Monday, August 30, 2010

The Magically Expanding Ribbon Rack of Connie Pillich (D-OH)

Over at Free Republic, a few folks have published a curious sequence of photos related to Ohio state representative Connie Pillich, a hard-core, left-leaning Obama supporter in a very conservative region. Pillich is an Air Force vet who served "eight years on active duty in the United States Air Force."

Now it's strange enough that Pillich parades around her ribbons while wearing civilian attire, not exactly standard fare for vets. But, hey, if the USAF isn't complaining, why should we?

What some have pointed out, however, is that her ribbon rack has mysteriously grown in the intervening years.

In fact, the observers at the Republic think that there is something very, very bizarre going on with her ribbons.

Any contributors with thoughts on this matter are appreciated.

And, in the mean time, send a few bucks over to Republican Mike Wilson, founder of the Cincinnati Tea Party. He's running against this hard-core leftist and deserves our support.


Update: When Leftist Drones Attack!

World's Dumbest Blogger Sowing Fear and Panic in Democrat Ranks By Referring To... ... ...(drumroll)... ... ... 'Speaker Boehner'

At this point, I'd take an old tuna can over what we have now in the Speaker's seat. Gallup says voter sentiment has tilted (at least for the moment) to a, well, historic gap.

Republicans lead by 51% to 41% among registered voters in Gallup weekly tracking of 2010 congressional voting preferences. The 10-percentage-point lead is the GOP's largest so far this year and is its largest in Gallup's history of tracking the midterm generic ballot for Congress.

...Republicans usually turn out in higher numbers in midterm elections than do Democrats, and Gallup's likely voter modeling in the final weeks of an election typically reflects a larger GOP advantage than is evident among registered voters. The wide enthusiasm gaps in the GOP's favor so far this year certainly suggest that this scenario may well play itself out again this November....

One cautionary note: Democrats moved ahead in Gallup's generic ballot for several weeks earlier this summer, showing that change is possible between now and Election Day.

Oh noes, someone call Al "I Have a Scheme" Sharpton! We could have a Speaker Boehner!

Excuse, me sir -- can you tell me who blogs here?


What say you, SEIU, AFL-CIO and AFSCME members? Do you want a check for $1,000? Or more of your money wasted on Democrat losers?

CFIF notes that two of the nation's largest unions -- Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) -- will spend about $100 million supporting Democrats in the 2010 midterms. In addition, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union (AFSCME) will donate an additional $50 million to the Democrat cause.

Not only do they think you're stupid, they think their members are even dumber. After all, that money could be spent on member benefits. Like a $1,000 check for 150,000 members. Or putting some money into the dramatically underfunded pensions.

...let’s put that combined $150 million in perspective.


With that money, these three powerhouse unions could make 150 of their members instant millionaires. Or, if they preferred to “spread the wealth around” in accord with the President they did so much to elect in 2008, they could give $10,000 to 15,000 suffering members, or give 150,000 members $1,000 apiece.

How might those 150,000 members vote if asked whether they’d prefer to see $1,000 directed toward their savings accounts versus spendthrift political candidates?

Moreover, the $150 million described above comes from just three unions. According to the Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF), nine of the top ten political action committees contributing to Democratic candidates are operated by labor unions. Additionally, four of the top five organizations donating to 527 groups are labor unions, according to AWF.

Consider as well that Democrats and union bosses have been consistently underfunding members' pensions for decades. That's not me saying that, Northwestern's Kellogg School of Business, which is not exactly a mouthpiece for right-wing propaganda.


For decades, union bosses have directed millions and millions of dollars to their own generous pay packages and their Democrat cronies, while leaving rank-and-file members' retirements at risk.

Nor do union bosses seem to care any more about American taxpayers’ plight than they do about members’ hardships when it comes to their partisan political goals. To illustrate, they’re now pushing federal legislation to dump grossly underfunded union pension plans into the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PGBC).

In other words, labor leaders want a bailout for union pensions...

Dump union benefit obligations onto taxpayers. That way, union leaders could continue to fight declining membership with promises of unsustainable pay and benefits, while shifting pension responsibility to others. Otherwise, according to a Wall Street Journal reference to a legal group formed on labor organizations’ behalf, unions would face “increased pressure at the bargaining table to decrease contributions and cut benefits.”

