Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Happy Birthday, Van Morrison

My top 5 favorite Van Morrison songs; 5) "Tore Down a la Rimbaud"...... 4) "Astral Weeks"...... 3) "Into the Mystic"...... 2) "Rough God Goes Riding"...... 1) "Aryan Mist"

Yet Another "Wedge" Eliminated

As a lot of you may already know, I'm in strong favor of eliminating the corporate income tax. I find this concept to be a clumsy, almost silly one that a) doesn't raise all that much in terms of revenue, b) induces businesses to engage in stupid, unproductive behavior, and c) tends to hurt the little fellow a lot more than it does the rich fellow. I would much rather raise the individual rates on the wealthy and also eliminate the special consideration for capital gains. These, to me, seem to be far more productive and equitable ways to raise revenue (taxing a building - I mean, come on)................................................................................................And if you're thinking that this is strictly a conservative position, think again. Robert Reich, an uber-liberal by almost anybody's standards and a former Commerce secretary to President Clinton, has also come out for an elimination of this tax. I refer you specifically to his book, "Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy and Everyday Life". He lays it all out pretty solidly for you there...................................................................................................P.S. Just for the record, Mr. Reich's reasons for eliminating the corporate income tax are very similar to mine. He specifically cites it as an inefficient and inequitable tax that essentially hurts a lot of innocent people. He also seems to think that by eliminating the corporate income tax we could also go a long way toward eliminating constitutional rights for corporations as well (no more free speech, unlimited campaign contributions, etc.) - another very good benefit, I would say.

Yet Another Interesting Idea Knee-Jerkingly Vilified

I could never quite figure out how/why partial privatization of Social Security ever got to be such a "conservative" idea (I mean, other than the fact that a Republican President, President Bush, came forward with it). a) You make it partial (33% perhaps to start). b) You make it voluntary (people will be free to stay in the present program). And c) you put in a sufficient number of safeguards (at age 55, for example, X amount has to be in short-term bond funds, at age 60 X+1, at age 65 X+2, etc.). What, pray tell, is the ever-loving problem here? I mean, seriously - does the solution to literally EVERY problem have to be a conventional one (not to mention one that grows the Leviathan, the bureaucracy, etc.)?

Monday, August 29, 2011

Note to Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and John Kerry

Tain't no do-over, boys and girl. You voted (to give a marginal and obviously bungling President what was essentially a blank check), AND YOU VOTED WRONG! And now you have to live with it. I mean, I'm sorry to be so blunt about it but you just flat-out blew it, kids. And especially you, Mr.s Biden and Kerry, after having already blown the first Gulf War vote, and trying make up for THAT - you have to feel like total idiots at this juncture. But, hey, don't worry, in the words of Carl from "Sling Blade". "You'll be dead soon enough and the world'll be shut a ya'."

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Since the Topic DID Come Up



I wasn't quite old enough to have served in Vietnam, and, if I had served, maybe I WOULD feel different. But the way that I see it now, she apologized (numerous times) and has essentially lived a squeaky clean life since that era. Maybe it's about time that we a) all moved on, b) appreciated her extraordinary gifts as an actress, and c) got a full-bore load of her nearly incomparable beauty (those eyes, those lips, those cheek-bones)....That would flat-out be my suggestion, anyway.

It's a Strange Hate Coming Down

Our colleague, wd, is on the record as saying that President Bush MAY (yes, he gave himself a little wiggle room) have known in advance that 9/11 was going to happen, and let it happen as a pretense to start a war in Iraq. An interesting theory, isn't it? I do have to wonder, though. Is wd aware that, had those planes struck a little differently and the evacuation not gone so smoothly, it wouldn't have been 3,000 human beings dead? It would have been 30,000, 40,000, or 50,000 human beings dead. Does he really think that Mr. Bush is evil to that extreme? Hm, I guess that only he can answer that, huh?

There's a Chill in My Lungs

So, what is it precisely that I find "chilling"? I'll tell you. What I find chilling is a rigidness of thought that borders on the pathological, a complete and total unwillingness to compromise and/or to think outside the box even once in a while. I also find it chilling whenever one of these true-believer types takes to labeling those of a different persuasion as purely evil, Satanic, etc.. It's a dangerous scenario, mebuckos - and, yes, a trend that is tearing this country to smithereens..................................................................................................I mean, just look at the frigging President, for Christ. That poor guy is taking spears, arrows, hand grenades, and miscellaneous weaponry from every direction. And from I can gather here, these miscreants (aka, extremists on both ends of the spectrum) are just getting primoed. You had better stayed tuned, I'm telling you.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Ron Paul is considered by many to be a flake (myself included at times). But he was 100% right about one thing, folks. The fellow totally predicted the housing/financial crisis. Here is a portion of his direct testimony before the House Financial Services Committee on September 10th, 2003 (forewarning us on the destructive consequences that an unchecked Fannie and Freddie would eventually level on the U.S. economy)............: "Ironically, by transferring the risk of a widespread mortgage default, the government increases the likelihood of a painful crash in the housing market. This is because the special privileges granted to Fannie and Freddie have distorted the housing market by allowing them to attract capital they could not attract under pure market conditions. As a result, capital is diverted from its most productive use into housing. This reduces the efficacy of the entire market and thus reduces the standard of living of all Americans.

Despite the long-term damage to the economy inflicted by the government's interference in the housing market, the government's policy of diverting capital to other uses creates a short-term boom in housing. Like all artificially-created bubbles, the boom in housing prices cannot last forever. When housing prices fall, homeowners will experience difficulty as their equity is wiped out. Furthermore, the holders of the mortgage debt will also have a loss. These losses will be greater than they would have otherwise been had government policy not actively encouraged over-investment in housing."............I ask you, folks. Compare this testimony of Mr. Paul's to that of dullards like Barney Frank and Maxine Waters (circa the same time) and tell me, who's the real flake now?

