I really should’ve done this long before now, but you know what they say about late and never…
– The Prozak Playground
– Wag the Dog
One can never have too many good blogs on the roll, I always say.
No Runny Eggs
The repository of one hard-boiled egg from the south suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (and the occassional guest-blogger). The ramblings within may or may not offend, shock and awe you, but they are what I (or my guest-bloggers) think.
April 11, 2008
Roll bloat – double-shot of local
Six Word Memoir
It seems Jim Lynch didn’t get the memo on tagging me with memes, but considering who else he tagged, I may as well play along.
The Rules:
1. Write your own six word memoir.
He lived and lives in Christ
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want.
Check, and…
…check.
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to the original post if possible so we can track it as travels across the blogosphere.
Check.
4. Tag at least five more blogs with links.
Again, normally memes die here, but why not?
– Kevin Fischer at This Just In
– Fred at Real Debate Wisconsin
– Katie Favazza at Elocutio
– Jon Ham at Right Angles
– Patrick at Badger Blogger
5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.
Comments outgoing.
April 10, 2008
Effective cropping of pics in WP 2.5
No, I don’t have WP 2.5 on here yet (a couple different reasons), but I decided to see if I could help out Stephen Green with some image usage issues he has with WP 2.5. His first issue, having a thumbnail going to a holding page instead of a full-sized pic, was pretty easy to solve. To avoid that, one should use the “File URL” as the link instead of “Page URL”.
The other item is a bit uglier; the cropping of a pic to the column width. I didn’t mention it here, but the “full-sized” option is anything but; while it does load the full-sized pic, it crops it to a maximum of 500 px by 500 px, and I don’t see a way to automatically change that (one could get rid of the height and width attributes in the HTML, but a lot of people use the visual editor).
Fortunately, there is a third option (besides the misnamed “full-sized” and thumbnail) to size a picture in WordPress, “medium”. With a bit of tweaking, one can change that from its default maximum 300 px by 300 px to fill the post column. With the caveat that this only works with pictures uploaded after you make the change, here’s how to make it happen:
– Find out how wide your post column is.
– Under Options > Miscellaneous, find the “Medium size” box in the “Image sizes” section.
– Put in that width for “Max width”, and at least 4/3rds that for “Max height”. Why 4/3rds? That allows vertical pictures to be the full width of the column. As an example, if the post column is 600 pixels wide, put “600” in for “Max width” and “800” for “Max height”.
– Hit “Save Changes”.
– Use “Medium” for the picture size. If the original picture is at least as wide as the column, it will be cropped to the width of the column.
FairTax?
In the wake of Buzz’s comments on The Tax Bomb post (TownHall version), I guess I should explain why I am philosophically-opposed to a national sales tax. It’s been a few years since I did this (I thought I put it here, but it must be my old age showing), and I’m still a bit under the weather (literally; it’s a rainy, ugly Thursday here in the land of cheese and beer), so I may jump around a bit.
First, let me be clear that the current tax code is fouled up beyond all repair. Its tentacles reach into every crevice of life, and at nearly 20% of Gross Domestic Product with promises of ever-increasing taxes, it simply takes too much money. My ideal tax code would be an absolute-flat tax where everybody that works pays the exact same amount. Of course, that would require the death of the welfare state and the reduction of the federal government to its absolute minimum core Constitutional principles, two items that even Republicans are loathe to consider.
That brings me to my first objection to the FairTax; it does not do anything to begin the process of actually reducing the amount of money going to government. Indeed, at 23% of the gross sales, or if you prefer to use the traditional sales-tax percentage, 30%, it is expressly designed to not reduce the amount of money going to government.
Next, the fact that it would tend to be paid in drabs and dribbles mostly-hidden from the view of the consumer is odious. Indeed, the fact that, other than the purchase of vehicles and homes, it would go by all-but-unnoticed makes a national sales tax more-likely to be increased in any given year than the individual income tax. That is borne out by the history of the sales tax here in Wisconsin. 25 years ago, it was 4%. Then came a “temporary” percentage-point increase to 5% that somehow became permanent. The counties whined that they needed more revenue streams, so they were given the authority to lump in a 0.5% sales tax, and most counties, including Milwaukee, promptly tapped in. Milwaukee wanted to replace its convention center, so in went a 0.25% sales tax on prepared food, 2% tax on hotel rooms and 3% tax on car rentals in Milwaukee County (to an unelected board). Then Bud Selig came knocking for cash to “help” build a new ballpark, and in went a 0.1% sales tax in the 5-county area surrounding Milwaukee. In short, a restaurant meal that was taxed at 4% when I was young is now taxed at 5.85%, a 46.25% increase that, once inflation is taken into account, is something north of 300%.
