...Is here today in Britain's NHS. And yes, it's rationed.
The NHS is the UK's version of ObamaCare in it's ultimate, misty-eyed goal - a single-payer, government controlled health care system. But just like every other attempt at that 19th century socialist dream, ObamaCare isn't about improving your health care, it's about controlling your health care. As in, Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank and Chuckie Schumer controlling it, not you. You will have the "right to choose" only what they will allow you to choose, and only then if you make the lifestyle choices of which they approve.
Welcome to freedom being just another word for nothing left to lose.
Hattip: Maggie's Farm.
31 May 2011
Winning The Future!
How's that Obamanomics been working our for you these past few years? For those of us in the building trades, announcements like this are becoming more and more common:
Guardian announces price increaseYepper, Obama's borrow-our-way-to-prosperity approach to the economy and his $4.00 a gallon gas prices are really paying off, don't you think?
Glass Magazine
May 31, 2011
In a May 25 letter to customers, Guardian Industries, Auburn Hills, Mich., announced a price increase on its products, effective June 23. Clear float glass prices will increase 10 percent, and prices for clear patterned glass, tinted and specialty glass, coated glass, tempered glass, and laminated glass will increase 8 percent.
"Guardian continues to experience higher costs for the materials and services used in manufacturing high quality float glass and related products for architectural and automotive glass applications," Martin Powell, vice president, North America, sales and marketing, said in the letter. "Glass pricing has not kept pace as costs have increased, despite Guardian's strides in increasing the efficiency of our manufacturing and administrative processes." (emphasis mine)
28 May 2011
"Give Me Spots On The Apples, But Leave Me The Birds And The Bees..."
And, aparrently, leave the E.Coli bacteria, too:
A person in Britain has been diagnosed with a lethal strain of E.Coli that has already killed five people in Germany.
Almost 300 people in northern Germany are in hospital and around 500 more are being tested for the infection.
Organic cucumbers from Spain are thought to be the source of the bacteria, but travellers to Germany are also being advised to avoid eating raw tomatoes and lettuce. (emphasis mine)
26 May 2011
25 May 2011
We Didn't Start The Fire.
Nor, apparently, did Rick Santelli. Let The Yacht Club Boys tell it. In 1936:
Hattip: Small Dead Animals.
Hattip: Small Dead Animals.
Irony Alert! Or, Bottoming Out Again.
Obama's peeps gas up his limo at a BP station in the UK.
How nice. You get a free fill-up with every disaster.
As Insty points out, some people get a fat chunk of campaign cash, too!
And in a related note...
How nice. You get a free fill-up with every disaster.
As Insty points out, some people get a fat chunk of campaign cash, too!
And in a related note...
23 May 2011
The Reason Benjamin Netanyahu And Barack Obama See The World So Differently.
One spent his youth defending his community.
The other spent his youth organizing his.
Image from Maggie's.
The other spent his youth organizing his.
Image from Maggie's.
Monday Evening Distraction: Proof We Men Are Born That Way.
And some things never change for us.
At 3:
At 63:
At 3:
At 63:
22 May 2011
The Washington Syndrome.
This kind of meltdown doesn't worry me in the least. Why? Because I've never expected either Social Security or Medicare to exist when I retire. Both are legal Ponzi schemes on the Madoff level, run by dolts who would be in jail if it wasn't legal. All the money I've paid into the system (and will pay into the system) has already been spent. The only way I will get a check is to heavily shackle the earnings of tomorrow's workers, or borrow it from Obama's buddies - Islamist Arabs and the Commie Chinese.
Since I entered the working world in the mid-80's, "fixing" Social Security and Medicare has been a "top priority", but something our ball-deprived politicians always duct-taped over with magical predictions in the "out years". Well, those "out years" are here and their their predictions are not. Like our government, I've seen this train wreck coming for years. Unlike them, I've made plans to do something about it.
Since I entered the working world in the mid-80's, "fixing" Social Security and Medicare has been a "top priority", but something our ball-deprived politicians always duct-taped over with magical predictions in the "out years". Well, those "out years" are here and their their predictions are not. Like our government, I've seen this train wreck coming for years. Unlike them, I've made plans to do something about it.
