What Obama Could Do

Long-time readers of these pages and my Facebook rants often assume that I have a deep and abiding hatred of Barack Obama. 
It ain't so. 
Obama promised to "spread the wealth around", and he's done his best to fulfill that promise, even though it has been disastrous for the economy overall.  The Porkulus bill was insane, but it hasn't cost any more than our recent wars against people who didn't attack us. 
I can quibble over Obama's broken promises to shut down Gitmo, his failure to bring home all the troops, and his general squishiness on gay marriage (until recently).

Compared to the Republicans, though, Obama has been a George Washington of honesty.  How the GOP can call itself "small government" after one Reagan and two Bushes remains a mystery.  In 2010, for the offices where we didn't have a Libertarian candidate on the ballot, I voted Democrat.  I'm sick, sick, sick of Republicans giving "small government" a bad name, especially the Republicans who are affiliated with the Religious Right. 

So let me know what you think of these suggestions for next week's Democrat Convention at Bank Of America Arena.  These are listed only as a public service. 

1) Ron Paul supporters are pissed.  I mean they are royally pissed.  They've been kicked out, shown the door and dumped on. 
Ron Paul is anti-war, pro-gay/lesbian marriage, anti-drug war, and anti-Federal Reserve.  It wouldn't hurt Obama to come out swinging against any more overseas adventures, and he could pledge to bring Hillary back to the house.  He could promise to legalize weed.  He could personally invite Ron Paul to speak at the Democrat convention !!  Who knows what would happen??
It would be difficult for Obama to speak out against Bernanke's counterfeiting operation at the Fed, but he could let Biden do it, since nobody takes Biden seriously anyway. 
All of this would be total B.S., but how many pledges and promises made at conventions and State Of The Union events are anything else? 

2) Trot out Bill Clinton as much as possible.  Clinton (and Gingrich) turned in a few years of balanced budgets.  He semi-reformed welfare.  He introduced NAFTA.  Yeah, he made a few failed stabs at an early version of ObamneyCare, but that was just to keep Hillary out of his hair so he could mess around with interns. 
Al Gore banished Clinton during his presidential run.  But the man has now been reformed and rehabilitated.  We did well while Bill was in office.  Obama should simply pretend that Clinton is the candidate. 

3) Keep Elizabeth ! Warren !! out of the convention hall.  Disinvite the woman from her current prime-time slot.  Obama was channeling Warren when he uttered his disastrous "You Didn't Build That" line.  That stuff probably plays well wherever Warren teaches, but it doesn't resonate with the folks who are having to pay ridiculous taxes to pay government contractors too much money for substandard services.  Have her call in with diarrhea. 

4) IMHO, Joe Biden is now officially stark, raving mad.  Paul Ryan is a bailout loving and TARP loving and stimulus loving Republican who has repeatedly voted for disaster while campaigning for sanity.  All that having been said, nobody cares about those votes except Libertarians. 
Despite his inconsistencies, Paul Ryan is also going to rip Joe Biden's head off. 
It's going to be brutal.  There is no point in it, no reason to broadcast this massacre during prime time when some of our children might still be awake. 
Biden couldn't even put away Sarah Palin. 
The Democrats don't want Biden going up against Ryan.  It's gonna be ugly, ugly, ugly. 

For a while, there was a "Draft Hillary" movement floating around, but she's even more polarizing than Biden. 

What to do, what to do.....

How about this:  Barack Obama should have Biden appear on Day One of the convention, and have him make his standard, goofy speech.  Then Biden should claim that he's been diagnosed with Alzheimer's.  Express regret that he can't continue to carry on the fight against the other side.  The press won't demand a medical diagnosis from anyone; Hell, they print every word that Obama/Biden say without skepticism.  

Day Three: Obama comes out, makes his speech, and declares that ________ __________ is now his choice for Veep. 

I think these four proposals would work for him. 
He'll never do any of this. 
There's no money in it for his supporters/owners. 

So in the meantime, I hope you'll support a candidate who has pledged to give us the small government that Republicans have failed to provide, and the civil liberties that Democrats have failed to provide......

The Democrat Party's War On Women !!!

The Democrats are promoting a Republican War On Women meme, when they should be pumping out a Republican War On Freedom, Fiscal Sanity, and Stability meme.   
From Rand Simberg:

It should be shocking, by the conventional narrative, that the White House of a “liberal” president would be a hostile work environment for women, but it is not at all a surprise to anyone familiar with the history of the Democrats and the Left, going back at least to the 1960s, when a prominent Democrat politician got a pass from the media for abandoning a young woman (possibly pregnant by him) to drown in his car. The same man went on to later fame as the top slice of bread in a “waitress sandwich,” and yet was so lionized by the Left that not that long ago, at the time of his death, a woman(!) wrote that Mary Jo Kopechne might have been happy to undergo the terror as her lungs filled with the brackish water of Martha’s Vineyard had she only known what a great legislator he would turn out to be.

To see similar hypocritical Leftist misogyny, we need only go back to the last time a Democrat was in the White House. Whenever a woman came forward with allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct by Bill Clinton, the response of the Clinton defenders, both in and out of the media, was to attack her credibility, character, and virtue. Advisor James Carville famously said of Paula Jones (the young Arkansas state employee whom Clinton as governor had his state police guard procure to his hotel room for the purpose of orally pleasuring him), “Drag $100 bills through trailer parks, there’s no telling what you’ll find.”

