Missouri Musings

Discontentment-a path to success

2010-02-06T18:33:00.004-06:00

"there are times -- they mark the danger point for a political system -- when politicians can no longer communicate, when they stop understanding the language of the people they are supposed to be representing."
historian Ian Kershaw

Seems to be a rare time in American politics when the American people have such negative feelings about Democrats and Repblicans both.
24% of Americans, fewer than 1 in 4, trust congressional Republicans. 1 in 3 voters, view the GOP favorably. Almost half of all Republicans, 45%, disapprove of their party's congressional delegation.
Only 38% of American voters have a favorable view of the Democratic Party.

Is it any wonder then that "tea party" ideals are being so readily adopted and used as a litmus test to hopefully get candidates elected who can return both honor and functionality to Government. Maintaining standards consistant with the Constitution, and founding ideals applied to candidates regardless of party affiliation is the path to getting America back from the brink. The evolutionary process of creating an environment for getting people interested and engaged in learning more history and making independant choices has already started. The Progressive's attempt at usurping power, and ignoring American values is being seen for the danger that it is and God willing the elections in November will mark a date in history when America returns. The world is yearning for this return of American leadership, honor and respect.

Coakley's Downfall

2010-01-19T00:01:00.002-06:00

Behind the scenes deep in a Massachusetts bunker with Martha Coakley and her staff....

Courtesy of patrickjohnson3 on Youtube.

Cramer says expect a stock market rally when Brown wins...we'll see . At any rate ,hopefully like at Lexington and Concord, a Brown win on Tuesday will be the turning of the tide and a "shot across the bow" of every politician especially Democrats and Rino's. Conservatives, Libertarians, Tea Party, 3rd Party whatever you want to call them, are getting a foothold to help keep Progressives and their ACORN and Union thugs from putting America under their heel.

This 3 min video sums it up nicely........

2010-01-06T18:59:00.002-06:00

Rumors of Dodd retiring to become Treasury Secretary! Now that is scary! It would all be comical if what happened in the last 15 months wasn't threatening the foundation of the country. At least we are not Britain....yet.

Then there is this bit of urgent news.....perhaps if we'd water-boarded instead of Mirandized the underwear bomber we'd have a bit more to go on.....the last time we had to do this was after 9/11 when Postal Inspectors, US Marshals, DEA and Fish/Wildlife agents were filling in.

President Barack Obama has ordered a “surge” of federal air marshals to be in place by Feb.1 in what officials said was a “race against time,” with other suicide bombers believed to be in the terrorist pipeline, although there is no specific imminent threat, federal officials told ABC News.

Under a preliminary plan, the officials said the already existing federal air marshal force of more than 3,200 personnel would be deployed almost exclusively to overseas flights flown by U.S. carriers.

Domestic high-risk flights will be covered by agents from other federal law enforcement agencies who were trained as air marshals in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

“The personnel we trained back then comprised a kind of reserve air marshal force and they are now going to be borrowed on orders from the President to work domestic flights,” said a senior law enforcement agent briefed on the plan.

Left loonies and their favorite card game

2009-09-16T16:42:00.002-05:00

The race card is always a leftist favorite. Full of emotion, short on intellect, showy, yet transparent. A sure sign of desperation. They are collapsing under their own weight of over-regulation, perceived self importance and personal ego. The article below is a great summation. The old media plays an important role because they are part of them, out of touch with what is going on (Charles Gibson) and virtually a 4th house of government attached to the Executive Branch at this point.

http://www.northstarnational.com/2009/09/15/thank-you-joe-%E2%80%93-you-exposed-the-dems-for-what-they-are/comment-page-1/#comment-43

Iran new revolution

2009-06-15T20:09:00.002-05:00

What appears to be an historic revolution is taking place in Iran.
Follow the details at http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/
or on Twitter search using #iranelection.

Purposeful wealth elimination-Obama's Carnival

2009-03-03T23:12:00.003-06:00

After seeing Bernake, Heitner and Obama on TV today, I believe that they are purposefully and systematically eliminating peoples savings/investments, killing pensions, continuing to raise taxes,and taxing small businesses hard so the Governement can control more of of our lives, reduce liberty and make people come begging, dependent on the Government. What other explanation can there be? It's not the deficit they claim to have inherited, which they have doubled...its not the banking crisis which they have exacerbated and sought to exploit as part of their crisis mentality plan.