Indeed.
As of 6:01 last night:
Someone is not a happy Camper...
(note: We have no idea if this is real or Photoshop, or who originated it, kudos to whoever did.
Someone is not a happy Camper...
(note: We have no idea if this is real or Photoshop, or who originated it, kudos to whoever did.
O, Christie And Perry, Where Where Are You...?
Mitch Daniels is out, Huntsman, Romney, Paul, Romer and Cain still in.
This is best we can do? Really? Really??
This is best we can do? Really? Really??
"Khan... I'm Laughing at The Superior Intellect!"
Via Insty, Mark Steyn looks at one of the latest scandals of The Ruling Class (French edition) and gets in touch with his inner Kirk. The Ruling Class, secure in it's superiority and the idea that they've taken Genesis away from us, have followed us into the nebula for the big finish. Big mistake.
Make this today's required reading.
Post title reference and metaphor here.
Make this today's required reading.
Post title reference and metaphor here.
Speaking In Lefty Tongues.
Recently Katherine Jefferts-Schori, Pope of Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church (tm), recently visited the Old Catholic Church in the Netherlands. She should have also visited the Dutch Catholic Church as well. Seems they have a lot in common:
Threatening the real estate portfolio of TEC.
Saying people do not have the God-given right to stick their winkie wherever they want.
Saying people do not have the God-given right to vacuum out the consequences when they do.
Refusing to take"global warming" "climate change" as an article of Faith.
Speaking against any part of the Obama agenda.
In a second interview, RTL quoted Spronck as saying he was aware of Van B.'s pedophilia and membership in Martijn, and even of two instances where the priest had been fined by police for exposing himself in public. But he said he didn't think that was sufficient reason to ban him from the order.Sounds like something Jefferts-Schori herself, or a dozen other "leaders" of The Episcopal Church (tm) might have said. We already know covering up the clerical shagging of 14-year olds doesn't rise to the level of "grave moral transgression" in The Episcopal Church (tm). No, "grave moral transgression" nowadays, at least in The Episcopal Church (tm), are pretty much limited to five things:
"Removing someone from the order is something you would only do in the case of grave moral transgression, such as rape. There was never any question of that," Spronck was quoted as saying.
Threatening the real estate portfolio of TEC.
Saying people do not have the God-given right to stick their winkie wherever they want.
Saying people do not have the God-given right to vacuum out the consequences when they do.
Refusing to take
Speaking against any part of the Obama agenda.
19 May 2011
Conan The Adulterer.
Crush your enemies, drive them before you, and hear the lamentations of your housekeeper.
18 May 2011
Waiting For Perry?
Since Chris Christie won't run, is Texas governor Rick Perry the next best hope for the GOP in 2012? Some say yes. Considering the parade of has-beens, ankle-biters, and wanna-bees the Republicans have put forward so far, I'm disposed to agree. I want ot see more, though, before I sport a Perry pin.
17 May 2011
Defending The Faith.
The good folks over at Maggie's Farm call this 'Christianity with Balls'. If you are a Christian - especially one who takes their catholic and/or orthodox underpinnings seriously - I highly recommend all three of Ann Barnhardt's provocative videos at the link. I know, I know - seems she's a birther. But on the state of the Christian faith today, she is spot on.
How Is Government Motors Getting Out Of Debt?
By some serious kissing of Commie Chinese butt. This is GM's 'The New Standard of the World'. Well, Obama's world, anyway.
A side note: Can you guess how many Chevy Volts, the "green" car Obama thinks will save GM, have been sold between December 2010 and April 2011? 2,029. In five months. As a comparison Ford, who didn't take any government money, sold 12,593 Explorers and 45,435 F-series trucks in April alone. And at a time when gas was pushing $4.00/gal.
A side note: Can you guess how many Chevy Volts, the "green" car Obama thinks will save GM, have been sold between December 2010 and April 2011? 2,029. In five months. As a comparison Ford, who didn't take any government money, sold 12,593 Explorers and 45,435 F-series trucks in April alone. And at a time when gas was pushing $4.00/gal.