0 For 2

29 Democratic Senators voted in favor of the Iraq War authorization. I ask you here - how could this have ever happened? My theory pertaining to it is that they were simply being weasels. They all (or most of them anyway) guessed wrong on the first Gulf War and they simply didn't want to be seen as "weak on defense" again............................................................................................I mean, sure, the Bush administration wasn't exactly forthright in terms of the intelligence (this, though it also must be stated that the Senate itself was privy to the same NIE - the idiots just didn't bother to read it), etc. but, come on, to have given this neophyte and mediocre intellect out Texas a blank check was absolutely insane.............................................................................................a) These Senators should have known that Iraq constituted a multi-ethnic country, replete with copious amounts of ancient hatred on the verge of bubbling over. And b) they also should have known that, no matter how much of an SOB that Mr. Hussein was (and, clearly, he was), he was also the only significant counter-balance to Iran (you remember them, right, the second member of the Axis of Evil?). The way that I see it, peeps, if the administration wanted an authorization to take out any Iraqi WMD (if in fact they existed, I'm saying), fine, that would have been an appropriate vote. But for these folks to have given Mr. Bush an open authorization to also engage in regime-change, nation-building, and counter-insurgency, that, me-buckos, was absolute insanity. And, yes, the 29 Democrats and 48 Republicans who voted to do so should forever be ashamed of themselves.

And to Think that More People Know Who Kim Kardashian Is



Julie Harris is one of the most acclaimed and influential actresses of her generation. She still holds the record for most Tony nominations with 10, and is presently tied with Angela Lansbury for most Tony wins with 5. She also had a stellar film career which included such classics as "The Member of the Wedding" (in which she was nominated for an Oscar), "East of Eden", "Requiem for a Heavyweight", "The Haunting", "Reflections in a Golden Eye", and "The Hiding Place". As Ms. Harris got older, the gal turned her attention to Television and was rewarded in that medium with 3 Emmy Awards. Her most prestigious honor, though, came in 2005, as a Kennedy Center honoree. Julie Harris is an American treasure and, yes, even at the age of 85, the woman continues to work and inspire. God bless her.

Miscellaneous 95

1) Sean Hannity and Brent Bozell are a couple of frigging dweebs. Earlier this week, they tried to cherry-pick this remark by CNN's Jack Cafferty and infer from it that both he and CNN had a liberal bias. What these two clowns of course didn't tell their viewers is that Mr. Cafferty is an equal-opportunity critic and that CNN also employs a fair number of "righties", too; Eric Erickson, Alex Costellanos, just to name a couple. Not that Mr. Hanniy's viewers necessarily care, mind you. I'm just saying.............2) So, Rick Perry thinks that what Ben Bernanke is doing is treasonous, huh? Hm, I wonder what the the fellow thinks of Alan Greenspan. I ask this, folks, in that, according to Thomas Woods's book, "Meltdown", Mr. Greenspan printed more money from 2000 to 2007 than all of the previous Fed chairmen had COMBINED. Surely, if Mr. Bernanke is a treasonous chap.............3) And, yes, what about George W. Bush? He could have fired Mr. Greenspan and didn't. Wouldn't that in fact make him a traitor, too? I'm just asking.............4) Everybody bashes Fox for being biased (myself sometimes included - see above). And, yes, people, in numerous instances, they are. But they aren't ALWAYS. In fact, they've made some very positive changes of late. a) They've made A.B. Stoddard a regular on "Special Report with Bret Baier". b) They've signed Ed Henry to be their new chief White House correspondent. And c) they're recently added on and made long-time CBS newsman, John Roberts, their new chief national affairs correspondent. No, it doesn't necessarily make up for all of bias that we continue to get from Hannity, Fox and Friends, etc.. But at least it's a solid start in the right direction.............5) Just for the record, I'm not saying here that Mr.s Bush and Greenspan are traitors. I'm just saying that, according to Governor Perry's "logic"......

Friday, August 26, 2011

The Party of No, Not, Nothing, Nyet, Nada, Bubkas, Nill............

The Republican party, at least rhetorically, has always been the party of limited government. But at least they always seemed to believe in SOME government. I mean, think about it here. Teddy Roosevelt helped start the National Parks Service. Eisenhower financed the Interstate Highway System. Nixon tried to institute a universal health-care plan. The first George Bush extended the Clean Air Act and helped to spearhead the Americans with Disabilities Act. Gerry Ford granted amnesty to Vietnam era draft dodgers. Etc................................................................................................Contrast the record of these men with what the present day Republican party is saying. It's frigging night and day, people. At least from what I can gather, the latter doesn't seem to believe in government, PERIOD!................................................................................................So, is this a strategy that will work (politically and/or substantively)? I don't know, but if history is any indication, I'd have to say no. This, in that whenever a political party over-reads its mandate and goes too far in its policies, they tend to get booted out of office. Just ask the Democrats in 1946, or the Republicans in 2006 (the Republicans also lost heavily in 1974 - but that was probably more due to Watergate). If I were a betting man, I'd probably have to go with the Democrats gaining in 2012.

And Bring a Change of Clothing

Fareed Zakaria made a very illuminating point the other night. He said that, if we eased up a little on letting people into this country (after 9/11, it was made exceedingly difficult) to visit/vacation, the tourism industry would absolutely start to skyrocket. Right now he says that France (roughly 1/6th the size of the U.S.) is the number one tourist destination in the world (a position that Mr. Zakaria sees as rightfully ours - this because of our history, scenic beauty, diversity, etc.)..................................................................................................Yes, folks, 9/11 was a terrible event. And, yes, we absolutely should do everything possible to prevent it from happening again. But we shouldn't, because of that, tell the rest of the world that, just because one in every ten or twenty million of you is a terrorist, we're going to be inhospitable to the whole frigging lot of you. In the words of the first President George Bush (or at least the Dana Carvey imitation of him), "It wouldn't be prudent."