His disregard of, not "the ups and down of the market" as he delusionally referred to today, but the steady, relentless down move of all markets and sectors is his demonstration of his desire to impose his socialist agenda.

Check out Cramer today -http://hotair.com/archives/2009/03/03/video-cramer-goes-nuclear-on-obama-white-house-rips-cramer/

While I take Cramer with some salt...he is on the money here, and I think the next round of "Tea Parties" in April are going to be very well attended across the country. I foresee a new Party of conservatives, voting out Democrats and Republicans. Republicans either return to their core principles or they will be finding new jobs outside of Government. The symbol for 2010 and 2012 needs to be a broom....to represent the sweeping out of Senate and House that will need to take place.

The country is being whiplashed by Obama's flailing, naive, cocky attempts to dismantle the capital markets, get control over our finances and then get physical control over us by his health care initiatives. It's like a bad ride at the carnival....I just want to get off.

Letter to my Congressman

2009-02-23T23:36:00.002-06:00

I just read about the newest spending planned by the President and Hilary Clinton.....900 million to "rebuild" Gaza. Since when was Gaza ever "built"?!
I have sent the following to my Congressman who always politely responds that he will keep my views in mind, and then votes the party line like The Speaker of the House has him hypnotized....

Congressman Clay,
The spending madness has got to stop! The news that the administration (Sec. Clinton) wants to flush another 900 million down the drain in a naive attempt to buy goodwill from a revanchist anti-western culture to "rebuild" Gaza is utter insanity. Then, to have it administered by a corrupt U.N. is on the order of a freak show. This is really some change going from 85 million by the Bush administration in December to 900 million now! All the while the stock market slide looks like the Titanic trajectory.

Is it any wonder that the Congress job approval rating is now at 26% on the heels of an election?
IF The Congress and Senate were in the cockpit of an aircraft the stick shakers would be going off and the alarms sounding " pull up" "pull up", yet it appears that no one is paying attention to flying the plane.

THe start of the revolt? A new tea party!

2009-02-19T16:32:00.003-06:00

It may have started on CNBC today....check out this video...
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1039849853

Finally someone in the media with cojones to speak up.

The American Form of Government- a history lesson in 10 mins

2009-01-31T23:33:00.001-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DioQooFIcgE

Every one in high school should see this.

World History and Governments in 10 minutes!

2009-01-31T17:10:00.004-06:00

Informative and concise...should be shown in every high school.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a2e_1233399733

When does change become more of what was?

2008-11-19T16:38:00.002-06:00

I'm just sayin'....doesn't it seem like there are an awful lot of old Clinton era names populating Cabinet positions (or at least being talked about ) for positions?
2 of the scariest is the talk of bring Frederico Pena and Jane Garvey back to the Dept. of Transportation. Our dinosaur air traffic system would become fossilized with that duo in charge.

I truly hope that Barak Obama harnesses the greatest group of people and turns our problems into triumphs of American success that continues far into the future....but I get the nagging feeling he is like the character from the movie "Being There" Peter Sellers takes sound bites and TV coverage as his basis for knowledge and becomes a vapid hero of modern culture. Is "Being There" anything like "voting present"? I'm not the first person to find a connection with Being There....some would say it is Sarah Palin who is most like the Peter Sellers part, but she is too much her own person....while O seems to take what other want to see and wear it as a reflection. Lets pray it is thicker than the silver coating on the back of a mirror.

I thought the market would hold at 8,000....that being broken has me concerned...even if bargain hunting brings it back into the mid 8,000's for some periods...I used to think Glen Beck was too much drama and dire....now he is appearing to be more of a visionary. Know what you believe,and hold fast...it is likely to be challenged. It is said that our government was created by geniuses to be run by idiots...the last 8 years has seen much testing of that....it's time for some incarnations of founding fathers to permeate all branches of government and keep things from going too far off track. The stopping of a government bailout of the auto companies is a start....

Play a Game of "Who Am I"??

2008-09-19T21:45:00.004-05:00

Who Am I?
>
> I am under 45 years old,
>
> I love the outdoors,
>
> I hunt,
>
> I am a Republican reformer,
>
> I have taken on the Republican Party establishment,
>
> I have many children,
>
> I have a spot on the national ticket as vice president with less than two
> years in the governor's office.
>
>
>
> Did you guess?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> I am Teddy Roosevelt in 1900
>

Obama "Not Exactly's"

2008-09-19T21:40:00.004-05:00

Obama's Not Exactly's:

1. Selma got me born - NOT EXACTLY, your parents felt safe enough to have you in 1961 - Selma had no effect on your birth, as Selma was in 1965. (Google 'Obama Selma' for his full March 4, 2007 speech and articles about its various untruths.)

