Saturday, October 31, 2015

2015 World Series Game Four: Trick Or Treat Tonight?

After getting back in the series with a 9-3 win in Game 3, the Mets take on the Royals in Game 4 of the World Series.  The first pitch is at 8:07 PM ET from Citi Field on the big FOX.

The Mets will be counting on the arm of Steven Matz to pitch some magic against the feisty Royals.  Chris Young, who pitched three scoreless innings in Game 1, will start for the boys from Kansas City.

Will the Mets win tonight’s game or will they be tricked?  The game should be Spooktacular.

GO ROYALS!

One Guy Going “Boom”, One Guy Going “Whack” And One Guy Not Getting In The End Zone

Explaining the pure delights of a football Saturday in the South to anyone who has not enjoyed them may be impossibleit’s like trying to describe the ocean to a blind manthe dynamism of the fans, their passion for their team, the electricity in the stadium.  For sixty minutes, people from across religious, geographic and political divides can come together and celebrate what former Head Coach John Madden described as “one guy going boom, one guy going whack and one guy not getting in the end zone.”

Today my beloved Crimson Tide will not take the field.  It’s their bye week.  Another team, the LSU Tigers, will also stay at home.  But next week the two will clash in Tuscaloosa.

All season long my friend Diogenes, who bleeds purple and gold, put up blog posts about her boys from Baton Rouge.  She boldly predicted the outcome of each game and always had something positive to say about my Bama boys.

With each of her postings I would enter a comment including a graphic of a ferocious Bengal tiger intimidating the hapless mascot of the opposing team and when the game was over would post another graphic of the vanquished loser.  She would do the same here as well as offer her spirited support for the Crimson Tide adding “Roll Tide Roll”.

It has been big fun for me.  During this bye week neither of us will be able to show our support for the other’s team.  Next week, however, the “truce” will end as Alabama and LSU do battle for a college football playoff berth. 

Just so I don’t go through withdrawal I’ll be rooting for Auburn to whip Ole Miss’ ass, the Gamecocks to tear into the Aggies, UT-Martin to barbecue some Hogs, the Dawgs to maul the Gators, the Vols to skin the Wildcats and the Owls of Temple to crush the Irish.

UPDATE:   Ole Miss easily handled Auburn 27-19, Texas A&M defeated South Carolina 35-28, Arkansas whipped UT-Martin 63-28, Florida had its way with Georgia 27-3, Tennessee trounced Kentucky 52-21 and the Irish plucked the Temple Owls 24-20.  

Friday, October 30, 2015

2015 World Series: Game Three

The red-hot Royals are in the Big Apple for Game Three of the World Series.  The Mets are worried.  They’ve got to win four games or the Royals will be the next World Champs.
The first pitch will be at 8:07 PM ET.  The game will be carried on the big FOX.
The boys from Kansas City are sluggers.  In the 23 innings that comprised the first two games of the series, the Royals have struck out just ten times.  The Mets have gone out on strikes a total of nineteen times.  Frankly, their offense didn’t do much damage at Kauffman Stadium.
The Mets’ old home, Shea Stadium, had a big red mechanical Home Run Apple that would pop up from its hiding place in center field.  When Shea was razed in 2008, the apple was moved next door to Citi Field.  The Royals need strong showings from Alex Gordon, Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer against Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard and a bit of help from Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura to extend the combined 0 for 12 plate appearances of Wright, Duda and Cespedes to keep that apple from popping up.
The New York Post’s Mike Vaccaro believes Royals’ manager Ned Yost is going to run out of “pixie dust” at Citi Field.  Hold on there buddy.  Ned worked with Bobby Cox, a Hall of Famer, and one of the greatest managers in baseball.  Pixie dust doesn’t win ball games.  Ned’s players remember playing 162 games last year only to lose the 2014 World Series in Game 7.  The Royals are on a mission.
TAKE THE CROWN!


Black Livers Matter

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Republican Debaters Unite Against CNBC Moderators

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation in January of this year to announce plans by his party to reduce the number of sanctioned debates (there were 27 in 2012) and promised to bring the process under tighter control for the 2016 election cycle.

