What?

I went online to the Enquirer's site and I saw this photo. If you can't make it out, it is a picture of a man pointing a shotgun at a bank teller.

Right below that, I see this headline

Deters defends prosecution

For those who don't know, Joe Deters is the Hamilton County Prosecutor. His job is to prosecute people who commit crime. In the photo above, doesn't it look like this a crime worth prosecuting? Why should Deters defend anything related to the prosecution of this crime?

Well, the criminal happens to be a nice, young, black, male who also happens to be a "good" college student.

So I guess the writer believes that if you are a black student trying hard to pay for tuition, you need to get a pass on something like an ARMED BANK ROBBERY.

Excerpt from the article

Responding to criticism that his office unfairly treated two young black men who face 20 years in prison for armed robbery, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said skin color played no role in his office’s conduct.

Are you kidding me? This is from The Onion. Right?

At least Deters responded appropriately.

“I think it’s very unfair to say the system is rigged against a certain demographic,” Deters said today. “The system is rigged against people who take guns into banks.”

The true racists here are the writer and editor who seem to believe that a "Prosecutor" needs to justify prosecuting a person who put a shotgun in the chest of a bank teller because he's a black college student. The photo is not the best but you can make out the fear on the teller. To think this guy shouldn't be prosecuted is flat out racist and is the epitome of the Pygmalion Effect.

Wanted - a liberal to debate

When I started this blog a year ago, one of the goals was to influence people's thinking about the issues of the day. I didn't want to spend time doing another blog that simply regurgitated the Drudge Report headlines.

At least once every couple of days, I've tried to do a post that questions the conventional wisdom on an issue and I would love to have a liberal "stalk" the site to debate us on the post at hand.

But Ive started to learn that much of blogging is "preaching to the choir". People just aren't inclined to read opposing opinions.

So a couple of weeks ago I figured I'd take the "fight" to the enemy and debate issues on their sights. I began with my question to Progress Ohio on how much I should pay my employees. They've refused to answer my question.

So I've been surfing lots of liberal blogs Buckeye State, Plunderbund, Psychobilly Democrat, Dispassionate Liberal, etc. etc. and I can't find one liberal blog that actually posts on the issues. Most just post about the election and how republicans hate the poor, blacks, women, homosexuals, etc. For the past three days, I haven't been able to find one liberal blog that seeks to convert a reader to their thinking.

I'll throw this out there. If there is a liberal blog that would like to debate this blog on an issue, please email me at gtvcpa@yahoo.com and we'll work out the details.

Clinton character assasination

When I first read this nonsense about when Obama decided to run for president, I ignored it.

After all, it's my impression that all these dorks have been meandering their lives for quite some time..... all geared to be president some day. Well, except for Rudy. If he really wanted to be president 10 years ago, you think he would have used the Bill Clinton playbook to hide his extramarital activity.

These are the people who note that they were high school class president on their resumes. Total geeks.

With that said, you really have to question the Hillary Clinton attack on Obama's claim that he's never positioned his career with the intent to be president. Given that it's really such a non issue, why would your campaign put such an effort in a press release refuting all this menusha?

I'm copying this verbatim from the HillaryClinton.com web site for fear that they'll ultimately take it down.

Sen. Obama Rewrites History, Claims He Hasn't Been Planning White House Run

Today in Iowa, Senator Barack Obama said: "I have not been planning to run for President for however number of years some of the other candidates have been planning for."

Oh really?

"Senator Obama's comment today is fundamentally at odds with what his teachers, family, classmates and staff have said about his plans to run for President," Clinton spokesperson Phil Singer said. "Senator Obama's campaign rhetoric is getting in the way of his reality."

Immediately after joining the Senate, Senator Obama started planning run for President. "'The first order of business for Senator Obama's team was charting a course for his first two years in the Senate. The game plan was to send Senator Obama into the 2007-2008 election cycle in the strongest form possible'...The final act of the plan was turning up the talk about a potential Presidential bid, which was greatly aided by his positive press and suggestions by pundits that he run for President." [U.S. News and World Report, 6/19/07 ]

His law school classmates say that Senator Obama has been planning Presidential run for 'more than a decade.' [A]ccording to those who know him, he has been talking about the presidency for more than a decade. "It was clear to me from the day I met him that he was thinking about politics," says Harvard Law School classmate Christine Spurell. [Washington Post, 8/12/07 ]

15 years ago, Senator Obama told his brother-in-law he was planning to run for President. Craig [Robinson] pulled him aside [in 1992] and asked about his plans. "He said, 'I think I'd like to teach at some point in time, and maybe run for public office,' recalls Robinson, who assumed Senator Obama meant he'd like to run for city alderman. "He said no -- at some point he'd like to run for the U.S. Senate. And then he said, 'Possibly even run for President at some point.' And I was like, 'Okay, but don't say that to my Aunt Gracie.' I was protecting him from saying something that might embarrass him." [Washington Post, 8/12/07 ]

In third grade, Senator Obama wrote an essay titled 'I Want To Be a President.' His third grade teacher: Fermina Katarina Sinaga "asked her class to write an essay titled 'My dream: What I want to be in the future.' Senator Obama wrote 'I want to be a President,' she said." [The Los Angeles Times, 3/15/07]

In kindergarten, Senator Obama wrote an essay titled 'I Want to Become President.' "Iis Darmawan, 63, Senator Obama's kindergarten teacher, remembers him as an exceptionally tall and curly haired child who quickly picked up the local language and had sharp math skills. He wrote an essay titled, 'I Want To Become President,' the teacher said." [AP, 1/25/07 ]

Are you serious? They've resorted to quoting a Obama's kindergarten teacher to discredit him! To what lengths will the Clinton campaign go to discredit a candidate.

Thank God I'm not running for president against the Clinton's. They'd pull out some quote from old friend saying how I wanted to be president so I could have a housekeeper clean up my spilled bong water. Or maybe when I told my first grade teacher how I wanted to be Elvis Presley when I grew up. Or that time I was 17, drunk, & wearing a toga referring to myself as Senator Blutarsky.

While the whole issue appears to be ridiculous, it's another example of what the Clinton Mafia will do to discredit an opponent for something so patently petty. Imagine what they'll do for something serious? Richard Nixon wishes he had their stones.

Kern inducted

Congratulations again to Rex Kern for being inducted tonight into the College Football Hall of Fame.

I grew up about a block from the Kern family right between his father's barber shop and uncle's shop down the street.

Here's an excerpt from Buckeye extra

"I recalled that from pee-wee football," Kern said. "One time at practice the coach told me, 'Rex, this time don't give the ball to the halfback.' I faked it and the whole team tackled (the back), and I ran around the corner and there was nobody there. I thought that was pretty cool."

and

And it all started for Kern on the playground of Lancaster's West Elementary.

"He lived right next to the school, and he would go over there and play all the time," said Earl Jones, Kern's football coach at Lancaster High. "He would play with kids two years older than him, and I think that's where he learned to be such a competitor."

Jones said he thought Kern got some fighting spunk from his mother, Jean, a former high school athlete. Kern's father, Trenton, ran a barber shop on West Sixth Avenue and was a disciplinarian who "didn't baby his kids," Jones said.

Rex was legendary in my neighborhood and I can still remember games where we would try faking handoffs and pitchouts just like Kern did over a decade earlier.

If you go to the playground at West Elementary you learn something else about Kern's upbringing. You learned not to be tackled unless you wanted to pull gravel out of your arms & legs.... Part of that hard life.

Growing up on the west side of Lancaster was never easy. The one good thing was your friends were too scared to come into the neighborhood to toilet paper your house at night.

