Thursday, April 30, 2009

Finally, Some Good News For Republicans

You're all gonna get new hats.




Wear them proudly.

It's The Fight In The Dog

WisGOP Chair Reince Preibus has his hands full these days. Not only is he facing a hard-hitting primary fight in the GOP Governor's race in which at least one candidate is certain to go ugly early, now he's putting out fires for his part time job.
Wisconsin GOP chairman Reince Priebus, a Steele supporter, is circulating a
letter warning against "this hostile attempt to embarrass and neuter the
chairman of the RNC."

Preibus, whose track record is less than stellar in staewide races, thought it would ad gravitas to his meager resume if he was one of the transition leaders for RNC Chair Michael Steele. As you may have heard Steele has not had an easy time of it, what with his tendency to shoot first and ask later and his acrimonious relationship with the losers for his position. (These are people who don't deal well with elections and turn-taking.)

Now the very serious people are coming for Steele's authority to enter contracts as part of the job he was elected to do. Oh yeah, and to prove their gravitas in the political arena they've decided to entrench their name calling.
Steele has already lost one fight going into the special May 20 RNC meeting:
Sufficient signatures have been gathered to vote on a resolution calling for the
Democratic Party to be renamed the "Democrat Socialist Party," even though
Steele had already
advised against it.
Yesterday we learned that there is a move afoot to "rebrand" the GOP, perhaps as something other than big-government bumblers. And the faces of the "NEW" GOP? Same old, same old. John McCain (Who was asked by party boss Limbaugh to not let the door hit him in the backside,) Haley Barbour, and Mitt Romney. Those names just scream, "New identity," don't they?

So pity young Reince. He's grabbed the gold ring in the national arena and it appears to have come with a short expiration date.

He'll be spending this weekend soothing and smoothing and begging Neumann not to go all medieval on Scott Walker just for the sake of beating him like a rented mule. Meanwhile Walker will be twisting arms if they hold a straw poll because he knows a defeat to Neumann, who has yet to formally announce, would be the beginning of the end.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

TaiPing Now SinKing

You can't make some of this up.
A replica of a Ming Dynasty Chinese sailing ship sank off the coast of
Taiwan after it was rammed by a freighter, but its sailors were rescued,
relatives of Hawaii-based crew members said Monday.


The 54-foot Princess TaiPing, a replica of a Chinese junk built in
Taiwan, was on the return leg of a trip that had taken it to ports on the U.S.
West Coast.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Channelling Bobby Bare

Now this broken back was a dyin' act of a handsome Harry
Clay

That sticky Cincinnati night I stole his wife away
But that woman she gets uglier, and she gets meaner every
day

But I got her, boy, and that make me a winner

Specter flips. Coleman flops. Dems hit 60

Let The Games Begin


Scott Walker kicks off his next Quixotic campaign for a different job than the one he holds at rallies all this week. (Wasn't that the knock the R's put on Falk when she ran for AG?) Just ten days ago Walker's people said there was no rush, that there were no plans to announce a candidacy.
So what happened? Mark Neumann has jumped into the race. Neumann, a former US Congressman from Wisconsin's First District, may be the only person who can force Walker to run to his right in the primary. Walker was forced to Tweet his candidacy in the dead-news slot on Friday afternoon. Wisconsin had all weekend to ask, "Who?"
As this Neverending Campaign starts its 19 month slogging march let us refresh the message that Walker will offer on the stump. "Wisconsin sucks. It's too hard. I can't. I won't. Wisconsin sucks. Doyle is bad. No, we can't. If we improve things now the people will expect things to keep getting better. We can't have that. Wisconsin sucks."
Instead of roaring off into the Wisconsin sunset on his Harley-sponsored, taxpayer-funded statewide campaign swing I suggest that Walker just takes wing on his mighty Falcor and continues his never-ending quest for relevance outside the reach of WTMJ.
Thanks, Sis for the pic.

Unconscionable

Stupid action, badly conceived, poorly executed, sending the wrong message at a bad time.
"The good news is it was nothing more than an inconsiderate, badly
conceived and insensitive photo op with the taxpayers' money," Bloomberg said,
echoing the comments of Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer and other New York
officials.


The director of the White House Military Office, Louis Caldera,
said New York and New Jersey officials had been notified about “mission,” though
he acknowledged it had caused “confusion and disruption.”


The Lovely Mrs Circumstance asked, "Why didn't they just PhotoShop it and be done with it?"

I'm sure that the airtime can be justified as ongoing training flights. We need to be sure that our best pilots stay current and sharp. But why in the name of all that's good and right would they fly a Low and Slow over NYC?

What's The Most Important Part Of A Coal Mine Other Than The Coal Itself?

Shaft
- By the Ukelele Orchestra Of Great Britain



h/t Kim Nash

Monday, April 27, 2009

Those Pesky Russkies Draw The Line At Giant Clown Shoes

They're willing to allow him to
"dress[..] himself first while walking on a wire, then within a hoop of fire,
and play[..] a drum-kit, trumpet and double-bass all at the same time."

But they won't let him wear the shoes.
...a week last Saturday when, while wearing the shoes, he fell from a
10ft-high wire, hurting his left foot.


He continued with the show in Liverpool's Sefton Park but was still
in pain and when he went to hospital later that evening he was told he had
broken his metatarsal bone.


Of course, it's all the fault of the size 18 shoes.
Roll up, roll up! The health and safety circus has come to town.

And it has made one clown very sad indeed.

Valerik Kashkin has been told by his bosses that he can no longer
wear his giant comedy shoes because they are a health risk.


When clown shoes are outlawed, only outlaws will wear clown shoes.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

A Vignette From The Life Of A Man Of A Certain Age


Standing in one of the smaller rooms of the house in the middle of the night, the voice of Yoda rings in his head, "Do or do not…there is no try!"


Ah, well.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Snarkariffic!

From Josh at TPM:
Can we now say that the
Israelis, the Palestinians
and the Texans
are ready for a two-state solution?

Thursday, April 23, 2009

It's Hard To Be A Wingnut #3

They have to believe that President Obama is a jackbooted Fascist bent on enslaving us all and trampling those who get in his way while being too mushy to keeping torturing people, which we really never did anyway.

A Chilling Effect

Well, yes.

If you criminalize legal findings that justify human rights violations and contravene our country's basic moral tenets that should have a chilling effect on legal findings that justify human rights violations and contravene our country's basic moral tenets.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Quick Questions

What is up with Nancy Grace and why does she have a public presence? I was just unlucky enough to see four seconds of one of her...whatever it is that she does and I was devoutly unimpressed.

Wasn't that New York special election supposed to be some sort of referendum on Michael Steele's effectiveness? What's happened to that idea?

Now that Scott Walker has announced his intention to announce his intention to run three weeks after his supporteers denounced Democrats for denouncing him even thouigh he wasn't running and Mark Neumann isn't running yet but Tommy!'s team is supporting him for when he does announce that he'll be announcing that he's running (breathe) does it start to look as if outstate Republicans are being roundly ignored? If the R's keep throwing up candidates from Milwaukee (trust me Waukesha and Merton are indistinguishable from Milwaukee) are they just blowing smoke at the process?

President Obama Bows To, And Shakes Hands With, Foreign Pooch

Rightwingers go batscat nutz.


I'm Glad He Cleared That Up: Rednecks With Money Edition

Everyone "must wear pants and boots to ride the horses."

Monday, April 20, 2009

City Reorganization Agenda Tuesday 4/21

Common Council Meeting
Tuesday, April 21, 2009, 6:30 p.m.
Organizational Meeting
City Hall, 31 South Madison Street, Evansville, WI

AGENDA

1. Call to order.

2. Administer Oath of Office to Ald. Jacobson, Ald. Cothard, Ald. Roberts, Ald. Wessels, and Ald. Culbertson.

3. Roll call of new Council.

4. Nomination and election of Council President.

5. Motion to appoint The Review as the City of Evansville’s official newspaper for a term of one year.

6. Motion to waive the seven-day notice on aldermanic and citizen appointments.

7. Committee Aldermanic Appointments.
A. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointments of Ald. Cothard as Chair and Ald. Braunschweig and Ald. Roberts as committee members to the Finance and Labor Relations Committee.
B. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointment of Ald. Braunschweig to the Plan Commission.
C. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointment of Ald. Roberts to the Plan Commission.
D. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointments of Ald. Cothard as Chair and Ald. Culbertson and Ald. Ringhand as committee members to the Water and Light Committee.
E. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointments of Ald. Jacobson and Ald. Wessels to the Evansville Fire District Board, and Ald. Wyse and Ald. Cothard as alternates.
F. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointments of Ald. Braunschweig as Chair and Ald. Ringhand and Ald. Culbertson as committee members to the Public Works committee.
G. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointments of Ald. Wyse and Ald. Culbertson as committee members to the Economic Development Committee.
H. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointment of Ald. Ringhand as Chair to the Park and Recreation Board.
I. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointments of Ald. Roberts as Chair and Ald. Wessels and Ald. Jacobson to the Public Safety Committee.
J. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointments of Ald. Jacobson and Ald. Wyse as committee members to the Redevelopment Authority, currently suspended.
K. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointment of Ald. Wessels to the Historic Preservation Commission.
L. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointment of Ald. Ringhand to the Evansville-Union Implementation Committee.
M. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointment of Ald. Wyse as special Council liaison to the Library Board.

8. Citizen Committee Appointments.
A. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointment of Carol Endres, 407 Badger Drive, for a three-year term to the Plan Commission.
B. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointments of Diane Bailly, 680 West Main Street, for a five-year term, and Sharel Surles, 125 Deanna Drive, as alternate for a five-year term to the Board of Review.
C. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointment of Steve Hagen, 420 West Main Street, for a five-year term to the Police Commission.
D. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointment of John Decker, 143 West Main Street, for a five-year term to the Redevelopment Authority, currently suspended.
E. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointments of Gene Bass, 8328 N. Cemetery Road, and Roger Berg, 6508 Ron Road, for three-year terms to the Economic Development Committee.
F. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointments of Ron Carlsen, 523 Porter Road, and Richard Modaff, 103 South Third Street, for three-year terms to the Park and Recreation Board.
G. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointments of Johanna Lema, 275 Franklin Street, and Eloise Eager, 401 Badger Drive, for three-year terms to the Library Board.
H. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointment of Gilbert Skinner, 263 Garfield Avenue, for a five-year term to the Housing Authority.
I. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointments of Betsy Ahner, 66 North Water Street, Richard Modaff, 103 South Third Street, and John Decker, 143 West Main Street, for two-year terms to the Historic Preservation Commission.
J. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointments of Bill Hammann, 250 Eager Court, as Plan Commission member for a one-year term, and John Sornson, 249 Franklin Street, as citizen member for a two-year term to the Evansville-Union Implementation Committee.
K. Motion to approve the Mayoral appointment of Sandi Konkel, 340 Lincoln Street, for a three-year term on the Youth Center Advisory Committee.

9. Motion to adjourn.

Sandra J. Decker, Mayor

Requests from persons with disabilities who need assistance to participate in this meeting should be made to the Clerk’s office by calling 882-2266 with as much advance notice as possible.

Please turn off all cell phones while the meeting is in session. Thank you.

Evansville's Ties To ZooAtlanta

From HelloAtlanta.com
The Grant Park Zoo was established in 1889 from the remnants of a traveling
circus that had run afoul of its unpaid employees. "
Popcorn George" Hall sold his menagerie to a local lumber merchant, George Gress. The
animals became the centerpiece of the zoo in a 131-acre park donated to the city
by developer Lemuel P. Grant in 1883. Gress later purchased The Battle of
Atlanta, now housed in
The Cyclorama next to the zoo.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

It's Got To Be Hard To Be A Wingnut #2

You've got to believe that it's evil enough to give taxpayer dollars to private businesses that you're willing to march on the Capitol and at the same time believe that the state is evil for not getting in a bidding war and cutting huge incentive checks to private businesses.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Heh? Pirates, Sir! Lincoln Park Pirates

Just cause there's never enough Steve Goodman on a weekend. Forgive the quality. Somebody pirated this off a Dr Demento broadcast, apparently.


Check Your Numbers Again

Mark Block called the little get together in Madison last Wednesday, "The largest assembly of taxpayers in Wisconsin history."

Let's be charitable and go with the estimate of 6000 tea partiers. Then consider this stat.
The average home game attendance for the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2007 -
2008 season was 15,595 fans (22nd in the league).
That puts Pompador Paul and crew well down in the league. Block's bunch couldn't even draw the biggest group of taxpayers in Wisconsin this week.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Yankees Open New Stadium With A Loss

Indians won't play along.

Top ticket price is $2625. Babe Ruth made $80,000 in 1930. That would just barely buy 6 of the Yankees 41 game ticket packages at $12,950.

Joe T. of 147th St threw out the first F-Bomb 12.5 seconds after the gates opened.

"Masterson, I had you in my big-time book. Now I suppose I'll have to reclassify you — under shills and decoys".

Fox anchor goofs and speaks the truth.




What she said was,
"You know Brent, it's been interesting because Fox News (sic) covered these Tea
Parties, and we were one of the only organizations to give it any publicity or
p.r. prior to the fact that it happened,..."
I wonder if they'll have to declare that as an in-kind donation to FreedomWorks

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Because I Can't Leave Comments On Your Blog

Yes. The City has a Planner. He doesn't do what you think he does and he's not full-time. The high school class can't do the work either. Sorry.

4K is not causing Janesville School's money troubles. 4K actually generates a little revenue.

Thanks for listening.

Top Ten Reasons Texas Secession Is Bad Idea

10) Having to listen to Stephen Colbert crow about the Border Patrol station at Colbert, OK North of Denison.

9) Kicking their backsides again will play hob with their self-esteem.

8) Drastic reduction in America's reserves of scrub wasteland and smug exterminators.

7) Pesky parade of big hair trying to jump the fence to get to American beauty products.

6) Listening to Eagles fans whine about having two games a year in a foreign country where none of them speak the language.

5) Shrimp grits becomes exotic foreign food instead of inedible crap.

4) Massive Federal deficit spending on foreign aid every time Galveston gets wiped off the sand bar.

3) Waiting for fire ants and killer bees to cross another international border.

2) Richard Linklater will be insufferable if he finds out he's directing foreign films.

1) It'll be a pain in the ass to invade every time somebody wants take-out brisket from The Salt Lick.

Thanks for the laughs, Tom and Rick.

It's Got To Be Hard To Be A Wingnut

After you work so hard to convince yourself that all Union members are evil thugs you have to reconcile these facts.

The crew of the Maersk Alabama is all Union. The pirates are not organized although the UFCW is handing out flyers.

Chesley Sullenberger and his heroic crew are all in the Union. The geese were not organized.

It must be very confusing

Random Tea Party Thoughts

There seemed to be some confusion about the focus of the get together yesterday. The original tea party wasn't about tea or taxes. It was about being represented. These people are represented but don't much care for the outcome. Individual signs protested (I know I'll forget a couple):
Taxes
Debt
Cap and Trade
Jim Doyle
Republicans
Democrats
Adultery
Abortion
Divorce
Obama
Truckers Podcasts
Illegal Aliens
Illegal Drugs
Voting for Obama
It was a convocation for free-floatting angst. As such, it was a failure as a single issue protest and seemed to be much more about sour grapes.

The Libertarian Party was there. They were one of several calls for a third party. They were a few Paulites roaming around and those scamps from the Lemon Party had a big sign up trying to score a little TV time. (Don't Google them. You'll be disappointed at best.)

When I first got there the crowd was sparse but it filled in that wedge nicely. I'll guess that actual attendance was somewhere between what the DOA says and what Mark Block says. (You know he's not real good with numbers. He went on the radio to say there were 2000 tea parties planned.)

McKenna can whip up a crowd but she's no Joe Pine.

The crowd skewed older, my guess is somewhere in the mid forties on average. With the exception of the preacher from Milwaukee who spoke I didn't see a person of color that wasn't wearing a uniform.

Twisted Sister? Really? The entire canon of American music was out there just waiting to be used without attribution or recompense and you decided to go with Dee Snider for your anthem? How does that fly with the Family Values crowd? (I'd forgotten until today that We're Not Gonna Take It was one of the Parent's Music Resource Center's original Filthy Fifteen and now it's being played on the Jumbotron for teabaggers.)

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Last But Never Least

The New World Order? Isn't that old John Birch Society language? But, why would that surprise us at a tea party? Somebody had to pay for the jumbotron and the sound system and you can't expect taxed-to-the-limit grassroots types to come up with that coin.


This guy just rolled out some old, tired analogies and painted them on an old, tired piece of wood.

And then you had the comic relief. CRG was trying to get their ducks in a row and taking names of volunteers to get people to help collect signatures. By the time they get off the pot Mark Neumann will own Scott Walker's lunch money and Jim Doyle will cruise to re-election.
There was only one Walker For Governor sign that I saw. It was in the bundle that the guy with the Piece-Keepers (hyuk, hyuk, get it?) sign was holding. He had a FedEx envelope full of signs that he kept swapping out and the Walker schtick was one of them.
Note the guy at the top left by the Capitol. His was only one of a half dozen or so inverted flags being carried around the crowd. Remember the good old days of the Bush administration when that was considered unpatriotic and treasonous? Whatever happened to the concept of treason?


Teabag Signs Answer Our Questions

Is it evil to vote for Obama?





But why would that be?


On what do you base such a silly claim?



See? Now that wasn't in any of the position papers. Is there anything else you're against?


Divorce? Adultery? Illegal Drugs? Is that some kind of slam on Rush Limbaugh? I'll bet these guys are those plants they were talking about.



More Pics From Tea Party Wednesday

I ran into Lance about 10:45 and he looked a little concerned about the crowd. We talked a minute and realized that one of the TV stations had given an 11:30 start time. I had a rough count at 11 of 1500 or so and I'll bet that it got up near as high as 3000 by the time I wandered off at 12:30.

There was plenty of gelt and a little Galt.












I snuck off about 11 a spent 45 minutes in a Republican Assemblyman's office where I could keep an eye on the assemblage as it grew.

I came out before Noon for another round of photos.


One of these people was a Bachmaniac and the other has spelling issues. Guess which is which.
More to follow

Pictures From The Whiny People's Rally

First of several.

When Vicki McKenna natters on about the mainstream media do you suppose she understands that WIBA once had one of the premier news teams in the state. Now the company she works for has gutted the news organization in favor of rabble rousing and whining.

Okay. See if you can find a common thread in the next two pictures.
There you go. People who don't know top from bottom now feel qualified to advise on tax policy.
One of the main themes today was the lack of a unifying theme. There were anti-debt groups, anti-tax groups, Libertarians, Paulites and birthers. Even CRG had a table set up to show that they were beginning to start to get ready to commence to try to maybe collect signatures against Mark Neumann, er Jim Doyle.
This woman knew exactly why she'd taken a day off work and was standing on the Capitol lawn.
More pics later

Let's Help Rick Perry Out

...We think it’s time to draw the line in the sand and tell Washington that
no longer are we going to accept their oppressive hand in the state of Texas.
That’s what this press conference, that’s what these Texans are standing up for.
There is a point in time where you stand up and say enough is enough, and I
think Americans, and Texans especially have reached that point.

If he wants Texas to be free from the tyranny of the Federal government we should start by cosing enough bases to free them from the oppression of all those military paychecks and procurement contracts.

Monday, April 13, 2009

"I Think You're Confusing "Tyranny" With "Losing"

That bitter, metallic taste in your mouth comes from sucking on the tailpipe of the loser bus.


The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c
Baracknophobia - Obey
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Economic CrisisPolitical Humor

Yes. I'll Concede That It's Possible

But I'm not sure how I could care less about the First Dog.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Heard At The Feingold Session Yesterday

"Anybody who thought that Barack Obama was some sort of hyper-liberal
wasn't paying attention."

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Reposted Due To Spam

Lloyd Ruby may be best remembered for never having won the Indianapolis 500. When we were growing up we'd root for the Texan but he never seemed to be able to close the deal. It wasn't until we had grown that I found out just how good a racer Ruby had been.
In 1966 Ruby won the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring paired with Ken Miles. The two also won the World Sportscar Championship in 1966 and 1968. Ruby competed in 18 Indy 500s leading 5 for a total of 126 laps. His highest finish was a third in 1964. But that was not what he'll be best remembered for.
My father made us familiar with the "Lloyd Ruby Line," that dark gray scary place up in the marbles where angels feared to put a wheel. Long before Harry Gant made his home among the loose stuff Ruby was showing other drivers that the fast way wasn't always the short way around.
Lloyd Ruby won seven USAC National Championship races, including three at Milwaukee, two at Phoenix, and one each at the now gone tracks at Trenton, N.J., and Langhorne, Pa. Dad saw two of those wins from the old grandstands at State Fair Park. If I look I can find the program from the 1967 USAC race there.
Lloyd Ruby, as much as anyone, is responsible for lighting the spark of racing fandom that my family has carried for 40 years. He passed away this week at 81 in his beloved Wichita falls. He will be missed.
It also says something of the man that with all the years of his success,and, for a while, his considerable income, he never moved away from the place ofhis birth. Some of his closest friends were those with whom he had grown up andgone to school. A visit to his home likely would entail a casual drive aroundtown, cruising by the location of his old school, a malt shop or two, adrugstore and his favorite watering hole, a very down-to-earth establishmentfrequented by powerful townsfolk and city officials who were just asunpretentious as Ruby himself.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Questions I Haven't Heard Asked Yet

How would a McCain/Palin Presidency be handling the American transition away from the Bush years?

Would he have pulled our economy into a neo-Hooverite shell or would he have been all mavericky in trying to stimulate the economy?

Would he have bailed out Detroit or would we already be down to just one viable automaker?

Would he have deployed VP Palin to build business confidence in his plans?

Would we have seen the decisive, and wrong, snap judgements from the Georgia-Ossetia conflicts in response to the Somali hijacking of Maersk Alabama?

How would a McCain/Palin administration have reacted to North Korea's failed missile test?

I've heard lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth. There have been many garments rent. I still believe America chose the right course in November.

Oh, The Beermanity

Yesterday in Milwaukee.
No one was injured, but it was a mess to clean up. Crews had to remove every
keg of beer from the [overturned] truck.

I'd let those sit for a day or two before you open one.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Texas GOP'er Has A New Idea

A North Texas legislator [Rep. Betty Brown, R-Terrell] during House
testimony on voter identification legislation said Asian-descent voters should
adopt names that are “easier for Americans to deal with.”

Sometimes I don't even know how to express how silly these people are.
“Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s
a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your
citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?” Brown
said.


Brown later told Ko: “Can’t you see that this is something that
would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you
could adopt a name just for identification purposes that’s easier for Americans
to deal with?”


What she wants is for Asians to adopt a separate "Voting Name" yet she doesn't have the imagination to understand the problems with that.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Alternate Political Analysis

Perhaps you had the wrong person running.

Navel Gazing

Thank you all for putting up with me for 2000 posts.

Words That Confuse The CBS Censor

According to Lorre vanity card #217c
...prickly, kumquat, titter...

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Two Treats In One

Combining Chuck Lorre Vanity Card with Levi Johnston advice. Is this a great country or what?
Go! Run! Live your life! Or, you could acquiesce to marriage (look up
acquiesce, you'll get a kick out of it), in exchange for a plum job fighting
crime in the frozen wilderness. Who knows, maybe there's a TV show in your life
and you'll be famous again. I'm thinking we could call it,
Tundra Heat, or,
Permafrost Flatfoot, or, Glacier Gumshoe, or, Dude, I Forgot the Condoms. Oh, I
so smell an Emmy.

Paging Lake Woebegonians


Isn't there one sane person, Republican or DFL'er, to run against this loon?
I believe when it's all said and done, this service that -- I believe that
there's a very strong chance that we will see that young people will be put into
mandatory service. And the real concern is that there are provisions for what I
would call re-education camps for young people, where young people have to go
and get trained in a philosophy that the government puts forward and then they
have to go and work in some of these politically correct forums

Monday, April 06, 2009

Does This Child Have A Chance?

Poor Tripp Palin. Pity the child of an unwed mother born into a family of criminals, grifters and lowlife.

One granny abused her power as Governor. The other just sold Hillbilly Heroin. Grandpa's had his own legal troubles and unsavory associations (and for those of you who are outraged by such things, he's a Union Member in good standing.)

Throw in Great-Aunt Diana's burglary bust and Great-Uncle James' criminal driving record. Season well with unproven rumor and juicy innuendo. Then add to all that family business the fact that Tripp's Mommy is using him as a weapon against his Father and you have all the makings of a tragic childhood.

Is it time to call Social Services? Who could have imagined the Governor's Mansion as a broken home?

Unfit

Trusting Wisconsin's schools to a neophyte like Fernandez would be like taking your car to the chiropractor.

He might know what all the parts were. He might even be able to take your car apart. But do you really believe that he'd be the best person to analyze the problem and reasemble it?

Vote for Tony Evers on Tuesday.

Saturday, April 04, 2009

Friday, April 03, 2009

Michelle Bachman: Galloping Stupid Or Bat-Scat Nuts?

"And so we need to once again decide, do we want to be free, or do we
want to be slaves?"

or

"Right now I'm a member of Congress. And I believe that my job here is to be a foreign correspondent, reporting from enemy lines."

Republicans And Second Graders...

If they can't win they want a do-over.

Gazette's Analogy Is Apt


The main headline on last night's Gazette said, "Rep. Ryan Tilts At Democratic Windmills." My immediate reaction was negative. After all Don Quixote is a sympathetic character to most and we all know that the Gazette is given to puffing little tinhorns for the GOP's "Rising Star." (Side note: How long can you be a rising star before you have to accomplish something?)
Paul Ryan may feel a bit like Don Quixote this week.

He's dreaming the impossible dream: Defeating the Democratic
juggernaut and forging a federal budget that borrows less, spends less and
creates more jobs than anything the Democratic leaders have come up
with.


I threw up a little in my mouth just then. But then I gave the analogy a little more thought and realized that the paper had actually hit Ryan's plan pretty close to center.


Don Quixote was delusional and launched his quest based on romantic notions of some long gone time when a knight errant may have had a noble mission. Ryan has based his budget on the belief that it's still 1994.


Quixote thought that the windmills were mighty dragons out to ravage the countryside. His affliction allowed him to see neither their true identity or use. Ryan's blind allegiance to tax cuts has blinded him to the situation they've left us in.


The Man of La Mancha travelled the countryside in the company of a whore and a fat man on an ass. Two of Ryan's proponents are David Vitter and Rush Limbaugh.


So let us raise a flagon to Rep Paul Ryan, The True Knight of the Woeful Countenance (but great hair.) He wanders the countryside in search of a romantic time when his ideas were relevant and welcomed, tilting at imaginary dragons in a land that has rejected him and his kith.

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Folly Is...

...going to Chuck E Cheese for the food.

Fortunately, there was a three year old to be mollified.

A Couple Of Daily Show Questions

How do you suppose Craig Kilborn feels about his career choices right now? Do you think he stands on the corner asking strangers to answer Five Things questions?

Who thought that The Daily Show would last twelve weeks with Stewart at the anchor desk?