O'Reilly, The Physiatrist

So, what's the first thing that Christine O'Donnell does after her Piers Morgan/CNN debacle? Yep, you got it, folks, she traipses right on over to Fox and Bill O'Reilly for some good old fashioned rehab......................................................................................................And that wasn't even the end of it, either. During the following evening's program, O'Reilly and one of his little round-tables concluded that this O'Donnell gal had in fact been "done in" by the left (in general, I'm guessing). I mean, talk about getting the royal treatment, huh?................................................................................................P.S. And just for the damned record here, Ms. O'Donnell did herself in. This, folks, in that she's the one who said that all of that stupid shit, made all of those moronic campaign commercials, basically accused her opponent of being a homosexual (and, no, she didn't mean it as a compliment, either) etc.. She, and she alone, me-buckos.....Oh, and as far as her "rehabilitation" goes, until the woman comes to grips with this fact FIRST, you're probably not going to see much in terms of it.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

My Witty Comment that Nobody Got to See Because Sue Deleted the Entire Post

Alright, let me set it up for you. Sue is apparently having a problem with this other blogger; an individual by the name of Tom. And on this one post Tom went on a series of tirades; "f this, f that, you effer, yada yada." To which I, your humble correspondent, responded by saying, "I think that Tom has watched 'Glengarry Glen Ross' a few too many times." A pretty good line, no? The problem is, Sue took the entire post down (understandable in that the guy was being a total dick) and I was left in a similar state to that of Ed Harris and Alan Arkin after that brutal Alec Baldwin dress-down, "And your name is you're wanting." Thankfully, peeps, I have my own frigging blog, God damn it!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

The Unmaking Dye

The way that I see it, folks, John McCain basically ruined Sarah Palin's political career. I mean, think about it for a minute here. If Mr. McCain hadn't picked her as his running-mate (one of the most reckless political maneuvers in U.S. history - but I digress) , she probably would have finished her term as Governor, eventually been elected to the U.S. Senate, and possibly made a name for herself. Now, granted, she wouldn't have become the celebrity/king-maker/erstwhile train-wreck that she presently is, but she clearly would have had a more tangible career for herself. Agree? Disagree?

An Appealing 1%

I'm going to be honest, folks. The only Republican who I would even consider voting for would be Huntsman (and this isn't to say that I'd definitely vote for Obama, either - I might in fact go for an independent option). a) The man believes in science. b) He recognizes the idiocy of not voting to raise the debt-ceiling (he was strongly contra Bachmann in this regard). c) He believes in civil unions. d) He believes in and practices civility. e) He wants to get us the hell out of Afghanistan. f) He has a strong record and reputation of working across the aisle. Yes, he's pro-life and that could be a problem for me (I've consistently been pro-choice). But even there he's willing to make exceptions for rape, incest, and the health of the mother (that, and I don't think that he'd use abortion as a litmus test for court appointees)....I guess what I'm saying here, folks, is that you could definitely vote for a "worser" candidate than this guy........................................................................................................P.S. Yes, the fact that he was one of the eight individuals on that stage who raised their hand to reject a 10:1 cuts to revenue deal is another thing that bothers me. But I cannot believe in reality that he would ever do that. The dude is far too reasonable.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Never

What would be my answer to the question, "So, when was the last time that you uttered the name, Alan Keyes, without prefacing the word, idiot, in front of it?"

Monday, August 22, 2011

Miscellaneous 94

1) The defense that President Obama gets from certain segments of the blogosphere is borderline pathological. I mean, the frigging guy could throttle somebody and they'd still defend him some. "The throttleee was a racist and deserved it", they'd say. And don't get me wrong here. I actually like Obama. I voted for him and probably will again. But come on already. He a) gave a good speech at the 2004 convention, b) put a major beatdown on the idiot, Alan Keyes, c) had but a brief cup of coffee in the U.S. Senate, and d) defeated a stark raving mad lunatic, John McCain, in the 2008 Presidential race. Could there be a more fortunate individual anywhere?............2) Yes, he did defeat Hillary. I'll give him some credit for that. But I have to ask you here - how you ever seen a segment of the voting populace turn on somebody the way that the American left turned on Mrs. Clinton? I mean, my God. They frigging tossed her aside as if she was a balding snow-tire, for Christ.............3) And I definitely didn't like the way that everybody dumped on Mrs. Clinton when she didn't concede immediately. I mean, seriously, why should she have? I don't ever recall Reagan conceding immediately in 1976. And what about Mr. Teddy Kennedy? Poor Jimmy Carter had to basically chase him around the stage in 1980, just to get a frigging handshake from him. All in all, I think that Mrs. Clinton showed a fair amount of class throughout the 2008 race (her husband, no, maybe not as much). At least she did so from a historical perspective, I'm saying.............4) Have any of you folks seen that new show on Fox (News); "The Five"? It's basically Bob Beckel versus four conservatives....And talk about ineffectual here. The only way that they could make this Beckel character more ineffectual would be to have him suit up in a Washington Generals uniform. I'm serious!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

