Resistance is futile!

Outrage!

That's what I feel on learning about this.  I've been witness to massive increases in spending on Human Services and seen the K-12 budget continue to increase every two years - you can debate the merits of that spending elsewhere.  But I never would have guessed that, at the same time, we'd see SLASHING of the Oregon Military Department and Oregon National Guard budget DURING WAR TIME and when even more Oregon troops are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

This is a massive slap in the face to our troops.  I am sick and damn tired of lip-service from politicians who keep trying to make us believe they "support the troops."

Bull crap!

Let's see something behind the promises to back them up for a change.

I know times are tough and some budgets need to be cut.  But the amount needed to fully fund the OMD to necessary levels pales in comparison to the amounts casually tossed around for behemouths like K-12.  The Governor vetoed the K-12 budget over a $200 million disagreement.  The Legislature overrode that veto and repassed the same budget without batting an eye.  When two branches of government can get into a bickering match over a "paltry" sum like $200 million, how hard would it have been for the pencil-pushers in Salem to wave their little wands and send just ONE PERCENT of that questionable amount to the National Guard?  One percent of the disputed "margin of error" in the K-12 budget (which is itself peanuts compared to the over $6 billion total K-12 budget) would have not only restored the OMD to necessary budget levels, but could have also provided much-needed relief for the families of deployed troops and other veterans in need.

This sickens me to no end.  It is high time we flushed the system clean of the current floaters and elected some political leaders who actually give a damn about our troops.

Universe 1, Pedophile-child-rapist 0

Michael Jackson is dead.  It is now safe to let your children go trick or treating again.

I think Instapundit has the right take on this.

Bigger monitor

Experimenting with layout and font sizes to look better with my 16x9 monitor.  Let me know what y'all think (if anything).

And now... Here's SID!

The following message is from Sid Leiken, Mayor of Springfield and candidate for the U.S. Congress:

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

My name is Sid Leiken and I'm running for Congress to address the concerns that keep us all awake at night. High unemployment, lower take-home pay, rising cost of health care, and shrinking retirement accounts have most of us pretty worried about the future. As I talk with people throughout our area each day these are the concerns that come up over and over again.

So what is Congress doing to address our concerns? Not much.

That's why I need your support today.

The solutions start with getting federal spending under control and turning our attention to empowering the private sectors to create jobs. To do so, we also need leaders who will put partisanship and bickering aside.

I have a proven record of doing just that.

As the Mayor of Springfield I have shown that I know what it means to apply fiscal discipline. In fact, we have balanced the budget, added police officers and learned to operate with greater efficiency. We created an environment where private employers found they could create new jobs. That is how you revive our economy – by providing a place where people want to create jobs – not by aimlessly growing the size of our federal government.

We all know that we can’t afford to saddle the next generation with enormous levels of debt and taxpayers can’t afford the tax increases that are sure to come.

Through your support for my campaign we can bring more attention to these concerns and restore balance in Congress. Your donation of $500, $250, $100, or whatever you can afford right now will help start an important conversation about the direction our country is headed (click here to donate).

Together we can get Congress to listen to our concerns. I hope I can count on your support.

Sincerely,

Sid Leiken

PS – Please visit our new website (www.sidleiken.com) to learn more and get engaged.

Spidey sense... tingling...

Got a feeling... a certain Mayor... important announcement...

The U.S. Naval Academy: a weapons-free zone!

For the first time in, oh, ever, there will be no weapons allowed at the graduation ceremony at the U.S. Naval Academy.

This means no ceremonial swords.  Never mind the fact that the ceremonial sword is part of the uniform of the very same officers who have sworn an oath to - among other things - obey the orders of the President.  As my father, who retired after 30 years service as a naval officer, reminded me: full dress white includes "wear sword."  No, we can't have swords there... to dangerous... too... militaristic.

I suppose while we are at it, we should remove all the cannons from the campus.

And maybe we had better get rid of all the cutlery at the mess hall.

You know... the Navy SEALs are weapons.

 

Better be sure none of them are in attendance.  That includes you, Jesse...

I suppose we'd better not have the Blue Angels fly over this year.

Perhaps we should do away with the drill team.

Actually, better do away with all the marksmanship training, too.

After all, why do we even need weapons?  Instead of combat training, let's give our best and brightest advanced negotiation and mediation training!