Evan Thomas of Newsweek dutifully complemented the slander by declaring her on national television “just some sleazy woman with big hair coming out of the trailer parks,” though he later was compelled to apologize in print. (One wonders how residents of trailer parks felt about that, but I guess empathy for them is for the little people.) When Kathleen Willey accused the president of groping her in the White House, and was physically threatened for her trouble, feminist icon and (former) scourge of sexual harassers Gloria Steinem said that it was no problem — he was entitled to a freebie, after which Cathy Young of Reason magazine reported on “the death of sexual harassment.”

Remember the outrage from NOW in response to all of this?  That's funny.  I don't either. 

It got worse. As the Paula Jones lawsuit progressed, and the president committed acts of obstruction of justice (federal felonies) by perjury and subornation of perjury through threats and bribes, the White House was prepared to go after Monica Lewinsky, the woman about whom he engaged in such obstruction. She was bribed with jobs, and urged to in turn suborn perjury from her confidante Linda Tripp, by implying threats against her family. If the incriminating blue dress hadn’t turned up, their plan was to continue to cover up and lie, and accuse Lewinsky of being a crazy stalker. The White House orchestrated the leak of the personnel files of Pentagon employee Linda Tripp, the only person in the entire fiasco who told the truth, in an attempt (sadly quite successful) to discredit her. This included a mistaken felony arrest record that had been sealed since she was a teenager. She was vilified and maligned in the media, with late-night comedians mocking her physical appearance. It’s unlikely that many of these people were either conservatives or Republicans.

Or Libertarians. 
I don't think that Lee Wrights or Gary Johnson will kill any women if elected. 

A Hypothetical Question About The Nobel Peace Prize

The last three Democrat adminstrations have produced three Nobel Peace prize winners.

Carter/Mondale - Carter won it, and then went off into full-time Foreign Policy interference. 

Clinton/Gore - Gore won it, and then went off to be a Green Scam Billionaire. 

Obama/Biden - Obama won the Peace Prize, and then went off to bomb the crap out of Libya, get involved in Pakistan, and then carefully maintain the other wars that we had on our plate. 

So....There's long been talk of replacing Biden on the 2012 ballot with someone who is marginally sane.  Now there's talk of replacing Obama on the 2012 ballot with someone who is marginally electable. 

If this happens, and the new Democrate Duo happens to win, is the Nobel automatically awarded to one of the new Statists?  Should it be, just to save time? 

Just wondering. 

Bill Clinton: "No country on earth believes that government is the problem"

Ok, deep, deep breath.

Nazi Germany
Cuba
North Korea
Uganda
China
Mussolini's Italy
Greece
Iran
Iraq
Pakistan
Sudan
Zimbabwe
Burma
Saudi Arabia
Libya
Egypt
Somalia (which is actually improving, now that it has no government)
Venezuela
Equatorial Guinea
Turkmenistan
Swaziland
Bloomberg's New York City
California

People need a government to secure their own borders, provide a dollop of infrastructure, enforce contracts, provide a courts system, and referee any spats about externalities. 
The other things that governments attempt usually create problems.
Governments are a necessary evil.  No more than that. 

The United States is 15 trillion dollars in debt.  This is the biggest financial problem ever created by a government, or anyone else. 
 
Every taxpayer in the U.S. has to cough up $150,000.00 before we can work our way back up to the level of "Homeless Destitute Wino". 
And that's still not enough to take care of our government's future financial obligations, all of which are unfunded.

You can take away every penny earned by the Evil Rich, and it still won't cover the tab. 
Do you want to tax the hell out of the people earning more than 1 million per year? 
If you want to take care of just this year's tax bill, all you have to do is tax them 6 million per year. 
The math doesn't work, does it? 

Bill Clinton has gotten filthy rich because of "serving" in government.
But chances are, you are broke because of Clinton and his ilk.

Wake up.   

Bill Clinton thinks Climate Change Deniers make us look like a joke

From Politico:
Bill Clinton turned up the heat on the leading Republican presidential contenders Tuesday, saying their opposition to acknowledging climate change makes the country “look like a joke.”

“If you’re an American, the best thing you can do is to make it politically unacceptable for people to engage in denial” about climate change, the former president said on the first day of the Clinton Global Initiative’s seventh annual meeting in New York City.

“I mean, it makes us — we look like a joke, right?"

Here's the pic of Clinton addressing the Climage Change conference, which I assume he flew to on a green plane powered by green hamsters on recyled treadmills.  I remember the last time he wagged his finger like that, don't you?

Speaking of jokes, here's a U.N. map from about 10 years ago, showing all the places that were supposed to be underwater by now if we didn't give Clinton, Gore, the U.N. and Climate Scientists lots and lots of money.  And set up a carbon credit exchanges through one of Gore's companies.  And stayed home a lot more, unlike Clinton and Gore. 

This is a beautiful map.  I love it more than life itself.  Go here for the original post. 
Speaking of other jokes, here's Clinton's Vice-President, Al Gore, The Goracle Of Music City Tennessee, claiming that THE POLAR ICE CAPS WILL BE GONE BY 2013 if we don't give him and his venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins, a whole lot of money.  Enjoy.  It's a real knee-slapper, but not as funny as the map.  This is from back in 2008.  Hit the link. 

Finally, here's a post about some crazed Brit named David Parker, at the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research in Berkshire claiming that snow is going to be a thing of the past in England.  Hit the link.  He made this statement in 2000.  The pics of the snowstorms are from 2010, and are hilarious.  Funny, funny, stuff.  Some might even call them a joke.   

