McCain and Obama...

I'm actually quite surprised at the reticence that McCain is showing on calling Obama on his changes of position. He has certainly made his comments (here, as well as elsewhere), but he isn't aggressively casting Obama as less-than-firm in his positions.

I am struck, however, by this memory....McCain's Feb. 2006 letter to Obama on Obama's changing position on campaign finance reform.

The politically expedient change of positions is nothing new for Barry.

Heller and the Media...

So, anyhoo, the other day I made a point of leaving my hotel early enough to be online at the airport for the first words of a decision on Heller.

The decision came and I quickly put up something on The-Forum-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named and headed off to my departure gate. I sat there under a monitor which was set to CNN Headline News.

On the CNN reporting regarding Heller, they immediately had the thoughts of someone from the Brady Center. Did they include anyone from the NRA as balance? Nope.

And after the Brady Center opinion on the decision, the newsreader made the comment that BATFE is charged with ensuring that gun shops conform to local ordinances and that nothing in this decision would prevent the District from not allowing gun shops inside their borders--the implication being that if the Court says it's OK for an individual to have--to "keep"--a firearm in their home--then he could be prevented from having one in the first place by preventing it's sale.

Two points to all this...

• The Mainstream Media is all about the narrative. Whatever you do, make sure what is said fits with what ought to be said. Offering opinions from both sides of an issue would allow thoughtful people to decide for themselves, and that would be horrible.
• And when a decision goes against you, immediately start muddying the waters. The issue of gun shop locations had nothing at all to do with Heller. Yet the CNN reporting suggests that it does. Again, this goes to the support-the-narrative point, but it also shows that the shallowness that the Media (and unfortunately, much of the American public) has towards important issues allows them (us?) to conflate irrelevant points into an argument. Far too many of us get our only news from 30 minutes in front of a Big Three anchor or USA Today. Is it any wonder that we don't understand the issues?

Thoughts on Seat 44D...

I just got back from my annual trip to the simulator, and the flight was totally packed (of course). Lots of employees complain about full flights--they often miss flights, and when they do get on, they don't get to sit in First Class. Me, I've never done that. While a full flight means a travel benefit is more difficult to achieve, it also means the company is making money and my job is that much more secure.

However, there are some bad points to sitting in the back. I was glad to have an aisle seat, even if it was very much in the back. The really bad point came with the guy next to me.

Although he did announce that we were the lucky two who got to sit next to the guy with a 48 inch chest, he wasn't a totally unpleasant guy. He did ask about the Heller decision and otherwise had some small talk--mostly with the guy in the window seat.

He also had some obnoxious qualities. He got up four times--once during taxi out. What was really, really obnoxious, however, was his habit of raising his arms over his head. He didn't smell or anything, and he was wearing a shirt, but exposing your armpits for extended periods just isn't appealing.

Reflections on a Recent Past...

OK, so I haven't really been burning this place up lately...like in the last 5 months or so. Indoor and outdoor remodelling projects, 3 kids graduating from college (including one out-of-state), and recurrent have shoved my attention to this down the priority list.

That's all done now. I do have some things I need to get to...learning about investments, further work on my garage, light trimming and painting of the trees, but a great weight has been lifted and I foresee more time for this until the wedding begins to consume us.

Whew (#2)....

Court Rules Second Amendment Is Individual Right To Bear Arms

Jeremy Clarkson on...

Car recycling.



h/t Theo.

Wall Street Journal

Why Iraqi's Back McCain

From the op-ed...

"...That only makes America's ambivalence toward its democratic creation that much stranger to the Iraqis. Will the next administration abandon both its principles and its friends in the region? For what?..."

Yes, Barack. For what, exactly?

Finally!

A reason to watch soccer.

Obama: The Great Communicator V2.0

and



h/t Gateway Pundit

A summertime option...

...Ditch the CCW. Carry openly.

h/t Open Blog over at Ace's Place.

What kind of Western Badass are you?

What Kind of a Western Bad-Ass are You? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Clint Eastwood Names aren't important as you dish out steaming bowls of piping hot brutality to your enemies. You also enjoy a good spaghetti dinner once in a while. Clint Eastwood 75% Charles Bronson 75% Lee Marvin 50% John Wayne 50% Lee Van Cleef 38% h/t Cowboy Blob.

Whether public statements regarding Iraq by U.S. government officials were substantiated by intelligence...

**Telephone rings**

Receptionist: "Hello. Obama Campaign Headquarters. How may I help you?"

Receptionist: "No. Senator Obama's not available right now. He's in a meeting. But I'd be happy to take a message for him."

Receptionist: "Umm, hmmm. Yes. Yes. Ok. I've got it. Any number where the Senator can reach you? No? Ok. I'll make sure he gets the message."

**Door opens**

Receptionist: "Oh, there you are, Senator. I've got a message from somebody who called himself '2003'. No need to return his call, and I don't really understand what he meant by this, but he asked that I let you know that he'd like his argument back."

h/t to Paul at Powerline, but nearly everyone else has addressed this as well.

OMG. My New Favorite Bumpersticker...

More found here.

W vs Terror: Something's Working

Via Glenn, a published column by another of my favorites, John Hinderaker of Powerline making the case that there is a marked drop off in the number of terror attacks on US interests while under George Bush's watch.

"...One can debate the relative importance of these and other factors. But based on the historical record, the Bush administration obviously has done something since 2001 to dramatically improve our security against terrorism. To
fail to recognize this is to sow the seeds of greatly increased susceptibility to terrorist attacks in the next administration."

Memorial Day Weekend...

We're not doing much this weekend, per se. No bar-b-ques, no trips to the beach or camping trips or anything else.

However, we are headed to Colorado Springs to see the future Son-in-LawofAzlib graduate from the US Air Force Academy and take his commission into the Air Force.

In our hearts, if not over our driveway this year, we will be flying the colors.

I've got to agree...

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has screwed up the removal of children from the FLDS families. And that agency, and the state, is now damaged by the excess they used in this case.

This ought to call into question whether these agencies, even with their good intentions, are good for us. Parents have a right to raise their children the way they want. Abuse claims should be carefully examined.

And Glenn has it right: At least in their concern for the safety of the children, they didn't burn the place down.

OMG. My Favorite Bumpersticker for '08...

