Me too... Bill

“…I may slit my throat…”

That was former President Bill Clinton’s joking response - - or at least part of his joking response - - when asked how me might cope with going from being the leader of the free world, to being the spouse of another president.

More...

White QB's that stink

Contrary to what Donovan McNabb might think, I think most people are critical of quaterbacks not because they're black but because they suck.

Take Rex Grossman. By most accounts, this guy is white. But man does he suck and I bet he wishes he was Donovan McNabb this morning.

Hell, Bears fans across the nation wish he was as well.

Sure

A Dean at Columbia University claims

"Sure we'd invite Hitler to Speak"

Isn't that special. You'd invite Hitler but you won't let ROTC on campus.

But Gordon, ROTC is recruiting not speaking.

Really, what do you think ole Ahmadinejad is coming to Columbia for? Do you think he's "recruiting" people to think along side with his ideas? Do you think Hitler would have tried to "recruit" people into the belief that taking Poland was a good thing?

Once again, the party of free speech is all about it, unless you're pro-military. then you can go to hell.

Celebrate greatness

This morning I received a generous email from a reader who likes the blog. Below is an excerpt of the email.

I'm a strong conservative Cincinnatian myself. Agree with 100% of your posts. Particularly on taxes, anti-Hillary, and Cincinnati self-inflicted blight. I live on the west side with my wife and 2 boys. Many of my business associates are of the same mindset. The conservative movement needs a forum for the grassroots that can be accessed by people who have jobs

The fact of the matter is blogging is the only venue for the conservative, working stiff.

Why?

Think about your local news. What kind of "news" would it be if this were a headline.....

"90% of all men went to work this morning, came home, took interest in their wives and kids and want a better life for their kids then they had."

You wouldn't be on the air long.

Instead we have a culture built around the absurd.

When will Maury Povich have this show on....

"Wife claims DNA matches the father's and he agrees"

Or Springer

"Husbands who don't go to strippers because they have a kid's recital to go to and the wives who love them"

Doesn't make for ratings.

It reminds of a Nightline show a couple of weeks after Katrina. Ted Koppel was walking through neighborhoods ravaged by the flooding, and there was a guy cleaning up his lot of debris.

Ted asked him what he was doing and the guy popped back "Ted, I'm a Republican, when you have a mess, you clean it up, that's just what we do".

Compare the attention this guy got compared to the people sitting on rooftops just waiting and waiting for someone to bail them out.

So if I do anything in this blog but celebrate all the guys busting their asses during the week and providing for their families and at the same time calling out all the ding dong and derelicts on this earth who take more pride in being part of the problem instead of part of the solution, then I will always be proud of this blog.

Typical Bengals

In true Bengal fashion, they had a team down, foot on the throat and watched it all blow up in smoke in a matter of seconds. Final 24-21

To say it was uglier than my prom date doesn't do justice to the ugliness.

At least I'm a Bears fan, so I've at least deferred my Rex Grossman rectal exam until the night game.

Jeremy Hall

Here's a guy who says he was harassed for being an atheists. It's kind of ironic. I wonder... can atheists claim any rights as citizens without contradicting themselves? Does one have to believe in a "creator" before they can leverage the proclamation that "all men are created equal" and are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights..."?

Spc. Jeremy Hall and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation filed a lawsuit against Maj. Paul Welborne and Defense Secretary Robert Gates in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas, this past week. It alleges that Welborne threatened to pursue military charges against Hall and to block his reenlistment because he was trying to hold a meeting of atheists and non-Christians in Iraq.

Quote of the week

"Don't taze me bro............"

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Flip flopping

I've never been one to criticize people for changing their political views since I have changed more than my fair share over the ages.

After all, I've moved from a pro abortion, welfare state, socialist to a pro capitalist, anti abortion, libertarian in the matter of a few years.

So for me, I won't criticize candidates who have an evolution, or in my case, a maturity of political thought.

However, I do find it funny how the current democratic candidates are twisting their stump speeches to isolate themselves from the Moveon.org "Betray Us" ad and kissing the asses of the same group. It's like a democratic game of Twister (without Bill Clinton, hookers, and some baby oil).

Bill Kristol has a great analysis of the Hildebeast in action.

Let's Move On

Once again, projection, hits the liberals again.

Isn't their an irony that the group, MoveOn.org was originally organized as a response to the Clinton impeachment. Essentially, moving on, to the matters of the country.

But yet it seems the people most likely not to move on are liberals. hence the bumper sticker.

After all, it's only 2007.

A Friday funny

Provided by Rodney Carrington.

Take me out to the ball game

You just can't get rid of the paparazzi. Gordon & Midas just trying to take in a ball game and someone shoots our picture.

You have to zoom in but we're right in the center of the photo.

Now I know how Paris feels.

Get out of our homes

If you haven't followed the scene in Middletown, Ohio, where a 3:30 am gunfight broke out in a section 8 housing project, here are the details according to WLW radio.

Here is part of the quote from one of the residents in the community.

We live in government housing. We should be protected. They're supposed to screen people before they come into this complex........

You allow people to come in here shooting up our homes.....

First, Ms. Anonymous I don't live in government housing, I'm not "protected" by anybody.

Second, Nobody "allows" people to come in there shotting up the place.

Third, it's not your home. It's the government's property in which "we" allow you to stay.

Fourth, if you don't like the housing environment, you are welcome to leave.

Now I don't deny the problems in public housing. Most cops will tell you that 90% of problems in public housing are caused by boyfriends shacking up in a unit or a teenage boy living with mom.

Those same cops will also tell you most of the problems are drug related.

As a result, Gordon's got a solution. Why don't we have social workers randomly go into these areas and execute random drug tests for anyone in the unit at that time. If anyone tests positive, it's an immediate eviction.

That will take care of the transient bums who "live" in these units when they are not supposed to even be there. It will also force women in these units police their own homes. And finally, it will force the drug issues out of the projects to somewhere else. Failure to consent, will be an automatic eviction as well.

But Gordon that's awfully harsh.

It really isn't. The way I look at this problem. Let's assume a good friend of yours runs into hard times and you allow them to move in with you until they can get back on their feet. After they move in, you hear that they are at a casino blowing their paycheck. In addition, they are a slob in your house, leaving empty beer cans and pizza boxes all over the place. Do you think you're likely to kick them out of your home?

The same applies here. If we, the public, are going to provide you with housing, we have the right to say how you will live in "our" property. If you don't like those terms, you are welcome to buy your own place and do all the drugs and house all the derelicts you'd like.