A Persuasive Old Bugger, Evidently

Well, the verdict is in, folks. UConn's new football coach, Paul Pasqualoni, is a much better recruiter than his predecessor, Randy Edsall. Not, mind you, that Mr. Pasqualoni is blowing the roof off up here. The really top-notch prospects, regardless of location, are probably never going to pick UConn (for football - basketball is an entirely different story). a) It's colder than hell there. b) It's smack in the middle of cow country. c) It's a basketball school (at least for as long as Auriemma and Calhoun are coaching there). And d) they compete in the mediocre (for football) Big East Conference (a conference that may not even exist five years from now - what, with conference realignment and the possibility of super conferences emerging). But Pasqualoni is in fact doing well.................................................................................................For instance, he recently received a verbal commitment from Monroe CT's Casey Cochran, the top rated player in the state of CT and the 12th best pro-style quarterback in the country (this, according to Rivals). He's also gotten commitments from several other standouts/bell-ringers; Jhavon Williams, a ball-hawking corner out of Florida, defensive tackle, Mikal Myers, the 7th best player from the state of New York, and a couple of kids out of neighboring MA; linebacker, Jason Sylva and safety, Obi Melifonwu, the 6th and 7th best players from that state...................................................................................................In fact, folks, not only is Pasqualoni doing better (recruiting-wise) than Edsall did at UConn, he's arguably doing better than Edsall is presently doing NOW, at Maryland, a school that has a) a much better recruiting base, b) a somewhat better tradition, and c) a significantly more stable conference affiliation; the ACC...................................................................................................Now, obviously, we're going to have to see if any of this pans out on the field. As you may in fact recall, Pasqualoni's teams at Syracuse (especially later in his tenure) had a tendency to underachieve - this, while Mr. Edsall's at UConn almost always OVERachieved. But at least it constitutes an encouraging start for those of us who are following the team.

Highway Patrol 2.0/For Dummies

This dude and I in high school used to do these dueling Broderick Crawford imitations, "10-4! 10-4! Let's go! Let's go!" We did it all through our frigging senior year in fact. Yeah, we looked like a couple of idiots, got a shitload of dirty looks, etc. but, I'm telling you, we literally didn't care. And even after we graduated, whenever we ran into each other (even if it was years and years in-between), it was always first thing, "10-4! 10-4! Let's go! Let's go!"...........................................................................................Well, guess what, folks, I just ran into him the other week at Price Rite (this time after 15 years) and, yeah, you got it, "10-4! 10-4! Let's go! Let's go!"...Hopefully he and I will end up in the convalescent home together as roommates someday - in the dementia wing, obviously! Batten down the hatches, boys and girls!

Saturday, August 20, 2011

careerdestroyers.com/dumb

I think that Christine O'Donnell can pretty much kiss-off ever running for political office again. I mean, did you happen to see her on Piers Morgan the other night? She went on the show to hock her new book and when the Brit host started questioning her on some of the things in it, she got all pissy and walked off. She even had one of her chump-change handlers step in front of the camera to try and block the viewers from seeing it, comically so..................................................................................................And, really, I gotta ask, what in the hell is it with these tea partier gals? None of them ever wants to answer a question, for Christ! I mean, I give her credit for going on a non-Fox program and all (Palin and Angle wouldn't have even done that) but, other than that, the woman came across as utterly stoogey, in my opinion................................................................................................P.S. And, please, don't let that smile and cutesy demeanor fool you, either. This O'Donnell bimbo has a flat-out nasty streak. Remember how she basically called her Republican primary opponent, Mike Castle, a faggot? Vicious, huh?..................................................................................................Of course, just like her hero/fellow profiteer, Sarah Palin, she's also very good at flipping things around and making herself the victim. Perish the thought that we would ever forget that little attribute.

He Makes Bush Seem Like Truman Capote

Rick Perry has been running for President for about a week now. And so far the dude has a) "almost" accused Ben Bernanke of treason, b) taken a massive beemer on President Obama, and c) basically said that the science behind evolution was BS. I'm sorry, folks, but methinks that this fellow isn't quite ready for prime viewing yet - not even remotely so.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Never Mind!

What would be my answer to the question, "So, what do you think that the new University of Miami football coach, Al Golden, would like to say to them now....if he could?"......................................................................................................P.S. The sad thing here is that all of this money, these drugs, prostitutes, etc. didn't really put a better product on the field. This, folks, in that the "U's" overall record for the past five years is but a mediocre 35-29. Couple that with the fact that they a) never won their division of the ACC and b) had a dismal bowl record of 1-3 and, yeah, you really could say that crime didn't pay too well down there.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

No Vacancy

The human brain deals with incoming information in essentially two ways. One is through assimilation. This is when incoming information matches with a person's preexisting mindset and is absorbed accordingly. The second is through accommodation. This is when the incoming information is at odds with the preexisting mindset and the information is so convincing that it causes the preexisting mindset to be altered...........................................................................................It is my fervent belief, folks, that the mind of the extremist/true-believer consistently only utilizes the former operation. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, gets assimilated. And, no, it doesn't matter if the incoming information seriously calls into question the preexisting mindset or not. The new information either affirms the preexisting mindset or it gets rejected out of hand. No accommodation is ever allowed.........................................................................................Now, there's obviously an emotional element working here as well. The extremist, folks, flat-out doesn't feel comfortable changing his or her point of view. It is simply too painful for the person. a) They like the comfort of a predictable universe in which one side can be championed, the other side, vilified. And b) they're simply too invested to change. To alter one's point of view would be tantamount to death. Unconvincible would probably be the best way to describe it.

