From Blagojevich to Harry Reid: Mr. Eye, meet Mr. Thumb

Well, well. How the wormed turns. Today Blago appointed a Black man, Roland Burris, to replace The Messiah after he ascends to the White House. By all accounts, Burris seems like he is qualified for the job. Did he pay Blago a bribe? We don't have anyway of knowing. Update Jan2: Others are now writing to reflect my views, as in this article as well as this article.

This was done despite the Senate Democrats telling Blago that they would refuse to seat anyone the he appointed. The state of Illinois is basically screwed here.

There are several problems here:

• Blago, at this point, is innocent of any crime (that whole, annoying, presumption of innocence thing)
  
• Blago is the governor
  
• Blago is not resigning
  
• Blago has the right, as the lawful governor, to make this appointment
  
• The Senate has no real, legal, reason to nullify the appointment.
  
• The Illinois legislature will take weeks or months to remove Blago
  
• There is no good legal remedy for this in the Illinois legal system.
  
• In the meantime, Illinois will have only one Senator
  
• If the senate does actually refuse to seat Mr. Burris (did I mention he was black?), they will have to answer to the NAACP, the Rainbow coalition, and every other group of race-baiting poverty pimps.
  
• Does any else see the hypocrisy of Reid who is also threatening to seat the idiot Franken before all the court challenges are settled? Just wondering
  

So much for the Republicans having a corner on the 'culture of corruption'. Mr. Reid - your move. Who is going to blink first?

Intolerance - Thy name is Liberal

Ok - So The Messiah has invited Rick Warren to give the prayer at his inauguration. Rick Warren is a very successful pastor of the Saddleback Church, location of the faith forum during the campaign. He is also the author of the wildly popular book A Purpose Driven Life.

The choice of Warren for this prayer has caused howls of outrage from the Liberals. The whining is relentless. What is the reason for this outrage?

• Because Rick Warren invited The Messiah to Saddleback, even though there are huge disagreements between the two on a wide variety of issues? NO, that's not it
  
  
• Was it because Warren used the term 'U.S of KKK A' and 'not God bless America, but God Damn America' in his sermons? Oh wait - that was BHO's pastor! So, no, that wasn't it.
  
  
• Is it because of his heroic work in fighting AIDS? Even though in a column , Frank Rich said this is not a 'Fighting AIDS is not a get-out-of-homophobia-free card.' Notice the moral equivalence - liking traditional marriag e is akin to homophobia! So, no fighting AIDS is not it.
  

Then what, my friends, is it? The reason is one of the unpardonable sins against the Church of Liberalism - Pastor Warren has a principled objection to Gay Marriage. He is on record of supporting gay couples, but he opposes Gay Marriage. Oh, the horror. A pastor defending traditional marriage. But guess what folks? In an interview,

Obama said, "I'm a Christian. And so, although I try not to have my religious beliefs dominate or determine my political views on this issue, I do believe that tradition, and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman."

Ok, so Warren is being beat up for believing the same thing as The Messiah. So whats new? People on the Right routinely get savaged for speaking essentially the same words as people on the Left. Because, when you are Democrat, it is different. Just how different?

Well Linda Hirshman wrote a satire on the HuffPo. It was a satire of the Warren inauguration prayer. It contained:

Let the light of Christian salvation come to the Jewish Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel and his family, some of whom survived the German effort to bring them to Christian truth in the last generation.

Wow! Did she just really invoke the specter of Nazi Germany? Yes, she did. That is what passes for funny on the Left I guess. This is the same crowd that was appalled at Barack the magic Negro.

It is a sad day when a pastor cannot have deeply held convictions about traditional marriage with someone invoking Hitler. It is a sad day when a presidential inauguration cannot make room for a pastor who does not toe the Liberal line. What the hell is BHO having a prayer for anyway? The Wiccans and the Druids can't be happy. The atheists must be pissed. The idiots from 'Americans United for the Separation of Church and State' must already be preparing a law suit seeking injunctive relief.

But, it also puts the lie to the notion that the Left is somehow more 'tolerant' than the Right. They are not. If anything, they are more dogmatic and way less tolerant. They are completely IN-tolerant of any opposing views. They are chock full of litmus tests: Abortion, Gay Marriage, Global Warming, open borders, hating the rich, etc. Fail a litmus test, and they will strive to silence you.