And, by the way, what the hell were all these people doing up at 3:30 am?

Freedom of Speech

Do you think that a college that would allow Ahmadinejad to speak on it's campus would at least allow the ROTC on campus.

I wonder if the students will riot during his speech the way they rioted at Jim Gilchrist's speech last year.

Brought to you by the same liberals who always proclaim free speech to all.

UC football attendance

Tomorrow night I'll be at the UC - Marshall football game. Previous to the game, I'll be at Martino's signing autographs. Look for the guy wearing a codpiece.

For those who like to beat on the UC attendance figures take note of Miami University's attendance for the first three games of the season.

Marshall 39,830
FIU 40,915
Texas A&M 44,622

This is supposedly a national class team, only five years from playing in a national title game, and this is their attendance?

UC's attendance is woeful to say the least but it's actually common amongst all D-1 schools that share football with a pro team.

Despite the woeful attendance, I think Brian Kelly is bringing a certain energy to the program that's been missing since let's see, 1947.

See you there.

Pot Kettle Black award

It's been a while since I awarded a PKB award but this one goes to Tom Vilsack, former Iowa governor and current Hildebeast supporter, on his statement regarding Rudy.

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack went off on Rudy Giuliani's family foibles in a televised interview, saying Giuliani has "lots of issues" voters may not know about - yet.

"I can't even get into the number of marriages, [and] the relationship he has with his children,"

Are you kidding me?

A Clinton supporter ripping anyone's personal life. Now that is definitely the pot calling the kettle black.

Pyramid Scheme

Norman Hsu, Clinton fundraiser, is accused of running a $60,000,000 pyramid scheme. Norm buddy, are you dense? You're that close to Hillary and you couldn't figure it out?

First, Become a US Senator.

Second, add a few 0's to the scheme.

Third, call it social security.

Fourth, tell people it's in a "lock box".

Do those things and you'll never have to worry about being busted for a pyramid scheme.

Why medical care costs so much

As a self employed individual, I have horrible medical insurance. My plan is a high deductible ($5,000 per year) plan with a health savings account.

I go to the doctor about once every couple of years for some issue. When I go I usually just tell them I have no insurance and pay my bill with my HSA debit card because I know the insurance won't pay it.

The last time I went, I made the mistake of telling them I had insurance but I wanted to go ahead and pay because it didn't meet my deductible. The clerks told me they still had to run it through insurance, which, in my mind, tells me a rate hike is now in order.

It's now been three months and I just received the bill to tell me what I already knew. I owe them the full amount and guess what? The doctor's visit was about twice what it would have been if I would have just paid while I was there.

It's why I believe if we really want to reign in health care costs, we ban insurance.

But Gordon, we can't do that. How would people pay?

The same way they pay for groceries.

If you don't believe costs would be more affordable without insurance simply look at plastic surgery and laser eye surgery; neither covered by insurance. One trip to a local gym will tell you boob jobs have never been more affordable and you can practically get laser eye surgery for the cost of a pair of glasses.

So the next time I hit the doc up, it's going to be no insurance.

Rather sues

Dan rather suing CBS News for 70 million. He claims CBS “seriously damaged his reputation.”

I don't think so.

Dan, you've always had the reputation for being a liberal hack journalist. CBS just confirmed it.

Gore in Australia

In an attempt to make sure we have perpetual global warming, Al Gore flew to Australia to talk about global warming.

How is it that the person who proclaims global warming to be the "most pressing issue of this century" does this and no one says a thing?

Animal Farm

That's a relief

For those with a Number 8 tattooed on their behind for Dale Earnhardt Jr., good news; he'll be driving the 88 car next year.

The bad news you'll have to skip a truck payment to pay to get the extra 8 tattooed.

John Kerry's OK

Apparently John Kerry is OK after the University of Florida student was tasered at his speech Monday.

Scrappleface has full details.

Bush/Congress approval ratings

Well, August job approval ratings came in with a whopping 29% job approval for Bush.

So low, that his dog has to be his only friend. I'm sure Democrats are celebrating. Except that their approval ratings came in at 11%.

11%

Are you kidding me? A toilet bowl could get those kind of numbers. Hell, even Bob Taft got better numbers than that.

11%

Even OJ's got better numbers than that.

11%

Hildebeast endorsement

So far Hillary's snatching up all the key endorsements this political season.

First the was Jenna Jameson
then Larry Flynt
Heidi Fleiss
and now O.J.

You can't make this stuff up. Watch the video.

Hat Tip Paindealer

Monsters

This kid must have seen my Hildebeast post.

Ocean's 13

OJ must have had Marvin devise the game plan.

More at Deadspin

Marvin makes nice

I happened to be listening to Marvin Lewis's news conference yesterday when he laid out this blast.

“I tell (players) all the time, ‘Don’t try to explain it to (media), because (media) won’t understand it’,” Lewis said.

Yeah, there's so much nuance and subtlety surrounding a defense that gives up 51 points in an NFL game.

Then this one

On the special teams giving up 451 yards in returns in two weeks because defenders are not staying in their lanes and getting sealed off:

"Your very elementary assessment of it is a little off-base. But we've got to do better."

Boy we're all a bunch of knuckleheads out here in fandom. I'll tell Marvin what's elementary. How does a coach take a 30th ranked defense in the NFL; let go of Brian Simmons, Tory James, Kevin Kasevaharin, and Sam Adams, replace them with a pack of accountants, bankers, & strippers, and expect a defense that's better than last year?

Marvin received a free pass around here because he took a team that was dreadful and made it mediocre. But the fact is, he runs his teams just like LeBoBo, Coslett, Shula, et al.

I hope his dad owns a steak house like Shula's because that's he's going to be working after this season.

Players we love to hate

ESPN has a piece on the top 100 players we love to hate.

75. Adam Dunn, Cincinnati Reds: In the eyes of Reds fans and their hatchet-wielding broadcasters, Dunn's 40 homers and 100 walks a season are a big fluke, and only his high strikeout totals and sketchy defense matter. The abuse has grown so harsh this season, you'd think he sold the recipe for Skyline Chili to Osama.

How does a guy who was a college quarterback at the University of Texas have an arm like Mark Mallory?

Slow news

It's been slow in the news lately, you know another Hollywood type hates Bush, senators try and block another Bush appointment, Iraq still going on, etc. etc.

So I'll be posting a few jokes & videos to bring up my spirits while the news cycle is slow and before I start the daunting task of bringing down the Hildebeast.