Found here, via HotAir.

The cool black guy...

...beats the cool white chick to win who gets to be Student Body President.

“They poured everything they had into this place.... And they lost."

Here is the full quote.

“They poured everything they had into this place. The battle against Americans in Anbar became their most important fight in the world. And they lost.”

Of course, the quote is about Fallujah, and Michael J. Totten wrote it. I read this article about the First, Second, and Third Battles for Fallujah as a microcosm of our presence in Iraq...to leave Iraq will invite al Qaeda back in, and we cannot allow them to believe they've beaten us.

A few Quick Links...

• Charles Johnson has it right: "Wow".
• A topic that is still off-limits.
• John at OpFor reminds us that John Stossel's mustache has more common sense than most of his co-workers.

Another...

...Link worth keeping.

The Very Big War.

Concluding sentences (with my emphasis)...

"...Wars are awful but some wars really are necessary and this war is against an existential threat to the entire world. Since it must be fought, let there be no half measures, let victory be total. Any other result insults the memory of those already killed in this conflict and means that, ultimately, we will face a future nuclear war that will see tens of millions of us die."

What...

...Bush said in front of the Israeli Knesset...



Obama's response...

"...George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the president's extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel...."

However, Obama also said...



What Obama wants us to believe here is that he thinks there is a difference between a state that supports terrorists and the terrorists themselves. He would talk to the former, while denying he would talk to the later.

On this count I can't help but wonder: Would Obama talk to the Afghan Taliban while attacking the al Qaeda in Afghanistan?

For the Record...

Recent absence was due to the grand celebrations relating to SonofAzlib and Dau#1ofAzlib graduating, with two degrees each, from Arizona State. Dau#2ofAzlib still has 3 years to go.

Then we will be tuition-free (till the [future] grandkids start to school)!

Edit: I meant to post this earlier, but one of my favorite bloggers, Ed Morrissey, also had a child graduate summa cum laude (as did our daughter). It doesn't need to be said that WifeofAzlib and I are as proud of our two as Capt. Ed is of his own.

Poor Staff Work...

Via Glenn, comes this report noting that Obama has a penchant for blaming his staffers when inconsistencies or problems surface. Trapper has dug up much of these cases, but he missed the Blame-a-staffer-for-the-Cuban-Flag-hanging-in-my-Campaign-Office episode.

Stuff White People Like...

I've been getting a kick out of the SWPL website recently, and happened on a post titled "Scarves". I confess to owning more than one scarf, even though I live in arid, and very warm Arizona. I don't really need them...in fact I only ever use one every couple of years.

But I can't help but connect this topic to this...

Found...

...this gem over at Exurban League where Kevin focuses on the internicene warfare within the Democrat Party. What caught my eye, however, was this quote...

"...But if the DNC wants use isolationism to win votes, let's take their rhetoric to its logical conclusion. Why not pull all of our troops out of South Korea and Japan -- the two peaceful countries McCain spoke of in his original comment? Dean probably isn't even aware, but it was a Democratic president, one of our greatest presidents, who committed American troops to those two countries with the full intent of keeping them there indefinitely to secure the peace. I don't think Harry Truman, if he were around today, would be appalled at the fact that we have 26,000 troops patrolling the DMZ in South Korea or 33,000 American troops in Japan. Perhaps Dean should next advocate a withdrawal of forces from Germany, the United Kingdom, Iceland and the dozens of other countries where the presence of American soldiers comprise our global defense posture, all of them stationed at the behest of the host countries. Come an Obama or Clinton administration, when the democratically elected parliament of the Iraqi people requests a continued American troop presence in Iraq -- as it has repeatedly done since the formation of the post-Saddam government -- will Congressional Democrats and the president nonetheless carry out a withdrawal? So much for 'paying any price' and 'bearing any burden'...." (emphases mine)

Not to toot my own horn (OK. Maybe just a little), but in my Reductio ad Absurdum treatise, I asked:

"...Try for a minute to think through what the world would look like if we
withdrew. You can just withdraw from Iraq, or you can withdraw from everywhere, and I end up at the same place: A world far less stable than before we left. I don't think that we're colonizing the world in our form. Rather, I deeply and
completely believe that the liberty we far too often take for granted is
something that everyone on this planet inately seeks. What we're doing in Iraq
(and the rest of the world) is to offer them a chance at that kind of
liberty...."

"Barbie for Men"...

...indeed.

No.

I've never carried a shotgun in my pants.

Tuck in your shirt
by wellywanger

h/t Theo.

A link worth keeping...

Norman Podhoretz: Stopping Iran: Why the Case for Military Action Still Stands (The last two paragraphs make a point I have long made: In Bush today, we are very much watching our next Churchill.)

"Serve up a..."

"...bitch-slap"? Check.

"Speak simply yet eloquently on the questions of 'Why?' and 'How long?'". Check.



h/t Gerard.

Obama: "Incoming!!!"

I just watched Rev. Wright's sermon/press appearance at the National Press Club. Michelle Malkin has it live-blogged here.

All I can add is: Whoa. Obama had better be in a bunker somewhere, because his pastor has not made things easier for him. Not by a long shot.

Had Wright stayed out of the public view...like until the election...Obama might have had a chance to let the storm over Wright's preachings blow by. Not now. It's all now back on center-stage (to irreparably mix my metaphors).

"The Thunderbirds have an underground runway..."

"...Why can't I?"

OK. Just off the top of my head, what's to prevent an opponent of North Korea from, I dunno, dropping one bomb on the mouth of the runway's tunnel, and removing its military value entirely?

h/t Insty.

'Obama struggles to draw White voters' support'

So says this article in the Arizona Republic.

There are plenty of loaded words in the article (do they still teach those in J-school?), but the fact remains that Obama has not broadened out his appeal (or "made the sale" to use Hillary's words).

Beyond the systemic problems that the D's have with their super-delegates about to decide this thing (and the eruption that that will bring), neither D candidate has been able to convince America that they should be President.

This woman...

• Who admires the "...activists who were devoted to overthrowing everything hateful about this government and corporate structure that we live in, and capitalism herself, himself..." (2:50)
• Who agrees with MLKs 1967 observation that "America is the Greatest Purveyor of Violence in the World, and that "that is what's true today". (5:15)
• Who believes herself to be "in the belly of the beast". (5:20)
• Who still, to this day, is talking about Kent State.

