The Lying Liberal Left's Desperate Desire For Negative Economic News

Zogby had a few questions for me:

Do you feel that it is possible for you and your family to achieve the American Dream, or would you say it does not exist?
Achieve Dream
Does not exist
Not sure
Refused
Do you agree or disagree that most middle class Americans can achieve the American Dream ?
Agree
Disagree
Not sure
Refused
Which of the following descriptions best represents your goals in life?
A. I believe the American Dream means material success. It is possible for my family and me, and for most middle class Americans, to achieve.
B. I believe you can achieve the American Dream through spiritual fulfillment rather than material success.
C. I believe the American Dream means material success. It exists, but is more likely to be attained by my children and not by me.
D. I believe I cannot achieve the American Dream, whether material or spiritual, nor can most middle class Americans.
Not sure
Refused
Please tell me if you or anyone in your household is currently in this situation:
More in debt now than five years ago?
Yes
No
Not sure
Refused
Feel like you are losing ground financially?
Yes
No
Not sure
Refused
Less able to give to church and/or charity now than five years ago?
Yes
No
Not sure
Refused
Working at an extra job (or two jobs) to simply pay the bills, with little or nothing left over?
Yes
No
Not sure
Refused

No American Dream! No American Dream for the middle class! No spiritual or material American Dream! Their households are in more debt! They're losing ground financially! They can't give as much to charity! They have to take two jobs just to pay the bills. Or.......NOT

That link is to an article written in 2003. Know what? We were right! Want more? Ok! Let's see about the middle class

The decline in unemployment has included minorities. For example, the Hispanic unemployment rate has declined from 8.1% a year ago to 7.0% in May.
The decline in the unemployment rate has occurred throughout the country, declining in 47 out of 50 states in the past year. In fact, 27 states have an unemployment rate at or below a low 4.9%.

Payroll jobs have increased in 44 out of 50 states in the past year.
Nationally, payroll jobs have increased for nine consecutive months for a total increase of 1.4 million.
The average payroll job growth this year (2004) has been a solid 238,000 jobs per month. By comparison, payroll jobs grew an average 233,000 per month for the same January to May period in 1996.
The manufacturing sector has now added 91,000 jobs this year, which is six times more than were created in the same period of the Clinton administration.
College grads are facing the best job market since the recession. (Source: "Surprise Gifts for this years College Graduates: Job Offers," Wall Street Journal, 5/11/04)
According to the household survey, self-employment increased by 137,000 in May and by more than 200,000 from a year ago (note: the payroll survey does not count self-employed). Moreover, management and professional positions increased by more than 550,000 jobs over the last year.
(Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Kerry is getting his long dead French ass handed to him by the Bush Boom which is directly related to the Bush Tax Cuts! He has yet to stop talking crap about how bad the economy is. Thanks for the ammo, John "I don't fall down! That son of a bitch knocked me down" Kerry!

Another tape from Abu Ghraib

This time it's not being covered by CNN, ABC, or BBC.

Shocking.

Once More, With Feeling!

It's time once again for another BLOGGER BLASTORAMA!

This time we'll be at the Kenmore Shooting Range in Bothell. The have ranges for Pistol, Rifle, Shotgun, Air Gun and Archery. It looks like a well laid out range, and one of their rifle ranges goes out to 300 yards, according to this part of their website. Prices look reasonable.

I didn't see anything about gun rentals, so I'm bringing my entire arsenal for people to shoot. I'll have my .45 1911 pistol, my .38 Special revolver, my SKS (7.62X39), my 1903 (30-06), and my .22LR rifle. The .308 needs a scope before I take it to the range. If you want to show up but don't have any firearms of your own, just be there and both AK and I will let you use ours.

I'm going to concentrate more on getting my SKS sighted in than doing any kind of heavy shooting, so the 30-06 and my .22 might be open for use all day.

Come one, come all, show up and have a ball!

Lite posting day

The sun is out in full glory today. In Seattle.

If you think I'm going to stay inside, you're crazy. See you tomorrow!

The National Anthems

I can't remember who linked to this guy, but I agree with what he says. This country actually has three national anthems. Only one of them may be the official recognised anthem, but all three are needed.

America at Peace, America Bleeding, and America Marching.

I'm not entirely comfortable with The Battle Hymn but that means that I get it. You're not supposed to be comfortable with it. It's a challenge. It's a slap in the face to the complacent.

I think we need to sing the Battle Hymn of the Republic a little bit more these days.

Imperialism

By now the shrieks of "AMERICAN IMPERIALISM!" have been ringing in my ears for years, as it probably has with most of yours. You can't turn on a news channel without some idiotic moron howling about it. Everywhere you look, there's some Leftist yelling about how America is imperialist, yadda yadda yadda.

But what "colonies" do we have? The last time I looked, we have two official territories, right? Guam and Puerto Rico. Both of these territories can leave if they want. In fact, if I remember correctly we put the issue to a vote in Puerto Rico several years ago, and they preferred the status quo. The bottom line is that they can leave whenever they want, and they'll probably get a nice gift basket from the USA if they do, not to mention the friendly relations and economic benefits that come with them. We're not expanding, and in fact the times when we had to go into other countries in the past one-hundred years or so, WE GAVE THE COUNTRIES BACK. Japan. Germany, Kuwait. Panama. Afganistan is holding it's elections soon. Are you noticing a trend here?

But what about the Left's dream country, France?

One of France's farthest-flung and most exotic colonial possessions, French Polynesia, elected its first pro-independence leader yesterday in a blow to the government in Paris.

The new head of state, Oscar Temaru, replaced a long-time political ally of President Jacques Chirac as president. The new man favours independence for the South Pacific archipelago, also known by the name of its main island, Tahiti.

Wait a minute, France has a COLONY? But golly gee gosh, I NEVER hear the left howl about France's Imperialism! How could this be?

The shock result, which coincides with political instability in France's other South Pacific colony, New Caledonia, heralds a loosening of ties with Paris, analysts said.

TWO COLONIES? But... but... but...

Even so, his win sets the stage for a future showdown with Paris. The French government had threatened to cut off funding to the territory if Mr Temaru was elected and flew 120 extra police officers to the islands to head off possible unrest.

France is likely to oppose any move towards independence. Thousands of French troops and civil servants are based on Tahiti.

"French Polynesia is part of France's aspirations to have a presence in every ocean and any loss of territory would have an impact on their status as a power with global reach," said Mr Maclellan. "The territory also has a huge exclusive economic zone, with rights to fishing and sea bed minerals."

France won't let Polynesia become an independant nation? IMPERIALISM! IMPERIALISM! And let's not forget the Ivory Coast, recently invaded by the French occupied by French miliary forces under French "Peace-keeping" mandates!

Just so we can keep this straight, the Left, who supposedly hates Imperialism, wants us to get into bed (politically speaking) with France, who has no problem being imperialist.

Just another highlight of Leftist hypocrisy, folks. SSDD.

(That's Same S***, Different Day, for those who are wondering.)

Found all over the web, but most recently from DANEgerus.

Gee, thanks Mom and Dad!

So lets say that your 18 year old daughter just graduated from highschool. Let's say she got straight A's all the way, 4.0 GPA, valedictorian, ect., ect., ect. What are you going to get her for a graduation present?

A car? A few grand to get her started in college? Money for books? A vacation to Bermuda?

A set of fake tits?

I don't think anyone says it better than Steve:

Congratulations on a fine trend, parents. What better way to confirm an adolescent girl's suspicion that the only important things about her are riding on her chest and hidden between her legs.

For a lot of these girls, that's probably true.

I can think of no better way for a parent to say, "Honey, get out there and get pounded from behind on a series of motel balconies in Fort Lauderdale, because that's all you're good for."

The story says something like 11,000 eighteen-year-old girls in the US got prosthetic breasts last year. These boob-stiffening, often-asymmetrical bags of water are popular graduation gifts. Yes, you wasted four years improving your brain. Now it's time to drop the charade and work on what really matters.

But remember, according to the Left it's us EEEEEEEEEEVIL Republicans who create a sexist society. Yeah. Right. Sure.

If any of my readers are parents of little girls, make sure that they read my next few words before they turn eighteen, OK? Cause here's a clue: I hate fake tits. And 99.999999999% of the guys I know hate fake tits. Nothing says "I'm a stupid plastic bint" quite like a set of fake knockers, OK? There's no better way to prove that you're a shallow, bubble-headed slut than getting a boob job. Show up with your Mattel®-made breasts, and the first thought going through a guy's head is "Oh yeah, she's easy!" Because if you have such a low opinion of yourself that you think your breasts are the most important part of you, then you will be correct. Hell with conversation, look at my tits! Who cares what I think, look at my tits! I don't need a functioning brain, look at my tits! Tee hee, tee hee! Look at my tits!

