Delusion.

Defined.

I bet Mr. Shrum also believes that unicorns really fly, and believes if he likes his plan he'll be able to keep it.

Kristian Magar Is A Stand-Up Guy.

The race for the Republican nomination for the LA-3 Congressional seat is one of the most distasteful political campaigns I have ever witnessed. I can not wait until it is over on Saturday.

After the first primary vote, it was assumed the initial loser, Kristian Magar, would throw his support to the 'other' Tea Party candidate, Jeff Landry, against former State representative and army general, Hunt Downer.

Magar has not endorsed anyone, but he has come out and said he is voting for Downer, and said why.

Both Landry and Downer have, in the opinion of your humble blogger, run very bad campaigns - Landry's for getting into the mud as fast as they did, and Downer's for being more than willing to follow them there. And, this is a GOP primary, for crissakes!

Both Landry and Downer threw the 11th Commandment right out the window, and have given their Democrat opponent and the Mainstream Media ample fodder for the next month to use against whichever one survives this fight. Will they be too damaged to win? In a normal year I would say, yes. But with the anti-Obama/Democrat tide at it's peak, the GOP nominee will likely get by.

Now, about Magar: I have never met him, but my friends in the Tea Party Movement began talking about Magar several months ago, and most all in glowing terms - including the folks I know of from the Tea Parties in LA-3. Which made Baton Rouge's Tea Party of Louisiana endorsement and energetic efforts in this race all the more puzzling, as LA-3 does not include Baton Rrouge area. (Though, some are saying it isn't puzzling at all...)

They said Magar appears to be the real deal - a citizen-legislator wanting to do his service, and willing to live by high standards and ethics. I think Magar standing by those at this point proves they were right.

All I can say is I hope his alleged bad experiences at the hands of the Landry campaign don't disillusion Magar from putting his hat in the ring again. He is the kind of candidate the Tea Party has been searching for.

Full disclosure: Though not well, I know Hunt Downer - I was in the Guard when he was, and he knows some of my family. I always knew him as honest and ethical. I have also supported his campaign with a donation because of it. However, as I do not live in LA-3, so please do not take this as a tacit endorsement of Downer.

McCarthyism.gov

Information, is power. Those in power know it, which is why they instinctively fear it and seek to control it. Think North Korea, China, Russia, Iran, Cuba, etc., etc.

And if Senator Patrick Leahy has his way, you can add these United States to that list as well. Under the guise of enforcing copyrights and stopping counterfeits, Senator Leahy's bill will give the US government power to ban access to Internet sites "dedicated to infringing activities" - a vaguely defined and easily bendable term if there ever was one. There appears to be no "fair use" exception anywhere in the bill, and Tailgunner Pat wants to set up not one, but two, blacklists of government-banned Internet sites. One list appears to need no legal action at all for your site to end up listed - just a Justice Department "determination'. Welcome to 'transformative change' meets free speech.

While the idea of protecting copyrights and stopping product counterfeiting are indeed legitimate roles of government, the vagueness of this bill makes the temptation to abuse it almost irresistible when it comes to suppressing opposing political speech. The government is already trying to do that now, even without the law. The Federal government currently has laws on the books covering both copyrights and product counterfeiting, including in the digital world, so this bill seems to makes no sense. If this bill passes, how long do you think it will be before some lobbyist or government flunkie uses it against a site or sites they dislike, with the excuse it linked to a 'copyrighted' news story, or posted embarrassing government data, or parodied a 'trademarked' graphic? Even if the claims aren't sustained, ISP's and webmasters will quickly feel the pressure to self-censor to avoid it even happening.

Which is, perhaps, exactly the point of this legislation - to make the ISP's and webmasters restrict content so their employer's and client's websites and domains aren't digitally 'disappeared' by the government. And in doing so, we will return to that time when a select few - dead-tree editors, TV and entertainment producers, and government spin-masters - will once again be the sole gate-keepers of mass information, and control what is, and is not, approved content - and what is, and is not, approved news.

This bill could have easily been called The New York Times and Madison Avenue Profitability and Viability Protection Act.

Our Founders knew that information is power, and knew that if power was to rest in the hands of a free people, so must information. That is why the First Amendment puts severe restrictions on government when it came to the control and distribution of information. You have to ask yourself: What part of that "Congress shall make no law..." thing does Senator Leahy not understand?

Those who have profited from the symbiotic relationship between Big Government and Big Media in the past century - whose ox has been gored by the Internet and truly democratic journalism - are the real beneficiaries of this bill. They have long sought an end run around the First Amendment, or at least a means to protect their exclusive use of it, and have been looking for a way to put the Internet genie back in the bottle ever since Matt Drudge and Napster first appeared. If this bill becomes law they will have gone a long way to doing just that.