...is the same woman whom Barack Obama considers as "mainstream".

Amazing.

h/t Ed over at HotAir.

Democrats going soft on healthcare...

Nice idea, but when it comes down to working out the details, it seems as though we like our healthcare as it is.

Hey, Barry...

Have you really thought this out?

"Bringing Our Troops Home
Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months. Obama will make it clear that we will not build any permanent bases in Iraq. He will keep some troops in Iraq to protect our embassy and diplomats; if al Qaeda attempts to build a base within Iraq, he will keep troops in Iraq or elsewhere in the region to carry out targeted strikes on al Qaeda."

Really?

"Alex, I'll take..."

"...'Option Two' for a thousand dollars."

Except it won't just be...

"...the New York Times [which goes] into hysterics."

It will be the entire lefty world. The eruption from "Peace Mom" Sheehan, Code Pink, and all the rest of the lefty world will make their current irrational antics seem like collegial discussion at Sunday School.

A "President Obama" (and for that matter, a "President Clinton" too) has nothing but bad choices here.

Hope for a new kind of politics...

...Indeed.

Another...

...endorsement for Obama.

"We don’t mind — actually we like Mr. Obama. We hope he will [win] the election and I do believe he is like John Kennedy. Great man with great principle, and he has a vision to change America to make it in a position to lead the world community but not with domination and arrogance."

Ahmed Yousef, the top political adviser for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

Well done, Barry!

No. Say it isn't so....

"...Obama does not really have a well-thought-out position on the subject of extricating us from Iraq."

and more...

"...another Obama foreign policy adviser had to be corrected by campaign headquarters. Samantha Power, a Pulitzer Prize-winning expert on the history of genocide, told the BBC that Obama “will, of course, not rely on some plan that he’s crafted as a presidential candidate or a U.S. senator” with regard to Iraq strategy."

The whole thing here.

"I was against wearing a flag lapel pin before I was for it"*

It looks as though Obama has gotten over his need to explain his patriotism sans an American Flag lapel pin. Makes one wonder if the Rev. Wright/cling because they're bitter questions are beginning to hurt.

*=Line stolen from jgapinoy in the comments to Allah's posting.

Welcome to...

...the freakshow. (But do read the article from it's start.)

h/t: Allahpundit over at HotAir.

Thought Bubble....

Damn my meager internet, html, photoshopping skilz....

This thing just begs for a thought bubble...."I'm going to cut to bowels out of the next aide who sets me up to dance in front of the cameras."



h/t Gerard.

Obama the Elitist...

OK, so everybody in the world has already commented on Obama's latest gaffe...

"...You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.

And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations...."

This thing is offensive on so many levels that one hardly knows where to begin. "Typical White Person" pales in comparison. The right side of the blog world has spoken widely on this, and Clinton is making good use of this self-made problem for Obama. That said, somebody has prolly already made this point, but this little gem popped into my mind earlier today...

Obama says that he found God and Christ in his relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright and a church home in the Trinity United Church of Christ.

And yet, with his explanation that bitterness over lost jobs has lead rural Midwesterners to "cling" to their churches (among other things), is not Obama denying that rural Americans might be drawn to the same sort of church homes that he himself claims as an asset?

"Let's 'Surge' Some More"...

Michael Yon in the Wall Street Journal.

Yon is a better journalist all by himself than the cumulative work of the ten best MSM reporters.

h/t Ace, of course.

"That's just not accurate..."

Get your hands off..

...my pie, Michelle.

"...The truth is, in order to get things like universal health care and a revamped education system, then someone is going to have to give up a piece of their pie so that someone else can have more."

Oh, yeah. Got it from Glenn.

AZ State IDPA Championship

OK, while I haven't mentioned it here, I have been working the last few months on prepping myself for the State Championship. I am realistic enough to know that I'll never be one of the better shooters--I simply am not willing to spend that kind of money or time on a hobby--I am also vain enough to like to think of myself as "OK". A state championship is a good place to show oneself the folly of that vanity. Simply put: I suck. And I hate it that I do.

I admit to a number of handicaps here...

• I have never been an athlete, I am almost 51 years old, and I confess to carrying roughly an extra 25 pounds. This makes me slow.
• Being in my 50's, my eyesight is becoming an issue. This means, while I may, hypothetically, be able to "call" my shots, I often find that I cannot see whether what I have "called" is really what happened at the target.
  
• Rather than use an Outside-the-Waistband holster, as 98% of the IDPA shooters do, I prefer the Inside-the-Waistband holster I use for concealed carry. This too slows me down.
• Most critically, I used my recently purchased DAO HK USP Compact in .40S&W.

This last point really hurt. I have been struggling, especially with long shots to get shots on target. I've been known to miss ("Mike", in IDPA parlance) targets entirely. Apparently, I am not meant to use a DAO action in competition. It is just too much for me to keep the aim on target while pulling through that trigger load while under the pressure of the clock. The USP is a fine machine, but regrettably, sometime later this year, I may be looking for something else. I hate to be the guy who blames his equipment for his competition failures, and, again, fully acknowledging that I will never be one of the best (or even top-half) shooters in the group, but for me I do think it is the wrong gun for me.

So, enough about me...more about the match and the other competitors...

The match did not move along as well as I had hoped. One of the first announcements was that we were going to be grouped into squads of 20 or so, and that keeping the squads together would help move things along. That lasted exactly one stage. After shooting the first three stages, we waited 45 minutes before lunch was served, and then another hour to get to the fourth of our 12 stages. They did get stages 1-3 (the fourth stage I shot) moving more quickly just as we were finishing them, but I'm sure that we wasted 2 hours there. Waiting to shoot did not help me shoot any better. I was able to get all but one stage done on Saturday, and on Sunday morning, at my last stage I sucked as badly as I had on the previous 11.

One highlight was the opportunity to shoot with Donnie Burton (upper left). Who is Donnie Burton, you ask? He's the reigning IDPA National Overall Champion. (For those who golf, imagine golfing with Tiger Woods.) From watching him, and speaking with his father, he is both a very focused competitor, and a really nice kid. He was more than willing to answer questions (that he must have to endure at every match) and was probing the rest of us for what we saw in our turns shooting. To get an idea of just how focused he is, get this...