2. Father was a goat herder - NOT EXACTLY, he was a privileged, well educated youth, who went on to work with the Kenyan Government.

3. Father was a proud freedom fighter - NOT EXACTLY, he was part of one of the most corrupt and violent governments Kenya has ever had.

4. My family has strong ties to African freedom - NOT EXACTLY, your cousin Raila Odinga has created mass violence in attempting to overturn a legitimate election in 2007, in Kenya . It is the first widespread violence in decades. The current government is pro-American but Odinga wants to overthrow it and establish Muslim Sharia law. Your half-brother, Abongo Obama, is Odinga's follower. You interrupted your New Hampshire campaigning to speak to Odinga on the phone.
Obama's cousin Odinga in Kenya ran for president and tried to get Sharia muslim law in place there. When Odinga lost the elections, his followers have burned Christians' homes and then burned men, women and children alive in a Christian church where they took shelter. Obama SUPPORTED his cousin before the election process here started. Google Obama and Odinga and see what you get. No one wants to know the truth.

5. My grandmother has always been a Christian - NOT EXACTLY, she does her daily Salat prayers at 5am according to her own interviews. Not to mention, Christianity wouldn't allow her to have been one of 14 wives to 1 man.

6. My name is African Swahili - NOT EXACTLY, your name is Arabic and 'Baraka' (from which Barack came) means 'blessed' in that language. Hussein is also Arabic and so is Obama.

Barack Hussein Obama is not half black. If elected, he would be the first Arab-American President, not the first black President.

Barack Hussein Obama is 50% Caucasian from his mother's side and 43.75% Arabic and 6.25% African Negro from his father's side. While Barack Hussein Obama's father was from Kenya , his father's family was mainly Arabs. Barack Hussein Obama's father was only 12.5% African Negro and 87.5% Arab (his father's birth certificate even states he's Arab, not African Negro). From.... and for more.... go to.....
http://www.arcadeathome.com/newsboy.phtml?Barack_Hussein_O bama_-_Arab-American,_only_6.25%25_African

7. I never practiced Islam - NOT EXACTLY, you practiced it daily at school, where you were registered as a Muslim and kept that faith for 31 years, until your wife made you change, so you could run for office.
4-3-08 Article 'Obama was 'quite religious in Islam'' http://www.wnd.com/index.php? fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60559

8. My school in Indonesia was Christian - NOT EXACTLY, you were registered as Muslim there and got in trouble in Koranic Studies for making faces (check your own book).

February 28, 2008. Kristoff from the New York Times a year ago: Mr. Obama recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer, reciting them with a first-rate accent. In a remark that seemed delightfully miscalculated (it'll give Alabama voters heart attacks), Mr. Obama described the call to prayer as 'one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.' This is just one example of what Pamela is talking about when she says 'Obama's narrative is being altered, enhanced and manipulated to whitewash troubling facts.'

9. I was fluent in Indonesian - NOT EXACTLY, not one teacher says you could speak the language.

10. Because I lived in Indonesia , I have more foreign experience - NOT EXACTLY, you were there from the ages of 6 to 10, and couldn't even speak the language. What did you learn -- how to study the Koran and watch cartoons?

11. I am stronger on foreign affairs - NOT EXACTLY, except for Africa (surprise) and the Middle East (bigger surprise), you have never been anywhere else on the planet and thus have NO experience with our closest allies.

12. I blame my early drug use on ethnic confusion - NOT EXACTLY, you were quite content in high school to be Barry Obama, no mention of Kenya and no mention of struggle to identify -- your classmates said you were just fine.

13. An Ebony article moved me to run for office - NOT EXACTLY, Ebony has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It doesn't, and never did, exist.

14. A Life magazine article changed my outlook on life - NOT EXACTLY, Life has yet to find the article you mention in your book. It doesn't, and never did, exist.

15. I won't run on a national ticket in '08 - NOT EXACTLY, here you are, despite saying, live on TV, that you would not have enough experience by then, and you are all about having experience first.

16. Voting 'Present' is common in Illinois senate - NOT EXACTLY, they are common for YOU, but not many others have 130 NO VOTES.