Yes, the union bosses and their Democrat sycophants are conspiring to rob taxpayers yet again. Ignore their puerile propaganda and vote every Democrat out of office in 2010. Every one. We can't afford any more of their destructive policies. And our children and grandchildren can't afford them either.


Hat tip: Michelle Malkin.

A Tidal Wave of Values, by Victor the Contractor

By Victor the Contractor

Lately I've been hearing reading and listening to media of all kinds belittle, bemoan and minimize the role of values and faith in our society. That a culture based on hard work and 'elbow grease', if you will, can sustain its historic place in the world without the very ingenuity, drive and vigor that established it as the preeminent paradigm of Freedom and productivity is on its face nonsensical and childish in its logic. But the major media continue to drone on and on about the non-extant recovery and the obsolescence of drive as our great country staggers toward a double dip in the Great Recession or worse, a lost decade of stagflation and negative GDP growth. What we need is a return to core values! Take the economy, for instance.

That we can print money to solve our economy's problems is a very short term solution to an ingrained problem which requires a back-to-basics solution. Expanding the M1 money supply when there is a credit crunch is akin to inhaling a candy bar when you are famished. In a short time you will be worse off for it, and hungrier to boot. That's why short term stimulus never works in the long term. Once the sugar high is gone, the industry has to rely on 'organic' demand, which now has been front loaded by the financial jiggering. Then even more time is needed for the industry to return to equilibrium. So saving GM and Chrysler have forestalled their collapse for a short time but the inevitable bankruptcy of both companies is now guaranteed; if the unerring laws of economics prevail over the current artifice of bailout and stimulus sophistry. Like it or not, all those retired union guys will someday lose their free Viagra on our dime!

Moral crusaders like Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity really do have their collective hands on the pulse of the nation and their ears to the ground; listening and alerting us to the coming revolution. This time, however, the tide will shift back to the fundamentals that made this country great and which ensured prosperity for generations. That the major media like CBS reported a paltry 68,000 participants at the 8/28 Re-dedication to 'God and Country' meeting at the Lincoln Memorial speaks volumes. It speaks to their collusion with the political elite to suppress a growing tide of discontent across this country that will facilitate a change in leadership on both Houses of Congress in November. Yes, I said both Houses of Congress. The famed independents who went for Obama two years ago are both ashamed and embarrassed by his lies and Congress' Communist and anti-business tendencies. They wish to punish what they see as a mixture of arrogance and incompetence on display in Washington. And it's got to stop!

We've got to stop making excuses for most of our elected representatives! They are part of the problem. Where Democrats are openly Communistic and amoral, the decision is easy: vote them out come November. Where a Republican has become a 'Democrat Lite,' a consideration of the Tea Party candidate is warranted. Our Democracy requires us to clean house in Washington from time to time, and that time is now!

Our Country needs a return to values, faith and -- dare I say -- God in these times of tribulation. We brought this on ourselves, people. Men and women of good character stood by as humanists who deny God and apologists who deny societal values (based on longstanding biblical tenets) were allowed to ruin our country, subvert our laws and poison our children's minds. Men and women of bad character are in the halls of power. Men like Harry Reid, who openly scoff at our morals and belittle our values. Women like Nancy Pelosi, who laugh at the thought of actually being held to campaign promises and speak of an urgent need to pass a bill so that the American people can find out what it contains. These haughty and arrogant legislators have a big surprise coming in November. Lets not forget Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd, who really should be in prison for pressuring banks to issue mortgages to poor families, who wound up losing their homes and causing world markets to founder. We will pay for this pair's arrogance for generations to come if we stay on this heading.

The road will be difficult, as liberals and humanists, bent on a mild form of Communism, continue to sway the lazy and weak-minded of us. Can anyone blame an illegal alien for taking a job we are too cheap to pay an American to do or for an unskilled laborer to collect 99 weeks of unemployment after working for 26? In a country without a moral compass all things are forgivable. Well, I can blame them, but I am old school. Consider that one lazy man may not destroy an economy; but millions of slothful men can. A nation pays for its poverty of ambition: just research the other nine historical empires that no longer exist!