I also take umbrage with is the concept of a “prebate”. Ultimately, the supporters are going to have to make the hard decision of keeping the IRS to verify, either through income or amount of purchases, the amount of the “prebate” to give to a particular individual, accept that the “prebate” is yet another welfare program, or jettison the concept and thus lose whatever left-of-center support might otherwise be gained.
As for the dreams of eliminating the IRS and the “underground” economy, I don’t suppose many of the supporters of the FairTax have had to deal with the BATF. Moonshiners have, and the BATF makes the IRS look like altar boys. Speaking of moonshiners, 221 years of taxation and zealous enforcement didn’t exactly stop their underground economy.
One more thought on the underground economy. If you’ve ever underreported the amount you paid for a used car because you didn’t want to pay the entire amout of the state sales tax, raise your hand. Apparently enough of you did so that many states now base their used-car sales tax on the Kelly Blue Book value instead of the actual sales price. Keep in mind that the state sales tax is anywhere between a quarter and a sixth of what the FairTax would be.
The Morning Scramble/Open Thread Thursday – 4/10/2008
I probably should’ve declared an open thread yesterday since I was pretty much out of it all day. Oh well, it’s Thursday, so have at it.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwA0LoOfa3M[/youtube]
– LCBrendan revisits the Battle of Trafalgar through the lens of 2008.
– SteveF notes I’m about to become a “protected class”. Guess it is time to go on that diet because I have a strict policy regarding “protected classes”.
– David Freddoso asks, “Worst economy evah?” Only in the world of the ‘Rat.
– Mondoreb does gas cartoons.
– James T. Harris says the O Effect should really be the ZerO Boomerang Effect.
– Jim Geraghty saw through the Obama doubletalk on campaign finances.
– Beware, DC; Slublog is coming to town. Yes, I really don’t have much left in the tank, and Shoebox is visiting the Mouse, so I’m counting on you to fill in the blanks.
April 9, 2008
The Morning Scramble – 4/9/2008
Because I can’t stand the weather…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGcgcOEvqE4[/youtube]
– Doubleplusundead scoffs at John McCain’s “outreach” to evangelicals.
– Matt Lewis is already planning for 2010. I have some bad news; if we don’t take care of business in 2008, there definitely won’t be a home for conservatives in the GOP in 2010.
– Charlie Sykes notes that, at a time of historically-high gas prices (and climbing), the official position of the Doyle administration is to jack up the federal gas tax by 40 cents per gallon. You can bet I’ll have more to say on that once I finish sobering up (I did the legwork last night before Drinking Right, which unlike SAB Miller and Absolut Vodka, is a good call).
– Marshall Manson says, “Just fix it.”
– Sister Toldjah has your Obama quote of the week.
– Jon Ham has the outrageous headline-that-cost-somebody-her-job headline of the week, which in this case helped cause an Obama staffer to lose her job.
– I know Drinking Right was yesterday, but it’s a triple-shot weekday on Obama; Anwyn notes the campaign very-actively practices affirmative action.
– Make it quad damage; Carol Platt Liebau questions the objectivity of one Martha Raddatz of ABC News, who magically found “80% support” for Obama among the troops in Iraq.
– Jim Hoft spotlights the next likely Hiliary lie. You don’t take just 7 years off of bowling and do as bad as she did on Ellen Degeneres’ show (I should know; I’ve taken 7 years off and my game, such as it is, didn’t slip that bad).
– Speaking of that, Paddy O’Furniture has a word picture puzzle. Since he’s too shy chicken (I should know the difference, I’m shy) to ask Katie to jump in, I guess this will have to count as the invitation.
– Bill Quick continues to hammer the Scandi-owned Absolut.
– Ace goes straight to the lightly-blocked crapper.
– Tom McMahon pulls out a classic quote from a liberal icon to skewer the Left.
– Ed Morrissey reports a highly-placed politician (leader of his party, actually) had his wholly-owned subsidiary that controlls that locale’s elections declare it “dangerous” to release the results of the biggest election of that locale. Doyle’s kicking himself that it was Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe that thought of this particular method of vote suppression first, and that he didn’t think of it before April 1.
– CDR Salamander says, “Good, bad, the Osprey is about to be the chopper with the gun.” He also notes there isn’t exactly a sense of history among those who feel salt spray (F-4 sans gun, meet F-35 B/C sans gun).
– Lance Burri has some Blogging Healthy tips from the Badger Blog Alliance. My work here is done.
