Headline and Story of the Day

They can dish it out but they can't take it:

Colo. woman accused of groping TSA agent in Ariz.

From Associated Press

July 16, 2011 7:33 PM EDT

PHOENIX (AP) — Authorities say a Colorado woman who allegedly groped a female Transportation Security Administration agent at Phoenix's international airport is facing a felony count of sexual abuse.

Congressional Recess and Work Schedule

Obama Once Got It Right

The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can't pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies. * * * Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that the buck stops here. Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better. 

. . . Barack Obama

U.S. Senate Speech

March 2006

Then Senator Obama was proclaiming intolerance for, and urging his colleagues to reject a proposal to raise the limit on the nation's debt to $9 trillion. Under his presidency, the debt has risen to more than $14 trillion and he now wants to raise the legal limit on it to allow it to soar even higher.

As a percentage of the nation's gross domestic product the federal debt has climbed from 40.3% in 2008, to 53.5% in 2009, to 62.2% in 2010, and an estimated 72% this year. Many analysts expect it soon to hit 90% or 100% of our gross domestic product.

Note: None of the above figures include any of the nation's huge off-balance-sheet unfunded liabilities.

Obama Deserves Big Thank You

Republicons have their knickers in a somewhat righteous bunch over Obama's crude effort to bring political pressure to bear on them by threatening to withhold Social Security payments to elderly retirees if he doesn't get his way on increasing both taxes and the nation's indebtedness.


If Americans still have any vestiges of common sense they will see for what it is the transparent effort at bludgeoning into submission the GOP, which has a history of standing up for its principles like a tower of jello.


But by turning Theodore Roosevelt's bully pulpit into a shamefully thuggish and bullying one, the Anointed One actually has performed a good deed and rendered a valuable service to the country. He made two things unmistakably clear:


First, he has ripped way the fictitious trust fund curtain and revealed the actual nature of Social Security as nothing but a governmental Ponzi scheme. So much for the mythical trust fund into which Americans have been and are continuing to be compelled to deposit their money throughout their working lives. 


Second, he has demonstrated to one and all that he and the rest of our political ruling class puts a higher priority on having the government pay off debts to its foreign and financial institution lenders than on meeting the nation's obligations to ordinary citizens whose Social Security 'contributions' the rulers have been syphoning off for their own purposes for decades.


Thank you Mr. President. Thank you very much indeed.

White House Journalouse Confesses to Double Standard

You know, anytime Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann, you know, misplaces an adjective, we know about it and we cover it in the media. And, you know, this thing that the President did, and, obviously it was a mistake . . . .  He was at the 10th Mountain at Fort Drum and he mistakenly said that he had given one [the Medal of Honor] to Sargent First Class Jared Monti, when actually Monti was the one of the two Medals of Honor he’s given that was given posthumously. Monti died in Gowardesh, northeast Afghanistan in 2006. That’s a big, uncomfortable mistake. And I don’t think that that got the same kind of coverage as, you know, when Sarah Palin got Paul Revere’s ride . . . .  There’s no reason why the Medal of Honor mistake should have gotten less attention than Michele Bachmann.

. . . ABC’s Jake Tapper 

On The Dennis Miller Show, June 27

(ABC News has yet to cover Obama’s Medal of Honor blunder on one of their newscasts. )

P.P.S. on Exemplary Americans

The Lemming Like leftrickle media have been awakened by the previously noted Wall Street Journal report on the gracious and generous action of Christian Lopez and, starting with (the not leftrickle) Fox  News, they belatedly have been swarming to report the story that they previously had missed.

The New York Yankees organization responded to Mr. Lopez's unselfishness by giving him a number of baseball fan goodies even though he never asked for any reciprocity.

Obama's IRS grinches immediately pounced, announcing that Mr. Lopez would have to pay taxes on the free tickets and memorabilia that he received as gifts from the Yankees. Guess he actually is lucky that they didn't demand taxes on the quarter million or more dollars on which he turned his back when he chose, instead of selling it, to give to Derek Jeter the home run ball with which Jeter recorded his 3,000th hit. 

Paddy Won't Be Making It In To Work Today

Realistic Irish Take on Climate Debate

Obama Seeking to Lead on Debt and Deficit Reductions

Simple Way To Resolve Debt Ceiling Impasse

Congress could easily avoid the necessity for raising the legal limit on the government's indebtedness.


All it would have to do would be to limit appropriations sufficiently to hold expenditures by government down to the point that they do not exceed its revenues.


Voila! No deficit spending, and therefore no increase in indebtedness. Therefore no necessity for any increase in the debt ceiling.