Caption Contest - Sycophantic Laughter Edition

I need a caption for this picture:

Can someone please explain to me why the president of the United States is letting Bill Clinton fill in for him at press conferences?

Here's the New York Holy Times:

With Mr. Obama standing largely silently at his side, Mr. Clinton took over the lectern to lend his backing to the tax compromise the White House reached this week with Republicans. And then Mr. Clinton went on, for half an hour, answering questions and holding forth on topics from triangulation to Haiti to the mortgage crisis and the nuclear arms treaty with Russia.


Even after the 44th president excused himself and left the room, the 42nd went on. On cable TV, Mr. Clinton’s presence in front of the blue backdrop with the White House logo was familiar, as were the wagging finger and the occasional bitten lip.

Mr. Clinton and Mr. Obama turned up suddenly after meeting privately together for almost 90 minutes in the Oval Office. With no warning to Mr. Obama’s aides, the two men wandered through the nearly deserted West Wing — most staff members were at a holiday party — and tried to get into the briefing room but found the door locked. Only after they finally encountered Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, were arrangements made to turn on the lights and microphone and assemble the press corps.

This really did happen.  It's on television, and you can hear about it on the radio.  Pictures were taken.  Recorders were rolling.  Bill Clinton is addressing the press on behalf of The Teleprompter Jesus.  What in the heck is going on in there?  Does anyone know?  Can anyone explain it? 

OBAMA THEN LEFT THE PRESS CONFERENCE, SAYING THAT HE AND MICHELLE HAD TO GET TO A CHRISTMAS PARTY !!!!!  HE LET BILL FREAIN' CLINTON FINISH HIS PRESS CONFERENCE !!!!!  
I MEAN, I'M NOT A HUGE FAN OF GEORGE W., BUT CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT WOULDA HAPPENED IF GEORGE W. HAD TURNED THE PRESIDENTIAL PODIUM OVER TO HIS DADDY ???
Here's what Iowahawk had to say:

WASHINGTON DC - Ending weeks of speculation and rumors, President-Elect Barack Obama today named Bill Clinton to join his incoming administration as President of the United States, where he will head the federal government's executive branch.


"I am pleased that Bill Clinton has agreed to come out of retirement to head up this crucial post in my administration," said Obama. "He brings a lifetime of previous executive experience as Governor of Arkansas and President of the United States, and has worked closely with most of the members of my Cabinet."

And then....

"Let's face it, it's obvious I'm in way over my head here," explained Obama. "Anyone paying attention knows I am a disaster waiting to happen, and who can blame them? I mean, just look at the stock market. That's why I think it's in the best interest of the country that I hand over the reins to people who, whatever their ethical shortcomings, at least have a faint clue about what they're doing. Come on, man. I've got a 401-k, too."


While the naming of Clinton appears to have momentarily calmed jittery financial markets, it sparked ripples of disapproval at liberal websites like Huffington Post and DailyKos. The progressive blogosphere was an early key source of support for Mr. Obama's candidacy, but a steady stream of Clinton-era appointees since the election has left some charging that he had betrayed his campaign promises to bring them to Washington as part of a sweeping culture of change -- a charge that Mr. Obama vehemently accepted.

"Oh, for crissakes. Are you kidding me? Are you friggin' kidding me?" asked Obama. "Of course I betrayed those goddamned idiots. Have any of you actually spent five minutes with them? I have, unfortunately. Nothing personal, but I wouldn't trust these internet windowlickers with a plastic spork from Taco Bell, let alone a freaking $3 trillion dollar budget global superpower. Look, I may be naive, but I'm not stupid. And if Kose or Koz or whatever the f*** his name is thinks for one second I give a rat's ass about who he wants in charge of the Treasury Department, he's even stupider than he looks."

Hit the Iowahawk link above to read the whole thing.  It is priceless. 
It really has come to this.  Bill Clinton is now filling in.  At least we have an adult in the room. 
Here's the New York Times picture of Obama leaving the leader of the free world podium to go to a party or play some basketball or mess with Sasha and Malia's Wii or something. 

Bill Clinton attacks Rand Paul and Republicans and gets some of it right

From Bill Estep, of the Lexington Herald-Leader.  This is ex-President Bill Clinton, on Wannabe Senator Rand Paul's radical ideas:

Former President Bill Clinton stumped for fellow Democrat Jack Conway on Monday, delivering a strongly-worded repudiation of Republican Rand Paul and his “radical ideas” for a smaller government.

We might as well start there, with the "radical ideas" for a smaller government.  There is no moderate, prudent, incremental way to get out of a 14 trillion dollar debt.  Screw it, it can't be done. 

Kentucky’s U.S. Senate race is between a practical, progressive moderate who has a plan....

....O God, another Democrat with a plan.  He's also a "moderate".  I'm sick of moderates who reach across the aisle in a bipartisan effort to work with the other side to move the agenda forward and "get something done for the American people".  I wish we could boil our choices down to the extremists in each camp. 

Moderates have almost compromised us out of existence. 

.... versus a guy “with radical ideas and no record to back it up,” Clinton told a few thousand people gathered outside the Administration Building at the University of Kentucky.

Once again, the job is going to require radical ideas.  Radical ideas aren't a defect.  They're a selling point. 

Clinton said Paul would roll back federal protection for people with disabilities....