17. Oops, I mis-voted - NOT EXACTLY, only when caught by church groups and Democrats, did you beg to change your misvote.

18. I was a professor of law - NOT EXACTLY, you were a senior lecturer ON LEAVE.

19. I was a constitutional lawyer - NOT EXACTLY, you were a senior lecturer ON LEAVE.

20. Without me, there would be no ethics bill - NOT EXACTLY, you didn't write it, introduce it, change it, or create it.

21. The ethics bill was hard to pass - NOT EXACTLY, it took just 14 days from start to finish.

22. I wrote a tough nuclear bill - NOT EXACTLY, your bill was rejected by your own party for its pandering and lack of all regulation - mainly because of your Nuclear donor, Exelon, from which David Axelrod came.

23. I have released my state records - NOT EXACTLY, as of March 2008, state bills you sponsored or voted for have yet to be released, exposing all the special interests' pork hidden within.

24. I took on the asbestos Altgeld Gardens mess - NOT EXACTLY, you were part of a large group of people who remedied Altgeld Gardens . You failed to mention anyone else but yourself, in your books.

25. My economics bill will help America - NOT EXACTLY, your 111 economic policies were just combined into a proposal which lost 99-0, and even YOU voted against your own bill.

26. I have been a bold leader in Illinois - NOT EXACTLY, even your own supporters claim to have not seen BOLD action on your part.

27. I passed 26 of my own bills in one year - NOT EXACTLY, they were not YOUR bills, but rather handed to you, after their creation by a fellow Senator, to assist you in a future bid for higher office.

28. No one on my campaign contacted Canada about NAFTA - NOT EXACTLY, the Candian Government issued the names and a memo of the conversation your campaign had with them.

29. I am tough on terrorism - NOT EXACTLY, you missed the Iran Resolution vote on terrorism and your good friend Ali Abunimah supports the destruction off Israel .

30. I want all votes to count - NOT EXACTLY, you said let the delegates decide.

31. I want Americans to decide - NOT EXACTLY, you prefer caucuses that limit the vote, confuse the voters, force a public vote, and only operate during small windows of time.

32. I passed 900 bills in the state senate - NOT EXACTLY, you passed 26, most of which you didn't write yourself.

33. I believe in fairness, not tactics - NOT EXACTLY, you used tactics to eliminate Alice Palmer from running against you.

34. I don't take PAC money - NOT EXACTLY, you take loads of it.

35. I don't have lobbyists - NOT EXACTLY, you have over 47 lobbyists, and counting.

36. My campaign had nothing to do with the 1984 ad - NOT EXACTLY, your own campaign worker made the ad on his Apple in one afternoon.

37. I have always been against Iraq - NOT EXACTLY, you weren't in office to vote against it AND you have voted to fund it every single time.

38. I have always supported universal health care - NOT EXACTLY, your plan leaves us all to pay for the 15,000,000 who don't have to buy it.

Heros at home

2008-09-16T19:34:00.001-05:00

Pararescueman Staff Sgt. Lopaka Mounts receives a hug from a resident after Hurricane Ike, Sept. 13, 2008. Sergeant Mounts is assigned to the 331st Air Expeditionary Group on Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. James L. Harper Jr.

Another conquest for Sarah! Bigfoot taken out!

2008-09-16T19:21:00.003-05:00

Sarah hunts down Bigfoot!

Is there NOTHING this woman can't do?
What will she do to Biden?!

Financial crisis or bitter mediine to get better?

2008-09-16T16:04:00.002-05:00

Those in the mainstream media seem to be linked (again) (still) with the Democrats in fanning the fears of a Depression!,, Run on banks!...Worst situation in 50 years! as part of the daily headlines. But why is it that the same Congress that wanted to hold days of sessions concerning performance enhancing drugs in baseball, is silent on the issue of the financial malfeasance, greed and lack of controls in the board rooms of these "stalwarts of Wall Street" and mortgage giants??? Political contributions to both parties perhaps from these companies and exposing the kind of ill conceived social programs the Dems want more of, for gays, illegals and other "communities" he is so good at organizing.

Maybe because not only are these same government officials who claimed...........

”These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis,” said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ”The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.”

Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, agreed.

”I don’t see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing,” Mr. Watt said.

And not just the Democrats were saying things like this,,,,,but now these same Congressmen and Senators are claiming that the Evil Bush and his staff are behind yet another failure.... but a closer look at history shows a different story............

The New York Times reported this five years ago:

The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago.

Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry.