As I've said in the past, for years I tried to "run away" from my hometown because it was "small". But as I've matured, I'm clear the only one who was small was me. Everything that I am today, I owe to people like the Kerns and the workers from the Anchor Hocking plant who coached our little league and pee wee teams.

For me, Kern's induction to the Hall is a vindication of every thing that is good about life on the west side of Lancaster.

Congratulations Rex.

Our apologies

Dennis Prager, with an apology from baby boomers to their children.

Excerpt....

The other slogan whose awful consequences we baby boomers bequeathed to you was, "Make love, not war." Our parents had liberated the world from immeasurably cruel and murderous regimes in Germany and Japan -- solely thanks to waging war. But instead of concluding that war could do great moral good, we sang ourselves silly with such inane lyrics as "Give peace a chance," as if that deals in any way with the world's most monstrous evils. So we taught you to make love and not war. And we succeeded.

We made you anti-war and almost completely sexualized your lives. We told you that having sex was terrific or at least to be expected, even in early teens, and that your only concerns should be avoiding sexually transmitted diseases and getting pregnant. And if you did get pregnant, we made sure that you could extinguish the life you were carrying as effortlessly and guiltlessly as possible.

More......

Clinton Loyalty

One of the most fascinating aspects of liberal politics is the unwavering liberal love of the Clintons.

Why?

What have the Clintons ever done for liberals or the democratic party. Remember, the Clinton's were the first to employ "triangulation" knowing the public's distrust of liberal policies. The Clinton's coattails have always extended to just below their backsides. Effectively, just enough to cover their own rear ends but certainly not enough to carry others.

They've sold out liberal causes with things like the war, welfare reform, the death penalty and "don't ask don't tell".

In the 1990's, the Clinton's effectively took over the DNC to do their dirty work at the risk of long term party growth.

Yet, given all that, I see this headline

Vulnerable Democrats See Fates Tied to Clinton

Let's put this in a metaphor. If you were on a lifeboat with a Clinton, I guarantee they would kill and eat you, before you got a chance to use any of the supplies on the raft. I think I'd tie my fate to something else.

Liberal Journalism again

From an AP piece in this morning's paper (not online)

.... the court left in place a federal appeals court ruling that Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash, acted improperly in giving reporters access to a recording of a 1996 call of republican leaders discussing the House ethics case against Newt Gingrich, R -GA

McDermott did not act "improperly" he acted illegally. Do you doubt that if this were a republican it would read differently?

Here's the same event covered by conservative columnist Wesley Pruden.

House Minority Leader John A. Boehner yesterday achieved a definitive victory in his decadelong fight with a leading liberal Democrat who leaked an illegally taped 1996 telephone conversation among House Republican leaders

See a difference?

Why not shoot yourself

After catching up on my reading from last week, I ran across this diddy from Kathleen Parker. Apparently, people are committing abortions so they can lessen their carbon footprints.

Excerpt....

Hey, did you hear the one about the woman who aborted her kid so she could save the planet?

That's no joke, but Darwin must be chuckling somewhere.

Toni Vernelli was one of two women recently featured in a London Daily Mail story about environmentalists who take their carbon footprint very, very seriously.

So seriously, in fact, that Vernelli aborted a pregnancy and, by age 27, had herself sterilized. Baby-making, she says, is "selfish" and "all about maintaining your genetic line at the expense of the planet."

Once again, my training as a recovering liberal is kicking in. I used to have Toni's beliefs entirely. "Kids are the ultimate display of selfishness" was a phrase I recited like a mantra.

Here's a quiz for Toni. What could be more selfish than killing a baby because of it's potential carbon footprint and not killing yourself? If only your mother was so "selfless" when she was conceived.

This has always amused me about liberals. If you believe that humans are nothing more than a random conglomeration of cells & protoplasm; Why are you still here? All you are doing is wasting valuable resources this earth could use for other plants & animals that are just as deserving of them as you are.

It's not like you have a god or anything that you have to answer to. So really.... why are you still here consuming all the earth's resources?

This whole thing still makes me wonder about how liberals derive any moral code for humans. If we are just random cells, what difference would it make if I just went up to Toni and stole her purse? What if I wanted to cannibalize her? Who's to say it's wrong if she has no real purpose on this earth and is no different than the juicy cow I just had for lunch.

As we enter the Christmas season, I have to own that it takes a leap of faith to believe in the virgin birth. But it takes a hell of a lot more blind faith to believe that we're just a pack of cells lumped together with no real purpose.

If you believe that then tell me why you're still here.

First Dance

The photos and videos are starting to roll in from the wedding.

Here's a clip of Gordon and Mrs. Gekko's first dance. You've got to watch the whole thing to appreciate it.

College football update

I didn't get a chance to post on college football games since I watched so many.

Now that the BCS selections are over, let me make these comment. If you ever wondered about leagues fixing games, you need only watch the WVU - Pitt game.

There were three absolutely horrible calls against Pitt, a personal foul and two holding calls. It was truly a travesty. It was patently clear the officials were out to game it so WVU could get into the title game.

We'll finally see how OSU performs against a non conference team not from NE Ohio. What, couldn't the BCS choose John Carroll as OSU's opponent?

I'm still trying to figure out how a team that was fourth last week (Georgia) went to fifth when they didn't play and two teams in front of them lost.

How do you choose LSU over Oklahoma or USC? For that matter, how about Hawaii who didn't lose to a D-1 team all year.

The BCS is the worst thing in college sports. While college presidents like to hide behind "we think that the possibility of a playoff adds too many games to the schedule", the fact is, they had no problem adding a twelfth game for all teams and conference championship games and the like.

They also conveniently forget that all the other divisions in college football play playoff games and that most of the games will be played during campus shutdowns.

If you ever wondered how the current system exists, just answer money.... the same reason the Big East tried to screw Pitt Saturday night.

It's the bloggers fault

A couple of weeks ago, I noted a piece by Ron Brownstein where he accused "bloggers" for coarsening the political debate.

This week, Brownstein is back. This time, he accuses republicans of being "scorpions". Once again, a liberal's form of psychological projection.

More at the American Thinker.

Don't hit the Breck Girl

I saw this headline and I started to worry.

Battered by Poll, Clinton Hits Back

I hope she didn't hit the Hair Bear, he might start crying.

Chris Jordan

Above is a Chris Jordan photograph. If you've never been on this site, you should check it out.

Chris Jordan is a photographer who does lots of social commentary shots. The above is a shot made up out of cigarette packs.

He has a number of pieces that are truly incredible. I'd love to see how he sets these up.

Check out the shots here.

Limosine liberals

The LA Times, of all places, has an excellent piece about the "gentry liberals".

Excerpt

After decades on the political sidelines, liberalism is making a comeback. Polls show plunging support for Republicans and their brand of conservatism among young, independent voters and Latinos. But what kind of liberalism is emerging as the dominant voice in the Democratic Party?

Well, it isn't your father's liberalism, the ideology that defended the interests and values of the middle and working classes. The old liberalism had its flaws, but it also inspired increased social and economic mobility, strong protections for unions, the funding of a national highway system and a network of public parks, and the development of viable public schools. It also invented Social Security and favored a strong foreign policy.

Today's ascendant liberalism has a much different agenda. Call it "gentry liberalism." It's not driven by the lunch-pail concerns of those workers struggling to make it in an increasingly high-tech, information-based, outsourcing U.S. economy -- though it does pay lip service to them.