• Like NASCAR and golf, IDPA has a "season". In preparation for the season, Donnie shoots a thousand rounds a day. Yep. That's not a typo. A friggin' thousand rounds each day. Every day...all seven of 'em. When he's finished with that week, he starts it all over again.
  
• Do the math with me. A thousand rounds means you load a 10 round magazine a hundred times a day.
• More math. Donnie shoots a custom 1911 platform in 9mm. A thousand rounds of this stuff would, if you had to buy it (Donnie has an endorsement deal) run $199 from one of my favorite internet ammo sources. That's $200 dollars a day. Every day.
  
• None of that counts the incidentals used here. Cleaning patches, solvents, magazine springs, etc. all add up when you're shooting that much.
• Donnie has a program of running, weight training, and diet to keep in fit enough for this level of competition.
• While in a match, he eats tuna, fruit or something else about every two hours to keep his blood-sugar levels constant.
  

To top off the frustration I had at my poor shooting performance, I didn't even "raffle" all that well. I was part of the last 10 or so shooters who had not been called for the prize table raffle, and rather than call us all the way down to the end, the Match Director just said for us to "clean the table". I came home with a reasonable cleaning kit that I gave to SonofAzlib, a hat that barely fits my head, a t-shirt that fits me, but has an oil stain on it, and one of the dumbest videos Gunsite has ever produced.

I enjoyed the championship, as frustrating as it was for me. I'll plan now on attending next year, but it won't be with a DAO gun. I'll go back to carrying and competing with my Glock 23, and maybe sometime later this year (after I get Dau#1ofAzlib married off and sell some of my safe queens), I'll start thinking about something in a 1911 platform.

Better luck next year.

Rest in Peace...

Charleton Heston has died.

Heston was a good actor, who after receiving great acclaim for his work leading to an Oscar, was reduced to B-movies and semi-obscurity.

All that until he became President of the NRA. None of us from the culture that respects our gun rights will ever forget Heston thundering the words in each of our hearts: "From my cold, dead, hands."



Update: I just found this trailer for The Omega Man, courtesy of The Drawn Cutlass. I knew that Will Smith's recent I am Legend was a remake of something, but I didn't realize that it was of The Omega Man. It's kinda campy to look at now and I wonder if I am Legend will be thought of in the same way some time in the future.



Updated update:

BTW. Wish me luck...

...SonofAzlib is about to finish his college studies and is off to a job fair today. Let's wish us both that he scores a job in his field that will lead to a rewarding career.

Yet another frustrating week...

...wondering if I could ever log into this thing again. I finally established a gmail account to see if that will make the task of logging into Blogger a bit easier. My hotmail email address wasn't working at all for Blogger.

Short story: I've got a lot on my plate right now, and posting here would be slim even if I weren't having problems logging in, but at some point I may investigate getting my own domain or another free blogging software.

What an amazing time we live in...

...when I, your humble and nearly-totally unread blogger, can spend part of my afternoon yesterday listening to the arguments presented in the Supreme Court on a very important Second Amendment issue (Click the link for the C-span audio feed).

I've never done this, and not being a lawyer or anything more than an armchair Constitutional scholar, I don't know how it really went, but from my vantage, it sure sounded as though there is serious SC questioning of the DC position. Let's hope so. A definitive ruling on the meaning of the 2A, including just what "well-regulated" and "militia" mean would go far.

I don't expect the Court to go this far though, and further, I expect that whichever way they rule, that we'll be talking about gun rights, as we talk about abortion, for some time to come.

"Five Years In"...

I missed this last year. It is now updated to reflect the Five Year Anniversary of the War in Iraq at the ever-wonderful American Digest.

Jim Cramer and CNBC...

There's a little too much conspiracy theorism at about the 8-9 minute point, but on the point of the Fed's actions with regard to the value of our currency, and the complete idiocy that comes out of Jim Cramer and the rest of the MSM financial media, this guy has got it goin' on.

Barack's in trouble...

Nearly everyone on the planet has already noted Obama's egregious minister...



Obama's explanation of tolerating this minister is lame and lawyer-like. The American Thinker deconstructs Obama completely here.

But what tells me Obama's in real trouble here is the fact that the Mainstream Media are looking at this. ABC and the New York Times are just the tip of the iceberg on media now looking into the ministry of the Trinity United Church of Christ. Obama's claim that he never heard the horrible things Wright has preached is certain to be overturned.

Secondly, this incident has been enough to get Obama on to Fox News Channel...something he had eschewed up until this point. He doesn't do especially well here...



Thirdly, at the work website that I frequent, I'm hearing more and more folks who otherwise might be reliable democrat voters say that they won't be voting for Obama. After Rezko, Michelle's "proud moment", and now this, I'm thinking that many democrat voters who might be on the fence will have now been pushed towards Hillary. And I suspect that there will be some reliable Obama voters who may now be questioning their support for him. The other dynamic here is the affect all this will have on the Democrat Super-delegates.

The Sunday shows tomorrow morning will be very interesting.

Whew...

...Dodged a bullet.

I spent yesterday trying to log on here only to find that I had an expired, junk email address that I used for this sort of thing. I went through Google's FAQ and recovery set up, but that seemed to be a dead end.

Today however I was able to log on, and once on, was able to update my email address. Funny how much even a crappy blogger such as I panics at the thought of losing my access to this thing.

Lesson learned.

Iran:

"No endorsements out of us".

Two questions:

• Do presidential candidates--anywhere--expect or solicit foreign government endorsements?
• Assuming that Iran might have endorsed a candidate in the U.S. presidential race, does anyone care to guess at who it might be?

"We are building a religion..."

Another gem courtesy of Gerard.

Barack endorses...

After advocating a unilateral nuclear stand down,



Barack Obama now endorses public vandalism...."Your images have a profound effect on people, whether in a gallery or on a stop sign...."

[Context of who the artist is, and the vandalism he inspires here.]

h/t Gerard.

On the adoration of Obama...

What Karl said.

Slate: In the tank for Obama...

Oh, wait. That's not how MSN put it.

Rather, in referring to this article, it was..."Slate: Clinton comes back, but how meaningful are wins?"

One wonders: Would the MSN headline writers have considered "Slate: Obama loses another two big states; Can he win?"