The new rules were intended to give the RNC a greater degree of control over the moderators and sponsors of the debates and offer a larger conservative media presence. The need to revamp the process was borne out of the storm of protests that followed the debate in which CNN’s Candy Crowley lied to save The World’s Most Dangerous Community Organizer in the second of three 2012 presidential debates when Republican challenger Mitt Romney questioned whether or not Obama had called the Benghazi attack in which four Americans were murdered an act of terror.
ROMNEY:  You said in the Rose Garden the day after the attack it was an act of terror. It was not a spontaneous demonstration.
OBAMA:  Please proceed.
ROMNEY:  Is that what you're saying?
OBAMA:  Please proceed, Governor.
ROMNEY:  I want to make sure we get that for the record, because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror.
OBAMA: Get the transcript.
CROWLEY:  Ithe did in fact, sir.
OBAMA:  Can you say that a little louder, Candy?
CROWLEY:  He did call it an act of terror. It did as well take two weeks or so for the whole idea of there being a riot out there about this tape to come out. You are correct about that.
The 2012 presidential debates also saw George Stephanopoulos launch what became known as the “war on women” by pressing Romney on a law that was passed in 1965, Griswold v Connecticut, asking if it should be overturned.  Pro-abortion groups seized on this claiming that Republicans wanted to ban contraceptives.
STEPHANOPOULOS:  Senator Santorum has been very clear in his belief that the Supreme Court was wrong when it decided that a right to privacy was embedded in the Constitution. And, following from that, he believes that states have the right to ban contraception. Now, I should add that he's said that he's not recommending that states do that.  But I do want to get that core question. Governor Romney, do you believe that states have the right to ban contraception? Or is that trumped by a constitutional right to privacy?
While everyone in the dextrosphere got their hackles up over the brutish line of questioning by CNBC’s moderators in Tuesday’s Republican Presidential Debate, I see things a bit differently.  What’s as plain as the nose on your face is the blatant revulsion liberals have for the candidates running for president who don’t have a D beside their name.  Conservatives know that the long knives are out for them.  We’ve come to expect it.

The tenor of the debate went along exactly as I anticipated it would UNTIL Marco Rubio flawlessly disarmed his inquisitors declaring, “I know the Democrats have the ultimate Super PAC, it’s called the mainstream media. Last week, Hillary Clinton admitted she sent emails to her family saying ‘Hey, this attack in Benghazi was caused by al Qaeda-like elements.’ She spent over a week telling the families of those victims and the American people that it was because of a video. And yet, the mainstream media is saying it was the greatest week in Hillary Clinton’s campaign. It was the week she got exposed as a liar. […] But she has her super PAC helping her out: the American mainstream media.”

Ted Cruz seized the opportunity to blister Carl Quintanilla proclaiming, "The questions asked in this debate illustrate why the American people don't trust the media. This is not a cage match. And you look at the questionsDonald Trump, are you a comic book villain? Ben Carson, can you do math? John Kasich, will you insult two people over here? Marco Rubio, why don't you resign? Jeb Bush, why have your numbers fallen?  How about talking about the substantive issues?”

“The contrast with the Democratic debate, where every thought and question from the media was, which of you is more handsome and why?  Let me be clear. The men and women on this stage have more ideas, more experience, more common sense, than every participant in the Democratic debate. That debate reflected a debate between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks."

Cruz’ analogy was completely lost on NBC’s Chuck Todd:
It was uplifting to see the GOP candidates declare an end to the injustice of the liberal lapdogs’ gratuitous bias and finally fight back.  If they continue that strategy they will force the bullies of the Left into becoming an endangered species.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

2015 World Series: Game Two

Tonight we have Game Two of the 2015 World Series.  Last night’s 14-inning marathon began with a first-pitch, first-inning inside-the-park home run off Mets’ ace Matt Harvey.  The last time a World Series saw an inside-the-park home run was back in 1929.

Alcides Escobar’s crushing hit grabbed the heartstrings of Royals’ fan and captured the imagination of 40.6 million viewers who watched last night’s game.  There was also an infuriating 4-minute power outage and a ninth-inning solo homer by Royals’ left fielder Alex Gordon to tie the game in the ninth inning after Eric Hosmer committed a fielding error giving the Mets the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth.

