August 31, 2009

Avast! Can ye not see him? It's the White Whale, boys!

Ed Morrissey, the tireless commentator over at Hot Air breaks the day's news with this startling bulletin on The Chief Pantload's Rasmussen numbers:
If Barack Obama thought he could ride sympathy over the death of Ted Kennedy to new support for his legislative agenda, the latest Rasmussen polling will throw cold water on that hope. Overall approval for Obama has now reached 46%, with 53% disapproving. Strong disapproval now comes within five points of overall approval, almost within the margin of error.
Several thoughts come to mind, principally, that this is indeed rich! And so-o-o-o-o appropriate considering “Dead Ted’s” downfall — his “underwater index” — came about because he..ahem..left someone under water.

Cj, over at The Illustrated Conservative has a terrific entry on Kennedy and second on what a free pass this guy got for all of his indiscretions. Pay particular attention to the chronicle of actions after Kennedy abandoned Mary Jo Kopechne in his submerged Oldsmobile. Also, a must-read is this searing 1990 GQ article.

..it's not that we don't like this guy, it's just that we feel that he ought to check out with all of the baggage he has been carrying over the years.

August 28, 2009

So long Teddy; We hardly knew ye..

While the episode at Chappaquiddick is being talked up as a tragedy for this last knight of Camelot -- sans the more sordid details -- one should remember that this fat tub of goo was engaged in a veritable lifetime of drinking, debauchery, spousal abuse, and general indulgence in what he thought was accrued to his posiition, power, and station as a member of the Kennedy clan.

(Note that these sources are your typical, right-wing conservative whack-job outlets: ABC and Time Magazine.)


I am surprised that no fond rememberance of that infamous pub-crawling incident with his nephew, William Kennedy Smith, where the old coot almost got caught in a rape charge except by testifying that he was too inebriated to remember anything. Of course, the Kennedy lawyers got the little trouser-snake acquitted.

August 27, 2009

Hey Brother, Can You Spare a Snorkel?

The image at the right is, of course, the face of Ted Kennedy. It was a creation done by S. Weasel who has one of the most interesting web sites I have come across in a long. long time.

Her posts range from the sublime to the -- well -- sublimely absurd and the commentary by her and her visitors very poignant, witty, and very often side-splitting.

But I call your attention to her post accmmpanying the grotesque picture she did of the departed senator. It recalls the last few minutes (hours?) of Mary Jo Kopechne's life in the car beneath the waters at Chappaquiddick, describing how the Lion of the Senate saw fit to leave her to her fate. Ms Weasel's narrative does not include the events running up to that tragedy and the description of Kennedy's cowardly desertion on one of his Brother's loyal "boiler-room girls". The following is from the Wikipedia entry on the subject (emphasis added):
On July 18, 1969, Kopechne attended a party on Chappaquiddick Island, off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, held in honor of the Boiler Room Girls. It was the fourth such reunion of the Robert Kennedy campaign workers.

Kopechne reportedly left the party at 11:15 p.m. with Robert's brother Ted Kennedy, after he — according to his own account — offered to drive her to catch the last ferry back to Edgartown, where she was staying. She did not tell her close friends at the party that she was leaving and she left her purse and keys behind.

Kennedy stated he made a wrong turn on the way and came upon a narrow, unlit bridge without guardrails. Kennedy drove the 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88 off the bridge and it overturned in the water. Kennedy extricated himself from the submerged car but Kopechne died, after what Kennedy said were several diving attempts to free her.

Kennedy contacted several aides that night, but failed to report the incident to the authorities until the car and Kopechne's body were discovered the next morning. Kopechne's parents said that they learned of their daughter's death from Ted Kennedy himself[1] before he reported his involvement to the authorities, but that they learned Kennedy had been the driver only from wire press releases some time later.

The picture and her chilling narrative of that poor girl's fate should be required reading for water-carriers like Chris Matthews and the rest of the MSM, state-controlled-media who sing the praises for Kennedy.

After reading Ms Weasel's words, you will agree that the picture is appropriate.

August 26, 2009

Ten for Tark!

Hugh Hewitt suggests a very good way to drive a stake through the heart of the Health care Reform Bill -- or whatever the Chief Pantload and his crowd is calling it these days -- is to contribute $10 to Danny Tarkanian's senate campaign. It seems that Danny -- son of former CSULB, UNLV, and Fresno State head basketball coach -- announced his run as one of the Republican candidates for the Reid's U.S. senate seat in November.

..already, he is 11% up on that sack of crap in a recent Mason-Dixon poll 49% to 38% ~~ and that is only after announcing on 10 August.

Republican state chairwoman Sue Lowden is also up over Reid by 5% in the same poll.

