Books, movies, politics, and whatever I want

Archive for June, 2009

Friday B-Movie Pick: The Wild Geese

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

The Wild Geese

Africa, the 1970s, a golden age for mercenaries. A great cast, with Richard Burton, Sir Roger Moore and Richard Harris leading the way. A solid adventure film with plenty of violence to go around.

The Friday B-Movie Pick Archive.

ACORN thugs attack members of the NY Senate

Friday, June 19th, 2009

NewsDay reports that

Protesters closely aligned with Democrats nearly knocked a Republican senator to the floor and are accused of spitting in the face of his chief of staff.

Sen. James Alesi, of Monroe County, walked out of the chamber later Thursday, not seriously harmed. He said he was disturbed by the crowd of at least 150 people, including those from Citizen Action the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN.

Keep in mind that violence from the left nothing new.

HT to Doug Ross

Morning Roundup

Friday, June 19th, 2009

Let’s start with crude oil prices continuing their climb to rise above $71 a barrel. Remember what happened last summer with a sharp spike in oil prices? That’s right kids, a companion sharp spike in inflation! Pretty much everything you buy had to be shipped in, at least part of the way, by truck. A spike in inflation, especially in food prices, is a tax on everyone, with the poor the hardest hit. What is our Dear Leader going to do about it? The answer to that question is, not a damn thing. Remember that he thinks gas prices up around $4 or $5 a galleon is a “good thing.” He’s doesn’t have to drive the kids around or commute to work, so why should he care if it affects you?

According to Industry Week, the democrat‘s Cap and Tax scheme is a really bad idea for the American economy.

John at Powerline points out that “The days when “whistle blowers” were popular on the left are gone”. The moonbat view is that anyone who dares to “investigate an Obama crony” deserves whatever they get.

While on the topic of our Dear Leader‘s illegal firing of Gerald Walpin, the inspector general of AmeriCorps, Byron York has some advice on how to see that truth gets out.

Michelle Malkin has a story on ObamaCare that our Dear Leader and his cronies don’t want you to read.

According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the democrats’ $1 Trillion Health Care Plan will Cost 23 Million Americans their Private Insurance.

Some leftist homosexuals are starting to figure out that our Dear Leader and the DNC have used them as “useful idiots”. Dudes (and dudettes, and whatever sexual identity you may have), it was clearly obvious to anyone not blinded by an overdose of BDS that you were going to get thrown under the bus by BHO! If you are finally getting serious, not only do you need to stop supporting the democrats, but start firmly supporting the Libertarian Party. It’s the only party that truly doesn’t care what consenting adults do or with each other and strongly believes that it’s none of the government’s business either. Until you do that, the DNC is just going to keep screwing you over in ways you don’t like!

A pattern of abuse and denial at the Obama White House

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

Another update in our Dear Leader‘s blatantly political firing of an Investigator General for doing his job by finding corruption by BHO’s political appointees.

First Byron York writes in the Washington Examiner about how the Obama White House Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform refuses to answer direct questions from a Senate investigation on matter of the firing of IG Walpin.

What is the Obama administration hiding? My bet is that is the actual truth of the matter is the last thing Team Lightbringer wants to see the light of day.

Next is a Chicago Tribune story, by way of Hot Air, that points out that the Obama White House has a pattern of firing IG’s that don’t toe their strictly political line, instead of doing their job and protecting the taxpayers.
This IG, Neil Barofsky, pointed out that there were “insufficient safeguards on Porkulus spending.”

What is clear is that Barack Hussein Obama and his administration will not stand for anyone questioning their actions, especially government employees who’s job is to undercover fraud and waste and government spending. This is the “transparency” of Team Lightbringer.

New photos posted

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

In the People and Disney Cast Members galleries.

Whining is not leadership

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

Bob at Black & Right points out that our Dear Leader is complaining that the entire news media is not acting as the propaganda arm of his administration. BHO expressed his dismay on CNBC.

I’ve got one television station that is entirely devoted to attacking my administration…. That’s a pretty big megaphone. You’d be hard pressed if you watched the entire day to find a positive story about me on that front.

What a whiny crybaby. He has one single cable news network that isn’t proclaiming him “a God”, or stating that their job is promote his administration, and he complains about it on national TV.

Bob nailed the utter hypocrisy of our Dear Leader‘s childish rant.

If memory serves ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, PBS, HBO, Hollywood, the New York Times, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Democratic Underground, Democracy Now!, and hundreds of other newspapers, websites, radio programs, etc. were “devoted to attacking” the very Bush Administration the new president blames for everything at every opportunity.

President Pantywaist sounds just about right.

The joke back in the 2008 primaries was that if Hillary Rodham Clinton gave Barack Hussein Obama one of her balls, then they would both have a pair.

Lot of truth to that joke. HRC is much more than twice the man Barry will ever be.
At least she complained about a “vast right wing conspiracy” that was against her and aggressively fought back. BHO is crying because a single cable news organization isn’t bowing down and genuflecting to him.

