The Wrong Priorities

Tim Russert: RIP

Dead at the age of 58 of a heart attack.

I don't wish him ill. In fact, I think he was, if not one of the good guys, at least of of the guys who tried to meet things in the middle.

But here's the thing - how old was Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith when he died?

You know...... Paul R. Smith. The first Medal of Honor in the War on Terror. Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sergeant First Class in the US Army.

How old was he?

You don't know?

Then maybe we need to re-examine this country's priorities in the people that it mourns. Or at least try to shift the focus a little bit.

14 June 1775, US Army founded

BlackFive has pics & Video

Does anyone know someone who serves, defending all of us from our nations enemies, who'll be greeted when he gets home by his missus wearing nothing but naughty intentions?

Cross Posted at DANEgerus... well not "that part"... I printed the Army Hymn.

To tie in with DANE's post above....

March along, sing our song, with the Army of the free
Count the brave, count the true, who have fought to victory
We’re the Army and proud of our name
We’re the Army and proudly proclaim

First to fight for the right,
And to build the Nation’s might,
And The Army Goes Rolling Along
Proud of all we have done,
Fighting till the battle’s won,
And the Army Goes Rolling Along.

(refrain)
Then it’s Hi! Hi! Hey!
The Army’s on its way.
Count off the cadence loud and strong
For where e’er we go,
You will always know
That The Army Goes Rolling Along.

Valley Forge, Custer’s ranks,
San Juan Hill and Patton’s tanks,
And the Army went rolling along
Minute men, from the start,
Always fighting from the heart,
And the Army keeps rolling along.
(refrain)

Men in rags, men who froze,
Still that Army met its foes,
And the Army went rolling along.
Faith in God, then we’re right,
And we’ll fight with all our might,
As the Army keeps rolling along.
(refrain)

Busy day today

I have to make sure the bike goes put-put on a more regular basis. And then break down the bed in the back bedroom. So I'll be offline for most of today.

See you tomorrow. Maybe.

Democrats, defined.

Hurricane "victims" still living in tax-payer funded motels, still not working, still not supporting themselves. After THREE YEARS.

Charity that was supposed to "help" those "victims" throwing a party with donated money. A party for the Democrat American Communist Party.

And yeah, I put the scorn quotes around "victim". You want to know why? Because anyone who is still sitting on their ass after three years sucking off the public teat IS NOT A VICTIM! I find this whole thing disgusting beyond all belief. Way to shatter those New Orleans stereotypes there, folks! Good on ya!

I believe I've said it before, and I have no problem saying it again: The reason so many people in New Orleans had to be saved from Hurricane Katrina is because they were too lazy and worthless to save themselves. Or to even lift a finger to help themselves. We are seeing the dregs of those people sitting around in a hotel, lounging by the pool, and still not doing a damn thing to improve their lives.

I say yank the money away. Three years is long enough to suck up my tax dollars. Go find a damn job, you lazy bum.

Oh hell....

New Joisey has just produced a gun ban that boggles the mind. It hasn't been signed into law yet, but c'mon, this is frikkin' New Jersey. Is there any doubt that it'll get signed?

Because.... yannow.... there are so many criminals going on shooting rampages with muzzle loaders, right? Gotta ban those suckers! Anyone who tried to tell you that the gun-banners only want to take away those evil "assault" weapons, well, they lied. Anyone who tries to say that the gun grabbers don't want to ban hunting weapons, well, they lied. The gun bigots lie. It's what they do.

Go look at the list. And if there's anyone out there with a Lexus/Nexus account, would you care to try to match ANY of the guns being banned with a crime? Because I haven't seen any news reports that state the robber used a FLINTLOCK RIFLE to hold up a store.

On the SCOTUS decision

Here's a PDF of their ruling, courtesy of Drumwaster's Rants.

It was getting late last night....

And I had to wake up early. And the Celtics were down by twenty.

So I turned to my friend, said "Well, this game is over. Time for me to go home."

We concluded the pleasantries, I headed home and went to bed.

