On Fairness

The Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama likes to use the word "fair" a lot. He stipulates it is "fair" to ask the rich to pay more taxes when the top 5% already pay way more than half the total taxes in our already extremely progressive income tax scale. He and his fellow travelling Leftist ideologues like to argue it is "fair" to forgive all manner of legally entered debt for millions of people you and I never met - and force me, you, and more importantly, our children, to pay for it with out-of-control gub'ment deficit spending.

It makes me want to directly quote the great character Inigo Montoya from the great movie 'The Princess Bride' ...



==

Actually, if the word means what most people think it means - a predictablly just outcome regardless of circumstance - it means something that is simply unattainable in this world, at least on a regular basis. We live in an unpredictable, unlevel, and therefore fundamentally "unfair" world. Justice is another matter. We can put official systems of due process in place that are designed to achieve "justice" - meaning measured punishment and/or reward. But, still, these systems and these measurements will always be necessarily imperfect in this imperfect world. Because they are man-made.

The problem with the Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama, and other Leftist ideologues, is they falsely believe mankind can construct systems guaranteeing "justice" and "fairness" for all, in this world. This is a unicorn fantasy, to put it mildly. And the harder they chase this fantasy, the more they fail to reach it, the more determined they become to manufacture it at any cost ... which inevitably leads to a "fair" distribution of "lowest common denominator" misery for all. Witness every experience of governance under the theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Chapter 1: The state confiscates everything; Chapter 2: Nobody is left rich, but somehow everybody (but the Politburo) remains poor; Chapter 3: Unbroken misery and death for all until the Politburo is finally forced out of power. The only difference is degree in each case. They've refined it down now to crushing debt for our children, which is a lot different than Pol Pot's killing fields to be sure, but still way off the mark as far as being indisputably "fair."

==

I, LibertyAtStake, have therefore done mankind the favor of reducing the definition of "fair" to a simple scientific formula that actually works in this world.

FAIR = ((stuff you don't control) times (stuff you do control)) divided by (the perceptions of others).

Final grade is subjective for each individual ... and if there is a grade giver, he or she is not native to this world.

==

An example to illustrate. Tyrone and Damian are both born to the same crack addicted welfare queen. Tyrone joins the Crypts at 15 and is dead by 18. Damian keeps his head down, graduates high school, joins the Army, and eventually dies with an urban townhouse that he owns outright to bequeath his two children. On the same day Scottie F*ck-Up and Willard Do-Right are both born to the same captain of industry. Scottie F*ck-Up lives large and blows through the inheritance right before he dies at the ripe old age of 80, leaving nothing for nobody. Willard Do-Right lives a straight life, invests wisely, becomes even richer, and leaves behind a charitable foundation that stands for decades after his death.

Were the circumstances of birth "fair"? Of course not. What could you or I do about it? Nothing. Is it "fair" to you or me that Scottie F*ck Up blew through a huge inheritance? Of course not. How would any man-made gub'ment "fairly" confiscate his riches for better purposes without preventing Willard Do-Right's foundation from being born? It simply couldn't.

==

All of which is why I think the wisest person ever placed into this world may have been the old mountain woman met by Inman, the lead male character in "Cold Mountain." The old woman nursed Inman the Confederate deserter back to health with hard-earned organic knowledge, and a philosophy that could be labeled stoicism, which could be boiled down to the philosophy of "it is what it is." This old woman captures the philosophy perfectly, in the movie, when she manages to lovingly slit the throat of a baby goat for meat while telling the animal it did it's job well in this world.

Still doin' the best I can with what God gave me to work with.

Social Media Networking the Hard Way

A reader from Carlsbad, California has long made a habit of traversing the Bob Schieffer Blog Roll. I know this because his or her reading habits are recorded by the traffic analysis utility I use (Feedjit). Carlsbad has also shown very good taste, day in and day out, in his or her selections of titles to click into on the roll. Often I have followed in his or her footsteps to very informative reading myself. (Circle of blog) So, to give a nod to the loyal reader from Carlsbad, and lacking anything else ready to post this evening, I thought I would simply highlight Carlsbad's finely tuned reading decisions with a little sample from earlier today. The screenshot above is now archived for all time. Let's walk down it, shall we? You could do a lot worse trying to stay informed on the issues of the day - like reading Leftist propaganda rags such as the Washington Post or New York Times, for example.

The Camp of the Saints sounds the "all hands on board" alarm, giving me a chance to plug my post from April 25th of 2012.

Capitalist Preservation provides some light entertainment giving me a chance to opine on the nation's political topology. Later in the day, this blog gives you the new Fast and Furious data the mainstream media is ignoring.

What Would the Founder's Think? gives us a fine weekend round up. Hey, look Ma, I made the big time. (Actually, I think Carlsbad was drawn in by the reference to the prime moron named Maher.)

Carlsbad read something on PJ Media that I'm too lazy to correlate to the proper point in time. They have a lot of columnists there.

Jihad Watch explains why appeasement will never work with Mohammed's Murder Monkey Cult From Hell.

Nice Deb labels Obama a "Third World Marxist." In the comment space I try out "International Leftist" for size. Who cares? We surely agree he wouldn't recognize an "American value" if it bit him on the a$$.

The Jersey Nut provides a two minute seminar on why socialism and "soak the rich" tax policies have never worked anywhere ever at any time.

Wyblog has some fun debate advice for Mittens.

Circle of blog.

Say goodnight, Gracie.

Update 10/3/2012

Carlsbad made an unusual stop last evening. Only one link followed on the Bob Schieffer Blog Roll. Almost like Carlsbad was trying to tell me something. No worries, Carlsbad - my favorite daily read, The Daily Caller is on the case.



Still got white guilt?

And this is why Newt should have been the nominee. Oh well, we'll all just have to 'haul Mittens across the finish line' as TCOTS put it in this post's first link.

Circle of blog.

Weekly Status Report

Astute readers of this blog have surely noticed the rate of postings here has dramatically declined during this month of June 2012.  There are several factors at play.

First, there is the professional dimension.  I have been nominated by my boss for two project rescues in a row.  I’ve been doing some big cat herding lately for pay, which means the pro bono blogging needed to take a back seat.

The first rescue is a classic case of a junior Project Manager (the one I replaced) following the form of the administrative process and exercising zero leadership.  Throw in a notoriously difficult executive stakeholder he lacked the chops to go toe-to-toe with, and overworked developers hiding under their desks as a survival response … and people were beginning to notice he couldn’t even baseline a schedule anybody could trust.  The schedule is now base-lined and under my change management control.  The executive stakeholder is sure to continue to be a pain in the a$$ - it’s who she is - but we understand each other now.  I have the attention of the developers, and visible work product is now being created. 