Connect The Dots.

Here is a fascinating series of maps of major metropolitan areas in the US. Using Census data, they show in great clarity population density and racial makeup. Click on the green 'X' in the upper right hand corner to embiggen the maps.

Here is the map for New Orleans, and the one for Baton Rouge.

The Company You Keep.

While visiting New York for the opening of the Useless Natterers United Nations, it seems Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had lunch with some of President Obama's staunchest supporters some everyday New Yorkers - Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan and members of the New Black Panther Party.

UPDATE: My view on Iran hasn't changed all that much since Vince Vance and the Valiants put it to song back in 1980. One way or another, the Iranian theocracy has to go.

Slight Of News.

Team Hopechange Magic: How do you distract an audience from noticing the Jack of Clubs you dropped? Give them a Joker to look at.

For Sooth!

My political soothsayer buddy, John at JMC Enterprises, got himself a bit of national press over a race in Mississippi. In my experience, if John tells you he has a poll showing it will snow in June... bring a jacket.

The Truth Will Set You Free.

And, as this guy is proving, it will also make you a Presidential contender for 2012. If the GOP can ever get their head out of their arse and divest itself of the Romney/Huckabee/Paul single-issue ankle-biters.

Even The Losers Get Lucky Sometime.

Tom Petty was right. It was bound to happen - over at a local political website I acquired my first stalker. The guy is obsessed enough about me dig into my personal life, and has posted my name, street, and, I'm waiting to see what else. He has also posted (warning: NSFW) his claims about my wife, as well. Say what you want about me, fair enough. Drag my family into it, and, well, a Rubicon has been crossed.

I think this is likely some harmless, though sexually frustrated, looser who is using me as a vehicle to swell his ego. (And, we hope, not swell anything else. Eeeech. -ed.) Anyway, the issue is now public, and I'll know for sure in a few days.

UPDATE 24SEPT2010: It seems a few comments in the right places worked - the thread with my personal information, and the rather perverted comments about my wife, have been removed from the website. It appears that the offender has been booted, as well. (No, he's still there. Enjoy some other insightful commentary by '.Ray') I should find out tomorrow or Monday the identity of this person, and some background, just in case he persists. As the offending items about me are gone I will let it drop - as long as they remain that way.

Drill, Baby, Drill!

Somebody needs to find some Stimulus money and start offering classes in Spanish and Portuguese down in Port Fourchon...

My friend Jackie over at Stand Firm, the Anglican / Traditional Episcopal website, notes that Obama - despite all of the criticism he has taken from us conservatives - is using billions of American taxpayer dollars to support oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico and off of Brazil.

Now, don't you feel better, dear readers? I know Charlie Melancon does...

Happy Bicentennial!

200 years ago today, a group of expat Americans, Scots, Englishman (including my ancestors) living in what was then known as "West Florida", started a bit of a rebellion against their titular Spanish rulers. The West Florida Rebellion, not the Louisiana Purchase, gave Baton Rouge and the parishes east to America. It also gave the world this flag:


So take that, Texas.

And Now For Something Completely Different.

OK-Goes To The Dogs:

Worming Into The Grid.

Obama's push to force us into a the 'smart grid' - to make power consumption "green" - may make us more vulnerable to things like this:

The reality of Stuxnet (and more to the point, its next incarnation) is that critical state infrastructure can be commandeered and destroyed without anyone firing a shot. The very prospect that Israel – or whomever – could shut down Iran by destroying its electrical grid through causing every generator to overload in a matter of minutes is a powerful signal: the signal that cyber war has physical consequences that make conventional air strikes look quaint and maladroit, so 20th century.

Suddenly, "dumb" grids look good - and getting off the grid entirely looks even better.

Another hattip: The MCJ.

Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago?

Hattip: The MCJ.

Millennium Development Goals?

What Millennium Development Goals?

Oooh, that's gonna make Kate and the boys very unhappy. How they can be morally superior and tell everyone else how save the world when nobody will pay for it? (Nowadays, The Episcopal Church (tm) money is dedicated to, um, a much higher calling.)

Clarity.

And a sense of humor, too:



Can this nation afford for Chris Christie not to run in 2012?

The 2 Trillion Dollar Question.

The Democrats took over Congress in 2006. That was four years ago.

Are you better off than you were four years ago?

Let your answer guide your vote in November.

Me And My S.E.A.B.

In Obama's America, freedom's just another word for nothing left to choose.

Picking Up The Gauntlet.

President Obama throws down the gauntlet to the Tea Party Movement:

President Barack Obama challenged the conservative "Tea Party" political movement and its Republican supporters on Monday to be specific about what government spending they would cut if they had the power to do so.

No problem. We're up for a challenge.