When time permits, go here to see how much the Americans With Disabilities Act has helped Americans With Disabilities.  (Their employment rate was increasing nicely until our government decided to help 'em out.)

.... while pushing tax cuts for rich people.

This dead horse has been beaten until it's a pulpy mess that even vultures are avoiding.  The top 50% of the earners pay 97% of the taxes.  If taxes are going to be cut significantly, if we're going to get more money out into the productive economy, if we're going to stop politicians from giving your money to their friends, contractors, military suppliers, drug warriors, hangers-on, deadbeats, regulators, worry-warts, global warmists, human barnacles, bureaucrats, slot-fillers, inspectors, teachers who can't teach, African Genital Washers, border guards, obesity police and ethanol subsidizers, then the tax cuts are going to have to go to the people in the top income levels.  It really is that simple.  You can't cut any lower than zero, and the non-rich are already at zero. 

He also mentioned the possibility of cuts to food safety....

These are the people who gave a huge thumbs-up to Oxycontin, but continue to outlaw medical marijuana.  For decades, they advised that you eat 6-11 daily servings of bread, cereal, rice and pasta. 

....air traffic control....

Heck yes !  Privatize it ! 

 ....education....

Oh, for the love of God and all things holy.  Is there any dollar amount that will ever be enough?  In the last 25 years we've almost doubled the spending on education, and the needle hasn't budged.  Privatize it tomorrow.  Let a thousand flowers bloom.  See what else works and watch parents flock to it. 

 and workplace training

In the last 9 months, I've probably cycled through 100 Temp Employees.  Almost all of them have been through some kind of workplace training, courtesy of Community Colleges, Job Training Boondoggles, or even Porkulus funds.  One of them, one out of a hundred, could do a halfway decent job of making some numeric signs with Microsoft Word.  I think we can cut Uncle Sam's workplace training programs with no loss of national productivity. 

....among other things. Republicans try to portray Democrats as the party of big government spending while claiming to be the party of restraint, Clinton said.

Well, he got that right.  Until Obama, Reid and Pelosi made them look like skinflint penny pinchers, Republicans spent more than Democrats.  If you're interested, here's something I wrote back in the bright sunshiny period of 2008, back when I actually thought that there was no way ANYONE could EVER outspend George W. Bush.  It's pretty funny to look back on. 

Sheesh.  Obama has made Bush look like Ebeneezer Scrooge. 

Anyway, back to my point....There is no moderate way to get us out of a 14 trillion dollar hole.  Seriously, can you imagine the Republicans shutting down the Department Of Energy?  It's the biggest waste in Washington, but no Republican candidate has mentioned closing it.  Department of Education?  No way.  How about privatizing Social Security, or at least letting us opt out of the program?  Nope.  That's the 3rd rail. 

Republicans spend like there's no tomorrow, usually on a war against drugs or terror or imported wheat or illegal Messicans. 

So please consider the Libertarian Party this November.  We don't want to run anything, we simply want to kill The Beast.  We don't want to lead you, we want you to be left alone.  We want to march on Washington and demand.....nothing. 

And remember what Bill Clinton said, and what has been the case for the last 30 years or so.  If you want a smaller government, voting Republican is a wasted vote. 

Ronald Reagan was a fiscal conservative ????

This post is about the funniest 3 word combination in the English language. 

But first, check out this movie trailer.  I WILL see this if it ever makes it to Texas:



There's only one problem. Why are they featuring Republican politicians?  Especially Ronald Reagan? 

Ronald Reagan was able to increase the amount of money coming into the Treasury by using a simple method.  He lowered taxes.  GDP increased as people hid less of their income and put it to work in sensible ways.  It's better to have 15% of a thousand dollars than 85% of a hundred dollars.
 
But under Reagan, our government spent money like, well, like Republicans. 

Here's a chart showing U.S. debt as a percentage of GDP.  It's from Wikipedia, but it roughly follows the info to be found here:

Look at the pink band running from 1981 to 1993, the Gipper/Poppy Bush era. 
Does that look like they believed "Government Is Not The Solution; Government Is The Problem?"

Here's another look at the same data, formatted for entertainment value....

Enough about Reagan.  Here's the Cato Institute's Veronique De Rugy on George W. Bush's spending habits:

During his eight years in office, President Bush oversaw a large increase in government spending. In fact, President Bush increased government spending more than any of the six presidents preceding him, including LBJ. In his last term in office, President Bush increased discretionary outlays by an estimated 48.6 percent.


During his eight years in office, President Bush spent almost twice as much as his predecessor, President Clinton. Adjusted for inflation, in eight years, President Clinton increased the federal budget by 11 percent. In eight years, President Bush increased it by a whopping 104 percent.

One reason offered for these large budget increases is that entitlement programs are growing rapidly. Although Social Security and Medicare spending growth outpaced most other programs in the mid-1990s, spending growth in discretionary programs has accelerated in the last 15 years, especially during Bush’s two terms. Between FY2002 and FY2009, discretionary spending rose 96 percent.

Some argue that federal spending during the Bush years was so high because security needs drove up the budget. It is true that defense spending increased dramatically since the late-1990s, particularly since 9/11 and the beginning of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, nondefense spending increased too. Some also argue that much of the increase in nondefense spending stemmed from increases in homeland security spending. Whether this is true, the overall rapid rise of discretionary spending indicates that, here too, the administration and Congress made no trade-offs in the budget. If the administration and Congress wanted more security spending and wanted to be fiscally responsible, they should have found savings elsewhere in the budget.