The most interesting relationship on this one looks like it will be with the customer relationship manager.  She’s one of those high-strung obsessive compulsives who likes to tell people what to do in minute detail.  For example, on Friday I had no choice but to put an end to an extended email thread with this: “How many ways are there to say something was written, will be reviewed, and then approved?  Point of diminishing returns reached. J.”  We’re working together as a team just fine so far.

The root cause for the second rescue is the complete opposite.  It was driven into the ground by a know-it-all senior engineer that communicated nothing to no one before unveiling what she assumed was a production ready system to the entire enterprise.  Needless to say … a highly visible crash and burn was the result.  I had the kickoff meeting for the restart this past Friday, to assert my dominance over a managed iterative delivery process.  The key stakeholders are meeting with me on Monday to elaborate the scope for delivery iteration 1.

The interesting twist on this one is my boss is a key stakeholder, another is his political rival, who oversaw the disaster, and the executive stakeholder is boss to both of them.  Should be loads of fun.

==

My personal life has also required a good deal of attention to detail lately.  This is not the space to go into further detail. 

So, that’s it … the report from the brick and mortar world; the oxygen, carbon dioxide, and H2O world; explaining the blog’s diminished pace for delivering the conservative rants my loyal readership has enjoyed since December 2009.

==

But, even with these real world considerations, the plain  fact is the need for this blog’s mission – “Because the only good Progressive is a failed Progressive” – is disappearing before our very eyes.  By this standard, the Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama is on a rocket slide toward becoming the best Progressive ever.

The economy still sucks and even gives signs of turning downward again.  This condition is due to the Progressive and Keynesian policy program inflicted upon the republic by the Alinskyite Socialist in the White House:  tax, spend, borrow, and zealously regulate.  When these policies are reversed, by his removal from office, an economic boom will be touched off as trillions of spooked investment dollars currently on the sidelines come roaring back into the economy at large.

Iran’s nuclear weapons program continues apace, due to Barry’s typically defeatist and inert Progressive approach to foreign affairs.  Lucky for western civilization Israel is under management that has no delusions about the need to defend itself.  If and when Israel does what it needs to do, this will not be good political news for the Empty Suit that Began His Worldwide Apology Tour with His Islamic Appeasement Speech in Cairo.

Speaking of Cairo, and naïve Progressive notions about the world at large, the so-called Egyptian ‘Arab Spring’ has resulted in the election of a President beholden to the Muslim Brotherhood (MB).  That’s not the Islamic Shriners, by the way … more like the Islamic MS13.  IMHO, it is fortunate for western civilization that the professional Egyptian Army, very Americanized due to close military-to-military relations for decades, has assumed the powers of the dissolved parliament that was also MB dominated after popular elections.  If the MB wins this power struggle with the Army brass, Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel will be worthless, and there will likely be war in the Sinai desert.  We need new management in DC willing to back the Egyptian Army for the cause of peace.

Returning back to the domestic scene, the #OccupyWhatever mob, behind whom Barry foolishly threw his prestige and sympathy, has reached the stage of terminal irrelevance.  Despite the corrupt and biased liberal media’s best efforts, the #OccupyWhatever mob shall be accurately recorded by history as not much more than a garden variety youth gang crime wave.  Unofficially funded by the Democrat party, that is. 

==

Well, you get the picture … Jimmy Carter writ large, for those of you old enough to remember that national disaster - with a side of Saul Alinksy for an extra kick.  Botton line: there is not a snowball’s chance in hell Barry gets re-elected.  Part 26 of the “Newton’s Three Law’s” series will explain further.  LAS has been collecting links to collate into Part 26.  It’s not hard.  All I have to do is browse my way down my blog roll and the myriad of epic failures attributable to the Progressive in the White House jump out at me, as does the growing awareness of the American public, despite the mass hoodwinking being attempted by the corrupt and biased liberal media.

I twice abandoned this month a Jack Wiley Dithers piece, lacking the capacity to fully draft and edit it.  Earlier in the month, when the Campaigner-In-Chief was jetting off on Air Force One to west coast fundraisers while ignoring the D-Day anniversary, I had an idea for a desperate private campaign meeting on the airplane captured by a JWD operative … a flight attendant plant brought on to the JWD payroll for her … ahem .. unique assets.  Later in the month the idea morphed into a long string of desperate campaign conservations captured by a recording device injected into Barry’s favorite basketball … delayed by tedious editing required to remove all the background noise … you know, with all the dribbling.

Try to hang on a little while longer patriots, adult supervision will be coming back to DC soon.

Update 6/27/2012

The old conservative standby, American Spectator, has an excellent blog posting today fleshing out the adult view of conditions in Egypt.

An Intersection ...

So, I was rambling down the Schieffer Blog Roll as I sometimes do, and I came across the Backyard Conservative possibly predicting negative job growth in the June report.

Holy Instant Chaos, Batman!

At the very same moment, my personal favorite cover of Dylan's 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door' - Zevon's - was being piped into my ears by my Pandora radio feed.

It fit for me. Just for today.



Update 6/20/12

Saving today's "Post By Somebody Else" feature for the historical archive ...

A Post By Someone Else, Randomly Selected By Your Humble Editor ...



Is the US bleeding jobs again?
Rick Moran

Bottom line: "The weakness in this report, particularly in the job openings figure, serves as a reminder that the labor market remains far from healthy."

Recall that net new job growth was 77,000 in April and 69,000 in May. But without private sector gains, those numbers would be negative. So if private-sector job growth is weakening, as the JOLT report suggests, not only might those April and May numbers be revised lower, but June might come in negative. (Oh, and don't forget the rise in jobless claims.)

Not only would that news be bad for U.S. workers, but it would be a political bombshell that would dominate the economic narrative for the next month.

The whole enchilada ...

LAS comment: If official jobs reports go negative, you ain't seen nothin' yet from the Demagogue-In-Chief. The Empty Suit's desperation to bitterly cling to power will bring mayhem and sorrow to the republic.

==

Throw in Eric "My People" Holder continuing to stonewall Congress on the Fast and Furious scandal (now with Barry sticking his nose into the fray - bad move for the Empty Suit's 'plausibile deniability'), and ObamaCare on the ropes ... and Newton Part 26 is literally writing itself.

Family Business

I seem to have a bad case of writer's block lately. Always on the look out for man, woman, or child to exploit (as any conservative would - just as Barry O'Bama); I have commissioned my 13 year old son as staff cartoonist.

