Miscellaneous 56

1) Rarely do we ever get foreign policy right. Yeah, we occasionally do; Carter's brokering of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, Bush 1's decision to NOT follow the Iraqis into Baghdad - two examples. But, more often than not, we tend to either overreact (the second Iraq war, Ike's decision to back the Diem regime in South Vietnam) or under-react (our continuing to prop up these thugs such as Mubarak, etc.). When, folks, are we ever going to a) act prudently and b) do so in a way that's truly representative of our (supposed) values?............2) Rand Paul - now there's an interesting individual. On the one hand, the fellow has, on several occasions, shown that he is flat-out NOT ready for prime-time (that Rachel Maddow interview obviously the most illustrative example). On the other hand, he is kind of refreshing in that, no, he seemingly doesn't sugarcoat ANY opinions. On this recent interview, for example, he actually went as far as to laud divided government. Wow, huh? I mean, seriously, you don't think that the Obama administration isn't going to use that in the next election?...Can you'all say, Mitch McConnell is having a heart attack?............3) One of the teases on "The O'Reilly Factor" tonight had to do with Mr. O'Reilly's coming-up interview with Glenn Beck. Right there in bold print, right under Bill O'Reilly, it read, "Beck's Egypt Analysis"....Needless to say, people, I started laughing immediately. I mean, it was literally like, who in the hell would ever want to hear a guy like THAT give HIS "analysis" on a topic that is just so frigging delicate/complicated? Seriously, you might as well just ask Barney Fife to explain quantum physics.

We'll Be Right Back After a Few Words From Our Whoes'

"The Weekly Standard" advertises on Fox. "The Nation" advertises on MSNBC.......Enough said?........................................................................................................P.S. I also saw on Fox an ad for a company called "Christian Singles". I gotta admit it. That one I DID get a chuckle out of.

Miscellaneous 55

1) I love it (as in completely hate it) how Mr. O'Reilly always bitches and moans about "The View" not having a sufficient number of conservatives on it. Not, mind you, that this is necessarily an unfair observation (this, in that, yes, Elizabeth Hassellbeck does seem a trifle lonely there). Shows like that probably SHOULD have a much more balanced presentation. But, come on here. Mr. O'Reilly works for frigging Fox. When we the last time that you've ever seen a completely well balanced panel on THAT network? I mean, just that idiotic morning program alone; three conservative bobble-heads, an agenda that literally always puts the Democrats on the defensive, etc.. Hell, even on Brett Baier's mostly well-respected (by Fox's standards) evening show, "Special Report", the panel on that show is almost always two conservatives and one (usually mushy) liberal/two conservatives and one non-partisan (mostly respected) journalist. You never see O'Reilly bitch and moan about any of this stuff - at least not on the air you don't.............2) As for those "liberals" on Fox, I don't know, folks - to me, it almost looks as if they're taking a dive at times. Just yesterday, for instance, Hannity made this utterly simplistic statement about the Iraqis being "much better off now than they were under Saddam Hussein".....and, yeah, the liberal just frigging sat there, "duh!". I mean, I was literally yelling at the screen, for Christ, "Tell him about the four million refugees, the persecution of Christians, the strengthening of Iran's hand, the largely destroyed infrastructure, ANYTHING!! Don't just frigging sit there!".....Oh well, hopefully the woman got a nice little check for her appearance.............3) It appears here that Vice President Biden has opened up his yapper and inserted his foot into it again. This, folks, in that, yes, according to Mr. Biden, the beleaguered Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, ISN'T a dictator....ISN'T A DICTATOR!! I mean, come on, if Mrs. Palin or Mrs. Bachmann had something that idiotic (and, yes, they do - frequently), would not those two have been pilloried, laughed out of the God-damned room, etc.?. I'm telling you here, there DOES seem to be a double-standard at times.

Canned or Candid?

