The long, steep, slippery slope to Socialism

Constitutional relevance notwithstanding.....

so anyway, back to Susan's most excellent comment from a few days back:

".....the Constitution has been trampled on and ignored for a long, long, time.

Take a look at what House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) had the honesty to admit, when questioned by Judge Andrew Napolitano recently.

Napolitano's question: “Where in the Constitution is the federal government charged with maintaining people’s health?”

Clyburn’s answer: “There’s nothing in the Constitution that says the federal government has anything to do with most of the stuff we do.”

Did you get that? "WITH MOST OF THE STUFF WE DO". You think this is something new? You think Bush was doing something unprecedented? Ha! It wasn't new with Bush and it isn't new with Obama."

Spot on. This situation has been festering for roughly one hundred years. Smitty, of The Other McCain fame makes the point:

We've a century-long bout of Constitutional illiteracy from which we're awakening. The root of every evil before us can be traced to willfully ignoring the advice of our Founding Fathers. About the only thing the Progressives can note with validity is that we've been steering this course these many decades and administrations. They can claim precedent.

I do not propose that our Country is descending into Socialism because of the election of (MMM MMM MMM) Barack Hussein Obama (MMM MMM MMM). No, our newly minted President is just the latest and most virulent installment of the legacy of FDR / LBJ / Jimmy f'n Carter / William Jefferson (Blythe) Clinton. President Obama is only an accellerant to the process.

We fcuked up: we could have had a Fred Thompson / Sarah Palin ticket that would have stomped the opposition into a bloody puddle. But I digress.....

I do so hope that Smitty is right and that we, as a Nation, are awakening. Anecdotally, I see just the opposite happening: family and friends waiting on the next "government program" to make life just ... "swell" ... It sickens me

we'll have more words on this topic soon

"It's been a day that I'll be digesting for a while"

read the whole thing, even if you've "been there, done that"

so anyway, tonight, I had intended on posting on Susan's excellent comment from the other day, but this caught my eye and forced me to re-live some experiences from my past.

.....where there was a pretty horrific two-vehicle accident. One was an Escalade or other big GM SUV with a smashed front end. The other was a Nissan Altima smashed on the passenger door.

There was no one in the SUV, but several people standing around the Altima; I rode up and asked if everyone was OK. A bystander said "No."

So I parked, pulled off my gloves and helmet and went to the driver's door where a woman was crying but seemed OK. Her passenger was sitting still.

I went around to the passenger window, and cut away the side airbag. The passenger was still in his seat, his head to the side in a way that made me pause. I grabbed the back of his head and chin to hold his head steady, and he gasped twice, then was silent. The driver was tugging on his shoulder, calling his name and I pushed her away and told her to sit back and be still.

I held his head with my left hand and felt for a pulse in his throat with my right and got nothing. Wrist, nothing. hand on his chest, nothing.

I took a breath and told myself I was just anxious and tried again. Nothing. hand on his chest, no rise or fall. Eyes half open and rolled back, a line of spittle from the corner of his mouth. I checked my watch, opened my pocket and took out the gloves and CPR shield and opened them and put them on the car roof.

Read the whole thing. And ask "What would I do?" Phone it in? Or do something meaningful? Congratulations to Marc for doing what he could; despite the outcome, he made a difference in someone's life. Instead of reaching for his cell phone, he reached in and touched someone. Well played, Sir.

After all, it's all about adding value to the lives of others.

Myself, I've been in similar situations and I know what Marc is feeling right now. Have you ever done CPR, for real? Do you know what that first or second compression feels like as the cartilage breaks away? The ARC dummy is a far cry from what it's like in the real world.

What can you do? Get the training, CPR, First Responder, whatever. And Act! when called upon. Just.Do.It. Then act when you can.

h/t to The Sanity Inspector over at Protein Wisdom

more soon

Scooped! In my own backyard!

I should be so ashamed, but yet.....

so anyway, VL of Wax Lips fame has scooped a story right in my own backyard. Apparently, the mayor of Detroit (Rock City) wants to spend $3,600,000 of so-called "Stimulus Money" to execute an "emergency demolition" of the Michigan Central Station.