Updates on Obama’s illegal IG firing

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

As I noted before, our Dear Leader has removed a federal inspector general for daring to investigate the head of AmeriCorps, a political appointee of BHO. IG Gerald Walpin had found millions of dollars wasted or misspent, and as his job required, reported it. BHO responded by firing a competent government employee for actually doing his job.

John Elwood has more on the matter over at the Volokh Conspiracy.

The allegations of a politically motivated firing are getting all the attention, but being a Law Nerd, I wanted to focus briefly on, well, some of the nerdier aspects of the imbroglio. Some commentators have pointed to the bare statement of reasons in President Obama’s letter as (1) an indication that he is hiding something, as though he could not give good reasons for the firing; and (2) questioned whether that spare statement of reasons complied with the terms of the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008, which Senator Obama cosponsored.

During the brief time B. Hussein Obama was a senator, and actually showed up to work, he cosponsored a bill stating that a President could not fire an IG without valid cause. Which is pretty much exactly what he is doing now, in violation of the law he helped create.

Michelle Malkin has more on the amount of devalued American dollars that are being dumped in to AmeriCorps, and another on how this is just corrupt Chicago politics as usual.

Update: Ace notes that “Key Democratic Ally Claire McCaskill Admits Obama “Didn’t Follow Law” on Firing AmericaCorps IG.” Ace goes on to point out that McCaskill really isn’t bothered by our Dear Leader’s illegal actions, as long as he comes up with some flimsy fiction to cover his ass legally. Did you really expect any democrat to to hold B. Hussein Obama accountable for breaking the law he co-sponsored?

Update: Ms. Malkin is continuing to dig into this story. She points out that IG Walpin uncovered “the wasteful Teaching Fellows Program, run by the Research Foundation of the City University of New York, which is AmeriCorps’s largest and most expensive program.” The charges the corrupt Obama administration are bringing against inspector general Gerald Walpin are vapid and flimsy in the extreme. The only thing That IG Walpin was “confused” about was assuming that BHO administration wasn’t corrupt.

Update: IG Walpin speaks out on BHO’s lame excuse.

“That’s a total lie,” Walpin said of the latter charge. And he said the accusation that he was dazed and confused at one meeting out of many was not only false, but poor rationale for his ouster.

“It appears to suggest that I was removed because I was disabled — based on one occasion out of hundreds,” he said.

“I would never say President Obama doesn’t have the capacity to continue to serve because of his (statement) that there are 56 states,” Walpin said, adding that the same holds for Vice President Biden and his “many express confusions that have been highlighted by the media.” Obama mistakenly said once on the campaign trail that he had traveled to 57 states.

Walpin concluded that his firing stems from bad blood between him and the board, as well as with Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson — an Obama supporter whom he had investigated for alleged misuse of federal funds. He said his performance at the May meeting drew criticism because he issued two reports critical of the board. In one, he criticized the settlement reached in the Johnson case; in the other, he criticized the use of millions of dollars for a program at the City University of New York.

“The board at that meeting was clearly angry at my temerity,” he said.

Yup, that’s the bottom line here. Team Lightbringer is firing a government employee for actually doing his job. This is what you can expect for anyone who dares questions the reign of Barack I, MSM-proclaimed God Emperor of America.

Update: More details from John at Powerline.

Glenn Beck’s new Book

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government, Inspired by Thomas Paine

Monday Book Pick: Conquistador

Monday, June 15th, 2009

Conquistador by S.M. Stirling

Another alternate history book by Mr. Stirling. In this novel, a WWII Veteran, shortly after the end of the war, finds a gateway to an alternate Earth, one where Western Civilization didn’t take hold. The planet is lightly populated with people and still mostly an untamed wilderness. Most of it takes place in California, and what would be California in this alternate world.

A fun and exciting read, with a nifty Sluggy Freelance reference near the end.

Monday Book Pick Archive.

An Open Letter to our Dear Leader

Monday, June 15th, 2009

According to Snopes.com:

Lou Pritchett is a former vice president of Procter & Gamble whose career at that company spanned 36 years before his retirement in 1989, and he is the author of the 1995 business book, Stop Paddling & Start Rocking the Boat.

Mr. Pritchett confirmed that he was indeed the author of the much-circulated “open letter.” “I did write the ‘you scare me’ letter. I sent it to the NY Times but they never acknowledged or published it. However, it hit the internet and according to the ‘experts’ has had over 500,000 hits.

Here is the text of the letter.

Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.

You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don’t understand it at its core.

You scare me because you lack humility and ‘class’, always blaming others.

You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the ‘blame America’ crowd and deliver this message abroad.

You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.

You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.

You scare me because you prefer ‘wind mills’ to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.

You scare me because you have begun to use ‘extortion’ tactics against certain banks and corporations.

You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.

You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.

You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O’Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.

You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.