In the 14th inning Hosmer walked up to the dish.  The ducks were on the pond and the Mets infield, in the fierce urgency of now, was at the edge of the infield to defend against a bases-loaded jam.  Hosmer smacked a sacrifice fly to drive in the man who started it all, Alcides Escobar, for the winning run.

GO ROYALS!



Battle Royale: The CNBC GOP Presidential Debate

Tonight as the GOP presidential candidates converge at the University of Colorado-Boulder to debate the nation’s economy the stage has been set for far more than just a debate.  It’s going to be a battle royale.

John Kasich is fed up.  “I’ve about had it with these people.  I’m sick and tired of listening to this nonsense and I’m going to have to call like it is in this race…I’m done being polite,” he said.

A few days ago Donald Trump insisted on taking credit for a business move made by Ford Motor Company that he had absolutely nothing to do with and was decided on nearly four years ago.  Kasich pushed back tweeting, “Together Ohio brought Ford back from Mexico.”  Ford spokeswoman Kristina Adaminski flatly refuted Trump’s claim.

Kasich and the Ohio legislature have been working hard to stop the migration of automobile manufacturers from his state to Mexico and are trying to prevent a move by General Motors.  Trump stopped tweeting and talking about Ford immediately.

Marco Rubio has raised the ire of Floridians for having missed more votes than any other senator this year.  His seat is “regularly empty for floor votes, committee meetings and intelligence briefings.”  He has said in veiled words that he hates his job as senator.  One editorial in the Sun Sentinel suggested, “If you hate your job Senator, follow the honorable lead of House Speaker John Boehner and resign.”

And Jeb is a miserable guy citing the yuuuuuge amount of aggravation he never signed up for in this election cycle saying, “I’ve got a lot of really cool things I could be doing instead of being miserable listening to people demonize me.” I’d bet the farm that Jeb regretted saying that the moment the words left his whiny little lips.

Miss Lindsey confessed his wonderment earlier in the week:  “On our side, you’ve got the No. 2 guy [who] tried to kill someone at 14, and the No. 1 is high energy and crazy as hell. How am I losing to these people?”

Lindsey Graham was also the first celebrity bartender for CNN’s Politics On Tap pouring beers and playing the “Fuck, Marry, Kill” party game with Dana Bash who gave Graham three choices:  Hillary Clinton, Carly Fiorina, and Sarah Palin.

"Sarah Palin—we'll go hunting on our first date," he said. Next was "marry," an easy joke set-up. "Carly, because she's rich," said Graham.  When Bash pressed, and asked Graham if he would erase the existence of Hillary Clinton, he was ready with the punch line.

"No, but is she rich? She said she was flat broke."

The debate will be broadcast live on CNBC, CNBC.com and in the CNBC apps.  The moderators are Carl Quintanilla, Becky Quick and John Harwood.

Waiting for the Donald

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Waiting for Godot, the play by Samuel Beckett, had characters waiting endlessly and fruitlessly for the arrival of someone named "Godot". Spoiler alert:  Godot never shows. Was he real? Was Godot a symbol of something else? God maybe? Unfulfilled aspirations? The genre of "Godot" is sometimes referred to as "theater of the absurd". It is a play in two acts, and it is my understanding that some theater companies perform the second act first and it in no wise detracts from the point of the play, nor can the audience generally tell the difference!

Well, you might ask, "How could this possibly apply to Donald Trump? He is ubiquitous and if anything, the complaint is that he won't go away!" That's the candidate Trump. As a candidate, he is indeed ubiquitous. But on substance? Not so much. Lots of sizzle, not much steak. As a candidate, Trump appeals to the dissatisfaction of conservatives with the mainstream Republican party. Every election it seemed, the Republicans have begged conservatives for their votes, in exchange for promises that they would decrease the size and scope of government and reduce spending, only to  repeatedly break those promises. Trump has tapped into that vein of discontent, much of which has fueled the Tea Party and propelled it to prominence in recent years. He's making promises that he most likely will not be able to keep, but talking a good fight. Personally, I'm waiting for the substantive Trump.