Sad, really. It's such a magnificent building. I've never been inside, but on my infrequent trips into the heart of Detroit (Rock City), I've often marvelled at the structure, and regretted it's decline. Check me if I'm wrong, but I believe that it was the Michigan Central Station where a corpse was found frozen in a pool of ice, earlier this year. It was all over the inter-tube web-net thingies at the time.....still checking, please hold.

On one hand, I should be ashamed of Wax Lips scooping a story out of my (extended) backyard. Then again, she's reading Treehugger.com so I don't have to. Win / Win, in my book.

Read the whole thing (and watch the YouTube clip, it'll break your heart to go from then to now)

more soon

A Republic....if you can keep it

we're approaching Epic Fail

so anyway, I tossed about some random thoughts whilst walking the Wonder Poodle™ this evening.

First, the Ben Franklin quote:

In 1787, shortly after the close of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, a woman interested in the proceedings approached Benjamin Franklin. "Well, doctor," she asked, "what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" The venerable champion of American liberty replied, "A republic, madame, if you can keep it."

If you can keep it....if....

Then, the Reagan quote:

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."

Both prior quotes play into something Ace said yesterday:

As a practical matter, the Constitution is no longer much of restraining force on the actions of the government, except for a few key areas beloved by liberals. "Constitutional law" is now really mostly about political power. If you have the power to do it, you can do it.

Unconstitutional laws in the advance of the socialistic welfare state never pass, for if they pass, none dare call them unconstitutional.

A less-ridiculous question would be "Should members of Congress at least take the question of a law's constitutionality seriously?" Should they at least pay lip service to the Constitution any more?

What a long, strange trip it's been.

Our Country, the one where you and I grew up, is fading fast and will soon be gone. We, you and I, will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.

more soon

Happy Diwali

I may be a few days late....

more soon

The "Balloon Boy" Fiasco

something's not right with this whole situation

so anyway, I first picked up on the "Balloon Boy" fiasco via DrewM's post over at Ace's place a little after 3:00 this afternoon. I was AFK for about 90 minutes and followed the story on the radio.

By the time I sat back down, the balloon had landed but the boy, Falcon Heene, was not on it. He was later discovered hiding in the attic above the Heene's garage, safe and sound. Which is A.Good.Thing., considering what the other outcomes might have been. Anyone who followed the story, especially those of us with children, spent several hours this afternoon playing out the really, really bad possibilities.

Ace opined this evening that it was a probably a publicity stunt, as the Heene boys have posted a music video on YouTube, and this was to garner attention to their "boy band".

Late this afternoon, I surfed around the various news sites and noticed a recurring theme: all of the "news" sites were quick to point out that the boy's family (the Heene family) had been on ABC's "Wife Swap" program and ABC was bringing the family back for upcoming episodes "by popular demand".

And the Heene family just "happened" to be in the news today. Curious.

Ace has a point: it probably was a publicity stunt. But not for the Heene brother's "boy band".

My take on this is that it's a publicity stunt foisted by ABC or the Heene family.

I mean, really: the Heene family just "happened" to be in the news today? What are the odds? Thinking back to my affliction for detective fiction ( Chandler, Hammett, Spillane, et al; they would all be so proud of their pupil) there are three questions that every gum-shoe has to ask: Motive? Means? Opportunity?

ABC has a program that their trying to revive? Motive. The Heene family is known for "odd behavior" (as are me and mine, but we will never, ever be on TV)? Means. A couple of weeks prior to broadcast date? Opportunity.

Or spin it this way: the Heene's compensation for appearing on ABC's program is tied to the show's ratings? Motive. The Heenes just happen to have a rather large helium balloon in their back-yard? Means (and/or Opportunity). Just a couple of weeks prior to broadcast date? Opportunity.

Anyhoo, I glad the kid is safe and sound. I can't wait to see the clips of him on Letterman's show. On second thought, I can wait.

more soon-ish

I demand a re-count

are you fcuking kidding me?

so anyway, WTF? President (MMM MMM MMM) Barack Hussein Obama (MMM MMM MMM) has won the Nobel Peace Prize?

