Nid wyf yn y swyddfa ar hyn o bryd. Anfonwch unrhyw waith i'w gyfieithu.

My favorite story of the day.

Enemies, not opponents...

...is how the Left views those who disagree with them. And maybe so does Obama? Freedom of the sycophantic press!

And now a public-service announcement

Via Dirty Harry.

More McCain Hollywood ads

The Juno crew, David Lynch, and Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan.

Walk of Shame

For those few readers not familiar with the concept of the Walk of Shame, a working definition may be found here. Careful, some strong language at the link.

'Puter's fearful that a sizable chunk of the electorate's going to be doing the walk of shame within a few months of Sen. Obama taking the oath of office, when they see Him and His policies in the clarifying (and terrifying) light of day. Sen. Obama is good looking, has great political pick up lines, works the racial conciliation angle, speaks like Kennedy without the annoying Boston accent and could charm the husk right off of the corn. Or the vote out of your pocket. But when you get right down to it, Sen. Obama has told us exactly nothing about Himself or His leftist positions. Sen. Obama is a blank slate onto which voters are projecting their own personal definitions of "hope" and "change." In few cases are the voters' ideas and Sen. Obama's ideas of "hope" and "change" going to coincide, unless you happen to be somewhere to the left of Markos Moulitsas. And when voters realize they've been had, they're going to as ashamed as that hungover college freshman making the walk back to her dorm after being seduced by a senior who wanted nothing more from her than a quick roll in the hay.

I think Steve Martin's character in Roxanne, C.D. Bales, summed it up best when speaking to Darryl Hannah's character Roxanne Kowalski, when he said, "You still went to bed with him awfully fast! A few frilly words and you're counting ceiling tiles."

A few frilly words from Sen. Obama, and America's electorate's suddenly got round heels.

The Forthcoming War on Choice

And it's not what you think.

John Hood, in this post at National Review Online, gets at something that's been gnawing at 'Puter for a while now. The issue is freedom, and our right to be free from unwarranted government interference in our lives. Read Mr. Hood's thoughtful post in its entirety. His post led 'Puter down this road.

The Left has wailed and gnashed its teeth during the Bush administration claiming that Bush's increased security measures such as the Patriot Act, among others, were the first step on a quick trip to a fascist dictatorship.

But, Sen. Obama's revealing quote noted in Mr. Hood's post, showing Sen. Obama does not understand the sharp distinction between government coercion of private behavior and the unimpeded free choice of a citizen, is far more worrisome.

So, perhaps someone on the Left can explain this to me. President Bush's programs permit citizens to act as they normally would in the public and private spheres, exercising free choice as they wish. The only change being the government's monitoring of citizens' behavior in the public sphere (e.g., surveillance cameras in public places, data mining of public transactions, etc.). Sen. Obama's commitment to "spread the wealth around," whether one believes it socialist or not, is a clear call for government compulsion of citizen behavior at the point of a gun, through mandatory taxation.

Under President Bush, 'Puter can choose with whom he wishes to deal in the public sphere, although the government may be watching. 'Puter is still free to make personal decisions for himself: with whom to deal, on whom to spend his money. Under Sen. Obama, our government betters will decide for 'Puter with whom 'Puter should be dealing, and then redistributing 'Puter's hard earned dollars against 'Puter's will, regardless of 'Puter's thoughts on the matter.

Which administration would interfere more with a citizen's right to determine his own conduct? 'Puter submits Sen. Obama's administration is a greater threat to personal liberty.

Hope for America

GorT, can your girls do this this fast?

'Puter, you might want to work on arranging a marriage with one of your boys.

Pace the title, that's not a rifle, that's a carbine.

How Taxilicious is New York?

You guys all thought 'Puter was crazy or whining or both, complaining about New York and its confiscatory taxes.

Check this out. Actual facts and data that back up 'Puter's foaming-at-the-mouth rants! It's a ranking titled "Property Taxes on Owner-Occupied Housing by County, 2007, Ranked by Taxes as Percentage of Home Value" put out by The Tax Foundation.

Of the top 10 worst counties in which to live in terms of property taxes as a percentage of home value, guess how many are in Upstate New York? Eight. That's right. Fully 80% of property tax hell holes are in Upstate. It could be worse. Let's take a gander at the top 25 tax hell holes. Wow, only seventeen of twenty-five. That's only 68%. 'Puter feels much better now. And this is before we even consider income and sales tax burdens.

Saint Anthony, patron saint of the poor, ora pro nobis. That's him, above, for visualization purposes.

Hey Instapundit, Where's My Link?

Glenn Reynolds, blogger extraordinaire, gave Jammie Wearing Fool a link and a shout out for the same analysis 'Puter's made previously on New York and its relevance as a harbinger of the likely outcome of the forthcoming Democrat economic plan under the Pax Obama.

And nobody better steal my Pax Obama neologism without credit, consarnit.

Not that 'Puter's whining or anything (OK, 'Puter's whining), but how about showing the little guy over here some love, too? 'Puter's been all over this issue forever, since he lives in that little slice of socialist heaven, Upstate. Other examples of 'Puter's insight and winning analyses may be found here. There's also a ton of fun stuff about New York's public sector unions and their role in New York's fiscal self-immolation. See here and here and here, for example.

Or just use The Google on the interwebs. 'Puter thinks that how it works. At least that's what 'Puter recalls from his talks with GorT.

So, how about it, Mr. Reynolds?

Unions: Messing Up The Economy Since the Great Depression

Two tidbits on unions and the economy.

First, unionization prolongs bad times (e.g., the Great Depression) by forcing business to retain less efficient, though more senior, employees and pay unequally talented people equally, resulting in layoffs.

Second, union demanded and legislatively provided state pensions (constitutionally guaranteed in New York), funded almost exclusively by taxpayers, are hemorrhaging dollars. Unlike private 401(k)s, however, taxpayers are on the hook for the risk, and share little if any of the rewards. Enjoy making up the difference in the government pensions' shortfall, sucker. Do you really think the government's going to make up your 401(k)'s losses?

Unions have both caused real harms and provided significant benefits. Currently, the harms are outweighing the benefits. Name one major public sector union that's addressed a truly dangerous workplace condition in the last ten years. Teachers? Nope. Government desk jockeys? Nope. Heck, even firemen and policemen have as good working conditions as their inherently dangerous jobs permit.

Again, what do public sector unions do except, at the point of the government employer's gun, redistribute wealth from the unwilling taxpayer to the union members?

The Party's Over

Pictured, right, is a photo of New York City during the 1977 Blackout. 'Puter's got the distinct unpleasant feeling New York's entering a new period of fear and turmoil.

Today, Gov. Paterson announced that the state budget deficit this year went from $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion. The projected deficit for the next fiscal year starting April 1 is projected at $12 billion.

As previously noted, New York's been spending money in a manner that would shame even the most drunken sailor on shore leave, not that there's anything wrong with Inebriated-Military-Americans. New York's profligate ways are finally catching up with it, and it will be very unpleasant for all New Yorkers, from the wealthiest resident of the Hamptons, to the poorest child in downtown Rochester.

Here's hoping that Gov. Paterson has the intestinal fortitude to cajole/shame/force the legislature to reduce spending by the projected $12 billion shortfall rather than raise taxes in the teeth of a recession. It's time for our state legislators to tell voters the unpleasant truth: there's no more money, and something's got to give.