An Inconvenient Creator, Or, Hopenchange Civics 101.

This:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness;

Through the prism of Hopenchange is now this:



I guess we don't need some pesky Creator now that we have Barry and Government. Not surprising, therefore, he conveniently left out the next bit about the role of government and who works for who:

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Kinda awkward for a totalitarian do-gooder.

P.S. Mexicans were not here before the US.

A Duck! (UPDATED)

RED STICK RANT EXCLUSIVE (must credit Red Stick Rant): Today Another Christine O'Donnell 'witch' video has been found, providing the most balanced and logical proof to date that she was indeed a witch in her youth.

UPDATE: In the video (around 1:10), one of the Mainstream Media folks claims O'Donnell used witchcraft to turn him into a former Republican Speaker of the House! Shocking. Just shocking.

UPDATE: Nevermind about the 'exclusive' thing. Stacy McCain had it first.

Target Audience. (UPDATED AND BUMPED)

The Democrats made a "major announcement" today (9/15) about "something that will excite Democrats across the country" and strike fear into the hearts of us knuckle-dragging Tea Partiers. Here is that something:

A new logo.

...

...

You may stop laughing now.

Actually, we at RSR think the target look is quite appropriate - except in the most blue of districts, a target is what Obama and Team Hopenchange have put on the back of every Democrat running in this November's election.

From the comments at the link, one 'Ritchie The Riveter' suggested this improvement: add "-FEAT" just to the right.

UPDATE: OK, Richie, let's run with that. Apply a bit of fair-use parody, and...


That's better.

UPDATE: Exurban League notices an odd graphic coincidence. Its gotta be a coincidence, right?

UPDATE 19SEPT2010: The good folks at Maggie's Farm discovered an even more fitting coincidence for the new logo.

More Wingnut Tea Partiers Identified.

What's next? The Left/Mainstream Media accusing us of being witches?? Oh, wait... (Ted Kennedy did more than "dabble" in vehicular homicide, but that never seemed to be a big deal to The Left/Mainstream Media... -ed.)

From here.

Reason 45,364 Why We Left Massachusetts.

We wanted to raise our kids in place where the public schools didn't promote religion:



This video illustrates the classic rule of 'stand for nothing, fall for anything'.

Sad to say this comes as no surprise to RSR. While we were living in Boston/Newton, we would often hear people almost reflexively excuse Faith in their past - "I was raised (fill in the blank), but of course I don't go anymore...", or "I'm a recovering (fill in the blank)." Religion has been mostly eliminated from the public square in uber-intelligentsia communities like Newton and Wellesley, so most of those children only know churches and synagogues as places their grandparents may hang out. Couple that with the utter disintegration of the family (if you weren't divorced at least once by the time you were 40, friends thought something was wrong with you), and the video above is the result.

Had the Archdiocese of Boston asked for these students to come to a church and "experience" Catholicism, and invited the young men to Mass, you would have heard the screams all the way to the doors of Saint Peter's.

Aarrrrg!

Avast, me hearties - today be International Talk Like A Pirate Day 2010! Me preacher best do 'is sermon with a hook and an eye-patch, or it's the plank for 'im!!

Obama Gets Wright With God.

He (finally) goes to church, and - surprise, surprise - its an Episcopal Church (tm).

Hey, it's an election year.

Sarahitler?

Remember when The Left/Mainstream Media said posters of Obama as Hitler showed how off the wall the Tea Party Movement was, and declared any such comparisons totally out of bounds in legitimate political discourse?

Well, dear readers, that is, like, SOOOO last year.

Will we see any reporters getting their microphone wires in a tangle over this? No more than they did when The Left used pictures of George Bush as Hitler for eight years. You see, The Left/Mainstream Media only get upset when it's their guy sporting the teeny mustache.

Yes. We Have.

The Hill: Tea Party’s already won.

And we've only just begun.

Obama's agenda may be dead, but it still walks, zombie-like, stalking our freedom and our wealth. We must put it out of our misery if we are to survive as a Free People. We must deprive it of it's source of nourishment - our taxes - and drive it from the field of Freedom back to the swamp of Socialism from which it arose. Then, we need to drain the swamp. 2 November will be a good place to start.

UPDATE: In a related (very related -ed.) note, today is Constitution Day. Rumor has it Nancy Pelosi bought a new shredder today in commemoration. She'd worn out the old one.

For My 'SYTRGC/JC'

Happy Birthday!!!

A Very Repealing Idea.

The case for the 'Repeal Amendment":

Any provision of law or regulation of the United States may be repealed by the several states, and such repeal shall be effective when the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states approve resolutions for this purpose that particularly describe the same provision or provisions of law or regulation to be repealed.

