboarding – please that is fine for illegal enemy combatants captured in a war zone who aren't citizen’s of this country, signers of the Geneva conventions, or in uniform.
What do we need them for anyway…I think you should just abolish them, they are all old anyway, and you know what is best for us
Using the IRS as an attack dog – Not gonna happen…What IRS?
Hugo, Fidel, and Achmadinejad don’t have to go through this crap with courts and stuff, why should you?
Interstate Commerce Clause – Not what the framers mean; na uh…sorry charlie…
They need a good dressing down, why I can’t remember the last time anyone told them that they were all imbeciles…
The elastic Clause – not so elastic. 
Please oh Please…pimp slap em again big daddy, and put some smoke on it…!
Shhh nobody tell him there is a reason very few presidents or senators mess around with  SC Justices…
-Kook

Did Obama Ever Imagine the Tea Party Movement?

A like minded cyber friend asked this question yesterday and I thought it was something we may have never asked ourselves and, yet, for such a simple question it is incredibly key. I do not think he did. I do not think he planned for them, anticipated them, understands them, gets them, knows how to react to them or has a plan to counteract them. Obama has never faced true conservative opposition before. It does not exist in Chicago. Other warring members of the corrupt Democrat machine? Sure, and he knows how to deal with them.

For a man with maybe slightly higher than average intellect and questionable psychological stability, does he have the stuff to face serious or principled opposition? How will he handle the presumptive scenario of sharing power with a tea party influenced senate or house? He came to power in a state with no real Republican presence, let alone a conservative or principled presence. Remember this is a guy who won his senate seat when his primary opponents were all disqualified for one reason or another.

He tells the story now of having gone door to door meeting the folks and getting his message out. Not so much. He was successful in challenging enough signatures on his opponents petitions to have them disqualified. Including the incumbent, Alice Palmer. Essentially he ran unopposed.

From what we have seen this far, this is not a man who makes compromises. Beyond the Alinksy inspired rhetoric and packaging there exists not much else. I doubt he ever imagined more than a small amount of polite hemming and hawing from the "extreme" right wing that he could easily marginalize and paint as voices from extremists.

His bag of tricks are like pebbles to the Kevlar® vest of the Tea Party Movement. In fact, they have begun to actually strengthen the movement as they are now proving to work against him. His silk tongued vocabulary and a narcissistic ability manipulate had always outwitted those around him in his circles of the politically correct vacuum of academia and in the snake pit of Chicago politics he was used as a tool by others more cunning and ambitious then he. He simply had to modify the shtick to the new circumstances. If one study his history you'll find that the pattern is essentially the same. All pomp, no circumstance.

He is utterly ill-equipped to hash out an effective strategy for the Tea Party Movement. It is why one day he is populist Obama, the next he is lashing out at Fox News, freezing spending and the next he is on vacation or not heard from for a few days. We have watched him richochet from thing to thing, searching for a strategy and hoping if he throws enough crap against the wall something will stick. With his limited patience and experience, he gives none of it enough time to see if it will work.

Watching his speeches in the last few days, his tone seems more erratic and certainly more paranoid. He keeps making references to unnamed "theys". "They'll say this, they'll say that about Obama". What is November going to look like if the mid-term results come out as unfavorably as they many predict?

It is interesting to note, there are precedents in history for this sort of unravelling. In the mid 1960s Soviet Union, after Khrushchev's policies eroded his popularity, he was put on a little "working vacation". Even in our own history, one have to only look back so far as the 1970s to reference a time when the Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, took on more and more responsibility as the Nixon lost power, sometimes actually omitting Nixon from policy meetings. It is also widely believe that Kissinger, raised the nation to DEFCON 3 without first getting President Nixon's approval, on the evening the Soviets threatened to send troops to the region. Hmmm, does a certain crusty black pants suit wearer know her history?

Realizing the situation is fluid and anything can change, he could prove me wrong and turn this thing around. However if we continue on the trajectory that we are on and the American people still reject Obama's cure all potion of Marxist medicine, all bets are off.

UFC champ Brock Lesnar slams Canadian health care

Hey, I know I don’t talk about much of anything on the blog but politics but when one of my favorite spectator hobbies and politics intersect it is really great.  I love UFC!  I Knew that Brock was sick, and knew he was coming back to “whup up” on all comers very very soon, but just saw this over at Musings and had to put my .02 worth in.  You can read the whole thing over here because there are just a few points I want to stress.

The article below is from Yahoo News.
Read carefully what Brock is saying about his care of the lack there of in Canada.
Do we want this in America? I personally say "NO!" We need some minor changes.
But not the radical changes the Liberals want. I agree totally Fuzzy!

UFC heavyweight champion (and Man Mountain) Brock Lesnar announced his "miracle" recovery from a career-threatening digestive disease Wednesday while slamming the health care he received in Canada after falling sick during a hunting trip.
Lesnar said his U.S. doctors were "dumbfounded" at his success in beating diverticulosis and avoiding major surgery to remove part of his colon."They couldn't find any signs of any problem in my stomach.
It's just a miracle," the mixed martial arts star said Wednesday on a sports news station in his first interview since falling ill.UFC president Dana White said Lesnar, who has not fought since July, will be back in action this summer against the winner of the UFC 111 bout in March between Frank Mir and Shane Carwin. (uhhh Shane Corwin unless the angels intercede)
The six-foot-four Lesnar, who has to cut weight to make the UFC heavyweight limit of 265 pounds, said he had been ailing for some time last year, before falling seriously ill during a trip to Canada. What had started as flu-like symptoms was upgraded to mononucleosis and then diverticulosis.
Asked about the low point during the last few months of his illness, Lesnar said: "Probably the lowest moment was getting care from Canada.""They couldn't do nothing [sic] for me," he noted in a later media conference call Wednesday. "It was like I was in a Third World country."
"I'm just stating the facts here and that's the facts," he continued. "I love Canada. I own property in Canada but if I had to choose between getting care in Canada or the United States, I definitely want to be in the United States. Canadians, don't get me wrong here. Listen, I love Canada, some of the best people and best hunting in the world. I have family up there. But I wasn't at the right facility. And it makes sense for me to say that."
Lesnar, who makes his home in Minnesota, refused to say where he was treated in Canada although he talked of his wife driving him "in excruciating pain" to the border. "I knew that I had to get out of there. And my wife saved my life. She got me out of there and drove 100 miles an hour to get me down to Bismarck, North Dakota, to Medcenter One (hospital) and got me with Dr. (Brent) Buderer and his staff, and that doctor there saved my career and saved my life."
…Doctors put him on antibiotics and pain medication, while suggesting surgery was likely the final option. Lesnar spent the next 11 days there. "No food, no water, fed intravenously. Lost 40 pounds."He underwent a small procedure, having a six-inch needle inserted into his stomach to drain three pockets and withdraw 14 cubic centimetres of fluid. The next morning, he decided to go home, with his doctor saying he wanted him back in three months for surgery once some swelling had subsided. The next week he visited the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., for a second opinion. Doctors there also recommended surgery.
"I didn't want to (have surgery), if I could beat the odds, I was going to do everything in my power to do that," said Lesnar, adding he would probably have had to retire if the surgery was unavoidable.He went home, hit the gym, put some 30 pounds back on and returned to the doctor Jan. 5. Tests gave him a clean bill of health. "Basically the doctor said you've got a lottery ticket, this is unbelievable. We can't believe you didn't need surgery," said White.  Lesnar said because of the diverticulosis, the food he was eating was not being absorbed properly. "I couldn't eat enough food to get enough energy."…