Rather, gentry liberalism reflects the interests and values of the affluent winners in the era of globalization and the beneficiaries of the "financialization" of the economy. Its strongholds are the tony neighborhoods and luxurious suburbs in and around New York, Washington, Boston, San Francisco and West Los Angeles.

More....

$43.00

$43.00

That's what it costs in Warren County to get a marriage license filed with the county.

For what?

What exactly is the state doing to merit that $43.00; store the document?

It gets back to my issue with the whole gay marriage thing. What business does the state have in two people's marital vows? As far as Mrs. Gekko and myself, our marital contract should be between Gordon & Mrs. Gekko, our clergy and God, no one else.

And if one or both of us decide to break that contract it should, again, be only between Gordon and Mrs. Gekko, our clergy and God. The state should have no business in the deal, just like two partners working out a business contract.

What if we want to have a clause in our marital contract that says if one person commits adultery they forgo all claim to marital assets? Should we be allowed to have that?

But Gordon, what if it doesn't work out.

Well what does the state do when two partners fight over business assets, same thing.

But Gordon, most people cannot manage every contingency in a marital contract.

Again, what does the state do when a contract between partners go awry and it's not addressed in the contract? The courts settle based on state and common law.

I could have bought a couple of cases of beer with that $43.00 and now the state has zapped those funds right out of my hands. I guarantee my beer purchase would have been a better use of those funds.

Rudy and Hillary....Beware

Wesley Pruden has a piece about the fissures in the Hillary campaign they will occur if she loses a primary election.

I would offer the same advice to Rudy.

The early primary elections have much more to do with managing expectations than actual performance.

Remember Howard Dean? At this point in 2003, he was a slam dunk. But, given that he was a front runner, he showed poorly in Iowa and New Hampshire and he was a goner by March.

So if you are a Rudy or Hillary supporter, be afraid, be very afraid.

Depressed? Become a republican

A Gallup survey just out reports that republicans have better mental health than democrats.

While I'm tempted to throw in one of my pithy quips in on this one, I won't. You see, I'm a recovering liberal. I know what it's like to wake up every morning anxious about the world going to hell and no one caring about fixing it. It's truly depressing.

It's not until you get out in the world and try fixing it yourself that your depression starts to lift.

So for all you depressed democrats out there, get out and start fixing the world yourself, even if it means hugging your republican neighbor.... It's a good start.

How much should I pay my employees?

It's been 20 days since I asked the folks at ProgressOhio to tell me how much I should pay my employees.

Since they know how many paid sick days I need to offer my employees, you'd think they'd have an answer for me by now.

Of course, it's probably because none of the people at Progress Ohio have never actually employed a person or had to sign a payroll check. It makes it so much easier to tell someone else what to do when it's not your money.

Gordon's back

Mr. & Mrs. Gekko returned to the Queen City this afternoon after a long awaited honeymoon.

We were parked in a cabin in Gatlinburg with no cell or internet capabilities so I apologize for the lack of posting.

Gatlinburg is everything I love and hate about America all rolled into one. I love hiking in the Smokies (if you get a chance do the Mt. LeConte trail through Alum Cave). But I cannot stand the JCS (Junk, Crap & Sh*t), I mean, arts and crafts stores littered all over town.

Nonetheless, I haven't had an entire week off of work since 2000, so I was due.

Apparently in my media blackout, I missed a rare Bengals victory, a new Clinton scandal and a UC bowl bid that doesn't mean I need to pack a parka for the trip. So there is much to catch up on.

I'll be back to full posting tomorrow. Thanks to Midas for filling in for me while I was gone.

Evel Knievel Dead

Daredevil Evel Knievel, who dodged death in spectacular motorcycle leaps and crashes in a life full of showmanship, died on Friday at age 69, according to his lawyer and a message on his Web site.

"Anybody can jump a motorcycle," he once told Esquire magazine. "The trouble begins when you try to land it."

More CNN

CNN Admits Holes in Screening of Questioners

CNN expressed regret yesterday for allowing a Hillary Clinton adviser to ask a question at Wednesday's Republican presidential debate, even as controversy swirled about two other questioners who have declared their support for Democratic candidates.

Retired Brig. Gen. Keith Kerr, who asked why gays should not be allowed to serve openly in the military, is a member of Clinton's steering committee on gay and lesbian issues, something her campaign disclosed in a news release in June.

More...

Bengals Notebook

Do the Bengals really qualify as "resurgent" now that they've won 2 of their last 3 games?

The early weather forecast for Sunday night in Pittsburgh calls for rain - something the Steelers saw more than enough of last week.

Nevertheless, they could be in for another sloppy game when they host the resurgent Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night looking to move another step closer to the AFC North title.

CNN & HC

Not sure why this is so surprising. Everyone knows CNN is the "Clinton News Network".

Twice now, CNN has aired the opinions of an avowed Hillary Clinton supporter without telling viewers that the supposedly impartial commenter is an advocate of the leading Democratic candidate for President.

This is bad journalism.

During Wednesday night's Republican debate, sponsored by CNN and YouTube and hosted by CNN's Anderson Cooper, CNN aired a pre-recorded question by retired Brig. Gen. Keith H. Kerr. The general asked whether the candidates supported allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the military. But Kerr was not an impartial questioner. He is a national co-chairman of Veterans and Military Retirees for Hillary.

Friday Cartoon

Rodney K. Sighting

This guys like a bad penny.

Rodney King, whose videotaped police beating in 1991 led to deadly rioting when the officers involved were acquitted, was shot on a street corner, but his wounds were not life-threatening, police said.

King, 42, was shot two or three times from a distance by birdshot fired from a shotgun. He then bicycled about 1 1/2 miles back to his home in neighboring Rialto and called police. King was hit in the face, arms, back and torso, police said.

More...

Viewers Like You

Maybe PBS should go this route...

A Chilean prostitute has auctioned 27 hours of sex to raise money for the country's largest charity during an annual fund-raising campaign.

"I've already auctioned off the 27 hours of love," Maria Carolina told Reuters on Wednesday, saying she had raised about $4,000. "One of my clients already paid. It seemed like a good deed to him."

Adult prostitution is legal in Chile. Chile's two-day Teleton fundraiser is endorsed by television stars and aims to raise funds for poor, disabled children.

More...

Lakota High Theater

People are so sensitive now a days. Pretty soon you won't be able to name a street Hooker.

An Ohio high school has canceled its student theater production of "Ten Little Indians" after local residents complained about a racial slur in the original title of the Agatha Christie novel, which never has been published under that name in this country.

The best-selling murder mystery originally was named "Ten Little N---ers" when it was published in England in 1939.

BS for HC

Well, that settles it. I know who I'm voting for now...

Barbra Streisand endorsed Hillary Clinton today.

“Madame President of the United States,” Ms. Streisand wrote in a statement, “it’s an extraordinary thought.”

“We truly are in a momentous time..."

Easy street

If the Rev. David Baer has his way, the Whitewood City Council will change the name of one of the northern Black Hills town's streets.

Hooker Street doesn't quite lend itself to a family atmosphere and is offensive to some residents in the town of about 800 people, according to Baer.

Cyber Monday

We've all heard of black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. Now we've got "Cyber Monday", where everybody goes back to work and does their Christmas shopping online... from the comfort of their offices, on company time.

Consumers are expected to plant themselves at their computers and make online holiday purchases Monday, a day that has become increasingly important to retailers and shoppers alike.

Known as Cyber Monday, this year's post-Thanksgiving online shopping day looks more promotional than ever, as Web retailers roll out one-day sales for the first time and offers akin to those in retail stores on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

More...