If you couple this with an Amendment to clarify the Commerce Clause (if it don't cross a State line, it ain't interstate commerce) a balanced budget Amendment (duh!), and a taxpayer liability limitation Amendment (Max. 15% Federal income tax rate, and one rate for all for all), then you've gone a long way to restore the Federalist balance the Framers wanted - and the Progressives undermined.

Hattip: Volokh Conspiracy.

Fun With Tesla And Black Sabbath.

From here.

It's OK - She's Not A Republican.

A member of The Ruling Class tries to earn her keep: Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) pressures a lobbyist for a campaign donation. It's an "obligation":

"I was, frankly, uh, uh, surprised to see that we don’t have a record, so far as I can tell, of your having given to me despite my uh, long and deep uh, work. In fact, it’s been my major work, uh, on the committee and sub-committee it’s been essentially in your sector.

I am, I’m simply candidly calling to ask for a contribution. As the senior member of the um, committee and a sub-committee chair, we have (chuckles) obligations to raise, uh funds. And, I think it must have been me who hasn’t, frankly, uh, done my homework to ask for a contribution earlier. So I’m trying to make up for it by asking for one now, when we particularly, uh, need, uh contributions, particularly those of us who have the seniority and chairmanships and are in a position to raise the funds."

As no Republicans could be harmed by reporting this scandal, don't hold your breath waiting for it to be top of the news on CBS, NBC ABC or CNN.

A Question Of Saltiness.

You won't see this at The Episcopal Church (tm) website, where everything is doing-a-new-thing kittens and ponies, but the Russian Orthodox Church ain't real happy about what's happening in the Anglican Communion in general, and with the uber-Lefty parts in particular. They're not interested in "radical welcome", or "indaba", or a "listening process", or how Kate and friends have reinterpreted the Roman soldier asking Jesus to save his slave to fit Kate's agenda. Our Russian friends are interested in, well, God's agenda:

In 2003, the Russian Orthodox Church had to suspend contact with the Episcopal Church in the USA due to the fact that this Church consecrated a self-acclaimed homosexual, Jim Robertson, as bishop. The Department for External Church Relations made a special statement deploring this fact as anti-Christian and blasphemous. Moreover, the Holy Synod of our Church decided to suspend the work of the Joint Coordinating Committee for Cooperation between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Episcopal Church in the USA, which had worked very successfully for many years. The situation was aggravated when a woman bishop was installed as head of the Episcopal Church in the USA in 2006 and a lesbian was placed on the bishop’s chair of Los Angeles in 2010.

Similar reasons were behind the rupture of our relations with the Church of Sweden in 2005 when this Church made a decision to bless same-sex “marriages”. And recently the lesbian Eva Brunne has become the “bishop” of Stockholm.

What can these churches say to their faithful and to secular society? What kind of light do they shine upon the world (cf. Mt. 5:14)? What is their ‘salt’? I am afraid the words of Christ can be applied to them: If the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men (Mt. 5:13).

QED

Hattip: James H at Opinionated Catholic

The Future Is Now!

ObamaCare Promise: Obamacare will reduce your health care costs and you can keep your plan!

ObamaCare Reality: We own you, bitches.

ObamaCare is little more than the penultimate Progressivist goal - an end-around on the limitations of the Constitution. It is a way to infringe upon your Rights without measure and centralize unlimited power in Washington, DC, all under the guise of administering our "health care". The proponents know that. To them, this is a feature - not a bug. (Sure, you'll still have a "Right" to own a gun, or criticize the President, or eat french fries. But you'll lose your health care coverage if you do...)

Ironic, isn't it, that an African-American President is the one, more than any of his predecessors, working to make us all slaves of the State.

We have the chance, dear readers, to stop Obama and the Pelosi/Reid clique on 2 November, and begin to return our nation - and your place in it - to what Jefferson, Adams, Franklin and Madison had in mind. Take. That. Chance. You have nothing to lose but Obama's chains!

"I Don't Work For The State. The State Works For Me."

Clearly, New Orleans' own Cedric Richmond really does share Obama's values:



And when he's not getting in scuffles in pool halls and avoiding the justice system, Cedric is losing his law license. But wait - there's more!

He hates the Second Amendment, too.

This is who Barry wants in Congress because he "shares our values". I guess bar fights, gaming the system to get elected and gaming the system to get free government money are Obama's "values". Is this really the best the Democrats can do??

From The American Zombie via The Hayride.

How to Sell Correction Tape.

Using the Internet to move mundane product is nothing new. Creatively using it is, well, rather rare. This is one of those rarities:



Click on one of the "shoot" / "don't shoot" buttons, and have fun! (Warning: NSFW language)

Yes, But What If Fg = G (m1*m2)/(d^2) IS God?