There is a way back from the abyss: a way of faith and action. Faith to believe that one's actions can sway Divine Providence. Action makes that faith real. Think of it this way, a driver may operate an automobile, but it is the engine that creates the movement that is a demonstration of action. The old 'Faith without Works is dead' (James 2:20) lesson. For who would light a candle and put it under a bushel? (Matt. 5:15 paraphrased). You get the point.

Though these excerpts are really about living according to belief they are applicable wisdom for the working world. A country that has unlimited potential accomplishes little unless activity is undertaken. A person who is gifted but lazy wastes precious ability. Not everybody is equally able, but nearly everybody can labor productively. That is our charge: To labor to correct a generation of sloth and rebellion against reason, against responsibility and even against God. I know this will grate on our humanist bretheren, but there are no successful historic empires based upon Satanism or Agnosticism. Even Nihilism and Communism result in eventual economic collapse and mass starvation, at least if capitalism doesn't swoop in and save the day -- much to the chagrin of the anarchists. Order springs from chaos: That's just how (successful) people are wired. But I digress.

Our country has awakened. Insults to our beliefs and injuries to our way of life have galvanized a nation of believers to re-commit to God, Family and Country. In 60 odd days we will send a message about what most of us hold true: the America that works hard and prays harder requires no less from its leaders. All others will be forced back into their 'pockets of liberalism' in failing cities where they can only whine about how unfair life is to those who don't work. Wasn't that the 1980's? And who was President then? That's right, Ronald Reagan!

This is my country! The country that saved the entire World from Hitler and triumphed over Communism! The land that once sent men to the Moon and, every day, feeds an entire globe of hungry mouths! We can do better! We do have values! We will re-direct our government to serve us and not the other way around! And we will shrink the federal government from its status as unelected overlords of every facet of our lives down to humble servants of we, the people! Those who work every day and pray every night will have their due! A country united under God, with the right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness! God Bless America!

Victor The Contractor

Related: "1994, Democrats? You wish."

Drudgetaposition o' the Day

This is why Matt Drudge is Matt Drudge and everyone else is just living in his world.

Story here.

Congratulations, conservatives: if you disagree with President Obama's policies, you're not just racists, you're also birthers

With his supply of straw men seemingly exhausted, President Obama has resorted to even sillier method of avoiding policy debates: playing the 'birther' card.

Whether one likes Obama or not, he was clearly born in the US and therefore eligible for office... However, the birther contretemps suits Obama, because it allows the media to dismiss all of his critics by painting them with the Birther brush (which is why so many of us are frustrated and disgusted by the small coterie of people who continue to indulge it). Obama could put an end to it at any time by simply releasing his original birth certificate from Hawaii, which only he can authorize. Why doesn’t he do it? Because the Birther movement suits his purposes.

So when he made this complaint last night, it’s not just amateurish, it’s completely disingenuous... "I can’t spend all of my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead,” quipped Obama, who took a deep breath to gather his thoughts when asked if the poll reflected his inability to communicate with voters."

Er, he hasn’t spent any time with a birth certificate plastered to his forehead, and purposefully so. We understand why, and it makes some strategic sense in the most cynical manner possible. It allows Obama to nurture that microscopic collection of fools to distract attention from his own failures. But if one plays that game, then one gives up the right to whine about it later... [and as] Twitter follower RobRob points out, this was also a non-sequitur response to a question about Obama’s faith.

The president's use of the birther card follows close on the heels of his of raceploitation, most notably in his call for support in the 2010 midterms.

The Democratic National Committee this morning released this clip of the president rallying the troops, if rather coolly, for 2010. Obama’s express goal: “reconnecting” with the voters who voted for the first time in 2008, but who may not plan to vote in the lower-profile Congressional elections this year.

Obama speaks with unusual demographic frankness about his coalition in his appeal to “young people, African-Americans, Latinos, and women who powered our victory in 2008 [to] stand together once again.”

Congratulations, conservatives: you're all racist, birther teabaggers!


Image: Sad Hill News.

Larwyn's Linx: A History Lesson on America's Spiritual Yearnings

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email. You can also install a Larwyn's Linx blog widget.