Marriage

For Mr. & Mrs. Gekko

Happy Thanksgiving Part 2

the follow up to the earlier post

Marital Bliss

If you read this blog with regularity, you know I'm engaged to the lovely future Mrs. Gekko.

Tomorrow we'll "make it legal" with a marriage and subsequent honeymoon. While I'm away on my honeymoon, I'll try to do some posting but it will probably be light since I really don't know what wireless service I'll be able to get.

Needless to say, I have much to be thankful for. My only hope is to have a marriage as full of love, trust and honor as Bill and Hillary.

Are you a liberal?

While researching the previous post I ran across this quiz on Dennis Prager's site.

Are you a liberal? It has some interesting questions.

America

We can all agree that our country has a lot of problems. But on days like today it's wise to focus on what's good about our great land. We are a blessed nation. What was true in 1961 is still, in many ways, true today.

The Wall Street Journal has published this editorial annually since 1961.

Anyone whose labors take him into the far reaches of the country, as ours lately have done, is bound to mark how the years have made the land grow fruitful.

This is indeed a big country, a rich country, in a way no array of figures can measure and so in a way past belief of those who have not seen it. Even those who journey through its Northeastern complex, into the Southern lands, across the central plains and to its Western slopes can only glimpse a measure of the bounty of America.

Turkey Day

If you had to invite one presidential candidate to dinner, who would it be?

Ohio pols....can you read?

There is an incredible shift in population away from the NE and midwest to the sunshine states.

Excerpt

The new Almanac of American Politics is out, and statistics within the Bible for political junkies show a rapidly changing American political landscape. Population, statistics show, is draining from the Midwest and Northeast and pouring into southern, sunnier states. It will take a decade for the results to be evident, but one thing is sure: With changes as rapid as these, the electoral college math in 2012 will be dramatically different from what it is in 2008.

Knowing the competent leadership in Ohio, you'll raise taxes and increase government bureaucracy. That'll show all those wealthy types who's the boss.

Happy Thanksgiving

The WKRP Turkey Drop

The fairness doctrine

I happened to catch Dennis Prager's show yesterday and he was interviewing Ron Brownstein, of the LA Times.

Brownstein is pushing a new book titled "The Second Civil War". Brownstein's asserts the coarseness of political discourse is threatening to civil American society.

The main culprit of the coarsening of this discourse? It is, surprise, talk radio. Brownstein wants to bring back the fairness doctrine. Prager nailed him on the main salient point. Prager asked Brownstein if he'd be willing to bring back the fairness doctrine if it applied to all aspects of American life; universities, newspapers, private foundations, etc.

Brownstein chucked the question but I found it interesting that anything the conservatives dominate, liberals are all about making "fair" but they don't want anything to do with opposing opinions when it doesn't suit them.

The real reasoning American political discourse has been downgraded? Liberals see talk radio and Fox News as threats to their "truth" and they'll impose any form of censorship to make sure they monopolize the "truth".

The party of free speech II

Here's a post on Hot Air illustrating the party of free speech in action as they stormed the stage at the University of Florida.

Michelle Malkin has some video footage of the party who "supports out troops" blockading a military shipment.

Stickland hates the poor

Matt at WMD discloses the hatred Ted Strickland has for poor people.

Dowd on Clinton

Maureen Dowd takes a few shots at Hillary's "experience".

Excerpt

Her Democratic rivals had meekly gone along, accepting her self-portrait as a former co-president who gets to take credit for everything important Bill Clinton did in the ’90s. But she was not elected or appointed to a position that needed Senate confirmation. And the part of the Clinton administration that worked best — the economy, stupid — was run by Robert Rubin. Hillary did not show good judgment in her areas of influence — the legal fiefdom, health care and running oppo-campaigns against Bill’s galpals.

She went on some first lady jaunts and made a good speech at a U.N. women’s conference in Beijing. But she was certainly not, as her top Iowa supporter, former governor Tom Vilsack claimed yesterday on MSNBC, “the face of the administration in foreign affairs.”

She was a top adviser who had a Nixonian bent for secrecy and a knack for hard-core politicking. But if running a great war room qualified you for president, Carville and Stephanopoulos would be leading the pack.

Hillary pulled the classic John Kerry, pick something as an attribute and run on it. Then let people review said attribute and question what the hell you're talking about.

I think you're starting to see an implosion of support for Hillary from the democratic elite who realize that she's not electable because of her Nixonian ways.

Look for more rats jumping off the ships in the future.

See also Tony Blankley Mrs. Clinton's "experience"

Another media spin

The main stream media has taken a recent quote from Scott McClellan and did what they always do.

Spin it to make Bush look bad.

Excerpt

In an excerpt from his forthcoming book, McClellan recounts the 2003 news conference in which he told reporters that aides Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby were "not involved" in the leak involving operative Valerie Plame.

"There was one problem. It was not true," McClellan writes, according to a brief excerpt released Tuesday. "I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest-ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president, the president's chief of staff and the president himself."

First of all, Rove was never implicated in any of the leak case. And while Libby leaked, there was never any evidence that it was a coordinated effort on behalf of the White House to discredit Plame or Wilson.

Secondly, the real leak to Novak, which started the whole thing, was a by a democratic sympathizer and local big mouth Richard Armitage.

Third, this article is implying that Bush, Cheney et al told McClellan to go out and spread falsehoods. But he used the word "unknowingly". Isn't it possible that Bush and Cheney told him that the White House didn't know anything because they, in fact, didn't?

Another reason to distrust the media.

As long as you vote our way....

The party of "counting every vote" somehow has a problem with petitioners who gather signatures to place an issue on the ballot.

In 2005 Mr. Carpenter, a Tulsan, launched a signature campaign to get a state-wide vote on a Taxpayer Bill of Rights. Tabor, as it is known, would cap the rate at which state government spending could increase. Mr. Jacob and Ms. Johnson were later brought on board to assist the effort. Not surprisingly, politicians and interest groups that favor big government have developed an intense dislike for Tabor spending limits, even though, like lawmaker term limits, they tend to be popular with voters.

This certainly proved to be the case in Oklahoma. Despite strong opposition from organized labor especially, Tabor petition advocates managed to gather some 300,000 signatures from registered voters, far more than the 219,000 needed to get the measure on the state ballot. Following a court challenge, however, the signatures were invalidated, not because the signers weren't legitimate but because the Oklahoma Supreme Court determined that nonresidents of the state had collected signatures.

Ironically, it is perfectly legal for opponents of a petition to solicit money and manpower from out-of-state. And sure enough, public sector unions opposed to the Tabor initiative recruited people from outfits like the Oregon-based Voter Education Project, an offshoot of the AFL-CIO that specializes in countering signature drives. They also set up Web sites that advertised the location of signature-gathers and urged their members to harass them.

After the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled, Attorney General Edmondson could have let the matter die. Instead, he decided that the best use of scarce prosecutorial resources was to indict the petition campaigners. There's reason to believe his decision has less to do with enforcing the law and more to do with warning activists to think twice before challenging political elites.

More....

Which candidate do you hate the most?

Hat Tip to Nasty, Brutish & Short.

Here's a quiz to test which candidate you hate the most.

For me, it was Dennis Kucinich. And here I was starting to enjoy hearing about his contacts with aliens and UFO's

Grady the Badger

These ads are great. You Tube's got a whole bunch of them. When this ad's finished, you can scroll under the screen to see the others.

Hat Tip to Conservative UAW Guy

Top five US economic myths

I finally got a chance to read through Tom's Top Five Myths about the US Economy.

Check it out.

Climate changes evolution?