Why even have militaries?  Get rid of the service academies!  After all, all these kids could have gone to schools like Columbia or Harvard, where they could have studied the nuances of foreign policy instead of being indoctrinated into jingoistic nationalism camps.

Clearly, we have been doing this wrong all along.  Thank God, er, I mean, thank OBAMA we have finally seen the light!

Brutal murder by a domestic terrorist

The news today is tragic.  A good man is killed by some stupid radical extremist.  A person is cut down, just because some insane home-grown terrorist disagreed with the victim's profession.  OK, the victim was controversial, to be sure.  But that is no excuse - especially when, your personal political beliefs notwithstanding, he was doing a job that mainstream America supports.

We must not succumb to the temptation to consider the murderer a hero just because some people think he was justified by his beliefs.  No, we must not condone this action.  We must outright condemn it.  We must call the act what it is: a terrorist attack on American soil.  We must prosecute the murdering animal just as surely as we would prosecute Osama Bin Laden himself.

Unfortunately, I fear that not everyone will see things as I see them.  I can almost hear some people rejoicing.  Well, the hell with them.  I cannot, WILL NOT allow myself to be associated with those people.

Of course, you probably think I am talking about the murder of the abortion doctor.  But I am not.  Although everything I said applies in that case as well, this post is about another act of terrorism, one you probably won't hear about in the mainstream media today.  I am talking about this:

New U.S. Army soldier William Long was gunned down at a recruiting center in Arkansas.

Police in Little Rock, Ark., say a man who likely had "political and religious motives" shot two new Army soldiers, killing one, at a military recruiting center.

Political and religious motives.  The parallels between this and the Tiller murder are stunning.  Except no one in the mainstream media is saying diddly squat about the recruiter killing.  No one in the mainstream media is calling it a terror act.  No one in the maintream media is blaming left-wing news programs for whipping up anti-military sentiment.  No one in the mainstream media is demanding the left disavow and condemn the killing.

No one in the mainstream media gives a shit.  And do you know why they won't say squat?  Probably because they don't want anyone to blame things like religion or ethnicity in this crime - they save such things for conservative Christians only.

I am sorry for Tiller and his family.  You can apply everything I wrote in the opening of this post to the story of his murder.  But the left had damn well better apply the same standards of decency to the islamofacist terrorist asshole who opened fire on a military recruiting center where patriotic Americans were doing their duty.

Don't hold your breath.

Palination

Check out this post over at Hot Air.

This writer is brilliant.  And I particularly enjoy the Scarecrow analogy in the associated link.  What is particularly amusing is that, in the movie, Scarecrow is stupid and ignorant until receiving a "ThD" degree, whereupon he recites the Pythagorean Theorem.  Except, he recites it wrong.  Not that most people know, but the script was poorly written and the "theorem" he recites is garbage.  In other words, we merely THINK that Scarecrow knows what he is talking about because we have been conditioned by the Elite to believe that anyone with a doctorate is somehow an expert.

And then there is this about the liberal elites:

...even they would have a hard time continuing to pretend that they’re the ones in favor of a “big tent” while busily purging the Republican Party of Sarah Palin...

Here it is in a nutshell: liberal elites who are trying to change the Republican Party hate people like Palin.  They hate conservatives.  They hate religious Americans.  They hate YOU.  So, they have created a false argument that, in order to be a "big tent" party, we need to welcome moderates by rejecting the right.

Do you see the inherent flaw here?  They want to "build" a "big" tent by... railroading out the people they don't like!  We are bigger by being smaller!

Reagan built a big tent, and he did it while staying true to conservative principles.  He did it not by rejecting one wing of the Party, but by using character and principles to attract people in from the other side.  He grew the Party while keeping it conservative by appealing to moderates and independents through his personal charisma and an honest and hopeful message for a better America.

The liberal elites hate Reagan and everything he stood for.  And that is why we must be careful of them today.  Rather than water down the Republican Party, we need to make it the proud conservative patriotic American Party it once was again and attract new members by articulating a positive message of limited government and traditional values.

Liberal math

Or, why liberals insist our children attend public schools where math tests are graded based on feelings instead of accurate results...

The President has announced a new budget of $3.4 trillion.  That's TRILLION.  With a "T."  He also says he is cutting spending by $17 billion.  That's with a "b."

Now, keep in mind, last year we spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $3.1 trillion.  The year before, it was more like $2.9 trillion.