Huh.

First it was Kelo vs. New London

And now this. Giving enemy combatants the rights of a US Citizen? The very rights that our enemies today want to destroy? ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?

I think I like S.H. Long's take:

How many times in your lifetime have you watched a film about some aspect of Hitler's rule, and say, "Why didn't they just stop him?" Or, "Why did they line up over those open pits without putting up a fight?"

Now think back to what it was you said you'd do in those circumstances, and do it.

Yeah, I can just see it now.....

"DIE, GREAT SANTANIC SCUM!"

"You have the right to remain silent...."

"JIHAD! JIHAD! KILL THE AMERICANS!"

"You have the right to an attorney....."

UPDATE: OK, so it looks as if SCOTUS didn't define anything - they struck down current rulings? Status? on how the terrorist tumblefucks should be treated. In short, it's one massive clusterfuck, all thanks to a bunch of black-robed tyrants.

Yay. Sondra K. has quotes from the dissent. My question is, what is it going to take before common folk simply start ignoring the Supreme Court? To be honest, I was at that point after Kelo. Why should I listen to a bunch of people in D.C. when they obviously are so mentally twisted that they could issue a ruling like that?

Liars and their enablers

Via Gateway Pundit, I find out that the Democrat American Communist Party has blocked another bill that would have let us explore for oil in American territory.

What really chaps my ass is this:

Sierra Club lands program director Athan Manuel told a House committee Wednesday that drilling has been unsuccessful in driving costs down.

"The disappointing part about some of the energy policies being promoted (is) that it calls for more drilling when drilling really is the problem. And all we've got to show for pretty aggressive (domestic) drilling for the last 35 years is, again, $4 for a gallon of gas," Manuel said, adding "since the first Arab oil shock in the 1970s, the U.S. has produced almost 90 billion barrels of oil since then, so we've tried drilling our way out of the problem and it just hasn't worked."

Now, just a few paragraphs above that blurb is this little nugget:

Most offshore oil production and exploration has been banned since a federal law passed in 1981.

Tell me again how we've been doing "aggressive (domestic) drilling for the past 35 years" when that very activity has been BANNED? How can this country have been "aggressively drilling" when WE HAVE BEEN PREVENTED FROM DOING SO?

The only logical deduction is that Sierra Club lands program director Athan Manuel is a flat-out fraud, a liar, an eco freak with an agenda and a very loose relationship with facts and the truth. I'm tired of dealing with the Left, I really am. I'm tired of dealing with people who simply lie like you and I would draw a breath. I'm tired of dealing with people who let their ideology control every aspect of their lives, no matter who or what it hurts. And I'm tired of people like that running the energy policy of our country.

Educated, not intelligent

The more I hear about Obama, the more I'm convinced that he's as dumb as a sack of wet hammers. The guy is so obviously full of shit that it makes my head swim. If it weren't for the whores and propaganda mongers in the MSM propping him up, Obama would have been finished a long time ago.

Instead, he's the Democrat American Communist Party nominee with a cult-like following, complete with worshipers, and he might just be our next president.

Take a gander at this

A twelve year old girl with the spine of an eighty year old woman. Why? Vegan diet.

The youngster, fed on a strict meat- and dairy-free diet from birth, is being treated at the city’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children. She is said to have a severe form of rickets and to have suffered a number of fractured bones. The condition is caused by a lack of vitamin D, which is needed to absorb calcium and is found in liver, oily fish and dairy produce.

When I lived in Seattle, I dealt with a number of people who were vegans, and looked down on anyone who wasn't a vegan. You know what I noticed, time and time again? The vegans were not healthy. They didn't look healthy. They didn't act as if they were healthy. Other than the self-righteous pride they had in themselves, there was no reason what so ever to convince me that they were living a healthier lifestyle than anyone else, and in fact were hurting themselves with their "I don't eat anything from any animal!" diet.

