Nobody likes poor Obama.
The far left, the so-called progressives are upset because BO did not, “speak the truth, tell us and the country what was really happening in the corridors of power and what the constraints were that he was facing,” as Mike Lerner lamented in the SF Chron the other day.
The Dem rank and file are upset because he is about to put them out of business.
Where in the world did these folk, especially the far left get the idea that BO was going to move mountains for them, that he intended to face any "constraints," that he shared their (misguided) idealism? Because he had the most partisan record in the Senate? That wasn’t conviction for goodness sake, but convenience.
BO is a typical Chicago pol who knew how to work the system and lever his being half black, and, he never made a secret of it! Where did anybody get the idea this guy was some kind of visionary, or dreamer? Where did anybody get the idea that this guy was anything but an empty suit? Accomplishments? Were waiting........
The left simply crafted out of BO their perfect likeness of a US president. It’s made up! The nursery crowd, ever fawning, had theirs, and now they’re pissed. Moderates had one and now they’re pissed. Chavez and Castro had one; now they’re really upset. These are all caricatures that never existed!
In the mean time Obama is simply being Obama, thank you very much. By acting in character, Chicago style, and allowing Pelosi and others to force the health heist down the throats of Americans, he sealed his party’s fate.
Robert Craven
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Complexity - Protection for the Left
We asked our old friend the other day, why the slow recovery? Steve is an ex- chief economist for a major US bank, now a prof at Berkeley. Did he not consider BO’s legislative threats an impediment to hiring, a retardant? “No, not at all,” he responded. “You see, it’s very complex; that’s only a small part of it....... Just remember, for every complex issue, there is a solution that is neat and simple — and wrong!” Spoken like a true lefty.
The signature of the Dem party is the inability to make tough decisions. Recall your own experiences with that party. True?
Reagan used to say that, “It’s the complicated answer that is easy because it avoids facing the hard moral issues.” Instead, “I say there are simple answers to many of our problems, simple but hard.”
Given the left’s weakness for decision making it is no wonder that they so often resort to complexity for a refuge.
From Steven Hayward’s book we revisit the classical poet Archilochus: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” BO and the rest pretend to be in the ownership of great wisdom, all so multi-faceted, so nuanced, so confounded with moral equality and the never ending quest for the level playing field, led of course by the anointed.
They’re fools, knowing so much that isn’t true.
Reagan was successful because he knew one big thing - government is a threat to liberty, “both in its vicious forms such as communism or socialism, but also in its supposedly benign forms, such as bureaucracy,” explains Hayward.
The left are either naive or phony. Class time for both rapidly approaches.
Robert Craven
The signature of the Dem party is the inability to make tough decisions. Recall your own experiences with that party. True?
Reagan used to say that, “It’s the complicated answer that is easy because it avoids facing the hard moral issues.” Instead, “I say there are simple answers to many of our problems, simple but hard.”
Given the left’s weakness for decision making it is no wonder that they so often resort to complexity for a refuge.
From Steven Hayward’s book we revisit the classical poet Archilochus: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.” BO and the rest pretend to be in the ownership of great wisdom, all so multi-faceted, so nuanced, so confounded with moral equality and the never ending quest for the level playing field, led of course by the anointed.
They’re fools, knowing so much that isn’t true.
Reagan was successful because he knew one big thing - government is a threat to liberty, “both in its vicious forms such as communism or socialism, but also in its supposedly benign forms, such as bureaucracy,” explains Hayward.
The left are either naive or phony. Class time for both rapidly approaches.
Robert Craven
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Self-Delusion
Folks have increasingly drawn parallels between the Carter and Obama administrations, few of these complementary to either.
Let’s take a look for something instructive in all of this.
We noted yesterday in conversation with the Marin left that as disastrous as Carter’s domestic policy was, his foreign policy took the cake (and provided his undoing). Steven Hayward in The Age of Reagan notes that, “Carter came to be regarded as the American Neville Chamberlain, not so much for his appeasement of foreign adversaries but for his..incapacity to perceive and act according to the geopolitical realities of the moment. ....his public rhetoric on foreign questions and his key appointments - rhetoric and personnel being two main pillars of foreign policy - were so deficient that it is understandable that he inspired such a harsh reaction.”