This groups comes along with the guy that America elected. Heaven help us! (Can I still say heaven??)

Things I missed at Christmas

Christmas is past. Time for remembering. Instead of recounting the good times, which is boring, I think I will list a few things I missed this year.

• Snow. I live in Ohio and we had plenty of snow the week before Christmas. But, in honor of my daughter visiting from Tennessee, it all melted.
  
  
• My mother and sister. No, they are not 'gone, gone'. But we are all heading to the islands in a couple weeks - and the travel was too much.
  
  
• Playing even MORE Facebook Scrabble. I now truly understand addiction.
  
  
• The chance to buy this doll for my 2ish year old granddaughters. I just wish I could have seen the joy on their faces. And, I think the doll is appropriate - the Jihadis whine more than my little grand-children.
  
  
  

Other than that - excellent Christmas!

Barack the magic Negro

This is a lesson in selective outrage. I know, it is normal in politics, but this one just strikes me as ironic.

For those of you who don't know, Rush Limbaugh played a parody song, a version of which is which is shown here. As an un-funny note, I found the line 'I am the fruits of your labor' rather disturbing. You will need audio to appreciate this.

.

It is done in the voice of that race-baiter Al Sharpton. And face it, Al is a funny guy anyway.

Now, you need to know the history of the term 'Barack the Magic Negro'. It started in an editorial, in the very liberal L.A. Times. The editorial was a puff piece on The Messiah, complete with references to Sidney Poitier.

At the time, there was no liberal outrage at the term Magic Negro. Nary a peep was heard from the race baiting poverty pimps. No calls for the author's head from the NAACP. Nothing.

But. Let the right poke fun at the term Magic Negro? Now, everyone, including stupid Republicans, are 'shocked and appalled'! Really? Not just shocked. Nor, just appalled. But shocked AND appalled. Please.

The PC thought police did not mind when they called Bush stupid, a moron, a Nazi, or Bush-Hitler. But poke fun based on race? Shocked AND appalled. Well, unless of course you poked fun at Condoleezza Rice. This was done by Oliphant and ran in most major daily papers back in 2004.



But, it was OK - because she was a Republican. Call Clarence Thomas an oreo (dark on the outside, white on the inside)? No problem there because he was not 'black enough'.

People had better get used to this. If you think critics are going to back off the Messiah just because he happens to be black - forget it. And ditto for not mentioning that he is black. Politics is a tough business. No one gave Bush any slack on his personal traits - don't expect any slack for BHO either. Parody is a knife that cuts all ways in politics. Time to move beyond our differences? Not hardly. It all depends on whose ox is getting gored - and by whom.

MoveOn moves on - Let's see what they do as insiders

Politico had an article detailing the agenda items that MoveOn will focus on in the coming months. MoveOn has been focused for the last however many years in hating on Bush and all things he touched. It was an easy job. They fed off of Bush Derangement Syndrome. Also, no one held them to account when they were wrong (which was a LOT). They could sit around and bitch with no consequence for being oh so wrong.

Now, they find themselves aligned with the rulers. This should prove to be a much tougher task because, as the ruling party, you are expected to deliver. What about the agenda items for MoveOn? They are

• Economic recovery and job creation
  
• Creating a Green economy
  
• Stopping climate change
  
• Ending the war in Iraq
  

Not included: War Crimes trials for Bush and Cheney. MoveOn must have finally opened their mail and got the memo from The Messiah to quit talking about war-crimes trials.

Let's examine their agenda items in order.

Economic recovery and job creation

While this is a nice sounding goal, the role of the government should be the topic of much debate. Conservatives will argue that the Free Market (what is left of it) should be allowed to fix what is broken. It was government intrusion into the markets that put us in the credit-based mess that we are in. Having the government intervene in any major way is simply likely to drag the current problem out. As we start to read the postmortem analysis in the MSM, it is clear we are headed for more trouble. The liberals that the country just elected will NOT see the wisdom in getting out of the way.

Creating a green economy

This is a meaningless concept. Again, what is the role of government here? I assume it will mean subsidizing companies, industries, and individuals that the the government thinks are doing God's work in terms of 'green-ness'. But they forget about the real goal - you need to make economically viable products and companies to be able to sustain these industries absent government money. I do not trust the government to be able to pick winners and losers. I do, however, trust them to steer pork-barrel dollars to favored constituents in return for political contributions; to punish industries that they do not like; and to make decisions devoid of any economic realities.