The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the risks of their ballooning portfolios.

The plan is an acknowledgment by the administration that oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — which together have issued more than $1.5 trillion in outstanding debt — is broken. A report by outside investigators in July concluded that Freddie Mac manipulated its accounting to mislead investors, and critics have said Fannie Mae does not adequately hedge against rising interest rates.
=====================================
With hindsight, we can see that the Bush administration had accurately diagnosed the problem in the lending market and had a plan to address it. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reluctantly supported the plan. However, Democrats objected.
Among the groups denouncing the proposal today were the National Association of Home Builders and Congressional Democrats who fear that tighter regulation of the companies could sharply reduce their commitment to financing low-income and affordable housing.
Nothing to see here, no crisis on the horizon. Everybody just move along, now. The Democrats had forced lenders to assume more risk at lower interest rates in the 1990s.

It was the Clinton administration, obsessed with multiculturalism, that dictated where mortgage lenders could lend, and originally helped create the market for the high-risk subprime loans now infecting like a retrovirus the balance sheets of many of Wall Street’s most revered institutions.
Tough new regulations forced lenders into high-risk areas where they had no choice but to lower lending standards to make the loans that sound business practices had previously guarded against making. It was either that or face stiff government penalties.

The untold story in this whole national crisis is that President Clinton put on steroids the Community Redevelopment Act, a well-intended Carter-era law designed to encourage minority homeownership. And in so doing, he helped create the market for the risky subprime loans that he and Democrats now decry as not only greedy but “predatory.”

Yes, the market was fueled by greed and overleveraging in the secondary market for subprimes, vis-a-vis mortgaged-backed securities traded on Wall Street. But the seed was planted in the ’90s by Clinton and his social engineers. They were the political catalyst behind this slow-motion financial train wreck.

And it was the Clinton administration that mismanaged the quasi-governmental agencies that over the decades have come to manage the real estate market in America.

It was the Bush administration that wanted to rein in the madness in the credit markets, and the Democrats who wanted to extend the Clinton policies that created the crisis we have now. After the fit hit the shan, these same Democrats want to shift blame back to the administration that wanted to increase oversight and curtail risk in lending practices.

The Bush administration has much to blame in letting this get out of hand and failing to ensure proper oversight for so long, but clearly the origins of the disaster and the efforts to keep bad policies in place fall on the Democrats in this case. A classic case of "Be Careful What You Wish For"...unfortunately millions have had to suffer for this Social Experiment. Obama's views on things would lead one believe he wants to expand "Social Experimentation".

My thanks to Hotair.com for much of the info and inspiration to this post.

Saturday Night Live

2008-09-14T15:12:00.001-05:00

Pretty funny stuff.

I (Dont") Like Ike / Equal Paying Candidates

2008-09-14T14:52:00.004-05:00

Ike blew through here between 4am and 9am with very heavy rain (between 3 and 7 inches) and winds in the 40-60 MPH range. Coldwater Creek overflowed and flooded out the driving range near us and prompted the evacuation of some condo's and areas of Florissant . Power is out to about 80,000. The Mississippi is expected to crest at 41 feet in St. Louis on Thursday, 11 feet above flood stage, potentially causing problems in an industrial area north of the city, and shutting down the street in front of the Gateway Arch.

The Missouri will also reach major flood level at St. Charles, potentially closing a section of Highway 94 and threatening some homes. The crest of 36.5 feet -- 11.5 feet above flood stage -- is predicted for Wednesday.

No water problems in our neighborhood and our basement is dry, the sump pump didn't even turn on. Electricity stayed on here but about 80,000 out in the metro area.

Airport had some regional jet diversions, otherwise operated ok although the ride in and out was pretty wild I heard.

Gasoline availability becoming an issue, some QT stations are shutting off gas sales to allow better availability over their system as a whole. If the pipeline from TX doesn't get back up and running in a few days, jet fuel could be a problem.

Obama claims he supports equal pay with men, however in practice within his campaign...Compensation figures for his legislative staff reveal that Obama pays women just 83 cents for every dollar his men make....

...Why this disparity? One reason may be the under-representation of women in Obama's highest-compensated ranks. Among Obama's five best-paid advisors, only one was a woman. Among his top 20, seven were women.

McCain's 17 male staffers split $916,914, thus averaging $53,936. His 25 female employees divided $1,396,958 and averaged $55,878.

