[P]MS NBC Contessa Brewer projecting her hypocrisy..

Stolen from a recent post on Hot Air by Ed Morrissey:

..in which Contessa Brewer tells Stephanie Miller that she’s really unhappy that she couldn’t use the Times Square bombing attempt to prove Tea Party “bigotry.” Never mind that this clip shows the bigotry of Brewer in relation to conservatives..

This makes that double standard piece about the Arizona demonstrations (below) pale in comparison. Here this woman as much as comes out and says she regrets it wasn't one of those angry types, pissed off, oh I dunno, about health care or sumpthin'.

I think she misspelled her first name; shoulda been with a "U".

UPDATE: ..it seems the good..ahem..Contessa will be wee-weeing in her jeans with disappointment because the AP claims this guy was trained in a camp in Pakistan.

Time to change your maxi-pad, Contessa.

Another Black Conservative has it right..

..of course.

I ripped the material off from Clifton over at Another Black Conservative, not because I am lazy but because he hit the nail on the head:

This has to be the most stunning display of hypocrisy I have ever seen. For over a week the Democrats and the media have been deriding Arizona’s new law as Nazi-like.  They have all said Arizona’s law would lead to people being asked; “Show Me Your Papers”.  So what do the Democrats suggest for national immigration reform, a national ID card.

..so what are you waiting around here for? Head over to Cliff's site and read the whole post.

Time for the magnifier and tweezers, Arnie..

Well, it seems The First Girly-Man of California folded like a cheap suit on the question of offshore oil drilling in the aftermath of the gulf blow-out last week. So, since this guy's marbles are now the size of BBs, I was going to get him a pair of male crotchless underwear,  a pair of tweezers, and a magnifying glass as a Father's Day gift. But the ever-wise Mrs War Planner (née Войска ПВО) suggested we go to South Coast Plaza and visit either Frederick's of Hollywood or Victoria Secret and get him some cute crotchless lady's undies for Mother's Day..stoneless cretin that he is.

The meaning of life revealed..

..or mightn't this just be the solution to the budget crisis, the economy, and health care?

..a Sunday made considerably better.

Somehow, I got hooked up with the Woodsterman and Woodster Too site(s), a wonderful collection of conservative posts, truly funny pictures, and some righteous Second Amendment sentiments. After wandering around the rooms there, I have emerged in a considerably brighter mood and looking forward to 1700L when the sun sinks below the yard arm and I can invade the new bottle of Glenfiddich I just purchased.

..then I dare say, my day will become even brighter.

Thanks, Woodsterman!

..after a sleepless night..

See the previous post. Needless to say, my sleeplessness has resulted in a less-than-charitable view of the world on this fine Sunday in SoCal. So, I'll engage in a pair of pictures representing my feelings. Call this a palate-cleanser as Ed Morrissey is wont to say.

..but then again, our former POTUS had too much class to respond to the throngs of screaming leftards who heaped abuse on him so I doubt this would ever transpire. In fact, I kinda think "W" is enjoying The Pantload sinking deeper and deeper into the brown tide of his failed presidency.

This is what happens when you are old and have to get up at 0300 to relieve yourself..

..you run into articles like this and..well..conjure up images like the one below. Suffice to say, I will not be getting much sleep tonight.

Sra Gabriella Salcedo: American

A lady with grace, class, and a person whom I am proud to call a fellow American. Senora Salcedo makes several interesting points in her address to the Tucson city council, namely what a fool Raul Grijalva for advocating against the state he represents in congress and Council woman Romero for wasting the city of Tucson's money on yet another frivolous law suit of the State of Arizona. I especially the point about one being in a foreign country and being required to carry your passport at all times for identification.

It is my considered that this gracious lady should consider running for congress because, unlike many of those 435 turds living off our dime in D.C., this woman actually reads the laws.

UPDATE: Meanwhile, across the country -- and especially in Los Angeles --  thousands of presumably illegal immigrants will be demonstrating for "their rights". In past years for us in Southern California it meant good news and bad news. Good: When May 1st fell on a weekday, the freeway traffic was decidedly better. Bad: Our toilets don't get cleaned. Don't blame me; it's the idiot mayor of Los Angeles who made the claim "We clean your toilets!" in front of a May Day crowd.

Hey, if only he did something that productive.

GM 101

Herewith, a brief tutorial (courtesy of Reason TV via Hot Air) on how GM pulled that debt payoff flim-flam. Nice to know the big boys are kiting the funds we -- the U.S. taxpayers -- loaned them back in 2008. Sure looking forward to the release of the 2011 models, aren't you?

(Picture courtesy of the Op-toons blog.)

DRUDGE: ASHORE TODAY! MAD SCRAMBLE; SLICK 3 MILES FROM WILDLIFE RESERVE

In light of the recent oil spill that is just coming ashore on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana imperiling sea birds and other wildlife, Australia is taking a cold, hard look at the standards pertaining to their oil tankers. Here, an Australian politician comments on a recent incident and its aftermath.