Stopping climate change

This is the very definition of a fools errand. As I have written several times before, man is not the cause of climate change. Anyone who spends even 5 minutes trying to stop it is wasting their time. Now, this is different than not dumping toxins in the air and water. I speak specifically here of the obsession with so-called green house gases. CO2 does not cause warming. It is most likely a bi-product of the warming. Otherwise, it is just a meaningless, tiny fraction, of the atmosphere.

Ending the war in Iraq

This is a good goal. Luckily for the incoming administration, most of the heavy lifting has already likely been accomplished. There is great military and political progress in Iraq (you will have to look further than the broadcast evening news or the pathetic New York Times to find it). The government is forming and former enemies are beginning to work together. Is it done? No, not yet. But if The Messiah is smart, he will ignore the pleas of the MoveOn types and just continue the course set by Bush. And given his announced picks, such as keeping Gates, it appears that he is doing just that.

So, in conclusion. MoveOn's agenda: Wrong solution for one, meaningless for the next, foolish for the third, and irrelevent for the last.

Quite impressive.

British paper gets it - American papers follow soon?

In an article, the British paper the Telegraph made some observations about Man-Made global warming. Basically, they report that 2008 was the year that the so-called global warming consensus finally crumbled. At a minimum, the scientific 'consensus' has crumbled. Now, consensus is not how one should do science anyway. It should be done by observation and experiment. Observing the total lack of global warming in the last 10 years, one is hard pressed to continue the hoax. Unless, of course, it has become basically a religious doctrine.

For a good swath of the public (the sheeple), global warming is a de facto religion. I have heard its followers called 'Gorists'. Worry and angst supplement faith. Al Gore is the high priest. Our children are proselytized at government expense. Recycling, carpooling, and buying a Prius are among its sacraments. Buying expensive 'green' products and falling for 'green' investments are its tithe.

These people, not valuing intellectual honesty that a self-respecting scientist does, will be harder to de-program away from global warming hysteria. But, we will continue to do our small part.

As I have said before, global warming is not happening. The earth is cooling. One reason, slight reduction in solar activity. Solar activity is one of the main drivers in our climate - it is like the furnace in your house. Lack of sunspots is an indication. You can read up on sunspots and their importance here, or just Google sunspots.

I know, it is a blow to our collective ego that we are not the end all and be all of what happens on our planet. But, suck it up, that is just the case.

Obama Birth Certificate - Supreme Court - January 9

UPDATE: As I expected, the Supreme Court denied Cert for this case. So, it is over.

According to the online schedule, the Supreme Court will have a conference about the Berg lawsuit challenging Obama's citizenship, and hence his right to be President.

Now, if you want derision and name-calling - just bring this subject up on a Liberal Blog!! But, we have been following this story for months. Bottom line - I believe The Messiah was NOT born in this country, but rather in Kenya. Can I prove it? Well, his grandmother says he was born in Kenya. One of his cabinet appointees, Bill Richardson, called The Messiah an 'immigrant'. But no, I cannot prove it.

But BHO could easily do so. But, he has refused to do so in a matter that is intellectually honest and transparent. He had his minions post a bogus copy on the Internet. He got the Hawaii department of records to embargo any copies that they 'may' have. The Kenyans likewise have embargoed any records that they 'may' have.

Now, it only takes four votes by the Court to accept the case for a hearing. Do I think the Court will take the case? No, I do not. Should they? Yes, they should. This addresses a fundamental question - the constitutional fitness of a person to hold the nations highest elected office. It can only be decided by the Supreme Court.

Why won't they take it? Because it will be hard and disruptive. Think about it. What if The Messiah cannot produce a valid Birth Certificate? Talk about pandemonium! The Court telling America - 'Sorry, we know you elected this guy - but we are disqualifying him!'. Biden becomes the President. I just don't think the Court will have the balls to do it.

There is another problem, that of timing. The conference is not until 11 days before BHO is supposed to be sworn in. If this does not get done prior to that - what would the court do? Remove a sitting President?

This is all the definition of a 'Constitutional Crisis'. If this were actually going to be reviewed by the Court - It should have been done already. They could have fast-tracked it anytime. They chose not to. I do not see them wading into it now.