16 May 2011
Join the "Gas Roots Army"
Today, the AP reported that President Obama is working to re-create his "grassroots army" from 2008.
On 20 January 2009, the day President Obama was inaugurated, gas was $1.84 per gallon. Today, the average national price is $3.95 per gallon.
Does this piss you off just as much as it does to us?
In response to the President's "grassroots army", and his energy policy of raising gas prices to the same as Europe, we are pleased to announce the formation of the Gas Roots Army.
Joining the Gas Roots Army is simple. Just do it. Let the President's minions know you're here, and you're pissed.
For those who wish to be open about it, we hope to have some Gas Roots Army bumper stickers available on the internet in a few days. In the interest of full disclosure, any profits will be split equally four ways. 1/4 to Clifford, 1/4 to The Grey Man, 1/4 to researching ethanol in your tank, and 1/4 in researching ethanol to GET tanked. We will specialize in single malt scotch.
If you wish to remain a covert operative of the Gas Roots Army, all you need is a pen and some Post-Its. Just write "Inauguration Day $1.84" on a few, and stick it next to the price on the pump next time you fill up.
If you're feeling the pain at the pump while the President jets off on vacation, or raises a billion to campaign, please join the Grass Roots Army!!
On 20 January 2009, the day President Obama was inaugurated, gas was $1.84 per gallon. Today, the average national price is $3.95 per gallon.
Does this piss you off just as much as it does to us?
In response to the President's "grassroots army", and his energy policy of raising gas prices to the same as Europe, we are pleased to announce the formation of the Gas Roots Army.
Joining the Gas Roots Army is simple. Just do it. Let the President's minions know you're here, and you're pissed.
For those who wish to be open about it, we hope to have some Gas Roots Army bumper stickers available on the internet in a few days. In the interest of full disclosure, any profits will be split equally four ways. 1/4 to Clifford, 1/4 to The Grey Man, 1/4 to researching ethanol in your tank, and 1/4 in researching ethanol to GET tanked. We will specialize in single malt scotch.
If you wish to remain a covert operative of the Gas Roots Army, all you need is a pen and some Post-Its. Just write "Inauguration Day $1.84" on a few, and stick it next to the price on the pump next time you fill up.
If you're feeling the pain at the pump while the President jets off on vacation, or raises a billion to campaign, please join the Grass Roots Army!!
15 May 2011
Why? Because I Can, That's Why.
Five minutes of P-38 Lightning goodness:
Along with the P-51 and the F4U, the greatest American fighter of WWII.
Hattip: Theo.
Along with the P-51 and the F4U, the greatest American fighter of WWII.
Hattip: Theo.
Janet Napolitano's TSA To America -
Up Yours, Peons. Supremacy Clause? Excuse me?? What part of
I hope one of the first actions a Republican president does in 2013 is rein in the out-of-control TSA. Hard.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.do these morons not understand?
I hope one of the first actions a Republican president does in 2013 is rein in the out-of-control TSA. Hard.
14 May 2011
13 May 2011
Today's Required Reading.
Walter Russell Mead takes a look at America's Ruling Class, and he ain't happy. As in, making comparisons to the French Revolution ain't happy.
Gettin' Your Geek On.
Geek Item 1: The sky. In detail.
Geek Item 2: Amazon's one day sale on 'Firefly: The Complete Series'. In Blu-Ray, too.
Geek Item 2: Amazon's one day sale on 'Firefly: The Complete Series'. In Blu-Ray, too.
12 May 2011
I May Not Know Much, But I Know Chicken S**t From Chicken Salad.
Ed Driscoll, pinch hitting over at Instapundit, posts a PJTV look at the current crop of GOP hopefuls. It's worth a watch for the analysis alone, but what makes it true gold is Stephen Green, the Vodkapundit , gives the best description of my least favorite uber-RINO, evah:
"Ron Paul sounds increasingly like an angry, constipated chicken."UPDATE: But he's worse when not verbally constipated, because this type of chicken s**t often spews forth. Yeah, that'll deliver the mainstream.