Friday the 13th, the Hildebeast returns

Like a horror movie where you think the demon is dead after you just put 35 bullets into it's body, burned off it's arm with a blow torch, and cut it's eyes out with a hatchet, the Hildebeast health care plan just stood up and it's coming back.

Mind you, the same government that now takes nine months to issue a passport, the same government that can't secure a border, and the same government that runs the world's largest Ponzi scheme called Social Security, now wants to run your health care.

Man, I just got over those horrible nightmares of a senator tapping his foot in a stall next to me, and now this.

How am I ever going to get any sleep? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Game film

here's a video of the Bengals watching game film.

Not pretty

It's taken me a while to digest the Bengal debacle.

Now that I have, I have to say..... it was uglier than my prom date.

I think Chuck B. got his defensive training from the same guys that set up the Maginot Line.

Mukasey

I've gotten so cynical about my politics, I don't read the details in articles. I just look for who's for and who's against any particular candidate or issue and I make my position accordingly.

So when I read this

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) gave a tentative thumbs-up to President Bush’s pick of federal judge Michael Mukasey for attorney general

I know the guy is a loser.

Take over the Schools

Hugo Chavez is going to take over private schools in Venezuela.

Hey Hugo, We'll do you a favor. We have a group called the NEA that has turned our public schools into socialist training camps. We'd be glad to send them to you.

They'll do a great job.

Cruel and Unusual

Barely Maninuff (aka Barry Manilow) won't perform on The View because Elisabeth Hasselback's political views are "dangerous".

Are you kidding me?

This same guy's music has been used to smoke out terrorists from Pablo Escobar to Manuel Noriega.

And now a judge sentences noise offenders to constant Barry Manilow music. So who is actually dangerous?

Give me a water board treatment.

Accountability

Tom at Bizzyblog has a nice break down on the University of Cincinnati's foray into real estate development.

They have a hard enough time running a University, I don't think real estate development was ever in the cards.

Big Eleven network

Saturday, I was at home watching football on Direct TV. I happened to flip over to the Big Ten Network to see Penn State putting a drilling on Buffalo. That's compelling TV.

And the BTN wants to charge Time Warner $4 a subscriber but they don't want Time to pass along the cost to the consumer. That's mighty, US government like.

Of course, we get more than a mediocre PSU-Buffalo match up. We get replays of the Florida Atlantic beat down of Minnesota; or a replay of the Iowa State beating of Iowa, or Duke whoopin' on Northwestern.

I think I know why the BTN wanted TW to offer it for free. Nobody would pay to watch that crap.

New York, New York

A while back, I was all over the city of New York because of their decision to outlaw aluminum bats at little league games because one child was hit in the chest (and killed) from a ball coming off the bat.

So if you are that same council, what do you do when 87 boys between the ages of 13-19 receive a death sentence. Anyone, Anyone

Are those crickets in the background?

Yeah, I guess when the incidence of HIV case skyrockets, we better make sure those killer aluminum bats are no where to be found.

Canadian health care strikes again.

So if you're a well healed Canadian government official ( and a former Bill Clinton honey ) and you get breast cancer, where do you go for cancer treatment.

Well, you go to the US of course.

I'm sure that will show up in the next movie about that great Canadian socialized medicine.

Hat Tip Porkopolis.

51-45

I'm not much of a Bengals fan (baseball is my game), but if I were I'd be calling for the head of Chuck Bresnahan. Someone has to lose their job after a game like that... don't they? Who Dey?

Twin Killing dot Com: Panic Mode?

Got Cod?

Leave it to the Cincinnati Enquirer to bring the world to your doorstep. The word of the day is CODPIECE.

The thing about playing a guy in late Renaissance costume in "Romeo and Juliet," grins Cincinnati Shakespeare actress Sara Clark, with a faux perplexed frown, "is I have something between my legs. There's no crossing of legs like a girl."

COD PIECE: "It's a triangle of fabric designed to provide support and coverage. Stuffing the codpiece to create a more pronounced profile was a popular fashion statement with men of all ages.

I think Batman wore one.

Save the Moose

Idea for a bumper sticker: Save the Earth, Shoot a Moose.

Norway: Researchers at the technical university in Trondheim have discovered that the moose, the country's national symbol, is a major contributor to greenhouse emissions. Annually, one moose produces greenhouse gas equal to 13,000 km of car travel.

"To put it into perspective, the return flight from Oslo to Santiago in Chile leaves a carbon footprint of 880 kilos. Shoot a moose and you have saved the equivalent of two long-haul flights," said biologist Reidar Andersen.

Always looking out for the members

Maggie Thurber has this little item on the news that somehow didn't get widely reported.

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels recently refused to extend an executive order that had forced state employees to pay union dues. Once the dues became voluntary, 85% of the state work force stopped paying. Wonder what would happen in Ohio if any governor were to do the same???

I guess all those people have no idea what the cost/benefit of those dues means for them. Or.... maybe they do.

Defeat at Any Price

Americans are so accustomed (or inured) to this attitude that they rarely step back and ask, What the hell is going on here?

The issue isn't tactics--doesn't concern the draw-down that the administration has forecast and General Petraeus has now discussed, or how this draw-down should work, or how specific such talk ought to be. The issue is deeper. It's time for Americans to ask some big questions. Do leading Democrats want America to win this war? Have they ever?

More

He's morphing

Is it just me or is Al Gore starting to morph into Darrell Hammond. Which one is which?

Taking my property

I happened to be reading this article on Ayn Rand's influence on corporate CEO's. (If you've never read Atlas Shrugged it is the genesis for the Midas Mulligan pen name).

In the article, is a reference to Ayn Rand's background....

Rand’s free-market philosophy was hard won. She was born in 1905 in Russia. Her life changed overnight when the Bolsheviks broke into her father’s pharmacy and declared his livelihood the property of the state.


In all honesty, this occurs every week in the US................ It's called pay day.

Think about it. You've worked your butt off all week and you get to Friday and guess what. the states(s) just proclaims part of your hard work as property of the state.

If you're lucky, the state may subsidize your contribution to a 401k (see post below). The state even promises to put part of their property into a retirement account on your behalf.

So really, how is Rand's experience any different than an average American's on Friday?

Another reason public schools get a bad name

John Leo has a great piece entitled Creating Activists at Ed School.

Leo's piece just confirms my experience as an undergrad education major 25 years ago. I was shocked to be surrounded by so many ding dongs and derelicts (and those were just the professors) on a college campus. Nearly all my Teacher's College curriculum that first year was related to social engineering. It wasn't until my second year that I started to realize I was going to have a college degree and not know anything.