Monday, August 15, 2011

The Velvet Something

I'll be honest, folks. I've been a strong "lean no" when it comes to funding for NPR and PBS for quite some time now. But when I saw a recent PBS special that had Bobby Vinton and his 90-something mother on stage dancing, that long standing "lean no" solidified into an absolute HELL NO!! I mean, come on here!!..........................................................................................And, really, what in the hell is the government doing subsidizing a TV network anyway? Especially now, I'm saying, with thousands and thousands of options - I ask you. I mean, I know that Charlie Rose and Tavis Smiley are good interviewers and all, but, please, let let 'em get a job in the private sector. If it's good enough (or, if you prefer, bad enough) for Olbermann and Hannity, then it should be good enough for those two, too.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Miscellaneous 93

1) I've said it before but I'll say it again. I have no permanent allegiance to the Democratic party - nada! In fact, if the Republicans ever nominated a reasonable, pro-choice moderate candidate for President, I would be more than happy to consider voting for him/her. But, I'm telling you here, right now, the individuals that I personally saw on that stage the other night...were bad! Damn it, I might even go as far as to say that they were the bottom of the barrel Republicans; Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, some dufus who used to run a pizza outfit (I surely hope that the dude's pizza goes down better than his bromides). I mean, come on, folks, the party of Honest Abe, T.R. Ike, and Rocky has degenerated into this? Surely, the grand old party do better (or at the minimum least, they can try).............2) My conservative colleagues continue to say that we shouldn't raise taxes...PERIOD....I just wish that they could show me how you can possibly bridge a 1.5 trillion dollar budget shortfall WITHOUT some form of revenue increase. And, besides, Mr. Bush and his Republican colleagues rammed through two humongous tax cuts, waged two very expensive wars, and passed a brand new expensive drug entitlement program, and they didn't frigging pay for one single iota of any of it. Wouldn't it be a nice change of pace to actually pay for something once in a while? I mean, I know that it's a radical thought and all but...................3) There are two popular conceptions of George W. Bush amongst progressives these days. One conception of Mr. Bush is that he's this evil and sinister mastermind who tried to bitch-slap the rest of the world into submission. The other conception is that he's this utterly buffoonish and incompetent boob whose negligent actions as commander in chief have set this country back considerably. Which of these conceptions will ultimately win out amongst the progressive movement is anybody's guess. We'll just have to wait and see, I'm thinking....I mean, he certainly couldn't be both, now could he?

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Things That I Cannot NOT Do 1

Watch "Goodfellas" if I happen to stumble upon it while surfing.

Totally Slimy, Nearly Great

I'll admit it, folks. I never much cared for Bill Clinton when he was President (I voted for Perot in '92 and '96). He always seemed pretty much like a slippery kind of fellow. But, now, I have to admit it. Mr. Clinton wasn't just a good President. He was a very good President (those on the far-left would disagree and point to things like NAFTA and welfare reform but, from my perspective/overall, I'd still say that he was very good). In fact, folks, if it wasn't for a couple of people named Monica Lewinsky and Yasser Arafat, he might even have gone down as a great one (that, and look at the two individuals who've succeeded him)...............................................................................................And it wasn't just a good economy (though, yes, that's probably the most obvious "accomplishment) that Mr. Clinton presided over. He also some major foreign policy and military accomplishments. Perhaps the most underrated of these was Mr. Clinton's spearheading of operation Desert Fox. Not only, folks, did this military operation decimate Saddam Hussein's stockpile of WMD/the manufacturing infrastructure necessary to create them, it also demoralized the Iraqis to the point that they had basically given up on creating more of them. And it isn't just me who's making this assertion. David Kay, Anthony Zinni, and Thomas Ricks (most notably in his book, "Fiasco") have all essentially said the same thing..................................................................................................As to why President Bush and his minions didn't see it this way, that, me-buckos, is an entirely different topic....Let's just say that the Bush administration (motivated by whatever) created their own scenario out of this data vacuum, cherry-picked the intelligence that best suited their needs, chronically engaged in group-think, and fell prey to the most rabid of neoconservatives; Perle, Feith, and Wolfowitz. And the rest, as they say, is history (President Clinton's leadership on operation Desert Fox, notwithstanding)....................................................................................................P.S. And as far as the National Intelligence Estimate that Saddam in fact DID have WMB being a "consensus", that's true, there was. But it was far from a unanimous opinion. The State department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, the U.S. Air Force's Director for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and Tyler Drumheller, the former CIA chief of clandestine operations for Europe ALL had major doubts pertaining to this issue. Hell, folks, even the NEI itself had some doubts and caveats, if in fact you took the time to read it - which neither the Bush administration nor the Congress apparently did.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Whoa Sarah!

Those sled-marks running up and down Mitt Romney's expensive suit - three guesses as to how the sons a' bitches got there. And, no, folks, the first two guesses DO NOT COUNT!

What I Would Have Said Had I Been on that Stage Last Night

"Look, folks, I'm going to be honest with you here. There is NO silver-bullet/easy answer. And if the rest of these people up here with me are saying that there is, they're either stupid...or they're lying. The real fact of the factor is that we're probably going to have to do a lot of things to get out of the mess that we're in. And, yes, people, some of those things are no doubt going to be painful; entitlement reform, the raising of some revenues, the scaling back of certain programs, the closing of some military bases, etc.. But, if we're serious about it, stick together, and refrain from demonizing each other, there's at least a 50-50 chance that we can come out of this crisis a stronger country. So, are you with me...or what?...................................................................................................Oh, and, no, I wouldn't automatically walk away from a budget deal that had, as a ratio, 10:1, spending-cuts to revenues. That would be an insane position and the rest of these people up here with me should be ashamed of themselves - especially you, Mr. Huntsman, person who I heretofore had pegged as a thoughtful, sophisticated, and reasonable person. I mean, if you're going to frigging lose anyway, you might as well tell the truth, no?.........................................................................................................P.S. And I also want it known that I respect Mr. Obama. The President is a good and decent man who's tried his damnedest to get this country going again. I just happen to think that I have some better ideas and the leadership and administrative abilities to make things happen. As Mr. Huntsman himself has uttered, this isn't about who is the better American. It's about who will make a better President...Again, thank you, American people, for listening."