11 May 2011
LSU Geauxs the Right Way
Last week, Clifford posted this shameful event at LSU. Today, the LSU community has redeemed themselves.
Now if you could just put fishnets and eyeshadow on that Saban statue in Tuscaloosa....
Now if you could just put fishnets and eyeshadow on that Saban statue in Tuscaloosa....
10 May 2011
The Invisible South
Today, the President flew to Texas. Was he there for the wildfires ravaging the state? Maybe to declare a disaster area? Um...No. He went in support of illegal immigration in El Paso, and to two, count 'em, two fundraisers in Austin.
En route, he flew over the Mississippi River. You know, that tiny body of water that is threatening flooding greater than 1927? He didn't even friggin look.
OK, he was slow after the oil spill. Since then, he has instituted an illegal de facto ban on offshore drilling. He didn't even mention the tornadoes in the Carolinas a few days before the Alabama ones. You've gutted NASA and Houston.
Mr. President, I can only come to the conclusion that either you are prejudiced against the South, or we're just invisible. Either way, we are Americans. American citizens, who you are supposed to represent. We're worth a look.
I guarantee we won't be invisible next year.
En route, he flew over the Mississippi River. You know, that tiny body of water that is threatening flooding greater than 1927? He didn't even friggin look.
OK, he was slow after the oil spill. Since then, he has instituted an illegal de facto ban on offshore drilling. He didn't even mention the tornadoes in the Carolinas a few days before the Alabama ones. You've gutted NASA and Houston.
Mr. President, I can only come to the conclusion that either you are prejudiced against the South, or we're just invisible. Either way, we are Americans. American citizens, who you are supposed to represent. We're worth a look.
I guarantee we won't be invisible next year.
09 May 2011
06 May 2011
Guess What Isn't Selling?
Going "green". First, Walmart bails (they've even resumed selling guns and ammo in many stores). Now General Electric's CEO - Obama's top lackey poster boy for corporate greenism - is having second thoughts.
UPDATE: Even the greens aren't buying it.
UPDATE: Even the greens aren't buying it.
05 May 2011
Apologies to the Seals and Harry
Although accounts of Bin Laden's death widely vary, one thing has remained remarkably consistent. The Seals actually pulled triggers and actually killed enemies of the USA. Accordingly, the White House has denied their applications for the Courageous Restraint medal.
Sorry, guys. And with apologies to Harry Morant:
If you do something untoward
when following orders from Obama,
you'll never win this award
If you shoot Osama.
Sorry, guys. And with apologies to Harry Morant:
If you do something untoward
when following orders from Obama,
you'll never win this award
If you shoot Osama.
Another Participant, Another Opinion
Yesterday, Clifford commented on this article. In it, the doctor in question says, "So yes, to ask if a device that is associated with over 30,000 deaths a year and over 50% of suicides is unloaded, locked up, and kept out of reach of children is also well within my scope of practice."
I feel I must question the doctor's intellectual honesty.
Since automobile crashes caused 30,797 deaths in 2009, does he also ask about their driving habits? Does he inquire whether they drive a light, fuel efficient, green vehicle that would prove fatal in a collision with a Dodge Ram? If not, why not? Could there be any animus toward those dangerous icky gun thingies?
And if he's truly interested in saving lives, perhaps he should look in the mirror. According to Medical News Today, medical mistakes caused 6.5 times the number of deaths. That's right, 195,000 people per year die from medical errors.
Doc, if you're serious about helping your patients, you should heed the old advice.
Physician, heal thyself.
I feel I must question the doctor's intellectual honesty.
Since automobile crashes caused 30,797 deaths in 2009, does he also ask about their driving habits? Does he inquire whether they drive a light, fuel efficient, green vehicle that would prove fatal in a collision with a Dodge Ram? If not, why not? Could there be any animus toward those dangerous icky gun thingies?
And if he's truly interested in saving lives, perhaps he should look in the mirror. According to Medical News Today, medical mistakes caused 6.5 times the number of deaths. That's right, 195,000 people per year die from medical errors.
