46 Hours Without Electricity

My God. What am I going to do in a REAL emergency?

On Herbert Hoover and FDR 1

To all of those who think that Hoover was a laissez-faire Capitalist who sat on his hands and let the Great Depression continue absent intervention, please, explain this, a quote from FDR during the 1932 Presidential campaign; "This is the greatest spending administration in peacetime in all our history", OR THIS, a quote form FDR's running mate, John Nance Garner; "He (Mr. Hoover) is leading the country down the path to socialism." It doesn't sound to me as if the Democrats from that era thought that Herbert Hoover was laissez-faire Capitalist AT ALL....So much so for armchair historians (can you say MSNBC's Chris Matthews?), huh?

Some Questions For Bill O'Reilly 1

So, Bill, why should I watch you at 8PM and NOT Anderson Cooper? Are you saying that you're a fairer arbiter than Mr. Cooper? Are you saying that you're somehow a better journalist than him (and, please, keep in mind, the fellow followed up on the Haiti earthquake for weeks - actually reporting from there for a fairly decent portion of it)? What is it? I mean, there's got to be something - something of a tangible nature that you can point me to....And, no, don't even try to point me to all of those meely-mouthed/hand-picked liberals who you're constantly putting on to ridicule, legitimize the indefensible, etc.. That, me-bucko, while it may be moderately entertaining, isn't even remotely journalistic....I mean, that is what we're talking about here, right?

Addendum to kaboom 1

Total deaths from drone attacks in Northern Pakistan; 426 under Bush, 2,188 under Obama....I'm just sayin'.

kaboom

According to Wikipedia, there were a total of 42 drone attacks in Northern Pakistan during the final 5 years of the Bush Administration. During the first 3 years of the Obama administration, there have already been 231 (this, also according to Wikipedia). I guess that my question here is, if President Bush was a war criminal......

Things, The Popularity of Which, I Cannot Fathom

The National Hockey League, Kiss (heavy-metal, in general, but especially Kiss), ALL reality television, advocacy journalism (actually, I understand it - I just don't like it), "Sex and the City", NASCAR, Hip-Hop, vampires, Vin Diesel, female pop power singers, metrosexuality, Hermann Hesse, Facebook, Twitter, the British Royal Family, Rob Schneider, Taco Bell, Wii, slurpees, Budweiser, texting, Maya Angelou, "Grey's Anatomy", lobster, Dom Perignon, "Star Trek", Jerry Springer/Maury Povich, French cuisine, the act of putting ketchup on a hot-dog, expensive vodkas, video games, Domino's Pizza (I don't care if they deliver), Starbuck's, pop-country (give me some Gram Parsons, Steve Earle, or Patty Griffin any day), "The View", "Pirates of the Caribbean", political heroes, Vladimir Nabokov, "The Naked Lunch", Drew Barrymore, Porsches (I'd rather have an Alfa Romeo and lots of cash), the "Scream" movie, "Shrek", professional wrestling in its current state (the older stuff, that's a different story), "Forrest Gump" anal sex, energy drinks, hard-core partisan politics, flash-mobs, Will Ferrell, anything Osmond, the University of Notre Dame, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", motivational speakers, body-language experts, Corona, gold teeth, Barry Manilow, Hot Pockets, "Brothers and Sisters", Jagermeister, unnatural hair colors/dye-jobs......To Be Continued

The Fact That It Wasn't Able to Adequately Explain Away "Stagflation"

What would be my answer to the question, "So, what in your opinion, is the most legitimate criticism of Keynesian economics?"

I'm Not a Joiner/Systematizer

What would be my answer to the question, "So, how come you're not all that enamored with the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street movements?"

Here, Kitty Kitty

Here's something that maybe we can ALL agree upon; a Federal ban on the private ownership (and, no, I'm not including zoos here) of all exotic, dangerous, and wild animals (big cats, bears, larger primates, etc.). I mean, seriously, how many more of these horror stories like we just had in Ohio do we need (not to mention, women having their faces ripped to shreds by chimpanzees)? And the fact that it's flat-out cruel to the animals, too (the miserable lives that they lead, the violent fate that they often meet, etc.). Enough is enough is my opinion here.

Herman Cain's Position on Abortion

What would be my answer to the question, "So, what do you personally find more difficult to decipher; a Rubik's Cube or Herman Cain's position on abortion?"