President Bush added thousands of new federal subsidy programs during his eight years in office. In 2008, there were 1,816 subsidy programs in the federal budget that spread hundreds of billions of dollars annually to special interest groups such as state governments, businesses, nonprofit groups, and individuals. The number of subsidy programs has grown by 30 percent since 2000 and by 54 percent since 1990.

Here's some more research from Ms. De Rugy, from the November 8th, 2008 issue of Reason magazine.  (Remember, this was written before the current Messiah started his spending spree):
 
"When it comes to out-of-control spending, conventional wisdom says the Democrats are most likely to bust open the coffers. That's why many fear an increased Democratic majority in Congress topped by a Democratic president. And we should be afraid. Democrats are indeed big spenders. Second only to Republicans."
 
She goes on to rank the possible combinations of Republican vs. Democrat control of Congress and the Presidency, going from kinda bad to worse:
 
1) Democratic White House, Republican Congress

2) Republican White House, Democratic Congress
3) Unified Republican or Democratic rule.

You cannot, you will not, get spending under control by electing Republicans.  Until recently, Republicans held all the spending records.  Democrat spending might be sillier, and easier to poke fun at, but by every measurement, until recently, the Democrats spend less money.  If you look at the long term, FREAKIN' DEMOCRATS are the fiscal conservatives ! 

We simply have to start electing Libertarians to high office.  There is no other solution. 

Oh, and the funniest 3 words in the English language? 
Small Government Republican

Bill Clinton: Remember what led to Oklahoma City (and, unhhh....forget about Waco)

In which Radley Balko takes Bill Clinton to the woodshed:

In today’s New York Times, Bill Clinton once again tries to tie the Oklahoma City bombing to those of us who hold “the belief that the greatest threat to American freedom is our government, and that public servants do not protect our freedoms, but abuse them.”

Of course he sort of proves those of us who do believe such things right by continually using April 19 to tie us to a deranged murderer instead of acknowledging, taking some responsibility for, or expressing any remorse whatsoever for another anniversary we observe today: the Clinton administration’s slaughter of 76 people, including 20 children, at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco. Waco gets all of a sentence in Clinton’s op-ed.

Wow.  Bill should have checked his calendar a more closely before hitting the "send" key on that one. 
Clinton's NYT OpEd is nothing more than the latest step in the administration's opposition demonization program:  The Tea Party protesters are all racists.  Opposition to The Obamessiah is unpatriotic.  How could you dare say that you want the President to fail.  If you oppose The Teleprompter Jesus, you're encouraging irresponsible behavior. 
Well, good luck to 'em.  They're going to need it.  Here's something else from Balko's site:  A Pew Research survey that goes all the way back to Ike.  It charts the level of "trust in government".

As a libertarian, of course, you want to see this line dipping on down into the single digits until government is trusted with nothing more than roads, sewers, protecting the borders, and selling raffle tickets for their annual fund-raiser.

Back to Balko.  Here's are his closing paragraphs:

The thing is, Mr. Former President, if I may address you directly, is there are far too may public servants who, as you put it, “do not protect our freedoms, but abuse them.” I document them every day on this site. And so despite your admonition, I will continue to criticize them for it. And when, for example, they out and out murder innocent people in the name of a senseless, wasteful, and fundamentally illiberal policy (a policy, incidentally, that you enthusiastically support, despite your admission that you yourself have broken the country’s drug laws), I’ll go ahead and, to borrow your word, demonize them for it.


And you know what? I won’t feel the slightest tinge of guilt about doing so. Nor will I feel the least bit of responsibility for acts of anti-government violence, past or future, even when they’re committed in the name of one or more ideas I might otherwise endorse.

Because fundamentally and categorically, I repudiate the use of force and violence to impose my beliefs, political philosophy, or policy preferences on other people. Until you can say the same thing, Mr. Former President (and we both know you can’t), you can spare me your goddamned lecture.

Bill Clinton receives two stents (Obamacare is not yet law)

From Michelle Malkin's blog:

Former President Bill Clinton was rushed to the hospital for a heart condition and has reportedly received a stent.

Linked later on in the same post:

Update:  Clinton received two stents. 

Even later, a few words from the company that made the stents that are keeping the non-inhaler alive:

Boston Scientific Corp (BSX.N) warned on Tuesday that a proposed tax in the U.S. health care reform bill that cleared the Senate Finance Committee last week could have serious consequences for the company, including job losses.....(CEO Bill) Elliott said that the company’s tax liability would be doubled, adding $150 million to $200 million a year, and it would be forced to make substantial cuts in research and development spending, which could result in 1,000 to 2,000 jobs being lost at Boston Scientific…

No, those stents don't grow on trees, do they?  Evil capitalists invent them. 
Here's one last link, from the U.K.'s Daily Mail Online, about an action proposed by Britain's National Health Service, one of the many "civilized" socialist medical schemes that we're supposed to emulate if we're to ever join the ranks of the truly evolved and humane nations:

A treatment which has saved the lives of tens of thousands of heart patients could be banned on the Health Service because it is too expensive.

Last year, around 40,000 patients were fitted with drugcoated stents - special tubes which are inserted into arteries to prevent them from narrowing.
The system is more expensive than stents that don't include drugs, but are more effective at keeping people out of hospital.
They also avoid the need for heart bypass operations.
Now the National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence has recommended that the devices be banned on the basis of cost.
A treatment which has saved the lives of tens of thousands of heart patients could be banned on the Health Service because it is too expensive.
Last year, around 40,000 patients were fitted with drugcoated stents - special tubes which are inserted into arteries to prevent them from narrowing.