Most of us recall Carter’s missteps (no, we are not referring to his filing a UFO siting with the Air Force, or his clubbing to death a rabbit). But all of us have just been smacked by those of BO.
What is unique to both of these men is this - the co-suffering from a severe case of self-delusion. This is the single key to understanding parallels between these two failed leaders. It is the key to understanding especially, Obama.
We return for a moment to Silent Cal; if he was known for anything, it was honesty, integrity and incorruptibility. From Bob Sobel’s book, Coolidge - An American Enigma, Coolidge “recognized the dangers of self-deception the office could engender.” Quoting Coolidge now from that book, “It is difficult for men in high office to avoid the malady of self-delusion. They are always surrounded by worshipers. They are constantly...assured of their greatness. They live in an artificial atmosphere of adulation and exaltation which sooner of later impairs their judgement. They are in grave danger of becoming careless and arrogant.”
Of course things have played out as Coolidge would have predicted (if he had know the players). The Coolidge rule applies to Chicago pols and Senators just as well as to presidents. This is why we could state with certainty even in the primary that BO’s primary weakness, his Achilles Heel, was a lack of judgement. It was obvious. He had demonstrated that repeatedly and for reasons Coolidge has highlighted. He continues to do so.
So Obama's simply being Obama. We’re not sure how he got elected however. Curious. Can’t find a sole who pulled that trigger. And all those Hope & Change bumper stickers here in Marin County? They seem to have been pilfered.
Robert Craven
Let’s take a look for something instructive in all of this.
We noted yesterday in conversation with the Marin left that as disastrous as Carter’s domestic policy was, his foreign policy took the cake (and provided his undoing). Steven Hayward in The Age of Reagan notes that, “Carter came to be regarded as the American Neville Chamberlain, not so much for his appeasement of foreign adversaries but for his..incapacity to perceive and act according to the geopolitical realities of the moment. ....his public rhetoric on foreign questions and his key appointments - rhetoric and personnel being two main pillars of foreign policy - were so deficient that it is understandable that he inspired such a harsh reaction.”
Most of us recall Carter’s missteps (no, we are not referring to his filing a UFO siting with the Air Force, or his clubbing to death a rabbit). But all of us have just been smacked by those of BO.
What is unique to both of these men is this - the co-suffering from a severe case of self-delusion. This is the single key to understanding parallels between these two failed leaders. It is the key to understanding especially, Obama.
We return for a moment to Silent Cal; if he was known for anything, it was honesty, integrity and incorruptibility. From Bob Sobel’s book, Coolidge - An American Enigma, Coolidge “recognized the dangers of self-deception the office could engender.” Quoting Coolidge now from that book, “It is difficult for men in high office to avoid the malady of self-delusion. They are always surrounded by worshipers. They are constantly...assured of their greatness. They live in an artificial atmosphere of adulation and exaltation which sooner of later impairs their judgement. They are in grave danger of becoming careless and arrogant.”
Of course things have played out as Coolidge would have predicted (if he had know the players). The Coolidge rule applies to Chicago pols and Senators just as well as to presidents. This is why we could state with certainty even in the primary that BO’s primary weakness, his Achilles Heel, was a lack of judgement. It was obvious. He had demonstrated that repeatedly and for reasons Coolidge has highlighted. He continues to do so.
So Obama's simply being Obama. We’re not sure how he got elected however. Curious. Can’t find a sole who pulled that trigger. And all those Hope & Change bumper stickers here in Marin County? They seem to have been pilfered.
Robert Craven
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Keep It Simple
Democrats’ malfeasance triggered the crisis; BO’s statist agenda has prolonged it. Earlier, the masses didn’t quite get it. Now they do (although BO doesn’t know that).
Now what? Key of course - principle vs pocket book. If you believe as our nursery friends do that government control of free enterprise and a forced re-direction of financial resources by a selected few, is best, then of course you do what they do - vote that way, for the left party line, or we might say, what was the party line.