Less Than "Zero"

I'm going to be honest, folks. While I didn't see the entirety of yesterday's Republican debate, what I did see was more than sufficient. You had five lunatics (Perry, Bachmann, Cain, Gingrich, and Santorum), an interesting fellow who you wouldn't mind having as a college professor but couldn't quite see as President (Paul), and a phony baloney (Romney - sad, in that, if the fellow just went back to being who he was before this "metamorphosis", he probably wouldn't be half-bad). And the fact that I consider myself an open-minded and persuadable swing-voter - that, folks, made it all the more frustrating! Oh well, here's to yet another cycle of having to vote for the lesser......

The Constitutional Envelope

While I've always considered myself a fairly strong pro-choice citizen, the fact that there are still ten states (Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, New Jersey, and West Virginia) which literally have ZERO restrictions on abortions is something that even I find troubling.......................................................................................................I mean, think about it, folks. In Alaska, say, a pregnant woman can go into a clinic and abort a child literally one day prior to the due date. And she doesn't even need a doctor's notice saying that it's necessary for her health. That's exceedingly creepy, I think. Killing a baby one day prior to it being born is OK, but two days after that it's murder (yes, I know, it's rare but, still)? I'm just saying.

The Two Main Reasons Why I'm (More Than Likely) Voting For Obama

1) A strong reticence on my part to give the entirety of Washington back to the Republicans.............2) The fact that a Republican President would more than likely appoint anti-choice judges to the Supreme Court (a move that could possibly overturn Roe vs. Wade and push abortions back into the back-alleys).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q74JDfjI_3w

Let's see here. Who was the reporter who broke the Valerie Plame case? Was it wd, or was it Robert Novak? I seem to recall that it was Novak. And since I'm pretty damn sure of it, what do you say that we go exclusively here by what HE said?............a) He has claimed repeatedly that Armitage never said anything about Plame EVER being covert.............b) He has said that his interaction with Karl Rove (on this subject anyway) consisted of a single sentence confirmation; "You know that, too?", and that it was he who initiated the interaction and not the other way around (as has so slanderously been alleged by wd).............c) He ultimately confided that his third administration source was a C.I.A. spokesperson by the name of Bill Harlow and that, while, yes, Mr. Harlow requested that the name not be used, nowhere did Harlow ever say that she was currently a covert operative (only that she probably wouldn't ever be able to be stationed overseas again and that, if she ever went overseas on her own, there could in fact be some embarrassment).............d) He claims that George Tenent never told him not to run the story (all media interactions go up to the top and, if Mr. Tenent thought that this disclosure had even a scintilla of danger to it, he would have requested that it not be reported).............e) He points out (quite correctly, in my estimation) that had in fact Richard Armitage broken the law, Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald wouldn't have hesitated for a second to indict him (such was the level of Mr. Fitzgerald's zeal).............f) He alleges that Mrs. Wilson AND the cover company (no longer at that time at all involved in operations) each made political contributions to the Gore campaign and that they did so utilizing the name, VALERIE PLAME WILSON.............g) He also points out that Mr. Wilson's mission to Niger was supposedly confidential and that it was Wilson himself who got this whole thing started in the first place with his newspaper piece.............It appears, folks, that, at least from Robert Novak's perspective, Bush's brain, Karl Rover, didn't play much of a role at all in this allegedly "treasonous" action.

Note to Herman Cain 1

Dude, this new tendency of yours, to chalk up everything stupid that you say as some sort of a joke (the latest, obviously, your idea to put an electrified fence on the border with Mexico) - it's getting a little stale, man. In fact, if I were you, I wouldn't EVER use it again. Think first, BEFORE YOU SPEAK - that would be my advice to you..............................................................................................P.S. That 9-9-9 plan of yours - Fox News's Dick Morris just endorsed it last night Ya' still think that it's spectacular? Huh? LOL