On average, according to these data, women in John McCain's office make $1.04 for every dollar a man makes. In fact, all other things being equal, a typical female staffer could earn 21 cents more per dollar paid to her male counterpart -- while adding $10,726 to her annual income -- by leaving Barack Obama's office and going to work for John McCain.

Charlie Gibson

2008-09-13T17:47:00.003-05:00

Charlie has proven himself to be as much in the tank for Democrats as the rest of the Mainstream Media, despite his (and ABC's) description in some stories leading up to the Sarah Palin interview as being the most fair.
Kinda like trying to identify what trash pile smells the best.

As noted recently in HotAir.com....Gibson’s interview with John Edwards in 2004 after being selected as John Kerry’s running mate. Edwards had less than a full term in the Senate as his entire political background, and no foreign-policy, military, or executive experience at all. Yet Gibson didn’t press Edwards on these points at all. In fact, the entire interview consisted of a hard-hitting interrogation … on how mean Republicans are.

The editing of the program, particularly her answers must have been done by that character from Texas Chainsaw Massacre . Despite this her answers were calm, thoughtful and she didn't let him throw her. Note how at times he would ask a question and then not even look at her, an old interview trick to try to throw someone off balance. Notice the camera angles from inback of Charlies left shoulder, makes Palin look about a 5" tall child in her chair.....those shots are no accident. Hopefully when it's the Mccain/Palin WhiteHouse, the Mainstream Media will be religated to the back of the press room.

Sarah Palin Interviews and Good Morning America

2008-09-12T11:35:00.003-05:00

What what did Charlie Gibson eat before doing the interviews with Sarah Palin......he looks sour and constipated. He seem eager to twist and turn questions and her answers to do his best to trip her up. Sure, maybe he is a tough interviewer....but look at the questions he tossed underhand to Obama....
GIBSON: Do you worry that [the 2008 race] could turn on race, age and class?...

GIBSON: Is the hardest part of all this behind you or ahead of you?...

GIBSON: The picture of you in the paper, this morning, with your wife, watching the Clinton speech. What did you think of the Clinton speech?...

GIBSON: And finally your daughters. What did they say to you? Did they take it as a matter of course that Daddy could be nominated to be president? They never knew what older people know in terms of discrimination, although they may still feel some. What did they say about that?...

GIBSON: I watched closely your countenance last night, your mien, as you stood in that hall. You didn't smile much. Has the joyfulness of this hit home yet? Do you take joy from it?...

Network media is not even trying to convey an image of fairness when covering the 4 candidates.

When McCain Palin wins in November I'm sure the first thing that they (mainstream media) will be wondering is how much voter fraud was involved involved.

ABC Good Morning America will start a series of "townhall whistle stops" over Sept 15-19.

Will GMA's "Whistle-Stop Tour '08," as the network is referring to it, resemble its town hall special editions that the program produced in 2007? These shows were billed as in depth interviews with the presidential candidates that each would span an entire episode of "Good Morning America." However, there only ended up being two, one with Democrat Hillary Clinton and the other with Democrat John Edwards. In total, "Good Morning America" devoted a combined 64 minutes to Democratic contenders and zero for Republicans.

I predict another attempt to throw Republican candidates UNDER the train....

Michael Phelps 1st baby picture

2008-09-11T17:03:00.002-05:00

Hurricane Ike, Experience and Sleep

2008-09-11T16:24:00.002-05:00

Looks like a rough weekend for Continental and American Airlines with Ike coming in near Houston and tracking north over Dallas by Sunday. Hopefully there will be no Katrina comparisons and recovery will be rapid. With oil down near $100 a barrel, it will be nice to put hurricane season behind us and let the oil markets settle back down. Perhaps a chance for $3.00 gas??

A tip of the hat to my daughter for sending me this timely article on Sarah Palin experience issues, particularly related to military and foreign intelligence.
SARAH PALIN'S EXPERIENCE:

Don't dismiss the fact that Sarah Palin is Commander of the Alaska National Guard --- consider this.

Alaska is the first line of defense in our missile interceptor defense system. The 49th Missile Defense Battalion of the Alaska National Guard is the unit that protects the entire nation from ballistic missile attacks. It's on permanent active duty, unlike other Guard units.

As governor of Alaska, Palin is briefed on highly classified military issues, homeland security, and counterterrorism. Her exposure to classified material may rival even Biden's and certainly by far exceeds Obama's.

She's also the commander in chief of the Alaska State Defense Force (ASDF), a federally recognized militia incorporated into Homeland Security's counterterrorism plans.

