Hear Ye, Hear Ye....

In case you haven't noticed yet, we have moved. We are no longer Political Yen/ Yang.

We are now known as The Public Cause.

Check us out.

New Blog Is Up And Running

As I have been saying for a couple of weeks now, I have been in the process of starting up a new blog--not on Blogger. It's been a bit shaky because the format and processes are a bit different... and, it's still a work in progress.

It's not been easy with my schedule being what it has been. But I have been diligently seeking moments when I can work on it and get it together, as fast as I possibly can. Since I am a verified IT idiot, it hasn't gone together with the greatest of ease.

So, I have decided that before people lose interest and tire of waiting for it, I will unveil it now. I will continue to tweak it as I go along, much like I did this one.

So here it is, the GRAND OPENING of the new home of LA Sunset:

The Public Cause.

Mark it on your blogrolls and/or bookmarks, and tell your friends about it. I am looking forward to many good discussions there, now and in the future.

Sources of Irritation

Take a look at this jackwagon.

A Michigan man who won $2 million in a state lottery game continues to collect food stamps 11 months after striking it rich.

And there's nothing the state can do about it, at least for now.

Leroy Fick, 59, of Auburn won $2 million in the state lottery TV show "Make Me Rich!" last June. But the state's Department of Human Services determined he was still eligible for food stamps, Fick's attorney, John Wilson of Midland, said Tuesday.

Character must be at an all-time low in this country. The attitude that everyone owes a person is at an all-time high. "I am going to get what's mine, whether I earned it or not" is a value that has been proliferated by government.

Notice

I am still exploring all of my options. As of now, I am in a busy stretch in my real life so I haven't had a lot of time to devote to thinking about a new blog.

I don't want to be impetuous and do anything rash, just because Blogger is no longer meeting my needs. Which host to go with is a decision I will have to make, as well as whether or not to keep the name and format.

Whatever and whenever I decide, I will post it here for anyone who is interested in continuing to follow. It's time for a change, I just don't want put a half-assed effort into it.

Thank you all for your patience in this time of transition and stay posted. I may just sneak a quick post in here and there to tide over until I can get the new project up and running.

Another Blast From the Past

T. Rex had a very unique sound.

Three members, including front man Marc Bolan, met early deaths....two to motor vehicles accidents and one to some unreported illness. Bolan wrote the songs and the music. This song (off of the 1971 release Electric Warrior) is a pensive piece that seems to highlight the writer's sense and understanding of his own mortality.

I have to wonder if he (like many others) had some weird premonition of his early fate, when he was writing it:



Enjoy.

Decision Time

Needless to say, I am pissed off at Blogger for more than one reason.

For this reason, I am pondering a relocation of this blog.

Stay tuned for more details as they develop.

Front And Center: The Latest Skewed AP Poll

Every one in the media and the Democratic Party is going completely gaga over the latest AP poll, showing Obama's approval rating at 60%. Yahoo puts the story out front and center.

The same poll shows 53% think he deserves re-election. Again, Yahoo wants to make sure you know this right here.

The first story doesn't mention it, the second story buries deep in the last third of the text. But to those who are willing to use their brains for a split second, all it takes is a look at the entire poll to see how heavily this poll was skewed. On page #37, you will see the respondents were 46% Democrat, 29% Republican, and 4% Independent. 20% are too stupid to know what they are.

This is significant for several reasons. The most obvious is a 17% differential between the Dems and the GOP. But the real skewing comes in the shorting of the Independents.

In reality, the Dems and Republicans represent about 30% of the electorate each. The other 30% or so is made up of Independents and other smaller parties. We always expect the Dems and the GOP to vote accordingly, but it's the Indies that win elections. And right now they are not happy with the state of the nation, as it applies to their lives.

In the second linked story, the AP makes an attempt at an explanation:

Some conservatives criticized the AP-GfK poll as heavy with responses from Democrats. AP-GfK polls use a consistent technique that starts with a random sample of the population and lets respondents identify their own political leanings. In this poll, 46 percent of respondents identified themselves as Democrats or leaning that way, while 29 percent said they were Republicans or leaning to the GOP. How people identify their leanings fluctuates in polls along with their other political opinions. The change in party identification in the current AP-GfK current poll is not a statistically significant shift from the previous poll in March, and does not by itself explain the poll findings.

Not very scientific, is it? Why not just scrap the poll, when they learn how lopsided the sample is? Answer: they don't care because they figure there are enough stupid people to accept what it says, with no scrutiny at all.

So, here we are. Once again we are going to be forced to endure the cramming of this propaganda down our throats for the next month, while more accurate polls are disregarded and ignored. Such is life when socialist statists are in charge. The state media is hard at work selling the delusion that Obama is a leader, just because he did one thing right.

He's still behind a stopped clock by a 2:1 margin.

Daniels Restoring Indiana Freedom, One Bill At A Time

After enduring a walkout by Democrats, the Indiana General Assembly got the job done and Gov. Daniels signed "The School Scholarship Act" into law. It may not be perfect, but it's better than letting kids get lost in a system that is a grand failure.



Choice is what makes the world better. Libertarians, everywhere, should be happy when more choices are created.

Daniels is often maligned by forces that claim to love freedom. To those people I say, he just gave back a little bit of freedom back to parents. RINOs usually do not restore freedom, they just don't take it as fast as Democrats do. But they do take it.

Just like signing the bill that strips government funding of Planned Parenthood. He signed it and gave Planned Parenthood the freedom to solicit more private donations. I am sure they don't see it that way, but the taxpayers of Indiana do.

The PYY Code Word Of The Week

Word on the street is as follows:

Immigration Reform = Amnesty For Votes Program.

But it's in code, so don't tell anyone.

Pamela Geller's Hit Job On Mitch Daniels Easily Dismissed

There was a time when Pam Geller of Atlas Shrugs was a voice that could be trusted, but not anymore. 

This is not to say that she is never right, because there are some times when she nails it spot on. But there are also times she gets it dead wrong and there are many blind followers who take her word for everything she ways without verification.

She often publishes posts about events that the MSM would never dare to report, and that's a good thing. We need people like her to do this more often. But there are moments when she runs with stories that are inaccurate. There are times when she presents a remarkably slanted perspective, without doing enough research before she hits the send button.

This hurts her credibility greatly.

Here is one example: Mitch Daniels "Honored" by Notorious Jew-Hating, Supremacist Organization AAI

You really don't have to read much more of her post to see where she is going with this. But if you took Geller's word as gospel, you might be tempted to jump to the same weak conclusion she has.

It's hard to know where to begin to dismantle this absurd presentation, but let's start with Gov. Daniels.

Daniels is the grandson of Christian Syrian immigrants who were purged from their homeland by Muslims in the early 1900s. While he is of Arab descent, he is Christian and American. Many other Syrians were purged from their country at that time, many of them settled in Indiana, many have made great contributions to this nation.

Some became businessmen and entrepreneurs in the spirit of the American dream. Others worked in coal mines and other forms of hard physical labor. Most of them sent their children to school and admonished them to study hard, so they could make something out themselves they would have never had the chance to do in their old country.

Like other ethnic immigrants, the next generation became doctors, lawyers, teachers, and some made their parents' small family businesses even bigger. So to most intelligent rational people, it should come as no surprise that one of those families has now produced a governor.

Let's look at the award Geller froths about in her erroneous fit, the Najeeb Halaby Award for Public Service.

Najeeb Halaby Jr. was a second generation Syrian-American with multiple degrees and was a test pilot in the US Navy in WWII. His father cam here from Ottoman Syria in the late 1800s, they were Christians. His daughter became Queen Noor of Jordan, but Halaby was an American through and through.

For this reason, it should come as no surprise that there is an award that bears his name, one that was awarded to another American of Arab descent who has made great achievements in the state that elected him to straighten what was a horrible mess.

This brings us to the organization that gave the award to Daniels, the American Arab Institute. (Before we go further... please notice the order of that title, American comes first.)

It was formed by James Zogby, brother of the pollster and Christian American of Arab descent.

