To Arms!

So Much for the Truman Analogy

I've read here and there that Barack Obama's utter lack of a working life or practical experience are not serious impediments to a successful Presidency because, after all, Harry Truman was an untested, clueless, machine-politician and he did all right.

One look at the Obama cabinet is enough to squash that one. Truman may have been inexperienced in national politics but when he looked around that big table he saw George Marshall, Dean Acheson, James Forrestal and W.Averell Harriman. Obama on the other hand will be staring at Hillary Clinton, Tom Daschle, Janet Napolitano and Bill Richardson.

Heaven help us.

You Took the Words Right Out of my Mouth.

Just as I was sitting here over my second cup of coffee thinking how much Reid, Frank and Pelosi reminded me of Moe, Curly and Larry, the Jawa Report beats me to the metaphor. He has Schumer instead of Frank, but Chuckie makes a perfect Shemp.

These fools (and I mean that literally) will drive us all into poverty and then retire on their iron-clad, government guaranteed, inflation indexed pensions. I hope everyone who voted for Odumbo and the Corrupticrats takes a good long look around them...and then Google East Germany or 1970's Britain for a glimpse of your future.

Why isn't Barney Frank being ridden out of town on a rail for his insolent incompetence and his rank stupidity?

Why isn't Chris Dodd getting ready to shank Ted Stevens for the top bunk at Lorton?

The Markets Vote on Obama (3)

In the continuing referendum on the prospects of the American economy under an Obama/Pelosi/Reid regime, the Dow has taken out 8000. It also promises to be an ugly day in Europe and Asia. Make no mistake, there was no market failure here. A combination of social engineering regulation from the Democrat Congress and George Bush's massive entitlements expansion introduced market distortions that brought us to this point. The markets from New York to London to Hong Kong to Sydney are now predicting more of the same and worse. Obama's Clinton holdover cabinet, the Congress of Clowns and his own rank ignorance of what makes an economy function all point to a very painful decade.

As a sign of what's to be expected, 90 year old corruptocrat Robert Byrd is replaced by 84 year old corruptocrat Daniel Inouye as head of the Senate Appropriations Committee. These quotes from The Hill say it all:

Rather than give big speeches on the Senate floor or in committee hearings like his predecessor, the senior Hawaiian senator will strike a lot more deals in the backrooms.

Well that's a relief.

Many insiders regard him as a team player, often doing what the Democratic leadership wants but not shying away from telling his superiors to do what he thinks is right.

I feel much better now.

Inouye will hold the gavel of the powerful committee without his friend, whom he calls “brother.” Stevens was convicted on corruption charges and his reelection to his Senate seat is in doubt.

God help us.

Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution

I wonder if this chap has ever heard of Article 1, Section 8. The Congress shall have the power"To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;"

The Markets Vote (continued)

Markets aren't moved by vacuous words about hopeful audaciousness or audacious change, or hopefulness we can believe in. Markets are moved by tens of billions of individual decisions based on a hard look at a personal bottom line. The global markets have a held a two day referendum on an Obama administration and the results are in. Obo won and everybody else lost. Another 5% off the Dow was reflected by diving markets from London to Hong Kong. What are they pricing in? They're pricing in not just a full scale assault on the American economy by the Obama/Reid/Pelosi/Schumer/Rangel/Waxman economic know-nothings, they're pricing in the fact that Russia felt confident enough the day after the election to move missiles to the Polish border. They're pricing in the fact that the makers of global chaos have taken Obo's measure and decided, "Here is a man we can roll." They're pricing in the protectionism and statism that the Obo Administration will bring in. They're pricing in the fact a man who preached change has just brought in a sleazy Chicago political fixer to run his White House. The markets have voted no confidence. Welcome to the Nixon/Carter years.

The Markets Vote

The Dow has dropped 486 points as the markets begin to price in the reality, as opposed to the prospect, of an Obama/Reid/Pelosi assault on the economy.

Berlin 1932.

Redstate has a helpful little manifesto for surviving the coming winter. To it, I would add that the Republican Congressional leadership, McConnel, Boehner, all of them, must go.

And to all my compatriates who, for whatever reason, voted for Barack Obama. Well, you got your wish, I hope you're prepared for the winter to come...it's going be cold for Democrats, too.

I'm Talking to YOU, Eeyore.

A little advice for anti-Obamanists from some people who should know. Thank you, Hillbuzz.

Closer to Home: This is Ridiculous

Labour has long been "soft on crime". Daft would be a better word. It is simply wrong that a property owner cannot defend his property, his family even his life without fear of arrest. Clearly, Mr. Singh did not have benefit of legal counsel before he talked to the police.

Thus Spake Tito Munoz...