Last week he came to me seeking ways to earn money. You see, he is saving up for yet another guitar. He presently has three: a cheap entry level acoustic, a low end affordable electric, and a nice Gibson Les Paul electric. I have advised him to save up for a nice acoustic. I only see him looking online at uber-expensive electric models. Ah, the boundless possibilities wound up in youth.

But I digress. In response to his fund raising need, I told him I'd pay union sweat shop wages for cartoon contributions to the LAS project.

The very same day he came forward with this ...

It was good enough to recognize as a sophisticated commentary on the state of US - Iran relations. So, I changed plans and agreed to pay.

A couple of days ago, he asked for my input on the next cartoon idea. I was mentally drafting a post with the working title 'The Big Lie,' to examine Barry O'Bama picking up the preposterous claim made by some nut job named Rex Nutting that his administration has been a comparative skin-flint with gub'ment spending, and expanding that into the plainly obvious fact he is literally running an anti-capitalism campaign. I came up with the idea of Barry O'Bama as a matador slaying the famous Wall Street bull statue. After I explained what a matador is, and what the statue is, he came forward with the following:

I thought the bull looked more like a giant pig, but I paid up anyway to encourage further growth.

==

'The Big Lie' has evolved into 'The Chameleon-In-Chief' as a vehicle for chronicling Barry O'Bama's capacity to be one thing to one audience and something completely opposite to another audience.

Ooh look, something shiny! (Writer's block.)

OK, I'm Finally Convinced

Huxley's 'Brave New World' is the better depiction of Progressive dystopia than Orwell's 1984.



But,hey, it's not as if I wasn't warned ...

Found At the Bottom of a Pile Of Dirty Dishes in the Sink

It's apparently a tiny slingshot constructed from a paper clip and segment of rubber band. Clearly the work of Jimmy (our resident 13 year old), or possibly one of the gang of uncultured miscreants he hangs with (known affectionately around here as the Lords of the Flies.)

Footnote

"How Stupid *is* My Republic?" well under way in mental draft. The only problem is the evidence of Team Leftie's assumption of your stupidity keeps rolling in at warp speed. Just tryin' to keep up ...

And the Winner of the 'Josef Goebbels Award' For Journalistic Malpractice is ...

The 'most trusted name in news'? Really?

Brian Williams is a shameless hack in the filthy partisan propagandist tradition of Dan Rather.

(*True story: While a cadet at The Citadel, on the big day of Dan Rather's big speech to the cadets, as the biased hack Rather was strutting down to the podium, alongside his host Major General James A. Grimsley, then President of the school, through the assembled rows of cadets, LAS recalls the following ... when the biased hack was no more than 10 feet to my right, LAS coughed 'commie!' into his hand 'Animal House' style. The only thing I can't remember for sure is whether it was when I was a junior holding the lofty title cadet staff sergeant or a senior holding the even more lofty title cadet captain.)

Update 4/7/12

Conservative Hideout 2.0 does a weekly link around that is nothing if not impressive in its completeness. If you were to read nothing but this link around once a week, you would be infinitely more informed than the standard issue registered Democrat drone getting his or her propaganda from MSNBC, CNN, and the Daily Show. Author Matt neatly rounds up events from this week - the week that may be remembered as the week the corrupt and biased MSM began its final slide into general and total disgrace - with these succinct and articulate words ...

NBC was caught selectively editing the Zimmerman 911 call audio to make him appear to be racist. ABC’s video was shown to display Zimmerman’s injuries. CNN re-anylized the 911 audio, and determined that Zimmerman did not use a racial slur. And MSNBC? They brought new meaning to the word failure, including running a satirical post from the Daily KOS as a serious news story.

Then, President Obama played Alinsky with the SCOTUS, insisting that they cannot overturn a democratically passed law, like DOMA. Oh wait, that’s not the law in question, is it? And, following that logic, Prop 8 should be just fine, right?

Unemployment numbers were spun, but the fact remains that the the economy “created” approximately 100,000 less jobs than projected, and there are now a record number of Americans out of the workforce entirely. Franky, I think that this is a planned outcome. The more people that are out of the workforce, the more people that are dependent on government. Our POTUS might think that by keeping the people on the government drug, they will vote for him in November.

Sunday Morning Read (Washington Times Edition)

If you wish to keep up with the news and politics of the day, you could do a lot worse than subscribing to the Washington Times email list. The Times has long (since 1984, that is) been the conservative alternative to the Democrat / Leftist propaganda organ known as the Washington Post. In 1984, WaPo stood alone on the local newspaper field, after the prior year’s demise of Washington’s previous “other newspaper” – the Washington Star. The founding of the Times filled a competitive hole in the ideological information landscape.

The Times was founded, and funded at a loss, by New World Communications, until 2010. (I don’t know, but I’ll bet it’s still running at a loss under new ownership.) New World Communications is an international media conglomerate with holdings in other interesting places like Japan, South Korea, and South America. New World Communications is also associated with the Unification Church and its’ founder Sun Myung Moon. The Times, as you would expect, has often been the butt of jokes implying it is “cultish,” based on this association with the “moonies.” On the other hand, you might be able to see the possible interest a South Korean religious figure with deep financial resources might have in funding right leaning voices for religious freedom. South Korea, after all, happens to be located immediately south of North Korea – that militaristic socialist (i.e. fascist) regime, run by the lunatic Kim family dynasty.

==

I subscribed to home delivery of the Times’ paper edition off and on for many years. Every couple of years or so the phone would ring while I was sitting at my desk paying bills or something, and a disembodied voice would offer me a great deal on trying the Times (again). My agreement would produce the unintended consequence of barely read, ink soaked, dual folded papers stacked up on my porch, waiting to be placed on the curb for the recycling industry. I would fail to proactively renew the subscription, then the phone would ring at my bill paying desk some time later, and the cycle would repeat.

When the time honored phone call arrived this past week, I told the disembodied voice ‘no thank you, I’m already on the email list.’ (The advantage for me - I barely ever read the emails, either, but at least the unread bytes don’t produce an unsightly pile on my porch.) The disembodied voice accepted my answer on face value and politely moved on to her next call. I’m not sure how the Times can survive this environment, but that’s not my problem to resolve right now.

==

Instead I’ll post on today’s delivery of the Times’ Top Stories and Opinion pages to my email inbox. The three part format is as follows: The original Times link, my alternative heading matching it to this blog’s theme, and a reprint of the comment I left behind as LAS. All the comments immediately went into moderation – I presume due to the harmless little url signature I habitually include – as is the right and privilege of the Times’ staff, of course. This post will allow me to circle back and audit their moderation standards.