Doubling Down on the Double Standard..

Alternative title: Who you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?

God, I love it! This is just too rich for words. Megan Kellley puts up a YouTube dichotomy of the miscreants running rampant in Arizona over the new immigration law versus some shots of this past April 15th's Tea Party demonstrations. The proposition, of course, is that the left's demonstrations are more violent than the Tea Party assemblages.

Wanna guess how this turns out or just click and watch while the guy they hauled in to defend the Left turns himself into a pretzel? My recommendation is you go get a couple of frosties and a bag of chips (it's a longish clip) and treat yourself to a great lesson on how to torture logic.

By the way, Megan is hot, is she not?

Credit where credit is due department: Check out the original post by Allahpundit over at Hot Air!.

I feel your pain..NOT!

At least the Philanderer-in chief of the bygone century last decade claimed to have empathy for we, the common and downtrodden. The current White House occupant -- and "Plugs", his dumb-assed sidekick apparently care not one whit for what the proles have to endure.

Doubt me? Think I am prevaricating or exaggerating? Well, check out this little tidbit on the dynamic duo's Earth Day plans:

"On a day when many Americans will be reflecting upon how they can reduce their impact on the environment, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will board separate jets in Washington on Earth Day morning to fly 250 miles up the east coast to New York, where they will land at separate airports to attend separate events within a few miles of each other."

In what has to be the epitome of arrogance and self-importance for these clods who have spent a lifetime suckling at the public teat, foraging for their daily crust at the public trough. Now they shamelessly flaunt their incredible privilege in some specious observance of a new-age festival to the Gods of Spring, Mother Earth, and all of their golden-haired Eloi, sycophants frolicking in the sunshine and eating the fruit produced by we hard-toiling, subterranean Morlocks. As the article mentions, it inconveniences those who ply the routes of commerce and attempt to wring some precious farthings from an economy already brought to its knees by these oblivious, sawdust-headed, know-nothings:

"The parallel visits of Air Force One (a 747/VC-25 aircraft) and Air Force Two (a 757/C-32A aircraft) will delay dozens, if not hundreds of commercial flights at Kennedy and LaGuardia and other nearby airports as no-fly zones are implemented. Jets will be forced to circle and burn more fuel as they wait for the VIPs to come and go. Their security contingents consisting of dozens of cars, SUVs and helicopters will burn even more. Throw in thousands of commuters’ cars and delivery trucks sitting idle in traffic as law enforcement closes large swaths of the city and you have yourself a very Earth-unfriendly day."

As if this alone hasn't been a hand full of sand poured down your jock strap, Slow Joe adds a few sand crabs in their for good measure:

"Thursday’s dual jaunt seems especially egregious considering the frivolous nature of Biden’s visit, in particular: He’ll be yukking it up with Whoopi and Barbara as a guest on The View. Not sure what he’ll be talking about, but you can be certain that whatever he has to say could be done just as effectively using a video camera and satellite hookup from the White House."

Of course, there's the old saw about Biden and Obama both being on the same plane and it taking a hit, leaving our nation with a gaping hole in its leadership..

..and, speaking of gaping holes, where is Nancy Pelosi these days, anyway?

Come to think of it, Clinton wasn't all that empathetic either. Do you remember his getting his locks shorn on Air force One while all of the traffic at LAX was forced to orbit?

Of course, The Pantload and his dummy sidekick will return to D.C. in the afternoon, fouling up the evening commute for all the hard-working denizens of the Big Apple.

..out-Foxed?

Hat tip to No Sheeples Here for something gloriously exciting coming this Summer:

RightNetwork is an exciting new site that will launch this summer. Actor Kelsey Grammer is a partner in the venture. Grammer says, “RightNetwork is filling a big gap with entertainment programs that combine compelling content with a perspective we don’t generally get from the media. We’re bringing outstanding talent and production values to our television, Internet and mobile platforms. I’m proud to be part of this team!”

Recommend you head over to the site and play all of the preliminary videos they have on offer. It's some pretty heady stuff.

Roto-Rooter

Well, here's Old Slick, looking for all the world like he's rooting around in one of his nasal passages for a stray one. Willie better be careful. I mean, after all, wasn't this how Henry Waxman got started?

Priceless..

The 12 million Dollar Woman

 

Somewhere, in a cold, dank basement, Sean Penn and Matt Damon are experiencing severe rectal cramps.

..God, I love this woman!

Who's on first?

It was only a question of time, what with all of the obsequiousness being shown by The Pantload to the word's thugocracy, that a fan of the Abbott and and Costello Who's on First routine would make his incessant bowing grist for his mill. A big hat tip to Kasper Hauser, commenter on a recent Hot Air post by Allahpundit:

Abbott: “Did you hear who Obama bowed to now?”