Yes, it is a liberal, left-leaning organization that probably disagrees with 90% of Daniels' conservative policies. Yes, it has been a staunch critic of many of the state of Israel's policies. It is political in nature, not theological. It does not promote jihad, it does not call for the eradication of Israel. It does call for a two-state solution, one that Israel is willing to accept but the Palestinians have not yet signed onto, due the growing influence of radical jihadist organizations like Hamas.

It is not CAIR, it is not ISNA.

I am sure that just as the AAI does not agree with the lion's share of the Daniels' policies, he doesn't agree with theirs either.

Geller's blog isn't the only one jumping out of their skin about Daniels right now.

Red State just had to follow suit and get on the pathetic bandwagon without knowing the facts, along with Geller. But at the least the major premise of this blogger's argument was made on policy. His assumption is dead wrong, but the mention of the award was an afterthought.

Daniels is a strong fiscal conservative. Not going to TEA party rallies does not mean he stands against the TEA Party principles of limited smaller government. He has spent the last 6+ years slashing spending, balancing the budget, creating a business friendly environment that has led to increases in jobs, and did it without punishing the rich. Does that sound like a RINO?

And as for the Jew-hating tendencies that Geller wants uninformed people to believe, here is a speech you may want to watch before you let her get you sidetracked into believing a lie.

This is Daniels receiving the Man of Achievement Award from the Anti-Defamation League:



Bottom line: Daniels is not anti-semitic, not a RINO.

He just doesn't cater to the reactionary crowd that Geller associates herself with. And if you want Barack Obama to be sitting in the WH for four more years, just let people like her hijack this dialogue and distract from the important issues of the day. She has done a fine job of reporting many things in the past and my hat goes off to her for that. But this is not about her, it is about what is best for this nation.

It is not fair to categorize this man as a Jew hater for accepting an award from an organization that represents his heritage. Doing so takes a play right out of the Democrats' playbook, which will play very well into their hands in 2012.Doing so, exposes a terrible hypocrisy and severely cripples the GOP's chances of presenting a united front against an out of control government.

But the most important thing to learn from this is tolerance and acting within the boundaries of rationality. Lumping every American of Arab descent into the mold of Islamic jihad is not fair, and not what I want this nation to become accustomed to doing. I know many and have worked with them over the years, they bleed red, white, and blue, just like any American. Even like Pam Geller.


(Hat Tip for the video, and the inspiration to write this long-winded post comes from Advance Indiana.)

Meet MSNBC's Minor Leaguer Lawrence O'Donnell

First let me say that once again, I shamelessly pilfered this from IHTM, once of the fastest growing blogs on the internet. If you aren't reading them, seek professional help somewhere before it's too late.

This is a great interview that demonstrates just what happens when idiots are allowed an audience. Take a few minutes and watch Condoleeza Rice thoroughly dismantle a clearly outclassed and under-qualified Lawrence O'Donnell. If you want to see what obtuseness coupled with sheer idiocy looks like when it is contrasted with class and intellectual brilliance, it is worth the time.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Rarely do I do this here, but this is very important to understand. So I will make an exception and post my comment I left on IHTM:

The golden statement of that entire exchange was made by Dr. Rice:

“You have to act on the intelligence you have.”

Lawrence has no intelligence, so he has been relegated to the mere recitals of leftist propaganda that is fed to him by those who are as equally ignorant as he is.

I looked online at Mr. O’Donnell’s bio(s) to see his educational resume, and I have to tell you that most sites I checked say he only”attended” Harvard, if they mentioned it at all. Only Wikipedia states that he graduated, but it gives no area of study and we all know how unreliable Wiki can be sometimes. If he were truly a grad of Harvard, I would think somewhere in one of these bios it would say Bachelors Degree in _______. But this is not the case with Larry.

But let’s just say for argument’s sake, he did.

By contrast, Dr. Rice was Phi Beta Kappa and earned a B.A. (cum laude) from the University of Denver. She earned a Masters Degree in political science at Notre Dame, and a PhD from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the U. of Denver.

We all know of her government service. She is also an accomplished pianist who has played with Yo Yo Ma. She is now a professor at Stanford and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution.

Larry is a Dem hack at MSNBC and a former shitty actor.

So, yes. You have to act on the intelligence you have. Condi did just that in this interview and Larry O acted on the intelligence he didn’t/doesn’t have.

And it showed…..greatly.

I think this pretty much sums up this block of instruction, quite well. Lawrence O'Donnell, irrelevance personified. Dr. Rice, rational thought and reasoning in human form.

Mothers

Here are some quotes that I think exemplify the role of a mother:

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.--Tenneva Jordan

The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.--Honoré de Balzac

An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy.--Spanish Proverb

One good mother is worth a hundred schoolmasters.--George Herbert

Mothers are life sustainers, they meet the day to day physical needs of their children. Good mothers meet those same needs, as well as the emotional and spiritual.

Mothers are selfless agents who bear their children, before and after birth. They will go without, to ensure their children have their needs met. They will sacrifice their own desires until they can be sure the children get what they must have in order to survive, and thrive.

God bless mothers everywhere, today and everyday.


*Addendum: I stumbled onto this after I posted this. You have to see this:



To all of the mothers who read this blog:

Happy Mothers Day

Another Blast From the Past

This weekend we give a listen to one of my favorite male solo artists of all time. He has a versatile repertoire of songs he plays. But in each and every one I have heard, he brings out this Roy Orbisonesque mystique. This is to say, much of it is mysterious, pensive, and sensual.

If you are wondering what that sounds like, it's much like this one:



This one sounds like Orbison with a couple brief flashes of Morrison:



Enjoy.

Friday Funnies

Maybe you have seen Mystery Science Theater, in it's heyday. Well now it's time for:

Obama Mystery Theater


"PolitiZoid - Mystery Presidential Theater" from RightChange on Vimeo.

No big mystery to me.

I can't find any science, but I certainly see a lot of fiction.

WWRD?

What would Reagan do?



You might not have liked Reagan, I certainly disagreed with his Administration's handling of a few things. But he wasn't a fool and he had a real vision that didn't include a lot of government in it.

Another thing I suspect Reagan would have done was release the photos of Osama to show the world that perseverance and patience pays off...and to silence doubters before they become doubters. He might have approved of burying the bastard at sea, but I seriously doubt he would have been buried in accordance with Islamic Law.

Bin Laden's Death

1. Is a good thing and Obama deserves the credit for having the guts to make the call.

2. Is largely symbolic but still a welcome event.

2. Does not end the war, it will only escalate it.

3. Does not ensure Obama's re-election, but it will give him a bounce for a minute.

4. Does not put anyone back to work.

5. Does nothing to pay down the debt.

6. Does not bring down gas prices.

7. Does not reduce wasteful spending.

8. Does not feed one hungry mouth.

9. Does not make the world like us more. But then again, that is an unrealistic goal sometimes.....especially, when you elect to do the right thing.

I commend the President for doing the right thing in this instance. But I am not at all going to get emotional and change my overall opinion of him, just because he did one thing right for a change. The same conditions that have driven this nation into a deep ague and malaise are still present. And one man shot and killed will not change any of that.

This nation needs to change course. And fast.

Want to show some real courage Mr. President? Tell your party to go to hell. Stop the spending, stop the borrowing, and promote the free market system. And don't let Pelosi, Reid, Barney Frank, and other pukes like them politicize this operation. It wasn't a Democrat thing, it wasn't a Republican thing. It was a U.S. Military thing.

It was an American thing.

Oh.... and one more thing. Show us the body.

Obama Is Losing Support Among Blacks

It's just not the "racist and right wing" FOX News saying this. BET is saying it because it's evidently true:

When Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, he got 43 percent of the white vote and a staggering 96 percent of the Black vote. In the ensuing years, his support amongst Americans in general has wavered—he’s currently at 45 percent approval, 45 percent disapproval—but his African-American support has been consistently high. Today, that appears to not be the case.

Just to be clear and up front: Obama is no way in danger of losing the support of the vast majority of Blacks. As of today, 85 percent of African-Americans still say they support the president. That is a lot; that is most.

That being said, however, 85 percent—a seven percent drop in the past month—is the lowest Obama’s Black approval rating has been since he took office more than two years ago. This isn’t horrible news, but it’s not good, either.