Man. I hate it when...

...I post something from CBS News, but I gotta agree with Ace. This is awesome.

The incredible shallowness of the American voter...

...as shown here.

"...The world needs our help more than we need to petition its approval...."

Michael Totten on the Arabs and Obama.

Whatcha gonna do with your Stimulus money?

"Well, I'm glad you asked, cuz I'm gonna tell you.

I'm gonna go out and buy me some cheese. But not just any cheese. Oh, no siree. None of that Cheddar, or American, or even any of them european cheeses...Swiss, Brie, or Gouda.

I'm gonna go out and buy me some of that Free Government Cheese. That's the best stuff, I'll tell you.

You know why I like Free Government Cheese?

Cuz I likes my grilled cheese sammiches. There's nuttin' better than Free Government Cheese on a grilled cheese sammich. Mmmm. I can taste one right now.

And you know how to make the very best grilled Free Government Cheese sammiches?

It's all about the butter, baby.

No. Not that Sweet Cream, Lightly Salted butter. And not "oleo" either. Oleo is good for one thing and one thing only: Crossword puzzles. And don't even think to put that I Can't Believe It's Not Butter stuff on there. I mean...C'mon. Why are you even pretending that it's the same as butter? They tell you right on the label that it's not butter.

No, the butter you need is that Government Dairy Subsidy Butter. That's the good stuff. The very best grilled Free Government Cheese sammich is made with Government Dairy Subsidy Butter.

I can taste lunch now. But first I have to work on my taxes."

The Post-Election Democrats...

I've long thought (although I admit that at times certain circumstances have had me waver a bit) that this country will not elect an anti-war President in a time of war. I agree with John Fund here that McCain may have a better chance against either Clinton or Obama than many give him credit for.

However...

I have a nagging concern on what a post-election Democrat Party will look like should McCain win. Not long after 9/11...probably due to the closeness of Bush's win in 2000 and certainly after the Republicans increased their majority in 2002, the Democrats' public face showed that they had simply lost their minds. They embraced, then ceded their foreign policy agenda to a woman who is a simple fool. They held on to her until after her 15 minutes of fame were gone. They tolerated shrill harpies who are capable of taking the most vile of positions. Their lions were unable to take a calm rational argument to the public.

However, maybe the face of the Democrats was not insane, but something they cynically used to oppose the Republicans. Early on, Democrat David Obey knew that they did not have the votes to support a proposal to defund the war. Yet, they spent the entire year after they attained the majority doing nothing except to do exactly this. And when President Bush adopted Gen Petraeus' Surge, did the Democrats even allow that this approach might yield the desired results? No. They (or more correctly, their mouthpieces) questioned the General's patriotism. And after the Surge had had it's time in the field, did the Democrats even state the obvious: that it was actually working? No. The Rolling Stone now has a name for them: Chicken Doves...those Democrats who took an anti-war stance, not as a true measure of their commitment to ending the war, but to use as a tool to club the Republicans and Bush with.

So what will happen if Obama wins the popular vote, but Clinton takes the nomination through her strength with the super delegates? What will happen if McCain wins? What will happen if either Democrat wins, and then decides that we cannot leave Iraq? Will the Democratic faithful take to the streets (again)? Can the leadership rein in their extreme edges to be able to actually accomplish an agenda?

As much as I think it will be a disaster for either Clinton or Obama to win the Presidency, I don't think that a McCain win will be easy. Over the last 7 years, the Democrats haven't shown that they're able to do much other than attempt to obstruct.

I remember this from a couple of years ago...

...But it's worth looking at again.

A Nightmare I hadn't anticipated...

No. Not that Hillary Clinton's advisors are "in a state of panic". Her hubris thus far means that she deserves panic. She deserves endless harping about her campaign donors. She deserves to be called a flip-flopper. She deserves criticism for crapping on Shuster. She deserves everything.

No. The nightmare would be the possibility of a McCain/Powell ticket mentioned towards the bottom of the article.

Let's stipulate that (open-minded) Democrats would agree that the black community is as concerned with identity politics as they are about the issues. And that perhaps, in a bit of triangulation, that McCain might want a black VP nominee.

But Powell? McCain may be less than conservative-pure, and he may be a Maverick, but he ain't suicidal. He's essentially running on the wisdom of continuing the war. How does Powell help him there? McCain picks Powell, and the conservatives he's been sucking up to since Super Tuesday would draw and quarter him.

I could live with, and perhaps welcome a McCain/Watts ticket. But McCain/Powell would be too far.

Oh, yeah...

...Remember that story a couple of months ago that said that Iran's nuclear threat was overstated?

Well...um...

Nevermind.

Retiree Rant...

I picked up the paper from the driveway this morning after returning from the gym and was greeted with the headline...

"Retirees Welcome Rebate News"

[The bold and enlarged type came with the cut-and-paste. I like it so I'm keeping it. Also note just how happy Inez Larry appears in the accompanying photo.]

I didn't have my glasses with me, so the headline was all that I could read, but the first thing that popped into my mind was...

"WELL, OF COURSE RETIREES LIKE THE 'REBATE'!
IT'S FREE GODDAMN MONEY TO THEM!"

Our retirees, for as much as I respect them for all that Greatest Generation shit they did, are a fucking bunch of whiners. First, they (or their parents) insisted that the government start the greatest Ponzi scheme ever--Social Security--so that they could have a taxpayer-funded retirement. Then came Medicare, so that someone else would pay for their healthcare. Recently the Prescription Drug benefit was added. (Yes. That's just what we fucking need. Another fucking .gov bureau to track a FUCKING BENEFIT that you ought to be paying for YOUR OWN FUCKING SELF!) And now they're happy to get a friggin' "rebate". Un-fucking-believable.

Fair warning: The GOD-DAMNED AARP better not send me anything today. I am not in the mood.

A few thoughts on Mitt's departure...

I've never been much of a Mitt-fan, so I can't claim I'm heart-broken by his departure. However, I am much less of a McCain-fan, so I would have voted for him on Super Tuesday had this not been Arizona. McCain was going to win Arizona no matter what. My gripe about Mitt seems largely to be that he appeared to be running for CEO-in-Chief.