Excerpt from the article

Interventions by free speech and religious liberties groups induced a few schools to back down in well-publicized cases of abuse. At Missouri State University's undergraduate social work program, Emily Brooker received a "C" after complaining that professor Frank Kauffman "routinely engaged in leftist diatribes." Kauffman instructed Brooker's class to write the state legislature urging legal approval of adoption by gays. She refused on religious and moral grounds. As a result, Brooker was brought up on very serious charges; to get her degree, she had to promise to abide by the NASW code. After graduation, she sued and won a settlement.

Is it any wonder a teacher can somehow tie Guantanamo and the Declaration of Independence.

Why public schools get a bad name

Reason number 6,889,887 ...... why public schools get a bad reputation.

Teacher Mike Brooks thought it would be a good idea for his eighth grade history class to go home and have the student's parents renounce their US citizenship.

After all, he was simply trying to start a discussion with his students regarding the Declaration of Independence. Except that he managed to include this with the letter he sent with his students.


Excerpt.

Chico resident Michael Hill said he was told by his daughter, Kaytlen Hill, 13, that the assignment was to have parents sign the letter and return it to class Wednesday.

"The lesson being taught in class was that the U.S. kidnaps innocent people and takes them to Cuba, where they are kept indefinitely and tortured," Hill said he learned through his daughter.

When Hill asked her if Brooks mentioned Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the U.S. imprisons terrorist suspects, he said his daughter replied "yes."

He said his daughter broke into tears when she talked about Brooks mentioning illegal wiretaps and other surveillance directed against innocent people.

"I think I was more irritated by the classroom discussion than the letter," he said.

Brooks said he was trying to establish a parallel between attitudes during Revolutionary times, and those of today.

Yeah......... there is so much commonality between Guantanamo and the Declaration of Independence.

Maybe the "History" teacher actually needs to read the Declaration of Independence once or twice.

The best part of all this. The teacher will face no disciplinary action.

Irony

Isn't there a certain irony that the most visible case of domestic wiretapping outlined in the Patriot Act was committed by ...........the Patriots.

Friday humor

A little Friday humor. Caution... This might be a little racy.

Wrapping yourself in defeat

Back in May, I noted that democrats had painted themselves into a corner by protesting the war so vehemently. They effectively put themselves in a no win situation by taking the position.

What I didn't expect, was how their position on the war would actually wrap themselves into a position where they would actually want and actively pursue an American defeat.

I don't know how these clowns sleep at night.

Let's do lunch

This lucky woman won a lunch with Hillary Clinton in a email contest on Hillary's website

The funny part of the article was this blurb.

In a follow-up e-mail to supporters, Bill Clinton raised the stakes for the contest, writing: "I hear you might be having lunch with Hillary - do you mind if I drop in?"

Does this guy ever pass up an opportunity to slime on some honey? He must have seen her picture.

Yeah Bill she's female, she's better looking than Monica.

Edwards buys ad time

John Edwards bought ad time after George Bush's speech tonight to sell his new line of hair care and nail treatment products.

Be sure to watch tonight if you want bring out the closet metro sexual in you.

It's our money not yours

Liberally conservative has a great breakdown of an article by Rahm Emanuel, Illinois congressman and former Clinton lackey, in the Wall Street Journal.

The article talks about Emanuel's plan to have the government sponsor 401k plans and to force all people to fund them.

While I would expect that type of socialist drivel from a former Clintonista, this is the quote that caught my attention.


“Last year, we spent $125 billion in tax subsidies to encourage retirement savings”


Just how did the US government spend all that money to "encourage retirement savings"? Was it a bunch of PSA's on TV promoting savings? Was it mass mailings, telling us to save? Did they contribute to our 401k's? After all, 125 billion is a lot even for federal government standards.

No, the government didn't spend one dollar to advocate anything. What Emanuel is referring to is the tax savings we all get by contributing to our 401k's. He calls that "spending".

To inform Mr. Emanuel, the money was never yours to "spend".

His choice of language is so 1984. It was never our money to invest in a 401k........ it's the "government's" who subsidize our ability to fund our own damn retirement account.

40 years ago, this guy would have been beaten up for this kind of talk. Now it's part of the general lexicon and no one says a word.

The Faith Party

Every time I hear that the democratic party is open to people of faith, I always laugh.

Apparently, Kathy Griffin, a no doubt member of the party of faith made some very nice comments about Jesus at the Emmy awards.

In her speech, Griffin said that "a lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus."

She went on to hold up her Emmy, make an off-color remark about Christ and proclaim, "This award is my god now!"

The comedian's remarks were condemned Monday by Catholic League President Bill Donohue, who called them a "vulgar, in-your-face brand of hate speech."

According to the TV academy and E!, when the four hour-plus ceremony is edited into a two-hour program, Griffin's remarks will be shown in "an abbreviated version" in which some language may be bleeped.

Yeah, the new democratic party slogan..... the party where all you Jesus lovin' freak assholes are welcome.

Why character matters

All through the Clinton sexual excursions and subsequent impeachment, I felt people missed the entire point of why what happens in your bedroom is important in assessing character.

The point being what happens in your bedroom subjects one to extortion and black mail. Don't believe me. Just look at the lengths senator Craig went to to try and conceal his little peccadillo from the public.

What if someone would have had film of this guy? What secrets would he have released to keep his little secret quiet?

That's precisely why your character matters and, in the world of presidential politics, who you run with matters as much as who you sleep with.

Liberally conservative has a post about the whole Clinton-Hsu relationship. As more comes out about Norman Hsu, you start to realize that it's one thing to take campaign contributions from someone you don't know but this guy got tremendous amounts of access to Clinton.

How in the world did her security people not find about this guy's issues? Or, more importantly, did they know but not care? Is this the same sloppiness in which she'll appoint her staff? Kick in a few bucks and we'll get you in?

Under Bill, set a high water mark of pay & play politics, to the point that national security was impacted. It's nice to see Hill trying to surpass her low life husband.

Living in Poverty

Last week, the government issued poverty figures for the year. As I stated then, income figures are a bad way to determine whether someone lives in poverty.

The first two years I started my business, I would have been counted as living in "poverty" because my income was below the poverty figures, yet I owned my house, a car, the business property, etc.

The Heritage Foundation ran through the US Census Bureau figures and this is what they found.