I would first submit that polls are usually skewed in Obama's favor, I am not sure who they ask. They do report their methodologies and describe their survey sampling. They can say anything they want, but we have no way of verifying who they asked.

I suspect the numbers were even less than 85%, but still a clear majority. They can only fudge the numbers so much and maintain some sense of credibility with those who aren't able to discern statistic very well.

The next portion of this article goes to minimize this information and go through the usual left wing excuses:

As we’ve told you here before, some Black Americans weren’t pleased when Obama decided to engage with Libya, with Louis Farrakhan outright denouncing the attacks. Many Americans are also extremely worried about an impending government shutdown on Friday. On top of all that, the economy is still struggling, and Black Americans especially are finding it difficult to find work.

As we head into the 2012 election season, Obama is going to need all the grassroots help he can get. In 2008, Blacks made up a full 13 percent of the electorate, which is two points higher than their last national turnout. It’s unlikely that Black voters are going to vote for Obama’s Republican opponent, but it’s possible that they’ll stay home come Election Day, and Obama can’t have that. His approval is also down amongst Latinos, from 65 percent to 54 percent.

Let this be a lesson to anyone racist and silly enough to say that Blacks support Obama no matter what out of racial loyalties. That’s’ simply not true; Blacks, like everyone else, will consider their stability and self-interest when making political decisions. And they’re doing that now.

Well, I consider myself schooled now. But what about very intelligent black men like the President and CEO of the Black Chamber Of Commerce?

Meet Harry Alford, who freely and willfully admits here in this interview with Laura Ingraham that the only reason he voted for Obama was because he is black:



You may want to jog your memory about this man. He's the one who called out Barbara Boxer's racism in a Senate hearing a couple of years ago. Listen to this stellar moment here:



I would have to say that this was one of the best moments in television, but there were too many people drinking the Kool-Aid back then to even notice this exchange.

Meanwhile, back to the main point.

Obama is losing support among blacks because there were many black people who hoped his election would mean better times for everyone. They truly thought this man was one of them.

They thought he would help them live the American dream and they are now learning what we here at PYY knew before this man was even elected. Like his racist friend in the Senate the dishonorable Barbara Boxer, he is a condescending phony whose only agenda is to make more people dependent upon government.

What we (who knew this beforehand) can take from this is comfort....comfort in knowing that our labors in exposing this ineffective leadership have not been in vain. We can see the cracks in the ceiling beginning to get wider and deeper. We saw those cracks before the 2008 election, because we were not afraid to look for them. Now that there are some paint chips and pieces of plaster beginning to fall on some heads, they are now beginning to notice the cracks as they get larger.

When BET is forced acknowledge the obvious, we know there is a golden opportunity at hand to expose more weakness in Obama's "structural" integrity.

In short, he has NOT delivered on his "pie-in-the-sky" promises and he never will. He can't---not when they keep telling us recovery is happening, things are getting better, and yet prices are skyrocketing for everything, while people (including blacks) are looking for work that is not there.

Sunday Reflection

A quote to ponder on this Sunday morning:

If evil be spoken of you and it be true, correct yourself, if it be a lie, laugh at it.---Epictetus

We are not what other people say we are. We are who, we say we are.

We determine this not only by what we say, but how we act. If our actions meet the criteria for high moral principles, we are not bound by other people's faulty perceptions.

But....if we are getting feedback that can be verified as true by more than one reputable and validating source, it is up to us to make corrections that will ensure we are living up to the highest principles that we have set for ourselves.

It is not a sin to be wrong. It is a sin to choose to remain wrong, long after it has been proven to be so.

Another Blast From the Past

This weekend we have my favorite of the Beatles, George. He was the quietest, but in my opinion, the most introspective of them all and it showed greatly in his music and lyrics.

Here is a performance with Leon Russell:



This is from the same concert and is a brilliant piece of work in my estimation:



Enjoy.

Friday Flashback

The wit and wisdom of the one we called Maggie:



As you can see, we are still fighting the same weak and faulty arguments today.

Europe's Growing Conservatism

Stories like this must drive the frequenters of the French blog some of us met at, nuts. It's about Europe's version of the Tea Party.

People are coming to their senses, they are learning that big government is not a panacea for every problem we face. I would put more confidence in a charity to help people than any government agency. I would allow for local communities and states to come up with better solutions for the local problems they must encounter, than any federal government entity.

When Europe bails on big government, you know it must be a bad thing.

America: The End Is Near

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, But if I must do anything, I must speak freely and truthfully. America, as we know it, is about to end soon.

Many of us, who have been here and enjoyed what this great nation has offered us, will be aging and dying. We will be leaving a country that will no longer lead anything, invent anything, nor will it be able to sustain anything.

The IMF is already making plans for the day.

China is planning to cut its U.S. reserves by a third.

The Dollar continues its rapid, steady decline.

Unreported secret meetings are drawing up plans to weaken the dollar even faster.

All of this is going on right before our very eyes and what does the NY Times lead with today? A Guantanamo Story. How about the LA Times? Chicago Tribune? Indianapolis Star? What about the one where you live? Check them out here.

What does CNN's website have on its entry page? Take a look. While we are at it, let's look at MSNBC. And just for good measure, let's see what FOX News has to offer.

Now by the time you all look at these there will be changes in the lead story. But just so you know, CNN was headlining the air traffic controller problems. MSNBC featured the Syria story. Only FOX news led their website with the grim news I am writing about.

Folks, we cannot keep borrowing money to give to unions, irresponsible corporations, people who can work but choose not to, and more than anything, illegal aliens who cross our border for no other reason but to misuse our programs. These are programs that we cannot even afford for our own citizens anymore. Why should we continue to dish out for non-taxpaying non-citizens, who have never paid a dime into the system?

The easy route to take is to blame the Dems, who are responsible for the lion's share of this mess right now. They have been the biggest spenders because they have the weakest message of all. Vote for us and we'll take care of you. But the GOP has had a hand in it too, for many different reasons. They say, vote for us and we'll stop this, despite the fact they make deals with the spenders.

In the next election, we are going to have an opportunity to turn this around. Still, I have trouble believing that America will make the right choice because I believe the people are too selfish to understand what may be required of them.

People are looking for an Iacocca, a Reagan, a real someone who will lead this nation out of this mess. They want a fixer. The people cry out for a person who will instantly fix everything and will need to be perfect on every last issue. Well, good luck. That person does not exist. It's going to require more than just some magnetic personality who tells us what is wrong and says all the right things.

We know what is wrong.

The country is being run by a bunch of out of control morons who cannot do basic general math. They cannot understand the most basic of economic theories, and they damned sure have no abstract thinking.... or they would utilize the lessons of history to come to the realization that this course is a deadly course, one that will lead to the largest banana republic on earth. But on the other hand, we have a group of people who want someone who fits their mold of morality, someone who is the "right kind of Christian" who believes everything they believe, right down the line. No one else will be acceptable to them. If they do not get what they want, they will stay home and pout.

Those who want a pastor, look in the phone book for whatever kind you want. That's something you can get in your own community, next weekend, if you like. If you want someone who is intelligent enough to use the best methods to stop this nation from going into more debt, and from declining into a cesspool world like the one we watched in the Mad Max series in the 80s, stop judging a government leader based on social issues alone. We will not have a nation where we can choose to worship freely, if you do not look past the here and now....and what we must implement to get out of this mess.

Social and moral issues are difficult to fight when people are starving to death and crime runs completely rampant, because the Obama World Order wins re-election in 2012. It's more difficult to leave our children and grandchildren a nation they can enjoy the freedoms of, if Obama is allowed to put the hammer down even harder than he already has up to this point. Maybe with some salt and pepper you might find your new I-Pod/Pad/Phone will taste good enough to eat, because that is all you cared about when this warning was going out. That is precisely where we are headed, if these things I called attention to in the beginning of this post are not dealt with soon.

It's time to grow up. It's time to put aside petty arguments about what we perceive a man's character to be or not to be, and look at what he can do to preserve the nation and the freedom we have enjoyed. It's time to listen to reason, time to make some sacrifices along the way to help facilitate this nation's healing. It's time to hear the message and not judge the messenger.