Nation

A History Lesson on America's Spiritual Yearnings : GoV
Oikophobia: Why the liberal elite finds Americans revolting: Taranto
You can see November from the Washington Monument: PJM

'Islamophobia'--the latest charge to try to stifle debate: City Journal
Obama Administration Plays Us All for Fools: Sowell
Forty-Seven: Mullings

Joe Miller: poster boy for the anti-establishment GOP?: sisu
Lessons from Katrina: Instapundit (2005)
MI GOP Convention in Two Words: Charlie Foxtrot: BlogProf

Economy

Watch This Drive!: Cold Fury
SEC: unions to have more power than average investors: BigGovt
Uncle Scam: ZH

$400K for state worker that never showed up: RWN
The Recession and ‘Regime Uncertainty’: BigGovt
Five IL pensions may sell assets to cover expenses: Sun-Times

Climate & Energy

Remembering Hurricane Katrina: A First Responder’s View: IBCR
A Tale of Two Rallies on the Mall: GWP
Clean Development: 'The biggest environmental scandal in history': Telegraph

Media

What Liberal Media?: Powers
The Emotionally And Politically Bankrupt Left Was Not Happy Today: Riehl
Leftists Search Desperately for 'Racists' at Restoring Honor Rally: AmPower

Politico has a nose for real news: iOTW
Press' Predominating Storyline About Beck Rally: CFB
2 presidents, 2 gulf reactions: Surber

New York Times Trots Out Hamas Apologist to Write About the Peace Process: Solomonia
"The Next Timothy McVeigh" Was At Restoring Honor Rally: LegalIns
Save Us From Rand Paul!: Wall Street Pit

World

Terrorist or Not?: Cold Fury
Wow. Obama Claims Credit for Iraq: RWN
America to Be Reviewed by Thugs of U.N. Human Rights Council: AT

Coming August 31: ‘Direct Access’ Stimulus Grants for the Muslim Brotherhood: BigPeace
'Islamophobia' and Islamo-reality: AT
Ground Zero Mosque Tax Exempt Public Funding Avoids Usury? Shariah Law Comes to NYC: MagNote

SPLC Redefines "Hate": Islamic Jihadists Good, Pammiecakes Bad: Atlas
He Really Doesn’t Want to Be Commander In Chief: JRubin
British ObamaCare update: Elderly left to starve in hospitals: Marathon

SciTech

Check Out The Amazing Place In China That Inspired The "Floating Mountains" In Avatar: Wire
The Most Awesome Petrolhead Birthday Gift Ever: Jalopnik
Andrew Wiles and Fermat's Last Theorem: Marginal Revolution

Cornucopia

Four Minutes with My Father: A Near-Death Experience: MORE
Don Rickles Roasts Congress: Snopes
Defending The American Dream 2010 Picture Dump: RWN

Barry and Michelle Come a Visitin': Diogenes
Space Shuttle From Hangar to Liftoff: Ace
Move Over J.J., Last Exorcism Viral Campaign is Genius: CBullitt (NSFW)

Image: iOwnTheWorld
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Please Support Bruce MacMahon for New Hampshire State Representative

QOTD: "While no one can say when the big spike in gold will occur, one can say accurately that, given the systematic frailty, it could literally happen on any given day. That’s what happens when scams are unveiled. Remember Bernie Madoff? How many people do you think tried to give him money the day after he was arrested, versus desperately scrambled to get their money out of his sticky web? The answers are “No one” and “Everyone” – that’s what happens when people lose faith in a currency." -- David Galland of Casey Research


Sunday, August 29, 2010

Photo Essay: When It's Okay to Drop the F-Bomb

Victor the Contractor sent this one in. By the way, Victor, when is your next essay due?



What's America's biggest national security threat? According to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: It's the Democrats' Spending

The national debt has grown 60% since Nancy Pelosi and her cadre of far left Democrats took control of Congress and the nation's budget. For this reason, Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has called out the calamitous, wildly undisciplined spending as the nation's number one security threat.

The national debt is the single biggest threat to national security, according to Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Tax payers will be paying around $600 billion in interest on the national debt by 2012, the chairman told students and local leaders in Detroit.