• Forty-three percent of all poor households actu­ally own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
• 
  
• Eighty percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, in 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
• 
  
• Only 6 percent of poor households are over­crowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
• 
  
• The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
• 
  
• Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more cars.
• 
  
• Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
• 
  
• Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
• 
  
• Eighty-nine percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and more than a third have an automatic dishwasher...

So when a "poor" person owns a TV, VCR, cell phones, etc. are they, in fact, "poor"?

Hat Tip Porkopolis.

Stealing signals

I don't get big flap about the Patriots stealing signs from the Jets in last weekend's football game. If you weren't allow to steal signs, why do you have signs at all?

And if teams didn't know someone was trying to steal their signs, why do they incorporate "decoys" when they are sending in signs.

At the same time, I was in a bathroom stall signaling that I needed toilet paper to the stall on my right. I guess the sign was intercepted and misread by the guy in the stall on the left and the next thing you know I'm answering questions from a cop.

So the moral to the story is... keep your signals straight and use decoys where appropriate.

I'm sticking to that story even if it costs me my Senate seat.

TJ Rodgers

As I wrote the previous post, I kept thinking about "the letter" TJ Rodgers, President of Cypress Semiconductor, wrote to the nun that launched him into notoriety.

How time flies....... it was eleven years ago.

If you're not aware of "the letter", it was Rodgers response to a form letter written to him by a nun asking for more minority and women representation on his board.

His response is why I love this guy. If you want to read a politically incorrect defense of free market capitalism, click here.

Stealing elections

Most people haven't studied what has been going on at Dartmouth University but it's a case study in how liberalism/socialism/communism weasels it way into power and takes over an institution.

Since 1891, Dartmouth's charter has allowed alumni to elect 1/2 of the school's trustees. In the past ten years, frustrated with free speech issues and academic performance, and staff accountability, the alumni have elected outside notables as T.J. Rodgers who have upset the liberal apple cart.

So much so that the school has changed the charter, expanding the number of trustees from 18 to 26, with the additional 8 trustees to be selected by the existing trustees.

So the fact of the matter is liberals can never win on the argument and when they see they are getting their asses kicked under the rules of the game, they change the game.

It reminds me of how they tried to steal Florida in 2000.

I remember

I don't need a lavish post about what today means to so many Americans.

After the first attack, I hooked up a TV just in time to watch the second plane crash in the the second building. I knew that day the world we be a lot different.

I remember. I'll never forget.

Oops!

The Clinton's are returning $850,000 in illegal campaign contributions.

Who would have thunk it.....

Except the eight years from his husband's, or is it her wife's campaign? they look so similar.

Always looking out for the little guys....... so they can steal from them.

Interesting stat(s)

If you take out Syracuse (0-2).....the Big East conference is 14-0 and has outscored the opposition 611-195.

The Big East has won 28 of their last 30 nonconference games, including 5 bowl games.

Polar Bears

If you are one of those global warming people, you probably shrieked when you read about polar bears being extinct by the end of the century.

But wait......... If you are one of those global warming people, you are probably a believer in evolution. So if we have global warming, won't polar bears just evolve into, say, Cuba Bears?

So what's the big deal?

You might want to move those boats

A lot's been made of the fact that many of the parties in the Brenda Nessleroad-Slaby case have such a close working relationship that maybe justice isn't quite what it appears.

I have it from a source whom I trust, that many of the players in this case have boats stored on the Clermont County Fairgrounds and they use convicts performing community service to clean them up and winterize them as part of their community service.

So Scott Croswell, Don White, and all the other various Clermont County judges, commissioners, prosecutors, et. al., if you have a boat out there, you may want to move them for a few months before a "real news" organization starts sniffing around to see if those transactions are "arms length".

Oh, wait. We don't have one.

Nevermind.

Plan your '08 vacation today

With the summer of 2007 winding to a close it's time to take a look ahead to next year's vacation hot spots and plan accordingly.

If you can't make it to Columbus, OH for the Accountant's Hall of Fame, maybe you could schedule some time to go to Highbridge, WI and check out the Disc Golf Hall of Fame.

Fred Salaz of Crescent Springs KY is the most recent inductee. Here's a tidbit of what you'll get.

In disc golf, players have a rating, which is similar to a golf handicap. A 1,000-rated player is a scratch golfer, while the world champion is 1,034. Salaz is a 971 - pretty good, he says, for his age. He can still sail a disc about 500 feet, meaning he could clear the center field wall at Great American Ball Park if he were throwing from the plate.

Just remember the following traveler tip, when you are on the road and you use a public restroom stall make sure you tap your foot incessantly. When a person in another stall taps his, slide your foot over towards his. It's the international sign of "Hello" in stall langauge.

DUI Checkpoints

Just out of curiosity. If you wanted to put up a DUI check point, wouldn't you place at a time and place that would nab the most potential offenders.

I just got off the phone with Midas. Apparently, if the Ohio Highway Patrol and the city of Cincinnati decided to place a DUI check point on Second or Third St. after the Bengals game they could probably nab 30 - 40 thousand offenders.

It's only 12:00 and it's already drunken debauchery downtown with Bengals fans getting ready for the game tonight.

So if the cops really want to go to work and go at it, there's your tip.

Prez Hillary

Newsweek has big article this week on Hillary. Call it a free campaign pitch. What do these people see in her? She hasn't done a thing in the Senate. She's afraid to take a stand on anything. And she's got the personality of a pit bull.

President Hillary Clinton—words that many Americans have a hard time saying out loud. But she is ahead of Obama, her nearest competitor, by double digits in all the national polls and has closed the gap with Edwards in Iowa. She has outperformed her rivals in almost every debate and has presided over a remarkably disciplined and effective presidential campaign. Meanwhile, the post-George W. Bush Republican Party hardly seems formidable at the moment: Clinton's opponent would likely be either a Mormon from Massachusetts, a laconic actor from Tennessee or a former New York mayor who is strong and stubborn—not exactly a change message in an election to replace Bush. (Clinton leads each of the top Republican contenders in most head-to-head polls.) A year before the election, Clinton seems, astonishingly, like the safest money in the 2008 race.

Why be a Senator

After thinking about Chuck Hagel's resignation over the weekend, I had to ask myself, why?

When it comes to senate republicans, it is clear that they are more about power over purpose and if you're not going to be the party of power, with all the perks, then why be there. If Hagel had a purpose he was running on, he wouldn't just quit. He would stick it out until mission accomplished.

I wish just one media member would ask every national politician this question. If you could only pass one and only one bill, what would it be? What is the hill your governance will die on?