Happy Easter

To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.--Thomas Aquinas

I firmly believe He lives.

This may not be the exact day he rose form that tomb, but it is the the day we honor it and celebrate it. To those who know this as I do, have a very happy and joy-filled Easter Sunday. And to those who do not, I hope you all have a great day too.

Another Blast From the Past

Some Harry Chapin memories, this week.

Many thought Taxi and Cat's In The Cradle were his best works. They were definitely good, but I always liked this one about the broadcasting industry best:



Enjoy.

Friday Funnies

Such a cheery little tune about getting screwed.



Don't you feel like having an ice cream cone, right about now?

Is Trump A Democratic Plant?

Much has been said over the past few weeks about Donald Trump's flirtations with a Presidential candidacy. And much has been thought. But what have we gleaned from this brand name marketeer and what makes him so intriguing?

I have read and heard much from people who say Trump is saying what everyone else is thinking. He has a successful billion dollar trademark and a successful TV show that needs little promotion, and yet, here he comes trotting onto the political scene saying things that many of us on the blogs have been saying for months now. So what?

His central focal point is the birth certificate. While I have some questions as to why the President will not show it and be done with it, it didn't seem to matter much during the campaign. And to me, it has become a non-issue at this point in the game. People voted for him anyway and here we are, stuck with an inept and dishonest President who was the most ill-prepared of any in modern history.

At this point in time, we have 10% unemployment, gas prices threatening to reach $5/gallon by vacation season, and a new war that we lost in two weeks because we didn't have any set objectives. We have watched a stimulus package fail, exponential multiplication of debt, rising deficits, and have been forced to listen to sophomoric and juvenile excuses for all of it. (He inherited it. If he hadn't been in charge, there is no telling how horrible things would be right now. If only the GOP would lie down and accept total defeat, we could have been on our way to recovery by now, etc.)

So here we are, we are quickly becoming the laughing stock of the free world and Trump is worried about a piece of paper. Notice how the media loves to jump on people who raise the question of the birth certificate, but ignore the real issues that I just mentioned?

I know Trump has raised many of these important issues in his interviews in passing, but the focus the media wants to center on is the birth certificate. This is because they cannot defend the other more serious items at hand, and would rather divert attention to the birther issue as a smoke screen. There are no answers they can serve up as plausible explanations for Obama's overt and obvious failure.

So, distraction becomes the strategy.

Enter the 2012 election season. Everyone wants to know who can beat Obama before anyone actually declares. And with all of the failures brought on by this Administration, the fear is that someone who resembles what the people want and need will rise up out of the ashes and send Obama back to Chicago, as a one-term President. This is something the MSM cannot bear to think about, so this is why they are jumping on Trump.

To help with this illusion, we have Public Policy Polling.

It is a Democratic hack organization that skews polls to suit the Democratic Party's agenda and is an organization that cannot seem to afford a real website, so it uses a Blogger/Blogspot site for the dissemination of its propaganda. (I know I have one too, but I am a just a bozo with a blog. They want to be known as a valid and reputable polling organization that is fair and unbiased. You figure out the difference.)

So after all of this hullabaloo about Trump and his outrageous commentary, here comes a poll by PPP that shows Trump leading the GOP. (See it here in the PDF)

Trump leads with 26% over Huckabee’s 17%, Romney’s 15%, Newt Gingrich’s 11%,
Palin’s 8%, Ron Paul’s 5%, and Tim Pawlenty and Michele Bachmann’s 4%.

So after taking to the airwaves decrying the lack of a birth certificate, Trump is 9% above the nearest contender. But wait, there's more:

23% of these voters say they would not be willing to vote for a candidate who stated
clearly that Obama was born in the U.S. 38% say they would, and a 39% plurality are
not sure. Among the hardcore birthers, Trump leads with 37%, almost three times as
much support as anyone else. He comes in only third at 17% with those who are fine
with a candidate that thinks the President was born in the country. Romney, who recently stated he believes Obama is a citizen, leads with 23% with that group but gets only 10% with birthers.

And...

Take Trump out of the equation, and the field is more muddled. Huckabee leads with 22% over Romney’s 16%, Gingrich’s 15%, Palin’s 12%, Paul’s 8%, Pawlenty’s and Bachmann’s 6%, and Haley Barbour’s 3%. In this and other variations of the potential field, Palin and Huckabee are the favorites of birthers. Trump pulls the least support from Romney of any of the candidates.

With this information as it is presented ans as tempting as it is to believe, I am not sure Trump is a plant. But he is his own opportunist and at least, an opportunity that the Dems may want to exploit.

Here is a poll by Rasmussen that shows why:

President Obama leads Donald Trump by 15 percentage points in a hypothetical 2012 match-up, but the president is unable to top the 50% level of support even against an opponent some are deriding as a joke.

Now, take a look at the rest of the field and how they match up against Obama. It is murky, but Huckabee seems to match up best at this point in time. (But again, he's not even declared.)

So why would the Dems like this information to be counted as real? 

Never mind that Trump has been a pocket liner of a lot of Dems over the years. Let's look at this from a more prudent perspective and analyze this properly:

Now is the time for fund-raising for candidates. How much money a candidate can raise often depends upon these early polls. Trump will not need to raise money, but the others will. By making Trump look like he is the clear cut front-runner, it hinders the candidates that have a real chance of beating Obama from raising the necessary cash.

Trump toys with the idea on the air and gets a big stir going. He sets up a wedge issue in which the GOP can get distracted. He shuts down the flow of money for otherwise viable candidates.

Meanwhile, Trump gets free publicity by marketing the final episode of his TV show as the forum in which he will announce, one way or another. And Obama keeps raising money for the general election, because it looks like he has no primary challenge at this point.

He may not be a plant in the literal sense, but he is a gift that the PPP and the Dems have managed to manipulate to their benefit. It is a well laid trap that many Republican and conservatives are falling for, hook, line, and sinker.

So the next time you hear someone you know sing the praises of how The Donald says what everyone else is thinking, you might want to tell them what the Dems are thinking right now. Because now that Palin is down in the polls, they need to elevate someone they think they can trounce.... or Obama is history in 2012.

The Gall Of Some People

Once in awhile, someone has the guts to challenge the Emperor on his new clothes. Or in the case of the fable, the lack thereof.

Watch as this reporter does just that:



Very few people would have the guts to come out like he did and press the President as this man did. In what was supposed to be an early softball interview for political sales and marketing purposes, he found someone who was not so much in awe of this empty suited man, one that so many of his peers drool over.

After he thought the mike and tape was off, the President made it clear he likes to be the demagogue-in-chief and does not want to be interrupted while doing it. President Mindless Chatter Filibuster wants to have the ability to use every appearance with the press as a free campaign commercial...and his answers are final.

But the sad part in this whole event is not the President's response. We know that many people in countries and cultures the President admires have tried this kind of thing and they are no longer here to tell about it. Had this happened in Venezuela, well, just say "night night" Mr Reporter.

No, the sad part is two-fold.

One, this wasn't nearly as aggressive as it should have been. With 10% unemployment, gas prices headed for $5.00/gallon by the summer, and a lost war with no defined objective, you'd think there would be more things in which to press the President on.

That's why the number two part of this two-fold sad tale is so evident. It's sad that more news reporters cannot muster up the guts to continue this interview, the next time Obama thinks he should get a pass in one. In fact, he shouldn't even need to interview for the news media to start holding this reckless and inept man they call a leader accountable, for his lies and grave errors that could cost us a country before he is through with it.

Two Geniuses And An Idiot

There may have been more of both, but that's all who got to speak:



Short and simple, but you can see that the Frances Fox Pivens ideology is in control right now. And we can also see the results of their flawed thinking.

Coverage You Can Depend On

Peace of mind.



HT: GM Roper (via Facebook)

Another Blast From the Past

Here is a band from the 60s, from NY's Greenwich Village. Despite being from the east coast, they had distinctive LA sound. Jesse Colin Young formed them before he went solo and Charlie Daniels actually produced one of their albums.

Their big hit was Get Together, but here is one of their more obscure tunes that really I liked a lot:



Of course, we all remember the Kinks and their musical legacy. Here are a couple songs performed in Glastonbury and sang as a tribute to the late Kinks bassist Pete Quaife, by front man Ray Davies:



Enjoy.

