Am I Dreaming

Even in Texas, I still love to gripe about the media bias of the local major metropolis Fishwrapper. They are lock, stock and welfare check aligned with the "fairness" movement. They fill the front page with little news and lots of human interest about the poor, former drug-user, five children (four fathers) welfare mom whose various stipends don't let her live the life she deserves.

That  is why I'm seriously stunned this morning with this:

Dallas Morning News Endorses Romney!

Sunday opinion section, full column, supporting rationale! What will occur next in this magical new world?

Saturday Morning Rocker

It's the Stupid Economy

Americans generally don't relate well to economics. The simple relationship of supply/demand to price is overly contentious. The idea of a price being related to value rather than fairness is dissonant with regard to American education. Want proof? Ask what the minimum wage should be.

Then ask what business the government has getting between a buyer of labor and a seller of labor.

You won't get good answers.

So, here's what we might get from next week's debate:

It's Somebody Else's Fault

Yeah, right! But America will be buying. Hook, line, sinker.

In Other Words

Romney didn't describe it "elegantly" but here's another expression of exactly what he was talking about. It is what makes America great...isn't it?

There Are No Coincidences

The double-entendre is a comic artform, but when you are talking about a high-school class and you are the vice-president of the United States, a bit of discretion is in order.

Cheerleaders Amaze Him

And to stuff two off-color wink-winks into the same sentence is incredible.

Saturday Morning Rocker

I doubt they've got a Michelin *** restaurant there:

Ooops!

Coincidence highlights poor choices:

Shifting the Focus

Half drowsing yesterday afternoon I let the channel changes lapse and found myself sort of listening to The Five, a panel of pseudo-pundits offering semi-humorous, occasionally penetrating, long-legged stiletto-heeled time-killing for an hour before the nightly news.

The topic, naturally was the Romney statement regarding the 47% of Americans who pay no federal income tax. It quickly provided a lesson in how to high-jack a fact and confuse the boobousie. The resident liberal, foul-mouthed hyper-opinionator Bob Beckel, quickly brought out that most of these people pay payroll taxes, i.e. Social Security and Medicare. Yes, they also pay sales tax if they buy something. How irrelevant must it be to count?

Then Beckel jumped into the "dependency" aspect of those 47% who pay no income tax and collect a government stipend of some sort. He dumped the elderly drawing Social Security, the sick drawing Medicare benefits and veterans into the mix.

His assertion for you to accept was that these folks pay no income tax and are going to be thrown under the Bentley in a Romney administration.

Let us quickly dismiss SS recipients and Medicare beneficiaries. Social Security recipients pay income tax. I am and I do. Medicare beneficiaries pay income tax. Certainly some low income SS and Medicare folks don't pay, but as a class you can't throw the whole cohort into the argument...unless you are Beckel.

But my real scream came with "veterans". Beckel is probably the least qualified on the panel to speak of veteran issues, but he quickly threw all vets into the mix as recipients of government largess and by association non-taxpayers.

Memo to Beckel:

A "veteran" is not a military retiree. A military retiree does not receive an "entitlement". We receive deferred compensation we were contracted for during our extended careers in service of our country. We pay a lot of income tax.

A "veteran" served his/her country, but has no associated entitlement. The great majority of veterans are productive, working and tax-paying citizens. The very limited entitlements of veterans are largely associated with qualified (service-connected) medical assistance. Not all vets are qualified, not all vets need such care, and not all who receive it are non-taxpayers.

The associative leap from the 47% who pay not income tax to a group which receives a government entitlement to a group which is characterized by neither attribute is very typical of the left liberal argument style.

Look for it. Question everything.

That Time Again!

Don't ya dare to forget it you scurvy lubber or the plank will be your footpath and the dining table of the sharks will be your future.



It's "National Talk Like A Pirate Day" so be sure to leave someone somewhere thinking you are totally daft!

Daring To Speak The Truth

It is a fact. Nearly half of all Americans don't pay any federal income tax. Of course they pay other taxes. They can't avoid sales tax or getting a required license or local property taxes. Many pay Social Security and  Medicare and many don't pay those either. But the number of those paying no income tax will fall between 47 and 51%. That is an unfortunate fact.

Now, given that a person is in that number, would they be for or against raising taxes on those who DO PAY income tax? Would they be supportive of more or less government spending on entitlements (whatever those are these days)? Would they be more or less likely to vote for The Great Promiser?

So, why then does this get notice or response or even questioning?

Romney, In MAY, Said The Truth

Then to torture the language to imply that Romney has "written off" those dependent people highlights the problem. Bringing those people into the productive economy through free market opportunity isn't "writing them off" unless you are actively building a society of serfdom.