The system is more expensive than stents that don't include drugs, but are more effective at keeping people out of hospital.

They also avoid the need for heart bypass operations.

Now the National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence has recommended that the devices be banned on the basis of cost.

Good thing for Clinton that Obamacare hasn't passed yet.  

But seriously.... is there anyone out there who believes that this socialized medicine scheme will apply to anyone who gets to vote on it?     

Do Reid and Clinton really prefer having the light-skinned guys bring their coffee?

Several years ago, Republican Trent Lott had to resign his position as Senate Majority Leader after saying a few complimentary things about segregationist Strom Thurmond. Lott's unfortunate comments were about the era when Thurmond was either a Democrat or Dixiecrat.

"I want to say this about my state (Mississippi): When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either," Lott said at last week's party.
Thurmond ran as the presidential nominee of the breakaway Dixiecrat Party in the 1948 presidential race against Democrat Harry Truman and Republican Thomas Dewey. He carried Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and his home state of South Carolina, of which he was governor at the time.

The media outrage was deafening. Maybe it should have been.

Well, this should be interesting.

Go here for Harry Reid's analysis of Barack Obama's complexion (or lack of it) and "Negro dialect" (or lack of it).

Hold on. We aren't through yet. Go here for some comments that Bill Clinton made to Ted Kennedy, on Barack Obama getting uppity.

If this seems like excessive ridicule over a few offhand comments, go to the Democratic Party's rule book: Saul Alinsky's Rules For Radicals. See rule #4.

Pics came from here.

Why We Owe Barack Obama

Despite the Porkulus Program, Cash For Clunkers, The Bailouts, TARP, the unemployment rate, the cabinet that didn't want to pay taxes, the GM Takeover, and the fact that my dogs won't let me sleep....
In spite of all that, we still owe Barack Obama a huge debt of gratitude.

She Whose Name Is Not Spoken recently did a Q&A session someplace in Africa. It wasn't pretty.



If it weren't for Barack Obama.... I don't even want to think about it.

Happy Presidents Day

Happy Presidents Day

Here's a list of the United States presidents and first ladies that I've seen, along with the circumstances. I've given each encounter a numerical grade based on nothing more than the general vibe of the experience.

Let's start with the most recent president. In February of '08 I saw Barack Obama when he spoke at Reunion Arena in Dallas. This was the infamous appearance where he got applause for blowing his nose. Having re-read my post about the event, I'm proud to say that I didn't get suckered in, although I had a lot of respect for his rhetorical skills. I'm also proud that I contributed $12.50 to help him defeat She Whose Name Is Not Spoken in the Democrat primary. But Godalmighty, he's an economic disaster.

Score: 7

I used to manage the Bookstop store at Preston & Forest in Dallas. (We were bought out by Barnes & Noble, who eventually closed all the locations or converted them to B&N stores.) This store was in the same shopping center where one-time presidential candidate Ross Perot got his infamous $10.00 haircuts. In 1992, Perot was often in our store saying things like "Ahm lookin' fer yer books on guvment waste !" We'd go find whatever he was looking for, and two nights later the little man would be quoting the books on television. We were drunk with power.

Another celebrity of sorts often came into the same store to kill time. George W. Bush was then owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team, and he often came in the store and spent a lot of time in the History, Current Events, and Biography sections. He always bought more than one book. You can say a lot of things about the man, but illiterate he's not. In person, he's a really nice guy. We had more than one conversation about how 3rd baseman Steve Buechele's batting average was improving. Somewhere in my house I've got an autographed GW Bush business card that I've been trying to find for about 10 years.

Score: 9

I've never seen the current Secretary Of State, or her husband.

Score: 10 (out of gratitude)

The guy before The Clintons was George H.W. Bush. I saw him throw out the first pitch at a Texas Rangers baseball game in 1991. Papa Bush was captain of the Yale baseball team, and played first base. But the pitch he threw made it only 2/3rds of the way to home plate before bouncing in the dirt.

Score: 4

My mother went to high school in Merigold, Mississippi, and graduated in a senior class of maybe 7 people. One of these 7 was a guy named Larry Speakes. After running a few newspapers, Larry became press secretary for senator James Eastland, and then worked his way up to press secretary for president Ronald Reagan.

Larry's now known for two quotes: "I would dodge, not lie, in the national interest," and "Those who talk don't know what is going on and those who know what is going on won't talk."

In 1981 or 82, my father bought a used Winnebago motor home for about $2,500.00
That was about $2,000.00 more than it was worth. We worked on it for a few weeks, and decided to take it on a shakedown cruise.
From Mississippi to Washington D.C.
My mother made arrangements with Larry for us to get a private tour of the White House. My father's farm co-op gave us a 50-pound bag of Mississippi Delta rice to take to the Reagans. Larry's father was still the town banker in Merigold, and he gave us two fishing poles that he wanted to give his grandsons as birthday presents.

So my parents, two sisters, brother and I drove a ramshackle motor home all the way to the White House parking lot, got out of it with a 50-pound bag of rice and two fishing poles, went through security, and carried the stuff inside. We didn't get to go into the Oval Office, but Larry took us to the press briefing room where they have all the news conferences. Somewhere there's a picture of me behind the podium looking very un-presidential.