And all that attention you get with your instant boobs will last for about ten to fifteen years. Yep, cheap shallow guys ogling your expensive breasts might last for a decade or so, although by the end of it you might get a little tired of guys just wanting to get you in the sack, thus confirming their theory that you're a cheap shallow Barbie-wanna be. But when you hit 35 or 40, you'll see that while your body changes, silicone doesn't. And forty year old women with softball shaped tits that hang down to their belly-button don't get too much action, unless you want to delve into the seriously defective end of the gene-pool. Oh, and from what I've heard, trying to breast-feed a child when you have fake boobs isn't the most pleasant experience. Your tits have already stretched out to their max due to this bag of chemicals you've had stuffed in there, so trying to produce milk, which causes swelling, can get a bit painful. By the way, the surgery to REMOVE the fake tits is just as painful as the surgery that put them in, possibly more so. Enjoy!

There are quite a few valid reasons to get a boob job, I'm not denying that. Breast cancer surgery would be the first reason to pop into my head. But as a graduation present?

Maybe the parents just want their little angels to be as shallow as they are.

The American Peace Movement rears its hideous head

FrontPage magazine has a nice pictorial presentation of the Peaceable People.

Two of my favorites:

 

Oy!

Found on Right-Thinking

UPDATE: Also, Lee has a good little piece regarding how facts are making Michael Moore look like a lying sack-o-dung.

Again.

Cover their eyes!

The AMA wants to protect children from seeing people smoke.

The resolution, offered by the AMA's California delegation, demanded "that our American Medical Association encourages the motion picture industry to apply an 'R' rating to all new films depicting cigarette smoking and other tobacco use."

"Making these movies carry an 'R' rating is the right thing to do," said Dr. Melvyn Sterling, an internist in Orange, Calif. In California, he said, there is no smoking in the workplace, in stores, in restaurants, and yet teenagers are still experimenting with cigarettes. "The only place they see people smoking is in the movies. Their heroes, their heroines, the good guys and the bad guys -- anyone who has attributes the children will emulate are smoking."

Doctors seek 'R' for smoking in movies

Terminal Ballistics

Kim du Toit links to a site that people intrested in self-defense might want to take a gander at. Shooting Holes in Wounding Theories: The Mechanics of Terminal Ballistics

The short short version: The guy is an engineer who goes into bullet wounds and lethal wounds with great detail. Knowing just how your bullet works is pretty damn important if your life is going to depend on it. It's a long read, so pull it up at home when you have time, or print it out at work when your boss isn't looking and then read it later.

You call that Camouflage?

I call it ugly.

The thing doesn't look like it would hide much of anything. What was wrong with the woodland camo? I can understand some required design changes due to new equipment, but the actual camo pattern scares the daylights out of me. Where the hell are you supposed to conceal yourself in that monstrosity? A snow storm?

Good camouflage is supposed to break up the lines that give you away. This junk doesn't break up anything except the cones and rods in the back of my eyeballs.

Although the new "no polish" boots are going to make some troops very happy. A spit-shined pair of boots might look good in uniform, but once you're out in the field, it goes to hell pretty quick. However, ten bucks says that some sergeant is going to find a way for new recruits to polish them.

Operation Shoe Fly

Sgt. Hook is asking for a lil help from the Blogosphere, folks.

*****

Just about every flight engineer and crew chief has noticed over the course of flying across this place called Afghanistan these past months that a large percentage of the children have no shoes to wear and of course, almost all of the girls are shoeless.

So my esteemed friends of the blogosphere, in the spirit of Chief Wiggles and minding the words of the infamous Steve Miller Band, I announce the beginning of Operation Shoe Fly in an effort to shoe the children, with no shoes on their feet. If you can collect the shoes, used or new, boys' and girls' (age 14 and under), and send them to me, my crewdogs and I will fly them out to the Afghani kids who so desperately need them.

Please send your shoes to:

Operation Shoe Fly
B Co, 214th Aviation Regiment
Bagram, Afghanistan
APO AE 09354-9998

*****

Seeing as how I don't have any kids, and thus don't have any shoes, it looks like I'm going to have to go buy some from Payless or some store like that. And think about this: Every child who gets a pair of shoes from America may just realise that we're the good guys.

War isn't just won by killing the enemy - it's also won by winning the hearts and minds of people. Something that we take for granted, like shoes, can mean an entire world of difference to someone in Afganistan.

Beaming with pride

I am.

Few things make me feel as good about Four Right Wing Wackos as this.

Bulldozer Politics

No, really.

DANEgerus reports that the UN is admonishing Caterpillar to observe its complicity in human rights abuses in Gaza.

Oy!

"Any way you look at it, it must be a sin."

Stephen Green comments on the six Saudi preachers.

Michael Moore Hates America

There are new trailers at Michael Moore Hates America.

Comments on Comments?

I changed to Blogspot comments.

How do you like them how do you like them?

Sound off so we can decide about keeping them or changing back.

Whites in Basketball

I saw a feature on ESPN last night that explored the phenomenon where there are fewer and fewre white American male playing professional and big college basketball. The first United State Olympic basketball team had several white men on it. This year there will be none. Of the top fifty scorers in the NBA, one is a white American. Twenty years ago, there were eight in the top twenty. Across the board in American basketball, there is a massive underreprentation of white men.

The ESPN piece explored why. Young white men are opting out of basketball, it said, because they see scholarships for hoops as being out of reach, so they playt baseball or football instead. ESPN even put forth the notion that white parents take their kids on vacation so they have less time to practice basketball.

Amazing, eh?

What was missing though was the one word that is ALWAY interjected into a discussion of black underrepresentation in any American arena. When people examine the lack of black Republicans in Congress, this word is mentioned, for it is assumed that there is foul play afoot. When one examines the lack of blacks among Fortune 500 CEOs, this word is mentioned; it is again assumed that the playing field is not level. When the Philadelphia Philles started eight white men in the 1990s, there was furor in Philly. It was assumed that something was wrong.

The word, of course, is "racism".

If corporate boards, baseball teams, or Congressional delegations are "too white", the assumption is ALWAYS made that racism is a factor. But when big money basketball is discussed, well then the reason has to be that white men are opting out. They are choosing not to level the playing field.

Could it be that whites are underrepresented in big ticket hoops because of institutional racism at EVERY level of roundball, so that when a coach has to choose between to equal players to fill his last roster spot, he chooses the black player, assuming that the black player has more potential to be great since most great b-ball players in the past have been black?

Well of course it is.

But that wasn't said. But if corporate boards choose a white man to be CEO because they see him as having better potential to be a great CEO, because in the past most great CEOs were white, well then the "r" word reigns supreme in any analysis of the situation.

"Level Playing Field" is only mentioned where whites outperform blacks.

Nuclear Iran

Am I the only person getting worried about this?

VIENNA, Austria — Momentum is building at a 35-nation conference to take Iran to task for hindering a U.N. probe of its nuclear agenda.

Liberals love to talk about "warmongering" conservatives, while ignoring the fact that the Mad Mullahs of Iran have all but guaranteed a mushroom cloud over Tel Aviv the moment they get their hands on a functioning nuke. You want a nuclear war? Let one of the turbaned terrorist tumblefucks get a nuke.

As much as I like George Bush, I know that he doesn't have the balls to do what needs to be done: Find where the Mad Mullahs have their nuke research facilities, and bomb the living hell out of them. I hope that Israel does it. I hope they blast the hell out of any Iranian leader dumb enough to THINK about pushing the big red button. Because if Iran has their way, Israel is going to be a sea of glass. And you can bet your bottom dollar that if Israel sees nukes headed their way, both Mecca and Medina as well as Tehran are going to be glowing for a long time.

It's not the conservatives that want to see nukes lobbed around like water balloons. It's the J.E.R.M.s that are itching to push the button. If Iran gets a working nuke, you can expect the shitstorm to start about 15 seconds after they aquire it.

And that worries me.

Re: Wonkette

I read with interest the piece from Tiny Little Lies posted by Dave below in tearing into Wonkette for her smarm re: Reagan.

I found this part to be most compelling:

I suppose Wonkette is a harbinger of things to come. Two years ago, only web nerds read blogs, and we were ridiculed by a somewhat nervous mainstream press. Then we acquired a sort of cachet. And Wonkette's boss decided to buy his way in. She had instant publicity and therefore instant traffic, and her site looked enough like a blog to fool the stupid. Well, it worked, so now we should probably brace for a tide of similar prefab syntho-bloggers.
.
.
.
[It's] all over with. We've been discovered. We're like the people back in 1990 who started thinking South Beach might be a cool, inexpensive place to open restaurants.

Now any opportunistic corporate moron who wants a piece of the Blogosphere pie can buy it. Look for new Wonkettes, popping up like spots of mold on a loaf of bread you've kept too long. And look for your own piece of the pie to shrink. Unless you, too, can afford a publicist and land advertisers with real money. And you can't. And because of the pressure we're going to face from these new, Monkees-like, greenhouse-grown wannabes, you probably never will be able to do those things.

I don't know what's worse. How Wonkette got here, or what she's doing now that she has arrived.

Yeah.

Maybe it is the rise of the corporate blog that makes blogrolling even more important - one can help separate the Spirit of Individuality wheat from the "prefab syntho-blogger" chaff.

As time permits, I plant to make the blogroll a bit more prominent here. I also plan to sanitize it. Starting ten minutes ago.

Happy Birthday

On June 14th, 1775, the US Army was first mustered. I am proud to say that I wore that uniform, and I'm equally proud of every soldier, past and present, who has served with honor and distinction. The Big Green Machine, This Man's Army, whatever name given to it by both friends and enemies, the US Army embodies the same thing to everyone of sound mind.