If instead you are concerned primarily with pocket book issues, then you look to remove the encumbrances major employers claim are responsible for their hoarding of cash, for their refusal to add to their payrolls. Your agent in this task may be the so-called Tea Party types, or perhaps others yet apparent. You really don’t care who or which, just that it is done.
Once that happens the recovery will take form. We all know the steps. First, stop the killing, stop the harm. That is for November. Next, build a stop gap (kill the health heist, reverse stimulus, iron in tax cuts). That is for 2011. Then finally, resurrect the Republic. That is for 2012.
Robert Craven
Now what? Key of course - principle vs pocket book. If you believe as our nursery friends do that government control of free enterprise and a forced re-direction of financial resources by a selected few, is best, then of course you do what they do - vote that way, for the left party line, or we might say, what was the party line.
If instead you are concerned primarily with pocket book issues, then you look to remove the encumbrances major employers claim are responsible for their hoarding of cash, for their refusal to add to their payrolls. Your agent in this task may be the so-called Tea Party types, or perhaps others yet apparent. You really don’t care who or which, just that it is done.
Once that happens the recovery will take form. We all know the steps. First, stop the killing, stop the harm. That is for November. Next, build a stop gap (kill the health heist, reverse stimulus, iron in tax cuts). That is for 2011. Then finally, resurrect the Republic. That is for 2012.
Robert Craven
Monday, September 20, 2010
Mosque Sham
Noise takes up the airwaves, verbiage the printed page. It’s all big business naturally but ninety percent is - no surprise - garbage.
Take the mosque bit. When the soaps are off the air, why not? It’s become tabloid. Big $. What a waste.
Actually, this mosque deal has nothing to do with freedom of religion or tolerance. It’s a matter of decent respect for sensibilities. The authors of 9/11 hyped the same “faith” the proposed mosque celebrates. We all know that. That should be enough. Stop the noise.
Not so fast, just one little problem.
BO’s obsequious posturing to Muslims, his insipid and mindless appeasement of this “religion” is truly repulsive but that is what the slum lord Feisal Abdul Rauf is counting on (oh, you didn’t know he was a slum lord?). And that’s what's given life to this thing.
During a visit to the home place the other day we saw a full page ad in the Fresno Bee, a whole bunch of folk - grocers, salesmen, truck drivers, all together in a big family pic, all smiling and in the type below telling us readers just what great Americans they really are.
The only differentiation between these and their more militant cousins is measured in degrees of aggression. They all go by the same book. (The grocers just don’t have the xxxx’s to shoot us, yet.) That’s the book that calls for a reordering of society, the complete merger of church and state, by force if necessary. With the exception of Turkey, all other Muslim countries are run by the Koran, that is, by the teachings of one Mohammed, a 6th century butcher (who in his spare time enjoyed life as a pedophile).
No problem for Obama. In his official statement on the occasion of Ramadan Obama praised “Islam’s role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the dignity of all human beings . . . (its) great diversity and racial equality” and “American Muslims’ . . . extraordinary contributions to our country.” This is nonsense. Conrad Black reminds us, “Islam has done nothing to advance justice or any version of progress or tolerance, and Obama, like Condoleezza Rice, is regularly denounced by the official outlets of leading Muslim countries in ethnic slurs that would embarrass Bull Connor and Lester Maddox.”
Too much!
Let’s get Obama to shut up, cut the noise and in so doing get this mosque sham put to bed.
Robert Craven
Take the mosque bit. When the soaps are off the air, why not? It’s become tabloid. Big $. What a waste.
Actually, this mosque deal has nothing to do with freedom of religion or tolerance. It’s a matter of decent respect for sensibilities. The authors of 9/11 hyped the same “faith” the proposed mosque celebrates. We all know that. That should be enough. Stop the noise.
Not so fast, just one little problem.
BO’s obsequious posturing to Muslims, his insipid and mindless appeasement of this “religion” is truly repulsive but that is what the slum lord Feisal Abdul Rauf is counting on (oh, you didn’t know he was a slum lord?). And that’s what's given life to this thing.