We got to see Reagan's helicopter land in the back yard of the White House. He was a very tall, very healthy looking man. The helicopter prop wash was blowing everyone's hair all over the place, but Reagan's didn't budge. He waved at us. I don't know if Nancy ever cooked the rice.

Score: 8

Before I worked at Bookstop, I managed stores for a Mom & Pop company called Taylors Books. I once had to help work the door for a Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter book signing when they came to Dallas. They were publicizing their book "Everything to Gain: Making The Most Of The Rest Of Your Life". The line of customers zigzagged down every aisle of the store, out the front door, around the store, and into the back alley. Carter seemed nice enough, and Miss Rosalynn seemed mildly sedated. Their publicist would hand them a book, the former president would write "Jimmy &", and his wife would write "Rosalynn Carter". They could get it done in less than 8 seconds per copy.

We had plenty of copies of the book. Acres of it. But the Carters could only stay for about two hours. Even at 8 seconds per copy, some customers were going to be turned away.

This would have been in 1987 or 1988. Reagan had been in office for most of his second term by then. History had already passed judgement on the Carter presidency, and that judgement wasn't very kind.

The people waiting in line to see JIMMY CARTER OF PLAINS GEORGIA with their own two eyes? They didn't care. These were die-hard democrats, the last of the true believers. Jesus Christ himself was inside Taylors Books, turning water into wine, and I was the one who had to keep letting them in at the rate of only one customer every 8 seconds.

This was my first experience with The Herd Mentality. It wasn't pleasant when Jimmy and Rosalynn left us to do radio and TV appearances.

Score: 2

I never saw Gerald Ford, although I had one supervisor in the early 80's who thought I should go to his wife's clinic.

In April of 1973, my parents got us up in the middle of the night to go to the new Naval Air Station in Meridian, Mississippi. Richard Nixon was going to be guest speaker at the opening of the base. Daddy fired up the station wagon, Mama threw some peanut butter and crackers in the back seat, and we took off.
(This was near the peak of the Watergate scandal, and the only places that Nixon could appear without being booed were military bases in the Deep South.)
When we got to Meridian, we'd eaten all the peanut butter and there was already a mob in the open field that surrounded the podium. The best we could have honestly done for seats was about 75 yards away from the president. But we are not a shy family.
Daddy saw some empty chairs in the second row of the VIP area, and we started plowing toward them. The seats had signs on the backs, reserving them for assorted high ranking officers. My parents STEPPED OVER THE ROPE BARRIERS WITH THE SECRET SERVICE MEN WATCHING, and led us to the chairs.
We got to hear Nixon speak from about 10 yards away. When the speeches were over, my mother was impressed that Pat Nixon got down on her knees at the edge of the stage to shake hands with a woman in a wheelchair.
Daddy's theory on why we got away with it: The Secret Service knew that any family smelling that much like peanut butter couldn't be a threat to the president.

Score: 8

I never got to see LBJ, but I saw his wife Lady Bird get the BRIT International Award of Excellence for her work in preserving Texas plants and wildlife. Fort Worth's own Van Cliburn played the piano and sang for her. It was a great night.

Score: 7

That's all the presidents and first ladies that I've seen. Hope you enjoyed hearing about it. I've enjoyed remembering it.

Where Anyone Can Be President !

Barack Obama shocks the world by winning a Grammy

Several months ago, I congratulated Former Vice President Al Gore for winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Lots of people offered their congratulations, but I was the first.

My congratulations to Gore came a week before the official announcement. Click here to read it, and come back to see us......

Had I not been distracted for the last month by various Baptist controversies, I would've trotted out another display of my prophetic gifts. Too late.

Barack Obama has won the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word recording for his campaign bio, "The Audacity of Hope".

I like Obama a lot. He's the Democrat who comes closest to making sense on Free Trade issues, as I pointed out here, but he was back-pedaling a little on the issue in Wisconsin last night, wandering into the "free trade has to represent everybody" thickets. (My belief is that I don't worry about you when I trade with Starbucks, you don't worry about me when you trade with Amazon.com, etc.) Barack Obama can walk up to a podium and cause you to start nodding along and deciding to live a better life. The same text, in the newspaper the next morning, is almost unreadable.

Back to my point....Obama now has two Grammys to act as a counter-balance to Bill Clinton's pair. Bill Clinton's surrogate, Hillary, who is becoming increasingly irrelevant in the shadow of her husband, only has one. If they ever allow the official candidates to lay out their bling on the podiums during a presidential debate, Obama will have the biggest pile.

For those of you who still doubt my point in the first link that these awards are an ideological, predictable farce, let me drag this in for additional emphasis....

Bill Clinton was seeking his third Grammy with "Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World," a call to public service. Another former Democratic president, Jimmy Carter, also was in the running, with "Sunday Morning in Plains: Bringing Peace to a Changing World," a collection of Bible lessons. Carter won the award last year.....
Not to be outdone by Obama, Hillary Clinton won the spoken word prize in 1997, while she was still first lady, for her book "It Takes a Village." (Note to the author of this piece....If it was Hillary's turn to win the Grammy in '97, Obama wasn't even on the radar yet. Also, Obama now has two Grammys. That means that she's been outdone by Obama, right?)
No Republican politician has won the category since Everett Dirksen, an Illinois congressman and senator, in 1968.

Is it because Democrats have better diction? Is it because their words are more soothing on cross-country flights? Or is it because these awards are an ideological, predictable farce?