Now I will admit the possibility that my perception of Trump may have been colored in part by selective reporting in the media. Most of what I hear Trump saying is how good his poll numbers were compared to everybody else. (That ship has largely sailed). Now you hear him dismissing the polls as insignificant, now that he no longer leads them. I hear childish, schoolyard insults from him, whining about how Carson was criticizing his religion, followed by a cheap shot at Carson for Carson's Adventist faith. Go figure.

Now, if you're a Trump fan, you've probably only read down this far to try to find a hole in my reasoning that you can use with which to beat me over the head. Fine. But treat Mr. Trump the way you would any other candidate for a moment and ask yourself, "Is he the real deal?"

His plan to build a wall on the southern border and "have Mexico pay for it", do you really believe that? Sending immigrants north is a source of income for Mexico, as immigrants legal and not send cash back to the relatives they left behind. Net benefit. Sending or encouraging criminals, malcontents and the uneducated poor north of the border, acts as a pressure relief valve on their society. Net benefit. Where is the incentive for the Mexican government to cut themselves off from all the benefits of northern migration and then, on top of that, pay for the privilege of doing so? I don't think so.

In another place last week, (Donald Trump and the Spending Cuts of Doom), we examined whether or not Mr. Trump's suggested slashing of certain cabinet level departments, was realistic or even consistent with the separation of powers available to him as president.

Consider too, Trump's a propensity to take credit where no credit is due. Conservatives have been arguing about and fighting illegal immigration for decades. After Trump got in trouble over a poorly worded statement about illegal immigrants, he repeated said, "We wouldn't be talking about illegal immigration if it wasn't for me". Really? That's borderline delusional.

Recently, he's been claiming credit for the move of a Ford automobile plant from Mexico to Ohio. Only it appears the John Kasich may have negotiated that move with Ford back in 2011. If this is true, and his business career is as fabulous as he says, why would he feel the need to embellish it, taking credit for things he had no control over?

Is it to much to ask him to put forth detailed reasons to elect him based on principle and proposals that don't involve, "Trust me. I may not know what I'm talking about, but I'll surround myself with people who do, because that's what good businessmen do." Or the braggadocio of how much more than his rivals he will know by the time the inauguration rolls around.

Trump's message appeals to the Zeitgeist of the Right, with a little bit of "We're mad as hell and aren't going to take it anymore" thrown in for good measure. Although the office of the president is sometimes referred to as America's C.E.O., there's a very different skill set involved. I sometimes hear the argument for Trump (and Carson, too) that George Washington was not a politician before he became president either, implying that therefore he's equally qualified. The analogy might be like those who say if you're going to fail math like Einstein did (he didn't, by the way), that it helps to be Albert Einstein. Mr. Trump: you're no George Washington.

Trump recently said, "I will be a great unifier for our country". So far, it seems like all he has had time to alienate are Hispanics and Seventh Day Adventists. Give him time! In 2008, there was a candidate who said something similar. He said all the right things*. He talked a good fight, 'unifying the nation along racial lines', promising fiscal responsibility, and budget cuts. Senator Obama promised to go through the budget line by line to eliminate waste fraud and corruption. He claimed to be a moderate candidate who believed that marriage was between a man and a woman, professed to be a Christian, and presumably would uphold traditional Christian values. A candidate who promised to bring jobs, heal the economy and heal the divide between America and the world community.

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All hat. No cattle.
 
How's that working out for you?

*The mask slipped a bit with "Joe the plumber". But there were those of us who saw through the disguise.

Original art by John Cox. More at John Cox Art

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

2015 World Series: Take The Crown Royals!

I don’t really have a dog in this fight, but since this is a bye week for my beloved Alabama Crimson Tide before the monster clash with the LSU Tigers, I’ll be watching the World Series and rootin’ hard for the Royals.

I’m actually a diehard Braves fan.  Having retired last year, 2015 afforded me the joy of being able to watch nearly every game on TV and enjoying a game at the Ted to watch them play the Washington Nationals.

The Mets and the Braves are in the same division, so I can’t pull for them.  That would be treasonous.  So…
GO ROYALS!