Math test: if spending goes from $2.9 trillion, to $3.1 trillion, to $3.4 trillion, how much has spending changed?

If you use liberal math, the answer you feel is "we cut spending by $17 billion."  However, you would be wrong.  WRONG!

Spending has gone UP.  Spending is about $300 billion more than last year, and about $500 billion - that's half a TRILLION - more than two years ago.

So, 'splain to me, how is it we have cut anything?  Well, it's no wonder they don't want anyone learning math...

OK, I'll ask...

So... all this fuss over sending Air Force One to NYC for a photo op...

Umm...

Doesn't the President ever, like, fly to New York?

Why not just, like, take some photos of it, you know, next time he does?

You know, rather than spend half a million dollars on jet fuel, keep all those military personnel from other duties, cause panic in the streets, etc.?

Just sayin'...

Latest on Jeff Maxwell, guns, indoctrination camps

Well, looks like OWVA's attorneys have started things rolling for Jeff Maxwell in his concealed carry on campus case.  Read the news here.

Considering the 9th Circuit actually now supports incorporation of the Second Amendment, this could potentially become an important test case for determining what things like "reasonable restrictions" mean.

BIG THINGS

Well, here it is, April 15.

Tax day.

Oh, goody!

Meanwhile, across the nation, many thousands of people are participating in tea parties, to protest the growth and expansion of, and oppression by, the federal government.

Just how bad is it?  Well, it is so bad that in Texas, just a few days after celebrating annexation, Governor Rick Perry and the Texas legislature are asserting state sovereignty against the federal government.  The last time a state got this vocal, the word "secede" was included.  I think Rick Perry just became the front runner for 2012.  If the last Governor of Texas had taken federalism this seriously, we'd have a solid Republican majority througout federal government today.

Instead, the all-democrat federal government is sounding more and more oppressive.  In what can surely be called an exercise in bad timing, the news today is littered with reports about a new Department of Homeland Security report warning us all about dangerous right-wing extremists.

Yes, if you are a conservative, or a Christian, or a gun-owner, or a veteran, or unemployed, or believe in the Constitution or the right to life, well, you might be a terrorist.

Meanwhile, this same department is busy making sure no actual honest-to-God terrorists might be offended.

Big things are happening.  Big changes are coming.  But I predict things will have to continue to get worse before there is any chance they may get better - and there is no guarantee better things are even coming.

For the first time in my entire life, I am actually, truly, afraid for my country.

Update on concealed carry on campus case

Well, Oregon has struck back by denying Maxwell the use of ANY university in the Oregon system.

Seriously, can we get a fund drive going to send him to Hillsdale?

Don't stand next to this guy when balloon goes up...

Man confirmed as survivor of BOTH atomic bombs.

Keep away from him during thunderstorms.

Wow... we were only kidding before...

We joked around during the election and up to inauguration about how Barack THE CHOSEN ONE Obama was going to do everything from lowering the waters to fixing the BCS.  Well, at least while Fargo is under water, THE ONE will have his chance to do one of these things...

Today on TCM

That's no moon...

Rumors getting more serious...

Coyote has more rumors, this time coming in from D.C., on Mayor Leiken running for DeFazio's seat.

This is why you shouldn't waste your time with "college" in Oregon

By now you have probably already heard about Jeff Maxwell, the WOU student expelled for LAWFULLY carrying a concealed handgun.  What you might not have heard is that Oregon War Veterans Association is ready to provide Maxwell with an attorney so the former Marine can sue the crap out of that worthless school.

Now, I certainly applaud this effort.  However, I can't help but think it might also be good for folks to raise money not for legal fees, but to help Maxwell pay for tuition at a real school.  I am sure Hillsdale would be ready and willing to accept this young patriot...

Four words

Not that ANY of you will have ANY idea what I am talking about, but I think Vaarsuvius is about to say the "four words."  I think they will be something like "very well, I accept."

To understand, click here and scroll down to episode 1.  Plan on taking about 3-4 days to get caught up.

More from the rumor mill...

There is buzz coming up from I-5 from South of here... Folks are seriously talking to Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken about running for Congress in 2010.  Serious folks.  And it sounds like Mayor Leiken is seriously listening.  I think he should run, and I think he can win.