April 8, 2008
County P-I-Gs don’t like ethics
JSOnline’s DayWatch is reporting the county board supervisors are balking at an ethics package that would bring the county ethics enforcement more in line with enforcement elsewhere in the state. The excuses are pretty woeful, even for the Board, so let’s start fisking:
Supervisor Elizabeth Coggs-Jones said the plan fostered a presumption of guilt any time someone filed an ethics complaint against county officials.
Could it be that most times, county officials are guilty of ethics violations? Say, is it just me, or does anybody else note the irony of who is bitching here?
She and others questioned the idea of having the district attorney’s Public Integrity Unit conduct the first reviews of complaints, something that District Attorney John Chisholm suggested as a way to avoid having two simultaneous probes – one by the Ethics Board and another by the DA.
After all, there’s more taxpayer money to be spent in a 2-step investigation.
Under the proposed revisions, all complaints would be kept confidential, with nothing made public unless there was a finding of wrongdoing. That follows the state ethics system and many other municipal ethics codes, supervisors were told. But it changes current county practice in which ethics complaints are immediately made public.
If the secrecy provision were enacted, ethics complaints would likely be publicized by the complainants or otherwise leaked, supervisors said.
Supervisor Lynne De Bruin said political opponents could use the code as a weapon against supervisors, disclosing the existence of an ethics complaint they or a supporter had filed.
Again, hiding something? Worried about not being able to immediately retaliate against those that note the odor?
They also objected to a new standard that would forbid county officials from accepting “anything of value” that could be construed to compromise their ability to act fairly on county business.
Hell, they can’t possibly survive on a generous full-time salary plus Rolls Royce benefits for part-time work </sarcasm>.
Rockefeller the dumbf*ck
Revisions/extensions (5:19 pm 4/8/2008) – I apologize to the Fox News gang for the auto-pingback on an AoSHQ-worthy rant.
(H/T – among others, Ace, whom I’m using because this is not going to be profanity-free, and because Slublog fed Ace a classic Slu-Shop)
West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller (D for dumbfuck DhimmiRAT) really stepped on his crank earlier today when he uttered the following horseshit:
"McCain was a fighter pilot, who dropped laser-guided missiles from 35,000 feet. He was long gone when they hit. What happened when they [the missiles] get to the ground? He doesn’t know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues.”
Shall we play, “How Many Ways Is the Jackass Wrong?” For $50, when were laser-guided munitions introduced to the Southeast Asia area of operations? 1972, which was, give or take a few months, 5 years after McCain was shot down.
Let’s go for double-Jeopardy, where the scores can really change. Has any of the US Navy versions of the A-4 ever been provisioned to carry laser-guided weapons? BZZZZT!!! The only precision-guided weapons the early-Vietnam era of the Skyhawk carried were the AGM-12 Bullpup command-guided missile (for those in Rio Linda, the pilot had to hand-fly the missile over its 10-nm range) and the AGM-62 Walleye EO-guided bomb (entered service in 1967, range of 15 miles, and was a fire-and-forget weapon). Later A-4s did carry the AGM-65 Maverick EO-guided missile as well as the Walleye II, and, after the Navy retired the A-4 in 1975, some versions did gain the ability to use laser-guided munitions, but those came about after McCain was shot down.
As for not seeing them hit, McCain typically carried plain iron bombs at low level, which meant he saw them hit and what they hit. Indeed, that was the mission profile on the mission he was shot down.
Oh, and CDR Salamander corrects the idiotic claim the A-4 is a “fighter plane”; the “A” stands for “Attack”. Yes, the Marines and other countries later slapped a couple of Sidewinders on the A-4, and TOPGUN (and “Top Gun”) used them as the analog to MiGs in Dissimilar Air Combat Training, but the Navy didn’t slap the Sidewinders on them.
Yes, there is late news that Rockefeller did apologize for being abso-fucking-lutely wrong. I can’t speak for McCain, but the phrase, “too little, too late” comes to mind.
Roll bloat – What you don’t get in Hillary’s world
I have to thank the blogging-again Katie Favazza (who also fits into the post below this one) for finding IraqStatusReport.com. Having news from a bunch of groups interested in success in Iraq, like Long War Journal, Institute for the Study of War, and Foundation for Defense of Democracies, is a refreshing change of pace from the invested-in-defeat LeftStreamMedia.
Italian pol gets beauty right
(H/T – Kate, who is a bit too self-depreciating)
As a red-blooded male, all ll I have to say to this is, “Amen, and with brains to match.”:
Women on the political right are the best looking, conservative opposition leader and election frontrunner Silvio Berlusconi said on an Italian radio show.