Costello: “Who?”

Abbott: “That’s right.”

Costello: “What do you mean “that’s right’?”

Abbott: “He bowed to Hu”

Costello: “If you don’t know, why are you asking me?”

Abbott: “I do know…He bowed to Hu”

Costello: “Let’s try this another way. Obama bowed…’

Abbott: “Right….”

Costello: “And he bowed to who?”

Abbott: “Right.”

Costello: “No….Who is person he bowed to,,,”

Abbott: “Right”

Costello: “Aaaagh. Let’s try again. When the President bowed, , he was bowing to someone and that person was…?”

Abbott: “President Hu.”

Costello: “President Obama you nitwit. Obama was bowing to who?”

Abbott: “That’s right. He was bowing to the president!”

Costello: “The president was bowing to himself?”

Abbott: “To President Hu..”

Costello: “President Obama you moron. Good Grief. Let’s try something else…When did this happen?”

Abbott: “What?”

Costello: “Obama bowing…..When?”

Abbott: “Wen? Heck no. The Prime Minister wasn’t even there!”

Kasper Hauser on April 13, 2010 at 9:59 AM

..oh good, you've made it!

Welcome over and I hope you can enjoy my bloviating without the ambiguity of wondering whether you accidentally hacked into the Kremlin's web site. For those who don't understand the joke, go here and all will be revealed.

Meanwhile, to underscore my intent to eliminate ambiguity: Obama is a wad of dessicated rhino fecal matter..

..agreed?

I thought so.

"This is a big f**king deal!"

..and if you can't believe Slow Joe, who can you believe?

Stay Mad!

Don't forget; don't give up; don't ever give up! Stay focused! Stay true! Stay mad!

Phew! Who cut one?

O.K., so it's over, right? We're all doomed to a life of socialistic servitude and things as we know it will never be the same.

Guess again!

Obama and the Democrats were so hell-bent on getting health care passed in any form, that they blessed this truckload of manure and Dumbo-Ears will trot out all of the liberal and leftists for his signing soiree. They'll dance,sing, and party 'til dawn..

..and then wake up with the biggest hangover since this idiot and his band of clods were voted in by a brain-dead electorate, hornswoggled by his hope and change mantra.

This fight is not over by a long shot; as John Paul Jones said on the burning deck of the Bon Homme Richard when asked if he was striking his colors, "I have not yet begun to fight!"

Doubt it? Check out what John Hinderaker has to say about silver linings over at Powerline Blog. This is a must read! Then get youself tooled up for the running gun battle that we are about to have between now and November..and beyond.

You still here? Scram and get busy throwing these dessicated turds out of office now. And that's an order!

Update: John Hinderaker makes a point I was going to bring up a little later down the road:

"I've never been prouder to be a Republican. The party's Congressional leaders have fought this battle to the end on behalf of the American people--with intelligence, toughness, persistence and good humor. The contrast between the parties has never been starker than in today's debate. If any intelligent Democrats were watching--there must be some left--they had to be embarrassed for their party."

So I am here to tell the RNC, RSCC, RCSCXCSC, whatever, don't send me those goddam questionnaire solicitations anymore. Just tell me how much you need and I'll do my best to send it to you. No more cutesy pie remarks, no brickbats, no salty comments. Your return envelopes are coming back to you with my hard-earned dollars. You have erned back my faith and trust and together with the tea partiers, the good common hardworking American people, and the Republicans who have demoinstrated they have a spine, we will right this wrong. We will prevail!

You guys and gals -- Paul Ryan, Boehner, Spence, Bachmann, even Lindsay Graham at times -- fought a magnificent fight, considering you were as outmatched as you were. You reminded me of Bowie, Travis, Crockett, and the rest who valiantly held off Santa Ana's army at the Alamo. Your stand may have ended in defeat for the moment, but I got a feeling that Sam Houston's army is on the way and what happens when it arrives won't be pretty.

Inevitable, My Ass..

The other day, weary of the day-to-day histrionics and tired of the constant gurgling sound of our freedoms and liberties taking a few laps around the bowl before disparaging, I "re-watched" the movie Rob Roy (Liam Neeson, 1996), a medium-to-good film filled with men wearing ladies' old 1980's big hair wigs and skirts, running around the moor, brandishing great broadswords, and yelling guttural, almost-indecipherable oaths at each other.

But the payoff of the movie is the duel scene at the end, pitting Rob Roy McGregor (Neeson) against a character called "The Fop" (Archibald Cunningham, Tim Roth). It was a struggle between an over-sized, plodding highlander and a pirouetting, mincing, prancing, effeminate -- albeit highly skilled -- swordsman. For about the first 75% of the struggle, The Fop pretty much nicks and slices Rob Roy until he is brought to his knees. At that point, Roth sticks his blade to Neeson's throat and prepares to deliver the coup de grâce. Suddenly, Neeson grabs The Fop's razor sharp blade full in hand and, while bleeding profusely from that grip, reaches for his own fallen sword and splits and, seizing it,  Roth from pillar to post.