Exemplary (But Generally Unknown) Americans

It discredits our media outlets -- and would shame them if they had any capacity for shame  -- that they focus on crimes committed by sociopaths, inexplicably deranged doings by strange people, and -- pardon the redundancy -- the activities of the creeps in government. The journalice pay little or no attention to, and report little or nothing about the noblesse oblige displayed by ordinary citizens as they routinely engage in inspiring and laudable actions. 


Consequently, almost everyone in the country knows everything that can be turned up about Casey Anthony, on whom our jounalice have devoted prodigious amounts of broadcast air time and quantities of paper and ink, but few know anything about or even recognize the name of of such awesomely admirable individuals as:

  Ed  W. "Too Tall" Freeman

and

Christian Lopez.

We are just days away from the third anniversary of the death of the first of the above named individuals, who, for altogether different reasons, should be recognized as examples to be emulated by our children and grandchildren . . . by all future generations of Americans.

Retired U.S. Army Major Freeman was an extraordinarily heroic soldier whose actions saved many of his brothers in arms from annihilation. Some of his exploits are detailed in the earlier post on this blog that can be accessed by clicking here, and more complete details of his life (including how he came to be called "too tall") were set forth in this hometown newspaper's obituary after the death of the 80-year-old Congressional Medal of Honor recipient.

Mr. Lopez is an admirable example not for any battlefield heroics but for the generosity of spirit he displayed as a baseball fan after he snagged the home run ball with which Derek Jeter last week became one of the game's fewer than 30 elite players ever to record 3,000 hits. Baseball memorabilia collectors, anticipating that hit, were prepared to bid up  to, and perhaps even more than a quarter of a million dollars for that ball. Mr. Lopez, a 23-year-old former St. Lawrence University football player, gladly gave the ball to Jeter, without asking for anything in return. He said it never occurred to him to keep it. "Mr Jeter deserved it," said Mr. Lopez. "It's all his." That gracious and thoughtful action was reported almost in passing near the end of the media's sports section accounts of Jeter's accomplishment. * In my opinion, the spontaneous display of character and generosity by Mr. Lopez was more significant and noteworthy than the setting of any athletic record.


It is gratifying that among our fellow citizens with ordinary backgrounds we still have extraordinary individuals like Major Freeman and Mr. Lopez. 

Would that our country and our institutions today were led, as it once was, by individuals with the character, generosity, and integrity of such heroic figures instead of by the collection of self seeking cretinous careerists that we currently have running things.  We have only ourselves to blame for this as we get and have to live with the creeps that we choose.
__________________________


*  P.S.  A happy exception to this was provided by The Wall Street Journal, which carried this piece focusing largely on the singularity of Mr. Lopez's unselfishness. 

Training Suicide Bombers

Click on the Cartoon to View Separately

and then watch patiently

The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves

Continuing disastrous results of a program put into place by a well meaning and rational policy maker would cause such a leader to change course . . . to try something else.


That, however, is not the case when the policy maker has the mindset of an inquisition torturer. Those who either have evil motives or are motivated by blind faith in an ideology seem always to insist on more of the same . . . on inflicting more pain.  Just tighten the rack another few notches and the antiChrist (if he or she doesn't die first) will confess to being a heretic or a witch.


The same mindset is being exhibited by the so-called progressives with respect to the calamitous economic policies they have inflicted on the nation. Their program of ever increasing regulations, taxes, spending, and wealth transfers (a.k.a. "spreading it around") has failed. It has proven to be an utter and abject disaster for the country. Nonetheless, its promoters insist that the program was too limited and that all that is needed to achieve the supposedly desired results is more of the same.


That insistence demonstrates that their motives are not those they profess or that they are not rational or some combination of both these disqualifications for being entrusted with public policy setting authority.

Perspective on Unemployment "Surprise"

The media is full of reports that Friday's release of statistics reflecting the worsening of America's continuing unemployment catastrophe stunned the experts, who are said to have been expecting an improvement in the statistics.


Every one of 85 supposedly expert economists surveyed by Bloomberg News expected and had been predicting something upbeat. The Bloomberg report was typical of reports by media outlets across the board.


None of the ordinary citizens with whom I have communicated were at all startled by the dreadful news. In fact consumer confidence has been plummeting and is continuing to do so.


Underlying the huge chasm between the so called "experts" and working Americans is that the former are endeavoring from their ivory towers  to explain away the obvious failure of the Obama administration's economic program while the latter, living in the real world, recognize Obamanomics for the calamity that it is. Proof of this is the following quote from the end of the Bloomberg news report:

People -- meaning the interviewee's fellow Obama backing economic experts -- were digging everywhere to predict better growth.

