Tex the Pontificator

Cynthia and the Colonel: Finger Lickin' Inanity

2011-05-23T17:32:00.000-05:00

Cynthia McKinney (Kook, Georgia) went on Libyan Radio to support Muammar Qaddafi and criticize the United States. Lord have mercy.

Cindy McKinney spoke on the air.
She said that Qaddafi is really quite fair.

With tin foil and duct tape
Festooned on her head,
Her brain is a place
Where no thought’s ever tread.

If you peer through her ears,
I think that you might
Confirm all our fears that
You’ll see ample light.

Get along Cindy, get along home.
Your drivel’s good only for enriching loam.

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Declaration of War

2010-03-21T22:13:00.001-05:00

By passing Obamacare despite overwhelming public opposition, Congressional Democrats declared war on the American people. As Dan Rostenkowski was chased through the streets of Chicago, may Congressional Democrats be chased through every street in every city in America from now until November when they are returned to live among us proletariat.

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Credit Default Swaps

2010-03-11T18:05:00.003-06:00

Professor Bainbridge offers a good discussion of credit default swaps at the link.

If you are confused by the whole issue:

A "covered" swap would be:

A borrows $100 from B.

B pays C an agreed amount in exchange for C's promise to pay B $100 if A defaults.

In effect, the amount B pays to C is credit insurance. If this is illegal, then what FNMA and FHLMC do should be illegal. Even credit life insurance would be questionable in that it covers one possible reason for A's default..

A "naked" swap would be:

A borrows $100 from B.

C pays D an agreed amount in exchange for D's promise to pay C $100 if A defaults.

In effect, C has placed a side bet with D.

The "agreed amounts" clearly reflect the market's perception of A's creditworthiness, but either one of these makes A more likely to default . . . how exactly?

The credit default swap market doesn't make Greece more likely to default, but it makes it painfully clear the market thinks there's a big risk of default. Attacking credit default swaps is akin to shooting the messenger.

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If you are the author of this article, do you put it on our curriculum vitae?

2010-03-04T17:39:00.000-06:00

Digitus Impudicus: The Middle Finger and the Law

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Honoring O.J. Simpson, Dennis Rodman, and RuPaul for Black History Month?

2010-03-04T09:50:00.000-06:00

How could such people be named in the same context as Frederick Douglas, Sojourner Truth, George Washington Carver, Booker T. Washington, Thurgood Marshall, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Clarence Thomas, and so many others whose names do not immediately come to me? What are the values of anyone who could consider putting O.J. Simpson, Dennis Rodman, and RuPaul in such company?

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How Did They Find Me With That Search Query?

2010-01-26T09:27:00.000-06:00

Because my traffic is ridiculously low, I sometimes check to see how people find me. Here's a search query that led someone here:

"before the 60's, wildebeests were infected by a disease"

I can't imagine how that led to me. For the record, I know nothing about wildebeest diseases.

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Let's Hope This is the Lesson Democrats Take Away From Brown's Election

2010-01-19T21:30:00.002-06:00

Paul Mirengoff at Powerline reports at least one Democrat's take on Scott Brown's upset of Coakley in Massachusetts is that it is George Bush's fault. If only we could be so lucky that the Democrats as a whole buy into and act on that explanation.

Democrats thought they were blessed by the sun,
But Republican Brown came up and won.
The Dem’s fell soundly right on their tush,
And quickly began to blame it on Bush,
But try as they might, they're not having fun.
The number to know is now forty-one.

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Due Regard for the Role of the Press

2010-01-13T17:53:00.004-06:00

Regarding the brouhaha over Martha Coakley aide Michael Meehan knocking a reporter to the ground for having the temerity to ask questions Coakley would rather not answer . . .

Michael Meehan acts the thug,
He says he's sorry, with a shrug.
Perhaps he then will give a hug,
To sweep his violence 'neath the rug

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The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency

2010-01-05T21:49:00.000-06:00

I don't usually recommend books, movies, or the like, but I'm making an exception. My wife and I have been watching episodes of the HBO series "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency." We have been getting them from Netflix.

The stories are based on a series of books by Alexander McCall Smith and are set in Gabarone, Botswana. The mystery aspects of the plot are thin, but that is more than compensated for by the interaction of the characters and the view of life inside Botswana. It is the view of Botswanan life that draws me the most. I have thoroughly enjoyed these stories and recommend them to others.

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Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion: An Open Letter to Jane Hamsher

2010-01-05T21:30:00.002-06:00

Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion: An Open Letter to Jane Hamsher
Professor William Jacobson is a righty blogger and a vocal opponent of Obamacare. Jane Hamsher is a lefty blogger who also opposes Obamacare, though not necessarily for the same reasons as Jacobson. Jacobson offers Hamsher a proposition:

I want the Senate bill killed for my reasons, and you for yours. Now is your chance to kill the bill by helping elect Scott Brown [a Massachusetts Republican Senatorial candidate who, if elected, would deny Reid his 60 votes].

The problem for Hamsher is this would require her to elevate opposition to Obamacare over loyalty to the Democrats.

Bill made Jane an offer
To help get what she wants.
If she accepts his proffer,
She’ll suffer Lefty taunts.

So which is more important,
She’s got to make the call,
Good left-wing deportment
Or winning in the brawl?

Obamacare is noxious.
We need it to be stopped.
It should not make her bilious
To work to get it chopped.

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Continuing Health Care Secrecy

2010-01-05T11:42:00.000-06:00

C-Span has asked to televise the House and Senate Conference intended to reconcile the health care bills. But allowing that would interfere with Nancy Pelosi's plan to keep the public ignorant until it's too late.

Nancy Pelosi,
Ever the goat, she,
Plans to pass health care in secret.
Though C-Span complained,
Spotlighting her train,
A secret Pelosi will keep it.

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If (only) . . .

2010-01-02T11:37:00.002-06:00

I suffer no illusion anything I write can hold a candle to Rudyard Kipling, but I do admire his skill.

If you can tell all comers what they each desire to hear
And get each one of them to cheer;
If you can defer their understanding they’ve been had,
Their seeing you clearly as a cad;
If you can lie without being seen to be a liar,
With no one knowing that your pants have caught on fire;
If you can promise things no sentient being could believe,
And contain the damage when the marks begin to seethe;
If you can crush the economy with regulations that you weal,
And pretend that reality is not real;
If you can shelter cronies and hammer down your critics,
While making bland pronouncements sans specifics;
If you can claim your predecessor was a cowboy,
Who dealt with foreign leaders as a plow boy,
But bow to leaders from Riyadh to Yokohama,
You, my son, can surely be Obama.

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Something I Was Never Clear On , , ,

2009-12-25T12:33:00.000-06:00

The difference, if any, between reindeer and caribou.

Characterizing the more detailed explanation at the link, reindeer and caribou are the same species. In America, we call the wild ones caribou and the domesticated ones reindeer. In Europe, they don't use the term "caribou" and refer only to wild and domesticated reindeer. The domesticated creatures have some differences from the wild ones, no doubt as most domesticated animals are different from their wild antecedents, and are regarded as a separate subspecies.

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The Senate Has Passed Obamacare . . .

2009-12-24T23:22:00.001-06:00

And Obama's Christmas present to the American people is the theft of their freedom. I'd prefer the Grinch, who stole only Christmas.

Most Americans
Out in America
Liked freedom a lot.
But Obama,
Who liked to rule over Americans,
Did not.
Obama hated freedom, the American ideal.
We all may wonder why, but he did it with great zeal.
Perhaps it was because he always tilted left,
And in using thuggish tactics, was unusually deft.
Another reason is the man wants to have more power,
That when he treads we common folk should bow and quake and cower.
But
Whatever his motives,
Thuggishness or power,
When thinking of our freedom, Obama would just glower.

Obama thought,
And thought and thought,
And came up with a plan.
He'd pretend to give us all a gift,
Which would give his power grab some lift.
Yes, he can!
He told the people healthcare was their right,
And he could give it to them all; he has the might.
He didn't tell them what it cost,
Or in the end what they'd have lost.
He promised them that, in his care, they'd all be fine
With the right to wait in line.
But
You bought the hope, so heave a sigh
And look Obama in the eye, and buck up now and don't you cry,
For he'll decide just when you die.
Your right to life has gone bye-bye.

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Ant Street Inn, Brenham, Texas

2009-12-24T06:51:00.001-06:00

My wife and I recently stayed in the Ant Street Inn in Brenham, Texas. I have no stake in or other connection to the place, but it's delightful and I recommend it strongly. Located in the old downtown area, which has been nicely preserved, the inn is a cross between a bed and breakfast and a small boutique hotel.

If you need to spend the night in Brenham and are looking for something other than a crash pad, the Ant Street Inn is the place. If you live within a radius such that you can get away for the weekend to stay there, you won't be disappointed. We certainly plan to go back.

If you need to clinch the deal, they even offer free ice cream. This being Brenham, of course it's Blue Bell.