“The women of the right are certainly the most beautiful,” Berlusconi said on Radio Anch’io public radio, quoted Wednesday by Corriere della Sera newspaper.
Let’s see; Mary Katharine Ham, Michelle Malkin, Laura Ingraham, Phel, Amanda Carpenter, Sister Toldjah, Jenna,…. I could go on (and on and on and on), but you get the picture. Speaking of that, I don’t need the bots stopping in on a year-old post, so you get to do your own picture-mining.
The Tax Bomb
Sorry about that; I accidentally hit “Publish” way before I was ready.
(H/T – Flip)
While the old OpinionJournal may be dead, I do appreciate the fact that the entire The Wall Street Journal editorial page is free to all. In today’s edition, John Cogan and Glenn Hubbard peer into the future of the bite of the individual income tax.
First, let me steal what Flip rightfully called “The Ugliest Chart You’ll See All Day”, which estimates the percentage of Gross Domestic Product taken by the federal government over the last 2 years and next 5 years through the individual income tax structure…
…and make some uglier observations. First, note that the divergence between the code as it existed at the end of 2007 and as it did at the end of 2000 actually begins this year. I don’t have the time to research just what parts of the Bush tax-rate cuts of 2001 and 2003 expired already, but some of them already have. Since one can’t expect a Congress controlled by Democrats to give so much as a 1-year extension to tax-rate cuts both of their candidates are committed to eliminating entirely, the divergence should actually begin at 2009. Further, one can’t simply move the “current tax code” line up to meet that; those same Dems as well as select Republicans (including their Presidential nominee) cannot be expected to restore those tax-rate cuts that are already expired, so even if the remainder of the tax-rate cuts were to survive, the individual income tax would likely take something north of 9.3 cents of every dollar produced by the economy, compared to 8 cents in 2006 and an estimated 8.6 cents in 2007.
Even the focus on the indivudal income tax, while historic in its rise under the time bomb the Democrats are intent on setting off, is misleading. While it is the largest single component of the federal government’s drag on the economy, it is far from the only one. The total federal drag on the economy, euphemistically called “federal revenues”, is 18.8% of GDP. While Cogan and Hubbard focused solely on the individual income tax increases in store from the Democrats when they said that either Barack Obama’s or Hillary Clinton’s plans would result in the feds taking 20% of the GDP, the amount that they would have the goverment take will be higher than that as “corporate” income taxes will also be jacked up at astronomical rates. I may not be an economist, but I’ll lay what’s in my wallet against what’s in their wallets in saying that the federal government’s total drag on the economy will be closer to 25% of GDP by 2012 than 20% of GDP.
That reminds me of something my Congressman, Paul Ryan (R) has been saying lately. By the time his children are his age (roughly 2040), if there is no increase beyond inflation in discretionary spending and no changes in the welfare programs (misnamed “mandatory spending”), the federal government would be taking 40% of GDP. For those that didn’t do the math, that’s double the tax burden just to keep the current level of government we have now, and that doubling is on top of historically-high taxes.
I honestly could go on all day with the rest of the opinion piece, but I do want you to read it.
Drinking Right Warning – 7 pm 4/8/2008
BULLETIN – EBS ACTIVIATION REQUESTED
NO RUNNY EGGS OAK CREEK WI
855 AM CDT TUE APR 8 2008
NO RUNNY EGGS HAS ISSUED A
* DRINKING RIGHT WARNING FOR…
MILWAUKEE COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN
RACINE COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN
WASHINGTON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN
WAUKESHA COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN
* IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM CDT UNTIL 11 PM CDT
* AT 744 AM CDT…REAL DEBATE WISCONSIN ISSUED A
DRINKING RIGHT ALERT FOR PAPA’S SOCIAL CLUB…7718 W BURLEIGH ST.
THERE WILL BE BLOGGERS AND BEER AT PAPA’S STARTING AT 7 PM CDT.
* BLOGGERS EXPECTED TO ATTEND INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO: ASIAN
BADGER, UNCLE FRED, NICK SCHWEITZER AND STEVEEGG. CLINT WILL BE
ARRIVING IN THE SECOND WAVE OF ARRIVALS.
PREPARATIONS SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION. THIS IS A SERIOUS
SITUATION, AND IF YOU’RE NOT THERE, YOU’RE NOWHERE.
$$
The Morning Scramble – 4/8/2008
I don’t believe it; Kansas took the long way to the top, which put the final coup de grace on my brackets as some that were behind me had Kansas as the national champs…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1iR2Wi3u5o[/youtube]
– Uncle Jimbo has the advance copy of Gen. David Petraeus’ testimony to Congress. May there be heartburn there for the retreat-and-defeat crowd.