I feel that they have shirked their duty to the country - but, what is done (or not done) is done. Rather than end with a bang, the whole birth certificate issue will die, un-resolved, with a whimper.

Energy Independence - Some points to ponder

In the coming months, after the Messiah is in office, you will begin to see more and more nonsense under the heading of 'Energy Independence'. We need to think clearly about this topic. It is important from both an economic as well as a national security and sovereignty standpoint. The problem is, in a BHO administration, the problem will be framed as an environmental issue. If you have a short attention span, or weak analytical skills, - this post is probably not for you. A fun(ny) article from Mother Jones can be found here. Also, this article recounts some of the whacky predictions from years past regarding climate. Ok - on to our topic

First, man-made global warming is a crock. The sun is the primary driver in the temperature fluctuations that happen on the earth. If you are so inclined, you can find tons of info on the web to germinate your thinking on the issue. So, the whole issue of energy should NOT be looked at through the lens of 'carbon footprint'. The whole notion of carbon footprint is fallacious and will lead you, through wrong-headed thinking, to wrong-headed conclusions.

The environ-weenies LOVE 2 things: wind and solar. The problem is, from a macro-level, these are both fatally flawed. Why? Let's talk in simple terms to illustrate.

Both wind and solar suffer from the same problem: they are unpredictable and variable. Why is this a problem? Let's use an example. I have a town of 100,000 people. I have conventional (coal or natural gas) electrical generation plants to supply the needs of my town. These are primary steam turbines. As the manager of the turbines, I run them at a capacity that exceeds, by some amount, the demand that my customers have. I do this to make sure that they will not run short. Because I cannot store the power (no one has battery technology to do that), any power my customers do not use immediately, I either dump in the ground (or possibly sell to the national grid at a big discount).

Now, a bunch of people in town put up windmills. These generate power for the individual homeowners. They are happy. They use the power from the windmills, making them buy less from the city. If they run short, I am always here to fill in the gap. But, if they produce an excess, they can even sell it back to the city. This sounds excellent! But - it is not so excellent as it seems.

Because, you see, the city as a whole gains no benefit. The city must keep producing power at the same rate as before. They cannot adjust their output to correspond to the fluctuating nature of the wind. What is the net result? The homeowner is happy on a micro-level - but the city as a whole sees no net benefit. They cannot reduce their production, and hence their consumption of fuel. So, we built a bunch of windmills (an intensive industrial process) and see NO net benefit for 'the earth'.

As an example, the Dutch have 6,000+ windmills. They have not reduced their conventional production!

The same problem exists with solar. It is variable, clouds and all. But, I live in Ohio - so we don't really think much about solar!

So, wind and solar are not the paths to energy independence. What could be the paths? We already know the answers:

• We can conserve more. True - but driving consumption down is not a strategy for keeping this country great in the long-term
  
  
• We can produce more of our own coal, oil, and natural gas. The incoming administration has indicated that it is hostile to this idea. One struggles to see a rational reason why. Other countries will be setting up deep water drilling rigs practically within sight of our shorelines. But, for some reason, we refuse. It is almost like the refuse-niks of domestic production WANT us to fail. But that would be calling them anti-American, or anti-capitalist! Hmmm. That is a subject for another day.
  
  
• We can move towards nuclear power. This is the ultimate win-win. If you care about green-house gases (I do not), you have to love nuclear! ZERO emissions. Yes, you have to deal with the spent fuel - but if we focus on this, it is solvable. There are even mini reactors available. Don't look for any in the US - I am sure the enviroweenies will block their importation.
  
  
• We will continue to look at bio-fuels. But, barring some monumental break-through, this will only marginally help. Why? Well, using corn for ethanol backfired. It is less efficient than oil. And, as a bonus, it drove corn prices through the roof. Besides, the environmentalists would stroke out if we put even MORE land to use to produce crops (think fertilizer and pesticide runoff, deforestation, and destruction of habitat for the Fuzzy-Breasted Nut Scratcher)
  

So, in conclusion:

• Wind and solar won't solve our problems
  
• We have options for more domestic production - but the Messiah is against these options
  
• Nuclear is the ultimate solution - but the Messiah will fold to the environmentalists - so no more nuclear
  
• Bio-fuels, nice try - no solution.
  

Net result - we are getting ready to spend Billions on 'feel-good' programs and policies. We will launch a bunch of research programs. We will probably have 'cap and trade' policies that will punish industry, but do NOTHING towards our goal of energy independence.