The Leg could start by refusing to mortgage the state's future through issuing bonds to balance the budget. The Leg could also refuse one-time budget balancing gimmicks and like selling off state assets like its prisons and its lottery. Heck, the Leg could even take the radical step of only spending as much as current tax receipts permit.

'Puter's betting against fiscal restraint, though. Why should anything change now? Last productive citizen out, turn out the lights.

Bishop to Biden: Joe, You Ignorant Slut

Well, not entirely. 'Puter made up the language, with a little help from SNL.

But, Biden's new bishop, the delightfully named Most Reverend W. Francis Malooly, prelate of the Diocese of Wilmington, did put a verbal beatdown on Sen. Biden. In this letter to the editor, Bishop Malooly politely called Biden either a fool or a liar. The Bishop stated the Roman Catholic Church has from its very origin and in all places maintained that abortion is a grave moral evil that the Church has always condemned. This gives lie to Biden's assertion that it is Catholic theologians such as St. Thomas Aquinas were divided on the morality of abortion, thereby permitting him as a Catholic politician to be pro-choice.

When will a reporter ask Sen. Biden to reconcile his statement that he is pro-choice with his assertion that he is a Catholic in good standing?

Obama's Tax Model In Practice

E. J. McMahon is the Manhattan Institute’s senior fellow for tax and budgetary studies and director of the Empire Center for New York State Policy. In this article in The City Journal, Mr. McMahon lays out the case against New York that 'Puter has struggled to make as eloquently. Read the entire thing, and be aghast.

In a nutshell, the perfect storm of a Wall Street crash in a state that was increasingly reliant on that sector of its economy, coupled with overly-generous welfare and public employee benefits has led to an unsustainable state budget paradigm. The only way out now seems to be to rethink the entire budgetary model, scale back benefits and cut spending drastically. Or municipal and state bankruptcy. Either one works for 'Puter.

For all you pundits out there wondering what Obamanomics in practice is going to look like, look no further than New York. Sen. Obama's proposed taxation and redistribution model (to the "poor" and to the public employee middle class (and its union masters)) is an example of Obamanomics in action. For years, New York (essentially a one party state) has taken greater and greater shares from the rich Wall Streeters and given to the public unions and their members through pensions and benefits, as well as high salaries. New York also created the most generous Medicaid and welfare system of just about any state, and has accordingly become a mecca for government benefit seekers from around the country. New York's confiscatory tax levels have over the same period driven out many private employers who created non-governmental middle class jobs. Thus, New York's economy today is reliant on the rich Wall Streeters, with the government "spreading the wealth" to public employee unions and welfare recipients. Having driven many private employers out of the state, there remain few private entities left to tax in order to maintain current spending levels. Therefore, in response to the current financial crisis, New York has no one's wealth left to "spread around," yet the benefit recipients are still clamoring for their unearned handouts.

Don't say 'Puter didn't warn you when the United States looks like New York in 4 to 8 years.

On, Wisconsin!

An interesting story from up in The Volgi's neck of the woods, an inside glimpse into the mating habits of Wisconsinites.

C'mon, what's the big deal? Hasn't this happened to everyone? One too many Leinies, methinks.

Just another example of The Man keeping down us Inebriated-Americans.

Nightmare Cabinet—5.1

Abashed, your Volgi withdraws "Red" Ron, as 'Puter had already covered the DOD.

Instead, I'll take as Secretary of State, that world-travelling leader who's met with many heads of state, "Minister" Louie Farrakhan. He's in Obama's Rolodex, and by virtue of his summitry with Qaddafi, et al., the media would have to find him acceptable, as they ruled out the governor of Alaska for being too provincial. Plus, the media will think he can do outreach to Muslims (even though all serious Muslim jurisprudents find the NoI to be a vile, un-Islamic cult).

Nightmare Cabinet—5

Ladies and Gentlemen, returning triumphantly to D.C. to work his magical mojo on the Deparment of Defense, it's SECDEF “Red” Ron Dellums!

FIGHT THE POWER! (The power being, of course, the United States.)

To Congressman Dellums’ credit, his son Erik (who I think used to work at the late, lamented Higger’s Drug Store at Connecticut & Fessenden, N.W.) did an amazing turn as drug kingpin Luther Mahoney on Homicide: Life on the Street. He also apparently showed up on The Wire where I suspect he was equally good.)

Ha, ha, fantasy cabinet.

Of course, meanwhile, Barney Frank's calling for a 25% cut in the defense budget (but he supports the troops! They just have to fight with pointy sticks and rocks. To be fair.), and John Kerry wants a New New Deal.

Jesus, they could wreck the economy and give the green light for wars around the world...

Nightmare Cabinet 4: Bike Lanes for Everyone!

Meet Sen. Obama's new Secretary of Transportation, Ed Begley, Jr.

Mr. Begley will have us all riding power assisted bicycles for our daily commute.  That's really practical for regions of the country where it snows about 10 feet each winter.  Like, 'for example, Upstate New York.  Nothing says fun to 'Puter like riding a two wheeled vehicle through a white out next to trucks and SUVs.  Or trying to steer with two cases of beer on the handlebars on the way back from a beer run.  Or maybe that's an issue peculiar to 'Puter.

'Puter would like to note, however, that despite the impracticability of Mr. Begley's approach on a national scale, Mr. Begley has certainly set an example for advocates of his vision.  Mr. Begley owned one of the first electric vehicles in the early 1970s, and has adopted a vegan lifestyle.Mr. Begley's been ahead of the Hollywood curve on modeling a lighter footprint lifestyle, advocating for this position before it was cool.

Although 'Puter would likely disagree with Mr. Begley on many of his positions, Mr. Begley appears to be an honorable man living his life in the way he believes appropriate while refraining from harsh judgment of those with whom he does not agree.  He attempts to teach by example, rather than through shaming.  Would that Mr. Begley's fellow travelers would treat the rest of us with similar respect.

Nightmare Cabinet -- 3

GorT is up for mocking the Dems...heck, it's a growth industry if you followed this train of thought.

Honorable mention: Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as Communist...oh crap, I meant, Commerce Secretary. She knows commerce, heck she's got all those sweet deals with Dole (of course we want to raise the minimum wage...except in Hawaii where it'll ruin the workers for Dole) and her husband can help with the defense industry.

Runner-up (gets to move up a seat during cabinet discussions if the Winner fails in office): Harry Reid (D-NV) as Housing & Urban Development. After scoring that $1.1M land deal, he's got to be good at developing property deals for additional housing opportunities!

Winner: Jimmy Carter (former Democrat PoTUS) as Treasury Secretary. So the genius that pass the CRA that helped put us in this economic mess and gave us record inflation rates, higher gas taxes, gas rationing, etc. has to have learned something from back then....right?

hello?

Anyone out there? I mean that all helped, right?

Great Moments in Teaching, Episode #42,728

Meet Jaime Katheryn Steen, a 26 year old former ag teacher in Fort Stockton, Texas.

The lovely Ms. Steen stands accused of sending pornographic text messages to several of her young male charges.  She also seems to have bought her underage boy toys beer, and to have taken them out of the country without parental consent.