For What? What has he done? TOTUS has some insight:

"....(he) won this award for his speeches. I mean, after nominating himself for the Nobel Prize for Peace two weeks after entering the office of the Presidency, let's face it, it isn't like he had anything to show for it."

VL of Wax Lips fame makes a good point:

OK. The Nobel Peace Prize Committee has now officially shed its last scintilla of remaining credibility.

Insolublog asks (again) "What the hell is wrong with everybody?"

Bruce McQuain is making book over at Q and O:

I wonder what the over-under is for the number of times he mentions himself in the acceptance speech?

I am, and will remain, completely gobsmacked.

Ace and the crew are all over this. Drew M. makes with the snark:

Fearless prediction...Obama will be named the MVP of the World Series and the Super Bowl. He will win an Oscar and be named Homecoming King and Queen at several high schools and colleges across the country.

I'll wager an inch-tall stack of quarters that his face will be on our currency within a year.

more soon

B.O.H.I.C.A., Part the Second

I thought we covered this?

so anyway, it looks like Harry Reid (D-NV) is going to foist a "Dirty Sanchez" on the American people:

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is weighing a plan to bring the final health care bill to the floor without a public option -- making it much easier to get the 60 votes needed to prevent a Republican filibuster -- and then adding the provision later as an amendment.

The public option amendment would be there waiting, but the 60-vote test would technically be on a bill without the government plan. Then moderate Democrats could drop out for the vote on the public option, which requires just 51 votes for passage.

h/t to Ace for the quotage.

It also looks like the Senate RINOs are on board with this, which leads Stacey McCain to opine:

"....As if, until today, Republican Senators were a formidable phalanx of conservative stalwarts standing on guard to defend our liberties against the unconstitutional schemes of the Left?

Are we talking about the same Republican wussies who endorsed Charlie Crist in Florida? The effeminate weaklings who supported John McCain for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination? So far as anyone can tell, there is not a single Republican in the Senate who possesses a sound brain, a straight spine and a functioning set of testicles.

Emphasis mine, of course.

So it looks like B.O.H.I.CA. will run it's course, thanks to Harry Reid (D-Outer Space) and the "asleep-at-the-switch" RINOs in the Senate. Wankers. Wankers, one and all.

"Senate GOP Senate Jellyfish Caucus", indeed.

more soon.

The Half-Century Mark

here's to another 50 years

so anyway, today is Robert Stacey McCain's 50th birthday. Even Chris Muir of "Day by Day" fame noticed.

All I ever got for my birthday is Che Guevara's execution for my fifth birthday, and for my 47th birthday this Friday, NASA is going to blow siht up on the Moon. How cool is that? Granted, it's not "Nuke The Moon" cool, but imagine sharing a birthday with John f'n Lennon. I take what I can get.

more soon

Rio

there is not a Duran Duran video embedded in this post

so anyway, it looks like the 2016 Summer Olympics will be held in Rio de Janeiro, despite the President investing his personal clout and the authority of his Office in an attempt to secure the Games for his "hometown" of Chicago. It has been interesting to watch both sides spin this in opposite directions.

I agree with Ace:

Frankly very few of us even realized Chicago was in the running for the 2016 Olympics (long time in the future, eh?) until a week and a half ago.

RTWT, it's a different angle on the whole mess.

The Olympics lost their "shine" with me when they started letting professional athletes compete. I don't like change, but you knew that already.

As for people making political hay out of this, I'm merely a spectator. That said, whilst walking the dog this evening, I did come up with this:

MMM MMM MMM
Barack Hussein Obama
He almost had the Olympic Grail
but ended up with Epic Fail
MMM MMM MMM

More soon

UPDATE: I finally watched the video that all the cool kids (see also: Blogroll) have been posting today:



Shamelessly lifted from Stop the ACLU

UPDATE, part The Second: S.Weasel has an opinion on the whole affair:

.....I assumed he had it in the bag before flying out to accept the honor (which was tacky enough, but just inside the bounds). To prostrate THE OFFICE OF MY COUNTRY’S PRESIDENT before the international gang of midget wrestlers that is the Olympic Committee, and to do it ON SPEC?! AND FAIL?!

Her pictures speak louder than words, as per her usual. Go ye therefore, and see for yourself.