Freedom.



Two-hundred and twenty nine years.... and still going strong!

HOORAH!

Senate Bill 2498

What is it, you ask? It's Diane Feinstein's latest attempt to grab guns away from law abiding citizens.

You might remember that she's tried this before. Feinstein, Kennedy, Kerry, Schumer, they all voted to re-up the Assault Weapons Ban. A ban, by the way, that has done exactly jack squat to prevent crime.

It's real simple, folks. If DiFi gets her hands on your guns, you can kiss them goodbye. Forever. Let your Senators know that you oppose it. You can find contact information for your Senators here.

One other thing you might want to do (just as a nice touch), is to write or email Senator Larry Craig of Idaho. Craig is a big reason why DiFi's little amendment died the last time she tried to pull this stunt. A note of appreciation for his leadership on this issue is deserved, in my opinion. I've already written him a letter, since my "Honorable" Senators will most likely just junk any mail or email I send them. I'm still going to flood their offices, however.

If you have time, send off a note letting your Congresscritters know about your position.

Guns don't kill people.

Gun Control kills people.

Found via The Geek.

Blunt Speech Again

This time from Steve.

I never read Wonkette's "blog" until today, except for one entry on briefly famous, average-looking whore Jessica Cutler. I just took a look, and I see she has spent this week making fun of the Reagan funeral. People thought I was criticizing her earlier, although I was actually criticizing her pal the brainless slut. Well, now I'm criticizing Wonkette.

Corporate sponsors can buy you interns, bandwidth, and designers to put together your pretend blog, but there is one thing they can't buy you: class. Which is too bad, because Wonkette could really use a dose.

The man gave us eight years of his life. He took a bullet for us. He stood up bravely, in the face of criticism from every quarter, and became the single greatest force in ending an oppressive empire that imprisoned hundreds of millions of people. Then an incurable disease, which Wonkette herself may have some day, rotted his brain over a the course of a decade, leaving him a helpless invalid who had to be fed with a spoon. And then he died, and understandably, people were moved.

To Wonkette, this is apparently amusing.

Well, I guess if your best pal is a cookie-cutter, off-the-rack whore with the IQ of an ant and the morals of a goat in heat--a smirking, had-looking tramp who went to college for four years so she could become a fluffer--and if you think good blog content is a collection of smug, jaded paragraphs about your pal leasing her callused anus to pay for IKEA and DKNY, then I guess President Reagan's death is probably a hoot.

I'm with Steve. I know that Tim has Wonkette on the blogroll, but I don't read her anymore. After checking out her so called "blog", I figured out that it was nothing more than smarmy bullshit with a lot of references to "assfucking". Anal fixations made public aren't my thing, sorry. And as for the "Washingtonienne", jeebus... what can be said? She looked like a used up whore on her TV interviews. And when you think about it, a twenty-something ex-congressional staffer who was fired for blogging about getting paid for sex on her lunch breaks is just that: A used up whore. In her mid twenties. Sad.

More Hatred From The Left

Yeah, real classy, isn't it?

The Party of Compassion Classless Hatred.

A few other examples of the left's compassion here.

Reagan's Legacy

Here's one for my little anonymous chickenshit visitor. Perhaps if you spent more time reading the works of people who lived through the communist tyranny and less time guzzling the DU's Kool-Aid, you might learn a little something about Reagan.

But then, you're a Barking Moonbat, so that chance is rather slim, isn't it?

UPDATE: More about Reagan from Pejman Yousefzadeh

Gee, thanks France.

Without you, none of this would be possible.

The United Nations has determined that Saddam Hussein shipped weapons of mass destruction components as well as medium-range ballistic missiles before, during and after the U.S.-led war against Iraq in 2003.

Um... DUH! I'm sooooo pissed off right now that I can't talk about this. All I can really say is that if the USA gets hit by a WMD, and it was determined that the WMD is one of Saddam's old arsenal...

The first nuke should hit Paris. Fucking eradicate that stinking city. Maybe next time when the USA wants to go and clear out a genocidal madman with a weapons stockpile, they'll look up from their blood money and bribes long enough to let us fucking do it. Fuck France, fuck Chirac, nuke 'em till they glow and fucking shoot the bastards still running around in the dark.

Hey! Why are you here!

Why aren't you at the BLOGGER BLASTORAMA?

Well as long as you're here, you can hit the blogroll and check out many of the best writers on the web. As for me, I'm going to be at the range, punching holes into paper at long range.

More thoughts on Reagan's Funeral

It's a class act. Fitting, proper, and classy. Compare this to the Nurenberg style propaganda fest that the Democrats turned Paul Wellstone's funeral into.

By the way, anyone remember when the Donks told Bush and Cheney not to show up to Wellstone's funeral? Now that Clinton has been told to not show up to Reagan's funeral, he's pitching a hissy fit.

Um, asshole, Nancy invites the people she wants to, got it. On her list of who she wants to be surrounded by at this time of grief, an adulterous lying asshole is probably pretty far down. Shut the fuck up and go away. Or continue exposing your lack of character and morals for all the world to see. It's up to you.

This Weeks Winners

The votes are in from the Council of Watchers. This weeks winners are INDC Journal Interviews Michael Berg by INDC Journal, and Rant by Tonecluster. You can find all the results here.

After a decent showing the past few weeks, I didn't make the cut. Meh. To be honest, I didn't expect to. I hadn't written anything really good, and when you're going against these fellows, you need to be at the top of your game. Maybe next week.

Don't Forget

Saturday is the Blogger Blastorama. We're going to be at Wade's starting at around 10:00. I don't know how long I'll be there, and I won't be able to shoot my new SKS there. Grrrrrrrr. But I'll have my .22 with me, plinking away.

And I'll make the same offer as the last time. If there is anyone... ANYONE... who either wants to learn how to shoot, or wants to refresh themselves, come on by. You can use my guns, or AK's guns (he offers them to anyone who wants to learn). If you're using my .22, you don't even need to buy ammo. Just bring yourself. Both AK, Mollbot and I will teach you how to shoot.

Remember, an armed man is a citizen. And unamred man is a subject.

Oh, well isn't that LOVELY!

From Fox News

The FBI warned law enforcement agencies of the potential for criminal activity in response to a call for action in support of a convicted eco-terrorist, according to the weekly bulletin issued by the agency and obtained by Fox News.

"Supporters of anarchist and convicted arsonist Jeff Luers (search) have designated Saturday, June 12, 2004 an 'International Day of Action and Solidarity with Jeff 'Free' Luers,' alternatively entitled 'J12,'" the FBI said in the bulletin.

"J12 events are planned in Eugene, Oregon; Olympia, Washington; San Francisco and Modesto, California; Lawrence, Kansas; Morgantown, West Virginia; Worcester, Massachusetts; Portland, Maine; and Lake Worth, Florida."

Luers is from Eugene, Ore. According to the FBI, he is widely celebrated as a martyr within anarchist and extremist animal rights and environmental circles.

Olympia, WA. Home of the Leftist assholes who refused to let the USS Olympia dock. But supporting a eco-terrorist and a criminal is fine and dandy with them!

For those who don't know, Luers was tossed in the pokey for burning several cars and SUV's. He was convicted in a court of law. Now his brain-dead pals want to hold rallies. I guarantee two things: The smell of patchoulli will be overpowering, and the use of cannibus will be damn near mandatory. Because only a bunch of pisswits who've been smoking pot three times a day for the past few years would think this guy doesn't deserve to be in jail.

And let's not forget that Luers is a member of E.L.F., a DOMESTIC TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.

Anybody got a few grand? AK is trying to raise enough money to buy this bad boy. The thought of running down a few hippies in that truck makes me giggle.

Oh, Right, you're COMPASSIONATE. Sure.

Rodger has several examples of the "Party of Compassion" right now. Just go to the top and keep scrolling. The Left's virulent hatred is almost a physical force, and it's starting to break through their carefully maintained lies.

Add in their revisionist history and their inability to recognise any fact that might show them to be wrong, and you have one of the most dangerous forces in the world.

Ray Charles, R.I.P.

This just ain't fair, man. First Reagan dies, and now Ray Charles? This isn't fair!

Rest is piece, man. I'm sure you're jamming up in heaven right now.

1930-2004

Earth to Raging Dave. Earth calling Raging Dave.

Usually we can rely upon Dave to keep this blog a'flowin' with commentary and content in my absence.

Not so today.

Where you at, Dave?

Anyway, I shall return Monday.

Greetings all.

Reagan Breaks Curse

Beginning in 1840 and continuing through 1960 before the assassination of John F. Kennedy, presidents elected in every consecutive 20-year administration had died in office.

Then came Ronald Reagan.

Comments Facility Updated...

...but I do not know if it works.

Testing 1 2 3.

Updating now...

"Capitalizing on Reagan"

Lee at Right-Thinking comments on the growing popularity of accusing Bush of capitalizing on the death of President Reagan. Along the way he mentions something I mentioned to my father this evening - note the differences between the somber and sober grace of Reagan memorials to the frothing and politics uber alles frothing at the "memorial" for Paul Wellstone.