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Carolina Panthers Vs Philadelphia Eagles

The 5-0 Carolina Panthers hit the big stage tonight.  They face the 3-3 Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday Night Football on NBC.
I have consistently criticized QB Cam Newton in every blog post I’ve ever written about the Panthers.  Either I’m tired of doing that or he’s actually beginning to mature.  You know my beef against him:  arrogant, privileged, spoiled and conceited.  He’s still all those things but he’s starting to realize that there are eleven men on the field with him and the game is not the “Cam Newton Show”.
The Panthers are riding high after beating their nemesis Seattle last Sunday.  I even bragged to a blogger buddy of mine that they had softened up the Seahawks for their game against them last Thursday.  Unfortunately, the 49ers couldn’t get out of their own way and wound up losing 20-3.
Ninth all-time sack leader Jared Allen returns to the field after sitting out last week’s game with a pinched nerve.  A.J. Klein and Teddy Williams will also see action since being cleared in the concussion protocol.
Panthers’ fans are amped up.  This is the team’s best start ever since their only Super Bowl appearance in 2003.  Can they go 6-0?

The Eagles will be “spying” on Newton big time trying to keep him boxed in reducing his chances of getting loose to heave the ball downfield to his favorite receiver Greg Olsen.  The Eagles’ defense has 16 takeaways this season, second-most in the league, and they will be gunning for Newton.

The game’s going to be a tough one, but with the game starting at 8:30 PM ET, the tailgating before the game will go on longer and the crowd will be inclined to be loud.  Then there’s home field advantage.  I think the Panthers win by a touchdown.  Dare I say maybe more?

GO PANTHERS!

And since no football post would be complete without some pom-poms, here’s a photo of a true Southern beauty and Top Cat cheerleader, Madalyn.



Your Dazzling Moment Of Zen

Elect Trump If You Want That

As of this week, Jeb Bush continues to languish at 7% in the polls nationwide. Only 12% of Republican voters expect him to win the nomination, according to the most recent ABC News/Washington Post poll. 

Despite his campaign’s best efforts to make him appear robust and invulnerable, the miserable truth is Jeb has done zilch to sway voters or his bundlers that he actually possesses the appetite to be president.

"If this election is about how we're going to fight to get nothing done, then…I don't want any part of it. I don't want to be elected president to sit around and see gridlock just become so dominant that people literally are in decline in their lives. That is not my motivation," he said, according to CNN.

"I've got a lot of really cool things I could do other than sit around, being miserable, listening to people demonize me and me feeling compelled to demonize them. That is a joke. Elect Trump if you want that," Bush added.

Less than 24 hours before, Bush's campaign announced a major reshuffling of its resources, saying it was cutting some salaries by 40% and letting go of some people in order to shift more focus on the campaign's ground game in the early voting states.

As for the whisper campaign that his bid for the presidency is going the way of Scott Walker, Bush said, “Blah, blah, blah, blah.  That’s my answer.”

Jeb needs to come to the realization that everyone except Dr. Ben Carson and Donald Trump are still at the Kids’ Table.

Please get out of the race Jeb! 

Friday, October 23, 2015

Alabama Crimson Tide Vs Tennessee Volunteers

This is the storied rivalry that dates back to 1901.  No. 8 Alabama meets unranked Tennessee at home in Bryant-Denny Stadium.  My beloved Bama is a 15-point favorite.  The boys from Rocky Top are looking to break an eight-game losing streak.  The Tide owns the series 51-38-7.
I’ve got my hate on and the Vols faithful are dreaming of the time 20 years ago when a young phenom by the name of Peyton Manning led them to a 41-14 whipping of the Tide and even sang “Rocky Top” with the band.
I’ve gotta say that is one awful song.  “Once I had a girl on Rocky Top.  Half bear, the other half cat.  Wild as a mink, sweet as soda pop.  I still dream about that.”  I guess with all the ‘shine those boys drink a gal that’s half bear, half cat is a pretty good catch in Tennessee.
Yep, the Vols are bragging about whipping Georgia before their bye week, but don’t forget we mauled the Dawgs in the Rain Bowl in a most convincing manner.
My boys are champing at the bit to continue the tradition started by Bear Bryant of lighting up a cigar in the locker room after they obliterate those orange Cheetos.