– JihadGene channels the Obamas.
– Headless Blogger has a follow-up on yesterday’s corn-a-hole item. Before you click, guess how long it would take a typical American to eat the amount of corn burned up in a Suburban tankful of E-85 corn-a-hole gas, and double it.
– Keith asks, “What would we do without nuclear warfare experts?”
– James Wigderson thinks it’s Brookfield’s success that’s driving Waukesha’s push for a massive referendum. Considering that the school district is grossly incompetent, including not having a replacement superintendent in place, it’s more like Racine’s success driving that.
People get paid?????
Blogging is stressful and can lead to death, at least so says this article.
I can’t say that I’m ready to die, 2 young sons etc. etc. but I’ve been at this blogging thing now for over two months, phew!
So, Shoebox, what are you going to do to keep your cardiologist at bay?
I’m going to DisneyWorld!
I’ll be out for the next week or so, don’t cry for me Argentina!
I now return you to your regularly scheduled host extraordinaire, Mr. Egg!
Obama and Patriotism
Obama seeks to affirm his patriotism
That’s the headline from this article by the AP, that talks about how Barack has been inserting more patriotic statements in his recent speeches.
The article quotes the following as his “patriotic” statements:
I love this country not because it’s perfect but because we’ve always been able to move it closer to perfection,” he told an audience in North Dakota.
And in Montana: “It’s a country where … I’ve seen ordinary Americans find justice, where I’ve seen progress made for working families who need leaders who are willing to stand up and fight for them. That is the country I love.”
But are these really patriotic statements?
I’ll concede that these statements are factually accurate, but they don’t seem patriotic to me. They strike me as more of the “yeah but” kinds of statements that Barack uses when he tries to deal with an issue without making himself look like the leftist he is.
“…move it closer to perfection,” I wonder where on the perfection scale Barack thinks we are? By his statement I assume he thinks we’re at least at 1 but not at 100, but where between 1 and 100 are we? Factually, I would agree with Barack that we are not at 100 for the simple reason that much of the country still views abortion as a valid birth control method, but I digress….See, if Barack wanted this to be a patriotic statement he would have said something like,
“I love this country because it’s the best system in the world. While we may not be perfect, we have a process that allows us to make constant, peaceful strides to that end.”
You may say I’m playing with semantics and that’s true. However, wasn’t it Barack who kept talking about the importance of “just words?” Words and how you choose to use them say alot about the intent of the speaker. Making a beginning declarative statement rather than starting by trying to establish equivalency, would have made this patriotic, putting it together as he did makes it “yeah but.”
“I’ve seen ordinary Americans find justice,” Is Barack suggesting that it is unusual for “ordinary” Americans to find justice? Is he suggesting that only the wealthy or well connected can be assured of justice in our country? Again, start with a declarative statement,
“I love this country because we have the best justice system in the world, a system where regardless of your economic or social standing, you can expect justice to serve you. And in those few instances where the system doesn’t work as it should, I’m proud that there are leaders who will step up and fight to correct injustice.”
Once last comment on “just words” and the Obama supporters who will tell me that I’m twisting his language. These comments came not from off-the-cuff remarks. These comments came from prepared speeches. Off-the-cuff remarks like “I don’t want them to be punished by a baby,” show me the individual’s true heart on a topic as they haven’t had time to think through the words and craft them. Statements may be mad in factual error but when it comes to judgements, they speak with their most prevalent thought on the topic. However, with prepared remarks, words that are considered and crafted in a particular order, well, you don’t get the chance to say “but he really meant XXXXXX.” See, if he had really meant “XXXXXX,” he would have crafted “XXXXXX.” Barack purposely chose not to use declarative, patriotic statements simply because he will not declare his patriotism. How tough is it?
Barack tried to distance himself from Jeremiah Wright’s hateful speech by saying he didn’t agree with it and then quickly added a “yeah but” by telling us that Wright had come out of a generation where this speech was acceptable and we needed to appreciate that. Now Barack’s trying to tell us he’s patriotic, and it seems to me that he’s also trying to tell us that people are “patriotic” even if they don’t believe the US is the best country in the world.
April 7, 2008
The Morning Scramble – 4/7/2008
This one’s a bit late, but I’m a bit on the blue side….