Friday Funnies

Just before Obama's election, his grandmother passed away. Just after the classroom portion of her orientation to Heaven was completed, Obama was sworn in and right after that time she began getting the guided tour.

At one point they came across a room full of clocks. It was huge and clocks covered all of the walls, end to end, from top to bottom. Naturally, Obama's grandmother asked, "What do all of these clocks represent?"

St. Peter replied, "This is where we keep track of famous people's lies". He continued, "Everyone has a clock assigned to them, and when they tell a lie the big hand spins around once."

"Over there, you will note George Washington's clock. He never told a lie, we hung it and there it sits as it always has. It's never moved once."

"Next to that one you'll see Abe Lincoln's clock. It has moved only twice."

Getting more curious, Obama's grandmother had to ask, "Where is Barry's clock?" St. Peter hastily replied, "I am sorry ma'am, but that is not on this part of the tour. That is in God's bedroom, he uses it as a ceiling fan."

Obama Just Wants His Life Back

Like Tony Hayward of BP fame and Jenn Sterger, the tart who thought it would be just and noble to go public with Brett Favre's sexual cell phone commentary, Obama is now trying to one up their whining. Two years after he stood with his nose in the air and his hand on a Bible swearing he'd uphold the Constitution of the United States, he now realizes what he misses about being just a normal person.

"I just miss -- I miss being anonymous," he said at the meeting in the White House State Dining Room. "I miss Saturday morning, rolling out of bed, not shaving, getting into my car with my girls, driving to the supermarket, squeezing the fruit, getting my car washed, taking walks. I can't take a walk."

Outstanding Mr. President, such an epiphany you must have had when you dreamed that one up. It must have been some great cathartic release to get that off of your chest. Now that you have spent the nation into oblivion and are still searching for ways to spend more, I think it's a fine time to express even this fractional amount of regret about your favorite subject....you.

It has been all bout you from the beginning, hasn't it?

You weren't satisfied playing U.S. Senator with no real experience. You just had to play a non-experienced President too.

Well, here's novel idea that I think a lot of people will support. Why don't you just resign and let the court jester play President awhile, until we can replace him next year. Do this... and you will be hailed as a real patriot and lover of your country.You won't have to lie about it anymore.

To my faithful readers, I think Obama is setting us up for what might be an invitation for someone else to replace him. He has liberals pissed off at him, so he'd be ripe for a primary challenge. He has independents pissed at him because he lied to them about being different than the others. So he's greatly ripe for defeat in the general election.

I don't think he wants the job. I don't think he ever did.

He just wanted to win the election so he could say he made history, by being the first black president. When the work began to show up at his office, he started taking vacations so he could escape the responsibilities a President must face to be successful. He left the jobs to incompetent hacks who have no idea what it takes to run a paper route, much less a nation.

He left it to the Democratic Congress. He left it to those incompetent pukes so they could screw it up. Then, he could blame them when it could no longer be blamed on Bush.

Thanks again America.

You wanted to witness and be a part of history. How's it feel to be a part of the worst era this nation has ever experienced, outside the Civil War?

Monday Quote

If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking... is freedom.

-Dwight D. Eisenhower

I am not sure what else I can add to this, except to pose a simple question to the progressives who think government can meet all of society's needs:

At what point do think it is good to stop?

Introducing....

Henry Wentworth Nash Sunsett

We know we could never replace our beloved little Sydney, but our other little dog Holly was very depressed and missing her so badly. We thought this might help her loneliness a little.

Needless to say, we are in an adjustment phase right now.

Another Blast From the Past

Einer der führenden deutschen Bands aus den 70s. Sie sangen alle ihre Texte in Englisch.



Genießen

Friday Funnies

For those trying to understand the Obama Doctrine on Libya:



I hope this is as helpful as it is confusing.

Who Do You Believe?

Are you ready to vote for four more years of hope and change?



I cannot think of anything he promised in his 2008 campaign that he delivered on. So beyond blaming Bush for another election cycle, I cannot see a sound record he can run on.

He lied to progressives about Gitmo and several hot button issues.

Gitmo isn't closing. He has signed onto another war before ending the others that he promised to end. He has Farrakhan and the radical racist black separatist theology movement pissed off at him. They won't vote for a GOP candidate, but they have a history of staying home on Election Day, when they are dissatisfied.

He lied to independents and moderates too.

He told them this would be the most transparent government ever. It isn't. He said he'd cut the deficit, which was run up by Bush from his wars and tax cuts to rich people (which we now know is almost anyone that works without government assistance). He has exponentially increased the debt and the deficit, he caved on the tax cut extension.

I could go on and on here, but the bottom line is simple. He has lied to everyone. He lied to liberals, moderates, and conservatives across the board. He played on our fears.

He may be the highest profile candidate next year, but he isn't the only snake in the grass up for a vote. Here is someone who rode in on the anger express of the 2006 Democratic congressional sweep to power:



She lied to the people of Missouri to get her ass into Washington. Transparency seems to be the word that gets used when someone wants a job there. But once they win and relocate, it seems the transparency transforms into translucency, and then opaqueness, real quickly.

Here's another liar who has led the Democrats into this era of deceit and contempt:



As it turns out, we now learn that he wants to be a U.S. Senator from Virginia. The question is, does Virginia want him? The electorate of the commonwealth soundly rejected the Obama-backed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds, in 2009. Do you think Virginians are any fonder of Obama now?

So when it comes right down to it, I think we do need hope and change this time around.

I certainly hope that the masses will change the way they select their elected officials. I hope they change the way the evaluate their candidates.

Are they selling a bill of goods that cannot possibly come to pass?

Or are they telling us that it's going to be a difficult job to fix the damage that this lying bunch has wrought on us all.... and it will be up to us to make the necessary sacrifices to get into a better position for the future of our children and grandchildren?

I know who I believe.

And I know who I don't.

Hint--it isn't anyone that believes in this failed President and the cheerleaders who have helped him destroy what our forefathers have built and protected, over the years.

Controlling The Narrative

A week and a half in the life of Team Obama:

Monday: Qaddaffi must go.

Tuesday: Khadafy can stay.

Wednesday: Never mind. We had it right the last time. Kaddaffi should go.

Thursday: Give us a minute to rethink what Quadaffy should or shouldn't do.

Friday: Quackdafi needs to stop bombing civilians.

Saturday: Quaaludaffi must go.

Sunday: Farrakhan says, Who the hell do you think you are? Khaddaffi must stay.

Monday: Dianne Feinstein says, Arrest Gadhafi

Tuesday: A symbol of racist oppression, Butler, lost the NCAA Championship.

Wednesday: Kaaduffy can stay, maybe.

When Will The Butler Bulldogs Get Some Respect?

Q. When does a two-time NCAA finalist stop being a Cinderella Team?

A. When they win it all and shut up the TV fools like Charles Barkley.

To his credit he did give them some props, after they beat the real Cinderella Team that the media wanted in the finals for ratings purposes. But before the game and at halftime, Barkley and some of his colleagues just had to keep harping about how VCU would eventually wear Butler down.

It didn't happen.

It hasn't happened in any tourney game in the last two years.

The only game they lost in the last two was the title game against Duke, only by a basket. That's not wearing anyone down and the entire nation watched that last shot from Hayward fly towards that basket, only to be a hair off the mark.

I can understand last year. It was a magical run. And like everyone else, I figured with Hayward leaving for the NBA, it probably wouldn't happen again. I knew the Bulldogs could send some teams home early in heartbreak, shock, and disillusionment. But that would probably be about it.

To their credit, they didn't listen to me. They have been believers in themselves more than anyone else. When they came back against a very good Florida team, I knew they were for real and have the makings of a potential champion. They are proving to the world that were more than just Hayward last year, they are a TEAM. Like one announcer said last night, Butler is good at playing bad. This means they can play badly and still beat you because they never quit, regardless of how they are playing.

Let me tell you (if you are a basketball fan who is not a UConn fan) why you should be for Butler Monday night:

1. They play the game, the way the game should be played.

They have been playing bigger, stronger, teams that are sometimes very physical. These teams have used their sizes and strength to intimidate the smaller Butler team. Basically they have played thugball, but they lost anyway.