A Moment/Lifetime in Hell

Bill Buckner was one of baseball's premiere hitters from the 70s and 80s. The dude won an N.L. batting title, was exceedingly good in the clutch, and was almost impossible to strike out. He finished his career with a gaudy total of 2,715 hits, the 59th most in Major League history. Among the players with a lesser amount include Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Willie McCovey, Mickey Mantle, Orlando Cepeda, Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, Jim Rice, Richie Ashburn, Duke Snider, Nellie Fox, Ozzie Smith, Bill Mazeroski, Luis Aparicio, Ralph Kiner, Eddie Matthews, Billy Williams, Jimmie Fox, Reggie Jackson, Ernie Banks, Joe Morgan, Ryne Sandberg, Enos Slaughter, Mike Schmidt, Willie Stargell, Yogi Berra, Gary Carter, Roy Campanella, and Harmon Killebrew - Hall of Famers, ALL..........................................................................................Now, granted, a lot of these other players either hit for more power and/or were better fielders but, still, 2,715 hits is 2,715 hits. Add to that the fact that nobody, NOBODY, ever played the game any harder and, yeah, you really are looking at a hell of a Major League ball player in Bill Buckner..................................................................................................Unfortunately, we tend not to remember much of any of this, do we? We remember that miserable Mookie Wilson dribbler that skipped to the right of a gimpy Bill Buckner's glove in game 6 of the 1986 World Series. I mean, really, though, how fucking unfair is that?..................................................................................................P.S. Bill Buckner's legacy gets even more accentuated when you compare it to that of former Yankee hero, Don Larsen. Larsen, folks, had an exceedingly mediocre Major League career. But, because he pitched that frigging perfect game in the 1956 World Series, he's a God damned frigging legend now. Go frigging figure, huh?

Life in the Indecisive Lane

Elston Lane isn't just one of the best high school football players in the country. The Miami-Northwestern wide receiver is also one of the most intelligent. I mean, just take a look at the fellow's offer sheet. It includes such prestigious universities as Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Virginia, Wake Forest, SMU, and Georgia Tech. So, not only is this kid on the cusp of a great career in college (and possibly pro, too) football, he's also looking at a potentially free ticket to a much better life AFTER football.......................................................................................Unfortunately (and, yes, as is the case with so many of these youngsters), Mr. Lane (and, yeah, I DO feel kind of strange calling a 17 year-old, "Mr.") is also a very confused individual. I say this, folks, in that, not only has he already committed and decommitted (to SMU), he's committed and decommitted TWICE (the second time to Vanderbilt). My suspicion is that he's probably waiting for an offer from Miami (the "U" being his childhood favorite - their impending sanctions from the NCAA apparently not a concern to him) BUT, out of fear that the scholarships from a lot of these other schools will soon dry up, he decides that he has to commit elsewhere. The problem, of course, is that a lot of these other schools (SMU and Vanderbilt, in particular) ultimately end of getting shafted once he decides to decommit.............................................................................................Look, folks, I understand that this fellow is just a kid and all but, come on, two schools?...And where in the hell are the adults in his life? I mean, there's gotta be somebody around this kid who could teach him the meaning of the word, commitment. There's gotta be!