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Robert Mugabe Has to Key to Cutting Carbon Emissions

2009-12-18T13:06:00.001-06:00

Robert Mugabe has addressed the Copenhagen climate conference. Instapundit notes:

If every leader did to his country what Mugabe has done, carbon emissions would drop dramatically . . . .

I'd never looked at it that way, but in hindsight, it's obvious. If most of your population is reduced to grubbing through landfills to look for food, your carbon emissions go down. Al Gore wouldn't see a problem with the trade off.

Robert Mugabe,
The Left’s kemo sabe,
Cut back Zimbabwe’s emissions,
Impoverishing people,
Who starve by the street full.
Old Robert’s immune from contrition.

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Why the Frenetic Push for Obamacare?

2009-12-18T08:33:00.000-06:00

Come running, running,
Reid is so cunning,
He wants to take over health care.
If we’ll just suckle the federal teat,
Republicans won’t have a prayer.

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Harry Wants Santa to Bring Death Panels

2009-12-17T21:54:00.000-06:00

According to My Way news:

Senate leaders working round the clock trying to finalize their 10-year, nearly $1 trillion bill in time for a final vote on Christmas Eve.

Final vote on Christmas Eve. This is shaping up to be the worst Christmas in my memory.

You better watch out
Just keep a sharp eye.
Now don’t you doubt;
I would not lie.
Harry Reid is planning a vote.

He’s making a list
Of who’s a holdout.
He’s gonna use every ounce of his clout.
Harry Reid is planning a vote.

He’ll chase them down the hallways
And chase them down the street.
He knows just what to bribe them with,
And the man ain’t one bit meek.

Oh, you better watch out.
Just keep a sharp eye.
And don’t you doubt;
I would not lie.
Harry Reid is planning a vote.
Yes, Harry Reid is planning a vote.

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Secret Text of Pending Legislation

2009-12-17T17:19:00.002-06:00

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell alleges that Majority Leader Harry Reid is keeping the text of the latest Obamacare version secret while he tries to round up votes. From this we must conclude that the actual text of the bill is not germane to the "yes" vote of those whose votes Reid is able to get. Sheesh!

Voting on bills that haven’t been read
Just recently caused a kerfuffle.
We all laughed in scorn at what they all said,
At the tap dancers doing a shuffle.

But the text of Obamacare’s being kept secret;
Not even the staff gets to read it,
While Senator Harry stalks like an egret;
He’s got to get votes or concede it.

This pulls back the curtain on raw calculation,
The terms of the bill do not matter.
The merits be damned is the clear implication,
Remaining illusions just shatter.

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An Explanation for What I Have Perceived as a Cultural Divide

2009-12-07T14:23:00.002-06:00

Steven Den Beste writes of the difference between materialism and teleology. As I understand the point, teleologists support pacifism and socialism because they are beautiful ideas and it would be so nice if they worked. Materialists, such as myself, believe in free markets and peace through strength, because experience says they produce superior results.

Read the whole thing for a better explanation. The dichotomy addresses what I have observed and puzzled over in our society and offers a more detailed and persuasive explanation than anything I have come up with.

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For the Love of Gaia, For the Love of Money---It's All so Confusing

2009-12-06T08:08:00.004-06:00

Bill Whittle blogs about a poorly remember part of the same speech in which Eisenhower warned about the military-industrial complex. Ike was concerned about both the corrupting effect of federal money on scientific research and the risk that the federal funding mechanisms could become captive to research interests.

The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded.

Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.

Climaquiddick may be the most dramatic example of the latter ever to hit the public consciousness. And so, along the lines of an earlier post, I post this bit of doggerel:

They say the earth is warming and the climate we are harming,
All manner of more evil deeds we just keep on performing.
If they want a research grant, they surely must repeat the chant,
To keep the money flowing, key is that they don’t recant.
Of cataclysm they're the prophet, and they know they cannot stop it,
Yes, there is no god but Gaia, and researchers nicely profit.

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Whipping the Whistleblower

2009-12-03T09:02:00.002-06:00

Senator Barbara Boxer (D. Cuckoo Land) has let it be known that, in her view, the person revealing the Climaquiddick fraud should be prosecuted. It is possible that release of the data was a crime, and I don't regard criminal activity lightly. But ask yourself which is worse: perpetrating a fraud on the public or revealing the fraud. Boxer was apparently happy enough with the fraud that she wants to go after the person disclosing it.

The stories we heard were greatly alarming,
Stories of dangerous global warming.

Now hackers reveal that some of it’s fraud,

An attempt by the left to sack and maraud.

Which, you might ask, appears the worst crime:

Lying about the state of the clime

Or letting the public discover the truth?

Should we go after the ingenious sleuth?

Boxer believes you can’t handle the truth,

That showing the fraud was oh so uncouth.

She would prefer that we stayed deceived.

Now that we’re not, the senator’s peeved.

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The Watermelons Want Your Iced Water

2009-11-30T22:18:00.001-06:00

Roger Pielke reports on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change head Rajendra Pachauri proclaiming on reducing consumption on the West:

Hotel guests should have their electricity monitored; hefty aviation taxes should be introduced to deter people from flying; and iced water in restaurants should be curtailed . . . .

With busybodies such as he running our lives, what could go wrong?

The greenies begrudge the ice in your water,
Because of their fear the world’s getting hotter.
They want you cut back; your consumption’s excessive,
And they cannot see that they’re highly obsessive.

Their focus on detail is what’s so alarming.
They’ll make you live on subsistence farming.
Prosperity hinders collectivist visions,
And their plan for you is abject submission.

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Joe Lieberman a Traitor?

2009-11-29T11:39:00.000-06:00

MadKane has a post calling Joe Lieberman a traitor to the Democratic Party for his opposition to the so-called public-option part of Obamacare. Her characterization misses an important fact: Lieberman isn't a Democrat anymore. The voters of Connecticut denied him the Democratic nomination. In effect, the Democratic Party kicked him out. How can you be a traitor to an organization that you not only no longer belong to, but one that kicked you out?

According to Madeleine Kane,
Lieberman’s a traitor profane,
But the Dems kicked him out,
And now they just pout
That his seat the man still retained.

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Private Contracts Justifying Statutory Breaches?

2009-11-29T11:14:00.001-06:00

My eye caught this sentence in an article on Climaquiddick:

In a statement welcomed by climate change sceptics, the university said it would make all the data accessible as soon as possible, once its Climatic Research Unit (CRU) had negotiated its release from a range of non-publication agreements.

I must disclaim any knowledge of British law, but I have some experience with Texas public information laws. This sounds ridiculous to me. Surely British law does not permit an entity otherwise subject to public disclosure requirements to evade the requirements by private contract. Otherwise public entities could, and no doubt would, evade public disclosure entirely.

I have often had opposing parties attempt to insert confidentiality clauses into contracts with public entities. Under Texas law, their choice is to acquiesce in legally mandated disclosure or walk away from the deal. Brits like to sneer at wild and wooly Americans, especially Texans. Could it be that their law is less comprehensive than ours?

The law requires that they make full disclosure.
Their bobbling and weaving are acts of a poseur.
They hide behind contracts to keep their stuff private,
But that’s a diversion, a way just to jive us.

When law provides that your data is public,
Contrary contracts don’t let you snub it.
Assassins with contracts still are just killers.
Crime is not lessened by crooks getting shriller.

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Jihad and War on Terror

2009-11-24T19:19:00.001-06:00

Until recently one of my labels for posts was "war on terror." Reading leftist criticism of the war brought back to mind my earlier view that the phrase "war on terror" was probably chosen by the Bush administration for political reasons and was calculated to obscure what is really happening. What we are really doing is resisting an anti-western jihad by some elements of the Muslim world. For that reason, I shifted the label to "jihad."

I do not mean to criticize the Bush administration for the circumlocution. The government must balance many concerns. Calling resistance to jihad what it actually is may alienate potential allies in the Muslim world. At least the possibility seems logical, so I am willing to give Bush a pass for obfuscating what may be in the interests of the U.S. to obfuscate at least some of the time.

But I'm not the government and have no need to mince words. I believe calling things what they really are contributes to clarity of thought. Hence the "jihad" label.

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More on Climate Oil Salesmen

2009-11-24T19:04:00.000-06:00

What has been dubbed "Climategate" continues to churn and has been the occasion to use the term "watermelon". Referring to people for whom environmentalism is a tool by which to put into effect leftist policy prescriptions, the term means green on the outside but red on the inside.

Their data are terribly flawed.
It all just might be a fraud.
They're just watermelons,
Perhaps even felons,
But their chutzpah we've got to applaud.

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Climate Oil Salesmen

2009-11-22T22:25:00.001-06:00

The hacked documents from East Anglia's Climate Research Unit increasingly make it appear that the anthropogenic warming advocates so intensely believed in their conclusions they felt justified in manufacturing data and suppressing contrary views. That is despicable, especially given how devastating some of their prescriptions could be.

The climate oil salesmen have fudged up their numbers,
But tell us we all should continue our slumbers.
Twas hardly discreet
To connive and to cheat.
They must think we're a bunch of cucumbers.