Angler in the comments to Slublog's piece over at Ace's Place makes a good point that Romney's departure puts pressure on Huckabee to shit-or-get-off-the-pot. All that said, Romney's announcement that he was dropping out of the race was handled with a grace that is hard to imagine coming from McCain. It will be interesting to see how McCain handles this Manna-from-Heaven. Does he arrogantly maintain the Maverick persona or does he truly try to move towards the conservatives who revile him so?

Couple this with the impending brokered convention on the Democrat side, and this will be a very interesting campaign.

Wow.

What a good point Captain Ed focuses on here. If they're not careful, the Democrats are headed to a big fist floor fight at their convention.

Manufacturing Dissent...

As an adjunct to this marvelous-as-always post by Gerard Vanderleun, I thought I'd spend a few minutes around the artist's website.

The first thing I noticed was the logo...

"Manufacturing Quality Dissent since 1989: Propaganda Engineering"

One wonders: Is this "dissent" true-to-principle, or simply a product? Is it just a fashion for the hip? Does the fact that I ask these questions enhance the hipness of this "manufactured dissent"?

Of course, Gerard wonderfully makes the point that the artist's style comes far before his substance (and even better, he connects this point to Obama). But on looking through the print archives, this image struck me as disturbing on a number of levels...



It is titled: "fearbush1", which seems to reflect the reactive irrationality of the left. The depiction of Bush as Hitler is intentionally offensive and provocative. The image and the wording "War: Everybody wants it" and it's subtitle "Except Smart People and the U.N.!" brings up a couple of points...

• I imagine the image of (presumably, our) cities in flames and storm troopers in gas masks is supposed to reflect the loss of our civil liberties. Nevermind that it was Bush's government which has prevented our cities from being attacked again.
• It presumes that it was Bush who sent us to war, rather than even remotely acknowledging that our enemy has declared war on us. (Of course, acknowledging this would detract from the hipness.)
• It also reflects the arrogance of the left...that the "smart people" are the ones opposing the war. Those supporting the war are "dumb".
  
• As a sub-point, one wonders if the artist and the uber-hip realize they have made a distinction between "smart people" and "the U.N.".

Nosing around further on the website, I found the "Warnings" page which instructs the "dissidents" to not be too obnoxious with their street art. Apparently there is a limit to how much "street art" that even the citizens of lefty communities such as Berkeley and Ann Arbor can stand. Engineer the Propaganda, but only so well.

Imagine my surprise...

...that Hillary Clinton would have an anti-American fundraiser. I am shocked. Shocked!

h/t Glenn.

Reagan: "Tear down this wall"

It is hard to think that the great oratory, exemplified here, was at the time criticized as being unengaged and without a capacity for the details of his position.



h/t Captain Ed.

No question: Here is the understatement of the year....

"...Berger turned out to be a lousy thief...."

Do read the whole thing. And despite this being a NPR report on an book excerpt from a New York Times journalist, it sure looks like the book may be worth reading.

h/t Ace.

Los Angeles Football...

It has often puzzled me why Los Angeles has gone without a professional football team since the departure of the Rams and the Raiders in 1994.

This looks like it could be an answer to my question.



Via Open Blog at Ace's Place.

"...Sometimes you just have to win...."

A few tidbits from this guy...

"...We are on the verge of achieving the impossible: defeating an Islamic terrorist movement in the heart of the Middle East on a battlefield of their choosing. Tens of thousands of Takfiri streamed into Iraq for the opportunity to become martyrs and coalition and Iraqi forces obliged them. Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) has been essentially annihilated in Al Anbar, the center of what they boldly declared as their new caliphate eighteen months ago...."

"... Sometimes you just have to win. Some conflicts just need to run their courses and some bad guys just need killing. Nazi ideology was not discredited UNTIL it was defeated on the battlefield. No amount of peaceful persuasion or appeasement worked. People thought communism was a viable alternative to the free market UNTIL it ignominiously collapsed. Massive economic evidence and even the presence of a very large and deadly wall running down the middle of Berlin did not convince the believers to abandon their failed ideology. Earlier forms of terrorism from the Barbary Pirates to the Bader-Meinhof didn’t go away until they were defeated. We tried appeasement in the 1930s and we tried ignorance in the 1990s. These things did not work...."

"...The war against terrorism is not won since a final victory is not possible. This is one of those “eternal vigilance” propositions. Our nation’s first foray into foreign policy involved fighting the Barbary Pirates; whose behavior – adjusted for the technologies of the times – closely resembled those of today’s territorially based terrorists. That was in 1804 and obviously the job is never done. But terrorism can be contained...."

[All emphases mine.]

Via DrewM. (with more information of just who John Matel is) over at Ace's Place.

Adult Supervision...

Rueben F. Johnson wonders...

"...Given the enormous problems the world faces, just when and where are we going to see some adult supervision?"

He asks this regarding the Clintons.

Surely, he's not hoping for adult supervision from the world's oldest adolescent.

h/t Lucianne.

So which party...

...do I vote against?

Hey. I said much the same thing....

...here, but James Fallows points to something I hadn't thought of. (Do also follow his link to the Patrick Smith column, which says what I said, although much better put than I was able to cobble together.)

Via Glenn.

Two and Two Together...

...make four.

First "two".

Second "two".

Good news all around, I'd say.

"Six Scenarios..."

...of present-day unlikely events as predicted by the New York Sun.

Here's to scenario #1...

1) Mr. Huckabee or Senator Thompson break out of the pack and emerge as the Republican nominee, and the Democrats nominate Senator Clinton. Mayor Bloomberg, seeing an opening for a unifying centrist figure, gets into the race with the backing of Senator McCain, Governor Romney, Mayor Giuliani, and Senator Obama.

However, the Sun, many New Yorkers, as well as much (most?) of the MSM are infected with the New Yorker's famous view of America...



Michael Bloomberg is not a viable national candidate as either part of a national party or as an independent. Rudy Guiliani has spent the years since 9/11 making himself known to America in a way that Bloomberg has not. Bloomberg may be a big name in our biggest city, but that does not make him electable across the country.

Canadian Autocrats...

Nearly everybody in the blog world (Ace, Powerline, among others) has already put this up, but for no other reason than to record it here too, I offer the most officious autocrat ever.

Umm. What am I...

...Chopped Liver? [OK. I am chopped liver. But that's beside the point.]