Too often, these clowns get into office without having a clear distinction of why the hell they are even there. We're getting ready for the primary season and I couldn't tell you one issue that any one of the candidates intend to take into office. We, the public let these guys of the hook with the old "I just want to help people" generic blah blah blah.

For all his fault's, if Al Gore runs, you'll know his primary purpose for running.

So once again, I throw to the mainstream media to ask the question which means I might as well be listening to crickets in my back yard tonight.

Tryforgettin

A funny to start the week.

It's going to be a good campaign season.

Quote of the day

"It appears we have appointed our worst generals to command forces, and our most gifted and brilliant to edit newspapers.


In fact, I discovered by reading newspapers that these editor/geniuses plainly saw all my strategic defects from the start, yet failed to inform me until it was too late.


Accordingly, I am readily willing to yield my command to these obviously superior intellects, and I will, in turn, do my best for the Cause by writing editorials - after the fact."


- Robert E. Lee, 1863

Hat tip to Lucianne.com

But she didn't intend it.

Allegedly, Sarah Welsh was drunk late Saturday night/ Sunday morning when she plowed head on into another car heading south on I-75.

It's too bad for Sarah that she wasn't driving in Clermont County. After all, if she didn't intend to kill anyone, she probably would have walked. Ask Don White, the prosecutor.

Hagel Quits

I'm still wiping away the tears to hear that Chuck Hagel won't be running again. Chuck before the door closes, would you mind stopping by George RINOvich's office and tell him why it's a good time to go.

And while you're doing that, might as well stop by Arlen Specter's, Lindsay Graham's, Olympia Snowe and Ted Steven's office as well.

Osama or Obama

Isn't it interesting that most of the points made by Osama Bin-Laden in his latest tape sound like democratic talking points.

Look for more at the next Obama rally.

Looking out for your members

My disgust with unions, has never been a secret on this blog. Much of it a result of watching the Teamsters systematically steal my father's pension money.

But if you were ever iffy on your feelings about unions, you need to read this piece in the Men's Journal. After you read it, you'll wonder how the NFLPA is not held criminally liable for the treatment of disabled NFL players aka THEIR MEMBERS.

While it's hard to feel sorry for someone you might perceive as overpaid narcissist, some of these stories are absolutely incredible.

"It's criminal," says Ditka at an upstairs table in his huge, clamorous steakhouse in Chicago. "There's so much money in this goddamn game, and no one gives a shit about these guys. Bill Forrester's attached to a feeding tube, Joe Perry has to choose between eating and pain pills, and here's this Upshaw, with his $6.7 million salary, saying there's no dough left to help them out. That's greed talking, and nothing else"

He is speaking, or more like it, shouting about Gene Upshaw, the long-serving chief of the players union, who's become the white-hot focus of some veterans' rage. "The NFL is the worst-represented league, on the players' side, in pro sports," said Joe Montana in a 2006 newspaper survey of Hall of Famers. DeLamielleure, the anchor of the Buffalo Bills line that blocked for O.J. Simpson, turns red as a fire ant when asked about Upshaw. "I won't stop until that bastard's gone or in jail. He's a disgrace to every player, past and current."

Upshaw, who refused to speak for this article and elected to leave the country when Congress staged a hearing on the union's treatment of injured vets in late June, has responded to his critics with schoolyard taunts, calling Ditka too "dumb" to understand the issue and threatening to break DeLamielleure's neck.

So much for your union brothers helping you against the man. With friends like these who needs, well, friends.

Animal Farm

Mediocrity again

The NFL season will kick in full force this weekend.

As such, I need to once again, bang on the Bengals management.

After an 8-8 season in which you had the 30th ranked defense, you think you might actually do something to improve the "D".

In the Bengals case, they let go Tory James, Sam Adams, Brian Simmons and Kevin Kaesviharn. No big losses..... right? Except that they didn't replace those guys with anyone.

Gordon, they drafted Leon Hall to replace James. What about all the other guys?

On offense, they let Eric Steinbach go, and with Chris Henry missing the first eight games from suspensions, the Bengals have absolutely no depth on the offensive side of the ball.

The Bengals refuse to work the math on the team. Look at teams that have been consistently successful since the introduction of the salary cap and you'll see teams that routinely turn over 15-20 guys every year. They're always looking for cap friendly free agents and they don't hesitate to let over paid veterans go.

I had a friend who was a big college basketball fan after one miserable 2-25 season, I told him "At least all the guys will be back next year"

To which he responded "why would you want anyone from a 2-25 team back?".

When your a consistently 8-8 Bengals team, you probably only want half the guys back. But when you replace mediocrity with more mediocrity. Guess what? You'll probably be 8-8 again.

Let's go to Mexico

If it wasn't hard enough to keep jobs here in the state of Ohio, we now have another job killer bill the voters get this November.

This was handed to me at a football game last night.

Paid time off for all employees, even part time.

As I said earlier his week, there appears to be an outright socialist movement going on in the country. It will be the implosion of this great country.

Knucklehead award

Note to anyone trying to kill themselves by driving their car into a lake: Don't do it during a drought.

Two witnesses who were fishing nearby said they heard Wilcox rev his engine and then saw him drive into the lake, Carlson said. The car was about 95 percent submerged, 30 feet to 40 feet from shore.

"His head was actually above water the whole time," Carlson said. That was because the car's T-top was open.

Deju Vu all over again

Nothing says going back in time, like a Clinton getting illegal campaign contributions from a Chinese national.

Well, it appears that Mr. Hsu is now a fugitive from the law when he didn't show up to turn in his passport.

The fact that a Clinton is getting illegal campaign contributions is nothing new to me but what was interesting are the comments on Lucianne.com as to where they might find Mr. Hsu.

Anybody check that park where they found Vince Foster?

Check Sandy Berger's socks

Ask that postman who lives in that little green house in California. Maybe he has Hsu's forwarding address?

back in China making toys

I'll bet that evil Karl Rove knows exactly where he is

It's going to be a great campaign season

It's only four hours before the free speech party shout down Ann Coulter tonight.

naginforgovernor.com

Ray Nagin has done so well as mayor of New Orleans that he's decided he may run for Governor of Louisiana.

"What I'd like to make sure everybody understands around America is that this city is overcoming a lot of odds. It's like a miracle city in some respects," New Orleans' fourth black mayor said. "Our citizens are doing incredible things out there in spite of a lack of resources, or broken promises."