Doc, if you're serious about helping your patients, you should heed the old advice.
Physician, heal thyself.
04 May 2011
Another Participant In The Doctor / Client Privilege.
The Government. If our doctor ever asks those kinds of questions... me, my wife, and my children will be more than happy to tell him or her to STFU. We will use the long form of that acronym, and tell the questioner to enter that into our medical records.
I've said since 1992 the real goal of any government takeover of health care isn't improving quality or cost for you and me. It is a nifty way for the Progressives - The Left / Mainstream Media - to make an end run around our Constitution. The Rights enshrined therein - to do with ourselves as we see fit (or in the case of a bacon double-cheeseburger, see unfit) and limit government intrusion in our lives - have hampered the Progressive agenda for a century.
By putting our health care providers and our health care information under the control of the Federal government, as ObamaCare does, doctors essentially become snitches of the State - gathering the kind of information the Constitution would bar the Federal government from otherwise acquiring without a warrant or reasonable cause.
Information is power, and with access to the kind of information the doctor at the link above wants, the Progressive Movement achieves their Holy Grail - the very thing the Bill of Rights prevents: Unfettered government control over our lives. Armed with data about our personal habits, likes, dislikes, values, and interests, an enlightened, educated Ruling Class can finally regulate society unimpeded. They can organize, systematize, and manage our lives to arrive at that collective nirvana they are sure they can create if they just had enough control.
Under the rubric of "health care", The Left / Mainstream Media have a way to force us to live as they think we should while still giving lip service to the Constitution. They can claim they are not violating, say, the Rights protected under the First or Second Amendment by demanding we tell our doctor how we voted, what websites we visit, what we eat or drink, or what firearms we own; because we will still - on paper, anyway - have the Right to those things as before.
BUT...... if our doctor and/or a government regulatory agency decides we are exercising those Rights in a way they deem as "unhealthy" or "costing the system too much" (owning a gun or eating a steak or watching FoxNews with our kids), well... we may have to pay much more for our health care, or maybe lose it all together. When government-approved health care plans become the only game in town, we won't have much option. Your wife's surgery or your Right to join a Tea Party. Your heart medicine or eating meat. Pick one.
Note: FWIW, the way we keep our kids safe around firearms is my wife and I have let them become familiar with them, taught them how to correctly use them, and let them shoot with us as often as we can. My daughter isn't intimidated by a .357 Magnum because, well, she knows how to use it.
I've said since 1992 the real goal of any government takeover of health care isn't improving quality or cost for you and me. It is a nifty way for the Progressives - The Left / Mainstream Media - to make an end run around our Constitution. The Rights enshrined therein - to do with ourselves as we see fit (or in the case of a bacon double-cheeseburger, see unfit) and limit government intrusion in our lives - have hampered the Progressive agenda for a century.
By putting our health care providers and our health care information under the control of the Federal government, as ObamaCare does, doctors essentially become snitches of the State - gathering the kind of information the Constitution would bar the Federal government from otherwise acquiring without a warrant or reasonable cause.
Information is power, and with access to the kind of information the doctor at the link above wants, the Progressive Movement achieves their Holy Grail - the very thing the Bill of Rights prevents: Unfettered government control over our lives. Armed with data about our personal habits, likes, dislikes, values, and interests, an enlightened, educated Ruling Class can finally regulate society unimpeded. They can organize, systematize, and manage our lives to arrive at that collective nirvana they are sure they can create if they just had enough control.
Under the rubric of "health care", The Left / Mainstream Media have a way to force us to live as they think we should while still giving lip service to the Constitution. They can claim they are not violating, say, the Rights protected under the First or Second Amendment by demanding we tell our doctor how we voted, what websites we visit, what we eat or drink, or what firearms we own; because we will still - on paper, anyway - have the Right to those things as before.
BUT...... if our doctor and/or a government regulatory agency decides we are exercising those Rights in a way they deem as "unhealthy" or "costing the system too much" (owning a gun or eating a steak or watching FoxNews with our kids), well... we may have to pay much more for our health care, or maybe lose it all together. When government-approved health care plans become the only game in town, we won't have much option. Your wife's surgery or your Right to join a Tea Party. Your heart medicine or eating meat. Pick one.