The differences could not be more stark.

Dan Rather is a Senile Used-up Fuckwit

Granted, you probably already knew that. But the "Big Three" have exposed themselves yet again. I take particular offence at Rather's spew.

Even though everybody is respectful and wants to pay homage to the president, life does go on," Rather told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

"There is other news, like the reality of Iraq," said the CBS Evening News anchor. "It got very short shrift this weekend."

"Once the herd starts moving in one direction, it's very hard to turn it, even slightly," Rather said. "Nationally, the herd has grown tremendously." (emphasis mine)

You get that people? To Dan "Fucking worthless sack of shit" Rather, we're a herd. Sheep. Something to be controlled, and don't you dare get out of line!

I want to rip that man's arm off and beat him to death with it. What a fucking egostistical shitsmear. What a fucking eliteist jizz stain. Fortunately, I don't watch Dan Rather or anything he might appear on, so I don't have to see his fat fucking face on my TV. Because I'd have to shoot my TV. Dear god, I need to go shooting.

The Watcher's Council

Hoooooo boy. I've told you that some bloggers make me wonder why I even bother turning on a computer, haven't I? Yeah. This week, the Watcher's Council has to choose two pieces out of some of the best writing I've seen in a while. I strongly urge you to just pick one at random and read.

It is That. Damn. Good.

Reagan's Funeral

Was just about as proper a funeral could be. The military was exemplory, in every movement they made. I think it was proper to have the military that Reagan appreciated so deeply carry him up to the rotunda. The music was fitting. The crowds were huge, sometimes twenty people deep and stretching as far as you could see.

But what almost had my crying at work was Nancy Reagan. At every turn, she was either touching Ron's coffin or reaching out to it. Even when she was leaving, she took time to pat his coffin, as if to assure him that they wouldn't be separated for very long. I can only hope that when I have obtained the years that Ron and Nancy did, my love and devotion to my spouse will match that of this great couple.

Updates

I almost forgot to post the winners of last weeks Watcher of Weasels Council votes! The top vote getters for Council links were:

INDC Presents: National World War II Memorial Dedication Weekend (Part One)
INDC Journal
My Shame
Four Right Wing Wackos
Of Remembrances
Exultate Justi

For the Non-Council links, the top vote getters were:
Pictures, Pictures, Pictures.
Iraq the Model
Overcrowded Planet?
Dean's World

You can find all the voting results here. Seriously folks, if you want to read some damn good writing, this is the place. We get together every week with good posts, most of which deserve to get printed all over this country. Sadly, we can only link to them. But link we will!

Well HOT DAMN!

I got printed by the Mad Ogre!

Check out the entry for June 8th, 1830 hrs. Suh-weet! Well, since I was going to blog on this sometime today, right now would be a good start. Mad Ogre alerted me to this piece of drek floating around the net:

Americans would trade rights for security - Experts

Just read that heading. There is so much wrong with that opening sentence that I don't know where to start. One thing is for certain, those fucknuts at Roto Rueters never bothered to talk to me! And when a newspaper starts off with "Experts"!!!!!!! in the opening headline, you just know that they're about to offer up a vile blob of shit and are trying to convince you that they actually know what they're talking about. Of course, they don't.

NEW YORK, June 7 (Reuters) - In today's America, prisoners are held incommunicado for years, newspapers can't photograph soldiers' coffins returned from Iraq and the government can secretly track the books citizens read and the movies they watch.

Prisoners that have been captured on the field of battle are held however fucking long we please, you syphilitic fuckwit! That's because as terrorists or Enemy Prisoners of War, THEY DON'T HAVE ANY FUCKING CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS! They have whatever rights are afforded them in the GENEVA CONVENTION! And oh, by the way, if the fucking J.E.R.M.s were caught while violating the Geneva Convention, guess how many rights they have?

FUCKING NONE!

But civil liberties can erode much further before Americans will say enough is enough, say experts in social history and political behavior.

Fear struck by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks helped launch the curtailment of civil liberties in the name of national security, and that fear keeps Americans willing to trade away rights for safety, they say.

Maybe for the shrinking violets on the Left that's true, but for those of us who have a spine, we'd rather go after the terrorists. My rights haven't been given up, they've been ripped away from me. And it's shit-sucking leftist who have done it. Perhaps if this country would allow me to go track down the terrorists and kill them like the vermin they are, we wouldn't even need to have this discussion.

"We're at war," said Ken Weinstein of the Hudson Institute, a policy think tank. "That's why it doesn't bother us."

All stop! Full Reverse! "A policy think tank" should set off warning lights left and right. Why? Because no matter what, a "policy think tank" means "screaming partisan group pushing an agenda". Note I did not say which party, because it doesn't matter. Quoting a "policy think tank" is a load of shit. They're not objective, they're pushing their own policy!

Nor is there a clear "tipping point" to swing opinion the other way, added Karlyn Bowman, a polling expert at the American Enterprise Institute. "We don't seem to be anywhere near it at this time."

Just after Sept. 11, 2001, polls showed two-thirds of Americans felt it would be necessary to give up some civil liberties to protect the nation. A year later, that number still stood at about half, Bowman said.

"Most people don't see a broader threat," she said. "People seem to be pretty comfortable with the general state of affairs regarding civil liberties."

Who the fuck did these people talk to, and where are the studies that they're getting this bullshit? If they can't even list the damn sources, you know it's a crock.

Historians cite the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, when a threat of war with France led to the law making it illegal to speak critically of the United States. Editors were arrested, and newspapers closed down.

In the U.S. Civil War, Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus writs, which protect against unlawful imprisonment.

During World War One, fear of rising communism led to anti-immigrant sentiment, deportations and a violent crackdown on the labor movement. The 1917 Espionage Act prohibited anti-war activity and under the 1918 Sedition Act no one could "utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language" about the government.

Cold War fears of communist infiltration helped fuel the powerful House Un-American Activities Committee and a "Red Scare" led to discrimination and detention. Under the Smith Act, one could not advocate overthrow of the U.S. government.

Um, folks, McCarthy was right - there was a huge communist presence in the USA. We just didn't know how large it was. After the USSR fell, we found out that it was bigger than McCarthy had ever imagined.

But note how the "journalists" list everything that happened in the past. Yet Ted "Fucking Communist Shitsmear" R@ll can advocate for the death of the US military, and he's still breathing. Why could that be, if dissent is so crushed in this country? Could it be because this country is more free today than it has ever been? Yep. But that doesn't fit with the agenda of these so-called "journalists".

And the best is yet to come. Having at least attempted to hide their wildly partisan Leftist bias, these pus-filled anal warts throw away all pretence at objectivity.

But, said Isaac Kramnick, professor of government at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, "all of those moments of fear pale in significance to 9/11 in reality and also in the way it's being exploited and manipulated by the Bush regime."

"THE BUSH REGIME! EVIL BUSH! BUSH BAD! ME GOOD! YOU LISTEN TO SMART ME!" Why the hell don't they just put up a "We're a bunch of scrotal sack lickers for John Kerry!" on their webpage? Maybe they could fit in a comment from Kim Jung Men Tee Lee Il, their buddy in North Korea? Perhaps a side commentary by Castro? I'm sure it fits with their ideology just fine!

"Holding prisoners without charge and things of that sort are being justified in terms of the old argument of national security," he said.

Those prisoners were captured while TRYING TO KILL OUR FUCKING SOLDIERS, YOU SLIMY LITTLE SHIT SPEWING CLAP-INFECTED PRICK! IS THAT CAUSE ENOUGH FOR YOU??

Of course it isn't. You're one of the people who are rooting for the Islamonazi's to kill our troops. As far as you're conserned, those terrorists haven't done anything wrong.

Gah. I can't even finish it, it's too vile. Total bullshit like this is the reason I don't pay for newspapers any more. When the "journalists" are nothing more than syncophants sucking on the dripping lice-infested dicks of communist sympathizers, the "news" isn't worth shit.

I'm with Misha - TREE. "JOURNALIST". ROPE. Some assembly required.

A Question:

I've been prodded by a few people to put out other Molon Labe products other than just stickers. Coffee mugs would be a good start, maybe hats or t-shirts. But I'll start with the mugs, because I'm a coffee junkie, and I know that other people are as well. How many houses do you go into that don't have coffee mugs? Not too many.

So, before I sink a load of money into this, (and I refuse to use CafePress, so don't go there. In order to make any money off of that I'd have to charge outrageous amounts for the mugs) I want to ask the questions -

--How much would you pay for a coffee mug that had Molon Labe emblazoned on it? Think of my sticker being painted on a mug.

--How much would you consider to be too much? What would the ideal cost be for you?

--Would you buy one for $15? $20?

--Would you help advertise them?

I'm trying to get the cost down to around $15.00 per mug, shipping included. Right now I'm hovering between $15 and $16, and I'm haggling with a few different companies. So, the questions are out there for you. Leave your answers in the comments, if you would please! Also leave any suggestions that you might have. I'm thinking of putting the Raging Dave website URL on one side, and the Molon Labe picture on the other. I can also work with different colors as well. Black on white, white on blue, blue on black or white or red, ect., ect., ect., yougetthepointalready.