A member of Nagin's inner circle told The Associated Press last month that the second-term Democratic mayor planned to announce a run for governor shortly after Labor Day. He has already taken several fundraising trips, and his technical adviser secured the Internet address naginforgovernor.com.

Empathy my butt

Here's the opinion of a bleeding heart in response to Ms. Slaby's neglectful death of her daughter.

Just out of curiosity, how would this woman feel about a man who was totally stressed out about the families finances? So much so he slaps his wife around from the stress. Would she be prompting us for "empathy"?

Homey don't play that.

Bush Haters

Why is W hated so much?

George Bush is not a very popular fellow. What is it about Bush that evokes such furor?

Let's start with the hard left, whether in Hollywood or the blogosphere, or among the academic elite. They hate George Bush. To them, his tax cuts, alliance with the religious right, opposition to abortion and gay marriage, and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq foster the image of an illiberal imperial America. His strut and mangling of words are more salt in their wounds.

More...

Coulter Alert

Only 14 hours before Ann Coulter gets shouted down by those open minded, well read, free speech liberals.

Projection

What makes you qualified?

How do you know when you are qualified to be President of the United States? Ask Obama

"I've been in elected office longer than John Edwards or Hillary Clinton," said Obama. "I've passed more bills I'm sure than either of them --certainly in the state legislative level."

That's certainly comfortable..... all those state bills you got passed and all. Since you've been in the US senate you've at least been able to write and pass that one bill....... Wait, you haven't passed anything. For that matter, neither has Billary or the Breck Girl.

So I guess we'll just have to wait until you're president until you can actually get a bill passed in the senate. Maybe we'll call it the Obama-Clinton-Edwards Socialists on Display Act of 2008.

Judicial Incompetence

Incompetence is not just for prosecutors in SW Ohio.

Here's the piece as the Enquirer reports it

Suspended Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman will remain on probation for a drunken driving conviction, but Hamilton County Municipal Judge John Burlew today dismissed a probation violation.

During the hearing Burlew reminded Thurman to “walk the line.”

“It’s between you and (your probation officer) whether you see my ugly face again,” Burlew said. “I hope you don’t.”

So why bother putting probation on anyone's sentence if you are not going to do anything when they break the probation?

Oh, I'm sorry Burlew told Thurman he is still on probation.... It must be "double secret probation".

The Party of Free Speech

Tomorrow night the party of free speech will be out in full force shouting down Ann Coulter at Xavier University speech. Unfortunately, I won't be there do to a prior commitment.

You can expect a bunch of young dumb asses to shout her down and perhaps even hit her with the pie. You know it will be all those "open minded people who read books" perfecting the whole process of reeducation.

Projection.

Buffoon or Corrupt

Prosecutor Don White's decision not to prosecute Brenda Nesselroad-Slaby is starting to venture into the Mike Nifong territory.

Police investigators are releasing information to the press that shows Ms. Slaby to have done this kind of thing before. Police actually thought there was enough evidence to prosecute an offense.

So White will now need to answer the question. Are you incompetent or corrupt?

Because of his decision, on the heals of the Amy Baker fiasco, he's starting to look like one or the other.

He better start putting his resume together.

Intent

All evidence indicated that Nesselroad-Slaby didn't intend to leave Cecilia in the car, Prosecutor Don White said.

So intent is what all it's about. If I get drunk, hit somebody in my car, I didn't intend to hit somebody, so I am not charged?

Give me a break. People don't intend a lot of things but are prosecuted for them none the less.

Look, I truly feel for this woman and her family. There be nothing more tragic but that doesn't mean a crime hasn't been committed. I'm sure that the next teenager who shakes his baby to death won't intend to kill the baby.

Hopefully, he'll do it in Clermont County and get Don White as a prosecutor. Unless, of course, he's poor.

Clueless

NixGuy has a piece about why Republican leadership is worthless.

Ouch

Midas still hasn't come up with an alibi when this happened.

Hopefully, it didn't squeeze the cream out of the donuts.

Rankings

Last week, I noted how ridiculous college football rankings are and how they're loaded in favor of the big programs.

So I drank with glee when I saw the Michigan score Saturday night.

But my displeasure with rankings just showed through with the release of today's top 25 rankings.

You'll notice that Michigan at least dropped out of the Top 25 yet still received votes for the Top 25 in both the he AP and USA Today coming out in 34 and 27 respectively.

How do you justify giving any votes to a team that was just beaten on their home field by a Division 1-AA program? How do you justify voting them ahead of Brigham Young?

But Gordon they are just rankings, they really don't matter.

Except that they do matter. I guarantee the BCS championship game is going to be played by two teams in the top 10 which was set up before one team even touched a ball.

In Michigan's case, they'll be eligible for a much better bowl simply because they started ahead of BYU before the season starts.

So in the meantime, I can still hope the MAC pulls through in the Big Eleven - MAC challenge.

Congratulations

Congratulations to David Payne, former UC track and field athlete, for his 3rd place finish at the World Track & Field Championships in Japan (100 meter hurdles).

UC was represented well at the World's this year with an 8th place finish by Mary Wineberg (400 meters) last week.

Good job.

What actually is child endangerment?

On August 23rd, Brenda Nesselroad-Slaby left her child in her car for eight hours while she went into her school for work.

Today, the prosecutor announced that no charges would be filed against the assistant principal.

Out of curiosity, I wonder if there would be charges if the woman was poor, fell asleep and one her children was accidentally hit by car?

There was the famous case of Dr. McDreamy here in Warren County who was charged for simply leaving his kids in the car while he went into a Lowe's for some light bulbs.

Something continues to stink about this case. I don't know if this woman's husband or parents are connected but somehow, it appears to me that she received special treatment here.

The loss of a child is tragic, and I don't think the woman should spend time in jail but she should at least be charged with something....Negligent homicide? Child endangerment?

Somehow I don't think justice was served here and for the next parent that accidentally loses a child from their neglect.

Global Warming if you dare

If you haven't had enough head banging from the global warming debate, here's a very sober and intelligent piece by Professor Emeritus Fred Singer regarding the limits of global warming research and the limits of man's ability to correct said warming.

It's not really a pro or con global warming but instead a warning as to why is not a good idea to make massive public policy changes when there is so much that's not known about the issue.

Was it worth it?

If you read these posts enough, you know how much I love DUI checkpoints. I'm not a fan of anything where police are lining people up "checking their papers" and looking for crime without probable cause.

In addition, they are also ineffective. If you look at the numbers of DUI's they arrest at these checkpoints you'll find that the police would have arrested that many in a normal shift.

