A Perfect Troika

Crazed murderous cult leader Charles Manson has broken 20 years of silence to voice support for efforts to combat global warming, thus teaming up with Osama Bin Laden and Al Gore to form the perfect Troika to lead that campaign. How could anyone possibly question the rationality of what is being done and attempted with such leadership?

On the Lighter Side

In a world replete with portents that our collective insanity is driving our civilization to extinction, a little relief is necessary. Therefore, here are a couple of snippets from those distant but still remembered days that entertainers actually entertained:

The Marvelously Logical (and Inevitable) Result of Public Employee Unionization

From the Times-Tribune of Scranton, Pa.:

    The Scranton police union has filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the city for an off-duty drug arrest made by Police Chief Dan Duffy in March . . . . 

    The complaint states that "the work of apprehending and arresting individuals has been the sole and exclusive province of members of the bargaining unit," and that the city did not inform or negotiate with the union that the chief would be "performing bargaining unit work . . . ."

    The union president said the chief, as a member of management, should not actively root out crime or randomly patrol neighborhoods while off duty because it violates union agreements that protect rank-and-file officers' employment. 

The union is concerned city administrators will have more leverage to lay off police officers because "Chief Duffy will step in" and do the work, Sgt. [Bob] Martin said.

Notwithstanding the insanity of the foregoing, a friend here in the belly of the demented liberal beast that the San Francisco Bay Area has become -- a perfectly nice but economically ignorant and politically naive guy -- tells me it would be just fine with him if his local firemen were to organize and go out on strike.

Greatest Movie Line Ever

Not Your Dad's's American Pie

From an Old Salt: Our Navy, Then and Now

Then - If you smoked, you had an ashtray on your desk. 

Now - If you smoke, you get sent outside and treated like a leper, if you're lucky.

Then - Mail took weeks to come to the ship. 

Now - Every time you get near land, there's a mob topside to see if their cell phones work.

Then - If you left the ship it was in Blues or Whites, even in home port,

Now - The only time you wear Blues or Whites is for ceremonies.

Then - You wore bell bottoms everywhere on the ship. 

Now - bell bottoms are gone and 14 year-old girls wear them everywhere.

Then - You wore a Dixie cup all day, with every uniform. 

Now - It's not required and you have a choice of different hats.

Then - If you said "damn," people knew you were annoyed and avoided you. 

Now - If you say "damn" you'd better be talking about a hydro electric plant.

Then -The Ships Office yeoman had a typewriter on his desk for doing daily reports. 

Now - Everyone has a computer with Internet access and they wonder why no work is getting done.

Then - We painted pictures of pretty girls on airplanes to remind us of home. 

Now - We put the real thing in the cockpit.

Then - Your girlfriend was at home, praying you would return alive. 

Now - She is on the same ship, praying your condom worked.

Then - If you got drunk off duty, your buddies would take you back to the ship so you could sleep it off. 

Now - If you get drunk off duty, they slap you in rehab and ruin your career.

Then - Canteens were made out of steel and you could heat coffee or hot Chocolate in them. 

Now - Canteens are made of plastic, you can't heat them because they'll melt, and anything inside always tastes like plastic.

Then - Our top officers were professional sailors first.  They commanded respect. 

Now - Our top officers are politicians first. They beg not to be given a Wedgie.

Then - They collected enemy intelligence and analyzed it. 

Now - They collect our pee and analyze it.

Then - If you didn't act right, they'd put you on extra duty until you straightened up. 

Now - If you don't act right, they start a paper trail that follows you Forever.

Then - Medals were awarded to heroes who saved lives at the risk of their own. 

Now - Medals are awarded to people who show up for work most of the time.

Then - You slept in a barracks, like a soldier. 

Now - You sleep in a dormitory, like a college kid.

Then - You ate in a Mess Hall or Galley.  It was free and you could have all the food you wanted. 

Now - You eat in a Dining Facility.  Every slice of bread or pat of butter costs, and you can only have one.

Then - If you wanted to relax, you went to the Rec Center, played pool, smoked and drank beer. 

Now -You go to the Community Center and can still play pool, maybe.

Then - If you wanted a quarter beer and conversation, you could go to the Chief's or Officers' Club. 

Now - The beer will cost you three dollars and someone is watching to see how much you drink.

Then - The Exchange had bargains for sailors who didn't make much money. 