Let me hear it, folks!

Regarding Reagan

I am unsure as to precisely what to say about the passed President. There's been so much said about the man in the past few days. I reckon I'll try to keep it simple and hyperbole-free by just saying this:

President Reagan taught me to feel good about my country. He was virtually unwavering in his zeal to highlight what was right about America in a time when, like today, there were so many who seem driven to highlight what was wrong. I remember with stark clarity what "tonic to the parched" that was following the doubt-inducing scandal of Watergate and the optimism-devoid Carter Years.

I was eighteen was Reagan was elected. His eight years in office shaped my politics, and my views beyond politics, forever. He did so in two ways.

Reagan believed, as I do today, that America is the greatest invention in the history of the world, an invention that far surpasses any vaccine or machine ever created in terms of its benefits to mankind. Perfect? No. But marvelous, nonetheless.

Secondly, Reagan believed, as I do, that American government derives its greatness only insofar as it empowers the American people to utilize their guts, their sweat, their innovative fervor, their intrepid spirit, and their balance of team and self-ambition to do good for their families, their communities, their Nation, and the world. And Reagan believed that those were the properties born into all men, not just Americans; that all men so endowed with Liberty would expend their energies on those endeavours that create good, not evil.

I lack the words required to describe how that ideal influences how I live my life as a father, as a husband, as a son and brother and neighbor and coworker and citizen.

Ronald Reagan is likely to be the last President old enough to be my dad. He is likely to be the last President to influence me as much as my father has. Like my dad is, Ronald Reagan was just a man, an imperfect man. And like my dad (though to an extent neither as wide nor as deep as my dad), Ronald Reagan helped shape who I am today.

I love America. I revel in Her past accomplishments, and Her vast promises for the future. I believe Her government governs best when it frees people to achieve what the human spirit in all of us makes possible. I believe Her people will ply that spirit into greatness in the future as they have in the past.

These things I learned from President Ronald Reagan. His legacy will not be the mere economic or geopolitical achievements of his Presidency. His legacy is the millions of Americans, and millions of freed Eastern Europeans, who learned about the gift of freedom from a man for whom the proliferation of freedom was a near-obsessive aim.

Rest in Peace, Mr. President.

BLOGGER BLASTORAMA!

Yes, it's that wonderful time again! Time to meet with good people, set up little tin cans and sheets of paper, then blow said cans and paper to Kingdom Come! It'll be happening this Saturday, the 12th of June!

Unfortunately, until Mrs. Sondra decided where to hold it, we won't know either. But get your guns clean and your ammo stocked, folks.

We gonna have a GOOD tahm!

Holy Hell!

This falls into the category "Things I wish I had written"!

Remember that stuff at the top of this rant I said I believed? I got news for you, cupie-doll, those guys you're rooting for don't. They really don't. They want to see your gay friends dead, they want to see your daughters and sisters slaves in their own homes, they do not tolerate any religion not their specific sect. They want the word of a man in their religious courts to trump the word of any woman. They believe in the concept of racism: of second- and third-class people, and believe this "truth" comes from God. They want to strap your child to explosives and send your child into the homes of their enemies. They're not liberal. They're not poor and oppressed, they're wealthy beyond your feeble imagination and drive fleets of cars out of your pricerange. They're not oppressed underdogs yearning to be free. They're illiberal medievalists, and you think they're just dandy.

And yet you drool at the idea that they kill our Marines and Soldiers, and you hope they win because it makes Bush look bad. You, a so-called "progressive", a self-proclaimed Liberal, rooting and cheering for people as anti-liberal as you can get. You gleefully call Bush a Nazi while ignoring the real fascists. Nice going, slick. How the hell do you sleep at night, you brainless wonder?

Right - you're a brainless wonder. Nevermind.

That's just a small part of it.

One last post

This quote is from a poster on the 1911 Forums, Quixote. He has it as his tagline, and the quote itself is one that just makes you nod and agree.

As with much powerful writing, it is short and to the point, but requires reading at least twice to get the full measure of it.

"I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. What I can do, I should do. And what I should do, by the grace of God, I will do."
- Edward Everett Hale

Random Thoughts

I've been pretty morose over the death of the Gipper. That's kept me from posting much. So here's a few thoughts that I have in my head right now.

As sad as it is that Reagan died, his pain is over. He suffered from a horrible disease, that ate away at his memory with every passing day. He survived it for ten years. Ten long years. And his wife was by his side every minute of it. They both have been released from that particular pain, although Nancy's pain has not left, it's just changed. But for the moment, the past torments are just that. PAST torments.

The Morlocks and blithering idiots over at DU, Indymedia, Kos, and Atrios deserve to burn in hell. Their reactions leave me only two beliefs. Either they reviled all the good he had done for this country so they celebrate his death, or they are so sick, twisted and foul that they celebrate his death out of sheer virulent hatred of anything that is not them. Either thought isn't pleasant, nor is the idea that their particular sickness may be a combination of both. But they are sick. Sick in the mind, and sick in the soul. As far as I'm concerned, if you needed any more evidence of how perverted and foul the Left has become, a quick foray into their thoughts spread over the internet is all you need. If you need any more proof, go read Jeff's comments in the post below this one.

I was able to speak with a fellow blogger today. It's nice being able to put a voice to the words that appear on your screen. Every one of the bloggers that I've met or spoken to have been good people, through and through. Sometimes their talents and knowledge leave me taken aback. Sometimes I read their writing and wonder why the hell I even bother to jot down my scattered thoughts when they can write circles around me. And sometimes I wonder just how in the hell I got so lucky as to be considered part of their circle. Jim is one of those people. And Jim, when we finally get together, the bars in the area will have to be put on alert to have a large ready supply of both good scotch and fire extinguishers on hand!

Continuing on, I post every now and then on the 1911 forums. I put a post up about my stickers, and received just a phenomenal response. I have a total of 28 stickers left, and I've ordered another 250. After paying off the costs of making the stickers, I went down to Federal Way Discount Guns, and picked up this little number.



It's a Yugoslavian SKS rifle, 7.62 X 39. Believe it or not, this will be the first semi-automatic rifle I've ever owned. The only other semi-auto I have is my 1911 pistol. Everything else is either a revolver or a bolt action rifle. My arsenal is starting to take shape. Everybody who gave me support with the stickers, you have my deepest thanks and gratitude.

That's about all I can manage to post tonight. I'll talk to you all later.

Ronald Reagan 1911 - 2004

Yesterday (as I post) Ronald Reagan passed away. My father's admiration for the man and my admiration for my father are what attracted me to the Republican party. In everything we (R)s do, we try to emulate the dedication to principle, strength of character, and unbending will of our 40th President. I can only think that what the man contained is now free to influence our spirits in a way comparable to how it had influenced the course of this nation and the world as it manifest itself in deed during the course of his life's journey. He was a natural born leader of great magnitude. God Bless Ronald Reagan. I will always feel personally indebted to the man. I've missed his presence and his infuence for many years now........

Gone Fishin'

Well, clam digging actually. Time to put that shellfish license to use and have myself a good old fashioned clam bake tonight!

Gotta head on out to catch low tides. The Puget Sound is having the lowest tides in 19 years right now. If I'm lucky, I'll catch a few crabs to go with the clams. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.... crab..........

So check out the sidebar, and I'll see you all tomorrow.

The Professionals

Right-Thinking from the Left Coast was one of the first blogs I ever read. Maybe the first. I don't visit there much these days, though, which is unfortunate because Lee mixes link and commentarey nicely. Here he is critiqueing the UN in Congo.

Tenet gone

By now, if you haven't heard that George Tenet has resigned, you need to get out more.

There are people coming up with some insane theories about the whole deal. I'm inclined to agree with Instapundit: The man has been working a loooooooong time, and he's quitting before he dies of a stress-induced heart attack. Spend some time with the kids, play with the dog, and for the first time in a long time not have to worry about going to the office in the morning.

That being said, I think he should have been fazed out a long time ago. I'm not in the George Tenet fanclub. However, I understand Bush's reason for keeping him on. All in all I predict that the reason for Tenet leaving will be the exact reason he gave at the press conference, but both the Left and Right side of the Blogosphere will go apeshit and try to come up with any and all other explinations for it.

Let the conspiracy theories begin!

Two Lists

The Capitalist Lion (in Noo Yawk Ciddy) has put up a list of things that every man should do at least once. Upon reading said list, Kim du Toit had to come up with his own. Me, I'm in the middle of the two of them. I can't completly agree with Mr. Lion, because part of his list is "Visit New York City, admit all other cities suck by comparison." Excuse me? I've been to NYC, thankyouverymuch. And I didn't like it. I prefer Boston over NYC any day of the week. I know that some people love it, and it's just SO BIG and it's the CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS but I found it to be dirty, messy, smelly, rude, obnoxious, and rather cold in demeanor. Granted it's not on my "worst cities" list, but sometimes I think that all New Yorkers have a meglomania complex.