==

BARRASSO: Strategic Petroleum Reserve is for emergencies - not political disasters

LAS Headline
Obama will drain Strategic Petroleum Reserve to fund re-election campaign.

LAS Comment
Draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve will be a "two-fer" for Barry. In the short term it helps his re-election prospects by artificially lowering prices. After the election, it won't be there to offset his second term agenda to drive prices through the roof. And he will ruthlessly pursue this second term agenda - no question.

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RUSE: Obama mandate: Not a women’s issue

LAS Headline
Gub’ment takeover of health insurance industry has officially entered the bedroom.

LAS Comment
Memo to Gloria Allred: If you make me pay for your contraceptives, you have to pay for my booze. Deal?

==

EDITORIAL: Taking back property rights

LAS Headline
Supremes were wrong to rule in favor of Crony Developers

LAS Comment
Just one of many "precedents" the Supremes have been dead wrong on.

==

KUHNER: Obama’s Islamist agenda

LAS Headline
Obama extended open hand, Tehran cut it off ... next President to “inherit" one hell of a mess in Middle East.

LAS Comment
“[Hillary says] Arab Spring is backsliding” Backsliding? It never was. Barry and Hillary were hoodwinked by the Muslim Brotherhood from day one.

==

Limbaugh apologizes for making slurs about Georgetown student

LAS Headline
Team Leftie trots out useful idiot to testify in favor of unconstitutional institutional mandate.

LAS Comment
I need a PC ruling: Can I label her a “mooch” for asking the rest of us to underwrite her voluntary behaviors?

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Movie Review: ‘The Lorax,’ cuddly cartoon agitprop the Unabomber would’ve loved

LAS Headline
Dr. Seuss as interpreted by Dr. Goebbels.

LAS Comment
The answer to your last two questions ... Hollywood still thinks it's profitably hip to be openly Leftie. This will change in due time. The only thing Hollywood really cares about is being popular.

==

Conflicting accounts over Afghan Koran burnings

LAS Headline
Surprise! No wrong doing in Afghan Koran burnings. Expect more riots. And more Obama apologies.

LAS Comment
Cooler heads will prevail officially. Islamists will riot when the findings are announced nevertheless. It's what they do.

On the Death of Andrew Breitbart

I never had the pleasure of meeting the man. I am, however, completely certain I would have enjoyed his company. His was a transcendent personality … the kind that calls out to all kindred spirits willing to take the initiative to notice.

I must say I have struggled with “how” to “take notice.” It was, naturally, de rigueur, for a blog with this blog’s theme and mission. But, as should be abundantly clear to the most casual observer of this blog, serious commentary is incidental, though not central, to its construction. That is, incidental in a seriously calculated way.

Which makes it difficult to construct serious eulogies.

Then, of course, there is the regular cadence of my own life that I must live, which naturally takes priority over all.  For example, the thirteen year old boy’s house league basketball team just lost their first round playoff game against a lower seed - because they did everything right … except force enough shots via the power of their will to fall inside the rim rather than outside it. Those seven kids learned a great lesson tonight, which was confirmed by the broad smiles on their faces as they left the court losers. No, not the kind of faux satisfaction that comes from the ‘everybody gets a trophy’ Soccer Mom ethos – more the kind of satisfaction that comes from being satisfied by the good fight well fought. Plus, they know they can still plow their way through the loser’s bracket. I expect the disciplined execution of happy warriors to yield a good result beginning with tomorrow’s game.

==

Sure, I could easily envision myself raising a glass to the man.

And, sure, while struggling with the “how” to “take notice” question – via my well worn method of strolling down the Bob Schieffer Blog Roll - I could have simply reprinted one of many takes encapsulating some aspect of my own feeling – like this treatise on how he taught conservatives to commit principled provocation (kind of like stealing a rebound).

==

Then it came to me, in my own quirky way, whilst listening to my Pandora Radio feed on my more or less nightly stroll down the Bob Schieffer Blog Roll.

Astute readers of this blog may have noticed I am a Kinkophile, musically – meaning, of course, I enjoy the music of The Kinks to an unexplainable and unaccountable visceral degree. It’s an undiagnosed mental disease. Just ask Ray or Dave Davies.





Nevermind the transitional Kinks period these videos document, from the early 70’s art house incarnation to the late 70’s arena rock incarnation. (The girl singers are good, aren’t they? Too bad they don’t fit the format next year. And who the hell is that bass player, anyway?)

No, it’s the ethos of the perfectly crafted songs ‘Misfits’ and 'Celluloid Heroes' that I wish to offer as a eulogy for the great Andrew Breitbart.

Breitbart was the misfit warrior for all misfits. Raised in ultra-liberal Hollywood, he had the courage to fight, really fight, that is, for the opposite of what he had been spoon-fed. Because it’s what he felt and believed – no other reason.

If anyone deserves a place on Hollywood Boulevard – it is Andrew Breitbart. Period. End of Sentence.

Update 3/3/12

Upon review of the original post, I have decided a few words on how I mean the reader to take the term 'misfit' are in order. It does not mean unable to function in the civil society, or functioning at a low level. It means quite the opposite - functioning at a high level due to being the square peg that does not fit the round hole erroneously assigned by the civil society. The highly functioning misfit is the invaluable personality the collectivist / statist mentality disregards as inconvenient. The highly functioning misfit animates the Libertarian Conservative / classically liberal ethos. Andrew Breitbart was the most awesome square peg in the giant round hole that is ultra-liberal Hollywood. He refused to sit down and shut up, like today's Leftist media / entertainment / gub'ment orthodoxy instructs conservatives to do constantly. That's what I meant by eulogizing Andrew Breitbart as a 'misfit warrior for all misfits.'

Announcing the Bob Schieffer Memorial Blog Roll, Version 2.0

It's been a full week since I've posted here, partly because the percentage of my time and energy going toward the blog has been spent heads down under the covers - 'fundamentally transforming' the RSS feed coming into the blog. Just trying to keep up with the Obamas, you know.

This blog's RSS feed widget had become quite obese in the two years and several weeks of its operation, reaching in excess of 150 feeds and actually hitting some damn limit preventing any further maintenance using Blogger's default widget. It was time to follow Mooshell Obama's lead and mandate some belt tightening around here.