Stephen Hawking becomes an Episcopalian. Well, in spirit, anyway:

"God may exist, but science can explain the universe without the need for a creator," Hawking told CNN's "Larry King Live" in an interview that aired Friday.

Hawking, 68, says in his book "The Grand Design" that, given the existence of gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. "Spontaneous creation," he writes, is the reason why the universe and humanity exist.

"Gravity and quantum theory cause universes to be created spontaneously out of nothing," Hawking told Larry King.

Lesson Of 9/11. (UPDATED)

From The New York Post:

Today, America looks back and mourns -- appropriately so.

But America also needs leaders willing to stop pretending that the threat is something other than what it is -- organizationally diffuse, yes, but ideologically united and firmly committed to the destruction of any society that doesn't embrace its nihilistic imperatives.

That's the lesson of 9/11.

Chris Muir nails the other lesson of 9/11.

UPDATE: Cry 'Dhimmi!', and let slip the Episcopal Bishop of Appeasement.

Did Jesus Affirm a Gay Couple?

No, he didn't. See if you can find affirmation of a gay relationship that in the referenced Matthew 8:5-13:

5When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.
6"Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering."
7Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him."

8The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
9For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

10When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.
11I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
12But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

13Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that very hour.

I couldn't find it, either.

Hattip: Opinionated Catholic.

2 Plus 60,000 Does Not Equal 4 Anymore.

The Governor of New Jersey takes a teacher to school. Watch the video.
Chris Christie can't run for President soon enough.

Paying Your Fair Share...

...Apparently doesn't include America's Ruling Class: 41 Obama White House aides owe the IRS $831,000 in back taxes -- and they're not alone.

First Amendment? What's That?

The true goals of "health care reform" start to become obvious:

President Barack Obama's top health official on Thursday warned the insurance industry that the administration won't tolerate blaming premium hikes on the new health overhaul law.

"There will be zero tolerance for this type of misinformation and unjustified rate increases," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a letter to the insurance lobby.

"Simply stated, we will not stand idly by as insurers blame their premium hikes and increased profits on the requirement that they provide consumers with basic protections," Sebelius said. She warned that bad actors may be excluded from new health insurance markets that will open in 2014 under the law. They'd lose out on a big pool of customers, as many as 30 million people nationwide.

In other words, "Fuck the First Amendment. We own you now, bitches." How long will it be before individuals are "excluded" from the health insurance market for criticizing it or it's administrators, or for engaging in behaviors the government deems unhealthy?

Welcome to Obama's New America, Comrades. Only taking action on 2 November will stop it.

Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right, But...

...Where was all that international focus and outrage over this?

Friday Morning Distraction.

And think - it only cost a quarter.



Hattip: Kevin Kallsen on Facebook.

Neo Dude.

Some people have too much time on their hands: Morpheus meets The Big Lebowski:



(NSFW - Mildly bad language)

From here.

Annunciation Lives.

Anglican TV documents the inundation and rebirth of New Orleans' Free Church of the Annunciation during Katrina, and it's amazing priest at the time, Fr. Jerry Kramer. Watch it all.

I came to know Fr. Jerry and his family when they showed up at St. Luke's in Baton Rouge a few days after Katrina with, according to Jerry, all he needed to keep going: "The chalices, the checkbook, and Noel". (Noel was the church's Jack-of-all-trades). I watched Jerry slog through with a smile what I was having a hard time just comprehending ("cognitive dissonance" indeed!). It was both a joy and inspiration to watch he and Stacy, his wife, work tirelessly and selflessly to find all the parishioners, get back to the church and their home, and start rebuilding. Nothing - and I mean nothing - stopped Jerry and Annunciation.

I always wondered what putting total trust and total faith in The Lord looked like - after seeing Fr. Jerry, Robin, and the fine folks at Annunciation, now I know. His exit from the Diocese of Louisiana is a great loss for us all. But Fr. Jarry's timeless understanding of the Christian faith, and how to live it, is at odds with the current timely understanding of The Episcopal Church (tm).

I am truly humbled to have known him during this time.

Father Jerry's blog is here. He is currently looking to head back to Africa - send him a few bucks to help his mission take root (he has links on his sidebar).

The Wind And The Lion.

Nine years ago today, two days before he sent hijacked planes into crowded buildings in New York and Washington, DC, Osama bin Laden engineered the assassination of one Ahmad Shah Massoud in Afghanistan.



You've likely never heard of him, but his death affected how our nation has acted since 2001 in central Asia. Known as "The Lion of Panjshir", Massoud was an educated, secular, Muslim who lead the defeat of the Soviets in his Afghanistan - only to be run out of Kabul by the Taliban and their Saudi backers (including bin Laden) when the US stopped supporting Massoud in the 90's.