What is it with young women teachers these days?  It seems like a not insignificant percentage of them can't keep their hands off their male students.  'Puter doesn't get it.  It's not as if a young woman, regardless of looks, can't go to a bar and go home with an of-age suitor any night of the week in this country these days.  

Sweet baby Jesus in the manger, keep your hands off the kids and find a different way to accommodate your needs.  Maybe Ms. Steen's teachers' union can negotiate sex surrogate benefits into the next contract.  It's for the children, after all.

What's In The Water in St. Louis?

Ah, Missouri.  The Show Me State.  Home of the St. Louis Baseball Cardinals, Harry S Truman and General Pershing.  In fact, 'Puter lived in St. Louis and the Columbia-Jeff City Metroplex for several years.

So 'Puter naturally has to ask the entire citizenry of Missouri, "What in the living blazes has happened to you people since 'Puter left?"

Exhibit 1.  Normandy High School in St. Louis, MO, up on the North Side.   There's an AIDS scare at the high school.  50 kids were rounded up and tested by the St. Louis health department.  The school and the health department are tight-lipped about the source of the scare, and the transmission method.  Now, HIV/AIDS is not an easy disease to get if you're following the rules.  'Puter's fairly certain that 50 or so high school kids weren't giving each other transfusions.  That leaves the most likely culprit as unprotected sex which the health department's press release seems to support.  On the upside, the student body seems to be committed to a wide course of extracurricular activities.

Exhibit 2.  Parkway West Middle School in Chesterfield, MO, a well-to-do St. Louis suburb.  The little darlings determined that they would have theme days, including among others "Hit A Jew Day."  This, predictably, did not go over well once discovered, and now the Anti Defamation League is involved.  But 'Puter still can't get over this exculpatory claim by the school district: "District officials said Thursday they believe that fewer than 10 children of the district's 35 Jewish students were struck."  'Puter's not quite certain what is creepier, the fact that the District thinks a 1:2 ratio of beaten to unbeaten Jews is OK, or the fact that the District keeps track of the religion of its students. 

Promiscuous sex and anti-Semitism.  Maybe that can be the Chamber of Commerce's new slogan.

Missa solemnis

Spectacularly good overview of the confused state of the Catholic Church's soul, and what the resurgence of traditionalism may betoken in the coming years, especially if Benedict XVI, PP.M., is with us for a while (Deo favente).

Must-reading for Catholics, but lucid and interesting enough that Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Zoroastrians, etc., will enjoy it as well.

Nightmare Cabinet—2

Say what you will about my erotic adventures in the dungeons of Akmola, but your Volgi can't exactly frown on that chick's cellmates for asking. She's one cute murderess. Just don't fall asleep afterwards, I'd suggest, ladies.

Obviously the pick for Veterans’ Affairs is Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) whose reputation among Vietnam veterans is so sterling, having libeled them before Congress as a group to advance his political career on the Left and then spent the next thirty years trying to defund the military and undermine efforts to resist Soviet imperialism.

They told the stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, tape wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the country side of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country. (Complete testimony.)

And remember, Kerry pronounced "Genghis" with some sort of idiotic faux erudition, as "Junjus." But he was the smart guy in the race, right? Even if the other guy had a higher GPA at Yale...

Obama's Nightmare Cabinet

Assuming an Obama win, many conservatives think that an Obama administration may be one of the most destructive to conservative principles since FDR's halcyon court-packing years. I pose the following challenge to my fellow Gormogons.

Pick a cabinet position in a hypothetical Obama administration and fill it with the person you believe conservatives would least like to see in that position. Defend your selection as uniquely horrible. You must wait until the other two Gormogons have picked to pick again.

Since 'Puter picked the game, 'Puter gets to go first. 'Puter selects Secretary of Defense, and to fill the cabinet position, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH). As those who have been paying attention may know, Rep. Kucinich ran for president this time around. You didn't know? Well, neither did most voters.

Why would Kucinich be a horrible Secretary of Defense? Oh, maybe because Kucinich has introduced legislation to create a cabinet level Department of Peace and Nonviolence. Also, Kucinich, like conservative favorite President James E. Carter, claims to have seen UFOs.

On the downside, Kucinich is a far left peacenik who sees things that don't exist. On the upside, the First Lady of Defense is smokin' hot.

Volgi? GorT? You're up.

* The cabinet level positions are: Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury and Veterans' Affairs.

Jailhouse Rock

Interestingly, the Volgi had similar complaints when he was imprisoned (falsely, according to the Volgi) in Kazakhstan for "corrupting the youth": Italy Co-ed Murder Suspect Says Cell Mates Ask Her for Sex Because She Is Pretty.

(Gay) Unions

For the love of Pete. Literally.

'Puter hates unions, particularly public sector ones. Here's another stunning example of why.

Can even the biggest union hack tell 'Puter with a straight face that the lack of gay marriage is the most pressing workplace issue facing American workers? 'Puter had little respect for teachers' unions before, but this has erased what little respect was left.

Can you imagine bringing union organizers to today from the early part of the 20th century? Those guys were concerned with very real safety conditions in mines, steel mills and garment factories. The old time union leaders were concerned about patently insufficient wages and excessive work hours. 'Puter thinks that the New Deal went way too far in granting unions rights vis a vis management, but the old union leaders had real, pressing, legitimate workplace issues. They'd be stunned that working conditions had gotten so good for unionized workplaces that the unions had time to worry about non-workplace issues.

Regardless of one's opinion on gay marriage, 'Puetr thinks that all parties should agree that unions, using mandatory dues, should not be involved in issues that in no way relate to workplace conditions.

It's All About Job Security

It should be clear to any long-term reader of this site, that my personal belief is that once "politician" became a career here in America, the American political system began a downward spiral. No longer was it well-intentioned citizens volunteering to undertake a civic duty to help the country. It became a job. And, really, who wants to lose their job? Especially, when you have perks like: pension benefits that are 2 to 3 times what equivalently salaried private sector jobs enjoy, Health and life insurance, approximately 3/4 and 1/3 of whose costs, respectively, are subsidized by taxpayers, Wheeled perks, including limousines for senior Members, prized parking spaces on Capitol Hill, and choice spots at Washington's two major airports, etc. And don't forget, Nancy Pelosi and the "most honest, ethical, and open Congress ever", has sought to increase these benefits at the cost of the taxpayers. So it becomes a fight for their job every two, four or six years depending on the position.

So, to borrow some of Ghettoputer's practices, I sat back a did some drinking and thinking (albeit not in the shower and not in a deer blind). So what happens if the polling is correct and Obama/Biden take office in January? What will the Jon Stewarts, Chris Matthews, and Keith Olbermanns of the media and Hollywood do? I think we'll see a mass exit from the satricial comedy genre because it's only en vogue to do so against conservatives, republicans and particular religious groups. Hopefully, we won't get more crappy reality shows....although, it seems like Hollywood doesn't have any more good ideas because they bury or cancel all the good shows (e.g. NewsRadio, Sports Night, etc.). Can anyone really see SNL mock Obama or Biden to the degree that they've done to Bush, Quayle, and Cheney? Maybe the jackboots from the Obama administration will deal with them. There is plenty of gaffes from Biden and Obama for material...and lord knows that Pelosi, Reid, Frank, and company are decent targets but it's prety clear that Hollywood has it's own bully pulpit.

Oh, we’ve got to do it for poor Teddy before he dies!