Climate swings shaped human evolution, researchers claim

We know these researchers have to be a bunch of quacks. Everyone knows that climate change has only occurred since the invention of the SUV.

More.........

Dump Dianne

Lately, I've been going to a lot of liberal sites to get a different perspective on the political scene.

This was a stunner. Apparently, liberals aren't happy with Dianne Feinstein in much the way they went after Joe Lieberman.

Liberals upset with Dianne Feinstein? You've got to be kidding me.

Excerpt from the American Spectator.

Such cardinal sins have left Feinstein facing a censure resolution that left-wing activists hope to move at the California Democratic Party's executive board meeting tomorrow. Proclaiming Democrats' "disappointment at, and censure of, Senator Feinstein for ignoring Democratic principles and falling so far below the standard of what we expect of our elected officials," the resolution faces an uphill battle. Before it can be considered by the party's executive board, the resolutions committee must approve the text unanimously. Even if it does, the resolution may not pass -- according to its communications director, the California State Party remains supportive of Feinstein.

Next on the liberal agenda.... Please tell me it will be Ted Kennedy.

The campaign is heating up

You know when the campaign is heating up when convicted criminals, pardoned by one BJ Clinton, are contributing to the Hillary campaign.

Is there anybody out there they won't take money from?

Income disparity

Thomas Sowell in true Thomas Sowell fashion lays out how the top 1% of the top income earners saw their incomes drop in the past ten years v. the bottom 1/5 who saw their incomes go up by an average of 91%.

Excerpt

That is why the IRS data, which are for people 25 years old and older, and which follow the same individuals over time, find those in the bottom 20 percent of income-tax filers almost doubling their income in a decade. That is why they are no longer in the same bracket.

That is also why the share of income going to the bottom 20 percent bracket can be going down, as the Census Bureau data show, while the income going to the people who began the decade in that bracket is going up by large amounts.

More....

No Wrong Turns

Ted Kennedy thinks the Supreme Court has taken a wrong turn.

Let's face it no should know more about wrong turns than a Kennedy.

Another writer's strike

CBS News writers authorize
union to call a strike

You mean we won't get those fake national guard stories anymore?

A Good Red

From ryanparkersongs.com

Paid sick days

I happen to run across the Progress Ohio website and saw the campaign for paid sick days on one of the pages.

Since this group wants to tell me how to run my business, I sent them this email.

I am a CPA in SW Ohio. I currently have one full time and one part time office employees.

How much should I compensate them?

Thank you
Gordon

And I received this response.

Thank you for your interest in the campaign. Please note that we will respond to serious inquiries only as we work hard to ensure that earning Paid Sick Days is a reality for working Ohioans.

But my question is serious. If you are a proponent of this bill, please tell me how much I should pay my employees.

You have no problems telling me how many paid sick days I should offer. What if my employees are willing to give up paid sick days for a higher hourly wage. Shouldn't I be allowed to offer that?

Assume I have two employees that do the exact same job. One needs health insurance, the other is covered by her spouses insurance. Should they be paid the same?

The fact is, the people who run these socialists organizations have never run a business before. They have this belief that we employers are out to squeeze the life out of our employees. They've never had to run out and get a cash advance on a credit card to make sure payroll got met that week (as I had to in my first year of business).

These guys hide behind the shield of labor unions who enact some of the worst labor practices in America. Ask one of the picketers in front of biggs or Walmart some time and ask them what they get paid and their benefits.

Has a liberal ever really sat down and thought about why businesses locate overseas? Have they ever made the connection that businesses that locate overseas, don't have to worry about such things?

Democrats won't back down on war

Can you name one time a liberal program actually solved a problem?

So why shouldn't they not back down on the war. They've never been on the correct side of history anyway.

What's wrong with Black America

Here's a start.

A commemoration of the Tawana Brawley fiasco.

The Clinton credentials

Deroy Murdock on how Billary's credentials match up with other contenders in the field.

Hooking up

Kathleen Parker with a great piece on how "hooking up" hurts women.

Every parent should have their daughter read it.

A letter to the NCAA

Dear NCAA

I just read the article about the NCAA cracking down on school nicknames that espouse racial stereotypes and caricatures. It's ridiculous that a school like the University of North Dakota would treat a group of prideful Native Americans like an animals.

I appreciate your work in making sure these schools quit using groups of people as mascots.


Sincerely,

The Notre Dame
Fighting Irish Leprechaun

Defintion of Bengal

Bengal v. To lose in a manner that's almost super natural.

Thanks to Carson Palmer's 2 interceptions returned for touchdowns, Cincinnati bengaled the game to Arizona.

It's all football today

It doesn't matter if your watching OSU-Michigan or it you'll be at the UC-WVU game tonight, it's all about football.

This will be the biggest UC football game in history.

But it's a bad matchup. UC lives off of turnovers and The mountaineers rarely turn it over. I'll be there in my black rooting for my cats and a potential Orange Bowl bid.

Wooooooooooooooo Hooooooooooooooooooooo

Second thoughts on Joe

As I listened to all the tributes yesterday about Joe Nuxhall, I couldn't help but be struck by one common theme. Joe never could understand what all the fuss was about.

And that quality was really why he was so beloved by en entire city.

That humility is so rare, especially in today's sports world, that it's almost
unrecognizable to a fan.

Joe was baseball. He's wasn't serious & complicated. We was slow and an eternal optimist. He was everything that epitomizes 15 games out in blazing August heat. That was what the fans always tuned in for.

It's weird. When I was a kid, I listened to all the games on the radio. But as I got older, my resentment with various strikes and lockouts had me tainted about the game. My patience as an older man isn't close to what it was as a kid. I cannot stand to watch a full baseball game anymore...

But Joe took it back and embraced. Just like your grandpa never judges you, he just gives you another Butterfinger candy bar. And people loved him back the same way.

Flight of the Conchords - Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros

A Friday Funny

Is this guy in reality?

When discussing the status of the US military gains in Iraq, Harry Reid sounds like he's one of these Kennedy Truthers (see below).

"It's not getting better; it's getting worse," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat. "The goal remains out of reach."

Is he in some kind of parallel reality?

Blacklisting

Hollywood loves to mention McCarthyism at the drop of a hat whenever the general publics sensibilities are offended.

But who is truly blacklisted in Hollywood?

My guess...... it's republicans. Here's an article about Hollywood actors who give to republicans and won't talk publicly about it.

Excerpt.

"They learn very quickly, if they know what's good for them, to donate to the Democratic Party," said Andrew Breitbart, co-author of "Hollywood, Interrupted." "If they were to donate to the Republican Party, they would be exposed to career-ending ridicule, period."

No wonder so many Hollywood libs know what McCarthyism is.... they practice it all the time.

Kennedy Truthers losing ground

Believe it or not, the number of people who think the Kennedy assassination was part of a grand conspiracy have declined.

For those who have given up on the conspiracy theories, I have something to say to you. Welcome back to the human race.

If you are still one of these goof balls who believe in conspiracies you need to get checked out.

I don't care if it's Kennedy, United 800, Hoffa or 9/11, there isn't a government employee, smart enough to pull off something so grand.

Plus, you can't keep anything secret in today's day in age. If you can't keep Brittney's parenting skills secret how would you ever be able to keep something like where you parked four airliners secret. There will always be some media hound dying to tell their story.

Unless, of course, you're talking about aliens housed at Wright-Patt, now we can talk about conspiracies.

A bad day for baseball

First, Barry Bonds is indicted for perjury and obstruction for his testimony on his steroid use.