Some folks think Leiken should hold off making plans until incumbent Peter DeFazio decides to run for Governor - as in, wait for an open seat for an easier shot.  I don't necessarily agree with that line of thinking.  DeFazio could be very, very vulnerable if he decides to seek re-election to his CD4 seat in 2010.

The economy is certainly the top issue today.  Liberal tax and spend policies from the new administration will all but guarantee the economy will still be struggling 18 months from now - and there won't be any Republicans to blame.  While Peter DeFazio has been busy supporting new taxes, new fees, new regulations, and the free flow of OUR tax money into government program after government program, Mayor Leiken has been busy bringing a billion dollars of economic growth into Springfield.

Leiken, Oregon's Mayor of the Year, has a solid record during his three terms in office.  He has the name recognition and proven success within Springfield to win the district's urban core.  He also has the conservative credentials to please the district's many rural voters.

While there is no official word from Mayor Leiken regarding his future yet, he clearly is a face to watch in 2010 and beyond.  I expect to him to run - and win - in CD4.  And... who knows what might come 4 or 8 years later...

Stimulus - my way

OK, let's work with nice simple round numbers for all to understand...

The current plan is for the government to take about a trillion dollars - that is $1,000,000,000,000 - count them zeroes - from us, then spread it around, to stimulate the economy.

There are about 100 million households in the country - about 300 million total people with an average of three per household.  That's a nice wild guess, but it will do for this exercise.  Sure, there are lots of single people.  But there are lots of families with six or more kids.  Don't dwell on that.  Just run with it.

So, doing the math, the economic stimulus plan works out to about $10,000 per household.

Of spending.  On government programs and corporations.

Here's my way of doing this:

Let us, instead, give every household a check for $10,000.  Tell every head of household, "Here is ten grand for you to use to pay down bills, make a down payment on a house or a car, send a child to college, etc.; use it however you want or need to."

I think that would do more for the economy than any new giant government program.  Don't you?

Now here is the beautiful part - why not achieve this simply by suspending all taxation for six months?  That way, we don't even need to spend the money on implementing it, i.e., on processing and mailing checks and all that.  Just stop taking our money for half a year.

We are going into debt pushing this stimulus anyway.  It's not like we would have any net change in our deficit and debt.  One way, the Obama way, is take money from us now, then give more money out, then owe the difference later.  The other way, my way, is stop taking money from us now, give out what has already been pledged without giving out more, owe the difference later.

Either way, the net balance of the nation's debt is the same.  But my way, the people keep their money and use it for what they really need.  Obama's way, the government takes our money then decides - along with a bunch of Wall Street fatcats - how it should be spent for us.

Frankly, I trust the average Joe with his own money far, far more than I trust thousands of faceless bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. and unelected CEOs with anything.

Remember, kids, the people in charge, the certified-smart people, the ones with the graduate degrees from Harvard and Yale, they are the ones who got our country into this mess.  Maybe we should stop expecting them to get us out of it...

Rumor mill

Folks are abuzz that Ron Wyden might wind up with a cabinet post, resulting in a special election to fill his Senate seat.  There is talk about Jason Atkinson having a run at it, if it comes open.

Now I personally don't see Wyden going anywhere.  But if he does, the national GOP will move Heaven and Earth to win - with the Senate so close to a filibuster-proof margin for the democrats, no opportunity can be lost.

As we know, there is a new man in charge of the GOP.  What a lot of folks don't know is the new man has a good friend right here in Oregon, and that could be a big influence on how national campaign money and resources flow into the state...

Just saying, this could get interesting...

Hope and Change?

What happened to the Annointed One's promises to bring the troops home, to end the war in Iraq, and to bring hope of change from the Bush administration's failed military policies?

Instead, we have more Oregon National Guard members deploying to Iraq.

Now, I could be missing something, but is this the "hope and change" we were all promised?

Regardless, our hope and prayers go out to the brave troops of the 158th!

The Chosen One Will Save Us!!!

OK, we are now just hours away from Inaguration Day for The Chosen One Who Will Save Us.

But, save us from what, exactly?

I mean, it looks like his government spending policies and national security policies won't be too radically different from George W. Bush, right?  So what will the Savior actually do?

Well, here is my personal top ten list of things that He Will Deliver Us should deliver on:

10) Remake all the Star Wars prequels so they don't suck.

9) Get Mother Nature on board with this whole "global warming" thing so we can stop freezing our asses off and shoveling snow.