What are the odds that an Obama Administration with a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate won't pass some version of this in a blind hurry? And then welcome to the world of socialized medicine. Enjoy the filth. Prepare to clean your loved ones' hospital rooms yourself. And maybe the toilets down the hall.

Socialized medicine is rationing. There's only so much in the budget, and some salary-scaled, uncaring, DMV-style bureaucrat gets to decide if you, your parents, and your children get it. Think dealing with your insurance company is bad? Wait until another budget-busting economic crisis like Fannie & Freddie or the S&Ls comes along. "Oops, we can't afford any more CAT scans this year. Sorry, you'll have to wait to find out if you've got brain cancer." "But I could die in the interim!" "True, but then you wouldn't cost us anything."

Socialized medicine is also giving every damn sleazeball in the country a claim on your body and conduct. Wait until it's your duty to your fellow citizens to conduct your life in an approved way. Because if you eat that fried egg, you're costing people money!

There is no better or more fatal way to make a free people into a dependent, supine group of supplicant subjects than controlling their medical care.

But, you object, it's not socialist! They're involving all sorts of non-governmental actors.

He also hopes the bill's fortunes will be helped by the extensive private consultations between his staff and major players in the health care system. His aides have met with representatives of business groups, labor unions, consumer organizations, insurers, physicians, drug companies and hospitals.

It's corporatist. You know, there's a name for a system that coopts private actors into doing the state's bidding. I wish I could remember what that's called.

And realistically? It. Can't. Be. Undone.

Caption: Yep, those dirty toilets in a British hospital. Or as I call it, a glimpse into your utopian future of "free" medicine.*****In a related story, Mary Jo Kopechne's health insurance remains more than adequate.

He Just Doesn't Get It

Sure, we all want to cut wasteful, government spending (I'd look at the current Congress right now for a lot of that). We're going to be in big trouble if he tries to pull all this off:
If it gets pulled, I'll try to post a transcript or summary.

Chilling Free Speech

This is, 'Puter thinks, a good example of the kind of chilling of free speech that the Volgi is concerned about in the imminent Obama administration.

Readers will see increased attacks of this sort against conservative and other "inappropriate" causes as Democrats ascend to unfettered power (assuming 60 seats in the Senate). Democrats will cloak the attacks in false Constitutional garb, but the attacks will be received as what they are: not-so-subtle warnings to others not to question the hegemonic orthodoxy of our liberal betters.

* Pictured right is Chicago's Archbishop Francis Cardinal George, holding the guttering flame that is representative of the hopelessness for protection of the unborn (and the recently born) in an Obama administration. Not that 'Puter's irked about it, or anything.

A Big, Steaming Mug of Coffee

Lord knows 'Puter hopes this study holds true for men as well as women, as 'Puter's man boobs could use some reducing.

And 'Puter's far too lazy to exercise, and far to cheap to get liposuctioned. Ah, the joys of aging.

Halloween 2009?

The Fundamental Things Apply

'Puter's been doing more drinking and thinking. That is, in his spare time after watching a production of Legally Blonde: The Musical. Seriously. Don't ask.

Anyway, 'Puter was thinking about the fundamental differences between a liberal philosophy and a conservative philosophy, at least in the American sense of the terms. 'Puter came up with the following observations, which someone far brighter than 'Puter has surely observed before.

Conservatives believe that everyone should have equality of opportunity. That is, everyone gets a place at the starting line and a referee guaranteeing a fair race (i.e., no cheating).

Liberals believe that everyone should have equality of results. That is, everyone arrives at the finish line at the same time, or reasonably close thereto, with a referee handicapping the better competitors through interference in the race.

In 'Puter's ill-fitting comparison, citizens are the runners and the government the referee. Conservatives believe the referee should ideally play no part in the outcome of the race; the ability of the runners determines the winners. Liberals believe the referee must interfere in the race and ultimately determine the winner; the ability of the runners must be equalized.

This explains Sen. Obama's recent decree that he thinks it permissible for the government to determine how best to spend 'Puters money, and also to determine how much of 'Puter's money to spend. Sen. McCain (and Jose el Plomero) think that 'Puter should determine where and how to spend his money for himself, regardless of what the government thinks.

Remember this when you go into the voting booth. You're really choosing between two fundamentally different world views: Sen. McCain's equality of opportunity versus Sen. Obama's equality of results. Equality of opportunity has gotten America to where it is today. Equality of results has gotten the Soviet Union to where it is today.

It's as simple as that. Always has been. Always will be.

Han van Meegeren

Confucius* has long been interested in the Dutch forger of Vermeers, Han van Meegeren. It looks like there are some entertaining new entries in the literature about him.

Read the article if you're not familiar with the story. If you're not entertained, we'll give your money back.

(Via Arts & Letters Daily.)

*For those who came in late: Confucius (孔夫子) is the name of the Gormogons' Œcumenical Volgi.

Nice McCain satire

Lest we get too humorless in the face of, well, whatever we're in the face of, here's a very funny satire of what pro-McCain ads commissioned by a desperate campaign from three famous directors would look like. Watch all three. Each is better than the one before, in terms of hitting the director's style. (Although I can see why maybe they didn't spring for two hundred white doves to take off behind McCain in the first one).

Kicking ass and taking names

A person near and dear to all the Gormogons was involved in this awesome piece of law-enforcement ass-kickery today. We salute our beloved homey and all the colleagues who put themselves in harm's way to lock up some seriously bad guys. That this all came off without the least bit of bloodshed is a humongous tribute to the professionalism, sangfroid, and restraint these guys bring to the job, and it can't be mentioned enough. (Not that the media bends over backwards to praise law enforcement much these days.)

As Mongolophiles of long standing, the Gormogons know Genghis Khan, and, eses, ju ain' no Genghis Khan.

Democrats for McCain

Who knew there was such an organization? But there is, and they're worried about (annoying capitalization and typo in the original) Obama's leftism:

AMERICA CANNOT AFFORD CORRUPT WELFARE PROGRAMS LIKE FANNY MAY & THE OBAMA TAX PLAN.

• 8 YEARS OF AN OBAMA-PELOSI-ACORN ADMINISTRATION WOULD GIVE AMERICA:
  
• 8 YEARS OF SPREAD-THE-WEALTH SOCIALISM,
  
• 8 YEARS OF CHICAGO-STYLE CORRUPTION, &
  
• 8 YEARS OF UNITED NATIONS-STYLE FOREIGN POLCY

IT WOULD GIVE US A GOVERNMENT THAT IS TOO STRONG AT HOME AND TOO WEAK ABROAD. IT WOULD BE TOO EXPENSIVE & FAR TOO DANGEROUS.

Paralleling your Volgi's thoughts of this morning, Abe Greenwald writes:

The case that never gets made is that the consistent political philosophy of Ayers and his associates continued to warp the mission of the Democratic Party long after the Weather Underground has become nostalgia, and that Obama is the philosophical offspring of the movement birthed by radicals such as Ayers.

And, like the Volgi's complaint that American liberalism has been vitiated by its refusal to condemn radicalism, Greenwald points out that it's liberals old enough to remember history who are most worried about the radicalization of the party. Alas, younger generations may already think that Move On, Kos, et al., are mainstream liberals, not hard-left activists. Heck, they don't sound any different than their college professors! And Jon Stewart doesn't make fun of them like the idiot Republicans!