Palin is privy to military and intelligence secrets that are vital to the entire country's defense. Given Alaska's proximity to Russia, she may have security clearances we don't even know about.

According to the Washington Post, she first met with McCain in February, but nobody ever found out. This is a woman used to keeping secrets. She can be entrusted with our national security, because she already is.

Her Charles Gibson ABC news interview is to be played in Prime Time...another "Evil Knievel jump" for her. As poorly as Obama has been doing lately and with Biden stating Hillary would have been a better choice than him, this is the time for Mccain/Palin to make some noise about some specifics and each show their strengths. Some new talking points are needed beyond those from the convention. Palin is wisely going after Obama, while Biden is foolishly going after Palin. Mccain needs some degree of separation from Palin or risk being seen as a Palin/Mccain ticket or Palin being Mccain's nursemaid or Mccain seen being a remora on "Sarahcuda". I am STILL waiting some word on Mccain/Palin immigration enforcement plans....!!

Sleep, perchance to dream....It's that time of the year when I change shifts and go from nights to days....from going to bed at 12:30am to getting up at 3:45am....
My "Friday" is here and it actually is a Friday for a change. A couple afternoon naps this week has helped with the sleep deficit.

Shift Change and election forecast

2008-09-07T15:09:00.002-05:00

Today marks my switch over from working PM shift over to AM shift. Have been on 1pm to 9:30 pm the last 4 months, now I start 5am to 1:30 pm. Tough to get used to the switch, I got about 3 hours sleep last night.

The polling places better start preparing for what I predict will be unprecedented voter turn out numbers. Expect long lines and not enough check in people or voting units for the volume of voters that will be out and about. No doubt ACORN will be up to their old tricks of trying to get undocumented and dead people to vote. Voting irregularity claims will be made by both sides and it wouldn't surprise me for Obama to ask for U.N observers. Undoubtedly it will be a long night.

Sarah gets her first one on one interview with Charles Gibson coming soon. Lets hope it isn't "edited" by the network to make things anything other than the reality that takes place.

This criticizing frenzy taking place reminds me of the attacks made when Clarance Thomas was under review for Supreme Court. Hopefully she will make it through with the same dignity and success that he did.

Moles, Media and New Favorite Bumper Sticker

2008-09-06T15:09:00.005-05:00

I hate moles....My front yard has become something of a Grand Central Station for them. First time I've ever had a problem. I've put down stuff to kill grubs, and stomp down on their domed tunnels hoping to crush it, or them, and they seem to be somewhere else at the time. Know I know how Bill Murray felt in Caddy Shack. I think I'm going to have a lawn service try to rehabilitate my yard....it's going downhill despite my best efforts.

Living in Tucson or somewhere like it, with just rocks in the yard is sounding pretty darned good.

Speaking of Moles or I should say "weasels" Here is a good article on why Sarah Palin can't possibly make it in this election.....
Sarah Palin’s so-called sins ...

By Howie Carr | Friday, September 5, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists

Photo by AP

The trust-funded Beautiful People of the mainstream media and the Democratic Party are unanimous. Sarah Palin is a bad person. A very, very bad person.

Here is a list - a very partial list - of the reasons that the governor of Alaska is not qualified to be vice president of the United States.

She has never been on “Meet the Press.”

She doesn’t - or didn’t - have a passport.

She didn’t write her own speech Wednesday night.

Her 17-year-old daughter is going to be an unwed mother - oh, scratch that, Bristol’s getting married to the young self-described “redneck.” Ooooh, how retro, getting married just because you’re pregnant!

Her hairdo is so . . .’80s.

She’s not a citizen of the world, she’s a citizen of Alaska.

The baby Trig is Bristol’s - no, really, I read it on Daily Kos - oh, scratch that, the baby’s 4 months old and Bristol’s five months pregnant. Ooooh, how retro, actually going to term with a Down syndrome baby.

She’s not just a member of the National Rifle Association - she’s a life member.

She never heard of David Gergen, Sally Quinn or Jann Wenner, and she doesn’t care what they say about her.

Do you know anybody who has five children?

Do you know anybody who has a son in the Army?

Do you know anybody who has sold their jet - and on eBay, of all places, where all those tacky people go to buy the Formica for their trailers.

She does not own a Prius.

Who wears glasses anymore - my Gawd, can’t she afford Lasik?