There's a lot of brave words from Reid's people, as noted in this Fox News article but a number of e-mails from us to Reid's camp should throw a lot of ice-water on his thoughts of re-election.

Besides, action like this seems like a natural extension for those of us who attended the Tea Parties and Town Halls to voice our displeasure with recalcitrant representatives. Identifying and targeting vulnerable members of congress and contributing to their opponents might just put the fear of God into them. We have seen that, when the Town Hall meetings became animated, how many members either scurried behind the shelds iof telephones, teleconferencing, or pay-to-play breakfasts meeting.

Fine, they don't want to talk to us, I am sure a steady flow of money into the coffers of their rivals will get their attention.

The link to contribute your sawbuck to Danny is here. The link to let Harry know you're pissed is here. And drop Hugh Hewitt a line at this address -- hugh@hughhewitt.com. -- and be sure to and attach a copy of your receipt so Hugh kows you're on board.

UPDATE: Someone has set up a web site that makes this as easy to do as 1-2-3.

Gurgle..gurgle..gurgle..gurgle..


..an old tub of goo shuffles down a dusty road as the Twilight Zone theme fades. We hear his thoughts:

Well, just about now, the pearly gates should be hoving into view. It was a pretty tough trip what with trying to get the Massachusetts law changed back around to fit the circumstances du jour of my senate situation . Yeah, that was a sweat what with my failing health and the importance of that senate seat I held since trooping around those dreary Mass state fairs pressing flesh with the - ugh - common folks in order to earn what should have been my birthright. I had to actually campaign against that dreary son of Henry Cabot Lodge and meet all of those ordinary people in 1962.
Horrible experience.

Maybe if I applied myself a little more during my first run at Hahvahd I mightn't had to have enlisted in the army and ask daddy to keep me out of Korea. But, when that all was behind me, I resumed my rightful place and eventually got into UVA for my law degree.

Too bad about Joe, John and Robert, but I always thought that the destiny of this family would fall to me. And things were looking decidedly up as I closed in on the prize, working my way through the senate, becoming majority whip in in 1969.

Yep, '72 looked like my year, it did.

If I had been a little more careful driving the backwoods of Martha's Vineyard I might have been able to make the run the run for President a little earlier than 1980. Still, I had to let my two-day suspension and the other details fade from the public mind before I threw my hat in the ring against that addled-pate peanut farmer from Georgia.

The way he got pasted from pillar-to-post in 1980, I could have won the thing and probably beat that old, fuddy-duddy Hollywood actor.

Yep, as I said, it has been a hard journey -- especially these last few miles from the compound to the pearly gates up ahead. I had to stop off at a couple of road houses for a bracer or two to clear my mind. But, that's over. Any minute now..

..funny, I thought there's be more there to greet me -- Joe Senior, Joe Junior, Jack, Jackie, Bobby, Eunice, all the old crowd -- but there only seems to be this old, bearded guy in a long robe with a very big book..

..and a slender young lady in dripping wet clothes. Wait! She's whispering into the old goat's ear and pointing to me! He's making a mark, closing the book; they're both turning away and closing the gate behind them. What's that sign say on the gate?

"NO ADMITTANCE..TRESPASSERS WILL BE VIOLATED!"

August 24, 2009

Battle Scars


My son has become U. S. Marine (more later) and I am justifiably proud. But before he went off to MCRD San Diego, he passed along one of those window decals that accrue from the military's attempt to eliminate buyer's remorse among recruits and their parents: a Globe-and-Anchor decal of encircled with the motto "Proud Parent of a U.S. Marine". So, me being a decal man, I was beset with the problem of where on the back of my Jeep to put it. Lessee, there's right-to-left, the Gadsden flag, the 'Murrican flag, my USAF Auxiliary decal, my Strategic Air Command Decal, and my "W'04" decal.

That's it. I am flat-assed out of room on the rear window.


So, being a man of priorities, I reasoned that the "W'04" sticker had served long and well since we put Kerry and his menopausal, billionaire wife out to pasture over five years ago. It had borne the brunt of battle long after the leftist, statist, idiots actually entertained putting that black-hat wearin', Cambodian intrudin', reportin' fr duty spoutin' idiot, and his tonsorially-obsessed, philandering, tort lawyer running mate made a run at the White House and the Naval Observatory.

It was -- like many honorable insignia in this nation's history -- due an honorable retirement. Now, I can hear the groans from conservative and BDS-afflicted leftist alike out there, but I respond to both.