Ah well, interesting times.

Oh, and a P.S. to the 'Puter. I don't think we'll have Canadian-style speech police, but I don't think we've got anywhere near a meaningful First Amendment when it comes to political campaigns (thanks, John McCain & President Bush! That oath you took "to preserve and defend the Constitution?" Grrr.) and potentially over the airwaves (Ghettoputer's original point); plus, we've got hate-crime (thoughtcrime?) laws. How hard is it to imagine "hate crime" legislation being applied to online expression? I mean, it's a couple steps down the road from where we are, but how hard is it to imagine a left-wing Justice Department going after some blogger writing "hate" material (and remember, the President will belong to a suspect class, so, hey, maybe political criticism will be subject to strict scrutiny...), abetted by a supine judiciary. I'm not saying it will happen, but I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility.

Iowahawk exclusive! Biden: Obama Ready for Armageddon

SEATTLE -- Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden promised a group of supporters Sunday that running mate Barack Obama "will absolutely 100% trigger a nuclear Armageddon kinda thing" within the first 20 minutes of his presidency, but added that "Barack Obama is looking forward to this apocalyptic opportunity to test his mettle, because he totally aced his LSATs."

Read the whole thing. And laugh.

Free Speech Dustup

While 'Puter does not think the United States is on the road to having speech police, as Canada already does, 'Puter does note that those on the Tolerant Left are among the least accepting of speech and ideas that do differ from their world view.

Behold, from Prince George's County, bordering the elementary and secondary education mecca of Washington, D.C., Hope and Change in action! That's right, a registered Democrat supports McCain with a yard sign, and Obama supporters spray paint his RV, his yard sign and his house.

So maybe OEV has a point.

Stay classy, Tolerant Left.

You don't need a Weatherman to know when it's all hot air

Just for Ghettoputer, here's an ad his soulmate Kathy Shaidle scripted. It's probably the pithiest use of Obama's collegiality with Ayers* I've seen:



*Which contretemps has failed to gain much traction in the public eye, perhaps reflecting a bone-weariness with refighting the ’60s—though at this moment in history, this may equal surrendering to the heirs of that decade's aggressors. Or to put it in GorT's language, it may mean being so annoyed at Gondor that you refuse to aid them against Mordor.

A Dingo Ate My Baby!

Apropos of nothing, here is a picture of one of 'Puter's mutts, rescued from the local Upstate animal shelter this summer.

If you know what the heck she is, aside from one seriously odd looking dog, let 'Puter know. Maybe Rachel Lucas, dog blogger extraordinaire, knows.

And she is fast. The dog, not Ms. Lucas. Well, maybe Ms. Lucas, too.

Free-speech crackdown (Updated)

Scripsit Ghettoputer:

'Puter, for one, welcomes the upcoming Obama administration crackdown on free speech. The hypocrisy will make for some great blog fodder.

Sure, until they start shutting down websites (scroll down to "Well, really, it is simple."). Far-fetched? Canada is well down that road.

Can't happen here? First Amendment? The One has already attempted to use the Justice Department to silence critics, and he's not even president yet. Think the Clinton's were, um, casual in their regard for legal niceties? Even Hillary's background flirting with the radical left pales in comparison to Obama's. The father whose "dreams" Obama's first autobiography is named for was a "scientific socialist" (read: communist); his mother Stanley Dunham was the epitome of a self-hating American who chose to live abroad apart from her son; his grandparents moved to Hawaii because the continental U.S. because of his grandfather's political alienation from American society; his teenage mentor was his grandfather's drinking buddy Frank Marshall Davis, a communist; Obama spent his time at college seeking out the far left*; and his adult pre-political career was formed around community organization with groups like ACORN imbued with Saul Alinsky's Marxist-inspired rhetoric.

Now, there's some circumstantial evidence that Obama found the ACORN model ineffective and that a lot of his presentation of himself as a left-winger in school (see below) is tinged with irony, recognizing his foibles.

And yet. Bill Ayers' hiring Obama out of nowhere to run the Chicago Annenberg Challenge; Obama's twenty years in the pews at a church whose "black liberation theology" explicitly decries assimilation into mainstream society and espouses the villainy of whites; and Obama's funneling money to radical leftist Fr. Michael Pfleger, etc., all suggest that Obama's taste for anti-American radicalism remains. A "harmless" nostalgia of his youth, perhaps. Or, more troublingly, an indication that he actually remains convinced of the Marxist/Fanonist critique of "capitalism" and the West. If the latter (and possibly even the former), there's no chance that Constitutional and legal niceties will bind an Obama Administration from imposing its will. And politically, with a Democratic House and potentially a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, there can be no effective resistance, if Pelosi and Reid are able to whip their members into voting obligingly. Which shouldn't be that hard, given the leftward shift among Congressional Democrats over the last decade or so. It still amazes that after Clinton's clinic in how to govern from the center, the hard left has been able to so totally capture the Democratic Party, using a hate campaign against President Bush to conflate American interests with the demonic machinations of an evil Republican cabal. It's a startling success, in political terms, but one to be lamented by anyone who cares about America as a distinct historical project.

That the press hasn't even asked these questions of Obama, much less dug up some answers, is a complete indictment of their abandonment of objectivity or neutrality while daintily maintaining its pretext, like a syphilitic prostitute caking on makeup to cover the rash.

Liberalism in America, not so long ago an centrist ideology, has become completely undone by its adherence to post-'60s pas d'ennemi à gauche mood. If Obama and his cohorts are as radical as Obama's not-so-distant past indicate, it's possible that under the guise of liberalism, the U.S. may experience its first genuinely, ideologically vicious, left-wing government with no qualms about quashing its opposition (who, after all, are in the grip of "bitter" false consciousness and therefore bad faith if not simply possessed of an evil nature) since the wartime administration of FDR and the dictatorial war socialism of Woodrow Wilson, with the added bonus of an anti-American marxisante attitude.

The Republic will muddle through, but one wonders at what cost.

*“To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully. The more politically active black students. The foreign students. The Chicanos. The Marxist Professors and the structural feminists and punk-rock performance poets. We smoked cigarettes and wore leather jackets. At night, in the dorms, we discussed neocolonialism, Franz Fanon, Eurocentrism, and patriarchy. When we ground out our cigarettes in the hallway carpet or set our stereos so loud that the walls began to shake, we were resisting bourgeois society’s stifling constraints. We weren’t indifferent or careless or insecure. We were alienated.” Dreams from My Father: 100-101

UPDATE: Yet another hard-left ally surfaces. With Ghettoputer's favorite words, "social justice," attached.

Fairness Doctrine

'Puter hates hisself unnecessary, self-serving restrictions on free speech. So 'Puter especially hates the Democrats', led by Speaker Pelosi, sudden rediscovery of the Fairness Doctrine.

In twenty words or less, the Fairness Doctrine requires broadcasters on public airwaves to provide equal time to opposing political viewpoints, under penalty of law. So, in theory, if you have a Rush Limbaugh, you'd have to permit a Randi Rhodes to have airtime as well, regardless of the impact on your bottom line. Since the Democrats have consistently failed at producing commercially viable talk radio, they love this Fairness Doctrine.

'Puter, for one, welcomes the upcoming Obama administration crackdown on free speech. The hypocrisy will make for some great blog fodder.