Lesnar said a "total protein" diet with not enough fibre contributed to his health problems. "I'm a carnivore, I'm not a big an of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). I'm a member of the NRA (National Rifle Association) and whatever I kill, I eat. Basically I was for years surviving on meat and potatoes.
When the greens came by, I just kept passing them."  He said he revamped his diet, prayed a lot and used some "natural healing medicine."
Lesnar calls it a life-changing experience.
…
Lesnar recalled the night in Canada when he believes the perforation in his stomach happened.
"I woke up in shock, in cold sweat. I mean it was big time," he said. "Didn't know where I was and realized I had to seek medical help." He said he was two and a half to three hours "from what I thought would be a good medical facility."
But he refused to say where, saying: "I'm not going to disclose anything."
"The only reason I'm mentioning this is I'm mentioning this to the United States of America because President Obama is pushing this health-care reform. And obviously I don't want it. I'm a conservative Republican . . . I'm speaking on behalf of Americans, I'm speaking on behalf of our doctors in the United States that don't want this to happen and neither do I.”  "The main thing is I'm sitting here, I'm healthy, and I got the right care that I needed," he added.”

From Musings of a Vast Right-Winger: UFC champ Brock Lesnar slams Canadian health care but ready to fight this summer

And the winner by Referee stoppage is the USA, knocking out Canadian style HealthScare in the final seconds of the last round…

-KOOK

My 2 Cents, POTUS, TOTUS, States Rights, Education, The Whole Stinking Mess.

 

Okay folks, if you have not seen the photo yet, it is everywhere.  Yes, yes, it is true.  The POTUS needs TOTUS to stay on message when talking to 11 year olds.  Those on the defense point out that the press was there too, well sure it was, he wouldn’t go into a PUBLIC school if there wasn’t a PR Opportunity to be had. And Clifton at Another Black Conservative is right on the money as usual.  Big O has no substance, he is a product of a machine in a way we have not seen since the bad old robber baron days.  At any rate I want to comment on one part of the story.  For other commentary please read any of the fine sources at the bottom of the post, or many others that are out there.

What I want to focus on is the State’s Rights issue here, as well as the quality education that our kiddos deserve.  It really is easy to understand and see things for what they are when you understand what the broader goal for the left is.  They always say it is for the children, but clearly it is not.  If money was the solution to why we are ‘sucking hind teat’ among the nations of the world for education, don't you think by now that we would have fixed it?  Money is NOT THE ISSUE and MORE will not fix it.  The issue IS the federal standards.  I come from a long line of teachers. Two grandparents, an Aunt, and Uncle, 5 Cousins, and more, all teachers.  From IL, TN, MO, and TX, they all sing the same tune.

This started when I was a youngster.  We all did the achievement tests, I do not remember when I was in Elementary School spending time learning the test, but by the time several administrations policies had taken their toll and High School rolled around, we were spending weeks specifically practicing for the test.  Well, I gotta ask the obvious question, are we training kids to take tests or to THINK?  Obviously we are training them to put little black dots in little circles on paper…push the button KOKO get a bannaner…

Here is the reality of all the crappy federal regulations that have happened starting in the Sixties.  Step 1. The IRS takes money out of the hands of producers that could be spent locally and sends it to Washington. Step 2. The Fed sets an arbitrary performance standard for curriculum across this nation from Maine to Hawaii, and Alaska to Key West.  Encompassing all the flavors of the rainbow and cultures that we possess.  Step 3. States are set to compete for the dollars by meeting these standards.  Step 4. Individual school districts, beholden to the Federal and States for the dollars removed from individuals and businesses in their districts, must compete amongst themselves for the dollars apportioned to the states.  Step 5.  Through entitlement programs, and the general moral decay of our society, along with the rampant PC and lack of discipline applied to our children, parents do not parent, and children are increasingly apathetic towards learning. Step 6. Teachers, needing their careers, and under pressure from their administration for results, begin to teach little Johnny and Little Susie how to answer test questions, similar to monkeys in some sociology experiment, instead of how to use their BRAINS.  Step 7: as performance standards outstrip the children’s actual ability to remember and regurgitate infonuggets schools resort to really ridiculous ways of propping up their scores in a downward spiral of ignorance. Throw in laughable standards for a teaching certificate, Teachers unions, and Smarmy politicians and voila, a McDollar Menu Education  on a Filet Mignon budget.

We do not let teachers teach, and we do not provide a basis for our children’s future, because we have turned teaching into a race for federal hog slop.  And it goes without saying that Obama’s plan will hasten the further degeneration of the actual quality of children’s education further.  Why?  Because we should not try to teach all the kids in this nation the same thing on the same day at the same hour.  That is what makes things meaningless. Even making the State’s Rights argument doesn’t go far enough.  I feel strongly, and logic supports me, that curriculum should be decided on a district by district level.  I would settle for State by State, but even in Missouri there are wide cultural variances regarding not only what, but how kids should be taught.  One size never ever fits all, and in this case, most lose out.