Quotes for Today

1.  A nation of sheep breeds a government of wolves.


2.  Think of what it means to live under a government that wants:


     *  To require every citizen to prove he or she owns an insurance policy it has approved, and


     * To allow everyone to vote without ever being required to prove they are citizens.


Is this a great country or what?

A Personal Thank You

Dear American Taxpayer,

For only the second time in my adult life, I am not ashamed of my country.

I want to thank the hard working American people for paying $242,000 for my vacation in Spain.  My daughter Sasha, several long-time family friends, my personal staff and various guests had a wonderful time.

Honestly, you just haven't lived until you have stayed in a $2,500 per night suite at a 5-Star luxury hotel.  Thank you also for the use of Air Force 2 and the 70 Secret Service personnel who tagged along to be sure we were safe and cared for at all times.

Air Force 2 only used 47,500 gallons of jet fuel for this trip and carbon emissions were a mere 1,031 tons of CO2. These are only rough estimates, but they are close. That's quite a carbon footprint as my good friend Al Gore would say, so we must ask the American citizens to drive smaller, more fuel efficient cars and also to drive less so we can lessen our combined carbon footprint.

I know times are hard and millions of you are struggling to put food on the table  and trying to make ends meet.  I do appreciate your sacrifice and do hope you find work soon.

I was really exhausted after Barack took our family on a luxury vacation in Maine a few weeks ago. I just had to get away for a few days!

                                   Cordially,

                                   Michelle Obama

P.S.  Thank you as well for the $2 BILLION trip to India we recently went on.

Love ya, mean it.

P.S.S.  We also had a great, great time in

Hawaii . . . .

Exempt From Hardship Sharing

Hard times aren't being experienced by White House staff members, who not only are escaping any adverse impacts of their recession but also are seeing hefty spikes in their paychecks, as is spelled out in this report. While certainly not doing the country any good, they personally certainly are doing very well indeed.


Investors Business Daily has a pretty good take on the White House pay inflation of those living large at the expense of the nation's taxpayers . Its editorial on the subject can be accessed by clicking here.

Source of Our Current Problems

The problems we face today exist because the people who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living.

Government Contracting

Three contractors -- one from New Jersey, another from Florida, and the third from Tennessee -- are bidding to fix a broken fence at the White House in D.C. They go with a White House official to examine the fence. How it works: The Florida contractor, Jonathan, takes out a tape measure, does some measuring, and then works some figures with a pencil. "Well," he says, "I figure the job will run about $900 --$400 for materials, $400 for my crew, and $100 profit for me." Cletus, the Tennessee contractor, also does some measuring and figuring, and then says, "I can do this job for $700 -- $300 for materials, $300 for my crew, and $100 profit for me." Vito from Jersey doesn't measure or figure, but leans over to the White House official and whispers, "$2,700." The official, incredulous, says, "You didn't even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?" The New Jersey contractor whispers back, "$1,000 for me, $1,000 for you, and we hire the guy from Tennessee to fix the fence." "Done!" replies the government official. And that, my friends, is how it all works!

Three-Way Tie for Today's Braying Buffoon Award

All three were submitted by readers who wish to remain anonymous and their winning entries -- each of which was based on continued media reports of earlier blatherings -- were:


*  Secretary of the Treasury Tubo Tax Timothy Geithner for his insisting, in the course of testifying before a congressional committee, that increasing government revenues (known as taxes outside the beltway) is necessary to avoid having to shrink the government. The tax evading buffoon apparently doesn't comprehend that shrinking the government is the goal.


*  Time Magazine managing editor Richard Stengel for arguing that "[i]f the Constitution was intended to limit the federal government, it sure doesn't say so." That ludicrously erroneous proposition was only part of a longer piece of drivel, described in this report, questioning whether the Constitution still matters. The lackwit buffoon maintains that the nation's founding document and fundamental law now can and should be read as meaning whatever the ruling elitists wish it to mean. Stengel obviously prefers the rule of men to the rule of law.