We leave our hero as he is bandaging his hands, looking down on the ex-Fop ("..run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!!"), bleeding out on the floor, with "the blue moon in his eye".

The beauty of that scene is Rob Roy's logic: that Neeson weighs up his predicament and decides to sacrifice a hand -- only a palm, if you will -- for the prospect of winning the duel. His bargain is far more than fair for him than the tragic Fop.

As the credits rolled and I re-corporated myself into the present day, it struck me that this is duel is a perfect metaphor (allegory?) for the health care debate with our our metro-sexual, jug-eared Boy King playing the role as The Fop. He has been flouncing and mincing around us these past 16 months, stinging and slicing us with his affronts to our liberties and his attempt to commandeer our current private health care system. Now he stands, sword in hand and blade to our throats, ready to administer the seemingly inevitable coup de grâce.

Or will it be?

It goes without competent argument that, through out this year-long duel, he and his ilk have become grossly insensitive to the oafish, plodding highlander -- the good, common, hardworking, tax paying, ordinary citizen -- with the broadsword in hand, remorselessly shuffling after this gadfly, absorbing the cuts and wounds inflicted. We may be on our knees now and we may suffer a deep laceration as we reach out and grab the opponent's blade, but come eight months from now, The Fop with the Dumbo ears will find himself flat on his back, split open from breast bone to hip bone, bleeding out politically as we bandage our cuts and move on.

While Pelosi, Reid, and Obama say this will quiet the mob at their doors, the irony is that, by the House voting this into law, they have not ended the health care debate, but prolonged it. With 60% of the country against this and such tone-deaf leadership from the Democrats, they have presented their opposition a burnished, ruggedly crafted, razor sharp broadsword to wield from now until November..and even beyond.

It seems that this mound of putrefied fecal matter will not only be the target of an almost relentless series of court challenges from the states' attorneys general, but also a ready made issue for this Fall. Republicans, conservatives, and the ordinary working citizens who watch their lives crumble as government begins its inexorable intrusions will have this affront still fresh in their minds on November 2nd.

My guess is that a lot more people than the jug-eared Fop will be on the floor, politically bleeding out, blue moon in their eyes, as the ordinary citizen bandages his wounds and moves on.

Absolutely Jaw-Dropping Choreography!

No wordy preambles here, let's cut straight to the chase. The POSOTUS is asked a direct "yes" or "No" question by Brett Baier in yesterday's interview and he turns it into frothy persiflage that would have Clara Peller shrieking for substance:

BAIER: You have said at least four times in the past two weeks: "the United States Congress owes the American people a final up or down vote on health care." So do you support the use of this Slaughter rule? The deem and pass rule, so that Democrats avoid a straight up or down vote on the Senate bill?


OBAMA: Here's what I think is going to happen and what should happen. You now have a proposal from me that will be in legislation, that has the toughest insurance reforms in history, makes sure that people are able to get insurance even if they've got preexisting conditions, makes sure that we are reducing costs for families and small businesses, by allowing them to buy into a pool, the same kind of pool that members of Congress have.


We know that this is going to reduce the deficit by over a trillion dollars. So you've got a good package, in terms of substance. I don't spend a lot of time worrying about what the procedural rules are in the House or the Senate.

But the real stunner in all that fluff was his admission that he did not spend a lot of time worrying about the procedural rules of the senate.

Huh?

what about when you were in the Senate, Pantload? Maybe that's what's wrong with this guy. He spends too much time flapping his lips and not enough time understanding the process involved. I am all for separation of powers, but it would be nice to have a chief executive who understood the rules of the game and how the machinery operates.   

I recommend you read the transcript here (I can't bear to watch this guy blather on, no matter who is doing the interviewing) and you will see how bereft of substance he eally is. I gotta believe that our beloved Pantload-in-Chief was in a dancing mood because it was St Patty's day and he wanted to get in a jig or two.

..but, this was freakin' Riverdance.

Green Zone Stink Bomb

There is a God and he made cow turds and he made flies.

But he did NOT make The Green Zone. Universal Studios did that.

At the left there is a picture of both in case you're unclear on the concept. It also appears to be apt imagery for Matt Damon's latest stink bomb of a movie about some troop in Iraq looking for and failing to find WMDs. Of course, it's one of those tour de farce, bash-America-first, pieces of celluloid  crap that Hollywood loves to put out about how rotten and evil the government is and how they trumped up and propagandized our supposed reasons for getting involved in Iraq.

Haven't seen it; never will.