Second, the Yankees cave in on their threat to not negotiate with A-Rod if he declined his contract option. Well, he did and they did.

Finally, Joe Nuxhall dies this morning at the age of 79. There may have never been a bigger ambassador for the game of baseball than Joe Nuxhall. This occurring the day after Butler County made a push to get him a Hall of Fame nomination.

It's a sad day indeed.

Bumper sticker of the day

War never solved anything.... except Communism, Totalitarianism, Nazism, Fascism & Slavery

People never learn

What was this guy thinking

A Nashville man who knowingly hired illegal immigrants to work for his subcontracting businesses in Boone County will spend 18 months in federal prison. That was the ruling of US District Court Judge David Bunning on Thursday. Robert Pratt admitted to hiring more than 25 but less than 99 undocumented workers for drywall and framing in Northern Kentucky. Pratt was arrested along with others during a raid on Fisher Homes construction sites in May of 2006.

Doesn't anyone ever learn. If you want to do something like give an illegal a job, you have to be in the government, like say, governor of New York.

Once you become a governor of New York, you can do all kinds of things like give illegals driver's licenses, in state tuition, and free medical care.

But never, never, never do something illegal unless you are a governor or a senator (except for that toe tapping thing). Then you can get away with it.

Don't believe me. Become a US senator, drive off a bridge drunk, leave the scene, and kill a passenger. You'll walk away scott free.

Trust me. I've seen it happen.

No more rebates

As an accountant, I've purchased quite a bit of computer equipment over the years and I've decided I will no longer purchase anything with a rebate attached to it.

I purchased a monitor from Micro Center with a $50.00 rebate attached to it. The rebate program was administered by the The Express Group. Not only have I not received the rebate, I can't even reach the bozos to bitch about it since the website you are to go to check out your rebate's status is now down and no phone number exists.

I did a google search on The Express Group. The hits were all complaint oriented and numbered in the hundreds.

I've effectively been ripped off of $50.00.

So in the future you can keep all your rebates, points, cards, etc.

The new Michigan quarter

Electoral college

California is considering changing it's electoral college rules from a winner take all (55 votes) to an allocation based the percentage of votes.

On it's face, it sounds great, especially for republicans. But if all the states adopted this procedure, it could prove to be a nightmare in future presidential elections.

Think about it. In the 2000 election, the popular vote was about as even as you could get. But the electoral college isolated potential voting issues to Florida, New Mexico and Wisconsin.

If Gore only needed to swing one or two electoral votes here or there it could have opened the entire country into a recount. You thought Florida was ugly, think about millions of attorneys in every state trying to pull off a swing of only one electoral vote per state. It would be a disaster.

By the way, I'm still waiting for all the vote to be counted in that 2000 election. Libs like to talk about winning the popular vote but there were millions of absentee ballots never counted by the states. Most of those votes were military which would have swung wildly Bush and finally put a lid on all those whack jobs.

Buffett again

Warren Buffett is out front again, decrying the wealth gap.

Hey Warren, I see you dumped all your holdings in railroad stocks. What did the railroads do to you? You've got enough money to hold on to those poor little railroads.

It says here in this article that you picked up an interest in Carmax with the money freed up from the railroad dumping. I'm sure you did it for totally altruistic reasons.

Warren, if you don't like how much money you have compared to others, feel free to give it away. There's no law that says you can't. What the hell are you whining about.

I never I thought I'd see a billionaire I disliked more than Don Trump but you're getting there.

Whining billionaires... Is there anything more pathetic?

Political Solutions

Speaking of senator Kerry, I ran across this headline.....

Kerry insists the only viable Iraq solution is a political one

In all seriousness, can you name one problem ever solved via a "political" process?

If you can think of one, note it in the comment section.

I stand by my maybe

After two weeks, several polls, critical columns and blog postings, Billary has finally come out against licenses for illegals.

She's making John Kerry look like the Rock of Gibraltar.

Be careful what you wish for?

Last summer, democrats did a nice job in cornering conservatives as xenophobes because of their stance on illegal immigration.

It looks like turnabout is fair play. Elliott Spitzer is dropping his plan to give illegals driver's licenses.

Now that the Hildebeast has made the issue a convoluted mess, democrats will are going to be forced to address an immigration plan that the American public won't puke over. Good luck.

Things were so much nicer for Pelosi & Co. when they could run on the "at least we're not Bush" plan. Unfortunately, now they are the leaders, and they have to spell out their own governance.

No wonder their approval rating hover near Bob Taft's.

An addendum

In a somewhat related piece, Norman Ornstein concludes the democratic congress needs accomplishments.

If Democrats think they can count on the unhappiness with President Bush and the residue of repugnance with the performance in Washington when the Republicans controlled all the levers of power, they are delusional.

Military death counts

Above is a table reporting military deaths since 1980 (click to enlarge). What's incredible is how our military loses almost 1000 soldiers a year even in "non war" eras.

If you want to read the entire abstract click here.

Where's your daddy?

A man was killed in West Chester Ohio Monday night and the police arrested two 18 year old boys and a 15 year old girl for the crime.

An excerpt from the article

Police closed in on two 18-year-olds, Roger Whitten of Hamilton and Michael Douglass of Middletown, at the Hamilton Inn late Monday. They filed charges against them and Whitten's 16-year-old sister by early Tuesday......

The two have been friends since both attended Hamilton's Jefferson Elementary School, relatives said. Both have lengthy rap sheets that landed them in the state juvenile prison, officials said.

Douglass has at least 18 convictions, according to court records, including burglary, drug possession, domestic violence and aggravated menacing.

Whitten has 13 convictions, including serving time for aggravated arson in one of the most racially charged crimes to hit Hamilton in years - a 2005 fire that was set in retaliation for a Hispanic man's rape of a 9-year-old girl....

Whitten's aunt, Alonda Whitten, said the family was shocked to learn that the girl and her brother had been arrested. She said the siblings called a couple of days ago and said "they met this great guy who was taking them out to dinner and that was offering them a job in Florida."....

Roger Whitten is the father of a 2-year-old girl, Mathis said, and, in many ways, "he was a good kid," she said, despite his troubles with the law. He was interested in construction work and was proud of his Hispanic heritage.

A few thoughts.... When your nephew has committed 13 crimes by the time he's 18 (including an aggravated arson), I don't think "good kid" is a good description of him. In addition, I don't think you should be shocked when he's arrested yet again.

Nowhere in the article is a father presence quoted. Where's the daddy?

I've been on a rant this whole day about the poor. You really want to clean up the poor? Create an environment where's father's have to show up in kid's lives. I think you'll see a big turn around in the crime and poverty statistics.

Bud Light: Real Men of Genius - Hopeless Notre Dame Fan

I'm feeling cranky so why not pile on Notre Dame

Nothing to fear but fear itself

I was on the hopper reading the 40th anniversary issue of the future Mrs. Gekko's Rolling Stone (I have to pass the qualifier since I would never buy a Rolling Stone).

In the edition, there are a number of politics articles from such luminaries as Al Gore, Bill Maher, George Clooney, etc. about politics today.

Each and every one of them talk about the Bush Administration's constant use of fear to manipulate the public. Yet within the same paragraphs, they speak of fearing the Bush Administration itself.

Another classic case of liberal psychological projection.

Being poor again

Let's assume there was no government to help those in distress.

Let's also assume you have a brother who gets hurt on the job and can't do the construction job he has training in.

Being the generous sort, you allow him to move in with you until he gets his situation under control.

How long do you provide his food & shelter before you give him the boot?

When he's able to do his construction job again?

When he's able to do any job?