During a visit to the home place the other day we saw a full page ad in the Fresno Bee, a whole bunch of folk - grocers, salesmen, truck drivers, all together in a big family pic, all smiling and in the type below telling us readers just what great Americans they really are.
The only differentiation between these and their more militant cousins is measured in degrees of aggression. They all go by the same book. (The grocers just don’t have the xxxx’s to shoot us, yet.) That’s the book that calls for a reordering of society, the complete merger of church and state, by force if necessary. With the exception of Turkey, all other Muslim countries are run by the Koran, that is, by the teachings of one Mohammed, a 6th century butcher (who in his spare time enjoyed life as a pedophile).
No problem for Obama. In his official statement on the occasion of Ramadan Obama praised “Islam’s role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the dignity of all human beings . . . (its) great diversity and racial equality” and “American Muslims’ . . . extraordinary contributions to our country.” This is nonsense. Conrad Black reminds us, “Islam has done nothing to advance justice or any version of progress or tolerance, and Obama, like Condoleezza Rice, is regularly denounced by the official outlets of leading Muslim countries in ethnic slurs that would embarrass Bull Connor and Lester Maddox.”
Too much!
Let’s get Obama to shut up, cut the noise and in so doing get this mosque sham put to bed.
Robert Craven
Thursday, September 16, 2010
HIGH NOON
Most of us recall the western classic, “High Noon.” The sheriff (Gary Cooper) is about to leave office just when a gang of toughs ride into town. He could leave but he waits to face the killers. All his friends and all the townspeople who supported him during his years of keeping them safe, slowly abandon him. In the end, he walks alone to meet the killers because someone had to.
George Bush’s strength and character were reflected in a 20 minute speech of Jan/07 that announced a new initiative designed to win in Iraq. He had no support for that decision, not State, not the Pentagon, not Congress, not the foreign policy establishment, not the Joint Chiefs, not Gen Casey, not Centcom commander Abizaid, not Condy Rice. Yet that day the President wasn’t looking for affirmation. He knew what was right, what had to be done and he did it because someone had to.
This makes this decision a profile in courage. As Charles Krauthammer reminds us, “The surge...effected the most dramatic change in the fortunes of an American war since the summer of 1864.”
A year ago we praised Bush for his decency and his dedication to his country. We re-visit that topic this pm. Those that continue to demonize Bush and in Pavlovian fashion condemn his presidency demonstrate a lack of scholarship, a weak hold on reality. What they do illustrate is a matter of association and party sympathy, not reasoning and examination. They diminish themselves, not Bush, in the process. In trying to belittle him, they merely reveal their own littleness.
Bush kept us al Qaeda-free for 8 years (9, now that Obama has adopted the Bush security apparatus wholesale). Here in Marin the lefties who are protected from dangers, simply conclude that there are no dangers. And of course they were the most hysterical over interception of phone calls, the other efforts to thwart slaughter. Hysterical yes, even though they were the beneficiaries. This second great achievement then is also the number one function of government - to protect its citizens. Nobody on 9/11/01 believed there would not be another such attack on American soil. Thank you Sir.
Finally, when we consider the Bush administration juxtaposed aside that of Obama, it is no wonder so many have come to reconsider the leadership of this fine man, just as they did the administration of Truman, and Truman the man and for similar reasons.
We yearn do we not for the corruption free, honest Bush governance? And we are grateful for the end of nuclear processing in Libya, for Dr. Khan shut down, for Syrians out of Lebanon, for pro-US governments in Europe, good relations with China and India, the miraculous act of strengthening relations with east Asian democracies without upsetting the Chinese, two good Supreme Court judges, unswerving support for Israel, the Medicare prescription drug benefit, and finally the universally acclaimed world AID’s initiative.
Yet it is not these but the courage of decision making for which George Bush will be remembered. Equipped with a moral compass he exercised his just and rightful authority in a way that deserves every American’s recognition and respect.
