Exposed & filleted Obamacare

Best Ever

For those who don't read Ann Coulter, because you don't like Ann Coulter, read MY HEALTH CARE PLAN by Milton Friedman

Galoshes & no-thumb wool mittens

NCAA Tourney Day 1

the best first day of hoops ever!

I watched every game CBS televised, and was mesmerized throughout. Some of the worst (uneven) officiating too. Best result: #3 seed Georgetown losing to #14 Ohio.  Most exciting, and possibly best drilled team: St.Mary's (Robert Morris too) Based on what I saw yesterday, St. Mary's is my dark horse. (live score board below)

Pelosi invades Russia

Dems giddy, GOP USA glum as vote looms “ On Thursday, Capitol Hill Democrats smiled. A lot. They walked with a spring in their step, some whistling a jaunty tune. Only Sen. John Kerry wore a long face, and yet even he was happy. ”

Only John Kerry wore a long face. That has to be the best story lede in  WaTimes history!  But, why are Democrats smiling over having to twist senate and house rules, not to mention the U.S. Constitution, into an unrecognizable monstrosity, in order to impose upon us legislation we hate?  I suppose Hitler's inner circle also had a "spring in their steps" as they invaded Russia. [http://tinyurl.com/Hitler-Invades-Russia]

Barone on Slaughter

The House voted this afternoon by a 222-203 margin to pass the “Slaughter solution”   but ...   the House leadership is still significantly short of 216 votes on final passage

The LOOK

The Look

I didn't watch the Oscars, and would have no idea what the back-story is here.  But watch Sandra Bullock, here winning the Oscar, and her facial and  body language as hubby congratulates her.  Every married man knows that look, and knows he's in trouble for something (hopefully, not for the same reason).

Killer Giraffe

click

Roll & click for story

Set up?

HOMELAND SECURITY

There's a whole lot to think about in this 00:02:15 clip from South Park's "Pandemic" What did Teh Him mean by this?

Why We Win

All Blow Up

A Middle East Without American Influence? That's the logical outcome of the Obama administration's current policies.*

“ In the middle of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, Henry Kissinger airlifted arms shipments to Israel in order to guarantee an Israeli victory that for a time had seemed uncertain. Kissinger's strategic intention was to show the Arabs that as long as Washington stood behind Israel, there was no way they could ever defeat the Jewish state. ... Of course, with those arms shipments, Kissinger meant to drive home another lesson as well, this one to Israel—in effect, that Washington held the power of life and death over the Jewish state and that Israeli leaders had best keep in line. This arrangement—Israeli strength and Arab weakness—secured what some have called the Pax Americana of the Middle East. ”

“ But here's the most important thing: Even if you discount the centrality of shame and honor as operative principles in the Middle East, the Obama administration has blundered by jeopardizing not Israel's stature but our own regional interests and the Pax Americana that has been ours over the last 35 years. Our position in the region depends on every actor there knowing that we back Israel to the hilt and that they are dependent on us. Sure, there are plenty of times we will not see eye-to-eye on things—differences that should be resolved in quiet consultations—but should any real distance open up between Washington and Jerusalem, that will send a message that the U.S.-backed order of the region is ready to be tested. And that's exactly what the axis of resistance is seeing right now. ” * What happens when you send a self absorbed Marxist punk to do a man's job.

Terps & 'tics

Basketball Gets Political, and It Seems Politicians Don't Like Maryland

I love that Obama has the Terps losing to MSU in the round of 32.  If he's right, it'll  be the first time ever that I'm aware of.  I mean about anything. Plus, Hoyer deserved it.

Will this madness end? With us intact?

To save Obama's presidency ...