Obama picture from Townhall.com

Bill Clinton's Running Mate Unable To Carry Home State Of Illinois

Bill Clinton was unable to carry Illinois on Super Tuesday, despite selecting a running mate from a Chicago Suburb.

Former President Clinton was able to carry his own home state of Arkansas.

This is similar to the 2004 elections when Democratic Presidential nominee John Kerry selected John Edwards of South Carolina as his running mate. Edwards was unable to deliver South Carolina for the Democratic Party.

There was a similar embarrasment when Al Gore couldn't carry his own home state of Tennessee in the 2000 elections.

Bill Clinton should now consider a different person for the bottom of the national ticket. Someone with a greater "electability" quotient than Hillary Clinton. Perhaps a popular Governor or Senator from one of the large swing states like Florida or Ohio. Or even Illinois Senator Barack Obama.

Free Trade has given you a great standard of living. Don't you hate it?

According to Nina Easton, of Fortune magazine, Americans have soured on Free Trade. This, of course, is mainstream media-driven horse manure. If you're reading this post, you have a lifestyle beyond the wildest dreams of anyone who didn't live in the Free Trade era.

It's all in how pollsters ask the question.

If asked, "Are you willing to pay 4 times as much for an iPod manufactured in Vail, Colorado as opposed to one manufactured overseas?", most Americans will say no. Try it on your friends and neighbors.

If asked, "Are you willing to pay 3 times as much for clothing that has a Made In The USA tag?" most Americans will say no. (Wal-Mart learned this the hard way....)

If asked, "If you could increase your household income by 4K to 12K by removing all trade barriers, would you be willing to do so?" most Americans would say yes. Once again, conduct a non-scientific survey of your own to verify.

If asked, "Do you feel that we should continue subsidizing millionaires so that we can pay more for our groceries?" most Americans will say not just no, but hell no.

If asked, "Would you feel less self-righteous driving an SUV powered by cheaper Brazilian ethanol than you would feel using Iowa Ethanol?" most Americans will not answer until they hear what Lou Dobbs has to say. (Since Iowa has the first election primary, they proudly lead the nation in corporate welfare.)

The point of Free Trade is that we do what we do best. Other nations are good at different things, and they do the same. Then we voluntarily swap stuff with each other. If we put trade barriers in place, we don't get the advantage of the other country's lower costs. Bill Clinton understood this. Hillary, at least according to the link above, does not.

When the Mafia prevents businesses from trading/purchasing goods and services from anyone they please, it's called extortion. (i.e. - have your tablecloths cleaned by our company, or we'll burn down your restaurant.)

When the Government prevents me from trading/purchasing goods and services from anyone I please, it's called "Pertectin' Amurrican Jobs". Some jobs are saved, but at a huge cost to the larger group. If Hillary lived with Bill in the White House for 8 years but hasn't learned this one economic fact, she's the dumbest woman God put guts in.

Here's a Samizdata post from years ago on the subject. I read it shortly before my first China trip, and it's one of many things that set me on my Free Market Crusade.

Bill gave us 8 years of growth because of his embrace of Free Trade. Hillary is actively campaigning to screw it up.

I feel better now. Glad that's out of my system.

Free Global Warming Poster !

From the Grouchy Old Cripple, often imitated, never duplicated.

Here's a poster of Global Warming Protesters.

And GOC was also kind enough to post the video of Bill Clinton having a Baptist moment....

And this picture of the current Democratic leadership:

The Grouchy Old Cripple is one of the Greatest Blogs in the world. Check him weekly.

Hillary, Fear Of A Black Planet, Yellow Dog Democrats

Former Clinton advisor Dick Morris has some interesting observations about how The Clintons will play the race card.
(The only way I'll have a dog in that fight is if Huckabee gets the nomination or Ron Paul dies, but anyway....)
The essence of Morris's argument is that Obama will take something like 80% of the African-American vote. Why that number isn't higher is God's own mystery.
So The Clintons have more to gain by writing off the Black vote altogether, and prey on the Fear Of A Black Planet sentiments of aging Yellow Dog Democrats in the deep south and elsewhere. (That's my prediction of who they'll aim for, not Morris's.)
All of this will be done by surrogates, of course.

If you believe that The Clintons could never do something like this, please use the comment field below.

BTW, The Clintons ran unopposed in Michigan last night and a large number of people showed up for the sole purpose of voting "uncommitted". Exit polling has revealed that a large number of those were minority votes. Here's the always excellent Jay Cost, from the Horserace blog:

As for the Democratic side - the big story is Hillary Clinton losing the African American vote to "uncommitted." The exit poll pegged African Americans going against Clinton, 68% to 30%. It appears that opposition by African Americans induced a split in Wayne County (where Detroit is), 50% to Hillary, 45% to uncommitted. People in the media are going to connect these results to the racial kerfuffle of the last few days - and they are partially right to do so. But I think there is more to it than this. Since his Iowa victory, Obama's numbers among African American voters have been trending upward. Tonight's results are another indication that African Americans are breaking his way. The Clinton campaign should be worried about this. It appears as if Obama might be able to take an important part of the traditional Democratic coalition. He is thus moving beyond the relatively narrow appeal of previous "insurgent" Democratic candidates like Bill Bradley and Gary Hart. This is bad news for Clinton.

Barack Obama, barring some massive ethical lapse, is going to be President of The United States one day. Maybe not this time, running against someone who thinks HE was the First Black President, or Monica Lewinsky's boyfriend's wife, but it's going to happen.