Concepts Foreign to the Extremes (A Partial List)

1) The law of unintended consequences. 2) The law/point of diminishing returns. 3) The fact that when you subsidize something, you generally tend to get more of it. 4) Nuance/complexity/vicissitudes. 5) Compromise. 6) The "double-edged sword". 7) Pragmatism. 8) Open-mindedness. 9) The fact that we don't have political enemies but political opponents. 10) Cognitive dissonance. 11) Doubt. 12) Dialectical thinking. 13) Humility. 14) The fact that hyperbole (Bush is Hitler, Obama is Hitler, etc.)/"true believing" can often be destructive. 15) Perspective-taking. 16) The need to NOT take oneself so seriously. 17) Self-deprecation. 18) The fact that unfettered spinning tends to make a person look moronic. 19) Contingency awareness/the limitations of human knowledge/multi-causality. 20) Friendships based upon things other than politics. 21) Impartiality (the fact that "your person" doesn't always win the debate)/the need to sometimes give credit where credit is due. 22) "Devil's Advocacy". 23) The keeping of one's "powder" dry/the need to sometimes "pick your battles" and/or know when to "fold". 24) Civility. 25) Respectfulness. 26) An awareness that you can sometimes learn from those who you disagree with. 27) Moral consistency/"a spade is a spade". 28) The fact that the good isn't always the enemy of the perfect. 29) Differentiating fact from opinion.

Miscellaneous 92

1) According to the L.A. Times, on July 17, President Obama and the Republicans had the basis for an agreement that included 800 billion in increased revenues. But on July 19, when the gang of six came back with a plan that had more than a trillion in increased revenue, Mr. Obama claimed that this gang of six proposal changed the dynamic and insisted that the White House needed an additional 400 billion more in revenue, a tactic that ended up causing the discussions to break down.......Look, folks, I wasn't there. I don't know if this is exactly how it happened. But, if it DID happen this way and, because of it, we ended up with the turkey that we did, then, yeah, Mr. Obama's leadership on this issue really needs to be examined/called into question here....I'm sorry but it does.............2) If somebody is willing to mow my lawn for $30, I'm not going to give them 35 just to salve my conscience. And, yes, as a tax-payer who sends two humongous (for me anyway) checks to my town for the "privilege" of living in it, I would strongly prefer that the government show a similar level of thriftiness.............3) To show you how far-right Hannity is, he led off one of his recent programs by saying, "This budget deal that has conservatives up in arms...." Wow, huh? An agreement that had zero in it in terms of revenues and ONLY budget-cuts, "Hannity conservatives" are up in arms about that - supposedly....I don't know, folks, maybe Mr. Hannity really DOES live in another stratosphere.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Interchangeable Stick-Figure Heads

Melissa Harris Perry is this ultra-orthodox ivory-tower egghead that MSNBC always like to trot out and impress us with (or not). They even had her subbing for Rachel Maddow the other week (Rachel Maddow's back-up - yeah, that's a job to aspire to) and, yeah, talk about a person giving it their doctrinaire best..................................................................................................One of the big "lectures" was on infrastructure, and how we, as a country, haven't been paying enough attention to it....I mean, talk about vintage, huh? And when I say that it was damned pitch-perfect (and, yes, I'm talking in terms of a subliminal dog-whistle here), I mean it. IT WAS DAMNED PITCH-PERFECT!!!!! This, folks, in that every single t was crossed and every single i was dotted. In fact, Rachel Maddow herself couldn't have done any better..............................................................................................Of course, it was all that I could do not to scream my lungs out at the television, "What about that $862,000,000,000 frigging stimulus package!!!!!? Why didn't THAT have more in terms of infrastructure? Hello!!!!!"...I mean, seriously here, how many bites at the apple do these progressives want?

A Quorum of Two (Middle-Aged Men)

Bruce Bartlett, a former adviser to Reagan and the first President Bush, has made at least three separate appearances with Lawrence O'Donnell. And during these three appearances, the two individuals didn't disagree so much as a single iota. Why, pray tell, is it so easy for them to come to an agreement, and, yet, so difficult for Congress?...I mean, are you trying to tell me here that there aren't ANY reasonable and statesmanlike people left in Washington? That SEEMS to be what you're trying to tell me...............................................................................................P.S. Yes, I know, the Republicans are MORE to blame. You don't have to remind me again.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Channeling Kevin Bacon



Thank you sir, may I have another!!!!!

Monday, August 8, 2011

Miscellaneous 91

1) Here's an interesting statistic, folks. Total direct revenue to the Federal government in 2003 was 1.78 trillion. By 2007, that number had grown to 2.57 trillion, a nearly 800 billion dollar increase....Those on the Republican side will no doubt say that this increase (the largest 4 year increase in American history, according to the Treasury department) was largely brought about by President Bush's tax-cuts. The Democrats, on the other hand - they would no doubt dispute this by saying that these increases would have been even greater without the tax-cuts....So, who's right? I haven't the foggiest. My suspicion, though, is that the Democrats are probably more right. a) Tax revenues have a tendency to go up anyway (reasons pertaining to population growth and inflation, mainly) and b) revenues actually went down in 2002 and 2003, the years immediately following the first Bush tax cuts....But it is rather instructive, no, to see how basically any side can claim a victory for itself, dependent upon the numbers utilized?............2) Chris Matthews has a suggestion for President Obama. Find all the bridges, roads and sewers in the country that are presently under code and fix them. Present the idea (replete with specificity) to the Congress (making sure, of course, that a lot of the juicier items are smack-dab in the middle of Republican districts) and dare them to vote it down. Hm, I kind of like this idea, folks. Of course I would have liked it much better, you know, BACK IN 2009!!!............3) Seriously, though, the stimulus package, while it may have helped the economy somewhat (i.e., prevented it from becoming worse), was entirely too much of a buckshot approach. And, yes, folks, in my opinion, the Democrats should have known better/that this was going to be their only really substantive bite at the apple and structured it better. I mean, they basically blew it, for Christ - blew it and allowed the Republicans to march right back in in. Nice goin', fellas'.............4) And I hate to say it here, but Mr. Obama just might be too nice of a fellow for Washington. The guy just lays back too much. The way that I see it, the President should have frigging marched right up to Capitol Hill and said, "Here's my plan, fellas'. It's got cuts, some major entitlement reform, and a scaling back of our foreign policy agenda. And I'm going to lay it all out for you in excruciating detail. But I'm going to need to get something from you, too. We need to raise revenues - even if it comes from 'tax expenditures'....I mean, come on, guys. Any idiot knows that we cannot simply cut our way to a balanced budget and, dudes, even if in fact we could, it may not be the best thing for the economy....Oh, and, yes, I'll be taking this little plan of mine to the American people. It's best not to keep them out of the loop like this. I'll be waiting for your call."...Not that it would necessarily work, mind you. But that's what I would tell Mr. Obama to do.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