But it underscores how truly, monumentally thick Matt Damon and those that produced and directed this movie really are. Let's see, we are in the midst of a pro-American fervor brought upon by a public recoiling from a leftist/socialist government trying to usurp every aspect of our lives and a POSOTUS who flounces around the world butt-smooching every tin-pot dictator and groveling at the feet of every potentate and emperor he can find. It is a public hungry for some vestige of honor and respect for those who have so dearly paid the ultimate price, the young men and women in our military.

All we got were early morning photo-ops of the Chief Pantload greeting returning caskets at Dover AFB.

And now this two-hour piece of fecal matter.

What was Universal thinking? Must have been hard for the executives who green-lighted this one to concentrate with their heads wedged firmly up their rectums?

Apparently.

It is turning out to be a mega-bomb, earning only 14.5 millions in its first three days of screening. Doesn't look like it will earn the 150+ millions back that Universal invested in it.

By the way, in my opinion Matt Damon is truly stupid. I mean have you heard him in interviews? Barely literate; mumbling; liker Obama without a teleprompter only not as articulate. Good Will punting. He makes Sean "Rectal Cancer" Peen seem like a flaming scholar. And the Bourne series sucked as well; the jiggly cameras tore it for me in the second one. O.K., the guy's a renegade CIA operative with a massive chip on his shoulder, I get it.

So move along folks, there's nothing for you to see here.

I Recant

I went to SuperMex this past Sunday with my bride, the beautiful and talented Mrs Voyska PVO, and believe I will survive this illness that has afflicted me the past fortnight.

How do I know?

Well, I had their #4 combo (a chile relleno and chicken enchilada) and two Tecates. But most importantly, I could taste the food and the booze, something I have not been able to do for the last 15 days.

And it tasted real good.

Now, I don't hold out SuperMex -- a mid-level SoCal chain of Mexican food eateries -- as the acme of haute cuisine. In fact, I wouldn't know (or care) if haute cuisine came up and bit me in the ass. (cf. "Man bites Dog".) But it's good industrial-strength nourishment and blends well with Tecate -- as do most South of the Border grunts.

Anyway, the point is that I must have gotten my sea legs back and for this I am grateful. Afterward, I wandered up to Cerritos (Ed Morrissey's old stomping grounds before he opted for the arctic tundra on Minnesota) to see the kids and grandkids. My middle son's wife and their new daughter are headed back to Japan (she is a native) to spend a couple of months with Oto-san and Oka-san and let her husband concentrate on the bell lap of his linguistics masters degree. Thus, suffused with the glow from a good meal (and the suds) and surrounded by the sonorous bustle of busy rug rats, I felt humanity creeping back into my being; as I said, I am going to make it after all.

Which leads me to announce that I re-read my previous post and, in retrospect, I was having the equivalent of a bad hair day and, perhaps I should have taken a Midol or two.

O.K., so I admit that I probably dumped on Hewitt a little too hard. I was referencing the "Old Hugh", the pre-2008, middle-of-the-road right-of-center, we're-going-to-be-o.k. Hugh. The smug guy who cozied up to John Campbell when both really did not get too excited about illegal immigration. The guy seemingly did not see a threat looming on the horizon as our Supreme Pantload began his inexorable march to the White House. Hugh always seemed to err on the side of caution and did not believe it would be necessary to go to Defcon One, where conservatives are today.

Mr Excitement he was not. It was a snooze-fest glued together with commercials.

Well, that was, as I said, the "Old Hugh". In all fairness, the "New Hugh" is a fire-breather and gets really, really, really agitated at the shenanigans that this government is perpetrating on our asses. The guy who almost pegs out on his show when he points out how silly, stupid, pretentious, or just plain egotistical this  POSOTUS and his band of clowns really are. When he unloads on Pelosi, Reid and the crowd it is with animus and enthusiasm and great hunks of juicy red beef are hurled out to those who are up to here with the Bravo Sierra that passes as governance.

So, before I get too far down the page, I want to categorically recant anything unkind I may have said about Hugh. So long as the guy comes on the air and foams at the mouth about the world of fecal matter we're in, as long as he continues to host guests like Steyn, Benson, Ham, et al., he's all right with me. Now we're talking Sean Hannity and Mark Levin foaming, not Michael Savage slavering, you understand.

But as I said, lately the man's been on fire.

There's another observation I should make about his show that I did not before: his sidekick, Duane Patterson, is a guy who really works his ass off. And he knows his stuff. You doubt me? Take a listen to Ed Morrissey's webcast show on Hot Air every Friday when Duane is a regular guest. Morrissey's  one of the best wonks around (blogger of the year this year) and Duane stays with him neck and neck. I have grown fond of Patterson's contributions and gotta believe he is a major reason for Hugh's show being as enjoyable as it is.

So, I recant now that I have been given a new lease on life. Hell, I'd probably sit down with Hugh and have a couple of Tecates.

If Duane were along, I would even buy.

Enough is enough..

The old saw about coming home late to one's wife from a night out with the boys, a little tipsy, and no plausible excuse for your absence applies here: butrst through the door and, with a panic-stricken expression on your face, exclaim, "Don't pay the ransom, I escaped!"