Massoud is the Islamic leader we needed in the aftermath of 9/11. I think bin Laden knew that. To say that things would be very different today in Afghanistan and in the world had Massoud had survived, is an understatement.

Someone over at Military Photos has posted a documentary of Massoud's life that's well worth watching.

Internationalism In The 21st Century.

Um, I don't think this is what Mr. Marx and Mr. Lenin quite had in mind.

All I can say is, "Свобода!"

Inaction Speaks Louder Than Words. (UPDATED AGAIN)

A bunch of Lefty ideologues who happen work in the religion industry (Christian department) are quite upset over recent "anti-Muslim rhetoric" - specifically, the purposeful burning of copies of the Koran. They're quite upset enough to hold a summit and press conference about it.

And in this case they should be upset. Burning The Koran is a stupid, pointless, needlessly injurious act, no less than burning The Bible or putting a crucifix in a jar of your own piss. I'm upset over it as well.

But when it comes to anti-Christian action by Muslims (warning: graphic), much less "rhetoric", note that this same bunch never seems to be quite upset enough to have a summit and press conference.

UPDATE: There wasn't a summit and press conference over this. Or, any Muslim clerics saying it was wrong.

UPDATE: QED. Chris Johnson notes someone on Twitter has perfectly summarized the current values of our Ruling Class. We know which one of these Lefty Episcopalians (tm) value. And, which one they don't.

Hey Kids, What Time Is It?

It's "Recovery Summer" time!

And just in time for the mid-term elections: "Recovery Summer" is out on video.

Ghost In The Machine.

How Obama Thinks. Money quote:

Colonialism today is a dead issue. No one cares about it except the man in the White House. He is the last anticolonial. Emerging market economies such as China, India, Chile and Indonesia have solved the problem of backwardness; they are exploiting their labor advantage and growing much faster than the U.S. If America is going to remain on top, we have to compete in an increasingly tough environment.

But instead of readying us for the challenge, our President is trapped in his father's time machine. Incredibly, the U.S. is being ruled according to the dreams of a Luo tribesman of the 1950s. This philandering, inebriated African socialist, who raged against the world for denying him the realization of his anticolonial ambitions, is now setting the nation's agenda through the reincarnation of his dreams in his son. The son makes it happen, but he candidly admits he is only living out his father's dream. The invisible father provides the inspiration, and the son dutifully gets the job done. America today is governed by a ghost.

Hattip: Samizdata.

No Wonder She Always Looks Frustrated. (UPDATED)

Now is the time at RSR where we juxtapose:

News Item Number 1: Michelle Obama kicks off anti-obesity campaign.

News Item Number 2: Fat guys last longer in bed.

UPDATE: Look, my lard-butt, sedentary self may be the last one to cast aspersions; but then again, I'm not the one lecturing kids about getting in shape.

Really? Really?

Obama names an 'Asian Carp' czar. Geez. Do we really need more czars than a Romanov dynasty?

Transformative Change, In Action.

Free speech in Omerica.

Self-defense in Omerica.

Public service in Omerica.

Fiscal responsibility in Omerica.

Stone Free.

Cribbing your quotes from the greatest rock guitarist ever doesn't make you the greatest President ever. Just sayin'.

What's next? Nancy Pelosi saying, "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose"...? Or, Joe Biden channeling the Cate Brothers? OK, the last one was a bit of a stretch.

Plane Porn - Battle of Britain Style.

We will likely never again see together in the skies over England so many of "so few". Just bloody amazing.

"We're Moving In The Right Direction".

If you think it's peachy for your children and grandchildren (and likely great-grandchildren) to be indentured to Chinese and Saudi bankers tomorrow so that Big Labor, Big Welfare, and The Ruling Class can keep ignoring fiscal realities today... then yes, Comrade, you can say we're moving in the right direction.

John's Friday Sooth.

John, our friendly neighborhood political soothsayer, has once again read at the entrails of the body politic, said his sooth, and he tells the following November fortune. Or misfortune, if you're a Democrat:

Governor's Races: Republicans surging. California is now "leans Republican, and Ohio "solid Republican".

(9/1 projection: 35 Republicans, 15 Democrats, or Republican gain of +11)

earlier:

(8/26 projection: 31 Republicans, 19 Democrats, or Republican gain of +7)
(8/19 projection: 32 Republicans, 18 Democrats, or Republican gain of +8)


US Senate Races: Slight GOP gain from last week.

(9/1 projection: 54 Democrats, 46 Republicans, or Republican gain of +5)

earlier:

(8/19 and 8/26 projections: 55 Democrats, 45 Republicans, or Republican gain of +4)


US House of Representatives: Slight reduction in the GOP landslide. But the loss goes to "watch", not "Democrat".