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$6.4 Billion Allocated to Fictitious Congressional Districts

2009-11-17T18:15:00.000-06:00

Watchdog.org reports that stimulus money went to 440 fictitious congressional districts, districts that do not exist. You would think that someone trying to hide graft would do a better job that that, but apparently you would be wrong.

At least $6.4 billion taxpayer dollars seems likely to have been stolen. I say "at least," because why would one assume that money was spent as advertised just because some staffer found a real congressional district number to peg it to?

The stimulus bucks would give us a boost;
That was the pitch we were sold,
But the grifters and con men quickly were loosed,
And now we find we were rolled.

Our money was sent to fictional places,
Districts that do not exist.
The usual suspects were off to the races,
And government graft still persists.

Our money now lines some rent seekers’ pockets,
And Congressmens’ probably too.
It’s lost in the ether just like a rocket,
And no one’s around we can sue.

Now here’s just one reason among many others
Why government needs to stand down.
It’s not looking after us as would our mothers;
If you believe that you’re beclowned.

It spends like a sailor with one night ashore;
It’s wastefulness always expands.
There’s never enough; it always needs more.
We’re left in the worst of all hands.

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Muslims in America

2009-11-08T17:37:00.002-06:00

In the linked article, Mark Steyn rightly decries the unwillingness of many in the media and elsewhere to confront Islam's role in the murders perpetrated by U.S. Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan. That is a serious problem that, if we are to survive the Jihad being waged against us, we must overcome. Still while honestly confronting the threat radical Islam poses to our way of life, we must not regard all Muslims as enemies.

Western European countries have serious problems with their Muslim-immigrant populations. One reason is that. no matter what a Turk does, he can never be truly German, and no matter what an Algerian does, he can never be truly French.

Anyone can be an American. All you have to do is voluntarily integrate yourself into our culture and adopt our mores. I know that assimilation is anathema to the multi-culti crowd, but assimilation is how this country works. Assimilation isn't a question of whether you worship at a church or synagogue instead of a mosque. It's a question of accepting American ideals.

Nidal Malik Hasan was not assimilated and apparently did not want to be assimilated, even though he was born here. I am personally acquainted with Muslims who are well assimilated even though they were born elsewhere.

We must welcome all who want to be Americans, while still guarding against those who secretly harbor grievances against us or who, for religious reasons, feel compelled to bring us into dar al Islam. It will be difficult to be continuously vigilant of extremists while treating others fairly, but we must nevertheless do so.

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Senator Burris: "Nobody Told me There Would be a Quiz"

2009-11-05T16:46:00.002-06:00

CNS News reports:

When asked by CNSNews.com what specific part of the Constitution authorizes Congress to mandate that individuals must purchase health insurance, Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) pointed to the part of the Constitution that he says authorizes the federal government "to provide for the health, welfare and the defense of the country." In fact, the word "health" appears nowhere in the Constitution.

I wager Burris never before considered the constitutional foundation of Obamacare. It was enough for him that Democrats want the bill enacted.

Caligula sent a horse to the Senate,
But let’s give the monster a pass.
Burris doesn’t know the Constitution,
So Illinois sent a horse’s ass.

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Terrorists, Bears, and Schadenfreude

2009-11-04T18:28:00.002-06:00

The BBC reports:

A bear killed two militants after discovering them in its den in Indian-administered Kashmir

An inspiration for doggerel if there ever was one:

If you’re a terrorist in Kashmir,
There’s one more thing for you to fear.
If you are hiding in a cave,
Averting danger's what you crave,
You’d better check on if you share
Your hideaway with a bear.

Rockets just might get you good,
And worry of them you clearly should.
Sharpshooting snipers are a danger,
But some risks are even stranger.
If you are careless, I’ve a hunch
That you might be what is for lunch

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It's All Just Bush's Fault

2009-11-03T17:30:00.004-06:00

Charles Krauthammer's October 30 column discusses Obama's propensity, even this far into his administration, to blame all problems on George Bush. In so doing, he compare's Barack's behavior to an old Soviet joke. The joke presupposes that, as he lies on his death bed, Stalin calls in Nikita Khrushchev, who succeeded him:

"Niki, I'm dying. Don't have much to leave you. Just three envelopes. Open them, one at a time, when you get into big trouble."

A few years later, first crisis. Khrushchev opens envelope 1: "Blame everything on me. Uncle Joe."

A few years later, a really big crisis. Opens envelope 2: "Blame everything on me. Again. Good luck, Uncle Joe."

Third crisis. Opens envelope 3: "Prepare three envelopes."

Wouldn't you know that elicited some doggerel from me:

Unemployment’s through the roof.
They’re emptying out the vault,
But poor Obama stands aloof.
It’s Georgie Dubya’s fault.

The stimulus has blown the budget
And could lead to default.
Now poor Barack will have to fudge it.
It’s Georgie Dubya’s fault.

Afghanistan has gone to Hell,
Pull out or now assault?
How can Obama even tell?
It’s Georgie Dubya’s fault.

Obamacare will kill us quick
And government exalt,
And if you find that you get sick,
It’s Georgie Dubya’s fault.

Cap and trade will stultify
And make some go John Galt.
Let’s be just a teensy sly,
And say it’s Dubya’s fault.

The Left feels wounds from Dubya still,
So let’s get out some salt,
And rub it in their wounds until
They say it’s Dubya’s fault.

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Obama's Promise and his Reality

2009-10-31T09:56:00.000-05:00

The American Digest has a parody of the Yorick scene from Hamlet. Called Obamlet, the parody puts Obama in the role of Hamlet anguishing over how to proceed in Afghanistan. It is well done and on point, but beyond how to proceed in Afghanistan, the parody's point is symptomatic of how the Obama administration has failed to live up to what supporters projected onto Obama in the election.

Obama’s election some thought was auspicious.
The policy changes they thought quite delicious,
But now it’s in doubt
How things’ll pan out.
His promise now seems meretricious.

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Dejah Thoris Calling for John Carter

2009-10-29T21:25:00.001-05:00

Eugene Volokh reports on a Canadian suit in which the plaintiff, a Rene Joly, alleges that he is a Martian and that others, including those sinister Americans, are conspiring to prevent him from proving it. The judge, however, explores the relevant law and finds that, to have standing in his court, one must be either a corporation or a human being. Since a Martian is neither, the plaintiff gets poured out. Who says there's no justice in the trial courts?

Joly alleges that he is from Mars,
And blames us Americans for psychic scars,
But the ruling says Martians will always lack standing.
Beware all you aliens, you better start banding
And working together so you still can sue
And keep on enjoying an earthly mileu.

Martian equality is now our new cry.
Rouse up your brothers; you must not be shy.
Illegal aliens are common, I know,
But here’s a new twist, you’ll see that it’s so.
Go look in the mirror to pose and to preen,
For unlike most aliens, like Kermit, you’re green.

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Disingenuous Testimony Regarding Canadian Human Rights Commissions

2009-10-29T17:09:00.001-05:00

"Scary Fundamentalist" reports on testimony by Jennifer Lynch about Canadian Human Rights commissions. Canada's experience with these censors is a warning of what will happen to us if we drink too much multi-culti Koolaid. Though I gather the hearing did not go well for Ms. Lynch, it apparently went better for her than she deserved.

What caught my eye was that "Scary Fundamentalist" included doggerel in the post, so here's some doggerel not by me:

There once was a Justice Committee,
Where Lynch went to plead for pity,
With faux grin displayed,
The members waylaid,
Time’s up and she’s still sitting pretty.

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Ortega Succeeds Where Zelaya, so far, Has Failed

2009-10-27T13:42:00.002-05:00

The Wall Street Journal reports that Daniel Ortega, unsurprisingly, has made an end run around Nicaragua's constitutional term limits. He will now no doubt become president for life or as long as he can possibly hold on. Nicaragua returns to jail without passing go or collecting anything resembling freedom. This is the same fate the Obama administration is trying to foist on Honduras.

Ortega’s now stolen Nicaragua,
In a move that was tried by Zelaya.
He’s leader for life,
Despite all the strife,
And that’s how they cut the papaya.

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White House War Against Fox News

2009-10-25T22:59:00.003-05:00

The Obama White House's Nixonian war against Fox News is much to be regretted in a country where political speech is supposed to be unsuppressed. But Obama comes naturally to the impetus to suppress things he does not like.

With rules that are used in Chicago,
Like Bolsheviks chasing Zhivago,
When you’re on the run,
They pull out the gun.
Barack, he learned well and evolved so.

10/26/09 Update:

A reader emailed me the following:

Dude, you talk real nice, but considering how short it is, you sure do leave a massive load of easily-debunked pus in this fevered wound of a blog entry. I guess my first question would have to be what your definition of "a war on Fox News" is.

The White House hasn't denied any of their reporters credentials, and hasn't tried to take Fox off the air. They just don't feel like sitting down and having to deflect massively spun questions, distortions and half-truths from what they've rightly described as the propaganda wing of the GOP.