Well, a fortnight of work responsibilities, a severe bout with the flu, and another severe bout with a USAF Auxiliary squadron commander who is possibly one of the poorest leaders I have worked for in my professional career, and just a general malaise have conspired to thwart any creativity of late.

Some time, I will go into the more sordid aspects of the squadron commander, suffice to say that the USAFA (a.k.a., Civil Air Patrol) is a volunteer endeavor and certain things can slide when one of the volunteers has been down with a 102 degree, a hacking cough, and all manner of gastric disturbances for five days.

Hell, even my boss at work -- where I do get paid for my efforts -- sent me home Friday with the admonition I was to dwell between the covers and he did not want to lay eyes on me until next Tuesday. A study in contrasts, these two men and I am one is overseeing the activities that earns me my daily crust and not the other.

O.K., so I'll let it go for now, but some time aske me about the "bring me a rock" school of management theory.

So after that great, whimpering preamble, there's nothing really to report on the National scene except that the POSOTUS is up to his usual stunts: holding that 7-hour comedy gold roast with the Republicans, only to find that his cheap dramatics are having less of an effect on swaying the American public than it did last Summer..and Fall..and Winter..

..and probably only slightly more than it will this Spring, just two weeks away.

Still wracked with some dizziness and remnants of fever, I leap from topic to topic like someone afflicted with Tourette's syndrome. But I gotta mention one thing and then I am hitting the sack with some O.J. and two APCs. 

During my illness, I downloaded a ton of the Hughniverse stuff to my iPod and listened to Hugh Hewitt's show all this past week. Now, I like Hugh, but sometimes he get's to stuffy, staid, and too much like an old guy who tries to hang with the young folks, overly hip, using terms that, I am sure make him an embarrassment to the younger crowd.

Not exactly 23-skiddoo and Oh, you kid! but you get the idea. And, to be perfectly clear, I am more aged than Hewitt. Hell, I am more aged than most everybody. And my attempt at youthful argot is an order of magnitude greater that Hewitt. And..he some times gets the bit between the teeth, gets one up in his wheel-house, and it's bye-bye, Mr Spalding! Also, while Hugh is somewhat contrived, he is no mewling, terminally self-referential Bill O'Reilly. I put that loser (O'Reilly) in my rear view about a dozen posts ago.

I just wish Hewitt would stop passing off some of his sponsors as show-segments in a broadcast hour already straining so much under commercial loads, it is about to break. Hugh's shows have more spots than 101 Dalmations.

But this week, he's cavorting around the Caribbean with some of his and has given the reins to Guy Benson and the lovely and talented Mary Katherine Ham and they did 15 hours of must-have commentary! Guy started off by dissecting every inane utterance of Pelosi's pathetic bleats about how the health car bill is so necessary and how they were fighting for the public's rights and best interests.

Anyway, I guess the point in all this blather is two-fold. One, Guy and Mary Katherine are good; they have that sharp, fresh, crispness to their delivery comes from their youthful exuberance and superior intellect. Their wit is this school-yard impudence backed by keen minds (notwithstanding Benson's matriculation from the same school that educated the questionable Rod Blagojevich) untrammeled by the plodding deliberation of additional years.

Were both of these young people major league pitching talent, it is fair to say one can imagine fast balls that hop, curve balls that drop off tables, and change-ups that confound, all delivered with effortless grace.

In all fairness, Hewitt is, if nothing, a master of assembling such talent and packaging for public consumption. He regularly corrals the incomparable Mark Steyn, Fred Barnes, and the aforementioned duo. But the mere tidbits he throws out during the commercial-laden segments of his daily show leave the audience screaming for more.

This is Hewitt's province, I suppose, because he has made his bones, taken the risks, rolled the bones and come up a winner. But still, I kind of wish he would not walk on Mr Benson, Ms Ham, and Mr Steyn. Hearing these peoples' riffs unsplattered with his incessant injections. Hugh should also throttle back on the jibes as well. from a recent blog entry:

"Many thanks to Guy Benson and Mary Katharine Ham for filling in for me this past week, and to Duane and Adam for keeping the duo from going off the rails.  My e-mails tell me that both Ham and Benson have long and distinguished careers ahead of them."

In light of my listening and re-listening to those segments on my iPod, I consider the above patronizing and unfunny. Like the Blagojevich jokes, this sort of thing gets old. And, I guess that is what differentiates Hewitt from Benson and Ham.

But then again, when I come down from my NyQuil high and shrug off the mantle of this debilitating illness, I guess I'll just revert to just a normal, grumpy old man.

KFTC..

Had a few beers with the bride and her Japanese lady friends -- The Obaban's -- and got to talking about what a grade double-A buttwipe this Pantload-in-Chief is and I showed them Hot Air.