There is little better metaphor than this of the complete disconnect between the American left in general, the Democratic Party and Barack Obama on the won hand and the American people. Tito the Builder speaks truth to the propaganda arm of the Obama campaign:

“I support McCain, but I’ve come to face you guys because I’m disgusted with you guys,” he said. “Why the hell are you going after Joe the Plumber? Joe the Plumber has an idea. He has a future. He wants to be something else. Why is that wrong? Everything is possible in America. I made it. Joe the Plumber could make it even better than me. . . . I was born in Colombia, but I was made in the U.S.A.”

Apollo Rising

Art, even at its highest, is such a poor imitation of the handiwork of God. There are more pictures here.

Why the Pass?

Jonah Goldberg at the NRO asks, not unreasonably, why Obama gets off so easy compared with "the four white guys" who preceded him as teh Democrat's nominee. Goldberg is talking specifically about the criticism that Oboomboom is some kind of world citizen rather than an American, with a point of view centered somewhere between LA and Manhattan, rather somewhere between Prague and Paris. The GOP and much of the press raised the cosmopolitan issue with varying degrees of success about Dukakis, Clinton, Gore and Kerry.

The broader question though is the unprecedented free ride that Obama gets both from the opposing party and from the press on every issue that cuts against him. I'm prepared to wager that no candidate for head of government in any democratic country has ever been elected with so little scrutiny as has Obama.

The "Debate": Be Still My Beating Heart.

Will either of these two zombies be moved off their stump speeches?

Schieffer: subject is domstic policy (yawn: Obbi repeats welfare promise, McC will try to out-welfare him).

I hope McC calls Obbi on the tax breaks. They're what used to be called to welfare. I'll bet he doesn't.

McC goes first. Straight into stump speech. Fannie/Freddy. Will he name names? Frank, Dodd, Cox? No. Of course not. Back to the mortgage buyout. Yawn. Nothing new.

Obbi-wan: Straight into the stump speech. I wonder if there's anything on Animal Planet.

McC: Going after Obbi's exchange with the plumber in Ohio. McC is right, but just not making the case. He's doing the Palin thing..talking strtaight to the camera.

Obbi: Doesn't answer. No one will care. There he goes on the 95%. If McC doesn't jump on this he deserves to lose. Obbi is flat out lying about what he said to the plumber. Come on...it was only a couple of days ago...go to the video. I saw it myself.

Mc C: A little more animated. Joe the Plumber, Bob the Builder. Can we spend it, yes we can!

Obbi: First to mention Warren Buffett. Too early in my time zone to drink, but here's a virtual shot.

McC: Americans pay second highest taxes in the industrialised countries. Why raise them more?

Schiffer: What will you cut?
Obbi: doesn't answer, Schieffer dings him. Obbi says give me a minute. Line by line, page by page, cut programs that don't work. Uh-huh. We've never heard that before. Note to candidates: There is no such thing as a line item veto. Still no answer. I gotta see a man about a horse.

McC: I'll veto EVERY earmark. Every one? Come on.

Obbi: Still nothing specific. Big deficit, running against W. Here we go again.

McC: Finally calls Obbu on it. "If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago." Good line, wish he'd used it before.

Obbi is telling some outrageous porkies. "I'm for clean coal." "I opposed the trial lawyers on tort reform" "I opposed the teachers' unions on charter schools." None of that is true.

Leadership. Schiffer opens the door for McC to bring up Ayers/Wright/ACORN.
McC: Obama wouldn't face me early. Regret negative aspects. Skips Ayers, attacks John Lewis. Will Obbi repudiate JL? Goes after Obbi's flip-flops.

Obbo: "Nyah, nyah, I can't heeaaarrr you." Running against Bush again. Didn't repudiate Lewis. Nada.

McC: Sounds like he had his coffee this morning. No repudiation of Lewis, Obbi?

Obbi" I can't believe the Obbo gets away with calling black/white (was that racist?). He completely denies that Lewis was out of line. He's not going to talk about it. OK, Obbi himself has raised Ayers...

McC: He's pretty good now. Pissed off without getting murder in his eye.

Obbi: Can we change the subject please? What a spineless wanker this guy is.

McC: Finally. Ayers an "old washed-up terrorist" good combination of contempt and seriousness. Quotes Hillary.

Obbi: Talks about Ayers. I was eight years old. Barely no the guy.

Yeah, yeah and I wasn't born when Hitler was around, so can I be a Nazi?

Obbi: Acorn has nothing to do with us. Oh yeah? How about that quarter-mil.
Obbi is very clearly not happy talking about this. Looks shifty for the first time in the campaign.

Why Biden is better than Palin?

Obbi: Because he agrees with me. Right.
In the immortal words of Popeye the Sailor: Had all I can stands, I can't stands no more

Obama Cult of Personality Watch 2

Dear Leader wannabe's embryonic cult of personality contiues to develop aided by a compliant media, useful idiots in the conservative camp and a generation of Americans stupified by television and indoctrinated by the academy. First it was Camp Obama, then the adoring German masses, then the obvious and profound contempt for democracy, then the Obama brownshorts (oops, that's brownshirts) at Acorn. Now he's in a middle school literature textbook. Fifteen pages. I'll bet Shakespeare doesn't rate that. He and his bitter half could end up as our own Nicolae and Elena Ceucescu.