ROLL TIDE ROLL!

And since no football post would be complete with some pom-poms, enjoy this photo of some pretty young things from Ala-by-God-Bama.




Hillary The Souless Ghoul: “I Remember Fondly My Good Friend Chris”

As U.S. ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other Americans lay dead and the diplomatic outpost in Benghazi was left in smoldering ruins, the Ice Cube In Heels asked her three closest aides for advice about how to announce the death of “Chris Smith.”

That namethe wrong onewas the subject line of the email Clinton sent them as night turned to day in Libya and the full extent of the Islamist terror attack was becoming apparent.

During the 11-hour hearing of the Benghazi Select Committee there was one moment that epitomized the decades-long training Hillary has perfected to simulate anger or passion or outrage for the cameras.

In one emotional exchange, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), asked Clinton what it was like "to be the subject of an allegation that you deliberately interfered with security that cost the life of a friend."

“It’s a very personally painful accusation. It has been rejected and disproven by nonpartisan, dispassionate investigators, but nevertheless, having it continue to be bandied around is deeply distressing to me,” Clinton said. “You know, I would imagine that I’ve thought far more about what happened than all of you put together. I’ve lost more sleep than all of you put together.”

Flanked by her attorney David Kendall and top aide Cheryl Mills, they made certain to feed her notes when the noose began to tighten around her neck and Democrats on the panel were there to rescue her with a series of prepped counterpoints.

Clinton is under the deepest scrutiny of her life and yet she manages, like a greased pig, to slip out of the hands of those who are trying to hold her to account.

There are, according to Judge Andrew Napolitano, 25 FBI agents and investigators in the Justice Department who will be looking at her testimony for material misrepresentations, her willingness to deceive, actual material lies while under oath and how many different versions she gave of various events.  He suggests that they had a “field day” today.  She’s also being investigated for four crimes:  espionage, the failure to secure national security secrets, destruction of government property and lying under oath to a federal judge.

Punishment comes from God.  Justice must be exacted for our ambassador who was murdered in the most inhuman of ways, for the untold savagery on the part of America’s enemies and a night of criminal failure.

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Live Streaming Hillary’s Benghazi Select Committee Hearing (Scheduled Start 10:00 AM ET)

Excerpts from Stephen Hayes’ piece at Weekly Standard:
Hillary Clinton will hide behind the State Department’s Accountability Review Board report.
The ARB never interviewed Secretary Clinton. It never sought to obtain her emails and never learned that she had set up a private server. The ARB chose not to interview State Department officials who were likely to offer testimony that contradicted the Obama administration’s preferred narrative, including Mark Thompson, the senior counterterrorism official at the State Department on duty the night of the attacks, who repeatedly offered to testify but was never contacted by the ARB investigators.  
[SNIP]
Among the issues that have dominated the attention of investigators is the matter of security before the attack. In previous congressional testimony, Clinton has volunteered that she was ultimately responsible for what happens at the State Department under her watch. 
But Libya was different. US facilities there were increasingly under threat and those responsible for securing themand those who worked in themwere sounding alarms about inadequate security. A long trail of documents make clear that Clinton was intimately involved virtually every aspect of Libya policymaking and was receiving detailed reports from both formal State Department channels and from outside advisers (Sidney Blumenthal and others). 
[SNIP]
And, second, she will be asked why she had time to read, share and respond to a regular stream of emails from Blumenthal, who was barred by the Obama administration from working at the State Department, but did not have time to read urgent reports from State Department officials responsible for addressing the deteriorating security situation in Libya.
In that email, which Blumenthal sent Clinton in preparation for a meeting she was to have about the Libyan opposition; Blumenthal described at length the qualifications of an American security firm seeking contracts in Libya
According to Blumenthal, the firm, Osprey Global Solutions, had unique experience in chaotic wartime security environments. The training and assistance they could provide the Libyan opposition could break the stalemate between the rebels and the Qaddafi government. The opposition, Blumenthal wrote, had finally recognized that Qaddafi would not fall on his own and that they needed American assistance to force him out. Blumenthal argued that Osprey was the firm to provide that assistance and noted that he and two associates had secured an agreement between Osprey and the Libyan opposition.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Bloody Fingerprints On The Wall

Sean Smith’s mother is still waiting to hear from Hillary Clinton three years after she and the president presided over a transfer of remains ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base on September 14, 2012.