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wemG2821l-o[/youtube]
– Krakatoa says, “Vote for Ace, and turn it up to 11.” I wholeheartedly agree, especially since Time doesn’t know there’s other good conservative blogs out there.
– Owen goes all philosophical on the state of the Cheddarsphere, and the state isn’t good.
– Marcus Aurelius retorts that we’ve never been all that civil. Guess I should’ve tried a bit harder to find a good YouTube version of “Civil War”.
– Jim Lynch issued a “Hold muh beer” alert (I miss mhking around both the blogosphere and Free Republic).
– Jessica McBride sums up the presstitute template on elections (she ought to know, she teaches journalism at UWM).
– Brian Fraley encapsulates the Lefties’ reaction to going 0-4 in the last 4 contested Supreme Court elections.
– Kate lists a heap of things she hates, and Trail-Mix jumped in with both feet.
– Mondoreb channels Gen. George S. Patton (complete with language, so you might not want to click that in front of your kids or boss).
– Jim Hoft questions the Democratic Party of Washington’s patriotism.
– Headless Blogger figures out how many pounds of corn it takes to fill the gas tank of a Chevrolet Suburban one time. Hint for those of you who are still around, take your highest guess and triple it.
– JammieWearingFool notes the race card isn’t just for the ‘Rats in America.
– Billdanielson takes the GOP to task for shifting the rationale for tax-rate cuts from reducing taxes to increasing them.
– Remember when President Bush said we’d turn our enemies against one another? Zip has an exhibit of just that.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a Drinking Right Warning to issue.
Because I said so…
From the Politico.Com
Barack Obama did not hunt or fish as a child. He lives in a big city. And as an Illinois state legislator and a U.S. senator, he consistently backed gun control legislation.
But he is nevertheless making a play for pro-gun voters in rural Pennsylvania.By highlighting his background in constitutional law and downplaying his voting record, Obama is engaging in a quiet but targeted drive to win over an important constituency that on the surface might seem hostile to his views.
The need to craft a strategy aimed at pro-gun voters underscores the potency of the issue in Pennsylvania, which claims one of the nation’s highest per capita membership rates in the National Rifle Association.
I find it interesting that rather than address his position on the ability to own and use handguns, Barack Obama is busy telling people that he has a background in constitutional law. This sounds a lot like an answer I used to give my young boys when they’d debate me on why they should do certain things. If it was a subject that I didn’t think they were old enough to debate, they would occasionally get a; “Because I said.” While this is an adequate answer for 5 year olds, I don’t see how that kind of response gets Barack in good with pro-gun folks. Beyond that, I have other questions:
- Is a lawyer having a “background” in constitutional law all that unique? Gosh, I kind of thought that a lawyer having a “background” in constitutional law is like a doctor having a background in medicine. Yes I know he taught some constitutional law courses but there is a vast difference between teaching a class and actually practicing it. This follows along the well know and factual sports analogy of those who can’t play coach, those who can’t coach ref. Barack is somewhere between a ref and a coach when he is implying to the pro-gun audience that he is an actual player.
- OK, I know why the slobbering media hasn’t, but why hasn’t an attender of one of these pro-gun rallies asked Barack straight up, what his position on hand guns is? There’s plenty of evidence that gives every indication that Barack doesn’t believe that the Second Amendment allows citizens to own handguns for self defense. Instead of allowing him to “position himself” let’s ask him and deal with his answer…assuming he’ll actually give an answer that has substance.
- Having a “background” in constitutional law, does Barack believe the whole constitution should be enforced or does he take the Animal Farm approach to the constitution where all amendments are equal but some amendments are more equal than others?
With District of Columbia versus Heller likely to have a decision by June, Barack may be able soft shoe himself through the primaries but it won’t be so easy in the general election. Heller, and the fact that its decision will be the first rendered on gun control by the US Supreme Court in nearly 70 years, will give a focal point for gun rights issues. Assuming, as many who ARE constitutional lawyers have, that the Supreme Court finds the law, that in essence causes the complete abolition of handguns, not to align with the Constitution, Obama needs to be asked whether and why he agrees or disagrees with the Court’s decision. Drawing on his extensive constitutional law background it should be easy for Barack Obama to explain why the Supreme Court is wrong.
Obama may be able to pass off his “centrist” persona in the primaries but states like Pennsylvania are going to play much differently in the general election.