The Saddest Part of My Weekend; Saturday and Sunday at 8 PM


AKA, when the absolutely gorgeous Harris Faulkner yields the throne to a somewhat lesser attractive, shall we say, Mr. Mike Huckabee.

The Chicken or the Tumor?

According to factoidz.com, less than 10% of upper-class people smoke daily. According to this same source, that statistic mushrooms to over 40% when describing the working class. That's a pretty damned big differential, no?......................................................................................................And, yes, folks, the repercussions of this differential are quite immense. This, in that, according to ash.org.uk, smoking is the biggest single contributor to health inequality between the classes.................................................................................................As to why this differential exists, academic studies have tended to focus on educational differences, the stresses associated with lower income, factors related to an individual's self-esteem, the fact that tobacco companies seemingly target the working class, lesser available treatment options for the working class, and cultural factors (smoking being more the norm in certain settings, etc.). Might I introduce another, far more quaint, possibility here - personal responsibility?.....................................................................................................I mean, I don't mean to be judgmental about it (and, yes, I understand - unless you walk a mile in the other person's shoes) but, come on....And especially if the individual in question has children, I'm saying; the second-hand smoke that these kids are breathing, the fact that Cigarettes are, what, $7-8 bucks a pack now (2 packs a day would be about $100 bucks a week - money that instead could be used to start a child's college fund perhaps)? You'd think that maybe for the kids they'd be able kick it. But, hey, what do I know - I'm just a non-smoking tax-payer.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Heaven/Earth/What Lies Betwixt the Ears

We can never know with certainty what motivates a politician. And whatever opinions that we do have pertaining to it are largely based upon whether or not we like/support that person. People who like Obama, for instance, say that his motivation for wanting a long-term debt "solution" was to help the economy and those who don't like him say that he was driven by politics (not that these two goals are always/necessarily mutually exclusive, mind you).....................................................................................................And it has ALWAYS been this way. Just take Mitt Romney's father, George, like his son, a moderate northern Republican Governor. The elder Romney (again, like his son) was a Mormon, and a Mormon during a time when the church actively discriminated against black people. But this same individual also marched with Martin Luther King and advocated for civil rights. So, was he putting a stick in the eye of the Mormon elders by doing this and was he sincere in his quest to secure these civil rights , OR was he simply trying to score political points? I have absolutely no idea and I suspect that I never will.

Congress' New Approval Rating - 14% (New York Times/CBS News Poll)

Really, people, that high, huh?

Friday, August 5, 2011

More on Jeffs

I've also noticed that certain bloggers are using this Jeffs trial as a pretext to put a smack-down on Mormonism as a whole; the fact that Mr. Jeffs uses quotes from the "Book of Mormon" to justify his sexual exploits with young girls, etc.. And that's fine. I have no overwhelming desire to defend or justify any religion (especially one with Donny and Marie Osmond amongst its brethren).....................................................................................................I just have to wonder, though. Will these same individuals who are currently blasting away at Mormonism do similarly the next time that some Islamic terrorist blows something up, and justifies it by quoting from the Koran. I ask this, folks, in that, yes, it seems far more politically incorrect these days to blast away at Islam than to do so at Christianity (or, in the case of Mormonism, an exceedingly offbeat offshoot of it)/western dogma....I mean, America IS always wrong, right?

Nothing Butt the Worst

The way that I see it, peeps, this Warren Jeffs degenerate has essentially two choices (if in fact he has a choice at all); spend the rest of his life in solitary confinement, or exist amongst the rest of the prison population and get butt-fucked repeatedly and killed. If I were advising the son of a bitch, I'd probably tell him to opt for the former (though, obviously......).......................................................................................Seriously, though, as hard as it may be to fathom here, I guess that there actually is some sort of honor code amongst these hardened criminals. At least the way that I understand it, to a one, they all pretty much hate child molesters. This, in that, while, no, not every one of them would rank highly as fathers themselves, a lot of them in fact ARE fathers. And you really oughtn't to agitate them like this...........................................................................................Let's just say that Mr. Jeffs isn't exactly going to get a welcoming committee upon his arrival there.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Sole Cretin

Sirhan Sirhan's assassination of Robert F. Kennedy was as cold and calculated an act of murder as any murder could ever be. I mean, just take a look at the degenerate's journals and notebooks, for Christ. In fact, people, if it wasn't for the lengthy appeals process and the fact that the California Supreme Court ultimately ruled the death penalty as "cruel and unusual", this miserable son of a bitch would have been worm food decades ago.....................................................................................................And talk about an individual who's completely unwilling to accept responsibility, get a load of this shit. Amongst the defenses (AKA, excuses) that Mr. Sirhan and his attorneys have used over the years (in his initial trial, as a rationale for appeal, during his parole hearings) include a) he was hypnotized, b) somebody else fired the shot, c) his original defense attorneys "threw" the case, d) he was acting out of "self defense" (Mr. Kennedy supported Israel and Sirhan was a Palestinian"), e) he was intoxicated, f) he suffers from "diminished capacity", and g) he had an episode of "memory loss".......................................................................................................The way that I see it, folks, this son of a bitch went a long way toward trying to ruin this nation (an America that was already teetering). And even if the prison currently housing him was bursting in flame, I wouldn't even piss upon him.