A Sign of the Times

Around the world Muslim nations have got their freak on, rising from their trash strewn ghettos and taking to the dirty streets of their third-world cities to scream "Death to America!" I mean seriously, what are the odds?

Here's the question for Americans: "Who do you trust?"

Obama Tool Says Spontaneous, Libyan President Says Planned

So, do you believe your own government or does the Libyan make more sense?

Is it just a coincidence that all of this kicked off on the anniversary of 9/11? Are the jungle drums loud enough to activate all of the Muslim world simultaneously just by accident?

And how strong a foreign policy credential is this mayhem for the incumbent?

Better Choices of Words

A "valiant battle" is often in the mix when the obit is written. A "long fight" is common terminology. But that is little more than rhetoric. It isn't a battle and it isn't heroic. It simply is what it is. You live life. You deal with what you face. You do the best you can. A lot of us survive and a lot of us don't. It's not much more than that.

There are choices, of course. You can curl up in a corner somewhere and whimper to yourself about the injustice you've suffered. But most of us don't. We listen to the doctor. We weigh the options. We do what we think is best and we wait for a positive outcome. Increasingly with modern medicine the outcome is more positive than negative.

This is a woman who has dealt with advanced ovarian cancer. She is intelligent and her view of the language we use regarding the "battle" is spot on from my perspective.

Don't Call Her "Survivor"

So, I'll just eat my flaxseeds and keep on keeping on. It works so far.

Saturday Morning Weirdness

It's been that kind of week. You do read the news, don't you?

Time for some Zappa:

Gotta Go To Vegas...

The news this morning isn't surprising. It was inevitable based on a foreign policy of indecisiveness and without awareness of our actual power. They kill our ambassador and burn our facilities and we simply nod wisely and say  we understand their rage.

Meanwhile Iran continues apace and when our strongest, longest, most capable ally in the region comes to call, the President "won't be in town at the same time"...but he can fit Letterman into his schedule.

If you wondered about an October Surprise, you can begin to focus on what is coming.



"Ya know, this Presidenting stuff is harder than I thought it would be! Michelle, where do you want to eat while we're in Vegas?"

Democratic View of Education

Yes, it is necessary for the federal bureaucracy to "fix" education. They must be the solution since it is very apparent that the traditional local government model for public schools is incapable of getting beyond unions, tenure, and nanny-ism.

$76K Before Bennies Not Adequate

Of particular note in the Chicago saga is this:

School officials said they will open more than 140 schools between 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. so children can eat lunch and breakfast in a district where many students receive free meals.

Whatever happened to breeders (aka "parents") feeding their progeny? Does that leave any doubt about how society is evolving?

Meanwhile the Chicago Police Department is going into full activation mode to keep the city from a melt-down as 400,000 unsupervised kids hit the streets for a little bit of extra-curricular gang-banging.

Don't they look like just the sort of educational role-model you would like educating your children?

On The Streets of New York City

Yes, this is New York City, the cultural bastion of America and by extension the entire world. This is where we have gone and other than the bronze swords and a tribune marching ahead with a fasci, it seems very reminiscent of a society in serious and terminal decline. (Caution, strong language and content.):

Flaunting It

We know that there are more than 12 million illegal immigrants in this country. It is a fact and we need to deal with it, but this is something which needs to be examined carefully.

The illegal involved in the process of candidate selection for our Presidency:



OK, I'll accept that she's an illegal brought here by her parents. Valedictorian of her high school class at sixteen? Where? How big a school? What criteria?

Double major graduate from college? What school? What majors?

Obama fought for the DREAM Act which was defeated by our Constitutional legislative process and so he circumvents unconstitutionally and she loves it!

And, that education she thanks Obama for? Well, in Texas it was our Governor Rick Perry who recognized that we don't do much good for ourselves by denying education to college-age young people such as this woman. It was Texas policy, not Obama that gave her as an illegal the eligibility for in-state tuition rates. Credit where due regardless of whether you agree with the policy is appropriate.

And, just between you and me, don't those liberal woman seem overly-nourished on those food stamps?

Saturday Morning Rocker

Not just Edgar Winter...

Who You Going to Believe?

Yes, Mr. Vice-President, we've turned the corner. The new unemployment rate has dropped from 8.3% to 8.1% and that's good news. But the fine print says that isn't because people have gone back to work. It is because they've dropped out of the market.

At that rate, if we can just get another million or so to finally acknowledge that a free government check is easier than working, we can have unemployment down in the low sevens by election day.

Less Than 100k Jobs "Created" Yet Rate Drops

Four more years? You've gotta be kidding!

Start With A One Car Parade...