April 5, 2008
Drinking Right Watch – Southeast Wisconsin
URGENT - DRINKING RIGHT MESSAGE NO RUNNY EGGS OAK CREEK WI 700 PM CDT SAT APR 5 2008 ...SIGNIFICANT DRINKING EXPECTED IN SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN... THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR DRINKING OF GREATER THAN THREE ALCOHOLIC DRINKS IN AN AREA ALONG AND NORTH OF BURLEIGH STREET BETWEEN 76TH STREET AND 84TH STREET TUESDAY EVENING. A BUNCH OF BLOGGERS WILL CONVERGE ON PAPA'S SOCIAL CLUB...7718 WEST BURLEIGH STREET... BY 7 PM TUESDAY...AND THEN PROCEED TO SHOOT THE BULL FOR SEVERAL HOURS. WIZ059-060-065-066-071-060000- WASHINGTON-OZAUKEE-WAUKESHA-MILWAUKEE-RACINE- 700 PM SAT APR 5 2008 ...DRINKING RIGHT WATCH IS IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM CDT TUESDAY EVENING THROUGH 1030 PM TUESDAY EVENING... A DRINKING RIGHT WATCH IS IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM CDT TUESDAY EVENING THROUGH 1030 PM TUESDAY EVENING. THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR DRINKING OF GREATER THAN THREE ALCOHOLIC DRINKS IN AN AREA ALONG AND NORTH OF BURLEIGH STREET BETWEEN 76TH STREET AND 84TH STREET TUESDAY EVENING. A BUNCH OF BLOGGERS WILL CONVERGE ON PAPA'S SOCIAL CLUB...7718 WEST BURLEIGH STREET... BY 7 PM TUESDAY...AND THEN PROCEED TO SHOOT THE BULL FOR SEVERAL HOURS. A DRINKING RIGHT WATCH MEANS THAT AN EDITION OF DRINKING RIGHT IS EXPECTED TO BE HELD BETWEEN 36 AND 72 HOURS OF THE ISSUANCE OF THE WATCH. BLOGGERS SHOULD MAKE PREPARATIONS NOW...INCLUDING FILLING THE GAS TANK FOR A TRIP TO AND FROM PAPA'S SOCIAL CLUB... ASKING THE SIGNIFICANT OTHER TO COME ALONG...AND ENSURING A FULL WALLET. CONTINUE TO MONITOR EITHER NO RUNNY EGGS OR REAL DEBATE WISCONSIN FOR ADDITIONAL UPDATES AND A LIKELY ISSUANCE OF A DRINKING RIGHT WARNING. $$
Gutterball humor
Mary Katharine Ham tried to match Barack Obama’s 37 yesterday. Did she do it? Click the pic…
…to find out. I’m shamelessly “borrowing” that from Allahpundit’s screencap, though I guess I could’ve used the one MKH supplied too. Oh, what the heck; I’ll use that to point you to her blog entry about the latest HamNation….
I guess I should comment on that Obama 37 game. He really should’ve practiced some before bringing the cameras to the alley because having the cameras around for a 37 just made it too easy to make fun of him.
The Clinton’s Lament
The primaries have gone horribly wrong for the “Candidate of Inevitability.” When she sees how Mugabe is being supported by his party, do you think she cries alone, at her Chappaqua home, “Why don’t they love MEEEEEEEE?”
Mugabe Will Fight On, His Party Says
Didymus Mutasa, the governing party’s secretary for administration, told journalists after an all-day party meeting that there was a consensus that Mr. Mugabe should stand in a second round of voting.
"Mugabe, our dear old man, remains our candidate," Mr. Mutasa was quoted as saying in The Herald. "We shall take him and carry him along with us."
Or do you think her thoughts are, “if someone who can actually arrest and torture their opponents can’t fix an election, what chance does mere lying and personal assassination stand?”
April 4, 2008
Now even the anti-endorsements are getting strange
(H/Ts – Allahpundit and Matt Lewis)
I’ve chronicled wacky endorsement after wacky endorsement after wacky endorsement in this Presidential election season. Now, we have the wacky unendorsement:
More than 20 leading social conservatives signed an open letter to Senator John McCain expressing their displeasure over the prospect of an "M&M" ticket being pushed by Karl Rove, Sean Hannity and others in the economic wing of the Republican Party.
Among the signers are those, such as Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress Foundation, who once supported Mitt Romney and now publicly regret it.
Strange days indeed.
The Morning Scramble – 4/4/2008
It’s Opening Day at Miller Park; hooray beer!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70I4xRbsT4Q[/youtube]
– In case you didn’t have enough reading about the Left’s meltdown after the voters unpacked the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Mark Block notes The Wall Street Journal took it national.