Some of the greatest minds in history were self educated, or educated in one room schoolhouses.  We do not need 20 million dollar high schools with laboratories rivaling that of pharmaceutical research companies, and gymnasiums that look like something from ESPN.  We need to teach the three R’s , Readin, ‘Riting, and ‘Rithmatic.   I have done posts previously that demonstrate from the local level that our schools are horrible, the local one here averages something like 20 hours a week of potential instructional time to Jr. High kids.  What they are learning in 7th grade I learned in 5th, what I learned in 5th my parents learned in 4th.  I was taught Phonics and Greek and Latin root words and taught to look at context. When I see a word I have not encountered I can make a reasonable guess at how it is pronounced and probably its’ general meaning.  Children today are taught words by rote memorization and “sight words” nonsense hogwash garbage.  We still teach math all wrong to kids, my grandparents can do as much math in their heads as I can do with a calculator and forget giving me a pencil it is a waste of time. When I was a kid in Texas we learned Texas history, and when I moved to Missouri, we learned Missouri history.  When I got to High School I learned World History, up to the Vietnam War. Guess what, forty years since Vietnam, and kids learn up to the Vietnam War.  The color of the houses of the natives to the Indian Subcontinent are not as relevant to our kids as what happened since Vietnam, yet, that is part of the curriculum.  And yellow, if you are wondering, all the houses were yellow, and they all disappeared and no one knows why.  Riveting isn’t it? 

If we focused on teaching people how to THINK and then Inspired them to do so and gave them direction we would be way better off than trying to cram useless facts into their head without giving them any context.  This is how the Ignorance is spread folks.  This is why kids worship Che.  This is why we are losing.  If we win the battle on Healthcare, and that is a big IF, then we will have to win Immigration on our terms to turn the tide.  Then, in order to actually win, Education reform is the battlefield we will win it on, and it will take two generations, or we are pretty much shot as far as I see it.  Local People, teaching their Kids, at the Local level, lessons that are relevant to them.  Let’s teach our kids to Read. To Learn. To Question, and to THINK. 

Photo h/t Left Coast Rebel

via: Another Black Conservative

Via: Gateway Pundit

Via: The Reihl World View

-KOOK

JD Hayworth is Unofficially In!

Former Arizona Congressman who served the fifth district of the fine and perpetually sunny state of Arizona from 1995-2007 has quit his radio show to presumably take the fight to John McCain for his long held senate seat. McCain has been feeding off Arizona senatorial oxygen for 30 years. As JD poignantly put it in his last radio broadcast, "It is time for John to come home".

JD is going to need the entirety of the tea party movement behind him to unseat McCain. Arizona has a strange "old boys club" dynamic that McCain is popular with. There is a contingent of the older generations who do support amnesty largely because of their positive relations with what I would call "old school" Mexican immigrants. Their lives are very intertwined, marriages, families and bloodlines have formed a sort of loyalty. Mostly, I can understand their perspective--to a point. The hybrid Mexican-American culture Arizona has is unique. It was largely peaceful and radical was a term I would never use to describe those "old school" immigrants, by and large. Somehow, it worked.

However, as with all things, times change. Mexican immigration has been radicalized. That once mostly harmonious union has now become balkanized and it is far more us vs them. La Raza has a presence, the schools spend an entire day on Cinco De mayo, free publications in Spanish are found in stores and libraries telling the newly planted migrants that they are oppressed victims of the white man and that this land is theirs to reclaim.

The John McCain old boys club does not know this reality. Or if they do they fail to face it. My point, is pro-amnesty stance is not a hinderance for him with this connected and, largely, wealthy demographic. Therefore, I have my concerns whether McCain is beatable. It will be tough to dislodge a candidate with so much money who is a favorite son of the state and was the party's nominee in the 2008 election. AZ is very unlikely to repudiate an incumbent who is the nominal leader of the party and face of the good old days of Arizona life.

JD lost his house seat to Harry Mitchell, a recycled Democrat, largely by redistricting and the fact that he was a target in the 2006 Arizona House races. A huge amount of Soros money (and other anti-American groups) saturated Arizona with anti-J.D. campaigning. JD was a vocal and dedicated opponent of amnesty and illegal immigration. His loss was painted as a repudiation of an anti-amnesty stance.

This is a race to watch and support. He will need every bit of help he can get. JD was a crappy drive hour radio host but he was an excellent US Represenative for his Arizona district, for conservatives everywhere. He was a vocal and fearless leader for conservative causes and would be lightyears of an improvement over John McCain.

Lawmakers Race to Limit Corporate Spending on Elections After Court Ruling

For those who have not kept up with this case, the Supreme Court ruled recently that portions of the McCain-Feingold (yes, that McCain) Act regulating when and how much money businesses can spend to buy ads or other campaign materials is UNCONSTITUTIONAL under the 1st Amendment.  Bravo.  But congress critters are not deterred.  All the talk about “special interest this” and “special interest that” means nothing.  What these weasels are actually saying is “the special interests that are not in favor of me.” Unions were not regulated under the law because they are “not for profit” or “non-profit” entities.  The results of this are the staggeringly powerful ACORN’s and SEIU’s in our current predicament.  It was open season for them, no season for private sector businesses.  It is ludicrous. 
So now I guess is a good time to get into a discussion about the Spirit of the Law vs. the Letter of the Law. 

“They [crooked congress critters] said they were still exploring their options. But with the Supreme Court ruling that there is "no basis for allowing the government to limit corporate independent expenditures," they will have to proceed cautiously to ensure subsequent legislation is not challenged and struck down again. “

A prime example of the fact that the Grade “A” Assholes in Washington do not get it, or do not care.  Probably both.  Instead of hearing the message that this is not a constitutional pursuit, they are now dedicated to working around the ruling.  We will never get anywhere until we have a total culture change in DC, because these people do not know how to take “NO” for an answer.  NO means NO. 

Another thing, while I am ranting a little.  You can call it a “fee” if you wish, but I know what it is, and so do you, it is a “TAX”.  I am so sick of all the euphemisms.

Read the whole sickening mess here:

FOXNews.com - Lawmakers Race to Limit Corporate Spending on Elections After Court Ruling
-KOOK

33 Years ago today…

 
ME!