She goes to a little Assembly of God church with one of those little message boards out front with a new Biblical verse on it every weekend and a minister has never once shouted from the pulpit, “God damn America!”

Of course, attacking the children of politicians should be off-limits - as long as they’re named Al Gore Jr. or Patrick Kennedy or Chelsea Clinton.

She’s younger and better looking than Maureen Dowd - much younger and much better looking.

She clings to guns and religion.

She was in multiple beauty pageants - and she won the first one.

She doesn’t make a thrill run up Chris Matthews’ leg.

She’s married to her high-school sweetheart.

Didn’t you read what they said about her in the National Enquirer - you know, that supermarket tabloid that you simply can’t believe a word of when they write about fine liberal Democrats like John Edwards.

She’s shrill, shrewish, bossy, brassy - you know, all those adjectives that are sexist if you apply them to Hillary Clinton, but brilliantly insightful if used against Sarah Palin.

Her husband was arrested for OUI, and so what if it was in 1986, there’s no statute of limitations on mentioning alcohol arrests, unless you’re talking about Bill Moyers, a member of the Kennedy family or some other liberal Democrat, in which case it’s a cheap shot to bring it up.

Her husband is a member of a union, which is okay, but only if it’s AFTRA or SEIU or the teachers union.

Unlike Nancy Pelosi, she actually knows that natural gas is a fossil fuel, and she also knows how to get it out of the ground - by drilling.

Her husband is one of those damnable snowmobilers - you know, Sally, those goons who make such a racket when we’re out trying to cross-country ski from the chalet, only she calls them snowmachines.

Her speech was mean-spirited, which is any attack on any liberal, as opposed to a liberal attack on any conservative, which is red meat.

She knows how to bait a hook.

She would pronounce “faux” as “fox,” only if she saw something that was “faux,” she’d call it for what it was - fake.

And the final reason the liberals can’t stand her: She’s not “faux,” but she is a fox.

My New Favorite Bumper Sticker............

Republican Convention

2008-09-04T23:41:00.002-05:00

9/5/08
The Convention is over. I liked the shortened convention. This should be a template for future ones. They are, like the whole election process, way too long. The Republicans handled the hurricane issue responsibly and the media hopes and predictions for failure were proven wrong; just as they will be in November.

I worked evenings when it was going on, but had access to CNN to at least keep up somewhat, and had to accept the delivery source (CNN) like a dose of highly disagreeable medicine, and trying to focus on the speakers. The attendees seemed to be a responsible and respectable lot, refraining from obnoxious signs, banners buttons, etc.

The same cannot be said of those whom, while receiving almost no media attention, still sought to make their Leftist/Anarchist statements by damaging property, assaulting attendees, and acting as the reprehensible slime that they are. Many of their cowardly, terrorist types, wore bandannas or scarves to hide. Fortunately good police work kept this group mostly impotent and out of sight and lacking any influence over the proceedings.

The star was of course Sarah Palin. While I have felt she would be a good pick for the last 4 or 5 months, the speed at which she was selected and introduced to the nation was dizzying. I pray that she is not "too good to be true". She seems to channel the same excitement and common touch that Ronald Reagan had and her background is even more unlikely than his! Michael Reagan wrote his observation of the same thing in todays WSJ.

Laying in bed on that Friday morning, hearing the news on the radio from Fox news channel, I literally had a chill of excitement, and strange sense of deja vu that the unlikely "outside the box" person I had been in favor of- actually got the position! I had a sense that something had occured and that from that point on, nothing would be the same. I dont neccesarily mean in an all good way; but in a wild, crazy bet the farm and chance to score BIG dangerous kind of way. I wanted to attend the meeting they held in St. Louis that Sunday, even though I hate crowds......it would have been exciting to be among the first 20,000 that had a chance to meet her and measure her against media views and material I had read over the last several months. Work commitments prevented that. I wa glad that they had the meeting in St. Louis and hope they will return before November.

I got that same excited, exaulted, admiration in watching her speach on Thursday. But it was also coupled with the nervous worry over someone working without a net.
No net was needed.

I read a description of her that seems to be accurate at least to this point in her light speed career....she seems to be a "political savant" History shows that they dont come around very often. I hope for the country, she is as she appears. I feel it could be truly a historic time and one where America regains the footing that it lost since Reagan. It's not going to be easy and at this point seems to be more akin to watching an Evil Kneivel jump, than the mundane, frustrating political plodding that we've become accustomed to since 2002.