Pompous Liars...at BEST, pompous liars.

If you haven't seen this already, it's going to make you cry, or maybe just make your heart hurt. From a post at Piece of Work in Progress, this excerpt from Powerline:

In short [. . .] the Obama administration falsely claimed that the Bush administration had done no planning or analysis regarding the worsening situation in Afghanistan, even though it (1) knew this was false, (2) had asked the Bush administration not to disclose its work, and (3) relied in part on the same work it claimed the Bush administration had not performed. Paul [Mirengoff] judged that what Cheney described went beyond lack of class to demonstrate bad character on the part of the Obama administration.

Now comes the Weekly Standard’s Stephen Hayes to examine the issues of fact raised by Cheney’s account. In “Obama’s minions are ingrates,” Hayes documents the formal review conducted by the Bush administration that was turned over to the Obama team and inquires whether (as Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs has charged) the Bush team sat on a request for increased troops. Hayes confirms Cheney’s assertions as a matter of fact.

This bunch of crap comes from an administration so many Americans had so much 'hope' for. Transparency. Tolerance. Democracy. Efficiency. Fairness. Equality. Pride.

My shattered ass.

BarryO babbles that Communism, Socialism, Buddhism and Islam are blessings to the world, religions and political dogma to be imitated and implemented here, while doing his level best to leave Israel defenseless against those sworn to destroy her, and ensure that Christians and Jews worldwide are silenced as troublemakers.

George W and Cheney did their best to keep this country from being attacked AGAIN. BarryO has no such wish, in my opinion. He and his mentors and followers have the best of all possible worlds and will never experience the heartache and loss that Working America is going to see. He and his family will celebrate our hunger and poverty with kobe beef for supper. BarryO and his weasels lied before, and they will lie again. To get what they want, to accomplish their mission.

I couldn't make myself read the quoted NYTimes article

Jenn Q. Public has some interesting remarks about an article in the New York Times. Yes, that New York Times. I'm not even going to link 'em - you can find 'em through the other link if you really need to read such poor excuses for "news reporting."

I participated in a couple knock-down drag-out fights in a domestic battle that ended many years ago. I won't go into details. There was not, however, any inkling at any point that I'd been stabbed. We fought like crazy, but we fought with only our hands as weapons. It's been several decades since the last contact, a fact I'm sure neither of us is sorry for.

It's still not funny. If I'd ever read the Times on a regular basis, this would be my best, most recent reason for stopping.

Chicken-little governance comes with a steep price tag

David Harsani at Townhall.com:

If TARP recipients are under the thumb of a pay czar, what about other corporations consenting to Washington aid or accepting contracts -- a group that grows with each misguided stab at stimulating the economy? And why stop there? Why not make all compensation fair?

"I don't think that's healthy, and I don't like it," Camden Fine, president of the Independent Community Bankers of America, said of the pay czar's cuts. "These are decisions for boards of directors to make, not the government. I think this is a very slippery slope."

Applebee's ROCKS!

I may not be crazy about the food - well, they do have Triple Chocolate Meltdown - but I cannot criticise their heart. This link was in my email this morning from my brother, the Old Retired Petty Officer.

Veteran's eat FREE at Applebee's on Veteran's Day.

If you know of any other establishments doing this, please let me know and I'll post 'em.

Why I read Lileks

James' post today at the Bleat is far from one of his best - and I'm not going looking right now to put up that link, you can find many FABulous writings in his archives - but this line hit me right between the eyes...so to speak:

What we see as a breathing space or a sign the worst is over is probably just the gap between swings of the two-by-four.

I better shower so I'm more awake when it comes around.

In the year 1909

I got this in my email a few weeks back. I haven't fact-checked it, so it's probably as accurate as ANYTHING you hear on CBS...but you can always do that yourself with these wonderful computer thingies, can't you!

THE YEAR 1909

This will boggle your mind, I know it did mine!
The year is 1909.
One hundred years ago.
What a difference a century makes!

Here are some statistics for the Year 1909:
************ ********* *********
The average life expectancy was 47 years.

Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.

Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.

There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads.

The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!

The average wage in 1909 was 22 cents per hour.

The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year.

A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.

More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME .

Ninety percent of all doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION. Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned by the press AND the government as 'substandard.'

Sugar cost four cents a pound.

Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.

Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.

Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.

Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.

Five leading causes of death were:
1.. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars.

The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was only 30.

Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented yet.

There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.

Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write. Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school..

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then most pharmacists said, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health."

Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.

There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE U.S.A.

I am now going to forward this to someone else without typing it myself. From there, it will be sent to others all over the WORLD - all in a matter of seconds.

Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years.
*************************************************
Well, what it might be like if we get our cojones back as a Nation, that is...

AND IN FAMILY NEWS: The cancer that didn't kill my brother (TYG) is about to become blog fodder. Check out the Old Retired Petty Officer for what could be some very sickening photographs and excellent running commentary.

Nobel Prize for Economics goes to woman whose work proves GOVERNMENT is more often the problem than the solution!