==

The RSS feed already had the perfect moniker - the Bob Schieffer Memorial Blog Roll. The sclerotic MSM hack named Schieffer earned this honor when he failed to even ask Eric "My People" Holder about the New Black Panther voter intimidation case, then employed the pathetic excuse he had been on vacation when the story broke, in a pathetic attempt to cover his incompetent tracks. Look it up, kiddies. You have the Google, you know.

==

Well, anyway, back to the point at hand. I resolved to cull the RSS feed back to 100 or less feeds, keeping the overall compilation true to the ethos of this blog. I might describe this ethos as 20th Century Conservatism, nee Classical Liberalism, with a strong dose of snarky humor. After two years and several weeks burying my head inside the conservative blogosphere, I feel perfectly competent to assume this editorial role. Because I'm really INTJ that way (Myers-Briggs reference). And in the full spirit of spontaneous order, I stipulate my selections here are a sufficient foundation for my purposes.  Maybe yours, too.

The feeds that made the version 2.0 cut meet the measure of this ethos and/or occupy some specialized niche within it, to one degree or another. For example:

* Watt's Up With That representing (among others) the Global Warming Hoax Deniers.

* Randy's Roundtable (American war bird proclaiming 'Jihad This') and Sister Toldjah (elf queen dancing in the field) - among others - possessing the killer graphics.

* Cato, Heritage, and AEI representing the conservative think tanks toiling in perpetual obscurity.

* Caroline Glick reporting on conditions in Israel, the furthermost outpost of western civilization in the Arab/Persian world. Predicted by LAS to be the flashpoint of Barry's precipitous downfall, Jimmah Cahtah style.

* Libertas et Memoria (among others) for the uptight social con crowd. Couldn't do it without ya, babe.

Well, you get the idea. Congratulations to all the roll members. I have good taste, and I know it.

==

Then there's the concept of enlightened self interest. If we have shared links, you should consider yourself a virtual shoe in for inclusion. However, there was the occasional conflict between this policy and my capacity to find your feed with the new tools. I'm thinking of you, Pundies. I'll be in touch at some point.

Now, of course, it's always possible I overlooked a worthy candidate. I am only human, after all. So, if you feel you deserve inclusion with this exclusive collection of classically liberal bloggers, drop me a note at libertyatstake@gmail.com. I will respond with either my mea culpa and include you, or explain why you didn't make the cut.  PaulBots need not apply.  Appeasing the Islamists is a DQ, plain and simple.

And no need for you to correspond, Angry White Dude. I'll explain here. Your incessant use of ALL CAPS makes you sound like a lunatic. We here in the LAS camp are tough minded and tough skinned - but we are not berserkers. We know how to shoot, but it's more the 'revenge is best served cold' kind of shooting. If Barry gets re-elected, we'll re-establish contact with your hot shooting camp.  Until then, keep your powder dry.

So, read the roll! Especially, you, Schieffer!  After your nap, of course.

Footnote

The formatting of the v2.0 roll breaks down with IE8 for some damn reason I haven't isolated yet. Perfectly fine in Chrome, Mozilla, and Safari. The wife's IE9 machine is asleep, and she is, too - so testing not possible right now. If you are using IE8 as I am now - shame on you, troglodyte!

The Only Thing Dumber Than the Average Person is a Crowd

I made that up tonight - as far as I'm concerned.  Upon which my 13 year old son claimed it is already a well known and popular quote.  My 13 year old son!  I have exercised extreme restraint by not 'Googling' (God, I hate that word as a verb!) it, before posting this for all time.  I'm half inclined to *NEVER* 'Google' (God, I hate that word as a verb!) it, as a matter of fact, because, it's mine, I tell you, mine!

I win!

Take THAT, whipper snapper!

LAS 2011 Review & 2012 Preview (Part 3 of 4)

Part 1 covered domestic conditions.
Part 2 covered foreign affairs.
Part 3 covers the current electoral situation.
Part 4 will cover this blog project.

In Part 1, we examined the domestic chaos being inflicted upon the republic by the Community-Agitator-In-Chief. In Part 2, we took a whirlwind tour around the globe to review the foreign affairs wreckage being left behind by the Appeaser-In-Chief. Now, in part 3, we take up the race to replace the Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama.

==

Understandably; the attention of the media, its’ pundits, and the small percentage of us willing to pay attention is on the GOP nomination process for President. I have made my position clear. Newt Gingrich is the best nominee left in the field.

My principal objection to front runner Mitt Romney is now and always has been that he is the wrong candidate to draw the sorely needed sharp distinction with the Empty Suit Known as Barack Hussein Obama. I don’t just want to defeat BHO – I want to defeat his morally and intellectually bankrupt Leftist ideology. Leftist ideology has spread quite enough financial wreckage and human misery across the planet, TYVM. If the GOP nominates Mittens in 2012, this opportunity is effectively lost. I don’t care what Karl Rove says, the clueless independents that swing general elections will simply not be able to distinguish RomneyCare from ObamaCare – and David Axelrod’s corrupt attack machine will exploit their ignorance.

Until Iowa played out, that was the sum total of my Not-Romney nomination position. But then Mittens really pissed off LAS when he broke Ronald Reagan’s eleventh commandment and attacked fellow Republican Newt Gingrich so mercilessly. Especially galling were the thinly veiled “character” attacks contrasting Romney’s single marriage with Gingrich’s three. This angle played well in an atypical state where literally 56% of the caucus attendees self-identified as fundamentalist Christian, and establishment “super PACs” funded a relentless rotation of vicious attack ads. (News flash for Social Conservatives: Ronald Reagan was on his second marriage when he saved the country after Jimmy Carter’s term of ‘malaise.’ The fidelity thing is irrelevant to this critical election cycle. Get over it.)

Mittens then further pissed off LAS by hiding behind legal technicalities in a bogus attempt to avoid accountability for the attacks his friends funded. Sir Mitt of RINO is looking more and more like the same old establishment politician that got us into this mess in the first place.

The GOP establishment loathes Newt Gringrich, because they know he’s the last Speaker to balance a budget and the only Speaker who ever showed sufficient conviction to actually shut down the gub’ment. As such, the establishment feels compelled to destroy Newt because they are not ready to have their apple cart overturned with the level of big idea direct action he is uniquely capable of delivering. We The People are not only ready for it, but hunger for it.

Gingrich is still the best debater on the stage – and this is still the prime qualification for defeating BHO as well as his intellectually and morally bankrupt ideology. As far as I’m concerned, the interesting story out of Iowa is that Newt still polls even 3rd or 4th anywhere after the barrage of negativity funded by Mittens and his establishment pals. The Santorum surge proves but one thing – the search for Not-Romney continues unabated. It could yet yield Newt when all is said and done.