He defiantly did the right thing. That is what distinguishes his presidency.
Robert Craven
George Bush’s strength and character were reflected in a 20 minute speech of Jan/07 that announced a new initiative designed to win in Iraq. He had no support for that decision, not State, not the Pentagon, not Congress, not the foreign policy establishment, not the Joint Chiefs, not Gen Casey, not Centcom commander Abizaid, not Condy Rice. Yet that day the President wasn’t looking for affirmation. He knew what was right, what had to be done and he did it because someone had to.
This makes this decision a profile in courage. As Charles Krauthammer reminds us, “The surge...effected the most dramatic change in the fortunes of an American war since the summer of 1864.”
A year ago we praised Bush for his decency and his dedication to his country. We re-visit that topic this pm. Those that continue to demonize Bush and in Pavlovian fashion condemn his presidency demonstrate a lack of scholarship, a weak hold on reality. What they do illustrate is a matter of association and party sympathy, not reasoning and examination. They diminish themselves, not Bush, in the process. In trying to belittle him, they merely reveal their own littleness.
Bush kept us al Qaeda-free for 8 years (9, now that Obama has adopted the Bush security apparatus wholesale). Here in Marin the lefties who are protected from dangers, simply conclude that there are no dangers. And of course they were the most hysterical over interception of phone calls, the other efforts to thwart slaughter. Hysterical yes, even though they were the beneficiaries. This second great achievement then is also the number one function of government - to protect its citizens. Nobody on 9/11/01 believed there would not be another such attack on American soil. Thank you Sir.
Finally, when we consider the Bush administration juxtaposed aside that of Obama, it is no wonder so many have come to reconsider the leadership of this fine man, just as they did the administration of Truman, and Truman the man and for similar reasons.
We yearn do we not for the corruption free, honest Bush governance? And we are grateful for the end of nuclear processing in Libya, for Dr. Khan shut down, for Syrians out of Lebanon, for pro-US governments in Europe, good relations with China and India, the miraculous act of strengthening relations with east Asian democracies without upsetting the Chinese, two good Supreme Court judges, unswerving support for Israel, the Medicare prescription drug benefit, and finally the universally acclaimed world AID’s initiative.
Yet it is not these but the courage of decision making for which George Bush will be remembered. Equipped with a moral compass he exercised his just and rightful authority in a way that deserves every American’s recognition and respect.
He defiantly did the right thing. That is what distinguishes his presidency.
Robert Craven
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Those Pesky Facts
Millions were taken in by Obama. We all suffered. What’s the flip side? Can we gain anything at all from this experience?
Well, we know that on a national level the Dem party organization will move from extreme left, towards, but still far from, center. Fine. That was an easy one to predict.
But what about the average chatterer? One would venture something like this: “Well, sure, these guys won’t pull that trigger again; they’ve seen how Obama even got into their pockets.” Sadly, that’s not likely to happen. Lefties are impervious to lessons, facts, history, never being quite able to associate the burnt thumb with the match.
Take “stimulus.” Some of us knew it was a sham the day it was announced. By definition, it cannot work. For example, unemployment never hit double digits in any of the 12 months following the stock crash of ‘29. Unemployment peaked at 9% two months after the Oct/29 crash, and then headed downward. From Thomas Sowell, “Unemployment was down to 6.3 percent by June 1930, when the first big federal intervention occurred. Within six months, the downward trend in unemployment reversed and hit double digits for the first time in December 1930.” But of course. Where in the heck do the left think the money comes from?
Or how about the deficit “inherited” by BO? Again, facts (and in this case, the Constitution) are pesky critters. It was the Dem’s who controlled both houses before BO became president. President's don't make legislation. The deficit BO inherited was created by the Democrats, including Obama himself who did absolutely nothing to oppose spending. He was one of the biggest of the big spenders. Oh, that. The problem with Bush is that he did not veto enough of this nonsense.
Or how about regulation? Naturally, if Bush had simply regulated the financial markets we would have been saved, say our nursery pals. He tried to do just that. In 2004 the WH made a hard push to regulate the hazardous practices of Fannie & Freddie. The Dems, led by Frank, Pelosi, Obama and Rangel defeated this effort (guess why?). The result - ground zero.