("Nixonian"? Look up Roger Ailes' background sometime.)

This "war" is entirely in the drug-addled mind of Rush Limbaugh and his ilk. The White House's "attacks" are to merely say "nope - don't want to be interviewed by you." The remainder of their input is to explain this reasonable policy, when asked. It's Fox making the actual attacks.

So, how is this a war? I'm just curious.

Oh, and “Nixonian”?

It was Ailes whose guns were all large-bore,
And he used to give newspapers what-for.
Just because all his tricks
Were to calm Tricky Dick’s
Paranoia doesn’t make him a man-whore

The guy who wrote this disagrees.
With the pattern that I see.
But my heart o’er that won’t bleed.
I’m delighted someone reads.

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Danish Cartoon About Mohammed

2009-10-23T21:19:00.001-05:00

This cartoon used to appear on this site, and I still get a lot of people looking for it.

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Abrogating Contracts by Executive Fiat

2009-10-23T18:21:00.001-05:00

The blogosphere is replete with comment on Obama's abrogating compensation agreements at firms receiving TARP money. Professor Bainbridge has a cogent post that includes this point:

The bottom line thus is that Obama is having his minion coerce TARP executives and employees into ripping up contracts Obama doesn't like so as to assuage the populist public. In doing so, Obama and his appropriately entitled "czar" are exhibiting a basic lack of respect for the rule of law.

Despite the wailing of the left-wing Cassandras at the time, Bush was never the threat to the rule of law that Obama is.

Abrogating contracts is Barack Obama’s plan.
Cutting back excessive pay, he sticks it to the man.
Why should Obama care that contracts aren’t enforced?
He blows away your vested rights, not feeling your remorse.

Contracts were the settled way we planned into the future.
The recent abrogations leave a rift without a suture.
Undermining confidence, Obama's biggest feature.
Trust in government alone, now, that’s the message from our teacher.

If he can cut back pay because he thinks its way too high,
He can change the price on all the things that you have gone to buy.
If you’re the one who sells things, then you have no way to know
If Obama will just change the price and tell you where to go.

When you can’t rely on business terms of all the deals you’ve made,
You cannot know if you can keep the sums that you’ve been paid.
You’re left to plead your case to distant bureaucrats,
Officious functionaries knowing less than mewling cats.

Success will not depend upon your marketplace acumen.
You’ll need to cultivate a set of skills that don’t like excess lumens.
Who you know and who you stroke, to whom you give out favors,
These are things that now will set the outcome of your labors.

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Of Mass Murderers and Philosophers

2009-10-20T17:36:00.001-05:00

Ricketyclick on White House Communication Director Anita Dunn:

Mao Tse Tung, ladies and gentlemen. Seventy million dead, one of the oldest, richest cultures on Earth burned to the ground and replaced by gray concrete and black pajamas, the worst genocide in all history, and the architect of this chaos is the “favorite philosopher” of the woman who sits with the President of the United States and passes His Holy Words to you unwashed proletarian masses and your children.

Dunn’s favorite philosopher’s old Mao!
What can you do but say wow?
A murderous old brute,
The thug sure could shoot.
His insights, they ended with pow!

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Trade Your Cadillac in for a Yugo, Even-Steven

2009-10-19T18:43:00.001-05:00

Politico reports on the Senate health care bill's proposed tax on so-called Cadillac plans:

The tax is designed to pay for reform and lower costs by making the so-called Cadillac plans less attractive for insurers to offer.

The Democrats tell us that we must believe
From private health care we must be reprieved.
I’ve always assumed they mean to imply
Public health care beats what we can buy.

It’s high-end health plans they now want to tax,
But not for the things that plans like that lack.
It’s high-end health plans they want to reduce;
It’s high-end health plans they deem an abuse.

With high end health plans the bar is too high;
Public health plans can’t reach for the sky.
Tear down the good things the people now have;
The poor public option will seem like a salve.

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Higgs Bosons and Legislative Bozos

2009-10-13T17:16:00.001-05:00

The New York Times reports:

A pair of otherwise distinguished physicists have suggested that the hypothesized Higgs boson, which physicists hope to produce with the collider, might be so abhorrent to nature that its creation would ripple backward through time and stop the collider before it could make one, like a time traveler who goes back in time to kill his grandfather.

The article goes on the suggest:

This malign influence from the future, they argue, could explain why the United States Superconducting Supercollider, also designed to find the Higgs, was canceled in 1993 after billions of dollars had already been spent, an event so unlikely that Dr. Nielsen calls it an “anti-miracle.”

I am utterly innocent of advanced physics, but I am skeptical of this explanation of the fate of the U.S. supercollider. To explain what happened, all one need suppose is legislative incompetence, a far less exotic explanation than that the Higgs boson is altering the past. Occam's Razor.

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Barack of the Khyber Rifles

2009-10-12T17:42:00.001-05:00

Yahoo News reports:

Saying the U.S. mission in Afghanistan is in "serious jeopardy," the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee says more troops are needed to combat an increasingly potent Taliban.

That's Dianne Feinstein talking. Similar stories of Democrat waffling on Afghanistan abound. What to do is ultimately in the President's hands. To quote Stevie Wonder, heaven help us all.

The war in Iraq, Dems often did knock
It strayed from the war in the ‘stan.
“The Afghani war we prize more by far,”
The Democrats cried to a man.
Hail to Barack of the Khyber Rifles.

The votes were collected, Barack was elected,
The war in the ‘stan’s getting harder.
Now the Dems aren’t so sure of Afghanistan’s cure,
Or of guarding the Pakistan border.
Hail to Barack of the Khyber Rifles.

“We don’t need to win” is now the new spin,
They’re selling us, oh, such a sleek horse.
Their idea’s so neat, let’s go for defeat,
Embrace being bin Laden’s weak horse.
Hail to Barack of the Khyber Rifles.

Talk of the Taliban there in Afghanistan,
Clearly a salesman’s slick pitch.
Feared weak after ’Nam, they posed like Van Damme.
Naught but a bait and a switch.
Hail to Barack of the Khyber Rifles.

From old talking points, they’re now out of joint;
Their prior positions are trifles.
Barack is the man who adds to the plan
Charisma and charm by the eyefuls.
Hail to Barack of the Khyber Rifles.
Hail, hail, hail, hail to Barack of the Khyber Rifles.

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Peace Plan for Afghanistan

2009-10-09T18:05:00.002-05:00

I was searching for other political doggerel sites and was disappointed in how little I found. Then I ran across a site with the linked poem. Here's a excerpt:

send Clowns without Borders
into the cities and mountains
hand out lutes and fiddles, harps and drums.
Soldiers, fresh from Boot Camp of the Arts,
would distribute cameras and watercolors

What do you suppose the Taliban, never mind al Qaeda, would do to Clowns without Borders or people handing out musical instruments? Has this person ever seen "The Kite Runner"? Read the whole poem for full effect.

Send Clowns without Borders into the 'stan?
That by golly's a Hell of a plan.
They'll tell the Talib to lay down their guns.
"Let's twist up balloons and have some real fun."
Incredulous Taliban, standing dumbstruck,
May take a whole minute to run full amok.
Let's warn all the clowns to take a quick chill:
They best had not go without making a will.

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Carnival of the Vanities

2009-10-08T13:00:00.002-05:00

This week's Carnival of the Vanities is up.

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Mohammed El Baradei Says Israel's Nuclear Weapons Biggest Threat to Middle East

2009-10-07T18:01:00.008-05:00

China View reports:

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei said Sunday that "Israel is number one threat to Middle East" with its nuclear arms, the official IRNA news agency reported.

This brings to mind a childhood incident in which my mother wanted to know what my brother and I were fighting about. I told her it all started when he hit me back.

Could Israel be the number one threat to peace in the Middle East?
Israel’s missiles, are we to suppose, might possibly be released?
Mohammed El Baradei is the man who makes the accusation.
But why would Israelis want to start a nuclear conflagration?

Now Israel is such a tiny place, just over the size of Vermont.
For self preservation, it’s better advised to try to get détente.
The only reason for Israelis to use their nuclear option, you see,
Is if there’s a knife against their throat, and Israel may soon cease to be.

And this is why the nuclear missiles cause so much consternation.
The Arabs know, if they take the Jews down, they’ll get the conflagration.
So El Baradei thinks the danger to peace is not from the Arab attack.
The danger he fears is the one that comes from Israel fighting back.

10/8/09 Update:
1. After I completed this, I realized I had relied on my own probable mispronunciation of "Baradei." I have no idea what the correct Arabic pronunciation is, but for the purposes of the doggerel, I was thinking of BAR a day.

2. The number one threat to Middle East peace is Arab hatred. Generally speaking, Arabs hate everyone else, but they have a special hatred of Jews. It vastly predates the creation of Israel, stemming instead from Mohammed's interaction with and slaughter of Jews in Medina.