Well, it's when I came across this classic rip-off of the Who's Teenage Wasteland replete with digs on that pussbag Gore.

Anyway, I'd write more but I m not coherent, having polished off a brace of Sapporo and a baker's dozen tacos. (Or is that a brace of tacos and a baker's dozen Sapporo?)

In any case, I am into the Myer's Rum at this point and..

..what the hell, just play the damn thing and enjoy the artistry of those from the North country who are more talented than us.

Must be the cold air; keeps their heads and thoughts clear.

Fading away..

No, certainly not the memory of George W. Bush. I am sure that more and more people are missing him and his relatively benign governance.

Certainly they miss the fact that he was a leader and a decider..especially after living under the incompetence of the Pantload-in-Chief and clueless band of merry men we have now. I am sure that he would be welcome back if for only having the good grace of staying out of our faces and off our TVs 24-7. It seems that one cannot turn to any media outlet without seeing that bony-faced, purple-lipped pontificating prevaricator talking -- always talking. One hopes that this coming November and a November two years from now, the American public will deliver him a big Sierra Tango Foxtrot Uniform message.

The day that bony-assed, metro-sexual, wuss starts disappearing in the public's rear view mirror cannot come soon enough for me.

Speaking of disappearing, it seems that the POSOSTUS's bump from that stand-up routine he delivered to Congress a week or so ago has all but evaporated with a vengeance.

We tire of this guy more quickly than we did before. His act is getting old.

Mark Steyn and Hugh Hewitt arrived at the conclusion that Obama -- whose chief talent seems to be just giving speeches -- is devaluing his worth with each lip-flap. Throw in stunners like his arrogant and incorrect scolding of the Supreme Court justices at the SOTU and his recent mispronunciation of corpsman as "corpse-man" (thrice, fer crissakes) and one has the rhetorical equivalent of the Wiemar republic's printing presses.

But that does not stop him. He is out there 24/7/365, endlessly bleating the same inanities on every media outlet available to him. At this rate, two things fill me with dread: (1) he'll start turning up on those ubiquitous gas station pump TV devices, blathering away about the energy crisis and (2) when he does finally get tossed out into the dust and dreck of Pennsylvania Avenue, he will embark on a farewell speech tour that will make Bill Clinton's grasping attempt o remain in the public conscience pale in comparison.

Or, perhaps an even more terrifying thought: what if some benighted fools start erecting bulletin boards with him asking if we miss him yet?

Oh dear, there goes another perfectly good night's sleep.

Green Shoots?

..more like green shots. Oh, I don't know, creme de menthe? Scope? Simple Green? Soylent Green?

The unadjusted unemployment figures for January came out today and it is reported that the rate declined to 9.7 percent which would seemingly be good news save for the fact that gthere are some anomalies in the underlying numbers.

The labor department made the following points about their job numbers, which should be considered in anticipation of the ubiquitous gleeful White house pronouncements:

• Construction employment declined by 75,000 in January, with nonresidential specialty trade contractors (-48,000) accounting for the majority of the decline. Since December 2007, employment in construction has fallen by 1.9 million.
    
• In January, transportation and warehousing employment fell by 19,000, due to a large job loss among couriers and messengers (-23,000).
    
• Employment in manufacturing was little changed in January (11,000). After experiencing steep job losses earlier in the recession, employment declines moderated considerably in the second half of 2009. In January, job gains in motor vehicles and parts (23,000) and plastics and rubber products (6,000) offset small job losses elsewhere in the industry.
    
• In January, temporary help services added 52,000 jobs. Since reaching a low point in September 2009, temporary help services employment has risen by 247,000.
    
• Retail trade employment rose by 42,000 in January, after showing little change in the prior 2 months. Job gains occurred in January among food stores (14,000), clothing stores (13,000), and general merchandise retailers (10,000).
    
• Health care employment continued to trend up in January. Ambulatory health care services added 15,000 jobs over the month.
    
• In January, the federal government added 33,000 jobs, including 9,000 temporary positions for Census 2010. Employment in state and local governments, excluding education, continued to trend down.

The last is significant and bears repeating: 33,000 new fed workers of which 9,000 are temporary. Oh yeah, that'll do it. Break out the Cooke's, put the Merlot on ice, lay in a supply of pork rinds, we've turned the corner!

Ed Morrissey over at Hot Air does his usual tour de force analysis of the numbers:

It’s not as bad as people feared, but it’s not really good news, either. The bounce in retail suggests that people may be ready to spend, but the declines in most other areas show that there are still fewer of them who can.

Update: This passage seems like a key to understanding why the rate dropped:

In January, the number of persons unemployed due to job loss decreased by 378,000 to 9.3 million. Nearly all of this decline occurred among permanent job losers.  (See table A-11.)

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) continued to trend up in January, reaching 6.3 million. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of long-term unemployed has risen by 5.0 million. (See table A-12.)