To the conservative who did not like Bush because he was -- well, not really a conservative -- I say he did have his faults, but lack of humility and inability to hold down the job of POTUS were not among them. The Pantload-in-Chief and Mrs. Pantload have more than demonstrated why class and grace are integral parts of the job requirements. Also, the ability to hire mature and knowledgeable grown-ups to run the affairs of this country sure helps a lot. Consider (*gasp*) Colin Powell and Condelezza Rice and compare them to the Clinton Broad and Eric Holder. Not convinced? Throw in the cadre of cabinet appointees that limboed under the ethics bar after "mis-underestimating" the vagaries of TurboTaxx® or whether is it correct to hire that Filipina with questionable documentation. So, how many czars did Bush appoint anyway?

To the liberals with terminal BDS, I merely respond: suck rocks! I do not give a frosted crap what you think. You're boy is in charge now. So how's that working out for you?

Anyway, the sticker now resides in the pantheon of symbols that mark the episodes of my life: my diploma from UCLA, my commissioning certificate in the USAF, my promotion letters through Captain, my DD-214, my Extra Class amateur radio license, pictures of my wedding, pictures of children and my grandchildren, and the like. All aged -- as am I -- and all scarred milestones. This symbol represents to me a reminder of an important couple of quadrennials in my life: the last time grown-ups ran this country.

But it has been replaced by something that I honor much more: my son has become a man among men. He has taken up arms in defence of this country -- at a time when it arguably needs is most -- and it is important because it lets others know how tremendously proud of him I am.

August 12, 2009

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Aretha Franklin probably said it best:
What you want
Baby, I got what you need
Do you know I got it?
All I'm askin' is for a little respect when you come home..

Like so many of our elected representatives these days, Sheila Jackson-Lee, a congresswoman from Texas and most recently a sponsor of an almost-interminable congressional resolution to laud Michael Jackson and request that there be a moment of silence to honor his passing. Her admiration and love for the entertainer wasn't limited to merely drafting this resolution, it also included a pilgrimage out to Los Angeles where she attended and spoke at his memorial service held in the Staples Center..

..presumably, at taxpayer's expense.

So now, during her vacation, she's holding town hall meetings to hear her constituents' objections to the health care bill the government is trying to foist off on all of us. Does she listen attentively? You be the judge.


Boy, this is rich! Firstly, the cell phone etiquette speaks volumes about our society in general. Polite people nevah take a call when engaged in a face-to-face conversation with another. It is rube and dismissive and speaks volumes about that person's regard for the person in his or her presence. But more importantly, the guy bringing up the Tuskegee experiment was right on target about trusting the government and the congresswoman immediately launches into a tap dance about how she did what she does best: sponsoring a resolution denouncing this.

Hello?

The point is, we do not want the government insinuating themselves into our lives in the future and not wasting our money decrying past heinous acts they were complicit in to the extent that it takes them away from their principle responsibilities...

..and - here's a novel concept - we'd like them to listen to us since we're paying their salaries and fronting the tab for the jets they're flying on.

Here's Congressman Clyburn of South Carolina, catching a few Z's while his constituents pour out their hearts about their medical woes and their concerns.

Hey, it was a tough night.

Yeah, I definitely think Ms Franklin nailed it:
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Find out what it means to me
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Take care, TCB
(Hat tip to Ed Morrissey and AllahPundit of Hot Air for the original story.)

August 10, 2009

Meet the Anti-Mob

Here is a wonderful little tidbit on who is sticking up for you against the Nazi thugs, the little old grandmothers and grandfathers, the state-at-home moms, and the other vile scum who show up at these Tea Parties and chant, disrupt, and otherwise knock your poor union-obliged congressional representative into some Ralph Kramdenesque fit of stammering with their questions.






So, now you can wear your purple shirts (but be sure you get the tent-sized one to hide the enourmous beer gut), slip in the side doors of the meeting halls, and tear all of the Gadsden flags out of the filthy, vile demonstrators' hands you want - with impunity.

August 9, 2009

Hypocrisy? Gimme a Break!

For those wondering why there is a draconian comment policy here, just take a gander at the beautiful work done by the loving left on the subject of BushHitler. It's kind of pathetic that they can dish this stuff out but cannot handle the blowback.

Oh, and what comment on this topic could not be complete without a Rush Limbaugh quote from a Byron York interview, hitting back on the asinine comments by David Brooks on "Meet the dePressed" this past Sunday:
"Everyone seems to ignore that Pelosi started this, saying town hall participants were showing up with swastikas, etc. That's calling them Nazis, as Dick Durbin referred to our Gitmo interrogators from the Senate floor. I've been listening to the left compare George W. Bush to Hitler for eight years. I've been listening to Democrats and the left compare conservatism to Nazis my whole career. This time I responded. In kind, by comparing the radical left policies of the Nazis to today's radical left leadership of the Democrat Party. I'm not surprised they don't like it."
The full text of Limbaugh's discussion can be found here and, like Byron says, "Don't look for anyone to back down in this particular fight."