All that stated – I will repeat the warning I have frequently set down in comments posted all across the Intertubes. We need to keep our eye on the ultimate prize – BHO’s defeat in the general election. Whoever the nominee becomes – however weak he is - (with Conservative Warrior Princess Michele Bachmann unfortunately out, I can abandon any PC attempt to cover both genders with my use of pronoun) – we will need to close ranks behind him to ensure the defeat of BHO and his corrupt gang of Progressives. Their ascendancy to a second reign of comic-tragic F-A-I-L would simply be a disaster for the republic. IMHO, Gingrich is slightly better than Santorum, who is a thousand times better than Romney. However, everybody left on the GOP stage would be a trillion times better than the Alinsky trained socialist now occupying the Oval Office – even that crazy old isolationist kook Ron Paul. So, nobody better be thinking about splitting the vote with any foolish 3rd party runs. I’m talking to you, crazy old isolationist kook Ron Paul.

==

Some in the conservative blogosphere are still kvetching about what they perceive as a weak field of candidates. The “Run Sarah (Palin) Run” grassroots drumbeaters are still out there, for example. I also recently heard pundit Krauthammer wistfully lament how the race would be different if only it included some of his preferred eggheads; such as Bobby Jindal, Mitch Daniels, and Paul Ryan. I have a news flash for these fantasy nomination players – the field is the field. Its makeup – especially its omissions - has an awful lot to do with the rectal examination any GOP candidate for POTUS will immediately receive from the corrupt and biased liberal media from the moment an announcement is made. A decision to run for President as an (R) is synonymous with accepting that you, your record, and your character will be mercilessly molded into a negative caricature by the liberal media, and fed to clueless independents as red meat in a mercilessly coordinated political assassination. Just ask Sarah Palin how that works on the receiving end. I suspect her decision, and the decision of Krauthammer’s list of fellow smart guys, took this reality into consideration. Correcting this problem is a longer term project. For now, let’s just play the game with the team on field, shall we?

Which brings me to the other side of Pennsylvania Avenue ... Yes, getting a warm body not actually hostile to the interests of the American people into the Oval Office is important. But that’s only half the equation, at most. We need conservative legislation to come off Capitol Hill for that warm body to sign with his autopen. National polls are starting to show, for the first time in my lifetime I think, more voters self-identifying (R) than (D). These numbers bode well for keeping the House of Representatives out of the kleptocratic clutches of Nanny Pelosi and her corrupt gang. The 2012 set up is also ripe for a GOP takeover of the Senate. Of the 33 seats on the line, 23 are the Donkey party’s to hold or lose. Only 10 are for the GOP to defend. A swing of 4 gives the GOP a plain majority, and a swing of 13 gets the GOP to the magical filibuster proof 60 number. Reaching 60 is very possible IMHO, provided the GOP runs a decent campaign. However, based on history, I expect the GOP to run the usual dismal campaign and come out with a 52-55 seat majority.

I intend to do all I can at a local level to defeat the progressive technocrat with the (D) label representing my congressional district – affectionately known around these parts as “Jihad” Gerry Connolly for his close ties to the Islamist front group CAIR. I also intend to somehow help with George Allen re-taking the Senate seat he lost in 2006, all because the hacks at the Washington Post mounted a merciless character assassination over a nonsense word. George Allen’s re-ascendancy to that seat will be a sign of the decline of Political Correctness and its cult of mumbo-jumbo. If you don’t have a clue about the congressional races in your district / state, LAS strongly suggests you start paying attention and prepare to cast votes you won’t regret down the road.

==

Nationally, the visceral battle for the hearts and minds of the American electorate will occur at street level.

As far as “governance” from DC is concerned - there won’t be any in 2012. The hapless establishment GOP will once again fail to capitalize on the strong hand We The People gave them in the election of 2010 – the hand that controls the purse strings. They proved that by snatching defeat from the jaws of victory time and again in 2011. Dingy Harry Reid’s Democrat Senate will ring up a fourth straight year of failing to even bother to pass a budget. The Empty Suit That Occasionally Occupies the Oval Office will be in perpetual campaign mode, on the taxpayer dime, demagogically spreading lies across the land. His unaccountable Leftist bureaucrats will dream up still more economy killing regulations and taxes.

The real action will be in a contrast between the TEA Party and Occupy movements. Translating this contrast to an actionable vote is within the grasp of clueless independents. We need to relentlessly remind clueless independents of the following:

• TEA Party patriots assemble and make a specific point – i.e. we’re tapped out on taxes and regulations. Then they clean up after themselves and go back to their individual productive activities in the civil society. In other words, the TEA Party movement represents the productive class.

• Occupiers never leave, unless and until evicted, and the only coherent point seems to be a strong desire to be handed more of other people’s stuff. When finally evicted, they leave behind a bestowment of trash, pestilence, and crime for the civil society. In other words, the Occupy movement represents the entitlement class.

• TEA Party patriots organize behind candidates and issues when they go home. They get people elected and legislation passed. Occupiers go back to their basements and rant on the Huffington Post and other Leftist sites.

The corrupt and biased liberal media will apply all of its resources to obfuscating and lying about the contrast. Communicating the contrast will be the patriotic duty of the blogosphere, AM talk radio and all the other forms of alternative media rapidly making the MSM obsolete.

LAS has one specific 2012 recommendation for the TEA Party movement. We need one more massive rally in DC along the lines of the 9-12-09 rally. Even the corrupt and biased MSM will not be able to hide it from America when we assemble by the hundreds of thousands, make our point legally, peacefully, and articulately, pick up after ourselves, and leave behind the pathetic band of whiny hippies, hobos, and criminals sleeping in McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza under the Occupy banner.

Update 1/8/12

Following is a 9-12-09 vid from my YouTube Playlist.



Check out the whole playlist. It's a great reminder of the patriotic spirit that was unleashed in 2009. Some of the links are broken, but after nearly three years, that's to be expected. My personal favorite is #12, depicting the Russ Carnahan townhall revolt (one of many that summer). A close second for me is #26 - lampooning how ObamaCare was shoved down our throats. The singer-guitarist in the prologue and epilogue is my then eleven year old son; equipped with nothing but an $80 acoustic and off-the-shelf PC microphone.

Phis O’ Rama

When I initiated this blog project, as 2009 was turning into 2010, I did not anticipate being targeted with moronic  attacks, perpetrated by obviously stupid attackers, proceeding from the obvious assumption I was also an idiot.  Yet precisely such a steady stream of such attacks has been one of the more bemusing byproducts of the blog project.