And on this most auspicious occasion I feel it opportune to say what I am thankful for (besides another year of being an efficient exchanger of Oxygen and the deadly seal and Goreacle killing CO2). 
I am thankful for My Life, My great loving Family, My Friends (on and offline), and my Career. I am also thankful for each and every Massachusetts “Brown” voter for apparently killing ZeroCare. I am thankful for each person (of the hundreds of thousands) who marched with me on 9/12 (even though we were mostly ignored); I am thankful for all the men and women who have sacrificed both past and present to keep us free; and I am thankful for this country which, despite what many on the left would say, is the defender of freedom, and the last best place on earth. 
Here’s to another year of keeping it that way.
and remember…Today is better than yesterday, because today is my birthday and yesterday was one year of Chairman Zero’s residency at 1600 PA Avenue; although we can all choose to remember yesterday as the day that a Democrat lost in Massachusetts!
-KOOK

Thank You Massachusetts!

'It is to me a new and consolatory proof that wherever the people are well- informed they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights." —Thomas Jefferson to Richard Price, January 8, 1789.

Let's revel in this moment, bask in the warm glow of the sun that is the significance of this election before returning to the battlefield. No Republican has won a U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts since 1972. Thank you obama. I said, as early as September, obama may turn out to be our biggest asset. (Link and I stand by that belief.

Actually, a Republican has not held this seat for much longer than even that.

This particular seat has been filled by Democrats since 1953 when JFK was first elected to fill it. When he left to become president, he was succeeded by Benjamin A. Smith, Democrat, who filled the seat from December 27, 1960 – November 6, 1962 until Teddy was elected in 1962. Teddy held the seat continuously from then until he died, at which time he was temporarily replaced by Democrat Paul Kirk.

The obama administration has officially ended a 57 year reign by Democrats in Massachusetts.

Why Barack Won't Moderate

Despite this slap upside the head, I believe we will continue in this direction with the Obama administration. He won't take this as a cue to moderate, to reread the pulse of the nation or to rethink the country and his agenda. He is the agenda.

To change course and moderate, obama would need to demonstrate a trait that he has thus far shown us he is completely devoid of, humility. Or, at bare minimum, he'd have to be able to fake it really well ala Bill Clinton. He shows little aptitude for that sort of ego hampering expediency that Bill Clinton excelled at.

Also, he is a true believer, something of a purist. This is a guy who did not go to great effort to hide who he was. The American people went to great effort to believe he was something different. He has been very open since his first fundraiser in Bill Ayers living room, he wants to "build coalitions of power to bring about redistributive change." These are his words.

Question is, now hobbling on one leg and limping along, how much fight does barack obama have in him? After watching him for twelve long months, I dare say, not much. Ofcourse a lot depends on the people surrounding him but from this vantage obama is an achiever when the achieving is made easy for him. The Tea Party Movement may prove to be the biggest obstacle he has ever faced.

Oh happy day...

Could it be? After repeated buzzkills and fizzles this past year are we about to win one? Over half in and it is Brown 53% Marta Marcy Martha Marsha whatever Coakley 47%


Update: now it is Brown 53% Croakley 46% with almost 70% of the vote counted.

UPDATE. SHE CONCEDES!!





-Kook
via iPhone

Oh, wait, no way, you're kidding, he didn't just say what I think he did… did he?

Ummm yeah, he did.  Talk about being clueless and tone deaf… he gets the Biden Award for Sheer Stoopidity®

Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, is the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and he recently had this to say:

he expects Democratic Senate candidate Martha Coakley to “win in Massachusetts.”

Van Hollen said Republican predictions that the political climate had changed so much that they can capture the 40 seats needed to regain control of the House was “pure hallucination”

“Why would you hand the keys to the car back to the same guys whose policies drove the economy into the ditch and then walked away from the scene of the accident?” Van Hollen said. “For the Republicans to say vote for us and bring back the guys who got us into this mess in the first place, I don’t think it’s a winner.”

Health Bill Can Pass Senate With 51 Votes, Van Hollen Says - Yahoo! News

A democratic operative should NEVER EVEEEERRRR talk about cars, ditches, bridges…

See for all of you just joining the class; Ted Kennedy held the seat that is currently being decided on in the special election… there was this incident with Teddy, and Mary Jo, and a Bridge….oh hell, never mind, if you don’t get it you never will.

And I thought RNC had a dumbass as a chairperson. 

-KOOK

Ten Year Old Kid Throws obama Off His Game

Here is Obama at a rally Sunday to bolster support for floundering Massachusetts candidate Martha Coakley. And he was not looking too confidence inspiring or presidential. I do not know if it was that the kid threw off his teleprompter timing or if he was that visibly "deer in the headlights" having to face confrontation but he was clearly off his game. That is the game of demonizing insurance companies, the entire finance industry, pharmaceutical companies, coal companies, Tea Party enthusiasts, townhallers, plumbers and truckers. Whew, the list is getting long.

Even more delicious is the idea that obama could not even fill the venue. That is right. The magic man, a few days before an election of such importance, could not fill a 3000 seat auditorium. Reports are that it was somewhere between half to 3/4 full. Meanwhile the Scott Brown rally in Worchester was filled to capacity of 3000 people with another thousand waiting outside. Even more telling, prominent and even left wing media voices are beginning to show cracks in their unwavering support. It is getting too hard to cover for the failure that he is.

Regardless of the outcome in Massachusetts tomorrow, the Democratic regime have got to be scared witless over this wave of voter backlash. They must know that if this can happen in the bluest of blue states, very few are safe. Lacking in any previous management or leadership experience, one wonders how a narcissist like Obama will deal with a major defeat. Judging for this youtube, not very well.

I love Texas and Texans

Texans "Get It" they understand about Republics and personal accountability and responsibility.
The story below also illustrates why less guns might not be the answer, indeed maybe more guns in the hands of law abiding citizens might be the cure for some of the bad things that go on in this world.

From Azle News, Azle, TX via American Rifleman magazine Aug '09.




That's right he Drew. His. Gun. And Shot. Out. The. Crook's. Front. Tire. As. He. Was. Being. Run. Down. Then, not satisfied with merely performing some damn fine shootin under pressure, he Pursues. Them. Until. The. Police. Arrived.

I bet this guy has a poster of the 'Nuge on his wall.


Now if that don't make you love Texas and Texans then you are reading the wrong blog, I tell ya what.