As before, shrinking the denominator of the population of  jobseekers has the same effect as increasing the nominator of people holding jobs — it decreases the ratio of unemployment to the population.  Also, according to this chart, December’s losses got adjusted to 150,000, not 73,000.  We’re still trending downward.

Also, a hat tip to Hot Air poster Todler, who provides this quote form CNN:

The U.S. economy lost 20,000 jobs in January, but the unemployment rate fell to 9.7%, according to a government report released Friday.

The Labor Department said the economy continued to shed jobs, even as economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected a net gain of 15,000 jobs in December.

The unemployment rate fell to 9.7% in January, much lower than economists’ forecasts of 10%. It is the lowest rate since August.

The Labor Department also released an annual revision of U.S. payrolls on Friday, using data that wasn’t initially available. Losses for 2009 alone came to 4.8 million jobs, more than 600,000 more than previously estimated. The revision showed the economy has lost 8.4 million jobs since the start of the recession in December 2007 — 1.4 million more job losses than initially reported.

The payroll number for December was revised to a net loss of 150,000 jobs. The government had previously indicated that 85,000 jobs were lost in December.

The only way we lost more jobs in January and had a lower unemployment number is a MASSIVE increase in “discouraged” workers, Todler correctly observed.

Also, someone in the Purple-lipped Prevaricator's staff has been hacking the definition of "Employed American, me thinks.

The Memory Hole..

Orwell's 1984 featured an oppressive, socialistic, statist government who regularly reworked history -- revising past pronouncements to fit current policy -- and saw to it that all references to the old order was erased from memory.

Now word is out that this Reuters article appearing on Yahoo is in the process of being pulled/suppressed by the White House. Here it is in its entirety before Winston shoves it down the memory hole. Oh yeah, emphasis added:

Backdoor taxes to hit middle class
Mon Feb 1, 4:09 PM
By Terri Cullen
NEW YORK (Reuters.com) --The Obama administration's plan to cut more than $1 trillion from the deficit over the next decade relies heavily on so-called backdoor tax increases that will result in a bigger tax bill for middle-class families.

In the 2010 budget tabled by President Barack Obama on Monday, the White House wants to let billions of dollars in tax breaks expire by the end of the year -- effectively a tax hike by stealth.

While the administration is focusing its proposal on eliminating tax breaks for individuals who earn $250,000 a year or more, middle-class families will face a slew of these backdoor increases.

The targeted tax provisions were enacted under the Bush administration's Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. Among other things, the law lowered individual tax rates, slashed taxes on capital gains and dividends, and steadily scaled back the estate tax to zero in 2010.

If the provisions are allowed to expire on December 31, the top-tier personal income tax rate will rise to 39.6 percent from 35 percent. But lower-income families will pay more as well: the 25 percent tax bracket will revert back to 28 percent; the 28 percent bracket will increase to 31 percent; and the 33 percent bracket will increase to 36 percent. The special 10 percent bracket is eliminated.

Investors will pay more on their earnings next year as well, with the tax on dividends jumping to 39.6 percent from 15 percent and the capital-gains tax increasing to 20 percent from 15 percent. The estate tax is eliminated this year, but it will return in 2011 -- though there has been talk about reinstating the death tax sooner.

Millions of middle-class households already may be facing higher taxes in 2010 because Congress has failed to extend tax breaks that expired on January 1, most notably a "patch" that limited the impact of the alternative minimum tax. The AMT, initially designed to prevent the very rich from avoiding income taxes, was never indexed for inflation. Now the tax is affecting millions of middle-income households, but lawmakers have been reluctant to repeal it because it has become a key source of revenue.

Without annual legislation to renew the patch this year, the AMT could affect an estimated 25 million taxpayers with incomes as low as $33,750 (or $45,000 for joint filers). Even if the patch is extended to last year's levels, the tax will hit American families that can hardly be considered wealthy -- the AMT exemption for 2009 was $46,700 for singles and $70,950 for married couples filing jointly.

Middle-class families also will find fewer tax breaks available to them in 2010 if other popular tax provisions are allowed to expire. Among them:

* Taxpayers who itemize will lose the option to deduct state sales-tax payments instead of state and local income taxes;

* The $250 teacher tax credit for classroom supplies;

* The tax deduction for up to $4,000 of college tuition and expenses;

* Individuals who don't itemize will no longer be able to increase their standard deduction by up to $1,000 for property taxes paid;

* The first $2,400 of unemployment benefits are taxable, in 2009 that amount was tax-free.

There's some really cold, hard stuff in the article (and in the underlying expiring tax cuts). Every day, in every way, this purple-lipped, whistling tooth sack of shit (yes, I said sack of shit) and his cronies in the Congress need to get thrown out of office along with the rest of the blood-sucking parasites in the federal bureaucracy.

Hey, GOP, you looking for a good contract with America theme? Well, here's a good start.