The triggering event for this post was 'Puter's showertime radio listening this morning. Try to get that visual image out of your mind; it's not pleasant. 'Puter's local public radio station is in the middle of its quarterly pledge drive. Nothing wrong with that. While pimping an upcoming NPR piece on whether Fox News is truly fair and balanced, the local on air talent burst into laughter, finding the thought that anyone could consider Fox News fair and balanced preposterous. Even though inured to media bias, 'Puter nearly dropped his soap, and not in a good way, on hearing such clear proof of the bias. Great idea, public radio management. Alienating a portion of potential donors with your talent's benighted jackassery is a great business model.

* 'Puter listens to NPR because the reporting is generally superior to local radio, and 'Puter can spot and ignore the liberal bias and petty digs the reporters take at conservatives.

Obama's Business Plan

'Puter thinks this op-ed in the New York Post today is exactly right. An Obama presidency, with the quick passage of the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act, would be devastating to small businesses nationwide. And 'Puter's Washington contacts (seriously) confirm that one of the first orders of business for Congress under an Obama administration will be to pass the EFCA.

As the op-ed notes, the EFCA takes away an individual worker's right to a secret ballot, and gives the union attempting to organize the upper hand over management. This is nothing more than a Democrat sop to its moneybag unions, intended to tilt the playing field in order to reverse the natural demise of unions in the private sector. Private sector unions are failing because employees are choosing not to have them, fearing fatally harming their employers' ability to innovate and grow. Public sector unions thrive because there is no competition forcing government efficiency.

If you, reader, want your private industry (think grocery and department stores) to be as efficient and customer focused as your local Department of Motor Vehicles, then by all means vote for Sen. Obama.

Assuming an Obama win, the next 4 to 8 years ought to be an object lesson in how to ruin an economy by imposing socialist diktats. How about this for a campaign slogan? Obama: bringing government efficiency to the private sector since 2008.

* Creepy Obama shrine in San Francisco courtesy of Mark Steyn at The Corner, via Drudge.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Anyone else noticing the slight chill in the air (here in the DC Suburbs it was below 30 degrees when I left for work this morning)?? It looks like some people are and it looks like we're in for a decade or more of "global cooling". But wait, what about all this global warmin...I mean, climate change you say? (see, if you can't get the direction of change right, just call it "change" and ignore warming or cooling). Well, if you look at real, hard data and you don't fudge it to fit some preconceived notion of blame, then you start getting more accurate results. Now, I'll be the first to say that the science of global climate modeling is difficult and we're years away from it (we can't even model clouds which are a large factor in the climate). But, if you read through the article above, you'll see that some are getting a pretty good correlation of data...and it's not a man-made factor causing it.

Department of Education, fully funded! (Updated)

But the military's getting screwed. Thanks, Congress. Thanks, banks. Thanks, Fannie & Freddie. Thanks, real-estate speculators. You've made us all less safe. Thanks. Thanks so much.

UPDATE: On the other hand, at least the same thing is happening in Russia. Moldova and Ukraine can genuinely thank the economy-wreckers for their continued territorial integrity.

St. Joseph of MBNA, Doctor of the Church

Intentionally or not, Joe Biden, never able to shut his mouth, has dared the American episcopate to slap him down. That group, traditionally old-line Democrats, has ever been loath to come down on scions of their party, but this kind of stuff is going to be awfully hard to ignore, and not just by guys like Abp. Chaput, who are comfortable taking a counter-cultural stance. The traditional "we'll counsel them in private" stance looks increasingly laughable when the "counseled" come out with these type of ill-informed, nonsensical statements.* Indeed, Biden, by making these kinds of statements is, in the Church's eyes, actually committing the serious sin of scandal, by drawing others away from the teachings of the Magisterium and hence into (potentially grave) sin.

Comment from First Things and (more inflammatorily) Stephen Greydanus (on professional Catholic apologist Jimmy Akin's site).

St. Pancras, invoked against false witness, ora pro nobis.

*Or, as noted in connection with Nancy Pelosi in Greydanus's piece, if the one to be counseled refuses to actually take counsel.

Why The Republican Brand Is Dying

Hey, inside the Beltway Republican gurus! Wanna know why rank and file conservatives are starting to run screaming from you and your brand? Try this one on for size.

The (for the time being) Republican controlled New York Senate made a bargain with the devil. In return for Republican senators' unquestioning obedience to their new union master's wishes, New York State United Teachers will support the Republican incumbents in their reelection campaigns. This, in effect, means, that the one quarter to one third of the state's approximately $120 billion budget that is related to education will not be touched in the forthcoming budget pare down.

New York Senate Republicans just had their Judas moment. Enjoy the forty pieces of silver, lads. Your day of reckoning will come.

As a conservative voter, my question for both the state and national Republican parties is why the heck would I vote for any of your candidates when you'll betray bedrock conservative principles for job security?

'Puter awaits a reply, but expects none. An about-face would be more appreciated.

*Pictured above is Dean Skelos, Majority Leader of the New York State Senate.

Oh, It's On Now!

The happiest time of the year has arrived again, right on schedule. That's right, New York's southern zone bowhunting season opened this past Saturday at sunrise.

Expect 'Puter's postings to be sparse on the weekends, as he tries to get hisself some meat for the freezer.

Mmmmm. Venison.

The bear can smell fear

No, your Œcumenical Volgi's true identity is not John Bolton, but you couldn't tell that from this op-ed, could you?

Ultimately, what most risks "provoking" Moscow is not Western resolve but Western weakness. This is where the real weight of history lies. Accordingly, attitude adjustment in Moscow first requires attitude adjustment in NATO capitals, and quickly, before Moscow's swaggering leaders draw the wrong lessons from their recent successes.

Gormogons readers will not find many new points in here, but it's an extremely well-put-together essay. Must-reading of the morning.

Taiwan slipping away?

Gordon Chang relates that RAND says the Chinese are very close to absolute air superiority in a potential Taiwan invasion.

This is very bad news on a number of fronts. First, peace in East Asia has generally been stable due to American power's being preponderant. If China achieves superiority even in a single theater like Taiwan, there will be repercussions throughout the area which make the Eastern European and Baltic reactions to Russia's invasion of Georgia look subtle and measured. The largest and most obvious will be Japan's development and deployment of nuclear weapons. Also, South Korea will likely reorient itself towards the U.S. in fairly short order. Southeast Asia will also be convulsed. I would not be shocked to see (even nominally communist) Vietnam give not only docking rights but perhaps even a base at Cam Ranh Bay to the U.S. Navy, given the ancient and bitter enmity between China and Vietnam, their dispute over the potentially oil-rich Spratly Islands, etc.

Secondly, if China successfully takes Taiwan, its policies towards its neighbors (and us) will become increasingly belligerent, and small wars could break out from India to Manchuria. And, of course, there's always the potential of plunging the continent into a major war by accident or design.

As Chang writes, only a serious reorientation of U.S. policy is going to provide China with disincentives for achieving its goals by force and disabusing them of the notion that the world will countenance their invading Taiwan (et al.).

Up next: sharks with frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads

A dog with a satellite collar isn't a bad start.

And, for extra comedy, are they talking about the dog or Russia?

"She looks sad," Ivanov said. "Her free life is over."

"She is wagging her tail. That means she likes it," Putin said.

