A Confession....

On That-Forum-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named, I once confessed to this vision of a dream-date.



And here, courtesy of Glenn, we see this advice for those who believe men want princesses.

Give us Sarah Connor in a black cocktail dress pumping a shotgun any day.

Amen, Brother. Amen.

Passing Fancy.....

Its been some time since I seriously posted stuff here, and I have to admit to a summertime fling.

I am reading a book.

No. That's not right.

I am reading a novel.

A thousand page (of fairly small print) novel.

Atlas Shrugged.



As has been my habit for many years now, when I find a book I enjoy, I often make notes in the last few pages of interesting parts of the book, and I've been tempted to copy Kevin and post Quotes of the Day. Maybe I'll get caught up and organized and get this done.

Does anybody remember how many times....

...We heard Al Gore use the term "lockbox"?

I'm beginning to get the same feeling every time I hear some wonk or O-bot say "bend the curve".

Pastor Manning and...

...The Long Legged Mack Daddy.




h/t Gerard's Sidelights.

Random Thought #739....

Took a walk with my copilot this evening past the United Nations building in Manhattan, and I wondered:

How different would this world be today if one of those planes had been aimed at the U.N. building?

52% of America thought....

Joe Biden was a smarter VP pick than Sarah Palin. Amazing. They mocked her as "Caribou Barbie".

“We’re going to go bankrupt as a nation,” Biden said.

“Now, people when I say that look at me and say, ‘What are you talking about, Joe? You’re telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?’” Biden said. “The answer is yes, that's what I’m telling you.”

Biden is a certifiable, friggin' idiot. Zero is an even bigger idiot for picking him as his Veep. If they had any honor, the 52% of America that voted for the Zero/Biden ticket ought to be pushing for an impeachment, if for no other reason than to regain their integrity.

Told ya' so.

Don't these people know we're in economic trouble here?

I'm out on a trip and on a layover. Today, I'm downtown in Atlanta.

And what do I see as I returned from dinner?

The hotel is hosting a convention from the United Federation of Doll Clubs, Inc.

There are a number of folks here, primarily middle-aged women, who apparently have not grown out of playing with dolls.

The idea that some of these folks would come together to form a club so they can talk about and show their dolls is odd enough. But, moreover, that these clubs would feel the need to band together to form a Federation just boggles the mind.

This country is in the deepest economic trouble in decades, and these people are playing with dolls.

A Tale of Two Tails....

From ABC


h/t Ace.

Not for nothing, but Zero is doing something that every male does (and especially Sarkozy). The problem here is not that he looked at an attractive young woman, but that he got caught. ABC ought to be ashamed of the lengths they go to explain what is plainly a glance at the young woman.

Moreover, Michelle Obama gets far too much credit for her looks. The left and the media (but I repeat myself) still fawn over Jackie Kennedy, and Michelle Obama is their current incarnation of her. You would think that someone on her staff would know a way to diplomaticly ask The Most Beautiful Woman Evar if she really wanted to be in a position to be photographed wearing this ensemble....



Also, Michelle, famous as she is for her own Arms Race, appears to be putting on weight. Perhaps Zero is noticing too.

OK. So I went to a Tea Party yesterday.....

There were two Tea Parties in the Phoenix area yesterday: One, which included a half mile "protest march" at 4:30 in the afternoon in downtown Phoenix, and the other, at 8:30am on the lawn of the Municipal Building in nearby Gilbert. Guess which one I went to?

Some observations, in no particular order.....

• It's hard to tell, and I'm certainly no expert, but I'm guessing there were a couple of thousand people in attendance.
• The media were there too. Channel 3 and Channel 12 had TV trucks there, and I have to imagine the print media was there too, but I'll be damned if I can find a mention of it at azcentral.com.
  
  [Edit: At one point, I had an embeded video here from one of the local news outfits. I have removed it though, because it was one of those videos that starts on its own, and every time you opened this webpage, the damned thing would play. I've decided I hate that.]
• Some thoughts on crowd composition...... It was almost exclusively, at least to my eyes, white. This will lead the real racists of the world to again shout "Racism!", but it is really more of a racial, rather than racism point.
  