Butler is patient and does not give up even when they are down. They pass the ball, spread the court, and do not allow pressure in the back court to get them rattled. If they make a mistake, they forget about it and keep playing on.

2. They put the student back in student athletes.

These guys are smart, all of them. If you meet one and speak to him, you get some damned intelligent conversation about basketball or anything else they are studying. You do not get jive ebonics, or all glory to God speeches.

93% of the current class of Butler freshmen have a 3.0 HS average or above. 50% has a 3.75 or higher.

The focus at this university is clearly on academics, not big money sports. They play in an old fieldhouse that was once the site of the Indiana championship games is years gone by, you may have seen it if you watched the movie Hoosiers. Their enrollment, including grad students, is around 4600.

Most of these guys will truly go pro in something other than basketball.

Forward Matt Howard (son of a postman) has a 3.88 in Financing. Ten of the players on the roster are from the state of Indiana. Shelvin Mack, a junior, is from Lexington Kentucky and may be the only player who has the skills to turn pro. (I bet UK wishes they would have given this kid a closer look, instead of the yo-yos that came and played the required one year, before going into the NBA.)

So unless you are committed to UConn for some reason or are a racist TV analyst, why would you not pull for Butler?

They do this right. They are building a solid program based on scholarship and athletics is a side act.

Brad Stevens gave up a great marketing job at Eli Lilly to pursue his dream of coaching basketball, starting out as a low paying assistant. They gave him a decent raise to stay last year when others were courting him after last year, but it's nothing like Calhoun, Calipari, and others make.

Stevens may eventually jump ship for more money. Who could blame him? If this thing with Tom Crean doesn't work out at IU, we may see Brad being hired as his replacement, down the road. He could make the big time and still stay in Indiana. But if you look at this realistically, he's making it big time right now.

Crean has NC Center Tyler Zeller's brother, Cody, coming in next year. He is also a 7-footer and there will be no excuses to not be competitive. no one expected miracles out of the Hoosiers after Mike Davis and Kelvin Sampson decimated the entire program. But if Crean cannot get the job done and improve this performance, maybe Stevens can. I can only imagine what Brad could do with a strong 7-footer on this Butler team right now.

Go Dawgs!!!

Another Blast From the Past

Souvenirs.

Over time, it's all we are left with to prove we were here or there, or we knew this person or another.

Today, I will go pick up a ceramic paw imprint of our little friend.



Enjoy.

Sydney Sunsett 1997-2011

Our hearts are saddened and she will be sorely missed.

Job Posting: President

Help Wanted: Contract About To Expire

Since the moment it was known Obama was the winner of the 2008 Presidential Election, there has been speculation of who could beat him in 2012. As we now find ourselves in early 2011, the punditry is saturated with rumors of who will or will not throw their hat in the ring on the GOP side.

We have even seen the name Hillary Clinton circulated as a possible Democratic primary challenger, because Obama is such a massive failure on almost every front a President must lead on. He is even losing his base support, the radical cast members who were behind his thrust into the spotlight and eventually the White House have found that he is useless to their grossly disfigured causes.

Big government statism is once again demonstrating that the government is corrupt, incompetent, ineffective, and does not meet the needs of the people it was designed to serve. With so many people disillusioned with this current government for one reason or another, it stands to reason that the GOP is ripe for a pretty solid return to power next year. But, it is not guaranteed.

The thing that can and will hurt the GOP the most in the next election cycle is the GOP.

Every week, we see a new poll conducted as to who Republicans will support to be the party's nominee for President next year. Every poll seems to have a different result, based on who is behind it. But the most interesting thing worth noting in all of these surveys is the candidates themselves. Only one that I am aware of has even announced a candidacy, and that is Herman Cain.

For this reason, the polls are speculative and mean absolutely nothing at this point in time. Every time one of the candidates win, it's never by a majority and is seldom by a large margin.

Some of the polling taking place are straw polls put on by conservative organizations. None of them are conclusive and are probably designed solely for fundraising purposes.

There are many polls put out by the usual polling organizations who make their living off of polling. Since we know that Obama's poll numbers are in the low 40% range in some polls and a little bit higher in others, it only stands to reason that the organizations are tired of surveying the president's job approval.

Some of the early polling taking place right now is likely being engineered by the pro-Obama lobby (which includes the complicit media that supports him) for the specific purpose of creating a false picture. They want people to believe the GOP is seriously divided on who they want to be President, despite the lack of a declared field.

Most people won't factor these things in when forming an opinion, the average stiff may not be quick to realize the games played by political hacks behind the scenes. I doubt any of this crosses a lot of people's minds these days, and that includes many Republicans.

Right now, conservatives want a clear cut choice that mirrors that of Reagan. There's nothing wrong with this, of course, as he was a pretty good choice to replace Jimmy Carter, another massive failure on many fronts. But we must understand that Reagan wasn't made, he just happened. He was not a mold of anyone else, he was himself. He was spontaneous and he was what we needed at the time.

When we consider that Obama is so incompetent, that makes this selection even more pressing. Frankly, it worries me when I see people trying to find the next Reagan because Obama is so closely compared to Carter. These things do not always make for good and wise choices. The man or woman who must replace Obama will not be a Reagan, He/she will be themselves and hopefully, he/she will be what is needed.

Undesirable qualities include, but are not limited to the following:

We do not need a sloganeer. Obama was just that and look what we have now. Values or not, we cannot have someone who merely comes up with catch phrases that sound good in a sound bite, or look good on a poster.

We do not need someone who can merely describe the problems we face, all of us can do that. There is nothing special in having this quality, anyone with half a brain can see what is happening. People have either become enlightened to what is really going on, or they have dug themselves in deeper to the delusion.

We do not need someone who can shout down the opposition by using the first two methodologies that I have described. Louder does not make right. Just look at the people in the Wisconsin rallies. They were loud and boisterous and dead wrong.

Desirable qualities include but are not limited to the following:

We do need someone that can discuss solutions to the problems, We need someone who can effectively articulate these solutions and defend them when they are attacked in the multitudes of ways they will be demonized, when brought forth for discussion. And they need to be implemented.

We need someone who has the ability to stand for principle, not polls. Polls come and go, principles remain steady when they are based in truth.

We need someone who will cut spending, waste, and the debt and not just talk about it. It cannot be cut all at once. We didn't get into this overnight, we won't get out of it overnight. But we must seriously reverse the trend. I will not mind staying at the same tax rate for awhile, if spending will be cut to pay down this massive debt we have incurred.

We need someone who has a worldview that begins here at home. We need to stop worrying about what others think of us and do the best job we can for each other here at home. And what's left over, we can share with others.

We will need to vet and debate throughout the primary process. But ultimately our goal should be more than just defeating Obama, more than just winning an election. Just because a candidate can win doesn't mean he/she can lead and implement practical solutions. Let's not settle for the lesser of the two evils this time, let's give this some serious thought while there is time.

Obama's Media: A Slobbering Love Affair Continues

Remember this display of illogical reasoning by Candy Crowley? Remember how ignorant she showed herself to be on national TV?



That's the precisely the kind of idiocy we have come to expect from the slobbering, drooling media types who continue to hail the Emperor with no clothes. Her only saving grace was nobody watches CNN anymore. So she was free to look like a fool and no one really knew. It's kind of like the old saying, "if a tree fell in the woods and nobody was around, did that tree make a sound?"

Here's a moment where someone was around it's a moment that we probably won't hear Candy address in any of her shows because she is a poor excuse for a journalist.

The very people who were supposed to like us because Obama is President do not seem to be very pleased with his likeness, take a look at a shot of Obama getting stomped in effigy.

Muslims around the world were supposed to love us, after that Cairo speech. And radical racist thugs like the Nation of Islam and Black Panthers were supposed to love their country, now that a black man was in office. Farrakhan even called them the "Chosen One".

Even though Obama's Justice Department got charges dropped against two thugs who broke federal law by intimidating voters at a polling place in Philly, it appears that this honeymoon is also over:



You the faithful few who make this a regular stop know that we spent a great amount of time and effort to warn the American public on this and other blogs. But alas, some did not listen.