John Stossel is a libertarian, and I guess I am one, too. Many times this suggests things that are too wacky for words, but hey...Dimmbocrats claim part of that title, and so do many Republicrats. I prefer things sensible, proven by unbiased methods, which treat grown-up citizens like grown-up citizens, and which are Constitutional. Makes me sorta unusual, I know, but I sleep ok at night, believe me.

Stossel's column today is required reading if you believe "Government-imposed regulation" is completely different than the rules of behavior needed for managing some resources (among other things) by those involved.

She writes in her 1990 book, "Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action," that there is no shortage of real-world examples of "a self-governed common-property arrangement in which the rules have been devised and modified by the participants themselves and also are monitored and enforced by them."

In other words, free people work things out on their own.

Not only is government help often not needed, Ostrom says it usually screws things up because bureaucrats operate in an ivory tower ignorant of the local customs and the specific resource.

Political theorists assume away the problems of political control, but the problems are real. There is no reason to believe that bureaucrats and politicians, no matter how well meaning, are better at solving problems than the people on the spot, who have the strongest incentive to get the solution right. Unlike bureaucrats, they bear the costs of their mistakes. Moreover, as the prize committee pointed out, "Rules that are imposed from the outside or unilaterally dictated by powerful insiders have less legitimacy and are more likely to be violated."

...

We libertarians aren't against rules — we are against top-down rules imposed by out-of-touch bureaucrats.

UPDATE: I have just one question. Is this the Nobel committee made up of the same bozos that chose BarryO for the Peace Prize? If so, does the rest of the country know they've got Multiple Personality Syndrome?

Quotable Democrats

Quotes from...well, you'll see...

Great Orators of the Democrat Party...

'One man with courage makes a majority.' - Andrew Jackson
'The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.' - Franklin D. Roosevelt
'The buck stops here.' - Harry S. Truman
'Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.' - John F. Kennedy

And from today's Democrats...

"It depends what your definition of 'is' is?" - Bill Clinton
"Those rumors are false .... I believe in the sanctity of marriage." - John Edwards
"I invented the Internet." - Al Gore
"The next Person that tells me I'm not religious, I'm going to shove my rosary beads up their ASS." - Joe Biden
"America is--is no longer, uh, what it--it, uh, could be, uh, what it was once was...uh, and I say to 'uh, I don't want that future, uh, uh for my children." - Barack Obama
"I have campaigned in all 57 states." - Barack Obama (Quoted 2008)
"You don't need God anymore, you have us Democrats." - Nancy Pelosi (Quoted 2006)
"Paying taxes is voluntary." - Sen. Harry Reid
"Bill is the greatest husband and father I know. No one is more faithful, true, and honest than he." - Hillary Clinton (Quoted 1998)

And here's one of my favorite quotes, though not a politician, just a Real Man.
"Life's tough. It's even tougher if you're stupid." -- John Wayne

(Thanks, Fred!)

UPDATE: I've been reminded that gaffs are not party-exclusive. ALL politicians have things come out of their mouths that are wrong, mistaken, lies, or examples of oral dyslexia - just like the rest of us. WE, however, don't spend a lot of time with cameras and tape recorders following us around to preserve our flubs for posterity...thank goodness! This particular little collection just happened to be all in one place all at one time, so here it is.

I am as racist as Rush...

...and since I really LIVE by the words spoken by Martin Luther King, Jr so many years ago, I decided to post this article from CNSNews.com:

This man is probably the single greatest spokesman for the NFL other than someone that’s in the NFL, and he’s disqualified because he’s conservative? I find it quite offensive.

I am not a member of any religion. I don't belong to a church or a synagogue. Don't see that changing any time in the near future. What I do have is a set of personal standards, most based on Old Testament Biblical teachings.

One of the reasons I don't have a religion is that too many who do belong to a church seem to have rather flexible 'standards.' I have certain standards - maybe fewer than churchgoers, which simplifies things for my little brain. Too many rules mean I forget too many things. I work at sticking by my personal standards. Never say Never. People are more important than Things. Racism is wrong. When you work to earn something, its value increases a thousandfold over having it handed to you for free.

Standing up, when necessary, for a man who's been lied about repeatedly - whether I agree with him or not - is one of my standards. My own personal integrity demands it.

The NFL owners and commissioner are obviously the hypocrites many "big business rich folks" have the reputation for being. This makes me sad. Having been to only one NFL game and only because Lovely Daughter was there to perform with her cheer squad at half time, I can't exactly do what Mr. Muller has done.

But I would.

Tuesday with Thomas

Our retreat was everything it was created to be, and as usual I am STILL a bit...out of sync. It isn't as far off my routine as it is off Duffy's, but evidently it doesn't take much to throw me out of whack these days. I may post a picture or 2 later, depends on how much time I have and whether I can make my brain take orders.

Tuesdays are the days I read, post, and comment on Thomas Sowell's most recent column, and today is no exception. With one exception. My brain isn't taking orders just yet, and I have no comment on this column - I merely ask that you read it, to get the reasoning behind this Wisdom:

"The courts should not be the only line of defense. Common decency should be the first line of defense..."

For now, I'm getting some coffee and a bite to eat. Thanks for stopping by!