Here's what brought this up.

Yep. The MSM doesn't see it yet, and the D's will absolutely howl, but America needs to get used to three words.

President. Fred. Thompson.

Secret Debate Audio from...

Red State Update...

“...In reality, it’s a traffic violation....”

Another Clinton-era guy explores what the meaning of "is" is...

Sid Blumenthal's lawyer, commenting on the "aggravated DWI" charge Blumenthal received after being observed at more than twice the legal speed limit, and having failed a field sobriety test...

“In reality, it’s a traffic violation,” Mello said, noting that the more serious “aggravated” DWI charge is due to the alleged speeding, not “degree of intoxication.”

Interesting defense: Speeding while drunk is only speeding. Being drunk (or "degree of intoxication", if you will) was another issue.

h/t Glenn.

Maui...

Wowie.

Recent absence due to WifeofAzlib and I breaking away to Maui for a long-delayed trip away for the two of us.

Lots of fun. We had the time of our lives.

Now back to the grind.

Yeah...

Gonna have to find a way to see this movie too.

Please, oh Please, OH PLEASE!!!

...If there is a God in Heaven, let this movie premiere before November.



They'll say she was "swift-boated" with this. What they won't get is that for many of us saying this will be read as: "The truth told about you".

h/t Theo. New location noted.

"...What do you guys hang from the ladders at firefighters’ funerals?..."

"...The American Flag!...Obama doesn’t salute the American flag!"

I had forgotten that part of Obama's recent history. [Do watch the video.] Also, this story might make for interesting general election debate fodder.

h/t Glenn.

"The Rumsfeld strategy DID work...."

Let me repeat that...

"...The Rumsfeld strategy DID work...."

Don Rumsfeld, the big, bad, ogre who couldn't win the peace so easily handed to him, is now, with this post, completely vindicated.

And, by extension, I maintain that in President George W. Bush, we are not dealing with some bumpkin from Texas, but rather witnessing a modern-day Churchill.

h/t Purple Avenger over at Ace's place.

You'll never guess who said...

...In regard to a candidate's non-response to what might be viewed as a distorted media message to the voters, that that would amount to

"...agree[ing] to put bullets in their brains...."

You'll never guess, so read the whole thing.

IBD...

HuckleScary...

"...Huckabee vs. Obama would pit an unelectable Republican against a Democrat who would wreck our economy and weaken our security. And both have blasted the president's success in the war on terror...."

Yeah. Color me less-than-impressed with Huckabee.

"...[T]he most innocent..."

Yep. She-who-must-not-be-elected says she's the "most innocent" (as well as "most investigated, and most vetted").

One wonders, however: Are there degrees of innocence? Isn't innocence either a black or white thing?

OT: The Politico page above had a McCain ad on it's edges when I looked at it. He's shown saluting as he re-enters American hands after his life as a P.O.W. Does anyone else find his use of this image in a political ad to be, at least, inappropriate, if not off-putting?

Leave Brittany Alone...

...before she overdoses on something.

Seriously, the girl is a train-wreck, no less than Anna-Nicole. She's gonna implode some day (or maybe we're watching her do it today), just like Anna and Michael did...the only questions are: How and when.

File this under...

Iowa Caucuses...

I realize I'm just a jammie-wearing blogger, and a poor one at that, and that I'm capable of mis-stating something, and further, that I don't have a blizzard of polls and projections to digest and put out an article on a deadline, but even I know that Ron Paul is a Republican from Texas, not California. [Then again, I'm not, you know, getting paid to write this stuff.]

From ABC News, quoted in it's entirety, in case they get it corrected ever...

Huckabee Takes Iowa; Romney in 2nd
Former Arkansas Governor Rides Momentum Surge to Early Victory
By DAVID SCHOETZ

Jan. 3, 2008—

ABC News projects that former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will win the Iowa Caucuses, beating out former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in a two-man race for the Republican party's top spot in Iowa.

The victory follows a surging December for Huckabee, a former Baptist pastor who has described his campaign as "shoestring" and said that Romney, a business executive before becoming governor, has outspent his campaign "20-1."

Third place remains too close to call with former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., holding a slight lead, based on ABC News projections, over U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Calif.

ABC News also projects that Illinois Sen. Barack Obama will win the Iowa Democratic Caucuses. At this point ABC News does not have enough information yet to project who will come in second or third, but early results indicate it will be Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., in some order.

Republicans had expected an estimated 90,000 Iowans  about the population of Billings, Mont.  to turn out to begin the process of steering the party toward a candidate. Many of those Iowa Republicans are more conservative by party standards.

The GOP front-runners had been fairly clear going into tonight with  especially in recent days  an ugly slug fest with critical implications for each candidate's campaign.

Huckabee has leaned on his reputation as an affable every guy during his recent surge. Just last night, he played the bass and traded jokes in Los Angeles last night as a guest on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno"  a high-profile appearance on the comic's first night back on the air without his striking writers.

But Huckabee was back in Iowa first thing Thursday morning, telling a crowd of supportive Iowans that the Republican race is "about believing in a cause." As the returns began to trickle in, a spontaneous prayer circle broke out at the Des Moines Embassy Suites where Huckabee supporters were congregating. The group prayed for Huckabee's victory as well as some of his more conservative views  including an end to abortion and homosexuality.

Huckabee reportedly was in the air between caucusing locations when his projected win was announced at his campaign's Iowa gathering spot.

On the other side of the matchup in Iowa is former Massachusetts governor and business executive Mitt Romney, a Mormon who has outspended any opponent in the Republican field in his quest for votes. Because of the time and money he's dumped into this first measurement of the American electorate, the expectations for a victory are high, and anything less, even a close second finish, could be seen as a defeat.

As the first reports of Huckabee inching off to an early lead campaign in, Romney aides said they always knew the race would be close, with the direction of the evangelical base a major question for the Mormon candidate. The candidate, meanwhile, said at a caucusing precint in West Des Moines, that tonight was only "the first inning in a 50-inning ball game."

"So, you know, you want to get on base the first inning," Romney said, "but we're planning on doing well."