3. At the risk of making the same mistake I criticized when made by Janeane Garofalo, I suspect El Baradei of sharing the Jew hatred of most Arabs. If so, while it is so marvelously multi-culti of us to have a Jew hater as head of the IAEA, let's don't let his title mislead us into according any weight to his thoughts on Israel.

4. I don't remember who first formulated this next point: I've read it more than once and heard it from others in conversation. If Arabs laid down their arms, they could have virtually immediate peace. No doubt there would be some delay arising from Jews being initially skeptical. (Wouldn't you be?) There would also be some initial squabbling over the exact location of a boundary on the West Bank, but in the overall scheme of things, that is small potatoes.

On the other hand, if Israelis laid down their arms, they would be immediately annihilated. Israel can be considered the primary threat to Middle East peace only if you take Arab hatred and violence as a given.

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What's a Little Tax Fraud Among Friends?

2009-10-07T17:07:00.002-05:00

Breitbart reports:

House Republicans have failed for a third time to oust Rep. Charles Rangel as chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.

Poor Charlie Rangel
Feared he might dangle.
For cheating on taxes and such,
But along came the House,
Which forgave the louse
And saved him for being in dutch.

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Shut up and Salute!

2009-10-07T12:13:00.001-05:00

There was a time when the mainstream media would have had us believe it was a major failing of George Bush that he did not follow the advice of certain generals whose advice the liberals agreed with. Apparently Eugene Robinson, no doubt among others, does not agree with the advice of General McChrystal.

Bush had a problem with the war in Iraq,
But Bush is long gone; the Pres is Barack.
“Listen to generals,” George Bush was then told,
For some generals lined up with liberal scolds.
Afghanistan’s where the troubles are now,
And listening to generals puts you out on a bough.

You don’t need to listen if you don’t want to hear.
We can’t let the facts with our plans interfere.
Obama is weighing the options, transfixed,
On which course of action best helps politics.
Now General McChrystal, he asks for more troops.
Why won’t the warmonger shut up and salute?

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Garofalo and Hateful Nonsense

2009-10-04T11:58:00.005-05:00

JammieWearingFool links to a video in which Janeane Garofalo vehemently accuses all Obama opponents of racism. Lord have mercy.

Janeane Garofalo spews her slurs;
Republicans are, she says, just curs.
Opposing Obama has got to be racist:
She can’t imagine another basis.

The limits of Janie’s imagination
Suggest a lot more, in my estimation,
Of Janie, herself, and how she thinks
Than suggesting Republican-hate group links.

Political control of the economy’s at stake,
And liberals want to cut up the cake.
Conservatives think that will make us much poorer
And fear the liberals will put up a fuhrer.

Janeane’s apparently not even able
To comprehend what we see on the table:
The total remaking of American life,
Fostering envy and fomenting strife.

Though Janie sure shows lack of insight,
It's not that she is not very bright.
Instead I think she’s so blinded by hate,
That all she can do is erupt and berate.

This sort of invective comes often, of course,
Given what passes for public discourse.
I sometimes wonder how mankind’s survived,
With serious debate so greatly contrived.

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Marcus was a Little Lamb

2009-09-29T13:00:00.001-05:00

John Birmingham of the Brisbane Times reports on an Australian school teaching children about animal husbandry. Among the animals was a lamb named Marcus. At some point, the kids voted to send Marcus to the slaughter house, and the animal rights-types came forth with predictable laments.

The doggerel potential was too obvious to pass up:

Marcus was a little lamb.
He lived at school, you know.
The kids thought he’d be good to eat.
The greenies all said “No!”

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William Safire, Rest in Peace

2009-09-28T08:27:00.000-05:00

William Safire is dead at 79 of pancreatic cancer. I was particularly fond of his "On Language" columns.

Rest in peace.

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Carnival of the Vanities

2009-09-27T21:36:00.000-05:00

Andrew Ian Dodge hosts Carnival of the Vanities.

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Nanny Bloomberg

2009-09-26T19:28:00.002-05:00

Of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Slate's Jacob Weiss reports:

By 2012, the mayor hopes "to lower the proportion of adults who drink one or more sugar-sweetened beverages each day by 20 percent."

Not satisfied with being mayor Bloomberg wants to be our mother.

Oh Nanny boy, the Coca-Cola’s calling,
From store to store and down 5th Avenue.
Tobacco’s gone, your nanny drive is stalling.
Go after Cokes and then find something new.
You must not stop, we need you as Big Brother
Without you, I'd know not what to do,
For at times our thoughts might turn to burgers.
Oh Nanny boy, oh Nanny boy, you so and so.

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Marching Forward into the (Not so Good) Old Times

2009-09-26T11:05:00.004-05:00

Politico reports:

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) received a handwritten note Thursday from Joint Committee on Taxation Chief of Staff Tom Barthold confirming the penalty for failing to pay the up to $1,900 fee for not buying health insurance.

Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor and could face up to a year in jail or a $25,000 penalty . . . .

So not to put too fine a point on it:

Obama would surely respond with derision,
But when the thought is expressed with concision,
And when, on the murk, the sun has risen,
Obama's imposing a debtor's prison.

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To the Commenter Who Called me an Imbecile

2009-09-25T17:17:00.002-05:00

Is it just Obama men
Attracted to ad hominem?
I’m not sure; I have my doubts.
Perhaps we’re all a bunch of louts.

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Obamacare Will Be Just as Good as Medicare

2009-09-25T12:59:00.002-05:00

We're told that Medicare is great, and Obamacare will be just as great. But we know Medicare is stretched thin and will have to reduce costs. And Medicare covers only a small, albeit increasing, percentage of the population. When you drag in all the population, what is stretched thin will break.

The Democrats say Obamacare’s good,
For Medicare works just as it should.
Now Medicare starts at sixty-five,
A small percentage of who’s still alive.
A lot more people are paying in
Than are taking out benefits at the end.

But even with such a favorable ratio,
It’s not all rosey, though some may say so.
Medicare cuts what doctors are paid,
So doctors are cutting their Medicare trade,
But cutting what doctor’s are paid’s not enough.
What happens next is going to be rough.

The President says he’s going to cut waste.
Why drag you in first; why all the haste?
He’s got to pare back that which is covered.
He wants you locked in, before that’s discovered.
There may be treatments you think that you need,
But you will be told to diminish your greed.

When society needs to cut down on cost,
It’ll just be too bad that a few lives are lost.
Obamacare means, I tell you no lies,
That government sets who lives and who dies.
That can’t coexist with American freedom.
Madison and Jefferson! Go tell them we need them!

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Down Like a Dog on the Highway, With a Government Boot at Your Throat

2009-09-21T21:12:00.007-05:00

David Henderson reports: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is squelching the speech of insurance companies expressing concerns about Obamacare to their insureds. Many a liberal acquaintance were dismayed at George Bush's civil liberties shortcomings, but I don't recall a single incident of the Bush administration trying to silence its critics.

Being who I am, I provide some doggerel. What came to my mind was Alfred Noyes' The Highwayman, perhaps appropriate since we are being robbed not only of our money but also of our freedom.

Obamacare critics cry out; they desperately want to be heard.
They post their views on blogs and such, getting out the word.
The media ignore them studiously, hoping they’ll all go away,
And HHS comes censoring, censoring, censoring,
And HHS comes censoring,
Denying the critics their say.

Critics, it says, are misleading, confusing the proletariat.
Keep all the critics quiet, its says, round them up with a lariat.
It sends out threatening letters, abusing its government power
And the HHS is threatening, threatening, threatening,
And the HHS is threatening;
Beware the government’s glower

We’ve got to resist the thuggishness, asserting our right to be free.
They’re taking away all our freedoms, away from you and from me.
Recall that this is America; preserve its ideals when you vote,
Or they’ll drag you down into serfdom,
Down like a dog into serfdom,
With a government boot at your throat.

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Senator Hutchison Wants to be Gov

2009-09-21T13:24:00.004-05:00

U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is making progress in her attempt to wrest the GOP gubernatorial from Rick Perry. I do not particularly support Rick Perry, though neither do I particularly oppose him. He hasn't screwed things up too badly.

Kay Bailey is another story altogether. She has been resistant to earmark reform , an issue contributing to Republican defeats at the federal level. For that reason alone, she deserves to lose.

Senator Hutchison wants to be gov,
But when asked about earmarks, she gave us a shove.
No matter however she gives it a spin,
I'll not trust Hutchison ever again.

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You Know How to Whistle Don't You?

2009-09-20T11:54:00.003-05:00

Josh Marshall reports: Lauren Bacall and Shimon Peres are first cousins. Maybe Shimon could get me her autograph.

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Stuffing Papers Down Your Pants XII

2009-09-18T19:12:00.002-05:00

In an article on Pajamas Media, Annie Jacobsen offers a possible explanation for the papers Sandy Berger was stuffing down his pants way back in 2004. It appears the Clinton administration may have tried to assassinate Osama Bin Laden well before 9/11.

If only they had succeeded . . .