‘Phishing’ is a criminal activity by now familiar to even the most modestly knowledgeable internet users.  A phishing scam attempts to separate the victim from his or her money, or collect personal information on the victim, usually with the motivation to subsequently separate the victim from his or her money.   In its most unsophisticated form, the criminal sends an email, the unwary victim replies, the crime is perpetrated. 

Before I donned my not-so-secret identity as LibertyAtStake, the number of phishing emails aimed at my real identity could be counted on the digits of a single hand, and these emails were always obviously part of a much larger global sweep of the ‘net for fools.  This experience makes some sense, as I have never been accused of being stupid, nor suspected of sitting on piles of money.  Not a juicy target for the email phisher, that is.

Yet something very interesting – to me, at least – happened almost from the moment I began blogging as LibertyAtStake.  Legions of phishers lined up to dip their hooks into the libertyatstake@gmail.com pond almost instantly, and the phishers still throw their hooks into the water to this day.  Given I’m not being paid for this, and I’m essentially lazy as well, there will be no effort from me to thoroughly catalog, label, and statistically analyze this vitally important historical archive.  Of course, it is already archived, the act of archiving itself being entirely trivial.  However, you and I, dear reader, can have some fun with a subjective ad-hoc romp through a representative sampling.

The first thing to note is the currency unit referenced by the vast majority of phishers directly mentioning currency is the British Pound.  The British Pound?  For a while, I thought maybe this meant Great Britain is the phishing capital of the world.  The Brits were dumb enough as a population to adopt socialized medicine, after all.  But, further reflection on this matter leads me to conclude the phishing community is more an international collection of criminals making the simple assumption English language equals English money.

Then there’s the question of motivation.  Why target the anonymous blogger known as LibertyAtStake?  I imagine LibertyAtStake’s readers quickly reach two conclusions, in no particular order – LAS is definitely passionately conservative,  and maybe even a little bit off his rocker.  So these phishers are either internet psychologists in search of a research subject, or ideological Leftists targeting the “enemy.”  I think odds favor the latter conclusion.

So, what can we conclude about these international Leftists?  Do they worship each evening at the altar of PT Barnum (“there’s a sucker born every minute”)?    I don’t know about that … but one thing is absolutely certain … these Leftists firmly believe the rest of us are complete idiots.

How else to explain this representatively weak effort?

Though the attacker does get extra credit for covering the possibility I might be bi-lingual.

Taking the fiendishly clever attack to new levels, a language using a completely different alphabet in combination with a completely empty message body is tried.

Not to be outdone, this phishing master goes with empty subject as well as empty message body, but an attachment with his devilishly disguised payload.

This attacker goes with the old “Neon Sign” approach, in an effort to induce me to click on the ticking attachment.

This one desires the more personal approach of a telephone call.  He must fancy himself a smooth talker.

Google isn’t the only evil corporation throwing around British money like a drunken sailor.

Coke over Pepsi for thoroughness.

Finally, something referencing my native currency – from a Nigerian situated in Japan.  High marks for a polite note, though.

Occasionally I can’t resist writing a reply note.  I was very impressed with the thirteen (13) field “grant validation form” that didn’t make the screen shot.

Last but not least, there’s the old “we’re from Tech Support and we’re here to help” gambit.

==

These international Leftists can make the assumption they have a reasonable expectation of success because, like all Leftists, they assume the rest of us are idiots. Their results are a big fat zero because, like all Leftists, they are engaged in what psychologists label 'projection.'

Sounds Like a Threat To Me

Astute readers of this blog already know Camp Stinky, McPherson Square has been a regular feature in my life lately.  A fuller account of the human flotsam and jetsam I have encountered there will have to wait for the book, I guess.

Tonight, in true blogger style, however, I am simply sending out a snapshot of our insane times to the world at large.  Starting a couple of days ago, I "got into it" a little bit on the occupydc.org comment board.  You can find the full comment thread here.  Actually, most of the comment activity occurred while I was "WFH" (my current client's acronym for "Working From Home") with a cold bug.  I billed three (3) hours for the meetings I dialed into.

If you don't want to sort through the totality of the madness at the link, the relevant portions for this evening's post follow:

LAS:

"David" fears LAS. This is useful to the continuation of the republic.

Bplegate:

[LAS' real first name redacted] lives at [LAS' real address redacted]; if anyone wants to meet him in person. I want to meet him in person.

Bplegate:

Oh, and here is what he looks like:
[My real linkedin photograph redacted]

LAS:

And the Zombie swarm begins. I welcome the publicity for my blog. Make sure you don't do anything that isn't "largely peaceful" now.

Bplegate:

I'm not an occupier; so not a real big fan of the whole nonviolence thing.

LAS:

Sounds like a direct threat of physical violence. Care to clarify before I contact authorities?

For this evening's post, I invite rational citizens who have stumbled into this post to compose their own replies to "Bplegate" in the comments section of this post. And LAS reminds "Bplegate" I myself stroll through Camp Stinky, McPherson Square 1-2 times daily, between the hours of 10:30 am and 4 pm, depending on the demands the civil society places upon me through the prism of my daily "J-O-B". Just leave a note with the so-called "media tent" - or something.  I guess it will get to me.  Maybe the nut job who was there in Army surplus fatigues on day one, yet has managed to somehow not be arrested yet (the nut job knows what I mean), will hand the note to me.

And let no one forget Barry is down with #occupy.

d(^_^)b
http://libertyatstake.blogspot.com/
“Because the Only Good Progressive is a Failed Progressive”

Update 12/09/2011

This afternoon seemed like an opportune time to bookend my October 7th #OccupyDC photo essay with a new photo essay.  The October 7th post documented the opening stages of the illegal encampment.  In that post I opined on the underwhelming numbers with the line "I was hoping for more lunatics."

Karma, that cruel bastard, took notice and gave me a great big helping of "be careful what you ask for, you might get it."

==

McPherson Square from K street. That's a whole lot of REI.

A closer look at some of the flotsam and jetsam. When I approached the camper in the lounge chair, I learned he was reading something by Voltaire. But he declined to have his picture taken, and I obliged - not realizing he was already captured on the edges of this shot. Oops.

Another look at the growing public health hazard. But, apparently, squirrel heaven.

The facilities.

You almost have to admire the ingenuity of the camper who fashioned see-through living quarters out of scrap plastic. Except the briefest inspection reveals it is not even close to water tight. The man in my photo taking a photo is a fellow TEA Party patriot documenting the madness for the historical record. This is his Facebook page.