“That’s one year’s worth of defense budget,” he said, adding that the Pentagon needs to cut back on spending... “We’re going to have to do that if it’s going to survive at all,” Mullen said, “and do it in a way that is predictable.”

Perhaps we can arrange an MMA fight between Mullen and the Times' most sanity-challenged columnist, Paul Krugman, whose policy positions change with the party of the office-holder.

[Krugman's] attitude, which seems to be shared by the Democratic leadership in D.C., is that America can spend an unlimited amount of money with no serious consequences, that we should do so in order to pump up the economy, and then at some undefined later point, somebody else will have to restrain spending. Incidentally, this was not Paul Krugman's attitude early on in the Bush Administration. The Paul Krugman from back then sounded a great deal more concerned about fiscal conservatism than the Paul Krugman of today does.

Setting aside the fact that the evidence government spending can drive economic growth in this country is sparse indeed -- and that the debt crisis in Europe that's already hitting Greece and could easily hit us in a few years -- at what point do we say we simply admit that we don't have the money to pursue this liberal economic pipedream any more? Put another way, America has spent far too much, for far too long, and because of that, even if Krugman's desire to borrow and spend our way to prosperity worked (which it doesn't), we're so deep in the red that the cure would be worse than the disease.

Recall as well that, for the first time in modern history, Democrats did not even pass a federal budget this year. Instead, they 'deemed as passed' a non-existent budget that allows them to, well, spend like drunken progressives.

Last night, as part of a procedural vote on the emergency war supplemental bill, House Democrats attached a document that "deemed as passed" a non-existent $1.12 trillion budget. The execution of the "deeming" document allows Democrats to start spending money for Fiscal Year 2011 without the pesky constraints of a budget... The procedural vote passed 215-210 with no Republicans voting in favor and 38 Democrats crossing the aisle to vote against deeming the faux budget resolution passed.

Never before -- since the creation of the Congressional budget process -- has the House failed to pass a budget, failed to propose a budget then deemed the non-existent budget as passed as a means to avoid a direct, recorded vote on a budget, but still allow Congress to spend taxpayer money.

This is but one of many reasons that erstwhile Obama supporter and US News & World Report economist Mort Zuckerman calls the Obama Democrats "The Most Fiscally Irresponsible Government in U.S. History."

Obama, Pelosi and Reid will be long gone when the entire system collapses, thanks to their malevolent treatment of the U.S. taxpayer. Like I always say: it's November or never.


What could go wrong? German Central Banker Identifies Major Reasons for His Country's Economic Woes: Jews and Africans, Mostly

Set the Wayback Machine to 1933, Mr. Peabody!

German Bundesbank executive Thilo Sarrazin has sparked a new uproar by saying that "all Jews share a common gene" and also attacked the Basques in Spain the same way in a newspaper interview.

This comes only a few days after Sarrazin came under fire in Germany for using shock talk about the country's Muslim immigrants, Turks, Middle Easterners and Africans when he presented a new book... whose title translates as “Germany Eliminates Itself,” sparked a heated debate. A spokesman of the Bundesbank so far only said that the book is Sarrazin's personal opinion, not exactly distancing itself from Sarrazin's xenophobic bouts... A spokesman for chancellor Angela Merkel began his Sunday with expressions of outrage.

Sarrazin is still on the job after an interview with conservative German Sunday paper "Welt am Sonntag" where he extended his attacks to Jews... Deutsche Welle reports:

German central bank executive Thilo Sarrazin has stirred fresh controversy over the weekend with discriminatory remarks concerning religious minorities.

"All Jews share a particular gene," Sarrazin said in an interview. "That makes them different from other peoples."

...The Jewish community in Germany reacted with indignation to Sarrazin's attempts at racial profiling... Whoever tries to define Jews by their genetic makeup, even when it is superficially positive in tone, is in the grip of a race mania that Jews do not share," said Stephan Kramer, secretary of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

Say, if Germany could only create a master race, a genetically pure group of citizens, then perhaps a bold leader could spearhead the launch of a thousand-year renaissance of enlightenment...

Oh. Right.


Hat tip: Tyler Durden.