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Nancy Has a Cry

2009-09-18T17:28:00.005-05:00

Regarding Nancy Pelosi's tearful bemoaning of opposition to the Democratic agenda, Ann Althouse observes:

And I hope you will take responsibility for this embarrassing display. You haven't done your job and now you are crying in public — you, the first female Speaker of the House. Crying. Pretending to be afraid of violence when the talk that troubles you so hasn't even included threats of violence.

My expectations of Nancy Pelosi are so low, I had not looked at it that way, but Ann has a point. So of course I composed some doggerel. For whatever reason, the Everly Brothers' "Bye, Bye Love" came to mind:

Poor, poor, Nan,
Poor, poor little thing,
Rich was her acting,
She stood right there and cried.

Poor, poor, Nan,
Poor, poor was the show,
Rich that we all know,
She thought she’d try to cry.
Poor Nancy heave a sigh.

Up there’s our speaker,
Trying something new.
She sure looks weaker;
She runs a zoo.
She was an ogre,
Til she pulled this.
Goodbye to all that
We’ll never miss.

Bye bye, Nan,
Bye bye surliness,
Hello girliness,
She stood right there and cried,
Bye bye, Nan, you cried.

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Diluting the Sting of Racism Charges

2009-09-18T14:44:00.005-05:00

MSNBC (yes, really, I had to look twice) carries an AP analysis (yes, AP, really) decrying profligate charges of racism.

Our society is not free of genuine racism, though mercifully racism is less common than it used to be. We should not relent in rooting out genuine racism, but in so doing, we should not use the term loosely.

Labeling opposition to Barack Obama's policy proposals as necessarily racist is an abuse of the term, because it unfairly libels innocent people with a vile charge. But worse than that abuse, doing so leads to resentment of charges of racism and to taking the charges less seriously. That result is counter-productive of eliminating racism.

Once upon a time calling someone a Communist was a serious slur in the eyes of almost all Americans. At least partly because of the excesses of the McCarthy era, the charge lost its sting in many quarters and some now regard the charge itself as antiquated even when it fits, as in the case of Hugo Chaves.

We must all hope that a consequence of Barack Obama's presidency is not to lessen the sting of a racism charge. That is not the direction in which our society needs to go. Those throwing the charge around need to bear that in mind.

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Acorn Didn't Know it Sat on a Wall

2009-09-17T21:11:00.002-05:00

Acorn the org has been known to all.
Acorn the org had a great fall,
And all the spin doctors and all Barack’s men
Couldn’t put Acorn back together again.

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No Missile Defense for Eastern Europe

2009-09-17T08:44:00.007-05:00

Dubya Bush thought it made sense
To give Eastern Europe missile defense.
Barack Obama says au contraire,
With Eastern Europe he will not share.

We used to fear proliferation,
Because it could lead to conflagration.
Our defense we said we’d share,
If from the bomb you would forbear.

The message now is loud and clear:
If you’re a target and danger's near,
America won’t protect you pukes.
You'd better get your own damn nukes.

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Politico Claims the Word "Politico" as a Trademark

2009-09-15T22:05:00.003-05:00

Dan Reihl reports that Politico is throwing its weight around against small sites using the word "politico" in their names. But "politico" is a word and therefore a poor mark. Sheesh!

Politico is a site on the web.
It’s also a word used without ebb,
But the site now claims its rights are exclusive,
Though the reasoning seems entirely elusive.

If you want a mark that can be protected,
You really ought to have quickly rejected
A word that appears in common use,
Or else your claims seem an abuse.

Politico ought to retract and then chill,
Though what are the odds, you think, that it will?
Let’s hope Politico will change the decision
That has caused it’s claims to suffer derision.

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MadKane and I Don't Agree on Much . . .

2009-09-15T17:55:00.004-05:00

But I do agree with her criticism of Amazon for surreptitiously removing material from customers' Kindles. Refunding their money is not good enough. It was a breach of trust.

I have had two Kindles, and I loved them, but I don't have one now. Just before the one-year warranty expired, I tripped on steps while carrying my Kindle. I threw my hands out to catch myself, and the Kindle went flying. It no longer worked, so I called Amazon about repairs. Kindles apparently cannot be repaired, and the warranty did not cover customer "abuse," but they did sell me a second Kindle at half price.

I was reasonably satisfied with that until a few months later when the second Kindle inexplicably stopped working. I called Amazon, but the message was tough cookies. My original one-year warranty had expired. If I wanted a new Kindle, it would be full price.

So now I am Kindle-less and peeved.

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Obama's Secret Plan to Fix Social Security

2009-09-14T20:06:00.006-05:00

Many have warned to no avail
That social security's doomed to fail,
But stop despairing; lift the pall.
Obamacare will save us all.

You may think that Obamacare
And social security aren't a pair,
But Obamacare's to preserve your health,
So marvel here at Obama’s stealth.

Social security, you get when you’re old,
When Obamacare cuts back what's doled.
For social security, now don’t be dejected.
You just won’t live long while you collect it.

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Ask Sitting Bull How it Worked Out

2009-09-13T12:44:00.002-05:00

Negative rights and positive rights are the dividing line.
Obama promises positive rights, offering things so fine.
He’ll give us all our health care and all our hearts desire,
If, in return, we’ll close our eyes and step into the fire,
For when the government gives us things, they’re not spun from thin air.
No, others must produce those things, and Barack will make them share.

There’s a word for when another takes the things that we produce,
And applies them to the taker’s thoughts of what’s a better use.
Conscripting labor from another is the vilest form of knavery.
We’ll find our labor has become nothing more than slavery.
If we don’t own what we produce, we own almost nothing.
We have just what they leave us with. Do not believe their puffing.

Negative rights are things that the government must not do,
Ways in which it’s not allowed to interfere with you.
Freedom of speech and of petition, such things they cannot stop,
If we insist on being free; we’ll know just what we’ve got,
But when they pass out goodies by taking things from others,
What we get was necessarily taken from our brothers.

Now if you think they’ll take from them, but not take things from you,
I’ve got a bridge to sell you, pal, a deal you’ll come to rue.
They see the proletariat as the class where we belong.
Trading freedom for state care is just a siren song.
If you are tempted to believe the state’s care will be great,
Ask Sitting Bull how it worked out; what was his people’s fate?

We can all be citizens, free and independent,
Or we can be just vassals, on the state dependent.
Freedom is quite costly, and it’s often very hard,
But you must throw it all away to choose to be a ward.
I know not what all may choose, freedom or dependence.
But as for me our negative rights are all that can defend us.

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Barack as Caudillo

2009-09-11T14:45:00.002-05:00

Barack has got plans for you and for me,
But they’re not embraced by the bourgeoisie.
His spending and taxes will soon fill the bill.
Stagflation will pauper us, leave us with nil.
Just like in the song called "Government Cheese",
When we’re all beggars, we’re easily pleased.
A banana republic is how it will end,
With Barack as caudillo, an endless downtrend.

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Jack Be Nimble on Obamacare

2009-09-06T05:34:00.003-05:00

Barack is nimble and he's quick.
He'll give you care when you are sick,
Unless, of course the cost's too high,
Which is when he'll let you die.

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The Zimbabwe Option

2009-09-04T09:45:00.004-05:00

Power Line points to a Jeffrey Roger Hummel article discussing our future.

According to the article, we have three options:

1. We can try to get off cheap on repaying treasury securities through comparatively modest inflation.

2. We can default on treasury securities.
or
3. We can adopt the Zimbabwe option, repudiating the national debt indirectly through hyper inflation.

Mr Hummel is optimistic enough to believe the political class would avoid option 3 and does not believe option 1 will work. That leaves us with option 2. I don't know whether option 1 would work, but Mr. Hummel offers plausible reasons why not.

No option is good. Option 1 would severely damage the American economy. Option 2 would put an end to America as we know it, dramatically reducing our standard of living. Option 3 would leave us streaming into Mexico, looking for something to eat. My seat-of-the-pants guess is something in between 2 and 3.

Oh frabjous day. Obama is The One.

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The Role of the IRS in Obamacare

2009-09-03T17:06:00.003-05:00

[I]f the plan envisioned by President Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats is enacted, the primary federal bureaucracy responsible for implementing and enforcing national health care will be an old and familiar one: the Internal Revenue Service.

Giving a new perspective on the use of the word "internal" in the Internal Revenue Service.

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Coinage of the Day

2009-09-03T09:45:00.002-05:00

Daniel Henninger gets it with the term "lumpen bureaucratariat," as in:

In short, the lumpen electorate works, and the lumpen bureaucratariat spends. They get away with it because they have perfected the illusion that no human hand causes these commitments. The payroll tax just happens. Entitlements are "off-budget," presumably in the hands of God. This is government without the responsibility of governance.

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Use of the term "Death Panels" is a vile GOP distortion?

2009-09-03T08:57:00.004-05:00

The Telegraph reports:

Under NHS guidance introduced across England to help doctors and medical staff deal with dying patients, they can then have fluid and drugs withdrawn and many are put on continuous sedation until they pass away.

But this approach can also mask the signs that their condition is improving, the experts warn.