I would love to get John Boehner and Eric Cantor on some truth serum and ask them these, the following questions: 1) "So, what do you two hammerheads REALLY think about Sarah Palin?" 2) "So, what do you two hammerheads REALLY think about Michele Bachman?" 3) "So, do you two hammerheads really and truly think that large tax-cuts pay for themselves (this, I'm saying, despite the fact that none other than Alan Greenspan has said that they DO NOT)?" 4) "So, do you two hammerheads really plan on significantly cutting spending....or, OR, is it all a bunch of vague bullshit that you've cynically put forward in order to get elected?" 5) "So, what do you two hammerheads really think about those 12 colleagues of yours who apparently STILL maintain that the President wasn't born in America?" 6) "So, what do you two hammerheads really and truly think about Beck and Limbaugh?" 7) "Are they (Beck and Limbaugh), in your opinion, nuts?"..................................................................................................Look, folks, I'm not necessarily trying to denigrate Congressman Boehner and Cantor. They actually seem like a couple of fundamentally decent guys. BUT, just like it's very often the case in politics (and, yes, it happens on the Democratic side, too), it seems like they've pretty much gotten sucked in/blinded by something completely different from light. And, no, I DON'T think that it's going to be bearing us fruit, either.

Miscellaneous 54

1) It appears that most Americans had a solid/favorable reaction to President Obama's State of the Union speech (most of the polls that I've seen show an 80-something to 90-something approval rating). Needless to say, Sarah Palin flat-out wasn't one of them. But not only did she use this occasion as yet another opportunity to lambaste Mr. Obama, she also did it in a manner that was a) wholly divisive (President Obama is bad for America, yada yada) and b) sublimely ignorant. Take, for example, Mr. Obama's Sputnik analogy. Not only did she not seem to appreciate it, she didn't even seem to get it. And, AND, she came out with this idiotic assertion that it was Sputnik (the costly price-tag, I'm assuming) that ultimately bankrupted the Soviet Union (this, and NOT the thousands of nuclear weapons). I mean, I know that Mrs. Palin doesn't like to listen to anybody and all, but, really, isn't it about time that she simply took David Frum's advice and just stopped jabbering for a while?............2) Tonight on his "show", Sean Hannity asked Juan Williams, "So, why hasn't Mr. Obama come out and condemned Congressman Cohen for all of that Nazi talk from last week (I'm paraphrasing here)?" It was actually a pretty fair question, I decided. I just wish that Mr. Williams had "turn about is fair play" asked Mr. Hannity, "So, why in the hell haven't John Boehner and Eric Cantor condemned those 12 or so Republican members of the House who continue to maintain that President Obama isn't an American-born citizen?" That, too, would have been a pretty fair question.............3) Wake Forest's 2011 recruiting class for football continues to frigging bleed. The latest defection (previous defections included wideout Curt Evans, cornerback Devin Gaulden, and defensive end Mike Rose) is Texas standout, Josh Hunt. And, get this, folks, Mr. Hunt isn't dissing the Deacs for Texas, Oklahoma, or any place like that. He's dissing them for North Texas (previously called North Texas State) - team that, drum-roll, please, plays in the frigging Sunbelt Conference! I mean, how damned frigging idiotic is that? Closer to home? - that's the only thing that I can think of.

Kucinich - Not in the Spell-Check Yet

I've always had a lot of respect for Dennis Kucinich - even when I didn't always agree with him. I especially marveled at/admired his principled opposition to the Iraq War. But, I gotta tell you here, what I learned about Mr. Kucinich this evening, I'm definitely going to have to put into the category of "disappointing, at best". According to CNN's Anderson Cooper, Mr. Kucinich has decided to sue the Congressional cafeteria. Yeah, that's right, the Congressional cafeteria. It appears, folks that (get this) THREE YEARS AGO Congressman Kucinich bit into a sandwich there that supposedly had an olive pit in it.......Bad luck, you're probably thinking, right? Not to Congressman Kucinich. He wants $150,000 for it.......................................................................................................P.S. I think that it's important to point out here that dental implants and crowns, while, clearly, they ARE expensive, rarely run over $3-4,000. And, as Mr. Cooper succinctly pointed out tonight, the Congressman, hello, HAS DENTAL INSURANCE!!....In terms of any pain and suffering that the Congressman may have sustained because of this event, it certainly didn't seem to have hindered all him much (Cooper showed copious footage of Kucinich in the days and weeks following this supposedly traumatic event - seemingly his usual feisty self). I mean, it's not like he bit into razor blade or anything.

Fire This Woman

What would be my answer to the question, "So, what would your advice to the tea party caucus in terms of what they should do about Michele Bachmann (presently their leader) be?".