Now we get to add a homicide as part of the check point process. A man pulled out of the checkpoint and killed a motorcyclist during the ensuing chase.

This on the heals of a chase the week before that police backed off of because the driver was driving down the freeway at a high rate of speed with no lights on.

Congratulation Ohio Highway Patrol and Butler County Sheriff's Dept., hopefully John Kallmeyer's death was worth it.

Happy Labor Day

To all the men and women across the country who clock in day after day and do thankless work to provide us all with a better life, we wish you a nice day off.

To the Teamsters who represent so many of these people, how about quit stealing from their pensions they've worked so hard for.

Animal Farm.

Of course he would

John "the Breck Girl" Edwards is going to require forced doctor visits as part of his health care scheme.

"If you are going to be in the system, you can't choose not to go to the doctor for 20 years. You have to go in and be checked and make sure that you are OK."

Does anyone get the trending unabashed socialism in democratic stump speeches? The sad thing is, people want to hear it.

Coming next. If you disagree with a man made global warming hypothesis, you'll be required to go to special "schools" where you'll get an "education" on global warming.

What a Rush

A month ago, Midas talked me into going to the Rush show with him.

I liked Rush a lot as a kid, I have a few of their albums (says how old I am) but I didn't think I was up to paying 45 bucks for a ticket to see them.

I'm glad I did.

I've never been to a three hour concert before and these guys played hard for the entire 3 hours (they did take a twenty minute break).

My general thoughts.

1) How do these guys kick out so much sound for three guys. Alex Lifeson only used four different guitars for the whole show.

2) How do you do a three hour show and not do "Working Man"?

3) Neil Peart is without question the best drummer in the history of rock and roll. His drum kit consisted of at least 15 different toms, snares, and basses as well as at least 10 different symbols a xylophone 2 manhole covers and a can of tuna. I was wondering how they got im in the middle of all that.

4) What the hell was up with the rotisserie chickens on stage? No kidding, they had three huge rotisserie ovens on stage filled with chickens and a chef coming out periodically to baste them. The band never said anything about it. It just made me hungry the whole show.

5) Riverbend is turning into a first class dump. The place needs a good 20-30 million dollar renovation starting with the gunning down of those lame faux statues on the pavilion. Let me know when we can take some target practice and I'll be out there with some AK-47's.

Regardless, still one of the best shows I've ever seen.

Gay Marriage

During the last presidential election, a friend of mine told me that he didn't want to vote GOP because they made a big issue out of gay marriage.

I've always held the point that there is no issue of gay marriage for the GOP. They've never tried to do anything allowing or disallowing gay marriage. As far as the GOP was concerned marriage was an institution between a man and a woman and had been for centuries. No big deal.

That was true until some liberal court judges decided they wanted to make an issue of it.

Now we have a liberal hack judge in Iowa marrying a gay couple in the state.

Now remind me, Who's making an issue of it?

Poverty

When the poverty rankings of cites came out earlier this week, I was trying to find the time to come up with post regarding the "war on poverty" and how it's done nothing to our country but rip away the soul of our inner city populations.

On the anniversary of Katrina, I will always be struck by the people just hanging out waiting and waiting and waiting for someone to save them. I will always be amazed at the total poverty of soul and imagination that I saw from the people down there in the hurricane's aftermath.

But as I was blog surfing this morning, I ran across this post by Scott Ott at Scrappleface. As you know, Scott's blog is 99% satire and good satire at that.

But he wrote a post to the editor of a San Francisco city newspaper after last year's Katrina anniversary and was critical of Scott's satire. He absolutely crushes it with his response.

Here's some powerful excerpts.

The danger of centralized government control is not that it robs a few dollars from rich people and gives them to the poor. It’s not even that such a bureaucratic behemoth spawns the waste of billions of dollars. After all, it’s just money.

No, the threat of this system is that it strips a man of what makes him a man, and turns him away from his inner resources, or the inclination to partner with neighbors to solve problems. It humiliates him, blinds him and ultimately cripples him.

And then this

Journalists, by habit, prefer stories they can receive from the tip of a spoon held by an “expert” or official. They, too, have turned to big government and have become dependent upon her for their sustenance. What most Americans know of the situation in the hurricane zone is only what TV or other news sources tell them. Most of that information comes from “authorities” in the government. The reporters have told us that the real story is all about the government’s response. They have largely ignored the responsible activities of thousands of unseen hands restoring towns, parks, homes and lives.

Success stories are buried. Tragedy is blared from the housetops. It’s a self-reinforcing cycle that further deepens dependence upon the government, and further strips the dignity of the person.

The victims of Katrina are not really the victims of Katrina herself. The tragedy began long before the hurricane hit.

Natural disasters have always happened and always will. While, mercifully, they don’t occur every day in every place, they are common enough that we ought to have an expectation that bad things can and will happen. We need to cultivate the inner resources in ourselves, our children and our neighborhoods to cope with the inevitable. When we cede that power and responsibility to the federal government, we surrender a part of what makes us human and leave ourselves more vulnerable to the tempest.

Whether you believe in God or not, you have surely experienced how the human soul sings when we gather in chorus to accomplish a great purpose in the midst of tragedy. It’s as if we were designed to work together with our family, friends and neighbors. There is a blessing in it that exceeds the penalty of the curse.

Our state-run schools and spoon-fed media have conditioned us to look to government. They’ve also trained us to take offense at any expression of love that doesn’t result in government intervention and redistribution of taxpayer dollars. ‘Compassion’ has been redefined as ‘entitlement’ and thus stripped of its power and utility.

The devastating impact of this mindset is the apparent withering of the individual spirit and of community cooperation which have been the hallmarks of this great nation.

When my own community was hit by flooding some years ago, people stepped off their porches, shouldered sandbags, delivered meals, took in the homeless, wielded shovels against the muck, and generally helped each other in the task of restoration. As awful as that flood was, I will always remember it fondly, not for the harm it did to us and to our property, but for the good it did in us and in our community.

And concluding

We don’t have time to blame anyone for our misfortunes. We’re too busy working to overcome them. We don’t have faith in some distant bureaucrat, rather we turn to the resources that God has placed near at hand. We lean on our brothers. Many of us call on our Father in our time of need, and He sends our neighbors who love us more than we love ourselves. Later, we will turn to our helpers when they need us and repay the debt, only to learn that no debt existed because acts of compassion shower blessings on giver and receiver alike.

Amen Brother