So, at the end of the Messiah's term in office, we will be NO closer to energy independence than we are now. But,

• We will have given the left control over Billions of dollars to dole out as they see fit.
  
• We will have exerted more control over American business.
  
• We will have weakened America on the world stage - making it 'fairer' for the rest of the world.
  
• We can all 'feel-good' - because we 'did something'. (Nothing useful, but 'something')
  

All of these are goals of segments of the left. And, most sadly, the American people will not hold him accountable for the failure! They will be seduced into believing that all of the 'activity' generated equals progress. Because, for the left, it is not the result that matters, only that you had 'good intentions'.

Sorry, but that is how it is going to play out.

Rethinking my position on gun control

As you know, I have been a huge advocate of gun rights, concealed carry rights, and an armed citizenry in general. But, I had forgotten to factor in the feelings of criminals!! They are negatively impacted by an armed society. This video really points it out.



So, as you see - It is not always so cut and dry!!

Pretty cool video

Ok - a break from politics. Following is a video I had seen a while ago. But, I got reminded of it this week - and I thought I would share. It shows a guy with a unique and entertaining talent... Take a couple minutes and enjoy:

Screwing to save virginity

In an interview George W. Bush made this statement:

"I've abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system," Bush told CNN television, saying he had made the decision "to make sure the economy doesn't collapse."

I have a couple of observations.

• This is like Screwing to save Virginity.
  
• Government meddling CAUSED this 'crisis'.
  
• The 'fix' is more of the same meddling
  
• More government meddling only will make it worse in the long run

I know for some of you this is old ground, but for some of you it might not be. The Federal Government caused the sub-prime meltdown. They were (mis)-guided by a desire to get mortgages for people who could not (and should not) get them in the free market. In order to do this, they basically forced banks to loan money to people who could not afford to pay it back. These loans got sold, re-sold, and packaged into crummy investments. In the meantime, all of that available mortgage money caused housing prices to sky-rocket, which drove even more doomed loans.

When the bubble finally burst (and they all do) it was like dominoes. To start, the home owners started to default. These people had signed up for loans that had adjustable rates. Once the rates adjusted, they were doomed. Then they could not sell their homes because values had collapsed and they owed more than the house was currently worth. This caused the mortgage holders to be in trouble. Then the companies that insured the loans are toast. Then credit dries up. With tough credit, car sales tank. Now the car companies are underwater. And the ski-resorts, and ... and ... and.

Then bailout mania starts. The Fed basically says: 'Hey, we screwed it up THIS bad by turning our back on Free Market principles, hell we might as well go the rest of the way.'

This is retarded thinking. If the government backs off - the market will right the ship once again. Yes, it would be painful - but it gives the best LONG-TERM hope.

But, the wonks in DC don't have the balls for that. Instead, they will push us even further off the cliff. It may stop the bleeding - for now. But, like a doctor who only treats symptoms and ignores the underlying disease (cuz he doesn't watch House) - when disease finally pushes through - It is going to be UGLY.

Blagojevich could bring down Obama - A lesson in history

UPDATED: 15December This Blagojevich (Democrat,IL) thing is a mess. For those of you who have been under a rock the last few days:

• Obama was a Senator from Illinois
  
• He resigned because he will soon be the President (Yikes!)
  
• As Governor, Blagojevich (D,IL) has the sole right to appoint the Messiah's successor to the Senate
  
• Blagojevich was trying to get 'something' for appointing a person to the seat (Money, a job for his wife, a job for himself, etc)
  
• Blagojevich is now being charged with Federal crimes in relation to this
  
• Blagojevich said, on an FBI wiretap, he was pissed because the Obama people won't offer him anything - indicating that he had talked to SOMEBODY.
  
• The Messiah's chief aid said (before this story broke) that Obama had, in fact, discussed the successor issued specifically.
  
• The Messiah, this week, denied ever having discussed this with Blagojevich. Update 15Dec - We now know this was a lie. See details below.
  

Blagojevich (Democrat, IL) is one of the worst examples of what the Democrats like to call the 'culture of corruption'. But the question on everone's mind: How can this hurt the Messiah? I will give you my view, grounded in fairly recent history.

A little background.