8) Asteroids!

7) Stop NBC from pan-and-scanning The Office for everyone who doesn't have widescreen.

6) The Children (tm).

5) Killer space robots!

4) Make all the VCRs in the world stop blinking "12:00."

3) Finally stop that pesky Voldemort once and for all!

2) The BCS.

And finally, the number thing the Annointed One should get to work on right away:

1) No more lame reality TV shows!

KHHHHAAAANNNN!!!!

From Hell's heart, I stab at thee!

For Hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!

Farewell, my old friend.

A prediction

The scandal around Illinois soon-to-be-former Governor Blagojevich is just the tip of the iceberg.  There is so much corruption in politics (in all parties) that the people just aren't going to stand for it anymore.

Obama can claim "that is not the Governor of Illinois I knew" all he wants.  Folks ain't gonna buy it.  The next two years are shaping up to be one scandal after another - and all of them will have at least some tangential connection to President Obama.  Obama may escape the worst of it, much as "Slick Willie" Clinton did, but the stain of corruption already promises to taint his administration.

What happens two years from now?  A Congressional election.

Who might run for the U.S. Senate in 2010?  Sarah Palin.

Who would she take on?  An incumbent from her own party who was appointed by her own father, the father whose corruption Palin successfully ran against in 2006.

What can Palin do?  She can win that election on a platform of cleaning out all the corrupt incumbents in Washington.

What could that mean to the whole of Congress?  That's the big question...

I believe that Palin could - and let me stress COULD, not will - be the catalyst for a sea-change in Washington, D.C.  She could be the broom that sweeps out all the useless idiots.  All she has to do is nationalize her Senate race in the middle of an administration plagued by scandal.  That could mean a huge national shift against incumbents.

Notice I didn't say against democrats.  I said against INCUMBENTS.  It just so happens that, with democrats in power, a shift against incumbents would favor republicans.  But at this point, I care more about throwing out all the bums, regardless of party, and replacing them with randomly chosen names from the phone book if need be - JUST GET RID OF THEM - than I care about partisan politics.

Now, let's say Palin does lead the charge: if she spearheads an assault on the entrenched corruption on Capitol Hill and is successful, then she can pretty much walk into the White House in 2012.

Big ifs, there.  Again, notice all the "ifs" and "coulds."  So really, this is not so much a prediction as an intriguing possibility.  But this much is certain: the key for any politician to win in 2010 and 2012 will be to run as the anti-incumbent, anti-corruption candidate.  It isn't about party anymore.  It is about change - and if voters decide that Obama's promise of change was just an empty pledge on the way to more of the same, Obama will find himself out of a job.

Read this

Sorry for the lack of blogging - as you know, sometimes real life gets in the way of online fun.  But even though I am not writing much, I am still following the important stories.  Here is one you should read from NW Republican.

No time for commentary - just read it and join in the comments over there.

Hopefully there will be more time to blog soon, but maybe not until after the holidays.

Ho Lee Crap!

This is one of the most incredible things I've ever seen:

What's really amazing is not just that he is beating two guys in ping pong using nunchucks, but that the people he is beating are actually pretty good themselves.  When I was in college, I routinely played ping pong against most of the basketball team.  They were all pretty good.  By the end of my time there, I was pretty darn good myself, and was able to beat about half of them.

I also know my way around nunchucks.  When I was in high school, I was really into martial arts.  I got good enough to win a silver medal in the Illinois state championships in free-style sparring.  Of course that was all empty-hand, but over the years I've put a lot of hours into swordsmanship, nunchucks, and other martial weaponry.  I may be way out of practice today, but I still know what I'm looking at.

So while I am far from an expert, I know enough to know that I couldn't beat either of those two opponents with a paddle, let alone take them both on, let alone with nunchucks, let alone with behind the back action and spinning jumps.

Bruce Lee died 35 years ago last summer.  I was too young to know who he was then.  But I can certainly say there has been no one like him since.  He could have been the best in the world at virtually any physical sport or art.  And, he was a great showman, able to make the extraordinary look easy with a laugh and a smile.

The Silver Lining

The ticket in 2012:

We survived two terms of Bill Clinton.  We survived Jimmy Carter.  We survived LBJ.  We are the greatest country on God's Green Earth, and we will survive the next four years.  We simply need to stay true to ourselves and to our principles.  Our time will come.

More to follow over the next few days...