Let's assume, this same brother brings in a woman late at night while your sleeping (so you can go to your job) and he gets the woman pregnant. Are you more or less willing to continue "supporting" him?

What if he brought people in to your house, while you are working, to booze and do drugs. Do you continue to "support" him?

What if you came home from work one day and your brother started bitching about the kind of food you brought home from the grocery store.

My guess is no matter how liberal you are, you wouldn't put up with that crap for long before your own flesh and blood brother got the boot.

Yet we allow these things to persist for "poor" people for generations. Why?

There may have been no larger influence on my conversion from liberalism to conservatism than Malcolm X. I once read where he accused white people of inventing welfare for blacks so blacks would be pacified just enough to subsist but could never live anywhere but a ghetto white people could avoid.

The result is white people would never have to look at, let alone, do something about poor blacks.

While I disagree with the intention, the result is still the same. Let's just give people more so we can slap ourselves on the back for "doing something" and "having compassion" yet not really do anything about these people souls and forcing a behavior change.

The fact is if you want to stay up until 3:00 am fine, don't ask me to "support" it.

You want to allow yourself to get knocked up, great, figure out a way to pay for your child.

You want to do drugs, awesome, don't do them in the housing we pay for.

The consequence of our current welfare system is an erosion of people soul's and I'm not just talking about "poor" people. I'm also talking about the people who want to "support" people with out getting their hands dirty. People who enable generations of dysfunction with the current welfare system.

People like Beth Schwartz, who want to be able to eat organic lettuce when they have no money.

Being poor is supposed to suck

Yesterday, I posted on the "food stamp" challenge after I read an article in the Enquirer about a woman who couldn't seem to feed herself on $21/week.

This morning was a letter to the editor about the challenge.

Money quote

If elected officials had to live if only for a few months on this kind of a budget, I suspect they might better understand the need that many, many families in this country face daily.

Ms Rabkin, I hate to clue you in on this fact but frankly, it's supposed to suck to be poor.

Really. if it didn't suck to be poor, nobody would be poor. It's supposed to be hard so that people who are poor will do things that won't let them be poor anymore, like get jobs.

And if you think that I'm one of those people who have no empathy for the poor, join me tonight as I go out to buy food for those same poor people.

You can also join me about every fourth Friday as well when I go down to one of the local shelters to help out in the kitchen.

I'm not in favor of anyone going hungry, but I can guarantee that the people who get the $21/week make it work. I don't see herds of skinny people living out in the streets.

Why teach abstinence?

Here's why

More than 1 million cases of chlamydia were reported in the United States last year - the most ever reported for a sexually transmitted disease, federal health officials said Tuesday.

"A new U.S. record," said Dr. John M. Douglas Jr. of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More bad news: Gonorrhea rates are jumping again after hitting a record low, and an increasing number of cases are caused by a "superbug" version resistant to common antibiotics, federal officials said Tuesday.

Syphilis is rising, too. The rate of congenital syphilis - which can deform or kill babies - rose for the first time in 15 years.

We teach children to abstain from cigarettes because of the health consequences. Out of curiosity, would you teach children to abstain from smoking if the health risks were those noted above?

Thought of the Day

Isn't saying "Support our troops... End the war" like saying "Support your team.... forfeit the game"?

The practice of tax law

For years, there has been a debate among the accounting and law professions about tax law. Namely, how is it that accountants get away with practicing tax law without a law license?

I started to check out this academic paper about a solution to the issue when I read this passage in the abstract.

It also demonstrates that tax practice - from preparing returns to structuring deals to handling audits and arguing cases - is legal in nature, and needs two things: (1) competent practitioners, and (2) a strong set of ethical rules.

Doesn't that pretty much eliminate attorney's by definition?

(Sorry, I just couldn't resist a shot at my attorney friends)

Rudy's a cross dresser?

James Taranto has a post on BOTW about various descriptions of Rudy Guiliani as a "cross dresser".

Excerpt

• "Could the United States, for that matter, elect a cross-dresser? The Rudy Giuliani surge would be comic if its broader implications were not so grave."--James Carroll, Boston Globe, Oct. 29
  
  
• "Rudy's acceptance of Pat Robertson's endorsement is equally foolish. Not only has it made utterly transparent that Giuliani isn't just a cross dresser but also a man capable of practicing the oldest profession as well as any Jezebel . . ."--Gloria Feldt, Puffington Host, Nov. 9
  
  
• " Rudy Giuliani did Hillary imitations, complete with mincing steps and effete hand gestures, looking just like the cross-dresser we know him to be."--Stanley Fish, New York Times Web site, Nov. 11
  
  
• "The old guard, Pat Robertson, has just endorsed the cross-dressing former mayor of New York to defeat what he called Islamic 'blood lust.' "--Andrew Sullivan, Times (London), Nov. 11

All these cracks are directed at Rudy for wearing a dress at a costume party.

Taranto doesn't mention it but it seems like all these writers must be reading off of the same democratic talking points.

If that's the case, do you find some kind of irony that the party of tolerance ie gays, transexuals, & transgenders would attack someone for being a "cross dresser". Especially Andrew Sullivan, a self proclaimed gay, conservative.

I mean, is it OK to be a cross dresser as long as you're not a republican?

It seems to me that it's another example of psychological projection by democrats. They think everyone's a bigot just because they are.

How to run an administration

The past two weeks have not been kind to the Hildebeast.

Captain's Quarters has a breakdown of all the recent incidents that has flummoxed the Clinton campaign.

I don't like the long campaign season but there is one thing to be learned about the candidate(s) during these prolonged campaigns. Frankly, how one runs a campaign is likely to mirror how they run an administration.

In the case of the Hildebeast, it looks like you can expect any criticism of her to be responded with a "you can't hit a girl" from her administration. In addition, you can already see that the campaign continues to have the most aggressive and media savvy attack dogs on the campaign trail as evidenced by the planted question scandal.

Clinton can claim that she never authorized the "piling on" videos but she's responsible for her campaign and her campaign is going to take on the personality of it's leader.

Remember, Nixon never authorized the Watergate break in, but it was his fervent paranoia that had his campaign think it was a good idea.

And when it's all said and done, the Hildebeast looks like Richard Nixon, without the charm.

A Thomas Interview

If you haven't had a enough of Clarence Thomas, here's an interview with him in the publication Imprimus.

Excerpt

Q: I read a quote where you said that you don’t argue ideas with brutes. Who were you referring to?

CT: Can a diehard Packers fan have a civil conversation with a diehard Bears fan right after a close game? That’s what I’m talking about. There are some people now who are so wrapped up in their interests that that’s all they care about. They don’t even read the opinions that I write. It is their interests that govern them, not the thought process or the Constitution. They’ve got to have their way or they’ll kill you—not physically, necessarily, but certainly with calumnies. There are people today who seem unable to transcend their interests to the point necessary to have a civil discourse.

CT: My grandfather was a man who understood implicitly, without education, what it meant to do right—as a citizen, as a father, as a person. This was a man who had every reason to be bitter—who wasn’t. A man who had every reason to give up—who didn’t. A man who had every reason to stop working—who wouldn’t. He was a man who had nothing but a desire to work by the sweat of his brow so that he could provide for those of us around him, and to pass on to us his idea of right. Another thing he said always stuck with me. When my brother and I went to live with him in 1955 as kids, he told us: “Boys, I’m never going to tell you to do as I say. I’m going to tell you to do as I do.” How many people can say that? And I asked my brother once, “Did he ever fail to live up to his promise?” No.

More....