This E-21 discussion of Obamacare is a gold nugget wrapped in kraft paper.  Some excellent points made- e.g. “ In a recent essay in the Washington Post, EJ Dionne argued that we had no choice but to accept that government would grow larger in the future “because the private economy will not offer the same security it once did through employer-provided health and pension plans.” “The interesting aspect of this theory – which is hardly unique to Dionne – is the view that the government is some entirely disconnected entity that is able to finance obligations too weighty for households. If one assumes that government’s budget capacity comes entirely from the taxes it imposes on households – Dionne’s framework is unintelligible. If outlays are too great for the household sector to bear, how could these outlays be any more affordable for an entity entirely financed by the same households?” ” The idea of government as an entity entirely separate from the households that fund it is not only silly, but also exceedingly harmful, because it distracts from the serious business of confronting trade-offs and establishing realistic expectations.  But, this is no longer a battle of cost v. results, else it's over. It's a battle of ideologies.  Dennis Kucinich just  flipped on health care to "Save Obama's presidency" --- instead of standing by his previously stated principles.  To save Obama's presidency.   Differences of opinion are healthy.   Differences in ideology are not, nor have they existed at this level in all our history.  There are not two American ideologies.

Right now our Fallujah is the health care bill

Today's smartest person

The O Club I nominate lotp for great thinker of the univerese, today. And not just because he here speaks my mind with his mouth.  Well, yeah, it is. OS, I fear that the far left is quite aware that they are radicalizing the right, and will use the first instance of violence as an excuse to ditch all but the thinnest veneer of true representational government. Remember: the far left hates the middle class above all. Their aim is to destabilize, to destroy the day to day orderliness that allows good people to go on with their lives quietly. So yes, we're under attack. We need to: Repel the immediate attack Figure out a strategy Counterattack - but choose our terrain, timing and methods to give us the best chance of success Longer term: clear and hold. Which may require Fallujah levels of intense political combat, fighting for every inch and every building. And then fortifying those areas and consolidating gains. Right now our Fallujah is the health care bill and the sequence of other 'reforms' the far left is pushing in rapid succession (continued) and then read this from Old Spook -   I always stood outside the political system, because my duty and integrity demanded it. A lot of us are uncomfortable with becoming personally involved in politics, other than voicing an opinion and filling in our ballots on election day. You can see that in a lot of us vets - like Pappy for instance. But I'm trying to do what I can -- that's why I went to the caucus, and got my self elected as a delegate. For the first time in all these decades of my life I have become overtly and directly involved in the political side of things. Its not in my comfort zone, and I do not like operating in the open like this. But something had to be done. The problem is, it may not be enough. I was not so worried before this, as I thought the usual political machinery could be harnessed to correct this. That's why I jumped in, to help try to push things the right way. But last night really opened my eyes. My perception now is that there are far more potential loose cannons than there are people trying to secure and aim them properly. Malicious power-hungry people on both sides benefit from them being the way they are. The Democrat leadership just does not seem to understand how this is going to cause a number of people to snap their bonds to this government (c.f. Waco, BATF and McVeigh), they are so self righteous they have arrogantly ignored needing the consent of those they are supposed to represent. They seem to think they can use any violent reactions to crack down and further consolidate collectivist power in the state. They do not realize just how fundamentally wrong they are in gauging the grim fire and fight in that part of the population . On the other side, the GOP leadership, in its lust for political power, doesn't realize that these folks will break away from the system in a fundamental way that will not benefit the GOP politically they way the leadership thinks it will. In order to remedy things, these "broken away" people will be looking for far more direct and high impact methods than a voting booth (again, c.f. McVeigh et al). And that's what's keeping me up at nights. (continued)

Marmaduke- Kiss-ass

Class kiss-ass

Looterman Jr.