Scooter Libby, ex-aid to Dick Cheney, got convicted of what some people call a 'process crime'. What is that exactly? A process crime is where you lie to the FBI in the course of an investigation. You don't get charged with the underlying crime - but you get busted for the cover-up.

How did this happen to Libby?

• Valarie Plame was a woman who worked for the CIA.
  
• Her named was 'leaked' to the press by a man named Richard Armitage
  
• This was NOT a crime because Ms. Plame did not have a job classification in the CIA that would have made leaking her name a crime.
  
• So far, no crime.
  

Now, the prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald (same prosecutor as in the current Blagojevich (D,IL) case, started investigating the Plame affair. Within a few weeks of starting, Fitzgerald had found out two things for certain:

1. No crime had been committed
   
2. Richard Armitage was the leaker.

But did he stop? NO! Over the next two years, he managed to get Scooter Libby to lie to him about when he had a certain conversation. Now lying - THAT was the crime Libby got busted for. NOT for the underlying act (the leak, which was not a crime), but for the crime of about lying about a non-crime. Why did he lie? Probably to avoid embarrassment, or to avoid looking bad. The reason really does not matter. A jury thought he lied - he goes to jail.

How could this type of thing screw the Messiah?

Simple.

• Imagine Fitzgerald asks Obama some questions about his dealings with Blagojevich(D,IL). Like, "did you ever discuss possible candidates to replace you in the Senate with Blagojevich?"
  
  
• As a side note - In my opinion, it would be PERFECTLY reasonable and expected (and innocent) for the Messiah to have had that type of conversation. In fact, I do not believe BHO when he said he had NOT discussed possible replacements. His chief adviser has already stated publicly that this type of conversation did, in fact, take place. UPDATED:15Dec. As I said many days ago--The Messiah DID in fact discuss this with Blago. He is now saying he had no 'inappropriate discussions'. Translation - Yah, I talked to him. I lied about it before when I said I hadn't, but I am telling the truth now.
  
  
• But, in keeping with what he said in public recently, the Messiah sticks to he story and says "No, I never discussed it".
  
  
• Fitzgerald then finds someone who contradicts the Messiah. Maybe he has a tape of a meeting or a call. Maybe he has notes. Maybe there are 2 'someones'.
  
  
• And what IF Blago had recorded such a conversation himself? Might he not turn the tape over implicating the Messiah in return for a better deal for himself.
  
  
• Now - Obama has a BIG problem. It was not wrong to have the discussion in the first place. It was perfectly proper. But, to avoid looking bad - he decided to lie about it. THAT, my friends, is a process crime.
  

So, what is the lesson? If I could talk to him, here is what I would say:

Dear Leader, if you did have a conversation with Blago, just admit it. Just explain the conversation for what it was. Sure, you might look bad, or be embarrassed. But, if you tell the truth - people will NOT hold your contact with Blago against you. He has already said you did not offer him anything but 'gratitude'. No harm, no foul.

But, if you lie - Fitzgerald could hang you. He will pressure people to turn on you. He will squeeze them until he gets what he wants. And neither you, nor this country, needs that right now.

As much as I oppose the Messiah on any number of fronts, watching him spiral down in an obstruction of justice probe is not what we need. Update 15Dec: It looks like Dear Leader is coming clean. Looks like he will not be lying to the FBI. But, he DID lie to us.And besides, if he goes down - I will need to listen to Joe 'windbag' Biden for four years -- good grief.

Please tell me he was kidding --- No, probably not

Ok - this Auto Maker bail out has gone from bad to surreal. In an interview on Sunday, Our Dear Leader (BHO) said some contradictory things. He was talking about the conditions that would need to exist for the him to agree with bailing out the Big 3 automakers.

First, the statements with which I have problems:

• ..if they expect taxpayers to help in that adjustment process...then they better start building a fuel efficient car.
  
• They are making some investments in the kind of green technologies and the new batteries that would allow us to create plug-in hybrids. What we haven't seen is a sense of urgency...

So, what he is basically saying is that the government, in return for financial help, should basically mandate what kinds of products the car companies should make. Forget that I may not WANT a plug-in car. Or that the electrical grid is not sized to handle millions of plug-in cars. Or that we will need to burn a lot more coal (Remember - The Messiah hates coal more that even oil) to generate the electricity to power these toasters-on-wheels.