-Kook
via iPhone

Missouri State Representatives take on ObamaCare

God, how I love Missouri and Missourians.  Even with complete Wastes-of-skin®  like Cleaver, Carnahan, and Claire-Bear McCaskill around, Missourians, and for the most part those who are elected to represent them, are pretty awesome.  The Representatives from the Missouri General Assembly below are pushing Missouri House Joint Resolution 57, which, if passed would put a Referendum on the ballot to Amend the Missouri Constitution basically Nullifying the personal mandate.  It makes me smile with Evil Glee® just thinking about it.  It states in part:

“To preserve the freedom of citizens of this state to provide for their health care, no law or rule shall compel, directly or indirectly or through penalties or fines, any person, employer, or health provider to participate in any health care system.  A person or employer may pay directly for lawful health care services and shall not be required to pay penalties or fines for paying directly for lawful health care services.  A health care provider may accept direct payment for lawful health care services and shall not be required to pay penalties or fines for accepting direct payment from a person or employer for lawful health care services.”

The Resolution was Introduced By Representative Jones (89, Eureka Area) and co-sponsored by Icet, Nieves, Scharnhorst, Stream, Schaaf, Thomson, Funderburk, Burlison, Koenig, Gatschenberger, Smith (150), Emery, Bivins, Smith (14), Kraus, Ruzicka, Cox, Munzlinger, Denison, Richard, Jones (117), Tilley, Wells, Wilson (130), Dieckhaus, Allen, Mcnary, Dugger, Mcghee, Wilson (119), Pratt, Parkinson, Zerr, Dixon, Stevenson, Pollock, Day, Molendorp, Grisamore, Ruestman, Brandom, Flanigan, Fisher (125), Schad, Guernsey, Riddle, Largent, Leara, Schoeller, Diehl, Dethrow, Davis, Sutherland, Lair, Keeney, Wasson, Cooper, Faith, Sander, Parson, Kingery, Guest, Brown (149), Weter, Viebrock, Cunningham, Tracy, Nolte, Bruns, Franz, Nance, Flook, Loehner, Schlottach And Deeken (Co-Sponsors).

Looking at the District Map it becomes confusing with no clear geographical description, but basically ALL of SouthWest Missouri is on board with the exception of a few districts within Greene County, Barry County, Stone County, Most of Taney, and Ozark County. This is some of the poorest parts of Missouri along with Stoddard, Dunklin, Mississippi, New Madrid, and Pemiscot Counties. Of course there is the oft-maligned I70 corridor that trends Liberal, KC is a mish mash, St. Louis is mostly a loss.

If you live in one of the Liberal Areas put pressure on your representative to push this initiative, we citizens of Missouri should at least get to vote on it.

This is currently not listed on the calendar to go to a vote but with the majority party in control and almost all of them co-sponsoring look for a ballot initiative amend the Missouri Consititution to nullify the individual mandate of ZeroCare.

I had a very knowledgeable person tell me Nullification was non constitutional, I then asked him if the Individual mandate would be, and he said it was also non-constitutional.  So I say we fight fire with fire.

Also in the works is the re-affirmation of the Missouri’s Sovereignty under the 10th Amendment…stay tuned for that one when it is introduced.

-KOOK

Clifton from Another Black Conservative on Glenn Beck

Via the Left Coast Rebel

By golly I can't believe it, I simply can't. I got home from work this evening and pulled up the DVR for today's Glenn Beck show. Lo and behold the show was part 2 of the "Time to be Heard" black conservative special.

Which is great, right? Good for Beck to turn over this leaf, to show that there are plenty of black conservative/liberty minded citizens. Beyond that point though is something much bigger - Clifton from Another Black Conservative attended the show again and this time was able to make some great points about the issue of the day - Harry Reid and the Democratic Party.
by the Left Coast Rebel
-Kook
via iPhone

A Somewhat Close to Anarcho-Capitalism Success Story

Ivorian tax-free rebel city flourishes

...Soroland may not be a breakaway zone, but for seven years the inhabitants of this zone have got used to living without government taxes, customs charges and even water and electricity bills...

I have to admit I have a growing curiosity about the ideas of anarcho-capitalism and it's feasibility. Perhaps it grows out of my growing discontent with the state, any state. The idea of anarchy used to bring me images of malcontented youths throwing rocks through Starbuck's windows. Typically, those are socialist anarchists and though they do constitute the largest block of anarchist thought, they do not own it.

As per Wikipedia anarcho-capitalism is defined as an individualist anarchist political philosophy that advocates the elimination of the state and the elevation of the sovereign individual in a free market. In an anarcho-capitalist society, law enforcement, courts, and all other security services are provided by voluntarily-funded competitors such as private defense agencies rather than through compulsory taxation, and money is privately produced in an open market. Because personal and economic activities are regulated by the natural laws of the market through private law rather than through politics, victimless crimes, and crimes against the state are rendered moot.

My interest in AC began after learning more of Taoist thought in ancient China. The Taoists advocated pure freedom from the state, no interference by the state in economy or society. The Taosists were found by a contemporary of Confucius, Lao Tzu. Similarly to the Randian objectivist philosophy, Lao Tzu taught that it was the individual and his happiness was the integral component of a workable and healthy society. He had a healthy distrust of centralized governments and rightfully so as he lived in a time of turbulence, violence and abusive state power.

He was especially critical of the war making ability of the state. " "The people hunger because theft superiors consume an excess in taxation" and, "where armies have been stationed, thorns and brambles grow. After a great war, harsh years of famine are sure to follow."

His basic tenet is familiar to libertarians. Keep government simple and inactive. The antithesis to what we are witnessing in the United States and most of the world today.

It would certainly take a seismic shift in thinking, one perhaps brought about by calamity. Argentina shows a prime example of the state dissolving into anarchy. Areas of Mexico, the favelas in Brazil, many other countries are in the terminal phase of statism. Is it to idealistic to hope that in the face of government failures we will see more people running from government, instead of running to it for solutions? The example above, coming from Africa of all places, gives one a glimmer of hope.

h/t to Von Mises.org for mind broadening ideas!

Sarah Palin on Glenn Beck

Hubba hubba.








I will add to my thoughts after I watch the whole thing.

Glenn said "it killed me to vote for John McCain; but I voted for John McCain; and I voted for him because of you" (to Palin)...wow.