Huckabee and Romney and their staffs have traded some sharp jabs in the days leading up to tonight, jabbing and counter-jabbing one another daily. Earlier this week, in one of the more unusual bits of political theater, Huckabee pulled a TV ad from the airwaves that he said was too negative regarding his chief Iowa opponent, but he first held a press conference to show the ad to the media. And this morning, in another example of the political fisticuffs, Romney hit back at a comment in The Washington Post by Huckabee campaign head Ed Rollins, who'd said he wanted to knock out Romney's teeth.

Romney made light of his own carefully coifed look, telling Rollins "just don't touch the hair."

Rollins told ABC News shortly after the caucus process began that "his gut" told him that Huckabee would end the night with a 5-point victory.

With just hours to the caucusing, the Huckabee campaign called for an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service into a series of anonymous letters that have been sent to Iowa pastors warning them to stay out of the electoral process. Although the implication was to accuse the Romney supporters of a dirty trick, there was no indication Thursday that any campaign was involved in mailing the letters.

While Romney wanted to claim Iowa to meet the high expectations his campaign set in the state with an early lead in the polls, Huckabee was equally interested in a win to maintain the surging momentum and capitalize on the victory's free publicity.

Romney, whose reported fortune is $250 million, has spent more than $17 million overall in the campaign and more than $7 million on advertising in Iowa alone. That compares with about $1.4 million spent on ads in Iowa by Huckabee, though the Romney campaign claims Huckabee has benefited from third-party spending.

The Republican who places third in this race could gain the most momentum. And the front-runners were not the only ones fighting hard for every Iowan's support.

War hero and U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has spent most of the last several months ignoring Iowa and gearing up instead for next week's first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary. Yet, while the two front-runners sling mud at each other, McCain has seen a rise in his Iowa poll numbers in recent days. While he spent today in New Hampshire, he campaigned in Iowa Wednesday. A strong third-place finish in Iowa could propel McCain into a strong contender position against the front-runners in New Hampshire.

McCain, who has been defended by Huckabee during recent attacks by Romney, made the first candidate statement after the announcement of Huckabee's victory in Iowa. McCain congratulated Huckabee, and then took an apparent shot at Romney. "The lesson (of Iowa) is one, that you can't buy an election in Iowa, and negative campaigns don't work," McCain sdaid. "They don't work there in Iowa and they don't work here in New Hampshire."

For Fred Thomspon, the former Tennessee senator and actor, a strong performance would knock some life back into a flagging campaign that has never met the early expectations surrounding the buzz of his possible candidacy. Finishing in the bottom of the Iowa heap, some say, might mean an early exit for the "Law and Order" star.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani chose not to focus on Iowa and New Hampshire. Instead, his campaign strategy looks to larger states, such as Florida, whose primaries come in a few weeks. He has not been polling competitively among Iowa voters. And today, he underscored his strategy by spending the day in Florida  a state, he reminded reporters, that has far more Republican voters than the total who will cast ballots from both parties in Iowa.

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, will see if his libertarian politics, fundraising success and online organization translate into delegates.

And finally, there is U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who, despite being the GOP long shot, trailing in nearly all polls, maintains that it's "an open race" -- if only he had more money and publicity.

The Republican caucuses in Iowa differ procedurally from the Democratic caucuses in that there are no viability requirements  votes don't swing to second-choice candidates if a candidate doesn't register enough support in the first round of voting. For Iowa Republicans, the only thing that counts is individual votes. That's why the Republican candidates often spend more time working the small state's populations centers  more bang for political buck.

At stake tonight? Thirty-seven delegates to next summer's Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.

ABC News' Jake Tapper, John Berman, Kevin Chupka, Matt Stuart and Ron Claiborne contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures

Labor Unions and Democrats...

I recently flew with a guy who was going to vote Democratic for the first time ever because he's come to the realization that "we're Labor". I can't (and won't) debate him over this, because as a card-carrying union-member, I am Labor. It's not the first (or second, or third) thing I am, but I can't deny it.

That said, even Democrats are coming to realize that unions aren't always the best thing for the country. The postscript here, makes this point. Following the link to Ygelsia's point, I get this gem...

...sometimes the interests of a given union's members run against the general interests of the country and there's no sense in denying this....

Ergo: I may be a union-member, but I am (in no special order) a libertarian, pro-2A, pro-life, pro-Take-the-Fight-to-the-Islamists, etc, American far before my union interests enter into my decisions.

Iowa...

I sure hope the Iowans had a chance to see this thing...



I have a hard time imagining that, after seeing this, that rational Republicans could choose someone else.

New Orleans...

Well, I finally made it back to post-Katrina New Orleans.

[A brief digression...]
Don't get me wrong. We like visiting the Third World. They have interesting people who make for an interesting culture. The tolerate all kinds of sins. New Orleans was/is our little piece of the Third World. You can be publicly drunk there. Bourbon Street is an industry of vices that you can't see anywhere else in America. White men can dance there.

But let's keep in mind that pre-Katrina New Orleans wasn't everyone's cup of tea. The place was corrupt top-to-bottom, crime was rampant, government didn't function....you name it. Will Collier had a great opinion piece here on what to do with New Orleans.
[/digression]

So anyway, I was in New Orleans for about 15 hours right before New Years Eve. Although I'm sure there may be some, I saw little different on the drive into town from my memory of Pre-Katrina N.O. The French Quarter was busy, but not as busy as I would have expected Pre-K. There were few closed shops.

I did learn one thing however....

I went searching for some sort of greasy spoon where I might get breakfast. What I was hoping to find was a bowl of oatmeal, perhaps at a Denny's. However, I left the hotel a bit later than "breakfast" hours, and coupled with the independent and gourmet nature of the Quarter's restaurants, I didn't find anything. I settled for a place that I'd been to in earlier times...The Alpine Bistro.

I was beckoned in by a guy on the street. What I learned was that this guy's job is to get the customer into the restaurant, and then to look at the menu. If done the other way around, then the customer might move on. The breakfast fare was a bit pricey, but I stayed anyway. My meal turned out to be about what I'd expected. My waitress didn't get my $2.50 cup of coffee on my tab, so I over-tipped her.

In the FWIW department, another "guy" who appeared to be employed there in some capacity (perhaps a "host") looked for all the world like a Drag Queen in his straight day job. Tall and lean, with pants just short enough to show off his fashionable socks matching his tie. He also wore a pony-tail and a nametag that read: "Candy".