Now - You can get better merchandise and cheaper at Wal-Mart.

Then - If an Admiral wanted to make a presentation, he scribbled down some notes and a YN spent an hour preparing a bunch of charts. 

Now - The Admiral has his entire staff spending days preparing a Power Point Presentation.

Then - We called the enemy things like "Commie Bastards" and "Reds" because we didn't like them. 

Now - We call the enemy things like "Opposing Forces" and "Aggressors or Insurgents" so we won't offend them.

Then - We declared victory when the enemy was dead and all his things were broken. 

Now - We declare victory when the enemy says he is sorry and won't do it again.

Then - A commander would put his butt on the line to protect his people. 

Now - A commander will put his people on the line to protect his butt.

Thank God I was  in the "Old Navy" . . . and proud of it.

Why Officialdom Is So Furious About WikiLeaks

Our rulers are in high dudgeon over the publication by WikiLeaks of secret cables they hoped never would be exposed to ordinary citizens. The cables were classified not in the interests of national security but to avoid upsetting the rubes -- meaning you, me, and almost all of the rest of our fellow citizens -- over what the rulers have been and are doing.  Their exposure is what has them seething in a snarling rage.

So, what do those cables contain?

Take a look at this rundown.

The truth may not set you free but it should set you to thinking.

A Hilarious and Appalling Performance

The world's greatest orator embarrassingly stumbled this week as he gave a matinee performance in which he endeavored to clamor aboard the deficit reduction train as it was chugging out of the station.

The hilarious aspect of the Obama speech was his assignment of crazy Joe Biden -- who was shown snoozing in the background -- to produce a "bipartisan" deficit reduction program. Even though he was seen to be nodding off while the president was doing this, the vice president doesn't have a nodding acquaintance with the concept of bipartisanship. Throughout his career, he has been notable for three things -- (i) frequent gaffs, (ii) political thoughts spanning the full range from the inane to the insane, and (iii) a remarkably surprising and rare record of consistency -- almost every pronouncement and position he has put forth has turned out to be wrong.

The most appalling aspect of the oration was Mr. Obama's reference to money left in the hands of those who earn it as tax code spending. The horrific underlying assumption of this description is that everything people earn and have really belongs to the government, and therefore anything the government does not confiscate through taxes constitutes an expenditure by the government of assets to which it is entitled.   

More On America's Gulag

There's more here from the American Gulag that is the subject of yesterday's post on our government's despicable treatment of one of our imprisoned fellow citizens.

It is obvious that the goal of the torture to which Bradley Manning is being subject is to break him psychologically, to destroy his will, so that he can be programed as a puppet to be trotted out and presented in public saying and doing whatever our government officials wish.

Amazing Grace in the Roman Coliseum

To see and hear a great piece of music magnificently staged in a spectacular setting and beautifully sung and performed, visit this site.

U.S. Setting Despicable Standard for Immorality and Barbaric Torture

Suspected of the most serious of all crimes -- embarrassing the government and government officials -- Bradley Manning has for ten months been and is continuing to be inhumanely imprisoned and tortured by the U.S. without trial.

Mr. Manning is the young soldier accused of having  furnished to WikiLeaks for public exposure classified diplomatic cables. The cables revealed substantial deceit, brutality, illegality, and corruption in and by our government and others allied and working in concert with it.

I, for one, think that the evil machinations of officialdom constantly cry out for, and sorely need exposure, and that the benefits of their exposure almost always greatly outweigh the damage caused.

However, irrespective of what one thinks about that, any actions Mr. Manning may have taken to expose to the light of day the misdeeds of government are insignificant in comparison to the horrific cruelty with which our officials have treated and are continuing to treat him. 

In considering what is being done to Mr. Manning in our name, which can be read about in the Salon.com report that can be seen here and its update that is accessible here, keep in mind that, you or I or anyone who arouses the wrath of officialdom could be made to suddenly disappear, held indefinitely without trial, and subjected to similar barbaric cruelties.

A Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious

A conservative magazine is out this morning with a headline noting that Vice President Biden nodded off while the Chosen One was delivering his deficit screed yesterday.

Well, duh ! ! ! !

Most of the rest of are aware that Mr. Biden in fact nodded off decades ago.