Flap-Jacks and White Bucks

SHOES & the 50's Man

Flap Jacks Rollover for real Flap-Jacks “ Blogger  gunnypink  said...     Hi, kids, my name's Buster Brown, I live in a shoe, this is my dog Tige, he lives there too. OK Froggy, twang your magic twanger. Couldn't sell a pair of kids shoes with that today...gotta have a BB star endorse the shoe first. So, who was more ignernt? ” While the commercial for Buster Brown shoes had a sort of cult following, my gang wouldn't be caught dead wearing them.  Not that that we always had a choice.  I remember three "must have" shoes while I was growing up in Chicago. Because we wore uniforms (khaki trousers, white shirt and brown tie), shoes were the only way to have an identity, and were extremely important in determining your position on the social pecking order.  My first "must have" shoes were what I remember as "Flap-Jacks," which memory tells me were from Thom McCan?  I spent two hours trying to find them.     * Flap-Jacks - nothing.  Snap-Jacks - nothing.     * "Flap opening vintage shoes" - nothing.     * A dozen other variations got me - nothing.  I recreated them above. (Just before going to press the real ones popped up in a search for "white bucks"   The description said "with Nu-Lock Front."  Maybe in the sticks.  I can still hear the commercial for Flap-Jacks. Anyway, I wanted those flap-jacks desperately, but mother fended me off with "they'll break;"  "they look stupid;" "you'll look like a a hood"  Hood was pronounced "hewd," as in hoodlum.  The real reason was that they cost more than what she wanted to spend. She finally relented however, and I was able to maintain my gravitas at St. Francis.  BLACK ENGINEER BIKER BOOTS STEEL TOE OMG OMG OMG - these absolute "must haves" met with the greatest resistance. "You'll look like a a hood" I wanted these more than I wanted Flap-Jacks. I wanted them with  cleats. I really don't remember what it was that turned her; maybe my incessant Eric Cartman whine ,"but mommmm."  I do remember getting into the car and driving to a shoe store on Harlem Ave (and that when we left the store, it was nearly dark out). The boots pictured here (from E-bay) are the EXACT boots I got.  Hell, they might even be mine? At the checkout,  I asked if they could put cleats on them, and before the clerk could respond my mom said, "Absolutely not!  You'll already look like a hood, and I don't want my floors ruined."   The next day at recess I rode my bike to a shoe repair store,  and for 75¢ had the biggest, baddest cleats they had put on.  I made sure to walk on my toes around her, but she soon heard me outside on the sidewalk, and blew a fuse.  Took a screwdriver and ripped 'em off.   I settled for putting a lot of thumb tacks in the heels. WHITE BUCKS were next.  The stylish young man was then wearing gunmetal gray trousers, with pink stitching down the leg, a pink shirt, and black knit tie with two horizontal pink stripes.  And white buck shoes.  Mom was fine with the pink (duh), so it became a matter of whether Robert Hall (Easter Clothes store)  carried them.  They did, except for the pink shirt and stitched trousers.  She took care of that by dying one of my school shirts pink, and stitching some trousers down the pants leg. They were not gunmetal, and the stitching was .........., and not - - - - - - -.  To complete the disaster, she substituted these faux-bucks embarrassment for the realwhite bucks. Nothing about being a hood, just too expensive.  Did you notice the look of pain on my face in the "stylish" roll over?  It was tempered, somewhat, because my best pal Tim Hill's (left) mother made him wear that abortion..  Still, it's a wonder I didn't grow up to be a serial killer.

Lawless Government

Slaughter House Rules

Looks like the fun is over “ We have entered a political wonderland, where the rules are whatever Democrats say they are. Mrs. Pelosi and the White House are resorting to these abuses because their bill is so unpopular that a majority even of their own party doesn't want to vote for it. Fence-sitting Members are being threatened with primary challengers, a withdrawal of union support and of course ostracism. Michigan's Bart Stupak is being pounded nightly by MSNBC for the high crime of refusing to vote for a bill that he believes will subsidize insurance for abortions. WSJ ” Bill Clinton was impeached for perjury.

Buster Brown

If you liked this, you will probably like the twanger.

For that price it better grow diamonds on your sack

Praise Jesus, Times Must Be Good

$68 Milk

Amazon is like TIVO.  If you look at one weird thing, you get profiled.  In my case, evidently, into the category "schmuck."