Note: FWIW, the way we keep our kids safe around firearms is my wife and I have let them become familiar with them, taught them how to correctly use them, and let them shoot with us as often as we can. My daughter isn't intimidated by a .357 Magnum because, well, she knows how to use it.
Um, How About 'Sauron'?
I have to agree with this - using "Geronimo" as Bin Laden's code-name was not cool. Not at all. Geronimo was an American. Geronimo was one of us, and he fought for something uniquely American - the right to be left the hell alone and not have others trying to run your life. Bin Laden stood for none of these things. Bin Laden wanted to destroy us, not leave us alone, and force us to live out lives (those that his ilk would let live, anyway) according to their dictates, their mores, and their god.
03 May 2011
Best And Brightest.
Weep for America's future. Well, if these people have any say in it:
UPDATE: For those keeping track, this is the 3,000th post here on RSR.
UPDATE: For those keeping track, this is the 3,000th post here on RSR.
A Word From The Management.
RSR would like to welcome it's first "guest author" (hey, that's what Blogger calls 'em -ed.): The Grey Man. He is an insightful sage of formidable intellectual and linguistic skills, and will be a welcome addition to our blogging bullpen.
But be forewarned, dear readers - if you wish to cross keyboards with The Grey Man we at RSR take no responsibility for the result. You will be challenging a man known to palpate cattle (that is, stick his arm up a cow's butt -ed.) while reciting the climactic soliloquy from 'Henry V' from memory. You will be in for the scrap of your intellectual life.
But be forewarned, dear readers - if you wish to cross keyboards with The Grey Man we at RSR take no responsibility for the result. You will be challenging a man known to palpate cattle (that is, stick his arm up a cow's butt -ed.) while reciting the climactic soliloquy from 'Henry V' from memory. You will be in for the scrap of your intellectual life.
I'll Buy A Round.
My buddy Christopher Johnson notes America's newest drink craze: The Bin Laden. It’s two shots and a splash of water.
Q and A Time
Q: As Osama bin Laden stood in his secure compound, facing an armed American, while hiding behind a woman's skirts, what was the last thing to go through his mind?
A: 5.56
A: 5.56
02 May 2011
The Man Who Shot Osama Bin Laden.
(Note: Below is a guest post by The Grey Man, with his unique and insightful take on recent events. Read it all.)
Sometimes, life imitates art.
Today I am reminded of a 1962 classic film, one of the great stories written by James Warner Bellah. This film was also a rare pairing of John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart. Of course, I refer to "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance". There was even a very early sixties theme song.
For those of you who haven't seen the film, I'll have to summarize:
Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin) is the classic bad guy who terrorizes the town. The only man in town who will stand up to Liberty is a local tough, but good guy, Tom Doniphon (John Wayne). One day a lawyer, Ransom Stoddard (Jimmy Stewart) comes to town, carrying law books but no gun. Of course, Liberty and Ransom come into conflict, and the local law, Marshal Link Appleyard (Andy Devine) is no use. It has to be settled with a gunfight. Ransom Stoddard wins, and becomes famous as "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance". Because of his fame, he gets Statehood passed, gets elected to the Senate, as Governor, etc. And he gets Doniphon's girl in the process.
But all is not as it seems. Actually, Doniphon killed Valance from the shadows. When Stoddard tries to set the record straight many years later, the press refuses to tell the facts. The money line is "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend".
Today, I think we have seen President Obama's re-election campaign laid out.
The President has been polling very poorly among independents, the soft center. Obamacare, gas prices, unemployment, foreign policy, etc., weigh heavily on their minds. Yet they are a patriotic group.
For the next 18 months, I predict criticism of the President will be answered with "He's the "Man Who Shot Osama Bin Laden"". Calling your opponents racist at every turn is a negative, and has become ineffective. Now, the President's supporters have something popular to point to. There's already a theme song written for this role.
This seems, historically, somewhat silly. Did the press laud President Roosevelt for giving the order to assassinate Admiral Yamamoto during the election of 1944? Also how will ordering assassinations play with the President's base?