Appearing on CNN’s Newsroom, Pat Smith told anchor Carol Costello that Clinton told her the death of her son was due to a video and that “she would get back to me and tell me what happened to my son.  She has not only not gotten back to me, but all I’ve ever heard is that I am not to know because I am not a member of the immediate family.  I still want to know.  I saw on TV the bloody fingerprints on the walls over there.  I asked specifically, are those my son’s fingerprints crawling down the wall, the bloody fingerprints?  Nobody ever got back to me on that.  Are those his fingerprints?  Were those his fingerprints?  What happened?  Somebody’s got to tell me from the government.”

The American people and this grieving mother have a right to know what Hillary’s role in formulating the U.S. response to the Benghazi attack was.  Rather than the president busily contacting YouTube™ to decide which video to blame for the coldblooded killing of four Americans did either of them consider retaliation for the attack or order our forces to try to rescue them?  

While the long knives are out for Trey Gowdy and the Select Committee on Benghazi, Gowdy addressed his critics saying, “The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth is more than a rote phrase.  It should be the guiding principle of a serious investigation."

"Perhaps our critics could live without the 41 new witnesses, seven eyewitnesses, 50,000 new documents and emails from the secretary of State and Ambassador Stevens. We could not. We will keep working until the last fact is uncovered.

I think Sean Smith’s mother can rest assured that Hillary and the president will not be shielded by America’s willful political amnesia.

CSPAN3 will be carrying the hearing beginning at 10:00 AM ET.  You can watch it at the link.

Hillary’s Popping Champagne Corks Right Now

“I never had an interest in being a mayor ’cause that’s a real job. You have to produce.  That’s why I was able to be a senator for 35 years.” Joe Biden

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Webb Drops Out: Only Loons And Liars Left In Dem Race For President

On this day in history, the House Un-American Activities Committee convened, to root out undercover Communism in Hollywood.  Fifty years later, the Communists run run the place and 49% of Democrats say they have a favorable opinion of socialism.

Despite Webb’s reputation for being a “conservative Democrat”, he voted as a party-line progressive Democrat and Harry Reid loyalist while he was in the Senate.

He evoked pity as he struggled for time to speak at last week’s Democratic Presidential debate.  His misfortune is that the DNC has rigged the nomination process to favor a slick lawyer grifter granny mired in scandal who lies like a rug. 

"I fully accept that my views on many issues are not compatible with the power structure of the Democratic Party,” Webb said in an interview today telling reporters that instead he will gauge support in the coming weeks for a possible White House bid as an independent candidate.

Jimbo, don’t waste your time.  If the Democrats wouldn’t give you the time of day before what makes you think things will be any different just because you dropped the D after your name?  He told the National Press Club he wasn’t going away.  Jim, honey, your last best option really is to go away and stay away. 

Joe Biden Said to be Close to Announcing Presidential Run

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She Cackles Like A Witch

The Ice Cube In Heels thinks she’s going to breeze through the debacle called Benghazi which, in another more just time, would have her in an orange jumpsuit. 

Why is she laughing?  What is wrong with this woman?  Does she think that everyone within the sound of her voice is on government medication?

An American ambassador is dead.  His residence was burned to the ground. Three other Americans are dead. 

To all the press poodles and sycophants of the Progressive Left saying the Benghazi hearing is a witch hunt, we say FOUND HER.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Donald Trump and the Spending Cuts of Doom

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Donald Trump's greatest strength is that he is a successful CEO. He's a tough negotiator who gets what he wants. Right? In a top down organization, like a private business, a CEO has the authority to get a lot of things done. That's why they pay him the big bucks. But, just exactly how will that translate into public service? I want to focus here on just once aspect of Mr. Trump's proposed leadership. 