*  The final winning entrant is an organization -- the always laughable Transportation Security Agency -- for the way it  security checked troops reboarding the aircraft bringing them home from Afghanistan after they had been compelled to deplane at an en route domestic stop:  


One of our Soldiers had his Gerber multi-tool. TSA confiscated it. Kind of ridiculous, but it gets better. A few minutes later, a guy empties his pockets and has a pair of nail clippers. Nail clippers. TSA informs the soldier that they're going to confiscate his nail clippers. The conversation went something like this:
      TSA Guy: You can't take those on the plane.
      Soldier: What? I've had them since we left country on the way over.
      TSA Guy: You're not suppose to have them.
      Soldier: Why?
      TSA Guy: They can be used as a weapon.
      Soldier: [touches butt stock of his rifle] But this actually is a weapon. And I'm allowed to take it on.
      TSA Guy: Yeah but you can't use it to take over the plane. You don't have bullets.
      Soldier: And I can take over the plane with nail clippers?
      TSA Guy: [awkward silence]
      Me: Dude, just give him your damn nail clippers so we can get the f__k out of here. I'll buy you a new set.
      Soldier: [hands nail clippers to TSA guy, makes it through security]

To top it off, the TSA demanded we all be swabbed for "explosive residue" detection. Everyone failed, [go figure, we just came home from a war zone], because we tested positive for "Gun Powder Residue". Who the f__k is hiring these people?

This might be a good time to remind everyone that approximately 233 people re-boarded that plane with assault rifles, pistols, and machine guns - but nothing that could have been used as a 'weapon'.
Can someone please tell me What the hell happened to OUR country while we were gone?


The above is from Lee Rodgers' always worth visiting blog that can be reached by clicking here.

Dubious and Dumb

In another mean spirited move, the anti-Semitic Obama administration has included Israel on a list of potential sources of terrorism.


Including the Jewish state on the list of nations that "promote, produce, or protect" terrorists may be intended to rebut claims that the U.S., through its Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) is profiling Muslims as Muslims make up a majority of the population in all but five of the 36 listed nations. 


People from the SDCs (specially designated countries) get special scrutiny when entering the U.S. Inflicting this indignity on Israelis serves both the administration's inherent and instinctive anti-Semitism and its politically motivated effort to claim there is a moral equivalency between Israel and the likes of Iran, Pakistan, Somalia, and Sudan. This would be laughable were not the action undermining the credibility and usefulness of the list.


A full report on the action and the complete list of the SDCs can be accessed by clicking here.

Real Flake Keeps Exposing Himself Repeatedly

Braying Buffoon Contest Announcement

A new feature will debut on this blog on Monday, the Fourth of July.

We will be designating as the Braying Buffoon of the Day the individual who made the most asinine statement to be reported in the media during the prior day. In addition, a Braying Buffoon of the Week will be selected and announced every Sunday from among the preceding week's prize braying buffoons.

Readers are invited to submit nominations whenever they are moved to do so. The deadline for nominations will be 10 a.m. in the time zone from which they are submitted. Qualifying entries must have been reported in a verifiable media outlet in the day prior to submission of its nomination. To enter, e-mail to:

krmudgeon@earthlink.net

naming your nominee, quoting and identifying the media outlet that reported the nominee's qualifying statement, and specifying whether and how you wish to be identified if your nominee is selected for bestowal of the award.

In addition, nominations submitted on Sunday may vote on which of the preceding week's daily winner most deserves to be named Braying Buffoon of the Week.  We may in time get to monthly and annual awards as well.

The high value prize for submitting the nominee selected as a Braying Buffoon of the Day will be continued free access to this Blog's rantings. 

Stunning Hypocrisy of the Chicago Hillbilly

Our big O went on a tear this weak, pushing for higher taxes on the nation's successful people by trying to stir up anger and class warfare against those able to travel on corporate jets. He mentioned corporate jets so often in his tirade that I thought I was listening to someone promoting rickshaw travel.


Doesn't the guy who is exposing himself as the nation's leading numbskull even realize or understand that people recognize him as is the foremost user of his employer's jet aircraft -- the all time record frequent flyer on Air Force One.


The difference between Air Force One and other employer owned jet aircraft is that the taxpayers bought and pay the staggering operating costs of the former, which provides the world's most luxurious way to travel.


The big O and La Belle Michelle obviously relish their ability to take advantage of AF-1 to fly off to whatever destination attracts them whenever they have a whim to do so . . . as well as  all the other lavish perks of the presidency. They're like the  Clampetts except that they lack the decorum, restraint, and taste, as well as the good hearts, innate kindness, and ethical standards that members of television's Beverly Hillbillies clan ultimately displayed. 

Who Commands Those Who Supposedly Serve and Protect Us?

A glimpse behind the law enforcement establishment's blue curtain is provided by reports about an apparently out-of-control and emotionally disturbed guy who is high up in the command structure. The disturbing information can be find by accessing this article or this one.