Even now, the chatterers remain contentedly naive, willfully blind. Their messiah claims that his health plan is a winner. The facts are as follows: 1) Health costs, as reported by BO’s own Ctr for Medicare and Medicaid Services, will go up $1000/yr for a family of 4 in 2019, as a result of this heist. 2) Last week, health insurers asked for premium increases of up to 9% solely because of the health deal. What? 3) Hey! Didn’t BO say that we could all keep our coverage? The administration now admits that 51% of all employees and 66% of workers in small businesses will have their current plan changed in three years as a result of this scam. (Most of the left are still oblivious to the fact that health was only a means, not an end at all, but then that is another topic.)
Robert Craven
Well, we know that on a national level the Dem party organization will move from extreme left, towards, but still far from, center. Fine. That was an easy one to predict.
But what about the average chatterer? One would venture something like this: “Well, sure, these guys won’t pull that trigger again; they’ve seen how Obama even got into their pockets.” Sadly, that’s not likely to happen. Lefties are impervious to lessons, facts, history, never being quite able to associate the burnt thumb with the match.
Take “stimulus.” Some of us knew it was a sham the day it was announced. By definition, it cannot work. For example, unemployment never hit double digits in any of the 12 months following the stock crash of ‘29. Unemployment peaked at 9% two months after the Oct/29 crash, and then headed downward. From Thomas Sowell, “Unemployment was down to 6.3 percent by June 1930, when the first big federal intervention occurred. Within six months, the downward trend in unemployment reversed and hit double digits for the first time in December 1930.” But of course. Where in the heck do the left think the money comes from?
Or how about the deficit “inherited” by BO? Again, facts (and in this case, the Constitution) are pesky critters. It was the Dem’s who controlled both houses before BO became president. President's don't make legislation. The deficit BO inherited was created by the Democrats, including Obama himself who did absolutely nothing to oppose spending. He was one of the biggest of the big spenders. Oh, that. The problem with Bush is that he did not veto enough of this nonsense.
Or how about regulation? Naturally, if Bush had simply regulated the financial markets we would have been saved, say our nursery pals. He tried to do just that. In 2004 the WH made a hard push to regulate the hazardous practices of Fannie & Freddie. The Dems, led by Frank, Pelosi, Obama and Rangel defeated this effort (guess why?). The result - ground zero.
Even now, the chatterers remain contentedly naive, willfully blind. Their messiah claims that his health plan is a winner. The facts are as follows: 1) Health costs, as reported by BO’s own Ctr for Medicare and Medicaid Services, will go up $1000/yr for a family of 4 in 2019, as a result of this heist. 2) Last week, health insurers asked for premium increases of up to 9% solely because of the health deal. What? 3) Hey! Didn’t BO say that we could all keep our coverage? The administration now admits that 51% of all employees and 66% of workers in small businesses will have their current plan changed in three years as a result of this scam. (Most of the left are still oblivious to the fact that health was only a means, not an end at all, but then that is another topic.)
Robert Craven
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Look Ahead
We all know what happened, the why and the how. That’s done. Let’s look ahead.
We have witnessed a tragedy. We ask those who contributed, to inflict no further harm. Primary results seem encouraging, yet lame duck radicals can still do a lot of harm. For these we can only hope they muster some strength of character.
Next, we must repair the damage. To accomplish that we need to reduce uncertainty, that key factor which has retarded a recovery. That is, restore a sense of reason; as Yuval Levin of National Affairs declares, restore some “...predictability where the Democrats’ hyperactive liberalism has created a crushing sense of uncertainty that has kept employers from hiring and investors and consumers from spending.”
Levin means that we need to kill the health legislation (families and businesses unsure of future expenses), that we need to iron in the Bush tax cuts. This is the first step.
Finally, new leaders will sculpt a resurrection. We told our family at the annual picnic in April not to worry. We meant it. One taste of extremism is enough for most Americans. A return to liberty, a regeneration of self respect and optimism as a nation, cannot come too soon.