She is articulating her positions extremely well. Not flinching on the semi tough questions he is throwing. Not that it is a hostile environment he has as big a crush on her as I do I think. To be fair my crush on her and my critique of her abilities I am trying very hard to keep seperate. I think lots of women are hot; doesn't mean I want them running the country. But come on! How cool would it be to have a hot chick as president.?




She is real. She is plain spoken. She is just having a conversation. It feels as though she would have the same conversation with you or I.

And THAT is why they despise her.




-Kook
via iPhone

Double Billing

Obama is said to be making the announcement tomorrow that he plans to charge fees to the "fat cats" in the financial firms to the tune of 120 billion dollars. It is being packaged as a tool aimed at recovering tax dollars from government-rescued financial institutions. In reality, the taxpayer paid for the bailout once and will pay for it a second time when the banks pass those fees on to you.

Businesses do not pay taxes. Banks are businesses. They are tax collectors and they recoup that revenue in some way. Higher prices (in this case fees), less hiring or they simply close their doors when the cost of doing business becomes so prohibitive that it is just not worth it anymore. Everyone who uses a bank will be paying this in some way, if not directly in the form of higher fees. If you are rich, you'll be paying. If you are poor, ditto. Just add it onto to all the other hidden taxes, fees and unmeasurable opportunity costs at the hands of a draconian government you pay.

Incidentally, I do not pay bank fees. I have not paid a bank fee, other than a fee incurred while traveling and I had no other choice, in over ten years. So, if little old me is not paying bank fees, I highly doubt the CEOs and CFOs are either. When you have enough leverage with the bank, it's funny how they will work with you to accommodate you. Also funny how it turns out to be it will those without the leverage and history with the banks who will feel this non-tax increase tax increase the most and, of course, small businesses who already are not hiring or spending.

Obama will give another prime time speech telling us how he really nailed those fat cats in the banks. The financial illiterates among us will think Obama is looking out for them in the misguided belief that Obama is finally giving it to those greedy bankers with their outrageous bonuses. The "I buy a new cell phone and spend $200 a month on lattes" simpletons won’t even notice the new and creative ways that the banks will recoup the revenue: overdraft penalties, ATM charges, etc. And who exactly will that squeeze the most? Clue: It won't be the guy with a couple of homes and a driver.

From just a glance it would just appear that Obama is economically clueless and I am sure he is. At closer scrutiny, his administration knows what they are doing and where these fees will come from. He has a promise to live up to. "If you make less than $250,000 I promise you will not see a tax increase"

He didn't raise your taxes. He stuck it to those greedy bankers. He is just sticking it to greedy Big Pharma. Just sticking it to those evil wall Street Executives or whoever the villain of the month is. This is how he gets to tax the middle and lower class, by proxy.

Sarah Palin joins Fox News

She makes her first paid appearance on FNC on The O'Reilly factor tonight.
Some of the press is having a heyday saying this proves her political aspirations are over. It may, it may not; I do not know. Does the fact Huckabee has a weekend talk show mean his political aspirations are over? Does the fact Newt is a paid political pundit mean he is no longer interested in Politics? What about Michael Steele, his last gig, before ruining the RNC Chairman position, was as a political contributor on FNC and yet he is involved in politics isn't he?

In my opnion this just gives her an even louder voice and let's her become more well known and maybe even broaden her support and fan base. It is getting paid to icrease her public profile and get her message out. Seems like a win-win-win to me.

-Kook
via iPhone

If you Give a Mouse a Cookie…

Why is it so difficult for people, who admit to seeing what the goons in the District of Criminals are doing, to believe that those in DC will do MORE?  The answer is twofold, on one hand people Project their desires onto politicians and demand their pet cause be addressed, on the other hand when no limits are set and different voices call for different things and those in power get away with whatever they try then they begin to feel there are  no limits; indeed functionally there aren’t any.

First let us understand that once the District of Criminals is given the power to do one thing, they will do more.  Allow them to tax your property; soon they will tax your income. Allow them to tax your income; soon they will tax your benefits.  Allow them to provide your healthcare; they will feel compelled to control unhealthy things. Allow them to control the “unhealthy things” and soon everything will be declared “unhealthy”.

More, more, more, more, more, more, more.

They forget to declare a nanny or a gardener’s wages; and we do nothing.  So they or the next guy forgets he has a house in the Bahamas or in Ireland; and we do nothing. So then the other guy forgets to pay his taxes that he was reimbursed for anyway; and he gets promoted.  So then they up the ante again, and again, and again.  No limit.

A man associates with terrorists, thugs, and thieves, and we turn a blind eye; so why wouldn’t he think it was Ok to appoint some of those associates to positions in his administration?  He says that we are “five days away from fundamentally transforming this Nation” and we do nothing; then why would he not then think it was fine to go ahead and do that?  People didn’t listen and didn’t hear what he said, they heard what they wanted him to say.  They projected their and desires and beliefs onto him…

Once a person realizes that they have no limits placed on what they can do, it fans the flames on their desires and dreams. Once a person has demonstrated that they have no limits in area A; we must realize that they also have no limits in Area B.

Hypothetically let’s say I am an advocate of Gun Control.  I think all guns should be banned.  Once the government enacts that ban, why should I think they would not attempt to control something else?  The next person advocates for stricter drug laws, and so on and so on. That is to say, once we allow the government to control one thing; they will naturally think it is ok to control another thing.  I do not advocate anarchy; but we must take special care and be more vigilant, realizing that when we give government the power to control one thing we as individuals think is good, someone else also has pet causes and issues that we may not share. The resultant message that a politician gets is that the people as a whole want him to control many many things…and there are no limits.

Here is the human failure that allowed BHO and his merry band of radical criminals in control of this nation:

People want to project their values on likeable or public figures.  BHO said some nonsensical fluff but people HEARD what they wanted to hear.  BHO and Botoxi and Dingy Harry have demonstrated no limits to what they will attempt, because the people have not enforced any.  Yet, people project their own values onto them.  They say “surely they wouldn’t do that”, when nothing that these goons have done would logically lead us to believe that they indeed would not do that; quite the opposite, we have seen no evidence that they would limit themselves in any way.  But  we have consciences and limits and  we  would not dream of such illicit, unethical, or amoral behavior, so  we  project our values on people who have no such constraints, and indeed have not been taught those constraints by any experience they have had with we the people. 