Anyone who looks at their teeth might notice that you have four rather pointy teeth on either side of your incisors. Those are called "canine" teeth, or eyeteeth. You have them for a reason. The human body is designed to eat more than just veggies. Our muscles are built with protein, which is severely lacking in most vegetables. Our bones and teeth require calcium, which is found in dairy products. And our bodies need vitamin D to absorb that calcium, which is found in other animal products.

Now, I knew quite a few vegetarians as well, but they had no problem eating eggs, or cheese, or other sources of protein. One woman I knew had severe problems digesting protein. She literally couldn't eat meat, it made her ill. But she could have cheese. So she had no problem mowing down a pizza, so long as there wasn't any meat on it. She was healthy.

Vegans? I never saw a vegan that looked anything like the picture of health they try to portray. They all looked not skinny, but sickly. Pasty skin. Lank hair. They looked like they had been starving themselves, and in some way they had. They were not eating what their bodies needed. All so that they could be self-righteous and look down their nose at me while I ate my fish, or steak.

Whatever. I recall a news story out of NYC about a vegan couple that killed their baby with a vegan diet. Gosh, do you think women lactate for no reason? THE HUMAN BODY NEEDS THAT NUTRITION! Especially as a kid! Even straight herbivores need milk as juveniles. Why do you think horses nurse? Or calves? Or fawns? Sure, they grow up to eat grass, but when they're young they need that calcium, that protein.

I am always amazed at how people who label themselves as enlightened can be so damn stupid. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised at all - the people who brag about enlightenment are normally the folks who are as dumb as a sack of wet hammers.

Gotta think on this one

Kevin Baker has yet another thought provoking post up. Do go read. And think really, really hard about what could happen in this country under the right (or wrong) circumstances.

If you haven't seen this yet....

Well, here ya go:

Congressman Roy Blunt put together these data to highlight the differences between House Republicans and House Democrats on energy policy:

ANWR Exploration:
House Republicans: 91% Supported
House Democrats: 86% Opposed

Coal-to-Liquid:
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 78% Opposed

Oil Shale Exploration:
House Republicans: 90% Supported
House Democrats: 86% Opposed

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Exploration:
House Republicans: 81% Supported
House Democrats: 83% Opposed

Refinery Increased Capacity:
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 96% Opposed

SUMMARY:
91% of House Republicans have historically voted to increase the production of American-made oil and gas.
86% of House Democrats have historically voted against increasing the production of American-made oil and gas.

Here's my take on all of this: Yes, it's all well and good to point out how obstructionist the Democrat American Communist Party is, but where the hell were the Republicans when they were in the majority? When they controlled the House, the Senate, and the White House? Why the hell couldn't they have passed all of these bills then?

*crickets*

Yeah. That's why they're the Stupid Party. Or perhaps the Spineless Party. Or both. Found at RNS.

Once again, Bush didn't lie

Although I doubt this will have ANY effect on the bumper-sticker ideology of the Left.

But dive into Rockefeller's report, in search of where exactly President Bush lied about what his intelligence agencies were telling him about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein, and you may be surprised by what you find.

On Iraq's nuclear weapons program? The president's statements "were generally substantiated by intelligence community estimates."

On biological weapons, production capability and those infamous mobile laboratories? The president's statements "were substantiated by intelligence information."

On chemical weapons, then? "Substantiated by intelligence information."

On weapons of mass destruction overall (a separate section of the intelligence committee report)? "Generally substantiated by intelligence information." Delivery vehicles such as ballistic missiles? "Generally substantiated by available intelligence." Unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to deliver WMDs? "Generally substantiated by intelligence information."

As you read through the report, you begin to think maybe you've mistakenly picked up the minority dissent. But, no, this is the Rockefeller indictment. So, you think, the smoking gun must appear in the section on Bush's claims about Saddam Hussein's alleged ties to terrorism.

But statements regarding Iraq's support for terrorist groups other than al-Qaeda "were substantiated by intelligence information." Statements that Iraq provided safe haven for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and other terrorists with ties to al-Qaeda "were substantiated by the intelligence assessments," and statements regarding Iraq's contacts with al-Qaeda "were substantiated by intelligence information." The report is left to complain about "implications" and statements that "left the impression" that those contacts led to substantive Iraqi cooperation.