In fact though, there was little reason to stay awake for our supreme leader's rantings against any realistic effort to get put the nation's finances in order . . . unless, that is, one is fascinated by a display, which has been noted in a more polite way in this Wall Street Journal exposition, of how reptilian our political leadership has become. 

There's Much Less to Deal's Budget Cuts Than Meets the Eye

Our rulers have proclaimed a deal that supposedly will cut federal spending by something between $38 billion and $39 billion in the current fiscal year.

Balderdash, hogwash, humbug, and bull s _ _ t!

What they actually have done, as is shown by the Associated Press in this report and The Wall Street Journal in this one, is to prove once again that although figures don't lie, liars can figure.

The claimed cuts are pretty measly, but it turns out that lot of them aren't even real.

P.S.  Furthermore, as is set forth in this more recent analysis of the deal, its impact on the deficit during the federal government's current fiscal year will be insignificant and almost imperceptible.  

Astounding Security Hypocrisy

Those whose lives are more important than yours or mine are taking steps to heighten their safety and security.

Our news media in recent weeks have carried, tucked away in their obscure spots, numerous reports of how public officials have increased their armed security forces and even taken steps to arm themselves. California legislators, to mention just one of the numerous available examples of this trend, are arming the sergeants at arms in their legislative chambers and seeking to be able to carry arms in the state capitol themselves.

One cannot help but wonder about the extent to which this is due to their harboring, deep down and perhaps even at an unconscious level, a fearful recognition  that they deserve retribution from the people they have been fleecing for so many years.

The breathtaking hypocrisy in this is that our rulers are doing this while continuing to make it difficult or impossible for ordinary citizens to keep and bear arms to defend themselves.

A Few Government Shutdown Observations and Questions

Had there been a real and unresolved impasse that caused a government shutdown, we are told that the shutdown would have been a partial one and that "essential government operations" would have continued.

In the absence of the enactment of appropriation legislation, how would the "essential operations" have been funded?

Also, given the government's dire financial situation, why is it not cutting back and funding only "essential operations" anyway?

Our so-called new media have reported that some 800,000 federal employees would have been furloughed had the shutdown occurred. Since the government has about 2,000,000 civilian employees, this means that roughly 60 % of the government's operations would have continued, unaffected by the so-called shutdown while a hardly noticeable  40 % would have been curtailed or halted. Doesn't seem all that scary or such a big deal.

The political deal that avoided a governmental shutdown was reached late Thursday night in the same way that most governmental decisions are made -- in secret and under the cover of darkness. Is the political horse trading that takes place really so ugly that they cannot stand the light of day or exposure to the nation's citizens? I guess that to ask the question is to answer it.

Curtain Falls on GOPPPP's Scripted Budget Capitulation

Turns out, sadly, that I was right in viewing the well publicized 'budget negotiations' as phony political theater with a predetermined denouement.

The closing scene, which was staged last night, was no surprise. President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had made it clear that they would welcome a government shutdown if they didn't get what they wanted. On the other hand, Speaker of the House John Boehner clearly was terrified at the thought of, and prepared to do whatever was necessary to avoid a shutdown.

One can imagine the backstage 'negotiations' that took place in this context. Mr. Boehner must have been sweating and pleading for a sop -- something that would enable him to claim to his party's supporters that he had fought hard and achieved everything possible for them rather than being seen as being dragged in chains behind a chariot bearing the triumphant Democrat leaders.

Thus Mr. Boehner emerged with a spending cut that Lee Rodgers here accurately describes as saving a few drops of water in an ocean of over-spending, and trying to convince the rubes that the little pile of peas that he has saved really is a big pile of peas. Obama and Reid won continued funding of Obamacare, continued funding of the nation's largest abortion providing organization, continued funding of almost all of their other odious innovations and programs, and an unscathed spending culture.

The unhappy fact is that the Republican leadership, notwithstanding what its members say, is a tower of jello with no core values or principles. They stand for nothing. The GOP has become the GOPPPP -- the Gutless Old Posturing, Preening, and Pretending Party.

As Obama and his sycophantic lefttrickle press joyously were proclaiming as they came out this morning it's business as usual today.

P. J. O'Rourke had it exactly right when he chose the title for his Don't Vote It Just Encourages the Bastards book.

No More Wars on the Cheap: When and How To Fight

Veterans of the faculty lounge wars in our nation's elite universities seem to have no problem with sending other lesser individuals into combat . . . to wage wars for purposes that enable members of our (combat experience exempt) ruling class to feel noble and good about themselves.