Some Interesting Facts on the Plame Caper

1) Robert Novak was never approached by the Bush administration.............2) Valerie Plame drove to work/Langley in public view every day.............3) Henry Waxman allowed only one rebuttal witness at the hearings; Victoria Toensing, who he constantly harangued and threatened.............4) Plame was not covert as defined by the Intelligence Identities Act of 1982 (this, in that she hadn't been stationed overseas during the previous 5 years).............5) All that Robert Novak reported was that the wife of former Ambassador, Joe Wilson, is/was "an agency operative on weapons of mass destruction". Nothing was ever reported by Mr. Novak that Joe Wilson's wife was ever covert.............6) A media brief (comprised of some 36 media outlets) clearly states that "NO CRIME HAD BEEN COMMITTED" (in this supposed outing of Valerie Plame).............7) The first indication that Valerie Plame had ever been a covert operative came from a column by liberal ramrod, David Corn (2 days full after the Novak column).............8) In this column, Mr. Corn hypothesizes that Plame had been outed to punish Joe Wilson, something that Mr. Novak had NEVER suggested....9) Mr. Corn's source? It had to have been Joe Wilson. I mean, he doesn't mention anybody else in the piece, does he? And being that Robert Novak never mentioned it.............10) The original leaker of Plame-Wilson's name was Richard Armitage, in the words of Mr. Novak himself, "not a partisan gunslinger" (not to mention, an opponent of the Iraq War).............11) In the aforementioned media brief, it was alleged that Mrs. Plame-Wilson's cover was actually blown (in the mid-90s) by the C.I.A., first in Russia, and then through a C.I.A. disclosure to Fidel Castro.............12) According to Novak, he only learned the name, Valerie Plame, by reading Mr. Wilson's entry in "Who's Who in America".............13) Only two Republicans bothered to show up for the hearings. This, according to former Connecticut Congressman Christopher Shays (not exactly a partisan gunslinger, either), was predominantly because of Henry Waxman's "extreme bias".............14) Mr. Novak also points to sworn F.B.I. testimony which states that Mrs. Plame-Wilson's C.I.A. employment was common knowledge in Washington.............15) Novak never denigrated Wilson in the initial column. In fact, he spoke quite highly of him (referring to Mr. Wilson's "heroism" during the first Iraq War).............16) Novak opposed BOTH Iraq Wars and was never a fan of either Bush.............17) Conservative columnist, Cliff May (who I almost always disagree with when it comes to issues of foreign policy), lays it all out pretty well, I think; Either the Bush administration intentionally exposed a covert CIA agent as a way to take revenge against her husband who had written a critical op-ed OR this same Bush administration was attempting to set the record straight by telling reporters that it was NOT Vice President Cheney who had sent Wilson on the Africa assignment, as Mr. Wilson himself had claimed, but rather it was Wilson’s wife, a CIA employee, who had helped get him the assignment (and that that in fact is the conclusion of the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee). You make the call, I guess.............18) Yeah, I know, I'm a little late to the party on this one.

Ready, Aim, Vote?

That new voter ID bill down in Texas; the one that Governor Perry just recently signed, the one that apparently accepts a gun ID, but not a university ID - I am sorry, my good conservative colleagues, but I ain't even got a reasonable defense for this one. And the fact that it's so damned nakedly obvious; college students being largely a Democratic voting bloc, gun owners largely a Republican one. This, folks, IS voter suppression - straight up and, yes, as much as it pains me to say it, the progressives are flat-out correctomundo in their outrage. ......................................................................................................P.S. How 'bout this for a suggestion? Starting now, whenever a person goes down to city hall to register to vote, YOU TAKE THEIR FRIGGING PICTURE! Yeah, it might cost a little more and all, but at least it will eventually lay to rest this whole idiotic/divisive issue. Eventually, I'm saying. In the mean time, though, please, let the college students use their damned IDs (older Americans their Social Security cards, etc.), OK?

Nancy Pelosi and Unions?

Well, she likes their money at least.

So, How Fair of a Journalist IS Shepard Smith?

Shepard Smith is SO fair of a journalist that even "Rolling Stone", "EVEN ROLLING STONE", won't lay a hand on the fellow. I cite specifically one of their most recent scathing articles on the network where this is what the writers said about him, "Watching Smith is like changing the channel: The Fox agenda vanishes, underscoring how tightly coordinated all the other shows are. Smith is 'not the right-winger Roger would like to have,' says an insider. He returns at 7 for another spin-free hour."............So, there you have it, folks, prima facie evidence that not EVERYBODY (I would also add to Mr. Smith, correspondents , Carl Cameron, Ed Henry, and weekend hottie, Harris Faulkner) who works at Fox is full-fledged liar/partisan chump. Yep, that's right, "Rolling Stone", that liberal bastion, says, ixnay.

You're Not in Kansas Anymore, Bitch

I try really hard not to root against people (well, except for maybe when Notre Dame is playing). But when I heard that Headline News's, Nancy Grace, was going to be a contestant on "Dancing With the Stars".......Not that I ever really watch that idiotic program, mind you, but, damn it, the fact that this Grace character may in fact end up getting a little of her own medicine (i.e., rudeness and sharp criticism), I just might have to Youtube it a little....You know, so I can watch the biotch fail (yeah, that's right, America, Rush Limbaugh, etc., I hope that Nancy Grace fails!)!!!.

Out of the Mouths of......