Comments on this from Power Line. Gateway Pundit. The Anchoress.

I'm wondering why this is coming out now. Who does it benefit? I'm fairly certain this will have no affect at all on the Leftists who chant "Bush Lied" like their own personal mantra. You remember this post, where Yuri Bezmenov talked about what had been done to the US education system? You can shower these people with facts, and it won't make a difference. You can put the truth right in front of them, and they'll ignore it. You can show, for years as the Right has done, that Bush didn't lie, but it still won't matter. The truth doesn't matter to the Left. The truth is an inconvenience to the Left.

But at least there's one less media outlet we have to constantly disprove now. Well, on THIS point anyways.

They actually went there

Leftists. All class. No,really.

For the truly clueless, which includes most Leftists, John McCain is receiving disability pay because he had the shit kicked out of him for five years by the communists of Viet Nam. Because of five years of torture by the communists, he is medically unfit for military duty. And because he was sent in harms way while in the military, his disability can directly be linked to his following military orders. Therefor, he gets disability pay from the military.

That discussion shows the complete and total lack of class by the Left. And it highlights their complete and total ignorance of anything having to do with the military.

Economics and stupidity

I was listening to the news the other day, and the reporter (from CNN, of course) was almost going into hysterics over the latest unemployment numbers. "AMERICAN UNEMPLOYMENT IS AT 5.5%! OHMYGODWEREALLGONNADIE! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!"

First thought out of my head - Isn't 5.5% about half as low as most of Europe?

Second thought out of my head - Why the increase when there haven't been any major layoffs or other reductions in employment?

Answer:

“It wasn’t Bush, it wasn’t greedy corporations, or free trade, or history’s most over-predicted recession. It was not the oil companies, income inequality, or the excesses of cowboy capitalism. None of these things caused the unemployment rate to jump a half a percentage point in one month. Ask yourself a few questions: Why did unemployment surge at a time when unemployment compensation claims are historically low? More to the point, how could unemployment spike this much without a coinciding spike in corporate lay-offs? The answer to all of these questions is same: because very few people lost jobs last month. This huge jump in the size of the unemployed comes from new entrants to the economy—hundreds of thousands of them. In short, well over 600,000 people who were not job seekers in April became job seekers in May. And who starts looking for work at the end of Spring? That’s right—students. Hundreds of thousands of students are looking for work right now, and they’re not finding it. Congress is to blame. Last year Congressional Democrats (along with some Stockholm-Syndromed Republicans) passed the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, which started a phased hike of the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25. Free market economists warned them that this would increase unemployment—that rapid increases in unemployment compensation hit teens and minorities the hardest. But the class-warriors are running the people’s house now, and they would hear none of that, so they took to the floor, let loose the dogs of demagoguery, and saddled America’s pizza parlors, municipal swimming pools, house painting businesses and lawn mowing services with a huge cost increase. Now, we see the perfectly logical outcome of wage controls—rising unemployment among the most economically vulnerable.” [my emphasis]

So, in short, what anyone with a brain predicted would happen if Congress dicked around with the minimum wage did indeed happen.

Congress should not be allowed to do a damn thing with the economy. Their collective knowledge of economics wouldn't fill a shoe box.

Heh

It does seem that the Left looks at it that way, doesn't it?

Found here.

My excuse

for being so damn busy all the time - I got my orders. Specifically, my PCS orders. So, there's a lot of stuff to take care of, and a dwindling amount of time in which to do everything.

Although I see that Tim ("Some call me......... TIM!") has made a re-appearance! Hi, Tim! Long time no see!

Anyways, I'll be moving somewhere in the upper Midwest this summer. Once I'm settled into my new digs, I might just let y'all know where the Ragin' Casa is located.

And yes, that was a gratuitous Monty Python reference. Because I could.

There's a new Messiah in town...

...and his name is Barack Obama.

No, really.