We were racists for even suggesting that Barack Hussein Obama was a liar, who would say anything to get elected. We were paranoid when we made the claim that he was inexperienced and incompetent. But to quote Obama's one time spiritual adviser, "the chickens have come home to roost".

Muslims abroad and radical racists have finally awakened to these cold hard realities. When will the American mainstream media finally get it?

I don't expect it anytime too soon. They just refuse to ask the tough questions that they were somehow inclined to ask, when George Bush was President.

Charles BS Barkley: The Mouth Of The South

You can't call it a fluke anymore. But even yet, the national media still calls the Butler Bulldogs a Cinderella team. Even though they are 9-1 in tourney games over the last two years, they are still the underdogs. Even though they are in back to back Final Fours, they just can't get the respect in some circles.

Barkley is one of those blathering idiots who cannot grasp this concept and he never ceases to show his ignorance, when he is hired to do commentary on basketball shows. Why they hire this guy to talk is puzzling, because he never played the game the way it should be played..... or he would have won something in his long career.

Maybe if he hadn't been given over to drinking in bars, running his mouth and getting into fights with the local patrons the nights before games, he could have won a championship. Maybe if he knew how to be a team player like Michael Jordan, making others around him better, he might have had a ring to show his kids and grandkids. No...Barkley made his teammates mediocre.

He hasn't changed much either, He makes his TV team sound mediocre too.

One only needed to hear him this past weekend on the halftime shows and it would become blatantly obvious he does not like teams like Butler. He likes thugball better because it does not require thinking or strategy, just some size...swinging some elbows....something that got him many of his points in his career.

I suspect there is a racist element to it, Butler does have some white guys on the team who can play good team ball. But more than this, it may be the culture of academics that guys like Barkley are not familiar with. Every player on Butler (whether black or white), must have a 3.0 average to get into the school.This means they must be intelligent, as well as good ball players. When Barkley played, D's got it.

When you see a Butler basketball player interviewed, you hear intelligent kids answering questions with humility. You do not hear arrogant trash talk in ebonics. You do not hear reckless and brainless comments like we heard from Barkley for many years, as a player and now as a pseudo-commentator.

So to Mr. Charles B.S. Barkley, I have a quote for you to ponder in the midst of your idiocy:

"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt."--Abraham Lincoln

I am sure he doesn't care what I think, but he really does make a better quiet fool, than a vocal one. I know he is better suited for the pro game than the college game. Because there, the arrogant thug culture is openly promoted and worshiped. There, brandishing weapons in the locker room is considered just horsing around.

But sideshows aside, even the teams that win rings in the NBA are the ones that have team players that keep their mouths shut and play. As the old Nike ad once said, they "just do it"... like Hakeem Olajawon (two rings) used to do. They don't need to talk to hear their own voices, they just play and they win. Then, they go home and do not troll the bars looking for fights, afterward.

When they retire, they do something productive and/or they enjoy the money they made over the years. They do not need to take jobs on TV just to makes further fools of themselves, than they did when they played.

Geraldine Ferraro 1935-2011

"Though we were one-time political opponents, I am happy to say Gerry and I became friends in time — a friendship marked by respect and affection. I admired Gerry in many ways, not the least of which was the dignified and principled manner she blazed new trails for women in politics." — Former President George H.W. Bush.

That was Mr. Bush's statement, now here is mine:

I stood on the opposite side from her on many political issues of the day. But there was no question that Geraldine Ferraro was always a lady, who deserved the respect she had earned--both as a trailblazer for women and as a person.

In the heat of political discourse, she took on the argument... and not the person who stood on the opposite side of it. She was very openly critical of the opposition's stances and policies, but I cannot recall her ever demonizing anyone she disagreed with personally.... like many we see on the Left today.

She was classy, dignified, and certainly very principled in her beliefs. Unlike many today, she did not waiver for the sake of party unity. If she felt it was wrong, it was still wrong--even if her party openly waffled on any given subject.

Four years younger than my mother, Ms. Ferraro was a tough lady from the same generation who had to overcome many of the same sets of circumstances. I didn't know Ferraro personally, but I had the utmost respect for her and what she accomplished in her lifetime.

I pray that her family can find solace and peace in this time of grief. She will certainly be missed by everyone whose lives she touched, but I also know it is THEY who will miss her the most. We will all have some sorrow and sympathy, but THEY who will be saddened the most. Ours will pass more quickly, theirs may last a lifetime.

May she rest in peace.

Another Blast From the Past

A little song about the Man Of Steel:



Enjoy.

Friday Funnies

Once again, this one comes from the PYY Mailbag:

Working people frequently ask retired people what
they do to make their days interesting.
Well, for example, the other day, Bev my wife and I
went into town and visited a shop.

When we came out, there was a cop writing out a parking ticket.

We went up to him and I said, 'Come on, man,
how about giving a senior citizen a break?'
He ignored us and continued writing the ticket.
I called him an a--hole . He glared at me and started
writing another ticket for having worn-out tires.

So Bev called him a s--t head.  He finished the
second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first.
Then he started writing more tickets.
This went on for about 20 minutes.
The more we abused him, the more tickets he wrote.

Just then our bus arrived, and we got on it
and went home.

Calling John Galt...

Here is some food for thought on your Thursday.

I have always tried to teach my children that there is no greater freedom on this earth than to be self-reliant. This means being you must be one that you can count on the most. You, and you alone, are the one who can control your destiny the best---not your parents, not the government.

If you have ever read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, you well know the character named John Galt. And if you are intuitive, reflective, someone who reads deeper than the second dimension, you will also know that he is not just a character in a book. He is a symbol of self-sufficiency, creativity, and innovation who needs no one but his own drive, will, and intellect to survive in a cold and demanding world.

To know him in his real form, is to inherit some of his remarkable characteristics. This guy understands him:



He is not the only one, there are many others who know John Galt and have allowed him to inspire them to develop their own inner strengths, free from undue interference and corrupted influences:



Coming next month will be the premier of Atlas Shrugged: Part One. Don't look for John Galt in this part. Look for why we need him.



Some theaters may refuse to show this. Some may be turned off at the fact that Ayn Rand was an atheist. others will call it racist because it goes against everything our President stands for. I say we should ignore both critiques, and take the value of the substance from the material and use to to make ourselves better.

This is not about religion, for God wants people to work their way out of turmoil, finding their own solutions, if possible. Still... I firmly believe that He is not beyond helping us, when we cannot. But we must make every effort we can make, first.

This is not about race either. Had Hillary or Howard Dean been in the White House right now, we would be asking the same questions about a failed ideology. Race matters nothing in this. Race has been made a scapegoat for many who cannot find their own way, but I am telling you all right here and now that I know black men and women who have worked very hard to make themselves self-reliant, and can buy/sell all of us, several times over.

Tell Herman Cain and Robert Johnson that a black man cannot make it in America, and they will laugh you out of the room.

This is not about either of those things, this is about us. It's about we, the people. It's about whether we throw in the towel and allow the forces that want to DICTATE to the people, to prevail and implement their will over us.... or it's about finding individuals, who want to LEAD the people out of dependency and into the real freedom I described in the first paragraph.

The proper question that should be asked is not, "who is John Galt?" It's "where the hell is he?"

I suggest we all start calling our local theaters to ask when they plan to show this movie, and make sure we attend one of its showings. It will be demonized by those who have a vested interest in the failure of the principles it contains, but you can be an individual and freely make up your own mind, after you see all three parts of the trilogy.

Don't let them decide for you. Be unafraid, be willing to challenge yourself. Be John Galt.

Are you John Galt? If so, where are you and what are you going to do about this?

A Mountain Out Of A Molehill?

Once upon a time a few years back, I remember a very small break in the integrity of the vinyl covering of an old recliner that had sentimental value to me. It was an old chair that was very comfortable, it belonged to my grandmother, and they just didn't make them like that anymore.

At first, the hole was so small you wouldn't notice it unless you were right near it and looking for it. But over time, it got bigger.

It took awhile, because I babied it.