  A white crowd is both good and bad. But first, a caveat: This is the East Valley we're talking about here. The Phoenix metro area has a black population, but compared to other areas, it is relatively small. We do have a hispanic population, but neither were represented at the rally. On the all-white crowd I saw, the good: That mainstream middle-class Americans--the Silent Majority--are inspired to take to the streets is an expression of the frustration this otherwise sedentary group. The bad: Having a broader appeal is necessary. That the liberals and the Democrats have succeeded in dishing deals to their constituent groups is a problem this movement needs to address.
  
  The crowd was also largely composed of middle-aged (and older) folks. This too has a good and bad view. Older folks are more reliable voters, and the politicians know this. But it would be better to have a coalition (Hey! A Lefty word!) across the age groups.
  
  I wasn't thrilled with some of the groups that were there. The NRA had a table there, which I obviously don't mind, and there were a scattering of "Sign My Petition" tables and folks selling t-shirts, etc. But there was also a group there who are pissed off about the speed cameras (which, as I understand it, issues fines but not points), and the John Birch Society. When a fringe movement has its own fringe elements, it is easy to paint the whole thing as nutty.
• Taxes are a high interest item. Given that this was Gilbert, there was more than a little discussion of a Gilbert (sales?) tax under consideration. The politicians had better know that more taxes are going to be a difficult sell. There were many signs opposed to Cap and Trade.
  
• The message the Republican party ought to be listening to is this: The conservative segment is done watching you compromise with the liberals. The support we gave to the big government "compassionate conservatives" is over. Sen. McCain was boo-ed (no surprise there), and Rep. Flake--who is otherwise a very fiscally prudent representative--was damaged by missing the vote on Cap and Trade. By design, no elected representatives, at any level, were invited to speak.
• Lots of folks made homemade signs--there was even a table set up for you to do it there. My favorite: "Chains You Can Believe In" (I don't mean to imply this was taken at the Gilbert rally....I got if off the web.)

I never was much of a Republican. I left the party back in the 90's when George H.W. Bush reneged on his "No New Taxes" pledge and began the Assault Weapons Ban bandwagon rolling. I voted for Ross Perot, and for my sins, we ended up with Bill Clinton. I only re-entered the party last year in order to vote for Fred Thompson in the Republican primary. But I'm pretty well convinced that I'll be leaving the Republicans again. I understand that the political parties have a stranglehold on things, but I'm hopeful that a third way can find success. I'll explore the Constitution Party, but will probably re-register as a Libertarian.

Somehow you had to know this was coming.....

Mrs. Obama bringing glamor to Moscow this weekend

This Independence Day weekend, if you hadn't noticed.

Sarah Palin's Resignation....

Back when John McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate, I thought: "Perfect. Someone who is a real conservative--not some 'Maverick'--and who actually lives her principles." Then, when McCain suspended his campaign over the economic crisis, I thought that it was over (and I think I commented somewhere to that effect.).

[As a digression, and on later reflection, based on this very open and compelling video, maybe suspending the campaign was prudent. Note the timeline here...the run on the bank Kanjorski speaks of happened Sept. 15, and McCain suspended his campaign Sept. 24.]


Anyway, I remember thinking that when McCain pulled that stunt, prudent or not, that he was done.

Regarding Palin's future, I was really pumped when the NRA announced it was honoring Palin with a specially made .50Beowolf M4. I thought: "That's it. She's running, and she's running as an in-your-face conservative." However, after she demurred from attending, I then thought "OK. Maybe that's a smart move. Why make half of America suspicious of you?"

So anyway, today, when Palin announced her resignation, I had that same sort of feeling that I had when McCain suspended his campaign. Maybe she's just trying to put an end to these ceaseless and baseless attacks on her and her family. For that reason alone, I can understand the resignation. But as a political move, I'm not so sure. Maybe this is a totally out-of-the-box approach that she'll find that this will work for her--I certainly hope so. But she may have shot herself in the foot here too.

Exactly the healthcare we don't need.....

IBD: Where will Canada send its preemies and other critical patients when we adopt their health care system?

h/t Kevin.