One of wd's most consistently voiced talking-points/accusations is that the Republicans caused the Great Depression. Yeah, huh? Well, guess what, being that the Republicans were the protectionist party back then (the passing of Smoot-Hawley, in particular) and that, not one, not two, but three Republican Presidents governed in such a manner, the dude may actually have a decent point this go-round. What do you say that we give it up for Mr. wd?... This, folks, from Wikipedia; "Most economists at the time and since agree that it (Smoot-Hawley) had a negative effect on the economy. After the 1929 stock market crash unemployment never reached double digits in any of the 12 months following that event, peaking at 9 percent, then drifted downwards until it reached 6.3 percent in June 1930. Then the federal government made its first major intervention in the economy with the Smoot-Hawley tariff. After that intervention the downward movement of unemployment rates reversed and shot up far beyond the level it had reached in the wake of the stock market crash hitting 11.6."

Senate Bipartisan Report July 2004 (Subsequently Scrubbed by Senate Democrats)

"Some CPD officials could not recall how the office decided to contact the former ambassador, however, interviews and documents provided to the Committee indicate that his wife (Valerie Plame), a CPD employee, suggested his name for the trip. The CPD reports officer told Committee staff that the former ambassador's wife 'offered up his name' and a memorandum to the Deputy Chief of the CPD on February 12, 2002, from the former ambassador's wife says, 'my husband has good relations with the PM [prime minister] and the former Minister of Mines (not to mention lots of French contacts), both of whom could possibly shed light on this sort of activity.'".................................................................................................Now, is this in any way a smoking gun that Valerie Plame Wilson de facto committed perjury? Hm, maybe, maybe not. Maybe she just has a bad memory. Either way, though, I can't say that it looks all that good for her.

The Bridge to the Bridge of the Future

Most fair-minded people know that, if in fact the U.S. is EVER going to be a healthy and competitive player again, we are going to HAVE TO upgrade our infrastructure. We're going to have to a) repair our roads, schools, and bridges, b) update our power-grid, and c) markedly improve our technological communications..............................................................................................The only problem here is that a lot of these very same individuals are also apprehensive about such expenditures. They see such things as the "big dig", the "bridge to nowhere", all of those West Virginia boondoggles and they legitimately wonder, how can we be sure that the tax money be spent appropriately?...............................................................................................Well, guess what, folks, it appears that at least two D.C politicians were actually listening to both of these concerns. Democrat, John Kerry, and Republican, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, have introduced a bill into the Senate which establishes a joint partnership (between the public and private sectors) infrastructure bank that supposedly would a) help to repair the nation's infrastructure and b) do it in a manner that wouldn't allow any future bridges to nowhere from ever getting funded..................................................................................................Now, have they introduced an absolutely foolproof system here? I don't know. I haven't read it. Probably not, would be my ultimate guess. But at least we have ONE example here of a Republican and a Democrat actually trying to improve the country and doing it in a way that apparently won't bankrupt us. What do you say that we possibly run with it, folks?

Surly's Face?

Let's just say that it was as leathered as a stomped on cache of frozen panther urine. And that that, me-buckos, was AFTER the makeup.

Too Many Sheets to the Wind

I have an idea, folks. Let's compare the Tea Party to a uniform group of nasty, racist, redneck 1960s Southerners; a group, mind you, whose ENTIRE purpose in life was to subjugate and perpetrate violence on African-Americans. Yeah, that's the ticket!...............................................................................................Seriously, though, my colleagues, don't you think that maybe, JUST MAYBE, some of "this" has gone a little bit TOO far? I mean, don't get me wrong here. I'm not exactly a big fan of the Tea Party, either (I probably disagree with 80-90% of what they espouse - or at the very least my interpretation of it). But, come on! Do we really have to start heaving around the most vile analogies and stereotypes humanly possible? The way that I see it here, if it's wrong for this Herman Cain numbnuts to go around saying that a lot of black people have been "brainwashed", then it's also wrong for these so-called progressive "thinkers" to compare the Tea Party, COLLECTIVELY, to the erstwhile Ku Klux Klan....No?

That I Like the Song, "Bette Davis Eyes", By Kim Carnes

What would by my answer to the question, "So, what's the one thing that you'll admit to now that, in the past, you would ONLY admit to after copious amounts of alcohol ingestion?"

