This is a great posting from James Hudnall that I thought I should pass along.
At Some Point, This Will Represent Your Children's Taxes as Well
Or how about comparing the Big Zero’s first ten years against Bush’s eight?
"Responsible" Obama deficits compared to irresponsible Bush deficits
Best of all is this one.
One million dollars in $100 bills.
1 trillion dollars in $100 bills
You can find the whole graphic here.
The first full month of measurements of the effect of Barack Obama’s stimulus plan is in, and the numbers are not good. Three quarters of a million Americans lost their jobs. I guess those “shovel ready” projects we were told so much about are not having the impact that was promised.
Our majestic ruler scores another diplomatic coup: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/toby_harnden/blog/2009/04/01/barack_obamas_gift_for_the_queen_an_ipod_your_majesty
In addition, he confirms something that some of us have suspected all along- that if this was 1776, he would have been a Tory. “There’s one last thing that I should mention that I love about Great Britain,” thundered the greatest man of this or any age, “and that is the Queen.”
After paying due accedence to her Britannic majesty, the Big Zero resumed berating our democratic allies for their failure to adopt authoritarian economic policies.
After watching several Big Zero speeches over the last few weeks, I realized that they all are essentially the same. Use this outline to make your own Barack Obama speech!
1) Identify the issue.
Example: “If left on its current course, our industrial economy is environmentally and economically unsustainable. Too many people are working, and too many of them are adversely impacting our planet. In order to develop the economy of the future, we must take action now to eliminate this economy of the past.”
2) Provide a wildly inaccurate, meaningless, or patently false statistical anecdote to highlight the problem.
Example: “During the 1930s, the wealthiest 10% of the population carried 90% of the federal tax burden. Now, the wealthiest 5% of the population has accumulated 40% of the nation’s wealth, and controls 70% of it. Living standards have relentlessly continued to rise. This greed is unacceptible.”
2a) If possible, cite Ronald Reagan.
Example: “Previous Presidents, including Ronald Reagan, recognized the threat that corporate greed represented. This is why Reagan called Wall Street an ‘Evil Empire.’”
3) Claim that a broad consensus has emerged behind the crazy-assed solution you are proposing.
Example: “Look, paleontologists have known for a long time that mortgage-backed securities pose a perpetual risk to the stability of the financial sector. There is no dispute about this. That is why we must take firm action now against the kulaks.”
4) Contrast your reflexive ideological response to the problem against a previously unheard-of straw man, then attribute this view to unseen enemies.
Example: “Some people believe that the solution to the financial crisis is to kill the first born male child in every household. I reject this.”
5) Conclude that only solution to any problem is to do as you command, as the only other alternative is to “do nothing.”
6) Cock head back and preen like Mussolini.
Greetings all!
The Rough and Ready Blog is back online!
While I had hoped that the new administration would prove to be the moderate and pragmatic crew that their followers assured me they were, that has not proven to be the case. So, we are now back in business.
Greetings all.
I am currently going on hiatus for a while, as I have to prepare for the Spring term. Hopefully, my two or three subscribers will be there when I get back! Thanks for your patronage, and I look forward to reengaging in the conversation in the near future. God bless!
For anyone who still believes that the New York Times has an interest in providing credible, objective political analysis based in truth, I offer this evidence:
http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/a-sarah-palin-thanksgiving/
I challenge anyone to argue that this is anything but abject stupidity.
The Editors of the Times may or may not be aware of this, but this is, in fact, how turkeys are slaughtered (not “executed,” oh professional wordsmiths). Yes, those tryptophan-loaded things that the Times editors (or more likely their assistants) purchase at the grocery store to fuel their gargantuan egos, atrophied moral compasses and whithered intellects were, in fact, once living birds.
The Huffington Post ran a similar story, but that is the same publication that called for the death of the civil rights movement a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, it seems that the Times is no more credible.
Apperantly, the readability level of this blog is undergraduate:
<a href=”http://www.criticsrant.com/bb/reading_level.aspx”><img style=”border: none;” src=”http://www.criticsrant.com/bb/readinglevel/img/undergrad.jpg” alt=”blog readability test” /></a><p><small><a href=”http://www.criticsrant.com”>TV Reviews</a></small></p>
This puts this blog at a higher reading level than Talk Left, in the same league as “Wake Up America,” and well below the reading level of Maggie’s Notebook.
BarackObama.com, on the other hand, is written at an elementary school level. Try it yourself: http://www.criticsrant.com/bb/reading_level.aspx I guess this explains how that site can claim that raising taxes on 5% of people and lowering taxes on 95% will raise more money- the power of make believe.