Our militarily inexperienced chalk stick tossing academicians appear to be not the least bit troubled by ignoring the provisions embodied in the Constitution that were intended to ensure that going to war and the ramifications of doing so would be broadly and carefully examined, debated, and considered before the onset of hostilities.

When then should the nation go to war?

Unless we are responding to an actual attack or an imminent threat, I suggest that, as a minimum, there must be:

*  A vital national interest or the security of America and/or Americans at stake,

*  A clearly defined and achievable military mission,

*  Overwhelming and sustainable support by the nation's citizens, and

*  A clear understanding of what will constitute success enabling our forces to stand down.

These criteria are not easily met. That is why the nation's founders made Congress rather than the president responsible for declaring war.  Sending troops into harms way with anything less is recklessly shooting craps with their lives and well being.

After Congress has acted, the president, as commander in chief, is responsible for implementing the decision and deciding how to do so. Once committed to, and engaged in a war, it behooves the commander in chief and the country to do anything and everything necessary to bring the hostilities to a successful conclusion by achieving absolute and complete victory as efficiently and expeditiously as possible. Anything less holds cheap the lives and well being of our troops.

The above thoughts recall a debate in which I years ago found myself with an academician who -- with the Olympian detachment that characterizes our current administration -- argued that it was immoral for President Truman and the U.S. to have ended World War II by using atomic weapons against Japan. He argued that the estimated combat losses that continuation of the war by conventional means would have entailed had been exaggerated. I at the time thought (and still believe) that this was incorrect but I also maintained that it was irrelevant. I  argued and still believe -- though it enraged my professor friend -- that dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justified and worthwhile if doing so saved the life of even a single American serviceman. 

Insofar as war is concerned, the president and commander in chief is responsible and accountable for the national interests and the military men and women of the United States; all other considerations are irrelevant. 

Humanitarian Humbug

Wars supposedly waged with immaculate motives, for purportedly humanitarian rather than self interested purposes, almost always seem to have unanticipated and unwanted consequences. On the other hand, wars waged to defend or advance real national interests appear to have far better outcomes and to cause significantly less harm for everyone involved. The situation and the logical reasons underlying it are dispassionately set forth in this clear headed Stratfor Global Intelligence appraisal.

Good Idea . . . . But Would It Really Help?

Four More Years: The Case for Reelection

You Can't Make Up Stuff Like This

Obama gets openness award in private

President gets award for making gov't transparent

Thursday, 31 Mar 2011, 1:59 PM CDT

• ERICA WERNER,Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama has accepted an award for making the government more open and transparent — presented to him behind closed doors. No media coverage or public access was allowed at the ceremony.

For full story, click here.

"Temporary" Taxes

Politicians who push for purportedly "temporary" taxes, tax increases, and their purportedly "temporary" extensions devoutly worship at the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Renewal.

Neither Muslims Nor Our Leftrickle Media See the Irony

The loonies in Muslim countries are again on a  rampage -- murdering, raping, maiming, and looting -- to demonstrate outrage over the burning of a copy of the Koran by a dim witted American clergyman with an infinitesimal following.

It seems not to have occurred to either the protesting demonstrators or our Leftrickle Media reporting the events that the book that was destroyed was one of the huge number of copies of the  Koran that are to be found and read freely in the U.S. while the protests are being staged in countries in which the Bible cannot be found at all. Any Bible in the possession of someone entering those countries will be seized and destroyed by government officials at the entry point at the border, and anyone in the country found owning or reading a copy will be destroyed along with the book.

Our Failing and Unaccountable Financial System

Anyone who has not already seen the movie Inside Job should get it from a video source and watch it at the earliest opportunity. Despite some minor errors on certain details, it does a superb job of portraying how our leading financial and governmental institutions and their executives created the economic crisis and collapse that has impoverished the nation and its people . . . and profited hugely from doing so. In addition, the film clearly shows that those responsible for the mess have not only escaped accountability but also been allowed to retain their ill gotten wealth and either to walk away with it or to go on to get even bigger, richer, and more powerful today.

Not To Be Missed

Lee Rodgers was at the top of his game Saturday. Don't miss that pithy wisdom that can be shared by clicking here and then scrolling down to what he posted on April 2.