Get out the Right Guard..

O.K., it'll disappear soon. It's over on the right...just over there. No, not the picture, dummy! That's a wonderful reworking done of the infamous (racist?) Obama-as-The-Joker poster done by Cj over at The Illustrated Conservative.

No, it's Ralph Alter's PJM post entitled "Six Months of B.O.", it is a must-read, and it is uproariously funny!
These mopes don’t even bother to pretend to read the confiscatory legislation cooked up by their staffers and the lobbyists attached to them at the wrist and ankle. Listening to Henry Waxman (D-Lusus Naturae) placating the Algorian lemmings on cap and trade or lip-synching Obama’s health care rationing anthem while admitting the absurdity of trying to read these legislative boondoggles reminds me of Woody Allen’s character in Annie Hall:
I took a speed-reading course and read War and Peace in 20 minutes. It involves Russia.
Unfortunately, the rest of Obama’s agenda seems to be about Russia as well. Barackski has already empowered more czars than the Romanovs and has just broomed the auto czar who helped broker the government-assisted bankruptcy of GM and Chrysler. I guess (hat tip to comic Bob Zany) Obama just loves that new czar smell.
It goes on and on, but the scary thing is that, just this past week, I was talking to my beautiful bride, Mrs Войска ПВО, about this very subject. Back in 1993, we were both diagnosed with a progressively terminal case of Clinton Derangement Syndrome and have been consumed by it ever since..

..since, well, the Boy King appeared on the scene. And then we actually did start longing for those "old days" when our biggest worry was bimbo eruptions and semen-stained dresses.

What I want to know is, how did Mr Alter break into my house and do a Vilcan Mind-meld on me when I was sleeping?

(Usual disclaimer, you don't like it, buzz off back to HuffPo, old son.)

Ken Gladney and Crispus Attucks

Kenneth Gladney went to a town hall demonstration last week for the purpose (of among other things) selling conservative materials to the folks who would be there. In the process of selling the Gadsden ("Don't Tread on Me") Flags, he was accosted by a member of the SEIU goon squad and beaten up.It's all over the internet and the details aren't going to be rehashed here.

But I'd like to offer a comparison to Crispus Attucks who was a man of mixed-race ancestry who was among the first casualties of the American Revolution, being killed at the Boston Massacre. The significance is basically that it was there that the British first stepped in it big time. Several colonists were killed when the British fired upon the people of Boston who mercilessly taunted them. Those people were enshrined as martyrs to the cause and it all went progressively South from there (emphasis added).

At the time, Attucks attracted no special attention because of his race, but in the years since then, he has been elevated to a status beyod the other casualties.
He has been frequently named as the first martyr of the American Revolution and is the only Boston Massacre victim whose name is commonly remembered. He is regarded as an important and inspirational figure in American history.

Little is known for certain about Attucks beyond his involvement in the massacre. Fragmentary evidence suggests that he may have been of African American and Native American ancestry. In the early 19th century, as the Abolitionist movement gained momentum in Boston, Attucks was lauded as an example of a black American who played a heroic role in the history of the United States. Because Crispus Attucks may also have had Wampanoag ancestors, his story also holds special significance for many Native Americans.
Well, it would seem that The Boy King and his coterie of Chicago goons have done it this time. Sure, Kenneth was not killed, he was only roughed up a little. But Mr Gladney has retained counsel and he is a lwyer who is not afraid to speak up.

So, this ain't going to go away anytime soon.

And, yeah, my language may be way over the top and, yeah, maybe Gladney should get over it, and yeah, maybe we on the right are being wimps over this incident.

But there are three points to be made: (1) This is a slippery slope here and being roughed up is a start. What's next? Another Kent State? (2) The left have been pulling this "ummmm, I'm telling mom on you" crap for years. It's lovely to see this bravo sierra being shovelled back at them for once. And (3) It's my blog. If you don't like my verbiage, then tough titty.

Go crap in someone else's sandbox.

August 8, 2009

Baked Ham

I have been involved in amateur radio off and on since 1960 and continuously licensed for over 30 years. I currently hold an Extra lass license that I got when I passed the examination and 20-wpm Morse code test in 1996. I am particularly proud of that last fact because, now you see, the Federal Communications Commission has eliminated the requirement that hams be able to send and receive Morse code.