Regardless, it seems that, politically, we are in for a remake of this classic film.
How will we cast this remake?
Liberty Valance - Osama Bin Laden. The big bad guy.
Ransom Stoddard - President Obama. This is the apparent hero, who gets the credit for something others have done. While he does not actively claim credit, neither does he give the appropriate credit until way too late. He also takes the great love of the true hero.
Tom Doniphon - Seal Team Six, and the entire US military. These are the real heroes, who do the right thing time and again with no thanks. They put it all on the line, time and again, and don't complain when the credit gets given to someone else.
Marshal Link Appleyard - Eric Holder. This is the bumbling law enforcement officer who is totally ineffective at stopping the terrorizing of the town.
Major Cassius Starbuckle - Any Republican presidential candidate. In the film, Maj. Starbuckle is the man who runs against Stoddard for office at the Territorial Convention. He gets called "The Cattlemen's Mouthpiece". Expect any Republican candidate to be called "The Oilman's Mouthpiece" or in the pocket of Big Something or Other.
Hallie Stoddard - The American voters. Hallie is Doniphon's love interest, who dumps him for Stoddard. Never mind that while both Stoddard and Doniphon had the courage to confront Valance's terror, only Doniphon had the skill to stop it. The President is hoping our appreciation for a difficult and dangerous job well done will accrue to him, not the ones who have been fighting terror for years.
We will, of course, have to forget that the President has been slashing the budget of the very operators who carried out this mission. Ignore what you just paid for gas, milk and bread. Pay no attention to the man groping your crotch at the airport. Just keep humming "The Man Who Shot Osama Bin Laden".
Sometimes, life imitates art.
Today I am reminded of a 1962 classic film, one of the great stories written by James Warner Bellah. This film was also a rare pairing of John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart. Of course, I refer to "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance". There was even a very early sixties theme song.
For those of you who haven't seen the film, I'll have to summarize:
Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin) is the classic bad guy who terrorizes the town. The only man in town who will stand up to Liberty is a local tough, but good guy, Tom Doniphon (John Wayne). One day a lawyer, Ransom Stoddard (Jimmy Stewart) comes to town, carrying law books but no gun. Of course, Liberty and Ransom come into conflict, and the local law, Marshal Link Appleyard (Andy Devine) is no use. It has to be settled with a gunfight. Ransom Stoddard wins, and becomes famous as "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance". Because of his fame, he gets Statehood passed, gets elected to the Senate, as Governor, etc. And he gets Doniphon's girl in the process.
But all is not as it seems. Actually, Doniphon killed Valance from the shadows. When Stoddard tries to set the record straight many years later, the press refuses to tell the facts. The money line is "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend".
Today, I think we have seen President Obama's re-election campaign laid out.
The President has been polling very poorly among independents, the soft center. Obamacare, gas prices, unemployment, foreign policy, etc., weigh heavily on their minds. Yet they are a patriotic group.
For the next 18 months, I predict criticism of the President will be answered with "He's the "Man Who Shot Osama Bin Laden"". Calling your opponents racist at every turn is a negative, and has become ineffective. Now, the President's supporters have something popular to point to. There's already a theme song written for this role.
This seems, historically, somewhat silly. Did the press laud President Roosevelt for giving the order to assassinate Admiral Yamamoto during the election of 1944? Also how will ordering assassinations play with the President's base?
Regardless, it seems that, politically, we are in for a remake of this classic film.
How will we cast this remake?
Liberty Valance - Osama Bin Laden. The big bad guy.
Ransom Stoddard - President Obama. This is the apparent hero, who gets the credit for something others have done. While he does not actively claim credit, neither does he give the appropriate credit until way too late. He also takes the great love of the true hero.
Tom Doniphon - Seal Team Six, and the entire US military. These are the real heroes, who do the right thing time and again with no thanks. They put it all on the line, time and again, and don't complain when the credit gets given to someone else.
Marshal Link Appleyard - Eric Holder. This is the bumbling law enforcement officer who is totally ineffective at stopping the terrorizing of the town.