  If you give a mouse a cookie, he is going to want a glass of milk.  If you get him a glass of milk, he will want a straw, and if you give him a straw he will want a napkin to wipe his mouth.  If you give him a napkin to wipe his mouth; he will want a mirror…

My pet cause and my desire is for government to get out of my life, and to leave me alone. Many people may say this, but the difference between me and a lot of people is not only do I want them out of MY life I want them out of your life as well; many people want them in your life, but out of theirs…

-KOOK

Cocaine in the Whitehouse

ha! If you haven't seen this already, I bet that title got you. I know it got me when I woke this morning to see the chatter on the right wing sites. It was that same feeling I got when I was in eighth grade and I saw the box under the Christmas tree that was just the perfect size of the fashionably trendy Aigner purse that was all the rage that year. Oh please, let it be so.

More than likely too good to be true.

What it is is a dig (or dugged) "scoop" linking to a page that shows an iphone image of what appears to be cut lines of cocaine and the GPS coordinates tracking the image to (dun, da,da, dun...) the Whitehouse. Link

But, wow, what great political theater. Is the stupid party finally getting smart and ruthless? Ofcourse, I would love to live in Mayberry and play by the Mayberry rules but a tiger is a tiger. And if getting down into the gutter with the Democrats is what it takes to beat them back, by all means...let me put on my shit kickers.

Before we feel guilty let us remember the constant lies and distortions from the Democrats for eight years. Remember the time President Bush choked on the pretzel because he had fallen off the wagon and was drinking like a first year frat boy all with his hands on the nuclear trigger? I can not recall how many different versions of the Bush has fallen off the sobriety wagon we had to endure.

It isn't all too unbelievable. Low approval numbers, plummeting economy and just generally in over his head. He has admitted cocaine use in his past. Maybe the story goes, he's reverted back to old habits under the stress. Before you know it, it gets a life of it's own. Kinda like half the population who thinks Sarah Palin said "I can see Russia from my house" because they heard it so many times. In the words of Hank Rearden, "people will repeat it because they've heard other people say it".

We can not say for sure who is responsible for this internet posting. They left no text, no message and no disclaimer. All we were left with was suggestion. Sometimes suggestion is enough. Realistically his hard core supporters, would only find him more endearing if this posting were found to be true and that is probably our larger problem.

You might be a Jihadist if...

I know many of us struggle with how to identify potential terrorists, therefore I found this little test. If you or a loved one meets three or more of these requirements then you are most likely a terrorist or have jihadist leanings and should refrain from air travel.

"YOU MAY BE A JIHADIST IF..."

1. You refine heroin for a living, but you have a moral objection to liquor.

2. You own a $3,000 machine gun and $5,000 rocket launcher, but you can't afford shoes.

3. You have more wives than teeth.

4. You wipe your butt with your bare hand, but consider bacon "unclean."

5. You think vests come in two styles: bullet-proof and suicide.

6. You can't think of anyone you haven't declared Jihad against.

7. You consider television dangerous, but routinely carry explosives in your clothing.

8. You were amazed to discover that cell phones have uses other than setting off roadside bombs.

9. You have nothing against women and think every man should own at least four.

10. You've always had a crush on your neighbor's goat.

11. Your cousin is pResident of the United States.

-Kook
via iPhone

Funnies For Friday

In light of the weather I am experiencing I give you these.

This one is to my Compadre AD33:

This one is especially for my other good blogging buddy KMBR, who hates the cold but yet, is living in Sweden, at least we have sunlight in Missouri!

and last and my personal favorite, this is a pic of me this morning on my way to work:

it was –1 degree below 0 Fahrenheit, ya’ll.  In SOUTH-west Missouri! Kiss my ass Goreacle, you ain’t even as good as Miss Cleo!

Happy colder’n a well digger’s ass, Friday!

-KOOK

It's Starting to Look A Lot Like...Able Danger

You will probably have to dig that one out of the vault and dust it off. In short order the pieces will come together for you.
In 1999, the Pentagon established an intelligence unit called Able Danger, assigned to seek out and identify al-Qaeda cells and members for U.S. Special Operations Command. This group reportedly used data mining from open sources.

Approximately August or September 2000, Able Danger identified an al-Qaeda cell in Brooklyn. An intelligence official and Rep. Curt Weldon claim that the AD unit identified Mohammed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, Khalid al-Mihdar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, and included a photo of Atta.

Able Danger analysts recommended the information be passed on to the FBI so that the cell could be rounded up. Accounts various new sources at the time indicated that Pentagon lawyers decided that anyone holding a green card (as it was believed the cell members did) had to be granted essentially the same legal protections as any U.S. citizen. Thus, the information Able Danger had gathered could not be shared with the FBI, the lawyers concluded. This was keeping with “the wall” philosophy and policy established in 1995 by Assistant Attorney General Jamie Gorelick, in which intelligence and law enforcement were directed to go beyond what the law requires to keep intelligence-gathering and criminal law enforcement separated.

More than a decade of lackluster response to Islamic terrorist attacks on American interests. Bill Clinton, of the same mindset, treated those attacks as criminal activities, rather than terrorist actions. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? The result-September 11th.

Fast forward eight or so years to December 25th, 2009. I can not say for certain what walls were dismantled and have subsequently have been rebuilt by this change in administration from one who clearly understood the terror threat to a healthy degree to one that is completely clueless and clearly negligent. I can only make assumptions from what my lying eyes are telling me. We went from eight years of being attack-free and back to complacent to where we are now. Something has gone awry.

As a result, when I hear Obama state essentially that this was same breakdown in intelligence that caused 9/11 and that President Bush had eight years to fix it and didn’t, my sensibilities get just a little offended. Nearly a decade without another attack is quite an achievement. One that can not be belittled, stolen or rewritten.

One year into the Obama administration and it safe to predict national security will be it's demise. The only question that really remains are what form the final push will take and how many of us it takes down with them. Obama has and continues to embolden our enemies and continues down a very perilous path. He seems clueless as to what the logical results will be.

Guess What? Ah’ve Got a Feva!

And the only prescription for it is:

Inspired by Needs more cowbell!  but brought to you by www.FeedyourAdhd.com

Keep it going.  H/t To Snarky Basterd

-KOOK

Michael Steele: Way to “aim low”, you Jackass!