– Speaking of unhinging the Left in the legal election field, Jo Egelhoff says that a difference in the letter behind Wisconsin’s Attorney General makes all the difference. I wonder if the ‘Rats will push for that being appointed-for-life by the governor if both A.G. J.B. Van Hollen and Governor Jim “Craps” Doyle (WEAC/Potawatomi-For Sale) hang onto their seats in 2010.
– Uncle Jimbo is having a blast on the National Heroes Tour.
– Conservative Belle is hosting “Clash of the Superdelegates”. Did somebody ask for popcorn?
– “John Adams” has a unique explanation of why he (at least I presume “John Adams” is a “he”) does not allow comments at Free Whitewater. For those of you not familiar with why I cannot say for certain whether Adams is a man (or if I knew, why I wouldn’t say for certain), Free Whitewater has kicked up enough dirt around Whitewater, Wisconsin, that the city has used some rather dubious tactics in trying to unmask “Mr. Adams” and shut down the blog.
– Jib gets to the heart of the problem of the Gorebal Warming acolytes.
– See-Dub the Super-Sub asks, “Is it safe?” Take it from a wanderer who turned pro at 8, it’s so safe, you wouldn’t believe it.
– Slublog asks, “How do you fit an electric guitar down your pants?”
– Alan Steinberg conducts last rites for common sense.
– Flip notes all the talking-down of the economy by the LeftStreamMedia. Say, weren’t they busy accusing Bush of talking down the economy in 2000? What’s good for the goose and all….
If I can score some tickets to Opening Day, I’ll be gone. I haven’t been to one of those since the Brewers moved to Miller Park, but before that, I was an Opening Day regular. Hooray stadiums with roofs.
Revisions/extensions (8:01 am 4/4/2008) – I knew I should’ve waited a bit longer; right after hit “Save”, another brilliant 4-Block World post on the recent history of Wisconsin Supreme Court Elections came across the feed reader.
R&E part 2 (8:06 am 4/4/2008) – I really need to refresh the feed reader just before posting this; Shoebox was also all over this.
A bit more respect for Bernanke
I have to admit, I was no fan of Bernanke. He appeared to have an ability, in his Congressional testimonies, to say things that caused unnecessary market gyrations. He looked to be very late to the game in reacting to the subprime turmoil. He seemed to me to be one of those guys who was probably very book smart but just didn’t have the business common sense to be a successful leader of the Fed.
I may have been wrong.
I’ve written about Bernanke and the Bear Stearns take out. While I’m still holding onto some healthy skepticism, each day that passes in which we don’t see another financial shoe drop, causes me to believe that that single transaction was a master stroke and saved the US a really awful experience of financial meltdown. there’s been a lot of consternation and wailing over this transaction, complaining that the Fed didn’t have the authority to do what they did because Bear Sterns wasn’t a bank. Again, I’ve written on that, and while I agree with the concern of the issue, I believed at the time, and Bernanke has stated in his recent testimony to Congress, that he felt it necessary to act on Bear Sterns to save the broader financial system.
Read the rest of this entry…
Are you happy to see me or is that a guitar in your pants?
LEWISTON, Maine (AP) – Police are searching for a man accused of shoving an electric guitar in his and walking out of a store in Lewiston, Maine. Police say the theft occurred last week and they’re looking for three men. One of the men shoved a Fender Stratocaster in his pants and pulled a sweatshirt over the top. The other two acted as lookouts.All three can be seen on footage from video surveillance.Strangely enough, the music store has seen the method before. A man did the same thing in 2006 but was caught as he tried to walk out.
I would love to see the video. Either the description of “in his pants” is overly generous or this guy has some really odd pants.
I wonder if they would pay mileage?
The son of a retired widower has placed an advertisement looking for someone to have a few drinks with his father at a local pub for seven pounds (nine euros, 14 dollars) an hour.Jack Hammond, 88, and his son, Michael, will begin interviewing candidates for the position soon, after Michael posted the advertisement at their local post office in Hampshire, southern EnglandThe elder Hammond used to go to his local pub four times a week in Barton-on-Sea, Hampshire, with his neighbour, but had to stop the practice recently when he moved into a nursing home closer to the rest of his family.
“When you put an advertisement in a post office for 25p you don’t expect anything to come of it, so the response has been amazing,” Michael, a chef, said.
They have ruled out hiring a woman, as Michael Hammond said his father, a retired electrical engineer, would be uncomfortable having a drink with a woman he did not know, and are hoping to find “a gentleman who is not too bombastic and enjoys a nice pint” with an interest in engineering or golf.
“Dad will be going out with some of the candidates next week but we are going to do it properly, as he is vulnerable,” Michael added.
“It’s got to be the best job in the world.”
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