That Stairwell Scene Between Jackie Gleason and Julie Harris in "Requiem for a Heavyweight"

What would be my answer to the question, "So, what scene do you consider to be the most gut-wrenching in cinematic history?"

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

The Absurdity of Taxing (the Rich) Our Way to a Balanced Budget

1) According to the IRS, if the government took 100% of EVERYTHING over $250,000, we would STILL have a deficit (the deficit being 1.5 trillion, the amount of cash earned over $250,000 a year, 1.4 trillion). And that, folks, doesn't even take into account the absurdity of it (the fact that people wouldn't even attempt to make that amount knowing that it would all be taken away).............2) The same could be said of corporate profits. Again, according to the IRS, the top Fortune 500 companies made a total of 400 billion in profits last year. Taking ALL of that wouldn't even make a dent in the deficit.............3) There are currently 400 billionaires in the United States. Their total net worth is currently 1.3 trillion dollars. Again, if the federal government took ALL of it, we would still have a deficit to deal with (never mind the fact that we'd be getting zero from them in the future).............4) I cite these statistics, folks, to show the total absurdity of this whole "let's tax the rich to balance the budget" rigmarole. There just aren't enough rich people, period!............5) And, yes, I realize that a similar criticism could easily be levied against the right. This, in that a lot of them think that we can balance the budget strictly by cutting our way to it (hell, if you listen to dimwits like Marsha Blackburn, we can balance it strictly by cutting non-defense discretionary spending!). That, me-buckos, is, yes, equally absurd.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Grossly Too Fair

People try to have it both ways with FDR. They say that he was great because of the New Deal but then they inadvertently blame him for not continuing with the New Deal in 1937 (the depression within a depression). HOW, pray tell, can the fellow be great if he didn't even faithfully follow his own damned policies (especially considering that the unemployment figure ticked back over 20% in 1938)? The way that I see it here, Mr. Roosevelt was either the greatest of the worst or the worst of the greatest.

An Exceedingly Rotten Article

There's good journalism. There's bad journalism....And then there's gutter journalism. A perfect example of the latter is an article that recently appeared in the "Huffington Post". A "reporter" there took the testimony of ONE anonymous and obviously disgruntled employee of Walmart and proceeded to do a hit-job on the giant retailer. According to this employee, Walmart has track record of donating rotten produce to food banks and then writing it off on their income tax. It's absurd, folks...................................................................................................First of all, the response to the article by people who, you know, ACTUALLY MANAGE AND WORK AT FOOD BANKS says that the charges here are total bullshit. Walmart, according to these folks, always presents their donated items professionally and none of these folks have ever had a problem with the quality. Secondly, food banks just flat-out don't accept bad food. If they cannot use the food, they will not take it....And as far as this tax write-off goes (Walmart will supposedly get a 300-something million dollar credit for their 1.75 billion dollar overall food donation), does the writer think that Walmart SHOULDN'T take the deduction? I mean, come on, it's not like Walmart attorneys wrote the frigging tax code here........................................................................................................Look, folks, I'm not saying that Walmart is perfect. They clearly aren't (they should, for example, be providing their employees better health insurance plans). But for the "Huffington Post" to run an article such as this is decidedly dirty pool. Hopefully some of the more honorable progressives will call them out on it.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Miscellaneous 90

1) I recently found a list in which United States Senators were ranked according to the amount of campaign contributions that they had received from Fannie (Mae) and Freddie (Mac). The time-frame in question was from 1989 to 2008. Number one on the list was Connecticut's Christopher Dodd. Nothing even remotely resembling a major surprise there. The number two name on the list, though, Barack Obama, WAS surprising. Not, mind you, that it's surprising that any Democrat would take big money from the financial sector. They do so all the time/with impunity. The big surprise here is that Mr. Obama was able to "achieve" this in only four years (in the Senate from 2004-2008). Now, granted, some of those contributions may have come about as a result of his Presidential campaign but, still. It's almost enough to make you think that the then-Senator Obama - Franklin Raines connection WAS.............2) If it were up to me, I would take all the progressive Democrats (typified by Maxine Waters), all the "credit-card" Republicans (typified by John Boehner), and all the tea party Republicans (typified by Michele Bachmann) OUT BEHIND THE FRIGGING TOOL-SHED. It is time, people, past time, for the grown-ups in Washington to emerge. I'm serious about it.............3) The plain fact is that we cannot balance the budget with simply budget cuts alone OR tax increases alone. We have to flat-out do both. Specifically, we have to a) raise revenues (on the wealthy at first, but ultimately on the middle-class, too), b) enact entitlement reform, and c) scale back militarily. I mean, I just don't see another way, do you?............4) The numbers do not lie, folks. Tax revenues are currently at 14% of GDP, government expenditures, 25%. Name me one CEO who wouldn't get fired with a bottom-line like that. ONE!............5) Truth be known, with an aging population emerging on the horizon, government expenditures are going to have to be AT LEAST 20-22% of GDP. Are we going to pay for these services, or are we going to continue to put them on the credit card? That, folks, what we have to figure out, and quickly.............6) I obviously wasn't a part of these debt negotiations. But, I'm telling you here. If President Obama had a deal which included 800 billion in extra revenue, and ended up walking away from it (as several sources have alleged), only to get stuck with this turkey, then, yeah, maybe the individual SHOULD get primaried. I mean, God, at the very least it's terrible negotiating.