But fears of death panels in Obamacare are fear-mongering distortions? If the Dems want to hold up European health care systems are the model to which they aspire, do they not have to address the negative aspects of those systems?

Defenders of Obamacare will say it is my own personality defect that I cannot put aside such trivial concerns and rest assured that:

Obama loves me, this I know,
For Pelosi tells me so.
All of us to him belong
For we are weak and he is strong.

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Tax All the Rubes in the Wildwood

2009-09-02T22:25:00.002-05:00

Some may be familiar with the hymn titled "Little Brown Church in the Vale." It's one of the old-time, pleasant sounding hymns that, ironically in light of the lyrics, I recall from my childhood. And it has inspired doggerel:

Tax, tax, tax, tax,
Tax all the rubes in the wildwood,
Tax all the rubes in the vale.
No sport is as dear to a Congresshood
As taxing all the rubes in the vale.

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Contrasting Obama and LBJ

2009-09-02T11:02:00.003-05:00

Keith Hennessey writes of how poor leadership from the Obama administration has contributed to the legislative problems in enacting Obamacare.

I think much of the chaos we are seeing results from a combination of:

Presidential indecision about which path to take and a lack of preparedness for the different paths;

an ever-changing message from the White House;

and a flawed set of policies and substantive arguments to which American citizens are reacting harshly.

Contrast that with Lyndon Johnson's approach to getting Great Society legislation enacted. A consummate leader in the Senate, Johnson's personality and skill were major factors in the success of his legislative agenda. I was young and naive enough at the time to be excited about the quantity of reform legislation pouring out of Washington.

I am profoundly grateful that, unlike LBJ, Barack Obama never bothered with the drudge work of getting legislation enacted.

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A Missing Moral Connection

2009-08-30T19:13:00.002-05:00

Apparently Teddy Kennedy liked and laughed at Chappaquiddick jokes.

I can understand though not condone that he panicked after the accident, perhaps leaving Ms. Kopechne struggling vainly for life. I can understand though not condone that he later used political power and family connections to avoid legal responsibility for his derelict conduct. But I cannot understand laughing at the events after the fact, much less condone it.

Human weakness is understandable. The perverseness of finding humor in one's own responsibility for the accidental death of another is incomprehensible.

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Blowing Smoke About Detainee Interrogation

2009-08-27T15:47:00.005-05:00

The techniques we used to extract information from al Qaeda prisoners has been a source of continuing controversy. One recent development is the disclosure that we apparently blew cigar smoke into the face of some of them. Well . . . .

Our doing enhanced interrogation
Is, we’re told, beyond explanation.
Among our crimes, and this is no joke,
In terrorists’ faces, they blew cigar smoke.

This is a thing we surely should rue then,
Unless, of course, the cigars were Cuban.
If that was the case, and they did it for free,
Please ask them to come and do it to me.

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Nancy Pelosi Really Should Go See

2009-08-25T21:58:00.003-05:00

The link is to a blog post on Kenneth Gladney's beating by Democrat-supporting SEIU thugs. Herewith some doggerel:

Nancy Pelosi should really go see
Who comes to a town hall,
But probably soon she’d turn loose her goons,
Thus turning it into a brawl.

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Yanqui Doodle Hugo

2009-08-23T19:13:00.003-05:00

Hugo Chavez struts around
And crows just like a rooster.
He thumbs his nose at the U.S.
And is his own best booster.

Refrain:
Hugo Chavez keep it up,
Hugo, the dear leader.
Keep on blaming someone else,
Or you will hit your nadir.

Pose for pictures; take a bow;
Shut down another paper.
Blame the Yanquis for your poor.
Try to make them quaver.

Refrain

Arm the rebels right next door;
Complain about aggression.
You may think that these conflict,
But it’s all just projection.

Refrain

Rattle missiles; rattle swords.
Rattle all your marbles.
Rattle anything you like,
But all your rants are garbles.

Refrain

Venezuela is his toy;
He sets who wins and loses.
If you are even half-way smart,
You’ll do just what he chooses.

Refrain

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Hail, All Hail Barack ObaMA

2009-08-22T11:34:00.005-05:00

Dissent is not merely a schism.
It's the highest form of patriotism,
Except, of course, when it is not.
That's when the Dems are the ones who are got.

Dissing Obama is one of the basest
Things ever done by a GOP racist.
Bush was like Hitler and also a moron,
But Barack is a genius, an angel, and so on.

Barack will save you from insurance greed,
And give you the health care he thinks that you need.
Don't ever you worry; there's no cause to sigh.
Barack will know when it's your time to die.

Obstructing Obama is not very nice.
Don't you impede his workers' paradise.
Hail, all hail Barack ObaMA,
Who will lead us all to Shangri-la-la.

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Amusingly and Pithily-Made Point of the Day

2009-08-20T13:23:00.001-05:00

"I'm not sure that the degree to which someone agrees with me is a reliable indicator of how great they are." Orin Kerr

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When it's hot and dry in Texas

2009-08-19T21:42:00.003-05:00

When it’s hot and dry in Texas, it’s hot and dry for sure.
The cattle turn to skeletons; the dust is fine and pure.
The sun will bake your skin on through, yep, right on down to bone.
The roosters give up crowing, and the goats can hardly moan.

You see mirages dancing on the highway up ahead.
If you count on them for water, you are going to wind up dead.
The rivers stop their flowing, and the tanks get filled with dust,
And the hogs’ll eat on prickly pear, just doing what they must.

The crops all shrivel in the fields, just turning brown and crisp.
If you get a cotton boll, it’s nothing but a whisp.
The sorghum won’t keep mice alive, the corn is worthless, too.
Farming dry in Texas is a thing you’ll come to rue.

The ranchers keep on struggling, asking God for rain,
But the bankers look for payments, feeling their own pain.
There ain’t two ways about it. When the weather’s hot and dry,
In the parched dust of Texas, things are going to die.

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Coinage of the Day

2009-08-19T09:56:00.002-05:00

"Postalizing health care." From James Taranto.

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Of Teaching to Fish and Giving a Fish

2009-08-18T21:49:00.003-05:00

If you teach a man to fish, you give him the opportunity for self sufficiency so that he may choose to be independent.

If you give a man a fish, you may increase your own power and prestige by encouraging him to be dependent on you.

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Miscellaneous Doggerel

2009-08-11T09:12:00.003-05:00

I recently vacationed in New Orleans and was reminded that NOLA is an acronym for New Orleans, Louisiana. Reflecting on that and the woman's name "Nola," I wrote some doggerel. My mind then turned to my hometown, which is sometimes referred to as COSA (City of San Antonio). Then a friend suggested the first line of a limerick and things went downhill from there.

Nola from NOLA liked to drink cola;
While sitting out on the levee,
But later a gator snuck up and ate her;
Wow! Man, that story’s so heavy.

Rosa from COSA drank a mimosa,
While sitting out on the river,
But the spider beside her could not abide her,
And bit her, thus causing a shiver.

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly
That laid all its eggs before it could die.
The maggots all hatched
When the fly was dispatched.
And crawled out her ear in July.

There once was a man from Vesuvius,
Who liked to drink Orange Julius.
He ordered a cup
And drank it all up
And said that it was the grooviest.

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There is no God but Gaia

2009-07-02T16:59:00.007-05:00

The Earth is getting hotter, and the seas will drown us all;

The Earth is desiccating, and the rains will never fall;
The desert is expanding, and none of us can stop it;
For there is no god but Gaia, and the Albert is her prophet.

Albert preaches sternly that the planet soon will die;
You must change your way of living, for the Albert would not lie.
But as to Albert’s own high living, he will never stop it,
For there is no god but Gaia, and the Albert is her prophet.

Sacrifices must be placed upon our Gaia’s altar;
Killing virgins will not work, but you should never falter.
The sin is greenhouse gases; you must work to stop it,
For there is no god but Gaia, and the Albert is her prophet.

Agriculture’s doomed, because the crops will never grow,
Except for GM crops, of course, and those you’d best not sow;
Eating kills the planet, which is why that you must stop it,
For there is no god but Gaia, and the Albert is her prophet.

Driving cars has got to stop to hold down CO2,
No matter if it ends the jobs performed by such as you.
Your breath’s a greenhouse gas, so get on board and stop it,
For there is no god but Gaia, and the Albert is her prophet.

Cap and trade will shut us down, destroying what we've built;
Embracing that's a dandy way to mitigate our guilt;
Don't plan to keep on living; you have surely got to stop it,
For there is no god but Gaia, and the Albert is her prophet.

Update 12/2/2009: See this related post from The BurningPlatform.com.

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Blogger Censoring Anti-Obama Blogs?

2008-06-30T20:44:00.002-05:00

At Protein Wisdom, Dan Collins notes an apparent trend at Blogger to block anti-Obama sites. This blog hasn't been active, but rest assured it is anti-Obama.