Later though, he did make two statements with which I totally agree:

• "We don't want government to run companies"

and

• "Generally, government historically hasn't done that very well."

(Editorial comment - that second one gets my vote for the "Understatement of the Year") award.

So, which is it? Will government mandate the products the companies will produce, or not? What kind of car to build is a MARKET based decision. This is not something that government knows a damned thing about. Just because the government mandates that you build a product does NOT mean you will be able to do so at a profit. That is what the MARKET is all about. But, the poindexters in Washington, as a group, know NOTHING about the market. Maybe we should remember who we are talking about here. This (government) is the same bunch that:

• Launched the 'war on poverty'. And after spending 7 Trillion dollars, all they have managed to do is destroy the Black family in this country (through the welfare programs) and create the blighted inner-cities.
  
• Created the Ponzi scheme known as Social Security - which will now run out of money about the same year I want to retire
  
• Created the sub-prime meltdown by forcing banks to make loans that were so risky that the banks had to be threatened with sanctions if they refused
  
• Managed to destroy public education in this country so that we have lost our lead in producing engineers, scientists, and computer geeks
  
• Continues to refuse to drill for our own oil
  
• Continues to give millions to the UN so that tin-horned dictators can thumb their noses at us - From our own soil
  

As I said in a previous post, unless a bailout goes along with a greatly improved cost structure, the bailout is pointless. It should NOT try to deal with what kinds of products the companies choose to produce. The automakers, in general, are pretty smart when it comes to understanding the market. They were REALLY dumb though in choosing what kinds of union contracts they accepted. If their cost structure is not fixed, it will not matter what kind of products they make - they will still be doomed.

Bottom line, The Messiah is right-sort of. Government sucks at running businesses - they should not even try.

Idea for die-hard union supporters

With all of the turmoil in the job market, what is needed is a new, fresh idea to create jobs. Jobs, good paying, American, Union jobs. Well, I have just such a fresh idea. And, in the process, we could kill off Walmart - because we all know Walmart is the definition of an evil corporation.

OK - someone should form a chain of low-price superstores, just like Walmart. Except, these stores will:

• All be fully Unionized
  
• Offer excellent benefits
  
• Offer zero-deductible Health Insurance
  
• Offer generous vacation
  
• Offer benefits to all, even part-time, employees
  
• Offer automatic cost-of-living raises
  
• Offer on-site day care for employees dependents
  
• Offer paid time-off for personal chores
  
• Give you your birthday as a paid holiday
  
• Only buy from fully union suppliers
  
• Only use fully unionize trucking companies
  
• Only do business with companies that have not shipped our jobs overseas
  
• Only buy goods produced in America, by Americans (unionized, of course)
  
• Never lay anyone off, no matter how bad things get
  

Now, in order to succeed, only a couple simple things need to happen:

• Hope that people won't mind paying 30-50% more for the goods in these stores, due to the out of control labor costs
  
• Hope people won't mind the lack of selection, since no foreign made goods will be allowed
  
• Hope that all the union members in the US (now working mostly in Government Jobs) will support these stores, even at inflated prices. I am sure they will, right? Because unions all stick together, right?

But, I am looking for investors. This idea is SURE to be a winner. How could it fail? It will implement every policy being pushed by the Left in this country. It is very close to what the big 3 automakers have agreed to in the past. It worked for them, right? Oh, wait - that's right - they are all failing now.

But if the store gets in trouble, we will just bail them out, right? It seems to be working for the Automakers. Right?

Why doesn't this make me feel better?

In the news, reported here and here today, The Messiah said:

• "I believe in common sense gun safety law, and I believe in the second amendment"

and

• "And so, lawful gun owners have nothing to fear."

Now, I suppose that SOUNDS reasonable. However. What, exactly, does the term 'lawful gun owner' really mean?

Does it mean lawful owners of guns that are lawful TODAY?

Or, does it mean lawful owners of guns that are STILL lawful after the Assault Weapons Ban is re-instituted.

Because you see, ladies and germs, that which is legal today - can easily be made illegal tomorrow. And when the gun that you legally owned yesterday is outlawed - you are no longer a 'law-abiding' citizen. Unless, of course, you turn in said 'up until recently legal' firearm.

I hope I am wrong about The Messiah. But, until such time as that ass-monkey Eric Holder PROVES he will not do the whole anti-gun thing, I will reserve judgement.