(9/1: 250 Republicans/185 Democrats (+ 71 Republican, “Watch list” of 28 Democrats/2 Republicans)

earlier:

(8/26: 253 Republicans/182 Democrats (+ 74 Republican, “Watch list” of 25 Democrats/2 Republicans)
(8/19: 254 Republicans/181 Democrats (+ 75 Republican, “Watch list” of 24 Democrats/1 Republican)

What Do You Expect? He Never Ran A Business Before.

Obama may sell GM IPO shares at a loss. It's not really a loss - that's what us taxpayers are for!

Is This A Great State, Or What?

This weekend, 3-5 September 2010, is Louisiana's Second Amendment Weekend Sales Tax Holiday:

Items covered under the tax free holiday include,

Accessories designed to be used for hunting;
Shotguns, rifles, pistols, revolvers, or other handguns;
Ammunition intended to be fired from a gun or firearm is eligible;
Animal feed for consumption by game which can be legally hunted;
Apparel such as safety gear, camouflage clothing, jackets, hats, gloves, mittens, face masks and thermal underwear for use while hunting; and
Off-road vehicles such as all terrain vehicles designed for hunting. (The exemption does not apply to golf carts, bikes, motorcycles, tractors, or motor vehicles which may be legally driven on highways.)

I'm stocking up on ammo. We go through the stuff like water here at Villa RSR.

Today's Required Reading.

Rich Lowry hits one out of the park: The Revolt of the Bourgeois.

He makes a great point: This Obama-caused awakening of freedom, liberty, and Constitutional principals in our fellow Citizens isn't the next American Revolution - it is The American Restoration.

Mark Your Calendars.

More moving in the right direction. 8 September 2010, The Right Network.

Obama: "We're Moving In The Right Direction."

Unemployment jumps to 9.6%.

If, on the other hand, Obama is acknowledging the mood of this nation and the looming Democrat electoral disaster in November, then yes, Barry is quite correct - we are moving in the 'right' direction. Because, well, America has decided Barry's 'left' direction pretty much sucks.

Canadian Rainbow?

What is going on north of the border? According to Mr. Sitemeter, this two year-old post about Kate Schori and her rainbow mitre is getting lots of visits today from Canada - Ottawa and British Columbia mostly. Is there some ACC meeting going on now, or some 'Canadians giggle at Episcopalians' Facebook group I don't know about?

Wondering...

Living Into The Other. Or, Not. (UPDATED)

A Left-Wing Episcopal Priest, The Rev. Patricia Templeton of St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church, Atlanta, says;

...we live out our faith in large part through our relationship with the other – by showing hospitality to strangers, by loving our neighbors and our enemies...

And then proceeds to piss all over a particular group of "others" and "enemies" because they don't agree with her values - the people who showed up at Glenn Beck's 'Restoring Honor' rally.

She seems to conclude that the Episcopal God, the ever redefinable and politically convenient God of General Convention, Litigation, and Canons and Constitutions, is better than Beck's God because us Episcopalians have dragged God - kicking and screaming - into the modern age, and made him 'relevant' (yay, us!) by giving Him a Baptismal Covenant for Him and us to live by (and us to define). In the mind of Episcopal Lefties, this, of course, naturally makes Episcopalians loving, tolerant, non-judgemental, and intellectually superior beings - as opposed to those ignorant, bigoted, homophobic, misogynistic, paranoid, racist, fear-mongering, hate-filled, illiterate, gun-toting, rabid, wife-beating, Wal-Mart shopping, white, trailer-trash rubes that Beck is stirring up. Yeech. Who would want to be near those people!?

But does it really matter, in the long run, what this priest thinks? No, and here's why: Glenn Beck talking about God attracted as many or more people in one place and at one time, than were in all Episcopal churches listening to all the Lefty sermons in the US that weekend. The "all churches are shrinking" excuse TEC coughs up is a delusion, because The Left can not admit that at it's core it is wrong. Ask the Mormons, the Evangelicals, the Roman Catholics - heck, ask the Muslims - people are turning to God in this country - just not the Episcopal God of She/He-is-whatever-we-at-General Convention-say-She/He-Is. Instead, they are turning to a God who has answers for their deepest questions (though often not easy answers), a God who guides them with loving direction, and a God who calls them to practice higher, immutable values. That, according to Reverend Templeton, not her God. So be it. It is, however, mine.

UPDATE: Sheesh. Even Timothy Dalrymple says Beck gets it.

RELATED: Does the liberalism espoused by folks like Rev. Templeton kill churches? Um... yes. (It sure ain't growing St. Dunstan's.) With The Episcopal Church (tm) and other formerly "mainline" denominations committing slow, theological suicide, here's a good question: Are the Beck Evangelicals the New Mainline?