How Did I Miss This?

I'm not sure how I missed this when it first came out. I just saw it on The Black Republican.

Pricing Socialism Into the Markets.

Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc. To assume that because B follows A that A therefore caused B is a logical fallacy. But logic does not of rule out a causal relationship between A and B, only that such a a relationship must be demonstrated and not assumed.

Is anyone out there asking whether the markets are tanking not in spite of the efforts of various governments, but because of those efforts? Is it not possible, likely even, that the markets are pricing in the dead weight of government "oversight"? Is it not possible, likely even, that the financial markets, which represent the sum of tens of billions of individual self-interested decisions, are voting no-confidence in the ability of governments to "manage" the economy? Is it not possible that the market has weighed and counted the real costs of relying on the goodwill and competence of the State and reacted accordingly? Mene, mene, tekel upharsin.

Just asking.

I See Dead People, oops those are Racists.

Michelle Malkin in a syndicated piece at NRO has a hysterical send up of the race card playing on behalf of BHO. It's morphed into self parody.

Wearing white - racist. Referring to Obbi as "that one"-racist, associating Obama with WIlliam Ayers - racist, Talking about "hockey moms" - racist. Making reference to Odumbo's "career" as a community organizer-racist. By these standards of course not only is all criticism of the Obamessiah racist, but merely disagreeing with The One marks the forehead with a scarlet R.

McCain-Obama "Debate"

And here they come. McCain in his red tie, Obama in his blue. Was that prearranged? If McCain doesn't find a way to nail Obbi on his idiotic economic plans, he deserves to lose.

First question on the economy. Obama won the coin toss. Good sign, BHO is running against Bush. Calling for oversight, cracking down on CEO's. The question was how to get the economy up and running quickly. Obbi says middle class tax cut, fix this, fix that, no specifics,. It's his stump speech.

McC.: Doing his town hall thing walks right over to the crowd. Stop sending money to OPEC. Getting specific. RTC solution purchase mortgages directly, write down to positive equity. Not my preferred choice...sounds a little lame really.

Brokaw: Who will be your Secretary of Treasury? They aren't going to answer that and it's a waste of time. McC mentions Warren Buffett (Christ almighty), Obbi goes along he likes WB too. Yeah, yeah.

Q2: Bailout. McC needs to sound a lot more confident. Here he goes after Fannie & Freddie. Referes to "Obama & his cronies". Name names, will ya? "Some members of Congress". Follow up. Obbi, Dodd, Frank,....

BHO: Obbi-= crdit crunch still exists. He dodges. He's still running against W. He says he warned about the problem a year ago. Oops. Screw up. Pointing out that McC's bill didn't pass. That's the point, fool. Will McC jump on that?

Obbi on followup: back to his stump speech. Talking about "modernizing" regulation? Huh?

McC: Back to the buy-out mortgage idea. Now back to the stump speech. We're No. 1 rah, rah, rah.

Q3: How can we trust you with with our money? Obbi takes out after W again. Loser's game. Here he goes, government spends too much money and I'm going to spend more. Then he says he's going to cut spending. Which is it?

McC: He's trying to make Obbi count it up. This isn't going to change anybody's mind. We all know BHO is a big spender. Problem is that ALL of you are big spenders. If you don't see any reason to vote for McC, you won't see one now either. McC pointing out that the 700B we send to OPEC is exactly enough to cover the Bailout. Drill, gas, wind, solar, ....

Obbi-More government money to subsidise energy research. McC needs to call him on the spend more/spend cut paradox. Sheez, he's even using McC's "line by line" speech. Says McC will give money to oil companies. So who's going to get Obbi's subsidy? Ben & Jerry's?

Thirty minutes in. Neither of these guys has gone beyond the same script they've been on for a year.

Obbi-we're going to bring car manufacturing back to America. OK, but why? I'm going to double the Peace Corps. Maybe the Peace Corps volunteers could work in the auto plants. Yawn.

Is there any point to this? It's just the same old, same old. I'll be back if either of them says anything new.

McC: Nothing new. Climate change kool-aid time. McC goes nuclear. Finally. He sounds like Obbi, we can do it, yes we can.

Obbi: This (climate change) is one of the biggest challenges of our time. He confuses the invention of the computer with the development of the Internet. At least he didn't give credit to Algore. I'll subsidise a "new green engine." Yeah, yeah, how about a phaser gun and transporter booth while we're at it.

Brokaw is pathetic. Send him back to Old Hacks' Home.

Now McC is running against, I kid you not, "Bush and Cheney". Drill here, drill now.

Cue Twilight Zone Theme

The Dear Leader just gets, well it's overused but apt, creepier and creepier.