Criminal, In Less Ways Than One

Al Qaeda didn't knock off a liquor store. They flew two huge commercial jet airliners into the World Trade Center, flew a third one into the Pentagon, and a Fourth one - God only knows where that one was going to strike. If EVER there was a justification for the use of military power, this was it......................................................................................................Now, was it done perfectly? No, of course not. The Bush administration took its eye off the ball (allowing Mr. bin Laden to escape, insufficiently dismantling al Qaeda early on, etc.), first by going into Iraq and then by morphing the mission in Afghanistan into a nation-building one. But, initially, IMO, it was absolutely the right thing, morally and tactically (from the behaviorist perspective, punishment must be immediate and decisive in order to extinguish the targeted behavior) to completely annihilate those al Qaeda terrorist compounds.............................................................................................As for those who think that we should have handed Mr. bin Laden to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (the OIC), need I remind them, Saudi Arabia, in addition to being one of the most corrupt and repressive regimes on the planet (Time Magazine once had the Saudi Royal Family ranked AHEAD of Saddam Hussein) AND the home to 19 of the hijackers, remains one the main bankrollers of Wahabism, the most radical form of Islam in the world. Add to that the fact that this same OIC had additionally amongst its brethren of dictators, Haffez al Assad, Muammar Gaddafi, Yasser Arafat, Saddam Hussein (no, not exactly a pal of Mr. bin Laden but, still, the "enemy of my enemy") and the Iranian mullahs - all of which were sworn enemies (or at least not exactly friends) of the U.S.A..............................................................................................I also evidently have to remind these people that it wasn't JUST Mr. bin Laden that we needed to take out over there. There was an entire network of thugs and miscreants that also needed to be bludgeoned. That, and this whole concept of handing over "evidence" to the Taliban would have been a complete and total nonstarter to pretty much every American save, of course, for Bernie Sanders, Noam Chomsky (a serial prevaricator, if ever there was one) , and Michael Moore.................................................................................................P.S. And who's to say that Mr. bin Laden would have even turned himself over to the Taliban in the first place. The way that I see it, if in fact he did, it would have been with a wink-wink and nod-nod at best.

Steve Jobs RIP

The greatest innovators in American history; Benjamin Franklin, the Wright Brothers, Walt Disney, Miles Davis, Alexander Hamilton, Jonas Salk, Enrico Fermi, Temple Grandin, Bill Gates, Orson Welles, Robert Johnson, Oprah Winfrey, Igor Sikorsky, James D. Watson, Frank Lloyd Wright, Carol Burnett, Peter Drucker, Dorothy Gerber, John Dewey, Henry Ford, George Gershwin, Thomas Alva Edison (with an assist from Samuel Insull and Nikola Tesla), Chuck Berry, Alexander Graham Bell, Steve Jobs, Samuel F.B. Morse, Booker T. Washington, William Randolph Hearst, John D. Rockefeller, Horace Mann, Lee Strasberg (and, because of him; Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brando, James Dean, etc.), Leadbelly, Edward Albee, Martin Luther King, Amelia Earhart, Jimmie Rodgers, Jack Kerouac, Steven Spielberg, Clarence Birdseye, Bob Dylan, Moosie Joe Genoa (alright, I made that one up), Ray Kroc, Richard Pryor, Jack Welch, Robert Fulton, Charles Goodyear, Gus Giordano, Samuel McIntire, Horace Greeley, Charley Parker, Madonna (I'm TOTALLY kidding), B.F. Skinner, Eli Whitney, Alfred Kinsey, Ornette Coleman, Ted Turner, Charles Lindbergh.............

A Good Defense is Sometimes Simply a Cogent Point

Ron Paul made one of the greatest debating points in the history of modern Presidential debating. I believe it was in the last debate (or maybe it was the one before that) and it was when he made that critical distinction between "defense spending" and "military spending", the former being that which we legitimately need to defend ourselves and the latter being only that which the Military Industrial Complex has foisted upon us (this, strictly in an effort to enhance their own power). I mean, I know that Mr. Paul is frequently considered a major flake and all but damn, huh?

Droning

I'm still not entirely sure why conservatives despise President Obama so much. I mean, sure, maybe you could nail him on a competency thing, or a lack of effective leadership thing. Maybe. But for a lot of them to keep on keeping on on with this whole socialist accusation is utterly bizarre. a) The dude's health-care plan, while admittedly flawed, is basically a knockoff of the Gingrich and Bennett-Wyden plans (not to mention, Romneycare). b) The stimulus package (also flawed) had pretty close to 40% tax breaks in it. c) He's essentially capitulated to the Republicans two times now on the budget (the first time during the lame-duck session, the second during the recent debt-ceiling debate). And d) he's killing terrorists and deporting illegals - both at a significantly MORE rapid rate than his predecessor! I mean, come on, conservatives, give the guy at least a modicum of a pat on the back once in a while. It's not like you have to vote for him or anything.