While not an avid devotee of CW ("Continuous Wave", as Morse code is called), I plug along at about 15-20 wpm depending n the state of mind, the ears, and the amount of time I can devote to it. But it is, as I said, a source of pride that I got my ticket before the qualifications were watered down. So, just call me an old "code warrior".

The one aspect of the hobby I am unabashedly fervent about is building and operating QRP radios. These are radios that emit 5 watts (or less) of power and, when atmospheric conditions are good, can be used to contact other hams half way across the globe. Also, these radios can be made very small and therefore operated off batteries and from exotic locations - like from your camp site in the mountains.

Talking with foreign or far-flung amateurs is called "DX" (short for "distance") and, while difficult with radios operating at 100 watts or 1,000 watts of output power, at 5 watts it requires a good deal of luck and skill.

I have a lot of the former, and a smattering of the latter.

О чем Этот Blog Является Всем

("About what This Blog Is All")
Firstly, disabuse yourself of any notion that I am Russian or that I speak the language. Or that I am a communist. The name for this blog came from a middle age spent absrobing too many Tom Clancy novels (especially The Sum of All Fears) and a youth, the first eight years of which were committed to the United States Air Force.

The name of the blog - Войска ПВО - literally translated means "Armies of Air Defence", pronounced as "Voyska PVO", and is the military organ of the now-defunct Soviet Union charged with repelling air attacks from, presumably, the United States, NATO, and their other enemies during the Cold War.

Many years ago, circa 1964-68, I attended the University of California, Los Angeles and, because I sought refuge from the grasp of the the Selective Service System, I had enrolled in the Air Force ROTC. My father - who was ponying up half of the loot for my education - wanted me around after my graduation to recoup his investment ~ and, I suppose, for other reasons. In any event, the operative theory was that being stationed stateside in the Air Force for four years was preferable to carrying a rifle in SEA for two years.

So it was that, when I graduated from UCLA in 1968, I received a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant and orders to report to Strategic Air Command Headquarters at Offutt AFB in Nebraska. My work involved writing software for the SIOP - war plan - and my responsibilities involved developing the flight plans for the SAC B-52s and FB-111s in the event we went to war.

Still confused? Think of the envelopes that Slim Pickens distributed to his crew in the Kubrik movie, Dr Strangelove.

My counterparts - adversaries, as it were - were the members Войска ПВО, unseen but ever-present. I came to adopt this as my sobriquet from a perverse sense of irony and because of a respect for an opponent who, while misguided in spirit defending a political philosophy, were nonetheless noble in courage, sentiment and ambition. Posting on conservative sites fraught with trolls who patrol at the behest of their masters, I discovered that those cretins did not realize cyrillic characters could be pasted into the edit boxes. Therefore, it tended to cut down on annoying responses on blogs like PJM, etc.

So, to complete the mystique and since I was an officer in the USAF and a lover of military aviation from any country, I adopted the persona as a pilot in that arm of the Soviet air defense force. This is, I submit, a noble endeavor; an effort to defend one's country, it's innocent people, and it's integrity as opposed to attacking another to impose a political philosophy by aggression.

..I'll stop here lest the baloney gets sliced too thin.

But again, I refer you to the modern day camaraderie between Jack Ryan and his former Cold War enemies in the Soviet Union. By the way, that picture is not me on the left. It is - or was - an actual serving pilot in Войска ПВО.

But, while this is supposed to be a vehicle for my political rants, I also would like to post on other subjects of interest in my life. These might variously include amateur radio, bicycle racing, firearms, and other muddled subjects. By way of further introduction and to pad my posting count, these will be discussed in subsequent entries.

For now, a statement about my politics. I am decidedly conservative, Republican, but have respect for Democrats who are honorable and hard working and have a firm set of principles. Heck, my brother, James, is a Democrat and a former member of the New Hampshire state legislature. He sponsors a turkey shoot out on his expansive estate near the Vermont border and is one of the few Democrats who received the highest approval rating from the National Rifle Association.

But I am barely tolerant of ("big L") Libertarians - they are smug and do not begin to comprehend what is involved in keeping this country safe from foreign aggression. Also, I cannot abide leftists, socialists, apologists, and self-aggrandizing politicians (from either side of the spectrum). I will listen to argument and will, as much as I can, debate in response. Hell, I'll even concede points if they arise from well-reasoned discourse.

As for the rules for commenting here: they're mine, they're arbitrary, but they're fair (from my point of view). Trolls are the bane of our existence and there's a ton of sandboxes for them to crap in. Obscene comments will be deleted immediately. Whining, insulting, or carping will be deleted at the slightest provocation. Those whose views differ from mine and evince an attempt at civil debate will have a longer shelf-life -- in all likelihood, perpetuity.

So, that's it; more to come later..