And Kim's list? First he states that he hates motorcycles. That automatically knocks him down a few pegs in my book. He also states that he doesn't like Tough Chicks, which made the Raging Girlfrind break things outside the house for about half an hour. So he's started out on the wrong foot already. However, he does get a lot of things right -

2. Teach a kid to shoot. (did it)

3. Cook a meal out in the open (and I don't mean a backyard BBQ). (did that too)

Kim takes a dive on this one, though:
6. Visit at least eight countries outside your own continent, none of which speak your home language.

Sorry Kim, but I haven't even visited all fifty STATES yet, and you want me to take off for a different continent? Ummmmmmm.... no. I've traveled outside the country before and I've been in places where I couldn't speak the language or read the signs, but right now I have better things to do with my money. Traveling the states is one of them. I want to take I-90 from Seattle to Boston, then head down to Florida, head West to California, and then back up through Seattle to the Canadian border, where I catch the Yukon Highway and head straight up to Alaska. I want to make sure that I visit the states I haven't seen yet. Maine, Vermont, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Alaska. Oh, and Kim? I'm gonna do it all on MOTORCYCLE!

Once I've done that, then I can worry about traveling to Europe and Asia.

Kim swerves back into respectability after that brief lapse, though.

15. Watch at least one real virtuoso play a musical instrument -- in any kind of music. (I've seen Eric Clapton, Itzhak Perlman, and Stephane Grappelli perform, and watched both Solti and Barenboim conduct the Chicago Symphony. Pretty humbling.) (Lionel Hampton, Jazzfest, 1993. unreal is about the only way to describe it.)
16. Perform on stage (music, theater, whatever), to a large (500+) audience. (check, both acting and in a band.)
17. Play at least one musical instrument competently. (drums, although I used to be able to count piano with it. I sing, does that count?)
18. Make love to a woman at least ten years older than you are. (I was 24, she was 39. And she was hot as a firecracker.)
19. Tell a government bureaucrat to fuck off. (Normally preceeded by "You want HOW MUCH in taxes?)
20. And finally: tell a true story to your grandchildren. Don't have any. Probably won't have any, much to the relief of most people who know me. The last thing they want is little Raging Dave's running around.

So go check the lists out, and tell me what you think. What would you change? What would you keep? Should I make my own list? Maybe compile it from suggestions gleaned from the commnets?

Linky Love

Intriguing stuff found at Instapundit today.

For instance:

Andrew Sullivan comments on an article in Salon from a Bay Area writer reporting anonymously from the Middle East. This writer calls the terrorists who hijacked the Achille Lauro "commandos". Oy!

In this piece from NRO, Deroy Murdock notes "Baathist Fingerprints" on the events commonly referred to as "9/11".

Lastly, this very fine read describes how the Left in Europe now supports the Right in the Middle East and notes how the European media won't talk about it.

Good stuff, all.

Joke

A man walks into doctor's office.

"What seems to be the problem?" asks the doc.

"It's... um...well... I have five penises," the man answers.

"Blimey!" says the doctor, "How do your trousers fit???"

And the man replies: "Like a glove."

This just in!

Editor slips, allows truth to be printed in University of Washington newspaper!

Here's a teaser:

When I first saw Moore's documentary Bowling for Columbine, I applauded the themes with great enthusiasm -- especially the dissection of National Rifle Association (NRA) President Charlton Heston. I can't stand Heston, guns or the NRA.

Nonetheless, some of Moore's most blatantly unethical fouls come against Heston.

That, my friends, is someone who thinks differently than I do, believes differently than I do, but refuses to use blatant lies and bullshit to debate with. I'm sure that despite our differing views, the writer of this piece and I could sit down and have a pleasant debate on the issues of the day. How the hell he ever got printed in the UW fishwrap is beyond me.

Thanks to Mollbot for the heads-up.

Take a peek

Deb stopped by in our Comments sections. Turns out that she has some neat stuff over at her place. There's this piece about John Kerry giving some Vietnam vet the finger. Allegedly. Then there's this little nugget about "post-traumatic slave syndrome". A black man beats his two year old [presumably] black son to death and blames it on the stress of being in an enslaved race.

Put your left elbow on your desk. Make a fist with your left hand. Rest the left side of your face atop your left fist. Then think about that.

A black man beats his two year old [presumably] black son to death and blames it on the stress on being in an enslaved race.

Outer limits, people.

True blue.

Oh, and Deb? I am going to copy your Pledge idea.

Anyone out there remember the name "Howell Raines"? Howell Raines used to be the executive editor of The New York Times. Yes, that's the American "Newspaper of Record". Is Howell Raines Conservative or Liberal? To answer this question, let's look at this column that he wrote recently in "The Guardian", one of the UK's numerous Left Wing, America-hating news sources.

Kerry represents the liberal, charitable wing of the Privilege party and George W represents the conservative, greedy wing of the Privilege party...

Two and a quarter centuries into its history as a nation, America has the most unfair tax system ever and the greatest gap ever between rich and poor. Even a real populist, however, would have trouble taking on these issues frontally. As Al From of the Democratic Leadership Council noted, Americans aren't antagonistic toward the rules that protect the rich because they think that in the great crap-shoot of economic life in America, they might wind up rich themselves...

Using that promise as disinformation, he must now figure out a creative way to become a redistributionist Democrat. As a corporation-bashing populist, I'd like to think he could do that by promising to make every person's retirement as secure as Cheney's investment in Halliburton. But that won't sell with the sun-belt suburbanites. Not being a trained economist like, say, Arthur Laffer, I can't figure out the exact legerdemain that Kerry ought to endorse. But greed will make folks vote for Democrats if it's properly packaged, just as it now makes them vote Republican,

Howell's column fits in perfectly with the other Leftist babble on "The Guardian", which hosts op ed pieces from people like Fidel Castro. Yes, that's right. Fidel Castro. If you think I'm exaggerating, click here.

This obviously bitter, angry Left Wing Bush hater was an editor at America's most prominent newspaper. One of the many that Liberals just can't admit is Left of center, no matter how obvious it is. If "The New York Times" came printed on red paper with a hammer and sickle stamped on it, then Liberals would still insist that it was a perfectly unbiased paper. Watching Liberals deny the the existence of a Liberal news media reminds me of the scene in Monty Python's "The Holy Grail", where the knight fighting King Arther gets all of his limbs hacked off, but he still insists that he hasn't lost the fight.

Automaton Nation

On the surface this seems silly, but is it really?

The state's top civil rights official has ruled that taverns cannot offer discounts to women on "ladies nights," agreeing with a man who claimed such gender-based promotions discriminated against men.

David R. Gillespie said it was not fair for women to get into the Coastline nightclub for free and receive discounted drinks while men paid a $5 cover charge and full price for drinks.

In his ruling Tuesday, J. Frank Vespa-Papaleo, director of the state Division on Civil Rights, rejected arguments by the nightclub that ladies nights were a legitimate promotion. Commercial interests do not override the "important social policy objective of eradicating discrimination," he ruled.

Evidence of an uberlitigious society?

Perhaps.

But this is where we are. It seems that if you think you own a physically-tangible "bricks and mortar" business, you're mistaken. You simply rent the space from the government. You cater to whomever they say, you hire whomever they say, you pay whatever they say, and, if you are a bar, you sell only what they permit. It's like the pot is done melting and now we're being poured into molds.

Identical molds.

It makes me want to start a new blog: Automaton Nation :about Americans having their autonomy shaved off, like pieces of Ash on robotic lathes at the Louisville Slugger factory.

Automaton Nation.

It's a good name for a blog, don'tcha think? Anyone want in? Group blog.

'Ladies Night' Discount Axed in N.J. Bars

Bush's D-Day speech.

It's been written, by USS Clueless. I just wish that Bush would use it, instead of whatever else he's got.

Boy, do I wish he would use that speech!

[[[ UPDATE FROM TIM ]]]

The President spoke at the Air Force Academy today.

Excerpts:

"Our goal, the goal of this generation, is the same" as it was in World War II, Bush said. "We will secure our nation and defend the peace through the forward march of freedom."
.
.
.
"Just as events in Europe determined the outcome of the Cold War," he said, "events in the Middle East will set the course of our current struggle."

"If that region is abandoned to dictators and terrorists, it will be a constant source of violence and alarm, exporting killers of increasing destructive power to attack America and other free nations," Bush said. "If that region grows in democracy and prosperity and hope, the terrorist movement will lose its sponsors, lose its recruits and lose the festering grievances that keep terrorists in business."
.
.
.
"Some who call themselves realists question whether the spread of democracy in the Middle East should be any concern of ours. But the realists in this case have lost contact with a fundamental reality: America has always been less secure when freedom is in retreat; America is always more secure when freedom is on the march."

He may be correct, he may be wrong, but what he said is what I believe.

Text of the Speech

Blunt Speech

Forget "nuance". Nuance is saying what you don't really mean. Nuance is another word for bullshit, only since the Congresscritters don't like to admit that they spew bullshit, they use the word "nuanced". John Fonda Kerry is full of "nuance".

Marek Edelman is not.

Edelman: Now, now. Who started killing people? Americans didn't invade a wonderful democratic Iraq. There was a dictatorship there, torture, terror.

Interviewer: But there are people who say it's not our business.