Major Cassius Starbuckle - Any Republican presidential candidate. In the film, Maj. Starbuckle is the man who runs against Stoddard for office at the Territorial Convention. He gets called "The Cattlemen's Mouthpiece". Expect any Republican candidate to be called "The Oilman's Mouthpiece" or in the pocket of Big Something or Other.
Hallie Stoddard - The American voters. Hallie is Doniphon's love interest, who dumps him for Stoddard. Never mind that while both Stoddard and Doniphon had the courage to confront Valance's terror, only Doniphon had the skill to stop it. The President is hoping our appreciation for a difficult and dangerous job well done will accrue to him, not the ones who have been fighting terror for years.
We will, of course, have to forget that the President has been slashing the budget of the very operators who carried out this mission. Ignore what you just paid for gas, milk and bread. Pay no attention to the man groping your crotch at the airport. Just keep humming "The Man Who Shot Osama Bin Laden".
Grrrr. Cowards.
OK, so you don't like the fact we offed the biggest scumbag on the planet. We get it; it's a free country. But, this??
01 May 2011
Oh, Happy Day!!
WE GOT HIM!!!! One Shot, One Kill.
Take it away, Lee:
Yes, watch it again.
UPDATE: On FoxNews right now, a large, flag-waving crowd is gathering at the White House in celebration. Shouts of "USA! USA!" and singing "Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey, Good Bye!" can he heard.
UPDATE: Congratulations to the US military, US intelligence services, President Bush, and President Obama.
UPDATE: Good Lord. The tin-foil hat fringe is already talking C-O-N-S-P-I-R-A-C-Y! Just scroll though the posts and pages if you go there. And scrub well after you leave.
UPDATE: FoxNews now showing a crowd gathering in Times Square in New York.
UPDATE: "Three Administrations and a Funeral: The Osama Bin Laden Story". Heeheehee.
UPDATE: John Paul II beatified, Bin Laden killed. An amazing, historic day.
UPDATE 02MAY2011: I hope this is not accurate. In your humble blogger's opinion, his remains should have been cremated, and mixed anonymously into concrete for sidewalks at the new World Trade Center - where the soles of millions of shoes would stomp on him daily.
UPDATE 02MAY2011: ABC News has images from inside Bin Laden's "mansion". Geez. It looks like a college apartment furnished out of a Goodwill Store. All these years and he couldn't hire an interior designer?? IKEA delivers, you know.
Take it away, Lee:
Yes, watch it again.
UPDATE: On FoxNews right now, a large, flag-waving crowd is gathering at the White House in celebration. Shouts of "USA! USA!" and singing "Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey, Good Bye!" can he heard.
UPDATE: Congratulations to the US military, US intelligence services, President Bush, and President Obama.
UPDATE: Good Lord. The tin-foil hat fringe is already talking C-O-N-S-P-I-R-A-C-Y! Just scroll though the posts and pages if you go there. And scrub well after you leave.
UPDATE: FoxNews now showing a crowd gathering in Times Square in New York.
UPDATE: "Three Administrations and a Funeral: The Osama Bin Laden Story". Heeheehee.
UPDATE: John Paul II beatified, Bin Laden killed. An amazing, historic day.
UPDATE 02MAY2011: I hope this is not accurate. In your humble blogger's opinion, his remains should have been cremated, and mixed anonymously into concrete for sidewalks at the new World Trade Center - where the soles of millions of shoes would stomp on him daily.
UPDATE 02MAY2011: ABC News has images from inside Bin Laden's "mansion". Geez. It looks like a college apartment furnished out of a Goodwill Store. All these years and he couldn't hire an interior designer?? IKEA delivers, you know.
So Tom, Is This One Of Those "Right Solutions" You Would Authorize?
Communist China - the authoritarian worker's paradise where everybody has government health care; the nation that is the company store we now owe our national soul to; the proletarian nirvana Thomas Friedman wishes the United States could be just for a day - puts profits before people.
I'm shocked! Shocked! OK, not really.
I'm shocked! Shocked! OK, not really.
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