As my kids got into the age when they saw a button so it had to be pushed, and a hole that had to be messed with, it eventually got bigger. At that time, I put a cover over it to prevent it from getting bigger with the hard usage by the children and to cover what was rapidly becoming an eyesore of an otherwise sound and comfortable chair.

If only I had sealed it with a vinyl repair kit, when it first appeared.

So...where am I going with this story? The answer lies here in this article from the St. Petersburg Times.

The question of what law applies in any Florida courtroom usually comes down to two choices: federal or state.

But Hillsborough Circuit Judge Richard Nielsen is being attacked by conservative bloggers after he ruled in a lawsuit March 3 that, to resolve one crucial issue in the case, he will consult a different source.

"This case," the judge wrote, "will proceed under Ecclesiastical Islamic Law."

Nielsen said he will decide in a lawsuit against a local mosque, the Islamic Education Center of Tampa, whether the parties in the litigation properly followed the teachings of the Koran in obtaining an arbitration decision from an Islamic scholar.

Most of our states base their laws on the English system. Louisiana bases their state's law on the French system. And this is how attorneys are taught in Law School.

The story about the hole in the chair's upholstery is an appropriate metaphor in this case. I used this analogy because, all it takes is a small opening by Muslim activists who believe that Sharia Law should be in effect worldwide and they will poke, prod, rip, and tear until the opening becomes bigger and more difficult to manage.

Today, we can say with the utmost certainty that this very incident is a small hole that will be used to create a bigger one down the road, one that will eventually become too big to manage... if we do not demand that it be sealed now.

The first course of action should be to get this turned over on appeal, when the opportunity is presented. Then, this judge should be impeached by the people of Hillsborough County. While these things are taking place, the Florida legislature should immediately take this issue up and work to pass a law that forbids the use of a barbaric system of justice from being used, as a paradigm for resolving any issue within the territorial boundaries of the great state of Florida.

And.....why stop there?

Every other state should do the same thing in their legislatures, the U.S. Congress should take this up at the federal level too. If not, we will soon see Muslims demanding civil and (in some cases where infidels are the accused) criminal cases be judged under Sharia Law, in our courtrooms all across the nation.

If this is permitted to happen unabated, think about how law students will need courses on Islamic law just to contend with these outrageous demands. Think about how many cases will need to be thrown out at some point, because the judge, jury, and counselors were not educated in Islamic law to accommodate and appease.

What about other cultures and religions? Should we accommodate someone who wants to be judged according to Scandinavian, Russian, Chinese, or some other law that does not apply here under our Constitution? Would they do the same for us, if we asked them in their countries?

See how big this can become by one idiot judge trying to be politically correct and disregard the rule of law? This is how activist judges have taken over our judiciary, and how we will lose this nation someday.

The Inconsistent Foreign Policy Of Barack Obama

I am sure a few of my regular readers will disagree with me on this post. But nevertheless, I have to say some things about Libya and the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East.

Before we discuss Obama's usual inept handling of another foreign crisis, there are some inconsistencies we must think about... long before before we draw any intelligent conclusions. As in any case, there are things we know and things we don't. Let's start by looking at what we know.

We know that Obama likes dictators (at least the Latin American versions).

He loves Hugo Chavez. We all know Chavez fits the socialist model that the President was educated to believe in. We all know that Bro. Hugo is the modern-day replacement for Fidel Castro's failed leadership in Latin America, for failing to implement the true communist paradigm in Latin America.

We know that he loved former President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras. You may remember him as the man who tried to illegally modify the Honduran constitution, so he could run for another term... for the purpose of implementing a Chavez style economic and political system. When the Honduran Supreme Court ruled against Zelaya and his underhanded plan of action, both Obama and Chavez did everything they possibly could to subvert the rule of law in that country.

What we do not know is why Obama is not supporting dictators a half a world away in the Middle East.

He did not support Mubarek of Egypt during its recent popular uprising and by all appearances now, he is not supporting Libya's Muammar Gaddaffi in favor of another "so-called" populist uprising.

It's hard to make sense of this approach until we realize that Obama clearly has no consistent values or core principles. Then only thing consistent with Obama is, he will do what is best for Obama, and those who will help him. We do know that those who support Obama's Presidency the most are the people who have in years past advocated for revolution. Bill and Bernice Ayers are two names that prominently stick out, as well as many others.The people I speak of are those who follow the Alinsky model. They never want a crisis to go to waste and if there is no crisis, they can create one.

I firmly believe that at the time of Obama's election, there were unseen forces overblowing the economic crisis at the time, for the specific purpose of getting the man elected. Not that everything was hunky dory mind you, it was a downturn that was bound to happen and not be denied. But these forces used a complicit media (who merely wanted to see history made in the form of electing a black man as president) and all other means within their reach to drive the frenzy of what was then described as a looming depression never before seen. They made a bad situation even worse.

But to be fair about it, this goal and objective was set by forces much larger than Obama. I say this because as we see today, Obama is an extremely ineffective leader at almost every level. Instead of focusing on important things like the Japanese crisis, the Middle East, and important domestic issues, he plays golf, he fills out brackets, and he tours Latin America to create diversions from his incompetence as a leader.

In short, he doesn.t know how to manage a Burger King, much less a country. He is only a prop and a poor one, at that.

But back to Libya, and let me be blunt.

Obama and Soros Inc. want instability in the Middle East for the purpose of replacing the U.S. Dollar as the primary oil trading currency. Soros makes his money by getting currencies devalued, so it stands to reason that he may be hedging his bets on a new currency for the specific purpose of buying and selling oil. (Maybe if he is successful, we can call it the Soro. But I digress.)

So instability is their friend right now. Nothing can cause more willingness to change what has always been, except turmoil and fiercely uncertain conditions in such an important commodity. But as with every diabolical and contrived plot, there are strong possibilities of unintended consequences, which are not being thought about right now in the midst of this mess.

We are signing on to support the "so-called" pro-democracy forces in these nations where tyranny has reigned for so many years. But in the middle of this, we are failing to remember the Iranian Revolution.... whereby one form of tyranny was replaced with another.We are risking all of this for one man who had billions already, to stand the chance of making even more.

We are forgetting that groups that are supportive of al-Qaida (and the dangerous anti-freedom message of Muslim imperialism) is playing a huge role in these demonstrations. What makes us think that al Qaida will make a better form of government than the low-life tyrant we know as Gaddaffi?

Even more troubling is the liberal school of thought, that opportunistically used the Iraq War as political fodder against the GOP and George W. Bush, Now that Obama is President, they are magically supportive of a regime change in Libya and openly for these Sharia Law loving rebels taking control of the oil supply, in the Middle East. And Obama falls directly into this category. He and his Leftist friends questioned the use of military force to effect a regime change in a sovereign nation back then, But now it's okay.

In Iraq, we have spent much time in country and we sacrificed many American lives to see that these groups did not take control of Iraq. How is it that we can be assured this will not happen with no ground troops in Libya?

So to my friends who regularly read this sleepy little blog, I must ask you to think about some things in the closing of this post.

These people have never been able to handle freedom in the past. They seem to need authoritarian leadership of some kind or another. They are not doing well under dictators, but how well will they fare under the tyranny of forces that subscribe to harsh medieval conditions? Will they allow for free elections? I doubt it. Will they allow freedom of speech? Nope. Will they use their oil producing capabilities as weapons? You know they will. And they will use whatever profits they can make, to destroy all those who are not willing to submit to Allah (starting with Israel).

How will it affect other Middle East nations? Will Saudi Arabia fall next with encouragement and military help from the civilized world? Polls show that Osama bin Laden could win an election there, if there were elections. Would that be worth ridding that nation of the monarch whose hand was kissed by President Obama?

Most importantly of all let's think about one more thing. Knowing how ungrateful many people in the Arab world have been concerning the huge toll on American blood spilled to make Iraq free from a brutal dictator, do we really think Libyans will appreciate any effort the U.S. or its allies will put forth?

Personally, I think Gaddaffi is a thug, a creep, and a terrorist responsible for the killing of many of my countrymen. I think he deserves to be dropped into a pit full of hungry crocodiles. But I am not sure he is worth spilling any American blood over, especially when the Libyan people will very likely not appreciate any of it.