This native-looking structure is clearly not water tight either, the top being completely open, chimney style.

This lovely creature shielded her face with the coffee mug - then told me she'd beat me to death with the mug if I tried taking her photo again.  My fellow TEA Party patriot appears in the background.

Not your father's skate park. You can't see it, but the skateboard enthusiast is wearing the anarchist's facial bandana as a fashion accessory.  The expensive gear hanging off her shoulders somehow makes me think she hasn't actually thought much about the actual politics of 'anarchy.'

The polished young gentleman flipping me the bird assured me everything was non-violent.

Tai-Chi exercises or self-defense lessons?

#10 is my personal favorite.  Click to enlarge and zoom.

Fatigue Boy is the nut job I mentioned above in the main body of the post. He's still very proud of avoiding arrest thus far. His sign is meant to harass the guy next to him (more in a moment) - but it of course looks like he's talking about himself. I say arrest the moron for stupidity. Who could possibly look more like a danger to himself and others?

This working class hero has had enough - and has started his own one man counter protest. If this weren't DC, I'd feel confident predicting he has started a trend. This being DC, all I can say is: hang in there, fella. You are a beacon of hope.

These trust fund kiddies on an excellent adventure are sleeping in a tent flying the black and red Anarchist flag. They were also engaged in the juvenile harassment of the one man counter protest. When I mocked the bullshit Anarchy angle, the tubby red head attempted to mount the poor dog like a horse. Where's PETA when they are really needed?

The civil society grows more bemused by the day.

d(^_^)b
http://libertyatstake.blogspot.com/
"Because the Only Good Progressive is a Failed Progressive"

Update #2 12/09/11

Ruh-Roh! Maybe Fatigue Boy's arrest record is no longer untarnished.

A Low Fidelity Drop Down List Widget Prototype

 ==

Conceived by LAS in the pre-dawn sleepless hours. Drawn by LAS' very own hand whilst making coin doing something somewhat tangentially related. LAS' mind reminded at this very moment how his eighth-grade educated grandmother had vastly superior handwriting.  Perhaps inspired by a long ago forgotten contact with this vitally important font of knowledge.

Yep, that's how LAS' sick and twisted mind works.

d(^_^)b
http://libertyatstake.blogspot.com/
“Because the Only Good Progressive is a Failed Progressive”

Meet the Teachers

If you are a parent of school-age children, you know the drill. Rows of educational professionals, apparently arranged in something resembling alphabetical order, sit behind folding tables in a gymnasium or cafeteria, awaiting conferences with parents eager to ensure their progeny receive the instruction from said professionals said progeny deserve, to lock in that wildly successful future said progeny are entitled to.

The lines of parents willing to occupy folding chairs set up in front of the aforementioned folding tables begin to form. In this case, the school is a public school balkanized between “honors” (mostly the progeny of two parent families from the east side of the tracks) and “general ed” (mostly the progeny of broken families from the west side of the tracks). Take a wild guess which educational professionals had dozens lined up and which had nearly none.

==

The Mathematics teacher with a habit of assigning homework before teaching the material said everything was cool with Young Master James except for a tendency to hand in homework late. Go figure.

I thought I smelled alcohol on the US History teacher’s breath. I could be wrong because he seemed perfectly in control of his wits. He’s a young man still.

The Environmental Science teacher – an old man who Young Master James reports is a Global Warming denier – had to look up the computer record to remember who Young Master James is. His eyes brightened when the record came up, and it informed him who Young Master James is. He then kicked off the discussion complimenting Young Master James on his punctuality and good manners. Yep, he’s a conservative.

The Art Foundations teacher said everything was cool with Young Master James, except she wished he tried harder to reach his real potential. Imagine that.

The Band teacher reported Young Master James has been promoted to first chair trumpet, but asked about his practice habits. The rest of our discussion revolved around improving the latter. Imagine that.

==

Young Master James’ future remains a virgin green field.

A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To the Nomination

The only thing more breathlessly unhinged than a Leftist mob is a Ron Paul mob.



Late yesterday afternoon, I stumbled into a well written article on the Daily Caller site by a Ron Paul devotee named Jack Hunter. As anyone familiar with my intertubes genius would expect, I dropped a comment stating my position on some aspect of the article, with my standard signature linking back to my blogspot archive.

I briefly considered commenting on my agreement with the author that Herman Cain was wrong in his support of TARP. If we never bailed out the damn banks in the first place, we’d already be well into the recovery today – and without Leftist mobs in the streets demanding the bailout riches – which have all been paid back - be redistributed to them today (presumably for even more expensive tents).

I let it go though – because I know Herman Cain to be educable and pragmatic (meaning ‘practical’, not ‘unprincipled’) as an executive. I’ve seen him do it. Perhaps in a future post, I’ll explore why I find the sins of my other “not-Romney” favorite – Newt Gingrich – more egregious; i.e. falling for the Global Warming hoax and being slow off the mark embracing the TEA Party movement.

I chose instead to comment on the importance to get on with the primary process of finding the ‘not-Romney’ on principled grounds. As well as looking ahead to the possibility Romney can still win, and we may need to suck it up and be big boys come general election time. Which will mean embracing Romney as ‘not-Obama’ (with noses firmly held, of course).

==

Comment board chaos ensued. Frankly, I should have anticipated it, given who I was dealing with. But I failed to, and now I have to write this damned post. ;)

A swarm of Ron Paul devotees jumped on the thread to frantically push their man’s case. Some of the content, and the whole attitude of it, is entirely unhinged. You can read it for yourself.

The swarm failed to abate even after I told them to read my March 1, 2010 blogspot post for a comprehensive read designed to put the discussion to rest, and allow us to at least agree to disagree.

Actually, I should have anticipated this would be a fruitless offer. I suspect most of this swarm have never taken a breath from ranting long enough to read and comprehend that many words all at once.

The swarm still continues this morning. Trust me when I tell you I could make a game of causing it to continue as long as I cared to, inclusive of “endlessly.” Or in the spirit of Hunter S. Thompson, I can now simply report on my experience from the thick of the fight. At least having my character and motives mischaracterized, misunderstood, and smeared on a comment board is lighter duty than getting beat up by the Hell’s Angels (an actual HST episode).

==

The core problem with the Ron Paul mob is a wicked mix of two character defaults; a naiveté about how the world works, and a religiosity around their devotion to their candidate. This, as a matter of fact, if you replace the word “candidate” with “ideology,” is the same axis of character defects that makes Jihadis an existential threat to the planet, and Leftists an existential threat to the constitution.