There seems to be a lesson here. Until one reaches the age of voting, one should read TalkLeft and BarackObama.com. Then, as their mind matures and critical thinking skills improve, check here and Wake up America. If one is truly gifted, then they should move up to Maggie’s Notebook.
Thanks to Maggie’s, Wake Up America, and Talk Left for posting links to this site!
Say what you will about John Dingell, but the man knows his constituency and represents their interests. John Dingell has been representing his predominantly blue-collar, union constituency for over 50 years. During my lifetime, he has never encountered a serious challenge to his seat that I can remember. Everyone knows him, most everyone has met him. He knows many of his constituents personally, and always represents their interests. While you might not agree with the man, he clearly takes his role as a representative of his people very seriously.
So why have the Obama Democrats purged this man from his Chairmanship in the House? Has he changed? Not really. He is the same guy he has always been- the House’s great lion of the working class. Have his voters changed? Not really. They are poorer now, sure, victims of the incompetence of the Big Three and the ideological rigidity, arrogance and ineptitude of Jennifer Granholm. But overall, they are the same hard-working, honest, friendly and family-minded folks they have always been. So why the change? Why now?
It’s simple. John Dingell, and more importantly John Dingell’s voters, no longer matter to the Democratic Party in the Age of the Big Zero. Dingell supported Hillary Clinton. His voters supported Hillary Clinton. The Big Zero sees all. The Big Zero never forgets. And the Big Zero frankly does not like Dingell’s voters and their ilk. They ate like those clingy Pennsylvanians. The Big Zero is much more interested in other voters. Voters who privilege the environment over employment. Voters who elect people like Henry Waxman.
It will always be a mystery to me why Michiganders vote the way they do. Some lucky Michiganders can trace a solid line of criminally incompetent leaders from their mayors (Kwame Kilpatrick, until recently) through the House (too many to list here, Kwame’s mommy or little Levin are good examples) to the Senate (Levin or Stabenow, take your pick) to Granholm (“Our Governor is so crappy, we had to go to Canada to find her!”). Yet the worse things get, the more willing Michiganders are to give the same folks more power. In Barack Obama, Michigan might have found a way to inflict Michigan-style government on the rest of the country. The performance of Michigan’s elected officials is the only thing that makes the Lions look good. Michiganders have a high tolerance for pain.
Naturally, then, the response of Michigan to this latest Obama attack on the state is to sit back and take it. First, Obama refuses to count Michigan’s vote. Then, he refuses to campaign there. Then, he sends his surrogates out to denounce the state and its voters. Then, he shows up for a couple of weeks when McCain starts campaigning there. As soon as McCain leaves, he never appears again. No word on the automaker crisis. Obama’s only interest in Michigan came when it appeared that it would go to McCain, since then he couldn’t care less.
John Dingell was one of the few Michigan politicians who could point to an actual record of achievement in government. John Dingell was one of the few American politician who a majority of his constituents have probably seen or even met. John Dingell has the humility to understand his constituents, and the courage to stand up for them.
In the Age of the Big Zero, that means one thing. John Dingell had to go.
One of the people being rumored to replace Barack Obama in the Senate is Illinois Representative and former Obama surrogate Luis Gutierrez. Gutierrez is the same Democratic Representative who said called federal law enforcement agents the “Gestapo” in an interview with the Politico. Here is a cut from my posting at the time:
“Decrying the Bush administration’s unwillingness to suspend the enforcement of immigration laws, Gutierrez blames the influence of the law enforcement community. “You know who is in charge now? Gutierrez declared, “The Gestapo agents at …Homeland Security. They are in charge.”
Who is Gutierrez? He is a Chicago Democrat closely aligned with Barack Obama. How close? Gutierrez has “direct access” to Obama. Obama and Gutierrez have co-sponsored legislation. Gutierrez has been touted as a potential successor to Obama’s Senate seat. He has even appeared as a surrogate for Obama in a campaign commercial.“
To my knowledge, neither Gutierrez nor Obama has apologized for the comment, nor recognized the profound risks and challenges of the members of the law enforcement community who put their survival on the line every hour of every day of their working lives to enforce the laws that Congress has passed. If Obama were to allow the appointment of Luis Gutierrez to his former seat, it would be a grave and unforgivable insult to every individual in the Department of Homeland Security and the law enforcement profession of the United States.
The election is over, President-elect Obama. Luis Gutierrez is your ally, your surrogate, and your party member. It is time to show some backbone and professional decensy to America’s law enforcement professionals by calling Representative Gutierrez to account for his abusive attitude toward your hard-working and dedicated employees.