This is complete idiocy on the part of Michael Steele.  Steele’s job is to be the “coach” of the Republican “team”.  Can you imagine asking an NFL coach or a NASCAR crew chief if they would have a successful run next season and either one saying “next year?, No way", we will just be rebuilding and we might win some…but being real contenders?, uh uh…”  well that is what this slapnuts is saying:

via Politico 

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele predicted Monday night that the GOP will not regain control of the House in the 2010 midterm elections.

Steele said during an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity that Republicans will see some “nice pick-ups in the House” but would not predict the number of seats the GOP will win. “I can't give a number yet,” Steele said. “We are just now beginning to look at races.”

Asked if Republicans will retake the House, Steele responded: “Not this year.” Steele added: “We still have vacancies that need to get filled. “If we do that, are we ready? I don't know. That's what I'm assessing and evaluating now.”

Michael Steele: GOP won't win House - Andy Barr - POLITICO.com

Michael Steele, you ignorant boob… this is throwing your team under the bus… here is a tip for you, you DemocRAT sympathizer you : when you are the titular “leader” of a group, and you are publicly asked if they will win or be successful, you BY GOD ACT CONFIDENT!.  EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO LIE… you dumbass.  If you need to know the reason, here it is:  if the “coach” or “leader” appears confident it INSPIRES the “members” and it should make the “enemy” less confident of their superiority.  If you can’t do this sort of thing, quit! or for God sakes, SHUT UP, you are not helping!

what a douche!

-KOOK

Air Travel: Then and Now

 

I first flew on a plane in probably 1988.  It was continental airlines from San Francisco, Ca to St. Louis MO.  I would have been 11, and I was returning from my summer spent with my Dad and Grandpa in CA.   We walked into the airport, and went to the ticket counter. A ticket agent found our reservation,and printed out our tickets and boarding passes.  They told you to lock your checked luggage, then took our checked baggage and threw it on a conveyor.    We carried our carry on bags to the terminal.  Placed the baggage on a conveyor to run through an X ray machine, emptied our pockets of our keys, change, and pocket knives (I am almost sure I had a knife on me, I remember it, and yes I carried a sharp knife in my pocket to school and elsewhere starting at about age 10) and walked through the scanner, picked up our luggage and proceeded to the gate area where we then boarded the plane and went about our lives.  Total check in time, 30 minutes, Security screening, 1 minute.  Hijackings happened but usually only on flights with overseas destinations, or from one crappy country to another crappy country.  We were unafraid.  Our President did not negotiate with terrorists, we shot them in the head and moved on.

I flew by myself for the first time in probably 1990.  It was a Southwest flight from Los Angeles through Phoenix with a connection, final destination St. Louis, Mo.  By this time having knives in your pocket was verboten.  It seemed somewhat sensible, so I put the knife in the checked baggage.  Southwest was different, you had your ticket and so you went directly to your gate bypassing the ticket counter.  The gate agent gave you a boarding pass.  Anyone in the world could go to the gate, no ticket needed, nothing needed. We checked my checked baggage at the curb, Dad carried one of my carry-ons.   We took off our belts (it was easier, we both used to sport the big cowboy buckles), dropped our change in the bowl threw my carry-on on the Metal detector belt; no buzzers buzzed so we were cool. Dad walked me to my gate got my boarding pass and waited until I boarded the plane.   This was common practice.  Total time Check in, 5 minutes, total security screening 1 minute.  Because I was under 14 I had a seriously HOT stewardess (that is what they were called back then) who was not officially on flight duty, I know because she was out of uniform and was instead wearing black shiny spandex pants, escort me across the Phoenix airport holding my hand the whole way to my gate.  There was NO way I would have gotten lost following that rear-end, I assure you, but I digress.

I made that trip several more times over the next few years, although never holding the hand of, and being accompanied by, such a lovely escort.  And it was the same old drill, time after time.

Then 9/11 happened.  Now you would not-so-randomly be pulled out of line at the gate and inspected.    White young guy –check, old white lady – check. Middle aged black man- check.  Three dudes wearing towels on their heads praising allah and giving us dirty looks- check.  It was ridiculous.

Then some moron tried to blow up a plane using something in a shampoo bottle. And instead of picking out the swarthy allah worshippers for a little extra attention,  Now we have to put everything in a baggie.  No containers larger than 2 oz.  Although as long as you have liquid in a baggie you are usually ok to put other liquids in your bag, because the water heads in the TSA don’t look for that.

Then some dirtbag tried to blow up his shoes.  So now we have to go through the indignity of taking off our shoes as well, while going through the other mind numbing processes.  We would not want to treat anyone differently.  Now little old ladies get frisked right along with achmed the camel riding bomb maker.  I shit you not I saw the Hulkster, Hulk Hogan, getting patted down and wanded in the Memphis airport two years ago.  I think Hulk is about as far from the plane blowing up terrorist sort as it gets. 

Oh yeah average security time 30 minutes.  That is if they decide that my many -work required- gadgets and cables and chargers do not scare them and they have to dump everything I carry onto the table and look at it like monkeys doing calculus for five minutes.  Then they usually say something intelligent like, “if you didn't carry all of this stuff…”  to which I usually say, “If i didn’t carry all this stuff there would be no reason for the trip, which I would appreciate right now.”  But they are just trying to do their jobs with the stupid rules they have been saddled with.

So now some A-hole tries to blow up his fruit of the looms and every traveler in the U.S. is probably going to have to go through the (slow) full body scanner, and air puffers.  WHY?  For the FEELING of security.  Everyone knows this. 

If we wanted to have more than the illusion of security we would make a certified traveler program.  That way business travelers on domestic flights, like me, who have never been arrested, look like a cornfed midwesterner and have been employed at the same company for over ten years, travel every month,  and do not even know the proper spelling for the Koran?…Quaran? can just do it like back in the days and go on about our business.  Let the tourists and other infrequent travelers go through a different line and give them a little more attention.  Pull out anyone that  *gasp* fits the profile a full inspection and lets be SAFE.  Let them be sniffed by dogs…leave me, and granny, alone.

What we are doing now is letting the Terrorists win.  Their goal is to change our way of life and we are letting them. 

-Kook