Edelman: And whose business is it? Every war with fascism is our business. In 1939 there were also many people who said that the war in Poland was not their war, and what happened? Great nations fell because politicians listened to those who were saying that it's not worth dying for Gdansk [Danzig]. If only we'd intervened militarily after Hitler re-entered Rhineland we probably would not have had the war and the Holocaust.

Interviewer: Many people do understand that, but they don't understand why the Americans have to go to the other side of the world and fight over Iraq now.

Edelman: And why did they go to Europe then? Who defeated Hitler and saved Europe from fascism? The French? No, the Americans did. We thanked them then because they saved us. Today we criticise them because they're saving somebody else.

Interviewer: Returning to the question about having Polish soldier on the ground in Iraq. Many Poles don't want them there.

Edelman: If they don't want them there, let's just keep waiting and then let's see from which direction the rockets and the bombs will come from - will we in the end be lorded over by Saddam's viceroys or Bin Laden's, just as we were once lorded over by Hitler's viceroys.

Interviewer: Do you really believe in such a scenario?

Edelman: It's possible. If we will keep closing our eyes to evil, then that evil will defeat us tomorrow. Unfortunately there's more hatred in men than love. Those who murder understand only force and nothing else. And the only force that is able to stand against them is the American democracy. All emphasis is mine.

That, my friends, is blunt speech. I think the world needs more of it.

Found at the Geek's Place.

Oil Prices High? It's Bush's Fault!

OPEC votes to pump more? Well now that's proof that The House of Saud is really in Crawford, Texas.

Meanwhile...

...here is what happens when people don't stand up.

Smoke on the Water

John Stuart Mill:

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling, which thinks that nothing is worth war, is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.

I think that's a slice of what Jason Kallini was talking about when he said that while he is unable to fight overseas, he can fight here to make this Nation better for men who are able, and willing, to stand up.

Jim has more to say at Smoke on the Water

Kerry on the Bunker Buster

This Kerry fella is even more milquetoast than I had imagined.

Kerry said Tuesday, "As president, I will stop this administration's program to develop a whole new generation of bunker-busting nuclear bombs. This is a weapon we don't need. And it undermines our credibility in persuading other nations. What kind of message does it send when we're asking other countries not to develop nuclear weapons, but developing new ones ourselves?"

The Kerry Spot on National Review Online

The Media and GI Joe: How the press gets the military wrong -- and why it matters

Reason Magazine has an interesting piece about how inept today's media are in comprehending today's military. To wit:

Back in October, when U.S. Army Rangers first started to fight on the ground in Afghanistan, Washington Post reporter Greg Schneider drew the job of explaining the role of those elite infantrymen to the paper’s readers. Drawing on Army manuals, he set out to explain just what it is that sets Ranger battalions apart from their infantry cousins. "Rangers are more heavily armed than most light infantry units," he wrote on October 20. "Their automatic weapons units carry M240G machine guns that can fire up to 1,000 rounds a minute at a range of 1,000 yards. Some Rangers also carry grenade launchers." Rangers also "train with live fire -- actual bullets -- and under all conditions, including night and bad weather." Finally, the Rangers "travel light, usually in rifle companies of about 200 men each." With this kind of information, it’s hard not to be impressed: soldiers who train with actual bullets! And travel light, albeit in groups of 200.

There’s a very particular tone-deafness at work here. U.S. infantry units of every type tend to be grouped in rifle companies of 200, for example -- and armed in part with machine guns and grenade launchers, and likely to train at night and in bad weather. Imagine one of the Post’s science writers telling you that human beings are unique among animals because they alone have lungs and a spine. The very thing that distinguishes the Rangers, if you’re inclined to be picky, is not that they are more heavily armed than other infantrymen, but rather that they are often less heavily armed; they are a raiding force, organized not for firepower but for speed and agility.

Seems like a general theme in today's media - of all stripes - get it in, even if you don't get it right.

Reason: The Media and GI Joe

Gucci Radicals

Ever wonder how much it would cost to get an American Leftist to address your audience of choice about the horrors of America? FrontPage Magazine has the goods.

An Era now officially gone

The last surviving widow of a Civil War veteran has died at age 97.

Come on, fellerz! Get your chi up!

Ahhh, the human spirit. It is indomitable.

Practicing diao gung, he says, is something you don't do cold, it's a several step process. Typically, students start a work-out session by first taking part in a normal chi gung routine. After an hour or so, on this occasion, the class divided and the diao gung'ers passed through a curtain into a special kind of weight room in the back. Iron plates weighing from 1kg to 20kg were scattered over the padded floor as were the devices used for stacking and hoisting those weights. Vertical rods stick up out of these weight hangers at the end of which is a hook for catching a loop in a blue silk ribbon. The ribbon, which is about 15cm wide before it is folded and rolled into a fastening rope, is looped in a lark's head knot around the base of both penis and scrotum, near the point where they join the abdomen.

"You have to get your chi up first," said Wang Hsin-kun, an air conditioner installer dressed in a sort of light blue satin kilt and glancing down towards his privates.

Without question.

Taipei Times

We're just bloodthirsty, aren't we?

I mean, every good liberal knows that us gun nuts are nothing more than right-wing bloodthirsty psycos, right?

Yeah, right.

Found at the Geek's Place.

We honor those who served and died.

Go to any right-leaning blog, and ten to one odds says you'll see at least one Memorial Day post. A lot of blogs suspended their normal rants over this weekend, choosing instead to honor the dead who ensured our freedoms.

Go to a left-leaning blog? Indifference.

After all, they distain the people who give them the freedoms they take for granted. Why should they care about a bunch of "dead white males"?

Just pathetic.

Items in the News

One: Republicans might finally do something about the TSA, a.k.a. Mineta's Goons.

The anti-terrorism agency that Congress rushed into existence just weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks to protect America's planes, trains and trucks is shrinking, and could all but fade away.

That would be because it hasn't done a damn thing other than add yet another layer of bullshit to flight times.

The Transportation Security Administration, which hired some 65,000 employees and has spent more than $10 billion over 3 1/2 years, has been beset by complaints about its performance, leaving it vulnerable to congressional Republicans who want to reduce the size of government.

After the terrorist attacks, "people were panicked to put in place a massive bureaucracy," said House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman John Mica.

The Florida Republican says the time has come to rethink TSA and cut it back.

We can only hope. The TSA has been a cock-up from the word "go". Massive reforms are needed NOW, and barring massive reforms, cutting the entire agency would be the next step. But this huge boondoggle, filled with PC bullshit and overpaid, underskilled people is a farce. This is some of the best news I've read all day.

And then I saw this and my blood pressure jumped right back up.

The FBI and Justice Department are taking some heat for warning of possible summer terror attacks, with some Bush administration officials and lawmakers saying the intelligence may be overblown.

These officials and members of Congress with access to the same intelligence reports said the Wednesday announcement by Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller was overblown and caused unnecessary public worry.

Bush can't win for loosing! If he doesn't release information, he "hasn't done enough!". If he releases the information, he's "crying wolf!". I wish these people would make up their damn minds and then shut the fuck up!

We have six Islamonazis in this country, with two Party delegations coming up this summer, followed by a Presidential election this fall, and people think that the Bush administration should have kept this information to itself? Or should have treated it less agressivly? Bullshit! It seems like every day there's more proof that the Democrats and many Republicans really don't have a clue, and they don't have a plan to deal with terrorism in this day and age. They just want someone else to deal with it and hush up about it!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr..................

And while we are quoting...

...here are some good rib ticklers about Ole Cut 'n Run.

Sample:

John Kerry speaks French fluently. Democrats are saying he's one in a million. A war hero who speaks French, isn't it more like one in a trillion?

- Jay Leno

Oy!

The Poetry of D.H. Rumsfeld

This is good stuff.

Supporting The Troops

Winds of Change has been around for what seems like a long time now. It is one of the first blogs I ever visited. Anyway, in the spirit of doing what you can even if you lack what is required to serve in our military, Winds of Change has listed a plethora of places where you can express support.

Rolling Thunder in DC

Good grief.

Nowak remembers returning from Vietnam in 1973 aboard an aircraft carrier loaded with thousands of sailors in their dress whites. "As we passed under the Golden Gate Bridge, there were people waiting for us. And they threw garbage on us," Nowak recalled. "That was about the time Kerry was throwing his [ribbons] away. It's kind of hard to forget either of them."

Focus Swings to Vietnam, With a Roar

This was found, along with a few humorous pics, at Instapundit.

Pizza man saved by gun, but fired for packin' heat

A pizza deliveryman won't face charges for fatally shooting a would-be robber several times when he was approached in a high-crime area, but his employer, Pizza Hut, has fired him for violating a company policy against carrying firearms.

WorldNetDaily

It's about time

I have been wishing for a long time that there would be an in-kind answer to Michael Moore. Now there is. View the trailer for "Michael Moore Hates America" here.

Unfortunately, this film will be fighting uphill, and I doubt that it will see much commercial success. The guy making it won't have talk show hosts falling head-over-heels for him and giving him the free publicity that Michael Moore gets.