We are seeking leadership to run what was once the undisputed greatest nation in the world. We've given someone four years to grasp the reins and demonstrate capability. Admittedly some of the administration has less than relevant qualifications, but at least they are diverse and ideologically committed. Credit where due must be given.

But, now we're watching how they organize, coordinate and executive a four day event. This is not like a blank sheet of paper activity. The first Democratic Party National Convention was held in 1832. They've managed it (with a bit of a break during the Civil War--where they fought to preserve slavery!) every four years. So, you've got an Operations Order shell to work from. Simply update, evaluate, implement and walk away with a five point or more bounce in the polls.

This is, of course, unless you put your incompetence on display for the world to see. No matter how many times you bring the Georgetown Mattress-Thrasher to the stage, you don't win when you broadcast three voice votes and three TV live shots of huge numbers of your base screaming against the inclusion of "God" in the platform. Not Christ or Allah or Yaweh, just God as "In God We Trust"!

Then your reach far exceeds your grasp with a grandiose massive Roman Coliseum triumph that you cancel because of purported safety concerns. In the process you look like a fool, offend huge numbers of your base who expected to be in the audience in return for their labors, and you are left with a paste-up final climax drastically down-sized and tragically without balloons.

So, we've got huge failure on a four day scripted party. You want to entrust the economy, foreign affairs, the environment, energy policy, security and defense to these guys?

They need some training first like a one-car parade, then maybe work on two...

The Truth Peeks Out

I seldom get wrapped around an axle over whether or not someone publicly expresses their faith. I'm a wholesaler in religion. I tend to eschew the retailers and middle-men, some of whom seek excessive markups on the product and others who don't seem to embrace the value they wish you to buy.

But I deeply respect folks who base their lives on their morality and religion. That is why it is always prudent to avoid stepping on those toes and remembering that their belief does nothing to alter or diminish mine. I commune with my God in my way and they do so in theirs.

That is why this kerfuffle in the Democratic Party platform seems like such an easy pothole to have driven around. But, they didn't. And it got noticed.

And then the Messiah got dragged in and with the usual blundering they denied that he knew about it, suggested he disagreed with, got caught that he had vetted the omissions and then staunchly stood to correct it. That's leadership from behind in its boldest form!

In The Opinion of The Chair You Are Boobs!

Live TV. The Messiah wants it corrected. The poster-boy Latino from Texas presides. The motion is on the table and then the rank and file of the Democratic Party publicly and clearly show that in significant numbers they can't live with the word "God".

But, in good Democratic parliamentarian fashion the chair takes the outcome and paints it in pastels for the record.

Gotta love it!

The Queen of Hearts...

It means whatever she wants it to mean at the time. Don't be bothered by facts. Nobody in the electorate will check. Simply say it loud and say it proud. It will become truth regardless of reality.

A Few Embellishments Along The Way

And possibly the biggest of the Big Lies is to accuse your opposition of the lie while you are the one actually doing it:

California Dem Party Chief Channels Goebbels

Is there a glimmer of hope for that golden city on the hill which Reagan saw?

So, now we've got California offering Goebbels, Kansas linking Hitler, and S.C. bringing in Eva Braun. These are leading spokespersons for the DNC, not dumbos on the street corner. This is the level of political debate which they offer.

Our Governor Like Eva Braun...

Are you impressed yet?

The Limits of Command

You can require attendance. You can tell them where to sit. You can prescribe the uniform of the day. But there are still some things which can't be mandated.

Silence Greets Pseudo-CINC Photo-Op

You can't get a HOOOHA that you don't deserve.

Devil In The Details

I loved the idea of a three year tour of duty in the military. You got three years in a job to make a difference and then before you institutionalized yourself, you had to pack up and go someplace else to face a new challenge. It is an effective model.

But, no system is perfect. The rotational model also harbors the change-for-its-own-sake problem. You have to make an impression, so you add a layer of supervision, revise a record format, impose a new requirement or institute a secondary group of inspections. No net gain in productivity or mission accomplishment, but you did something and it could be noted on the performance report. Attaboy!

I watch SWMBO in her daily dealings with the speech therapy administration in public schools. We get the federal bureaucracy adding requirements in forms, reports, condition coding, status statements, mandatory meetings, follow-up validations, etc. Eventually it leads to all bureaucracy all the time...and no time for actual therapy for students.

Here we've got Sen. Bill Frist, M.D. looking at the panacea which the no-nothings of Congress insist will cut healthcare costs and improve services while not costing providers a bit of inconvenience or compensation. Logically enough, the solution is much worse than the cure:

So You Think You Get Well Through Paperwork?

Doctors work hard to heal patients. Patients want care, not a detailed record of why they succumbed to their ailments. Why can't Congress figure that out?

Saturday Morning Music

It's still the best: