Clear and Present Stupidity….

John McCormack ponders over at the Neo-Con Weakly Substandard:

I haven’t a clue why support for keeping the prison open decreased since July, but I imagine support would be a lot higher if more people read Thomas Joscelyn’s excellent article on the terrorists at Guantanamo, “Clear and Present Danger”, in this week’s issue of THE WEEKLY STANDARD.

Uhmmm….. Could it be that the rest of sane America knows that over 90% of the people being housed in that facility are not actual terrorists?

Could it be, that the rest of sane America has wised up to the Neo-Conservative fear-mongering of the last 8 years?

Quote of the Day

Conservatives were called racist for opposing immigration policies pushed by the Bush administration, other Big-Government Republicans and Democrats. The wrong immigration policy, under which people here unlawfully would receive benefits at taxpayer expense, would also allow them to steal jobs from low-income Americans, and would be a slap in the face to immigrants who came to America legally through a long and sometimes expensive process.

Conservatism is a threat to liberalism because bigotry is counterproductive to conservatives, but is a cornerstone of liberalism. Economic conservatism values the productivity, work, intelligence, integrity, motivation and other virtues of the individual. Religious conservatism is based in the fundamental premise that we are all born of equal value in the eyes of God.

Liberals who evade the merits of policy arguments by resorting to calling white conservatives “racists” or African-American conservatives “Uncle Toms” don’t merely demonstrate their own ignorance, they cheapen the cause against real racism.

Republican Strategist Todd Harris is a liar.

I was just watching MSNBC’s Hardball. I just watched Todd Harris lie through his teeth.

He sat right there on that show and said that the U.A.W’s President was NOT at the “Bail out Hearings”

Uhmmmm.. Todd?

450_ap_congress_081119

Auto industry executives, from left, General Motors CEO Richard Wagoner; Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli; Ford CEO Alan Mulally; and Ron Gettelfinger, president of the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008

Somebody needs to tell Todd Harris to brush up on his talking points. Because here. He is just flat wrong.

Allan Colmes throws in the towel with Hannity & Colmes

(H/T to Don Surber via TVNEWSER)

The Radio Equalizer reports:

After a remarkable twelve year run, Alan Colmes is set to leave FOX News Channel’s top-rated Hannity & Colmes at the end of the year, according to key sources.

Though the decision was said to have been made by Colmes himself, it is not yet known what future role he will play at the network.

There have been no industry rumblings regarding the liberal host heading for another network and his radio show remains syndicated by FOX News Radio. That means he’s probably likely to remain there in some capacity.

Also unknown at this time is who will replace take Alan’s place at the Hannity & Colmes Show, if anyone.

So far, Colmes has not commented on the move at his site, but syndicated talker Lars Larson tells your Radio Equalizer that he’s asked Colmes to appear on his show to discuss the situation.

I can see why Alan would want to do this. I suppose he simply got tired of Hannity. Don Surber Agrees:

Frankly (and I know this is going to cost me readers) I find Sean Hannity on TV unbearable. He’s OK on the radio, but I get tired of the volume going up and the intelligence going down.

Maybe Colmes got tired of it too.

I must say that I agree. My Mother hates Sean Hannity with a passion. I am not too fond of him at all either. The man has zero Journalistic credentials. The man was a freakin’ nobody, before he lied his way into the business and Murdoch gave him his break. He’s a neo-con stooge and I have zero respect for him. Like Don said, I guess Colmes got tired of it.

I wish Allan the best.

Update: Video (Thanks to Breit Bart)

The “Hoo Hoo’s!” and Aww’s were too funny. Scripted, but funny. For once, Sean Hannity showed some grace and honor. I’ll give him a pass, this time. 😉

Blog Headline & Quote of the Day….

I hate having to ride the coattails of other Blogs. But I saw this headline and I let out a rather loud guffaw.

Huckabee: The only difference between me and Palin is that she looks better in stilettos 

Rolling on the floor

and… the quote:

Asked about Sarah Palin, he responded, “She, uh, was an appropriate choice, because she put John McCain back in the game.” That was the get-along answer, but a few minutes later the new, aggrieved Huckabee resurfaced. He recalled, “It was funny that all through the primary—I mean literally up until McCain got enough delegates to win—people said, ‘You know, Huckabee’s really running for Vice-President. Gee, Huckabee would be a great Vice-President.’ And from that day forward, when I actually was no longer running for President, nobody ever said, ‘Gee, Huckabee would be a great Vice-President.’ ” Neither was he quite so unperturbed by the Palin pick: “I was scratching my head, saying, ‘Hey, wait a minute. She’s wonderful, but the only difference was she looks better in stilettos than I do, and she has better hair.’ It wasn’t so much a gender issue, but it was like they suddenly decided that everything they disliked about me was O.K. . . . She was given a pass by some of the very people who said I wasn’t prepared.”

Go read the Blog entry, as Allah breaks it down, very well.

Exit Comment: Huckabee in stilettos? Eeewww… Sick

ZOMG! Obama didn’t go to Church

Oh my Lordy…. Now the stupidity has started.

Via Politico:

President-elect Barack Obama has yet to attend church services since winning the White House earlier this month, a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors.

On the three Sundays since his election, Obama has instead used his free time to get in workouts at a Chicago gym.

Asked about the president-elect’s decision to not attend church, a transition aide noted that the Obamas valued their faith experience in Chicago but were concerned about the impact their large retinue may have on other parishioners.

“Because they have a great deal of respect for places of worship, they do not want to draw unwelcome or inappropriate attention to a church not used to the attention their attendance would draw,” said the aide.

Both President-elect George W. Bush and President-elect Bill Clinton managed to attend church in the weeks after they were elected.

In November of 1992, Clinton went to services in Little Rock, Ark., on the three weekends following his election, taking pre-church jogs on the first two and attending on the third weekend a Catholic Mass with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, with whom he was trying to smooth over lingering campaign tensions.

I know I might be a little late to the troff here, but honestly, does this even remotely matter? I mean, honestly. 🙄

….and I thought I was reactionary. Yeeesh

Others, idiots included: Gateway Pundit, Political Machine, Shakesville, Scared Monkeys, Firedoglake, The Caucus, Lost in Transition, The Democratic Daily, Below The Beltway, Outside The Beltway, Flopping Aces and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Better her than me….

Michelle Malkin made the top ten list of Republicans that should just go away.

Better her than me. Best thing I can come up with, is that I made gawker.com; once. Not the way that I wanted, but I did. 😛 No, I am not linking to it. If you don’t know about it. I’m not going to tell you. I tried to make a point, and it backfired, all I’m saying.

Anyways, congrats Michelle, nice to see that they still pay attention. 😉 😛

It’s when they stop paying attention, is when you swerve into Ann Coulter Territory Worry. 😆

Guest Voice: Why the Neo-Cons Love Hillary by Jack Hunter

The Video (via TakiMag)

Transcript: (Via Charleston City Paper)

One item that made breaking news this week shouldn’t have surprised anyone – the possible selection of Hillary Clinton by Barack Obama as Secretary of State. And it’s a possible choice that has excited more than a few Republicans.

Neoconservatives afraid that a President Obama might even partially live up his promise to remove troops from Iraq have been warming up to the new administration and hedging their bets where they can. In his ongoing role as neocon concierge, Sen. Lindsey Graham’s arranged meeting between John McCain and Obama was one step, as was Graham’s blustering praise for Obama’s selection for Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, a man who few conservatives have a kind word about. “This is a wise choice by President-elect Obama” glowingly said Graham of Emanuel.

And one can only assume that if Clinton were to take over for Condoleezza Rice, Graham and his boss John McCain will have the same enthusiasm and for the same reason. Republican Senator John Kyl, who teamed up with Joe Lieberman to get Congress to declare the entire Iranian army a terrorist organization as a precursor to possible war, said of Clinton as possible Sec. of State “It seems to me she’s got the experience. She’s got the temperament for it.” The Weekly Standard’s Michael Goldfarb was just as praiseful and more explicit about his excitement, “On the issues, Clinton’s a hawk. Not only did she vote to authorize the war in Iraq, she… went so far as to connect Saddam to al Qaeda… She threatened to ‘obliterate’ Iran (and) on matters of diplomacy, Clinton’s views are not so different from those held by John McCain and most Republicans. Clinton would be a fine Secretary of State… And perhaps she could even present the case for war with Iran to an insubordinate United Nations.”

Not since Operation Chaos during the primaries have we seen some Republicans so anxious to jump off the “Stop-Hillary Express” and on the Clinton bandwagon. The sort of Republican who cheers for Hillary is the same sort who embraced Lieberman. No matter how many liberal positions either held, socialized healthcare, open borders, higher taxes, anti-2nd amendment, it didn’t matter. As with Lieberman, so long as Hillary is prepared to continue sending U.S. troops around the world to continue the neoconservative mission of American global empire, Clinton would be their gal.

The Atlantic Monthly’s Andrew Sullivan noticed the neocons seeming comfort with Hillary during the presidential primaries “Among the neoconservatives there is obviously sympathy for her (Clinton) against the most decisively anti-war candidates, Obama and Edwards. Many publicly prefer her to the insurgent anti-war candidate in their own ranks, Texas congressman Ron Paul. Privately some neocons see her as an important substantive successor to Bush, perpetuating and retroactively legitimizing the Iraq occupation. She did vote for it, after all, they tell themselves. And her constant attempt to stay to the right of her opponents in the primaries has led to the bizarre spectacle of some well known Republicans showering her with thinly veiled support on Fox News.”

The rise of the neoconservatives to prominence during the Bush administration and the decades old term finally becoming part of the popular lexicon has led many plain, old fashioned conservatives to wonder, “what is it about these ‘neoconservatives’ that is actually conservative?”

Absolutely nothing. Neoconservatism’s main premise, that drastically different cultures in some of the most contentious parts of the world can magically become democratic through sheer force of American will, is arguably the most radical policy ever put forth by any government, anywhere. And conservatives now concerned about “radicals taking over the White House,” need to take a good, hard look at not only the woman Obama might be trusting with foreign affairs, but the Republicans who adore her.

Oy…. and they wonder why Blacks don’t like conservatives….

Seen over at a Blog called “The Conservative Blog for Peace

A posting with the title of “Black Music that Black People don’t listen to anymore“.

….and this is funny, why? 🙄

No wonder African-Americans are flocking to the Democratic Party. I guess it’s true what they say about some Paleo-Conservatives, they are racist.

A sick and sad commentary of what became of the Republican Party.

Sunday Afternoon Snort Worthy Quote

Responding to Sophia A. Nelson’s lament about how the Republican Party has not sucked up Pandered to the African-American race. Oliver Willis quips, “They don’t want your black ass!”

Just about made Coffee shoot right out of my nose! 😆

Thanks Oliver, I needed the laugh. 😀

The Obamassiah-Elect outlines his plan to create 2.5 million jobs by 2011

First the video of Bambi-Elect via Breit Bart:

The Story, Via CNN:

President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday offered an outline of his economic recovery plan and jobs were the top priority.

American workers will rebuild the nation’s roads and bridges, modernize its schools and create more sources of alternative energy, creating 2.5 million jobs by 2011, Obama said in the weekly Democratic address, posted on his Web site.

“These aren’t just steps to pull ourselves out of this immediate crisis,” he said. “These are the long-term investments in our economic future that have been ignored for far too long.”

Details of the plan are still being worked out by his economic team, Obama said, but he hopes to implement the plan shortly after taking office January 20. 

He referred to figures out this week showing that new home purchases in October were the lowest in 50 years, and that 540,000 new unemployment claims had been filed — the highest in 16 years.

“We must do more to put people back to work and get our economy moving again,” he said. More than a million jobs have been lost this year, he said, and “if we don’t act swiftly and boldly, most experts now believe that we could lose millions of jobs next year.”

The plan will be aimed at jump-starting job creation, Obama said, and laying the foundation for a stronger economy.

“We’ll put people back to work rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, modernizing schools that are failing our children, and building wind farms and solar panels, fuel-efficient cars and the alternative energy technology that can free us from our dependence on foreign oil and keep our economy competitive in the years head,” he said.

He noted he will need support from both Democrats and Republicans to pass such a plan, and said he welcomes suggestions from both sides of the aisle.

“But what is not negotiable is the need for immediate action,” he said. “Right now, there are millions of mothers and fathers who are lying awake at night wondering if next week’s paycheck will cover next month’s bills.

“There are Americans showing up to work in the morning, only to have cleared out their desks by the afternoon. Retirees are watching their life savings disappear, and students are seeing their college dreams deferred. These Americans need help, and they need it now.”

Throughout history, he said, Americans have been able to rise above their divisions to work together, he said.

“That is the chance our new beginning now offers us, and that is the challenge we must rise to in the days to come,” Obama said. “It is time to act. As the next president of the United States, I will.”

I personally think that we, as the loyal opposition, should take a wait and see approach towards this. It could help America. It might cost America a bit. But to sit and judge it foolishly before it is implemented will only serve to make us look foolish.

So, as someone who’s not had a job since 2005. I will reserve judgement at this time.

Others: Pajamas Media, www.redstate.com, EconoSpeak (Via Memeorandum)

Guest Voice: No More White Guilt – By Tom Adkins

Look at my fellow conservatives! There they go, glumly shuffling along, depressed by the election aftermath. Not me. I’m virtually euphoric. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not thrilled with America ‘s flirtation with neo socialism. But there’s a massive silver lining in those magical clouds that lofted Barack Obama to the Presidency. For today, without a shred of intellectually legitimate opposition, I can loudly proclaim to America : The Era of White Guilt is over.

This seemingly impossible event occurred because the vast majority of white Americans didn’t give a fluff about skin color, and enthusiastically pulled the voting lever for a black man. Not just any black man. A very liberal black man who spent his early career race-hustling banks, praying in a racist church for 20 years, and actively worked with America-hating domestic terrorists. Wow! Some resume! Yet they made Barak Obama their leader. Therefore, as of Nov 4th, 2008, white guilt is dead.

For over a century, the millstone of white guilt hung around our necks, retribution for slave-owning predecessors. In the 60s, American liberals began yanking that millstone while sticking a fork in the eye of black Americans, exacerbating the racial divide to extort a socialist solution. But if a black man can become President, exactly what significant barrier is left? The election of Barack Obama absolutely destroys the entire validation of liberal white guilt. The dragon is hereby slain.

So today, I’m feeling a little “uppity,” if you will. From this day forward, my tolerance level for having my skin color hustled is now exactly ZERO. And it’s time to clean house. No more Reverend Wright’s “God Damn America ,” Al Sharpton’s Church of Perpetual Victimization , or Jesse Jackson’s rainbow racism. Cornell West? You’re a fraud. Go home. All those “black studies” programs that taught kids to hate whitey? You must now thank Whitey. And I want
that on the final.

Congressional Black Caucus? Irrelevant. Maxine Waters? Shut up. ACORN? Outlawed. Black Panthers? Go home and pet your kitty. Black separatists? Find another nation that offers better dreams. Go ahead. I’m waiting.

Gangsta rappers? Start praising America . Begin with the Pledge of Allegiance. And please…no more ebonics. Speak English, and who knows where you might end up? Oh, yeah…pull up your pants. Your underwear is showing. You look stupid.

To those Eurosnots who forged entire careers hating America ? I’m still waiting for the first black French President.

And let me offer an equal opportunity whupping. I’ve always despised lazy white people. Now, I can talk smack about lazy black people. You’re poor because you quit school, did drugs, had three kids with three different fathers, and refuse to work. So when you plop your Colt 45-swilling, Oprah watchin’ butt on the couch and complain “Da Man is keepin’ me down,” allow me to inform you: Da Man is now black. You have no excuses.

No more quotas. No more handouts. No more stealing my money because someone’s great-great-great-great grandparents suffered actual pain and misery at the hands of people I have no relation to, and personally revile.

It’s time to toss that massive, obsolete race-hustle machine upon the heap of the other stupid 60s ideas. Drag it over there, by wife swapping, next to dope-smoking. Plenty of room right between free love and cop-killing. Careful…don’t trip on streaking. There ya go, don’t be gentle. Just dump it. Wash your hands. It’s filthy.

In fact, Obama’s ascension created a gargantuan irony. How can you sell class envy and American unfairness when you and your black wife went to Ivy League schools, got high-paying jobs, became millionaires, bought a mansion, and got elected President? How unfair is that??? Now, Like a delicious O’Henry tale, Obama’s spread-the-wealth campaign rendered itself moot by it’s own victory! America is officially a meritocracy. Obama’s election has validated American conservatism!

So, listen carefully…Wham!!!

That’s the sound of my foot kicking the door shut on the era of white guilt. The rites have been muttered, the carcass lowered, dirt shoveled, and tombstone erected. White guilt is dead and buried.

However, despite my glee, there’s apparently one small, rabid bastion of American racism remaining. Black Americans voted 96% for Barack Obama. Hmmm. In a color-blind world, shouldn’t that be 50-50? Tonight, every black person should ask forgiveness for their apparent racism and prejudice towards white people. Maybe it’s time to start spreading the guilt around.

Guest Voice: Too Much Denial Going On Around Here By By: J.J. Jackson

Too Much Denial Going On Around Here

By: J.J. Jackson

Dear God in Heaven above!  There is so much denial going on right now among Conservatives that I feel like I have just arrived at an AA meeting where there are bunch of first timers, who have been dragged there by their friends and family, and are shouting about how they, “don’t have a problem.”  I have just gotten about as sick of this as I can take and am ready to start slapping you denial riddled fools upside your empty little heads.  So here is my hand and here comes the slap that you all so rightfully deserve.

For nearly the past three weeks I have been hearing conservatives softening their tones on Barack Obama after he beat John McCain and his moderate ramblings on November 4th.  And if it did not sink in when I said in the last paragraph that I am sick of it, then let me reiterate it again.  I am damn sick of it.

You little pansies, and you know who you are, who are talking about giving Barack Obama a honeymoon and talking about waiting to see what he actually does really do make me sick.  You make me sick because a lot of you were the same people who were unloading on him and his Marxist ideology (clearly able to be seen by anyone reading what he has written and listening to anything he has said) for months prior to the election.  He deserved that barrage from the big guns then and he deserves the same firepower, if not more, pointed and unleashed upon him now that he has won. The man does not deserve any sort of a “honeymoon.”  There is no, “wait and see what he will do,” reasoning that is valid.  We know what he wants to do.  He has said it time and time again.  The only question is will he be allowed to do it.

But a lot of you namby-pambies, who try desperately to put forth your conservative, pro-liberty credentials, are denying everything that the man has said and done within his life and his campaign. You are hoping, beyond hope if you ask me, that he will all of a sudden change his stripes and not go full auto Marxist on our butts.  My God, what has happened to you cowards?

I would love to think that you are maybe just scared of saying something that Barack Obama or his “truth squads” might find objectionable and that you are moderating your tones out of fear.  We all know that history is replete with examples of how people with Obama’s ideas deal with their political opponents.  I cannot believe that you actually however believe that things will be different than what he promised when he was on the campaign trail.

Maybe he will be more moderate on taxes?  He will not be if you keep making excuses for him instead of preaching economic reality!

Maybe he will be more reasonable in fighting the war on terror?  If you start giving him a honeymoon and believing that now, all of a sudden, he will see how serious terrorism is, he will not be.

Maybe he will be a little more considerate of the first amendment? Yeah, I see that happening if you start making excuses and take a wait and see attitude!

Maybe he will not rush headlong into trampling on the second amendment? Ok, sure … you believe this despite all his anti-gun, anti-self defense remarks during his life and on the campaign trail why?

Oh, I know what your excuse is because you keep saying it.  You keep saying that now, because he is actually going to be sitting in the oval office and (you assume) held accountable for his actions, he will recognize the reality of the myriad of situations which will confront him and that he will have to act in more moderate ways because his is “smart”.  Yeah, “smart” … that’s what they call spouting Marxist talking points and promoting an ideology that has failed time and again from Mussolini’s Italy to Hitler’s Germany to Stalin’s Russia to Khrushchev’s Soviet Union to Mao’s China to Kim Jong Il’s North Korea to Castro’s Cuba to Chavez’s Venezuela?  Not to mention how it is currently failing in the plethora of European states that continue to struggle under chronically high unemployment rates and legacy costs for the “free” healthcare and welfare of Marxism light and the entitlement mentality.

You want him to change his stance on anything he believes?  You have to unload on him and keep hitting him with the truth.  No honeymoons.  No grace periods.

If I hear one more conservative or so-called capitalist (most of whom I believe are corporatists, in that they are capitalists looking to game the socialist system for their own ends, and not true capitalists) claiming that Obama is “smart,” despite my previous points about his promotion of an idiotic ideology that has always and will always fail, I may have to move from slapping them silly to putting a boot up in where the sun does not shine.  It is a ridiculous notion that you folks espouse.

“Smart” people do not rush headlong down a road that leads off a cliff.  I do not care how many degrees and letters they have after their names.  As we all know the halls of academia are littered with the corpses of people that have such honors behind their names and could not think their way out of a paper bag.  But they can certainly pontificate on the way things, “ought to be,” in their minds and muse and whine about why things are not that way.

It is time to stop denying who Barack Obama is, and always has been, and admit that he has given no reason to “hope” that he will be anything other than the man he has shown us to be.  It is time to admit that in order to “change” him (and the course this country has been on for the previous century regardless of what liberals believe) that he must be ridden and ridden hard.  He must be constantly smacked upside the head with the facts and not allowed to get by on good looks, charm and lofty, vacuous rhetoric.  He must not be given a free pass.  He must not be given a honeymoon.  And most importantly he should not be given any more credit than he is due.

Right now, his credit is zero.  So get up and stop being a bunch of wishful hopers like the mindless Obamatons that voted for him are.  And stop feeling, as they do, that by merely having “hope” that our troubles will be washed away and get your butts to work.

=====================================

J.J. Jackson is a libertarian conservative author from Pittsburgh, PA who has been writing and promoting individual liberty since 1993 and is President of Land of the Free Studios, Inc. He is the lead editor contributor to American Conservative Daily and also the founder of SignalCongress.com.  He is the owner of The Right Things – Conservative T-shirts & Gifts (http://www.cafepress.com/rightthings). His weekly commentary along with exclusives not available anywhere else can be found at http://www.libertyreborn.com

Countering the False Rumor that Auto Workers make $70 an Hour

I am sure that you’ve heard about the Rumor or the Conservative talking point that the Detroit Auto Workers make $70 an hour. The Conservatives will try and tell you that if you figure in all thier benefits, it totals that amount.

There’s only one little problem with that, the math, is quite frankly, wrong.

Well, here’s one reason: The figure is wildly misleading.

Let’s start with the fact that it’s not $70 per hour in wages. According to Kristin Dziczek of the Center for Automative Research–who was my primary source for the figures you are about to read–average wages for workers at Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors were just $28 per hour as of 2007. That works out to a little less than $60,000 a year in gross income–hardly outrageous, particularly when you consider the physical demands of automobile assembly work and the skills most workers must acquire over the course of their careers.

More important, and contrary to what you may have heard, the wages aren’t that much bigger than what Honda, Toyota, and other foreign manufacturers pay employees in their U.S. factories. While we can’t be sure precisely how much those workers make, because the companies don’t make the information public, the best estimates suggests the corresponding 2007 figure for these “transplants”–as the foreign-owned factories are known–was somewhere between $20 and $26 per hour, and most likely around $24 or $25. That would put average worker’s annual salary at $52,000 a year.

So the “wage gap,” per se, has been a lot smaller than you’ve heard. And this is no accident. If the transplants paid their employees far less than what the Big Three pay their unionized workers, the United Auto Workers would have a much better shot of organizing the transplants’ factories. Those factories remain non-unionized and management very much wants to keep it that way.

So, where did this wild figure come from? Jonathan continues:

But then what’s the source of that $70 hourly figure? It didn’t come out of thin air. Analysts came up with it by including the cost of all employer-provided benefits–namely, health insurance and pensions–and then dividing by the number of workers. The result, they found, was that benefits for Big Three cost about $42 per hour, per employee. Add that to the wages–again, $28 per hour–and you get the $70 figure. Voila.

Except … notice something weird about this calculation? It’s not as if each active worker is getting health benefits and pensions worth $42 per hour. That would come to nearly twice his or her wages. (Talk about gold-plated coverage!) Instead, each active worker is getting benefits equal only to a fraction of that–probably around $10 per hour, according to estimates from the International Motor Vehicle Program. The number only gets to $70 an hour if you include the cost of benefits for retirees–in other words, the cost of benefits for other people. One of the few people to grasp this was Portfolio.com’s Felix Salmon. As he noted yesterday, the claim that workers are getting $70 an hour in compensation is just “not true.”

I highly recommend that everyone that comes here, go read the rest of this great article. Because it really puts to bed some of the more idiotic rumors and false information. I mean, I have been raising hell about this whole bailout, but it is mainly because of the utter stupidity that is being parroted by the Far Right and by some of the not so far right. I will say this, that if this is the best that right can do, towards the middle class. They can forget about getting elected in 2010 or 2012. Of course, based upon what I’ve noticed as of late, there is not much hope of that happening anyhow.

I would suppose that there are those who might think, that I do not think that there is any problems with the Big Three. Trust me, I do. I also realize that the unions did get a bit greedy in the last 20 or so years. But, I also know this, that the errors that the present management and management in the past made at General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are NOT the fault of the Employees. Nor do I believe that the employees of these fine companies should be punished for the incompetency of these companies. Nor do I blame the employees for the missteps of the Union officials, who were out for their own agendas.

It is just a plain and simple, the Republicans and some Libertarians think that punishing the middle class and allowing those who simply go to work and do their jobs to lose their jobs is perfectly acceptable. I am not one of those people.

In a personal level, my Dad never, ever made more than $21 an hour at his job. He worked for general motors for 31 years. He drove a Hi-lo, otherwise known as a Forklift. He worked for those people faithfully, rarely took off sick, he would work as many hours as they asked him to. Sometimes double shifts, he even worked triple shifts, before they outlawed it. My Father earned his retirement, and now, I have to contend with idiot Republicans, Conservatives and some Libertarians; who want to punish my dad for G.M.’s stupidity. It just is not right.  As far as his benefits go, he’s got some good benefits, but they’re not as nearly as good as they used to be. He used to pay zero for Doctor’s visits and Prescriptions, he now pays a large co-pay for doctor’s visits and prescriptions. I think my Dad has earned every last bit of those benefits, and those Conservative who would want to punish my Dad, I will say to you, what Keith Olbermann said about those in the Bush Administration who knowingly send your Nation’s troops into battle for their second and third terms, despite the fact that some, if not all, are suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome; they can go to hell.

It just seems very hypocritical of this Nation to give Wall Street 700 hundred BILLION dollars, for a damned bailout that did not even really work; but you let the big three ask for a bridge loan and the whole world is like “Detroit can go to hell!” It just does not make any sense to me at all.

Matthew Yglesias and Washington Monthly

Quote of the Day

After an election loss, recriminations are inevitable.  Everyone believes they know what went wrong and who is to blame for it.  Conservatives in the Republican Party are blaming the corruption and apostasies of senators like Ted Stevens (R-AK) for the party’s tarnished image, while more elite conservative opinion-makers like Kathleen Parker and David Brooks are arguing that the party must head left, and specifically jettison social conservatives, to appeal to a broader base of the electorate.

Most of these arguments are not credible.  For instance, the latter group cites poll evidence showing that such-and-such demographic groups, who had voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004, all of a sudden switched to supporting Obama and other Democrats.  That is a true observation, but it does not necessarily follow that the GOP should act more Democratic to appeal to these groups.  The problem is that all demographic groups favored the Democrats more this year than they did last election.  The GOP lost ground among men, women, all educational and income levels, minorities, and age groups.  There is no group here that can be targeted for a specific appeal, no Rovian strategy that will woo a particular demographic.  The GOP simply lost.

Letterman Confronts Couric about McCain Ditching his Show!

Via Breit Bart:

Two Funny Moments, the first is when Katie Couric Says, “I had no idea until you, apparently, had a little cow on the air.” The other is when Katie Couric points out the fact that nobody knew Dave had swipped the feed of McCain and Couric! 😆

It is very funny! Watch it.

The Obligatory Hillary Accepts Secretary of State Posting

I figured she would…. anyhow, Because everyone and their uncle’s brother is talking about it. I guess I’ll follow the herd here. (Walk like a buffalo…..80’s humor, sorry… 😛 )

Via the NYT’s “The Caucus”:

Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to give up her Senate seat and accept the position of secretary of state, making her the public face around the world for the administration of the man who beat her for the Democratic presidential nomination, two confidants said Friday.

Mrs. Clinton came to her decision after additional discussion with President-elect Barack Obama about the nature of her role and his plans for foreign policy, said one of the confidants, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the situation. Mr. Obama’s office told reporters Thursday that the nomination is “on track” but Clinton associates only confirmed Friday afternoon that she has decided.

“She’s ready,” said the confidant. Mrs. Clinton was reassured after talking again with Mr. Obama because their first meeting in Chicago last week “was so general,” the confidant said. The purpose of the follow-up talk, he added, was not to extract particular concessions but “just getting comfortable” with the idea of working together.

A second Clinton associate confirmed that her camp believes they have a done deal. Senior Obama advisers said Friday morning that the offer had not been formally accepted and no announcement will be made until after Thanksgiving. But they said they were convinced that the nascent alliance was now ready to be sealed.

Mrs. Clinton’s spokesman, Philippe Reines, issued a statement Friday afternoon cautioning that the nomination is not final. “We’re still in discussions, which are very much on track,” he said. “Any reports beyond that are premature.”

I can almost hear the Republicans screaming “RETREAD!” now. Which is pretty funny considering that Reagan used Nixon and Ford retreads.

The victims of the Waco Massacre, which included Seventy-six U.S. Citizens including 21 children and two pregnant women; were unavailable for comment.

Others: : The Campaign Spot, Washington Post, FishBowlDC, The Fix, Washington Monthly, Hot Air, Donklephant, Guardian, Boston Globe, TPM Election Central, Sister Toldjah, NO QUARTER, Lost in Transition, TIME.com, RHRealityCheck.org blogs, Anglachel’s Journal, Wonkette, Tennessee Guerilla Women, The Reaction, Macsmind, Political Machine, The Daily Politics, Below The Beltway, MyDD, Talking Points Memo, Althouse, Salon and Patterico’s Pontifications and more via Memeorandum

The Gold Standard – Another view…

….and it’s an interesting one, at that.

From Citizen Economists:

Therein lies the fundamental problem of gold as a backing for fiat money, or as a direct global currency.

There simply is not enough gold on the planet, existing above ground or yet to be mined, to back all the fiat currencies that have been created to accommodate the continually rising population in this world.

Better yet, if we applied simple supply and demand laws, the price of gold would reach enormous proportions compared to the universally accepted world standard of the equivalent US$700 per ounce at today’s values. Careful, please, the price may rapidly move or down from that level!

We know reasonably well how much gold there exists on the planet. We also know approximately who owns how much, both in physical gold and in reserves still to be mined. With the expected gold craze to continue, major exploration and mining companies are hoping to bring those underground reserves to daylight to join in the speculative fever of potentially recovering gold.

For example, Northgate Minerals Corporation (TSX: NGX, AMEX: NXG) announced September 8, 2008 that it found new mineral reserves at its Australian site, including some 140,000 ounces of gold. In their press release, the company stated that the find “will extend the current mine-life by an additional 18 months until the fourth quarter of 2011.” (biz.yahoo.com). (www.northgateminerals.com)

If you do simple math and use today’s value at $700/oz., that results in some $98 million. At a cost of some $20/oz, that results in a nice profit for the company and its shareholders.

However, that amount pales on a macroeconomic level.

Egad, don’t tell that to the people that support Ron Paul, The Ludwig von Mises Institute or the people that are hawking gold on all the Conservative sites that run the ads for gold. The only response to this that I can offer is, if they ended the federal reserve bank and stopped the mass production of money. Perhaps we could go back to the gold standard. However, I will be the first to tell you that I am not, nor have I ever been an expert in economics.

It is an interesting article, I do recommend that you read it.


Ed “The Tool” Morrissey continues to live up to his name

It seems that my Favorite Madison Avenue Conservative, Ed “The Tool” Morrissey continues his one-man venomous crusade against the middle class, Detroit Auto Workers and the U.A.W.; of which my Father is a member.

He blathers on, in his rather idiotic posting, at the Neo-Con rag called “HotAir” which sums up Ed to a tee. He writes:

The UAW chief, Rich Gettelfinger, has a courageous proposal to resolve the standoff:

“In a news conference in Detroit, Ron Gettelfinger, president of the United Auto Workers, said the Big Three CEOs should consider resigning if that would help win backing for a bailout.”

Why doesn’t Gettelfinger offer his resignation as well?  Why wouldn’t the UAW offer to help by restructuring its contracts with the Big Three, which shoulder far greater labor costs than its competitors, making them less competitive?  It takes a big, big man to offer someone else’s resignation.

Once again, I have to straighten out the four-eyed Neo-Con idiot:

  1. His is name Ron Gettlefinger, not Rich.
  2. He has done more work in his entire life, than you’ll ever hope to accomplish.
  3. Why don’t you do the blogging world a favor and offer your resignation from HotAir.com and from Blogging in General? Better yet; just drop dead. God knows, the world would be a much better place without idiotic morons like you around, that’s for sure.

Sorry folks, I know that sounds a bit harsh, But when this son-of-a-bitch decided to start his crusade against the Detroit auto workers, he declared war against me personally and my Family. Because of this, I will continue to write rebuttals to this idiots writings, until he personally apologizes to me or decides to stop writing insulting Blog postings about my Father, who is a retired auto worker and U.A.W. Member.

I refer to Ed as a Madison Avenue Conservative, However, I know he is not a rich man. But he has the mentality of your typical Neo-Conservative Republican. Of course, for Ed; it is easy to have this attitude. I mean, when you’re basically living off your wife’s disability check and plus getting a nice check from that Neo-Con shill that he works for. It is easy for him to take the positions that he takes.

Meanwhile, people like me, who live in the real world; who have all of $45 in our bank accounts. We know what would happen to this area, if the big three did collapse. This entire area would become desolate, families and individuals would begin to leave in masses. Like they did back in the 1980’s when that big recession hit. Jobs would become nonexistent, like they did during the great depression of the 1930’s.  Thankfully, my Dad’s pension would be protected by the Federal Government, due to laws passed many years ago. But those men and women working those production lines would not be. The unemployment claims would bankrupt our state.

But people like Ed and Mitt Romney, they don’t care. They’ve got their money. They could care less what happens to us middle class folk. Here’s where the jobless rate hits home with me. I have not had a “Day Job” since 2005. Due to high gas prices and a bum car, that either needs to be sold or fixed; I cannot afford to drive to the job offers that I see in the listings, that are up to 50 or more miles from my house. My car has a bad “A Arm” in the steering. I cannot drive the car on the highway, I would be risking smacking the wall at 60 MPH, if I did. Not my idea of good time!  Besides, the car is quite old, as in 1990 kind of old. The money I would be putting into that car would far exceed the value. So, at this point, I am stuck. Unless I find something around here locally. But that market, is a part of the market that’s dried up around here. This is why I am a full time Blogger. It is all a can do, at this point.

Hopefully now, you will understand why I feel the way that I do about Ed, and his idiotic nonsense towards this area.

Update: To the commenter named Joel, who wrote a rather idiotic comment, accusing me of Ad-Hominem attacks. Well, the way see it. Ed has taken it upon himself in engaging in Ad-Hominem attacks against The U.A.W., The US Auto workers, which includes my Dad; and the middle class in general. So, the way I see it, what’s fair is fair.  I am sticking up for those who have no voice, and if that upsets you. Tough Shit! I’m sure there’s plenty of Neo-Conservative Blogs out there, that you can read that just brim with Anti-Union Propaganda. This is not one of those Blogs.

Liberals Whining about Gas Prices….Coming Down?!?!?!

(H/T Jeff G.)

Obama and the Liberal idiots are now flipping out of the sudden drop in gas prices! This according the Wall Street Journal:

Some government officials and environmentalists are worried the plummeting prices are reversing any energy-conservation gains realized in the past year, when high prices forced Americans to cut back. The economic case for investing in renewable energy, which was looking cheaper, compared with soaring fossil-fuel costs, now is less compelling.

Suddenly, public debate has shifted from trying to find ways to lower prices and give consumers a break to wondering whether federal gasoline taxes should be raised to support higher prices.

President-elect Barack Obama said this week it is even more important to curb Americans’ appetite for oil now that prices are cheaper. “Oil prices go up, gas prices at the pump go up, everybody goes into a flurry of activity. And then the prices go back down and suddenly we act like it’s not important,” he said during a television interview. “As a consequence, we never make any progress.”

🙄 First they bitch and gripe and say, “Aaaah! We have to get these prices lower!” and when they come down, They scream, “Aaaaah! We have to tax the gas so we’ll make a profit or tax it to death so people won’t buy it!” Tax it to support higher prices? Holy Moses… I hope that this story does not catch on with the rest of the media, or Obama might just find himself with some very upset supporters.

Liberalism is such a mental disorder.

An Eye Opening C.I.A. Report

An interesting article via Reason Hit & Run about a plane shot down by the Peruvian Air Force. Which had missionaries in it from Michigan.

The quote from this Blog entry that very much I agree with is this: (emphasis mine)

Collateral damage—and let’s face it, that’s how the CIA and federal drug warriors view Veronica and Charity Bowershas always been an accepted part of drug prohibition, but this callous disregard for the loss of life and human rights seems particularly egregious in our foreign interdiction efforts.  See the House of Death case, where federal agents looked the other way while one of their Mexican informants participated in a series of brutal and entirely preventable murders.  See our pre-September 11 anti-narcotics alliance with the Taliban, or our continued drug interdiction aid to Thailand after the government mass executed thousands of suspected drug offenders, sans trial.

Collateral damage. That is how the Government viewed the victims at Waco, Ruby Ridge, The FLDS Children, and every other place that the United States Government; whether directly or indirectly; caused death and/or Destruction. All because some sort of supposed moral law could be upheld.

What this writer has to wonder aloud, how long will it be, before this new messianic President-Elect, will make the fatal mistake of using the Military power of the United States against an United States Citizen, all to uphold a so called, “Moral Law?” If Bill Clinton’s Presidency is any indication, it will be sooner than later.

Quote of the Day

Who killed the U.S. auto industry?

To hear the media tell it, arrogant corporate chiefs failed to foresee the demand for small, fuel-efficient cars and made gas-guzzling road-hog SUV’s no one wanted, while the clever, far-sighted Japanese, Germans, and Koreans prepared and built for the future.

I dissent. What killed Detroit was Washington, the government of the United States, politicians, journalists, and muckrakers who have long harbored a deep animus against the manufacturing class that ran the smokestack industries that won World War II.

For once in my life. I am in 100% agreement with a Republican. Click the link to see who it is.

Breaking News: Attorney General Michael Mukasey Collapses during speech

This is not good…

Via Politico:

Attorney General Michael Mukasey collapsed Thursday night while giving a speech to the Federalist Society in Washington, according to three senior administration officials.

Witnesses said Mukasey, 67, was conscious as he was taken from the Marriott Wardman Park hotel to George Washington University Hospital. CBS News reported that the attorney general began slurring his words about 15 or 20 minutes into a speech touching on Bush administration successes in the war on terrorism. His federal detail attended to him until medical personnel arrived.

Details about Mukasey’s condition were not immediately available.

Audience members said they began praying, fearing a stroke.

Mukasey is a former federal prosecutor from New York City who succeeded former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

At 10:30 p.m. Eastern, medical officials were still working on him on the stage, administration witnesses said.

Video via Fox News:

I think the best we all can do at this point is to pray for this man.

Update: Kathryn Jean Lopez Reports:

I’m told he is doing better at George Washington University hospital. And I think he’d be happy to know you read his Wall Street Journal oped on enemy combatants today.

Update #2: CNN Reports that Attorney General Michael Mukasey got a clean bill of Health and did not have a stroke. But what I don’t get was why did he faint?

(Updates Available at Memeorandum)

An Organization that I think all Americans should get behind

I normally do not like to promote organizations on this Blog, other than the one’s in the links section of this Blog.

But this one, is important; As much as I know that going into Iraq was a mistake, because of bad intelligence. I believe that those that are over there now, mopping up the mess that Bush created over in Iraq are very worthy of our Honor, Love, and Support. That also goes for those still fighting the very justified war in Afghanistan.

I ask that all my readers, of all political stripes, whomever you might be, to head on over to the website Below and give as much as you are able. It is because of these fine men and woman, who putting their asses on the line, that we’re to live free here in America.

A couple Videos to Watch:

Get the Book:

click on the picture below to head over to Survivor Corps:

Donate Today to Help Our Returning Troops! Donate Now! Survivor Corps

Give to these Guys, God knows, they’re the ones that deserve the honor and glory, not those dirt bags in Washington D.C.