Plus, seriously, GLONASS has always sounded to me like some Cubby Broccoli McGuffin...

Very interesting piece...

...on Iran's asymmetric-naval-warfare doctrine for kicking us out of the Persian Gulf. Click through to the monograph for depth, but Kaplan's piece is very good.

It’s hard out there for a pimp

Alas, SPECTRE's new boss, Vova Putin is having some trouble selling his "liberator of South Ossetia" story. Even to fellow goons and his stooges.

Consider the rogue's gallery [sic*] that refused to go along: Hugo Chávez's Venezuela, the Castros' Cuba, Bolivia, Iran and Syria. The club of seven authoritarian former Soviet republics known as the Collective Security Treaty Organization also demurred. Even Moscow's puppet autocrat in Belarus, Aleksander Lukashenko, deferred to his toothless parliament; in other words, nyet, for now. Russia was rebuffed by China and India at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Pimpin' ain't easy, y'all.

Caption: Nyet, Gospodin Bond, I expect you to buy. Buy petroleum and natural gas. Mwahahaha.

*They also use block for bloc. Why isn't the Volgi the world's copy-editor?!

Hither come yon unions!

Although Ghettoputer stalks the union beat with barely concealed fury, spitting nails and coughing up blood, your Volgi must trespass and post a link to this terrific article by Claire Berlinski, brilliant Friend of the Gormogons, in which she shows how the unions and their compliant stooges in Congress are laying the foundations for an economic revolution, leading us to the glorious future of... Britain in the ’70s. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Also: buy Claire's book.

Guns for Ivan (Con't.)

Ivanov confirms the $50B* we told you about before.

Translated to Ghettoputerese: $5XXXXXXXX.

A deranged Spanish priest…

…stabbed JP2 with a bayonet at Fatima?

Now, that's a lead.* Too bad that the rest of the story is "Vatican secretive." Pit bull chomps dude poking it with a stick.

*The Gormogons are not journalists and therefore don't use the intentional misspelling "lede" used by typesetters back in the days of metal type.

A Preview of an Obama Administration, Pennsyltucky Style

Pennsyltucky has enacted a law mandating that electric utilities cut overall electricity usage by May 31, 2011. This law is so misguided on so many levels, it's difficult to know where to start.

First, Pennsyltucky is really telling Pennsyltuckians that the government is going to tell them how much power and for what purposes they can use it, under the guise of public utility regulation. Welcome to the state interfering in your day-to-day life, Pennsyltucky.

Second, isn't it irrational to tell a publicly held company that they have to sell less of a product they are legally selling? Is Pennsyltucky going to reimburse the utilities' shareholders for their inevitable losses?

Third, how does Pennsyltucky's public utilities commission square mandatory reductions in electric usage with the utilities' mandate to supply all needed power? It can't be done.

If 'Puter was running a public utility in Pennsyltucky, he'd call the Commonwealth's bluff. 'Puter would institute unannounced rolling blackouts to meet Pennsyltucky's mandated cutbacks. On major holidays. Or during Steelers, Eagles and Penn State football games. Then claim the utilities were just meeting the new, stupid standards Pennsyltucky foisted on its utilities and customers.

And just where is growth supposed to figure into all of this? Do Pennsyltuckians really trust their government to "take into account a major anomaly, such as an unusually hot summer or a substantial surge in demand from a new user, such as a factory" and let the utilities exceed the targeted reductions? 'Puter doesn't, and 'Puter's worked for both the federal and state governments.

This is nothing more than a big brother power grab, plain and simple.

'Puter's looking forward to his new Democrat overlords telling him how warm he can keep his house in the winter. Sorry your pipes all froze, 'Puter, but it's for the children, you know? And 'Puter welcomes Pennsyltucky as it joins New York as a horrible place to live and do business.

Maybe People Will Hear This

It looks like CNN is starting to pick up on the ACORN story. The YouTube clip shows a recent story where the first 2100 of 5000 applications turned in to Lake County, Ohio officials by ACORN were fraudulent. Eight members of ACORN in Missouri pleaded guilty of voter fraud. When will Obama recognize this and say something? When will McCain? Maybe tonight??

Takes One To Know One

Quoth the renowned thinker and paragon of virtue Rep. John Murtha, "[t]here is no question that western Pennsylvania is a racist area."

'Puter posits this is part of the Democrat game plan of bullying white voters into thinking that it is impossible to vote against Sen. Obama for any reason other than racism.

Uh, voters in the 12th District of Pennsylvania, are you seriously going to send this crooked, anti-American, pork-crazy jackass back to Washington after he essentially called you a bunch of Klansmen? Just asking, is all.

Come to think of it, the Democrats have the only (former) Klansman sitting in Congress right now. Maybe Rep. Murtha can introduce his self-described racist constituency to Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV), admitted former Klansman, and they can swap racist anecdotes.

Hard Won Knowledge

If you have leftover night at your house, like 'Puter does at his, take this advice.

If you think the week-old, leftover baked fish smells a little off, go with your better instincts and don't eat it. Particularly not with leftover roasted brussels sprouts.

Unless you enjoy middle of the night cold sweats and violent cramping and all the other not safe for work symptoms.

NYT to Upstate: Screw You

Our liberal betters at the New York Times editorial board have spoken! So let it be written, so let it be done!

The NYT now says that Upstate should not use any of its newly accessible (because of better technology) natural gas (value estimated at $1 trillion), because such use may in some unknown way impact the quality of NYC's water supply. So, there's no need to even consider the new job creation in a lagging region of the state, new tax revenues, increased energy availability, wishes of the people it will impact, etc. All the NYT editorial board needs to know is that there may be some impact of some sort on their personal lives, and that their opinion trumps any other stated benefit.

To be fair, it's not just the NYT that's against sane energy policy. Locals are jackasses, too. Westchesterians have been trying to get Indian Point, the local nuclear power plant closed down for years. Also, locals have fought tooth and nail to prevent the building of a critically needed electricity transmission line, which would be used to wheel power to NYC.

Where is the required power to manage a growing population and economy in New York going to come from? If you ask these New Yorkers, it's clear they simply don't want to think about it. It's exactly this kind of foresight and deep thinking that's led New York to its current sorry state of affairs.

It's NIMBYism plain and simple, and it's a load of horse hockey no matter who's peddling it, be it the NYT, shortsighted neighbors or the New York state government.

Krusty, He Ain't

As if clowns weren't scary enough, now there's one on the loose trying to lure kids into a van in Chicago.

Hey, has anyone seen the Congressional leadership lately? ('Puter passed on the all-too-obvious Sen. Obama joke).

Is NATO Broken?

With the current economic crisis hitting all over the world and the sabre rattling from Russia, Germany has been placed into a keystone role with how NATO can operate. There is interest to allow Ukraine and Georgia membership into NATO but the German Chancellor, Merkel, has clearly stated that Germany will oppose even putting these countries on the path to membership. Why?

A simple answer is that Germany is heavily dependent on Russia's natural gas. If Russia were to take offense (likely) to a NATO expansion to include these two countries, then it could cut off that supply causing serious energy problems for Germany. But it's more complicated. There is no effective way for NATO or the U.S. by itself to ensure military protection for Ukraine or Georgia in the event of Russian aggression. Clearly, the NATO countries would exercise all diplomatic means to do so, but without a significant increase in defense spending, there is no way for NATO countries to effectively support such protection.