Donald Trump told interviewer Chris Wallace that he would cut government agencies if he were to become president. "Slash" is the word I've heard him use more than once.
Chris Wallace: "Would you cut serve -- would you cut departments?" Trump: "No, I'm not cutting services, but I'm cutting spending. But I may cut Department of Education. I believe Common Core is a very bad thing. I believe that we should be — you know, educating our children from Iowa, from New Hampshire, from South Carolina, from California, from New York. I think that it should be local education. So the Department of Education is one. Environmental Protection, what they do is a disgrace. Every week they come out with new regulations."
Before we focus on the specifics, I want to take a small, anecdotal overview of government budgets: city, state and federal. See if you cannot identify with my analysis. The people in charge of whatever government agency, mayor, governor, county supervisor, comes before the taxpayer with the sad news that there is not enough money in the agency's coffers to cover everything in the budget, so we need to raise your taxes. These days, the peasants have to assent to having their taxes raised, so if the peasants revolt and do not volunteer to raise their own taxes, our betters in government have to take drastic action.

Now you may know, or at least suspect, that there is a certain amount of waste and fraud at every level of government spending. There are certain nonessential services that no one but a small circle of friends would miss. Is that where the cuts come? Of course not. What are the most visible and popular areas that interact with the public? Schools, police, fire, and libraries. Where do the most visible and drastic cuts take place? Extra points if you said "Schools, police, fire, and libraries".

I have seen this little kabuki dance take place at all levels of government. No matter how many times a candidate for office avers to eliminate waste and fraud*, once they are a part of the system, with a very few exceptions, the will to govern with fiscal responsibility evaporates faster than Michael Moore decimates an all you can eat buffet.

After an indeterminate period of time, having been inconvenienced or annoyed with the cutbacks in services, the people will usually,  begrudgingly pass some kind of district user fee or tax to ransom back those lost services, or simply learn to live without them.

Which brings us back to Mr. Trump. If you were the head of one of those departments that Mr. Trump proposes to cut, or "slash", what would your response be? I can tell you what I would do. If I were running the Department of Education, which in my estimation has not contributed anything positive to the education of the American schoolchild,  has been a colossal waste of money, and a boondoggle of the first order, I would do what bureaucrats from time immemorial have done, and slash the programs with the highest public visibility, and then, to further twist the knife, as soon as my budget was cut, I would begin to attribute every failing and shortcoming in my organization on budget cuts.

I would go to my willing co-conspirators in the media, who would paint the new Trump administration as anti-education, and anti-children. Remember when Newt Gingrich was Speaker of the House? Newt proposed devolving school lunch funding to the states. He proposed block granting MORE money to the states than they were currently getting. It was an act to decrease the power of the federal government. Democrats, who never met a dollar they didn't think was theirs, immediately responded by accusing Newt of "cutting money for school lunches" and "starving" school children. Their willing accomplices in the mainstream media picked up the mantra, and even though the reality Newt proposed was to give more money to school lunches, the public's perception was "mean, nasty Republicans hate kids and want to balance the budget on the backs of schoolchildren."

Toxic lies 1, truth 0.

Does anyone with greater than a room temperature IQ believe that "slashing" the Education budget will result in an outcome substantially different than the one I have described? And Trump proposes to do the same not to one, but to multiple agencies, who will all attribute any failures or shortcomings to a lack of funding and mean Republicans. (Not necessarily in that order).

There is an old maxim in life, to quote Emerson, "When you strike at a king, you must kill him." Meaning, if you merely wound him, he will have the power to retaliate. Better to eliminate the entire department than to leave a mechanism in place to actively lobby for their own self preservation, on the taxpayer's dime.

And that doesn't even get into the problem that the president can propose budget cuts, but as a coequal branch, spending bills originate in the House. Who also read polls. Could a president Trump persuade a majority of the House of Representatives and the Senate to make enemies of the education establishment and leave the remnant to run a propaganda war against them? I don't think so.

And that's the difference between a politician and a CEO. Different skill set. Different problems. Different realities. The rhetoric of "slashing budgets" may be red meat to his followers, but there's no guarantee that he will be able to successfully follow through.

*In 2008, candidate Barack Obama promised to go through the budget line by line to eliminate waste and fraud. Other than the military, can anyone name a single line item in any budget in the last seven years that Obama has proposed cutting?

Original art by John Cox. More at John Cox Art