UPDATE 03SEPT2010: Chris Johnson at Midwest Conservative Journal also takes note of Rev. Templeton's missive and, as usual, provides an excellent reply. It is somewhat telling, and predictably ironic, that the only ones here who seem to fear of "the other" isn't Beck and the followers of the God he knows, but Rev. Templeton and the followers of the God she knows.

Also, can anyone point me to the place, or places, in Scripture where Jesus says "we are blessed by those who differ from us"? A paraphrase? Anything? Is there some Beatitude I don't know about, "Blessed are we, because there are Romans and Gentiles out there..."?

I Don't Know, But I Hope The Bent Metal Rod Isn't Involved.

What would MccGyver do?

The Power Of Music.

Wow.



Hattip: Creative Minority Report.

The New Black.

Not: Steampunk.

Hot: Electri-punk.

OK, I really have no idea if it's hot ot not, but some of those 'electri-punk' things are pretty cool, in a geeky sort of way. Plus, I like saying "electri-punk".

(Note from management: If you are looking to this blog, or this blogger, for what is hot, well, you really, really, really - I mean really - need a life. Round here we still think thongs are 'hot'. On women. Not on... Oh, never mind. -ed.)

UPDATE: (Management note to anyone who may own a '59 Caddy and be named Adair - 59 Caddys do, in fact, rate pretty high on the geek adaptive reuse cultural kinetic warmness meter. My only question is, where do you put your gloves now?)

Do Not Threaten The Power Of The Ruling Class...

...Or the wrath of government will be brought down upon you.

Illinois Congressman Phil "I Don't Worry About The Constitution" Hare - the poster boy of Ruling Class arrogance - is apparently confirming his lack of worry for that silly old document. He has filed a complaint with the FEC against a group of veterans, whose ability to oppose to Hare's re-election may be squelched over a bureaucratic technicality.

The critics of McCain-Feingold have called it the Incumbent Protection Act, and I think this proves the point well.

If you want to help the veterans being victimized by Phil Hare and his legal bullies, and to help them stand up for their Right to speak - go here.

Reading, Writing, Rights.

A lesson in elementary civics, as taught in the East Baton Rouge Parish Public Schools.

Yet Another Reason We Don't Live In Massachusetts Anymore.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, a staunch Obama ally and card-carrying member of the Ruling Class, on Glenn Beck's Rally this weekend:

“It’s a free country. I wish it weren’t.”

Had Bush, or Cheney, or Rove dropped a gaffe like this, The Left / Mainstream Media would be manning the ramparts and screaming about proof of right-wing tyranny. But when it's one of their own, well... Nary a peep.

UPDATE 02SEPT2010: For Governor Patrick...

Beginning The Long March.

What Glenn Beck was really doing in Washington last Saturday:

Beck is creating positive themes of unity and patriotism and freedom and independence which are above mere political or policy choices, but not irrelevant to them. Political and policy choices rest on a foundation of philosophy, culture, self-image, ideals, religion. Change the foundation, and the rest will flow from that. Defeat the enemy on that plane, and any merely tactical defeat will always be reversible.

And The Left / Mainstream Media, while they won't acknowledge it, know very well what is going on here. They are, to say the least, shit-scared. The Ruling Class cannot conceive of the ordinary working Joe or Jane turning to anyone other than them as their one true savior. The success of Beck's rally, and the success of its message, doesn't fit in any of their progressivist, state-centered formulas. Why else are they planning their own rally on the Mall on 2 October, just one month before the election?

Did Any PBS Employees Call In Sick Today? (UPDATED)

Discovery Channel headquarters in Silver Spring evacuated; gunman inside. I hear they're sending in Bear Grylls any minute now...

UPDATE: Be more... demented. The gunman's demands. He's not a people person:

2. All programs on Discovery Health-TLC must stop encouraging the birth of any more parasitic human infants and the false heroics behind those actions. In those programs' places, programs encouraging human sterilization and infertility must be pushed. All former pro-birth programs must now push in the direction of stopping human birth, not encouraging it.

Al Gore must be beaming. But after reading this, the guy's gotta be a Jefferts-Schori Episcopalian:

It is the responsiblity of everyone to preserve the planet they live on by not breeding any more children who will continue their filthy practices. Children represent FUTURE catastrophic pollution whereas their parents are current pollution. NO MORE BABIES! Population growth is a real crisis. Even one child born in the US will use 30 to a thousand times more resources than a Third World child. It's like a couple are having 30 babies even though it's just one! If the US goes in this direction maybe other countries will too!

That is because most Third World children live in socialist or theocratic kleptocracies. They often don't live long enough to use more resources.

UPDATE: Heh. Police shot and killed the Al Gore loving eco-terrorist gunman, providing the best headline of the day.