I see Obama as a socialist. He will increase the tax burden, take over many parts of the economy, and regulate away the market mechanism in other parts. We will be much poorer after eight years of him, but he may nevertheless be loved, because he will rail against evil corporations and compound the problem by messing further in the economy. Obama's socialism will do for us what Peronismo did for Argentina. And in counter point to "Bush's preemptive wars," Obama will preemptively capitulate to America's enemies. We're in for a rough stretch, one from which America might never recover. Alas.

McCain is a bad candidate from my perspective. It is a measure of the low esteem in which I hold Obama that I have the slightest bit of enthusiasm about McCain.

So, do I get blocked? Or I am too low profile? (Lord knows I'm about as low profile as you can get.)

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Significant Contributor to Global Warming

2006-09-30T10:40:00.000-05:00

Drudge reports (Drudge changes his links, so the above link likely won't be good for long) Albert Gore as proclaiming:

Cigarette smoking is a "significant contributor to global warming!"

Significant contributor. No doubt as are trans fats and voting Republican, all of which likely in his view should be banned.

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Bumper Sticker Foreign Policy

2006-09-27T12:53:00.000-05:00

I have recently seen several cars with this bumper sticker:

"Yeehah! is not a foreign policy."

Neither is "Let's be nice to them, and maybe they won't hurt us as badly."

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Suspension of Blog

2005-12-11T11:00:00.000-06:00

I regret that I must suspend this blog. I do not know whether I will pick it back up some day, but I will not be posting in the near future. Thank you to those who have been regular readers.

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Unattended Children Will be Given an Expresso and a Free Puppy

2005-11-29T21:45:00.000-06:00

A sign I saw recently that I thought was amusing.

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Saddam's Complaints

2005-11-28T21:38:00.001-06:00

Reuters gives an account of Saddam's complaints:

They brought me here to the door and I was handcuffed. They cannot bring in the defendant in handcuffs," Saddam rejoined.

. . .

Saddam complained he had had to walk up four flights of stairs because of a broken elevator in the courthouse.

. . .

Saddam then argued with the judge about his rights and his jailers' action in taking away his pen and paper.

Where's the Geneva Convention when you need it? Handcuffs, stairs, and a lack of writing implements. All for killing a few thousand people. My, my, my.

The Butcher of Baghdad has lost his pen.
The Americans took it. Oh! What a sin!
They made the old coot walk up some stairs,
And the handcuffs impair putting on airs.

Boy, once a dictator has been deposed,
They shove the disgrace right up his nose.
He lectured the judge, demanding his rights;
He's still the President in his own sights.

But one day the piper will come with his bill,
And then Saddam's voice will start to get shrill.
The man may beg, he may even wheedle,
But the murderous old bastard will still get the needle.

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Just Whose Pants Are on Fire, Anyway?

2005-11-15T22:10:00.001-06:00

Doggerel time:

Bush lied, and people died, we hear the Left proclaim.
They chant the mantra endlessly, because they have no shame.
They want us all now to think that they have been deceived,
But if they are a bunch of chumps, why should they be reprieved?

Bush did not lie; he spoke the truth as best as he could tell,
But rather than acknowledge that, the Left would bake in Hell.
We tell the Left what all believed, but that provokes hysteria.
What will they do if we find out that gas was sent to Syria?

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Spurious George

2005-10-25T20:09:00.001-05:00

The Times Online reports a U.S. Senate Committee has concluded that British Member of Parliament George Galloway not only perjured himself in recent testimony but was also on the take in the oil-for-food scam.

GEORGE GALLOWAY faces possible criminal charges after a US Senate investigation tracked $150,000 (£85,000) in Iraqi oil money to his wife’s bank account in Jordan.

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will refer the Respect Party MP for possible prosecution after concluding that he gave “false and misleading” testimony at his appearance before the panel in May.

The sub-committee claimed that, through intermediaries, Mr Galloway and the Mariam Appeal were granted eight allocations of Iraqi crude oil totalling 23 million barrels from 1999 to 2003.

Galloway's testimony was marked by his defiance of the Committee. It seems he had little to be defiant about.

Hey there, Galloway,
Spitting out venom at everyone,
Hiding graft from the light of the sun,
While telling lies to get your way.
Hey there, Galloway,
Think of how much more you could have got;
Damn those Puritans all to rot.
At least you got to make some hay.

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Get Along Home, Cindy Sheehan (Doggerel)

2005-08-17T22:17:00.001-05:00

Well, it’s Cindy in the papers;
It’s Cindy on TV;
If she can’t bring down President Bush,
She’ll rant for all to see.

Get along home, Cindy, Cindy;
Get along home, Cindy, Cindy;
Get along home, Cindy, Cindy;
You’re pushing sympathy.

I wish she would be rational,
But that is not to be.
She’s reduced to a mere spectacle,
She hates both you and me.

Get along home, Cindy, Cindy;
Get along home, Cindy, Cindy;
Get along home, Cindy, Cindy;
You’re pushing sympathy.

Explanation: I do not wish to make light of Ms. Sheehan's grief. It must be staggering. But many other American mothers and fathers are bearing it with dignity and are not seeking media notoriety for the purpose of undercutting not only what her son died for but the security of this country and our way of life. At some point her grief can no longer shield her from criticism for her own irresponsible actions. She has thrust herself onto the public stage as a political actor and must accept what comes with that.

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The Road to Argentina

2005-03-29T20:35:00.000-06:00

In today's Opinionjournal.com, Brendan Miniter suggests how the Democrats could ride social security reform into a victory for them and a devastating defeat for the American people and economy. They need only provide that the government itself will invest the social security surplus in stocks and bonds. Inevitably investment decisions will be made for political reasons, and corporations who displease Democrats may be threatened with massive disinvestment, which could destroy many companies. What better way to bring all publicly traded companies to heel?

Political meddling in the securities markets is just what we need to turn us into Argentina.

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Humpty Dumpty Germans

2005-03-26T16:14:00.001-06:00

My Way News reports:

Nearly a quarter of western Germans and 12 percent of easterners want the Berlin Wall back -- more than 15 years after the fall of the barrier that split Germany during the Cold War, according to a new survey.

The results of the poll, published Saturday, reflected die-hard animosities over high reunification costs lowering western standards of living and economic turmoil in the east.

I don't doubt that reunification has required many Germans to confront reality in ways they would have preferred to avoid. Doggerel time:

Germany once had a great wall,
But the wall itself had a great fall,
And now the socialists
And their kin
Want the wall back up again.

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Get a F*&$%#> Survey

2005-03-26T09:47:00.001-06:00

We all know clients love to tell lawyer jokes, but do lawyers tell client jokes? I can’t say I ever heard one in almost 30 years of law practice, but maybe that ought to change. I offer my contribution below.

This may not make sense if you come from a state that derives its property descriptions from townships and ranges. But the system for describing Texas land was set by the Spanish and Mexican governments, and we do not generally use townships and ranges. If land has been platted, it can be described by lot and block, but if not, metes and bounds prepared by a surveyor are necessary. And surveyors don’t work cheaply. I suspect I am not the only Texas lawyer wearied of saying, “Yes, you really do need a survey. I know it’s expensive, and I’m sorry, but we’ve got to have it.”

With that introduction, consider this law firm voice mail system:

--ring----ring----ring----ring--

Good morning. You have reached the Offices of Joe Dirt, Lawyer. We cannot take your call right now, but we value your business.

If you wish us to prepare any instrument affecting title to real estate, please press one.

--1--

To prepare such documents properly, we will need several pieces of information, but the one that causes the most trouble is a legal description. If your property has been platted, we can use the lot and block number, but otherwise we will need metes and bounds prepared by a surveyor.

If you do not have a lot and block number but still don’t want to hire a surveyor, please press two.

--2--

I’m sorry, but a survey is essential to describing the affected land accurately. I know a survey will cost more than you want to spend, but we don’t have a good alternative.

If you are not satisfied with this answer, please press three.

--3--

I understand your reluctance, but an instrument affecting title to real estate that does not adequately describe the land is void. The only way to accomplish what you want is to hire a surveyor.

If you are not satisfied with this answer, please press four.

--4--

As much as you might like for me to, I can’t sit in my office with your diagram and make up metes and bounds. For one thing, it’s legal malpractice. For another, it’s the unauthorized practice of surveying. What? You didn’t think surveyors had lobbyists, too?

If you are not satisfied with this answer, please press five.

--5--

Please. We really want to help, but we need certain basic information to do our job professionally. A proper property description is right at the top of the list. Hiring a surveyor is the only way to get that.

If you are not satisfied with this answer, please press six.

--6--

Look, life’s a bitch, but get a f*&$%#> survey. That’s how the cow ate the cabbage.

If you are not satisfied with this answer, please press seven.

--7--

Damn! What part of GET A SURVEY don’t you understand! To have gotten this far through the menu, you must prefer fantasy to reality.

If you wish to proceed deeper into fantasy, please press eight.

--8--
--ring----ring----ring----ring--

“Good morning. Democratic National Committee.”

Postscript: There. Now I feel better, at least until the next time I have to have this conversation, which probably won't be until Monday morning, today being Saturday.

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