So, with an irritated, aggressive Russian only one country away (Poland), Germany faces a tough strategic decision. Germany would likely support other NATO countries, that mainly being the U.S., the ability to deploy via Germany to protect the Balkans, but they have little interest or benefit to form the front line against any Russian military threat. Any real ability for the U.S. or NATO to project forces to the east will require Germany, so NATO, in effect, has been reduced to a diplomatic, proclamation-bound entity.

What will that leave as options for the next President?

The bear is vicious...

...but sick, says Stuart Koehl. Worth reading for a clear-eyed view of Russia's military capabilities. It's worth noting, though, that Russia still significantly overmatches any of its neighbors save China.*

*And they're not dumb enough to invade Finland again. As a Russian general was reputed to have said after the Winter War, "We've won just about enough land to bury our dead."

Better Living (For the Rest of Us) Through Chemistry

Inmate Richard Cooey, guest of the citizens of the citizens of Ohio and convicted killer of two University of Akron students, claimed he was too fat to be humanely put to death.

Myth busted.

And the recently departed Mr. Cooey bears an eerie resemblance to one of 'Puter's relatives, which creeps 'Puter the heck out.

Great Moments In Teaching, Episode #42,727

It appears that some American children's curriculum includes a section on Barack Obama. Right in the Volgi's backyard, 8th grade students in Racine, Wisconsin, have a literature textbook with 15 pages devoted to Barack Obama. No content of Reagan, Bush (either one), Clinton (either one), McCain, Kennedy (any of them), etc. Apparently the content focuses on Obama's "Life of Service" (apparently, that's code for voting "present" and/or skipping voting in the Senate half of the time). For those interested, the book is "Wisconsin - 8th grade - McDougal Littell Literature - copyright 2008". Alfred McDougal's support is pretty clear if you look here. So now we have taxpayer funds going to buy books promoting a single candidate. Is this education or propaganda? When does it stop? If you think I'm picking on a molehill, what would happen if the only politician mentioned in the book was George W. Bush or John McCain?

Why Should We Make It Easy For Lazy People to Vote?

America will be the death of itself. Refusing to adopt common sense solutions to real problems for fear of offending some politically correct cause is stupidity in the extreme.

'Puter's got two quick thoughts on the brewing voter registration/illicit voting issues, both of which have likely been raised elsewhere.

First, why in the heck is it a good idea to permit people to register to vote anywhere other than in a government office in person? If Mickey Mouse had to trudge his tailed rear end down to the appropriate government office to register, and prove he was who he said he was, rather than take cigarettes and cash payments from ACORN workers, he wouldn't be registered in 24 states. This is not an undue burden on anyone. You've got four years between presidential election (two between federal elections) to get down to City Hall, prove who you are and register. There's no nefarious governmental systematic program to disenfranchise anyone. Suck it up.

Second, why is it such a bad thing to have to prove who you are in order to vote? I can't get into most major office buildings without showing ID. I can't cash a check at a bank where I don't have an account without showing ID. Can't get on a plane without ID. Can't enter another country without ID. Can't get a job (legally) without showing ID. Yet I can go vote for the leader of the free world just on my say so. What a messed up system. It practically begs to be rigged.

In 'Puter's humble opinion, it's not such a bad thing to have a higher barrier to entry for votin, so long as the barriers are equally and fairly applied. It makes folks actually have to think about voting ahead of time. Having to register in person with proof of identity and address, and to show ID when one votes is not a high burden. And, if you're not serious enough about exercising you franchise to show up in person once and get a gosh-darned ID card at least a month prior to voting, then you aren't serious enough to be voting in the first instance.

Weekend Debate

GorT has some wacky relatives which I think have been alluded to before. I firmly believe in the right of every American legal citizen to vote for who they want. I also believe that if you don't vote, you shouldn't go around complaining about the current administration. So a relative emailed an article pointing out the low approval rating of Bush (low 20s) and whether people felt the country was "on the right track". What I found interesting, and included in my reply to said relative, was that the 25-page article with data never asked about Congressional approval ratings (hit an all-time low of 18% twice in the last 2 years). Yes, Republicans are a part of that - but in determining whether we're "on the right track" should include the part of our government responsible for passing budgets, laws, etc. So, what was the response? In part: "What credibility do you have anymore when it comes to judging who we vote for?" Well, because I voted for certain candidates, do I lose the right to criticize or evaluate others? Doesn't this smack of elitism? If you don't pick the "right" candidate then you have no credibility?

Well, I guess they are sick infected with their sickness and maybe after they vote for the candidate whose accomplishments include skipping 45% of the Senate votes and voting 190+ as "present"....not "for" or "against" but "present". Right or wrong in one's eyes, at least Bush & co. took a stand.

Westendämmerung, DPRK edition

So, yeah, I forgot to blog about North Korea's negotiating its way off our terror-sponsoring list. Too depressing, I guess. Anyway, just so your Monday is no happier than ours (as Redskins fans), here's John Bolton telling you why it's a perfect precedent—for future rogue states to acquire nukes.

Sidelining Japan is a manifestation of the State Department's Sinocentric obsession. The consequences could well be detrimental to both Washington and Beijing, however, if Japanese sentiment for developing its own independent nuclear-weapons capability continues to rise. This could occur as Tokyo sees the North Korean nuclear threat persisting, and as China continues to upgrade and expand its strategic nuclear forces and blue-water navy. Fears that the U.S. nuclear umbrella is no longer reliable will only add to Japan's concerns. Japan may have been frog-marched into acquiescing, but there will likely be a widening of the split between the U.S. and its closest ally in Asia.

And remember, kids, Japan can go nuke in about fifteen minutes if it wants to. Maybe if Nixon could go to China, Obama could tell the ChiComs where to stuff it. Don't bet on it, though.

Happy Monday.

UPDATE: This guy sees the glass, well, not half full, but a little full. Worth reading.

Great Victories of Soft Power, Chapter…

Once again, aggression recedes before the fearsome arsenal of negotiation the EU deploys. And the world is safer for it!

Or, wait, did I get that backwards?

Check out their effort to "counter" Russia—we'll have to outbid them to give more stuff to the most retrograde dictatorship in Europe!

Pimpin’ ain’t easy

Thanks for the link, Blog of Walker, Canada's leading teenaged right-of-center Vancouver Island blog—now with awesomely insane homoerotic vampire art*! As y'all say north of the border, we're returning the favor, eh.

And, hey, if you like us too, stick us on your blog and we'll return the favor. Right over there! Under Blogpimpin’. Unless your blog is all homoerotic vampire art. In which case, Ghettoputer will read it religiously, but we're not linking to it.


*We kid. It's Bourguereau's Dante & Virgil in Hell. D&V are the guys in the back, not the ones kneeing, biting, and doing God only knows what else to each other there. (And look! It's Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula† there in the back! They're those who're consumed by Wrath. (Fifth Circle of Hell, Inferno cantos 7–8.) Wrath. Hmm. Ghettoputer, you can't say you weren't warned.

†Specifically Green Bat Dracula, as opposed to Absinthe-Fancier Dandy Dracula, Loopy Crazy-Haired Old-Guy Dracula, Lucy-Humping Werewolf Dracula, or any of his other incarnations.