Slight of Deception

One of the easiest ways to determine if a person is partisan is to look at the way that they disseminate information. If they're constantly giving it to you piecemeal/selectively, then, yeah, they're probably majorly partisan. A perfect example of this is the way that this wd constantly points out that I'm strongly for an elimination of the corporate income tax. Uh, yeah, that is true. But he also shamelessly and moronically and purposefully leaves out the fact that I'm also in favor of the individual tax rates going up AND for an elimination of the special consideration for capital gains. The rich, ladies and gentlemen, would pay significantly MORE under my proposal..................................................................................................And, yes, I CAN give you an easy empirical counterpart. Under the proposal that I've been putting forth, no, a company like Berkshire Hathaway wouldn't pay any income tax. BUT when it's CEO, Warren Bufett, gets compensated with all of those high-priced stock-options of his, BOOM, the government taxes these gains at 40% (this, as opposed to the measly 15% that people like Buffett currently pay). a) An American company gets strengthened and b) Mr. Buffett gets to pay that higher amount in taxes that he seemingly pines for. Win-win.....................................................................................................Add to that the fact that liberals such as Robert Reich, some bloggers over at Firedog Lake, and a fellow by the name of Jersey McJones (a regular contributor over at "Rational Nation") have also their thrown support for an elimination of this tax and, yeah, it really does seem as if this fellow, at the very least, might be unbalanced....................................................................................................P.S. I'm also in favor of capping the mortgage interest deduction at $500,000 (the present cap is $1,000,000) - yet another part of my proposal that taxes the wealthy higher. He never mentions this, either.

Will the Warmonger Continued

To call a person "pro-war" simply because they were in favor of one solitary and readily defined military mission (the dismantling of al Qaeda in Afghanistan) over the past 30-PLUS years, an action that the vast majority of the rest of the country also supported, an action that was completely and utterly justified (al Qaeda attacked us and, yes, let's face it here, if it wasn't for the heroism of those brave first responders, that 3,000 dead figure could have very readily climbed to 30 or 40,000) is, in my estimation, beyond loathsome................................................................................................And I also want to ask this knuckle-dragger, "Where in the hell is your righteous indignation toward President Obama?" The way that I see it here, THAT fellow is far, FAR, MORE pro-war than THIS fellow has ever been, or ever in fact will be. a) He escalated the Afghanistan War (can you say, George W. Bush, Richard Nixon?). b) He nearly quadrupled the number of drone strikes in Pakistan (there evidently haven't been any casualties with that, I guess). And c) he's also got us involved in frigging Libya and Yemen (actually, I do approve of the way that Mr. Obama literally blew that shithead, al Aulaqi, all the way to Kingdom Come). I mean, what, because he's a liberal Democrat, the idiot can't go after him as viciously?..................................................................................................You know what, folks? I think that we just have to face the fact here that there are certain individuals (many of them no doubt unemployable, angry, and looking for scapegoats) out there who flat-out cannot deviate from the script. THEY JUST DON'T HAVE THE FRIGGING WIRING FOR IT!...................................................................................................P.S. I apologize for the tenor of this post, folks. But when an individual crawls out of the woodwork, comes to my blog and idiotically extrapolates from one singular position that I am somehow "pro war", nah, no, not gonna happen. I was against the Vietnam War. I was against the first Gulf War (I've since admitted that I was wrong on that one). I was against the Bosnia/Kosovo action. I was against the Iraq War. I was against our involvement in Libya. And I was against the occupation of Afghanistan. Yes, people. I DID want to blow to smithereens the people who attacked us on 9/11. SUE ME!....And, also, all of this bullshit about civilian casualties; a) drones markedly limit the extent of this and b) the fault of these civilian casualties lies not with us BUT WITH AL QAEDA (the fact that they attacked us first and clearly love to hide behind civilians)!! Fuck this blaming America for every fucking thing nonsense.

Two Possible "Unity Tickets" That I Could See Myself Supporting

a) Chuck Hagel and Joe Sestak and b) Ed Rendell and Joe Scarborough.