My Shame

I was reading a post from Puggs on Random Nuclear Strikes when I came across these words:

A reminder for me, like most veterans I was spared the trials of close combat. So these words bring sharply into focus an emotion I’ve felt since the day the towers fell. I didn’t do enough. I should have done more, I should have been able to enlist again, able to engage the enemy. I’m shamed that I can’t do these things, shamed that others are going while I simply watch. But a man who walks with a cane is not an asset. I’m sorry, for failing to join the fight, sorry, and ashamed.

Dear g-d, that nails it on the head.

On this day, as we remember those who died in service to their country, there's a thought that keeps hammering away at me. I can't get rid of it, I can't quiet it down, and the Lord knows I've tried.

My father served in the Marine Corps during the Viet Nam war. My grandfather served in the Navy in WWII. When I joined the Army, I knew there was a chance I would get sent somewhere, I knew the risks, and I was fine with them. Five years later, I was tired of my unit's bullshit in Ft. Riley, tired of the political games of the Clinton Administration, and the civilian life called. My one chance at a deployment was yanked because I was a witness in a court martial proceeding, and the Army didn't want to pay for me to go to Bosnia just to fly back for a few days. I ETSed in October of 2000. In five years as a MP, I had never fired a shot, and never been shot at. I considered myself lucky.

Less than one year later, all hell broke loose.

And I watched. I watched as my friends from my old unit got called up. I watched as people marched with their idiotic banners and signs, and I marched against them. But above all, I felt shame. I spoke a good long while with my father, agonizing about the whole issue. My dad tried to reassure me, "You stood your time on the wall. The fact that there weren't any shots fired during your watch is not your fault". But it still wasn't enough. Puggs nails it on the head -

I didn’t do enough. I should have done more, I should have been able to enlist again, able to engage the enemy. I’m shamed that I can’t do these things, shamed that others are going while I simply watch.

I finally had enough. I was done crying for friends who were in harms way. I went to the local recruiter and had a good long chat with him. I finished the paperwork two months ago. I went to MEPS last month. You want to know humiliation? The Shark Attack in basic was nothing. Getting yelled at was nothing. True humilation, in my eyes, is having some doctor stick a finger in your nutsack while telling you to turn your head and cough. Gimme ten Drill Seargents yelling at me any day, I can handle that. But that probing finger just squigged me out.

At the end of MEPS, I was told my eyesight wasn't up to par. Fine, yeah, same thing as the first time around, I'll get a waiver. Sent the paperwork up, figuring that by this time I'd be speaking with the MEPS 1SG and picking out the time and date of inprocessing.

Instead? Eyesight waiver denied.

Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuckity fuckfuckfuck! Damn my eyes, my damned eyes. My eyesight kept me out of my Father's beloved Corps. And my eyesight looks like it'll keep me out of the Army this time around. The Navy and the Air Force don't want a used grunt, and the Coast Guard doesn't have any active duty slots open until some time next century. I have one last glimmer of hope left, but failing that my military career is over. Done. Finite. Kaput.

And I don't think that many people can understand the dispair I feel in that. The shame. It's like a coastal undertow that keeps dragging me back every time I see a man in uniform on the news. I should have done more. I need to be there. I should be there. It's my fucking duty to be there. I can't sit on my ass while other people are there, I should be in their place or marching with them. Men with families and wives should be able to be with them, because I SHOULD BE THERE, not them. Little kids shouldn't have to grow up without a father, the father should be at home while I'm over there in his place.

Fuck fuck fuck.

And the worst part is the wondering. What if I had stayed in? What if I had never left? Where would I be, what would I be doing, who would I be if I hadn't changed my life's path? I can honestly say I wouldn't give up an single ounce of what I gained as a civilian. I have one of the best women in the world as my fiance. I have ten acres of land in Northern Idaho that's waiting to have a house built on it. I have a motorcycle that has let me experience joys unknown to all who travel on four wheels only. I have a great dog. I have unbelievably good friends. I've got a decent job. But there is that pounding beat, a throbbing in my head, the staccato voice that never stops. I should have done more. I should be there. I should have done more. I should be there.

I tried to obey that voice. And my eyes, the bane of my life, the one factor that has held me back in more things than I can imagine, have finally kicked my feet out from under me. If I could rip them out of my head and replace them, I would. If I could have surgery on them, I would. Unfortunately, I discovered that A) Lasik or Radial Karectonomy is an instant precription for Glaucoma in my case, and B) the Army doesn't accept anyone who's had that surgery anyways. Unless the Hand of God comes down and heals them, they aren't going to get any better. In fact, they'll probably get worse. Fuck fuck fuck!

But as I said, I have that one glimmer of hope left. My recruiter and I are working on it, and we'll see how it turns out. I hope to g-d they let me back in, because that voice is still there, right now, pounding away inside my skull. You should have done more. You should be there. You should have done more.

I wonder if that little voice will follow me to my grave. It will be the inscription on my tombstone.

"I should have done more. I should be there."

One last thing - any troll comments on this post will get deleted. I'm not in the mood to play games.

Patton

Cap'n Jim has the entire speech given by George Patton before D-Day. It's worth reading, twice. If you've ever seen the movie Patton, keep in mind that the speech George C. Scott gave was highly censored, due to the delicate American sensibilities at the time.

Our soldiers don't have time for those sensibilities.

So read the whole thing. I found one paragraph that stood out in this day and age - a part of his speech that we should be applying to the current war.

When a man is lying in a shell hole, if he just stays there all day, a German will get to him eventually. The hell with that idea. The hell with taking it. My men don't dig foxholes. I don't want them to. Foxholes only slow up an offensive. Keep moving. And don't give the enemy time to dig one either. We'll win this war, but we'll win it only by fighting and by showing the Germans that we've got more guts than they have; or ever will have. We're not going to just shoot the sons-of-bitches, we're going to rip out their living Goddamned guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks. We're going to murder those lousy Hun cock suckers by the bushel-fucking-basket.

War is a bloody, killing business. You've got to spill their blood, or they will spill yours. Rip them up the belly. Shoot them in the guts. When shells are hitting all around you and you wipe the dirt off your face and realize that instead of dirt it's the blood and guts of what once was your best friend beside you, you'll know what to do!

I don't want to get any messages saying, 'I am holding my position.' We are not holding a Goddamned thing. Let the Germans do that. We are advancing constantly and we are not interested in holding onto anything, except the enemy's balls. We are going to twist his balls and kick the living shit out of him all of the time. Our basic plan of operation is to advance and to keep on advancing regardless of whether we have to go over, under, or through the enemy. We are going to go through him like crap through a goose; like shit through a tin horn!

Patton was a soldier's general.

It fits.

You know, I've been trying to find a way to describe my girlfriend for some time. She defies just about any kind of adjective you could apply to her. Girly? Nope, not unless the situation needs it. Weak is not a word you want to apply to that woman; she has to my knowledge bent tubular steel with her leg, twice. It was an accident once. Her passenger door on her car is still bent out at the bottom from where it trapped her leg. She was bruised for a while, but nothing broke. Hell, nothing even bent! The same can't be said for her car door.

So she's not damn near much of anything that could easily be described. Until now. She's a Tough Chick.

A Tough Chick has the annoying yet endearing quality of being able to grab any of your hats, no matter what type, put it on herself, and instantly look way cooler than you ever did in it. She can pull off all sorts of ordinary or unusual clothing combinations with style and panache. She makes anything look good. If she wears jeans and a baby-tee, she's cute. If she wears leather jeans and a ripped-up cowboy shirt tied across her midriff, she's hot as hell. If she wears a strapless evening gown with a corsage, she's unexpectedly dazzling and radiant. You will sometimes feel like a hapless schlub next to her.

A Tough Chick takes no shit, from you or anybody else. On the other hand, she will never give you any (undeserved) shit either. Tough Chicks are not in the shit business.

A Tough Chick would do Angelina Jolie in a hot second, and doesn't care if even her mother knows it.

A Tough Chick may or may not have tattoos, but she likes yours.

A Tough Chick doesn't like little yappy-ass rat-dogs.

That's just part of it. I read down the list and found myself nodding my head, going "Yep, yep, yep, oh hell yeah, yep, that's her to a "t", yep, yep, yes!"

Democratic Underpants Sez...

..."Tim Russert is a shill for GOP!!!"

Oy!

Coalition Casualties

As I persue my Favorites I often come upon this one, and use the search feature to narrow the long list of names by age or State or service.

Seventy soldiers under the age of twenty have died in Iraq. Sobering (insofar as anyone can look at war in a giddy fashion).

Lunaville

Bill Cosby in the Hot Seat

I haven't seen much coverage of this in popular media. Maybe they don't want to spout too many stereotypes about black folk, even if the stereotypes are being a black man who isn't stereotypical:

There is a fear, Tillard said, "that people who are racist ... will seize upon that and try to castigate the African-American community. The conservatives and liberals are far too quick to seize upon a statement and say to the rest of us, 'See, see, it's not us, it's you.' What they have not wanted to acknowledge is that there are still legacies of slavery."

I guess that's not uncommon. Some people on the right won't criticize President Bush because it arms the Left, and ditto Liberals and their smarmy politicos.

Cosby Remarks on Blacks Draw Fire, Support

Famous fools

Slattery has a neat collection of quotes from the Left. I wish there were more but the ones there are swell.