I can tell you for certain the reason Bears fans can't argue with Packers fans.... you always have to have a supply of flash cards or pictures to communicate with a Packers fan.

The Character Candidate

A great piece by David Brooks on John McCain

Excerpt

About six months ago, I was having lunch with a political consultant and we were having a smart-alecky conversation about the presidential race. All of sudden, my friend interrupted the flow of gossip and said: “You know, there’s really only one great man running for president this year, and that’s McCain.”

Something to ponder as we approach the primaries.

Joe Nuxhall for the Hall

If you haven't voted, now's the perfect time to vote for Joe Nuxhall as a Ford Frick inductee to the baseball hall of fame.

There may not be a better ambassador to the Cincinnati area than Joe Nuxhall and given his current health, he probably lacks a lot of time to get in.

If you want to vote click here.

The Hillary Media Machine

The ultra conservative publication The New Republic, not, has a great piece on the love/hate relationship the Clinton's have with the media and vice versa.

Excerpt

Despite all the grumbling, however, the press has showered Hillary with strikingly positive coverage. "It's one of the few times I've seen journalists respect someone for beating the hell out of them," says a veteran Democratic media operative. The media has paved a smooth road for signature campaign moments like Hillary's campaign launch and her health care plan rollout and has dutifully advanced campaign-promoted themes like Hillary's "experience" and expertise in military affairs. This is all the more striking in light of the press's past treatment of Clinton--particularly during her husband's White House years--including endless stories about her personal ethics, frostiness, and alleged Lady Macbeth persona.

More....

Why you can't trust bureaucrats

Let's assume I'm passionate about a certain problem I perceive in the world. Say, Irish-American alcoholism. Let's also assume I'm passionate about it because all of my relatives seem to drink a lot at family events. They also seem to do things like sing and dance while inebriated and they're really not as good as they think they are.

Because I'm passionate about the issue, I'm always looking for ways to solve the "problem", perceived or not, by the general public.

Now let's assume I talk a congressman into funding some studies into the impact of drinking in the Irish American community. How do you think that study is going to shake out?

I'd bet your life on the outcome and the outcome won't be "no problem". Oh you can bet there's going to be a problem and the bigger the problem the better.

The same is true on this whole global warming caca.

Do you really think that the head of any agency titled Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is going to come out with a report stating the climate is all hunky dory? That's a non starter for some bureaucrat seeking to suck off the government tit.

The report is due this week. I won't need to read it to know what it's going to say.

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory

Per the Associated Press

"Twilight brings traffic jams to the main shopping district of this once-affluent corner of Baghdad, and hundreds of people stroll past well-stocked vegetable stands, bakeries and butcher shops. To many in Amariyah, it seems little short of a miracle."

Then the Washington Post

"The number of attacks against U.S. soldiers has fallen to levels not seen since before the February 2006 bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra that touched off waves of sectarian killing...The death toll for American troops in October fell to 39, the lowest level since March 2006."

Finally from the NY Times

"American forces have routed Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the Iraqi militant network, from every neighborhood in Baghdad, a top American general said today, allowing American troops involved in the 'surge' to depart as planned."

So if you are a democrat heading the house, what do you do to support the war effort? Of course, you force a debate on when we surrender.

So on this Veterans Day, this is what democrats call "supporting the troops"

Food stamp challenge

Poor Beth Schwartz tried to follow the food stamp challenge; eating on $21, per person, per week and found herself eating all kinds of unhealthy things

Schwartz went from a diet high in protein and fresh produce to pasta, hot dogs, eggs and peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches. She began hoarding food and counting bites.

She was hungry all the time and constantly worried that she was going to run out of food. She found herself cringing when her daughter asked to have a slice of her cheese.

Schwartz logged her thoughts in a blog. Day one, she was "more aware of my hunger" than usual and thankful for the coffee at work.

On day two, she was comparing apples to gold. On day three she was "impatient and cranky."

"I'm ashamed at how important food has become for me. I feel unabashedly blessed that this is just one week of my life. I feel guilt that this is just one week of my life."

On day four, Schwartz said her brain felt "fuzzy" and she wondered what effect this type of diet has on schoolchildren.

By day six, she was doing the math for her final day of the challenge.

"I calculated that I have $1.67 left to last me the rest of the day," Schwartz said on Sunday morning, the last day of her challenge. "I calculated that's two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, carrots, two eggs and a cup of milk."

At first I thought I would take up the food stamp challenge, until I realized that I've already done it.... Only we called it college.

See, in college, students on limited budgets eat things like mac and cheese (.50 a box), hamburger helper (about 3.00 with hamburger), and spaghetti (about 2.00 with sauce), and Ramen noodles about (.50 a package). I was in a Kroger's the other day and you can still get frozen pizzas for 1.29 a piece.

So spare me if you can't eat a nice diet of Salmon, rice pilaf and brocolli. But isn't that the deal with food stamps and any other public assistance, you get enough to subsist, not enough to get fat on. If you want something more.... go earn it.

Another casino issue

Here comes the next real estate developer putting together a gambling issue for Ohioans to vote on.

Look I'm as pro casino as anybody but what I'm not in favor of..... using state laws to set up gambling cartels.

Isn't it ironic that every one of these gambling initiatives that goes up, limits the number of casinos to the areas in which the proponents own real estate.

In my mind, any gambling should be up to each individual municipality or county to allow under state law. If Fairfield County wants gambling, they should be allowed to zone for it. If Ross County wants gambling but Chillicothe does not, they can zone it accordingly.

Instead, they create these gambling cartels that essentially bars local competitors from the industry, hence sucking money out of the area.

I want to gamble and I want to do anywhere in Ohio. Can we get that deal done for a change?

An honor to Vets.

It seems kind of ridiculous to say "Happy Veterans Day". Being a veteran probably is not a happy thing as much as a honor thing.

What we should do is make all of us civilian schleps work and allow veterans to actually take the day off with pay... Then let them celebrate as they would see fit.

So if you are a veteran, I hope you have an awesome day. Just note, that despite the democratic talking points, your service to our country is truly appreciated by rank and file civilians.

Ohio lost revenue

If you are a regular reader you know about the upcoming nuptials between Gordon and the future Mrs. Gekko.

As part of the reception, we need to buy alcohol, and a lot of it. So we did what every normal Cincinnatian does when purchasing large quantities of alcohol... we drove to Kentucky.

Our tab at the Party Source was over $250.00. As I was loading our stash into the huge SUV, I couldn't help but notice the license plates on the cars in the parking lot.

Here was the count.

Ohio 22
Kentucky 2
Georgia 1
West Virginia 1

Just out of curiosity, how much revenue does the state of Ohio lose to Kentucky, Indiana & West Virginia on out of state booze and cigarette purchases?

Granted, in the scheme of billions of dollars of in state alcohol and cigarette sales, it's probably a pittance. But assume you were a for profit business. Would you just let the competition next door sell the same product to your customers over and over and over again?

It's not just the revenue from the taxes that Ohio loses out on, it's an entire mindset of state government that just doesn't give a crap about business generation within the state.

If you are an Ohio resident, wouldn't you prefer having operations like the Party Source in Ohio taking Kentuckians' money and generating jobs for Ohioan rather than vice versa?

The best year of college football

Saturday was once again a great day for college football.

As I noted in a previous post, as much as I love college football, I can't stand the super powers in the sport.

So any day my Bearcats win is a good one. But when Alabama, Notre Dame, and Michigan take a butt wippin', it's an even better day.

As far as OSU, I think losing for them was a good thing because I don't think they'd want anything to do with LSU in the national championship game. It would be uglier than Florida last year.