Robert Craven
We have witnessed a tragedy. We ask those who contributed, to inflict no further harm. Primary results seem encouraging, yet lame duck radicals can still do a lot of harm. For these we can only hope they muster some strength of character.
Next, we must repair the damage. To accomplish that we need to reduce uncertainty, that key factor which has retarded a recovery. That is, restore a sense of reason; as Yuval Levin of National Affairs declares, restore some “...predictability where the Democrats’ hyperactive liberalism has created a crushing sense of uncertainty that has kept employers from hiring and investors and consumers from spending.”
Levin means that we need to kill the health legislation (families and businesses unsure of future expenses), that we need to iron in the Bush tax cuts. This is the first step.
Finally, new leaders will sculpt a resurrection. We told our family at the annual picnic in April not to worry. We meant it. One taste of extremism is enough for most Americans. A return to liberty, a regeneration of self respect and optimism as a nation, cannot come too soon.
Robert Craven
Friday, September 10, 2010
Off The Ship
See that guy standing in the middle of what used to be a trailer park after the big one that came out of nowhere? That’s your everyday liberal, deer-in-the-headlights. But it’s a free for all for the politicians; they’re not deer but rodents, rats leaving the ship in droves. Too much.
Most of us knew early on that bo’s agenda was bunk. Perhaps so did many of his fellow politicians, only keeping their fingers crossed. It didn’t work. Witness the mad rush to get as far away from this guy and as fast as their little feet will carry them. Take the health heist. From Kim Strassel in today’s WSJ, discussing the retreat, “Alabama Rep. Bobby Bright's ad explains he voted against ‘massive government health care. South Dakota's Stephanie Herseth Sandlin boasts she voted against the ‘trillion-dollar health-care plan.’
"But the prize," Strassel continues,"goes to former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes vying to get his old job back: Not only is ObamaCare ‘financially devastating,’ it is ‘the greatest failure, modern failure, of political leadership in my lifetime.’”
Hah!! Excuse us, but this is truly entertaining!
And not only the health heist; most of this bunch now realize that the “stimulus” was phony, that cap & trade is an expensive sham, etc. Again from Strassel's article, “‘I voted against Nancy Pelosi's energy tax on Hoosier families,’ explains Indiana Rep. Joe Donnelly in an ad, echoed by North Carolina Rep. Mike McIntyre and Pennsylvania Rep. Jason Altmire. And the yes votes are rushing to argue that all they were really voting for was ‘renewable energy.’”
It was just this last April at the family picnic when so many fine folk there expressed the concern that our country might be changed forever through Obama, that, as best summarized in a WSJ editorial, “Democrats purposely used the recession as a political opening to redistribute income, reverse the free-market reforms of the Reagan era, and put government at the commanding heights of economic decision-making,”and that this might work, that we saw something else. Take heart dear cousins.
We secured an anchor that day. We knew that this country would be alright, that the ship would right itself, that we were not destined to become another Greece, that the far left will remain what they have been past years - abnormalities.
Looks like we were right.
Robert Craven
Most of us knew early on that bo’s agenda was bunk. Perhaps so did many of his fellow politicians, only keeping their fingers crossed. It didn’t work. Witness the mad rush to get as far away from this guy and as fast as their little feet will carry them. Take the health heist. From Kim Strassel in today’s WSJ, discussing the retreat, “Alabama Rep. Bobby Bright's ad explains he voted against ‘massive government health care. South Dakota's Stephanie Herseth Sandlin boasts she voted against the ‘trillion-dollar health-care plan.’
"But the prize," Strassel continues,"goes to former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes vying to get his old job back: Not only is ObamaCare ‘financially devastating,’ it is ‘the greatest failure, modern failure, of political leadership in my lifetime.’”
Hah!! Excuse us, but this is truly entertaining!
And not only the health heist; most of this bunch now realize that the “stimulus” was phony, that cap & trade is an expensive sham, etc. Again from Strassel's article, “‘I voted against Nancy Pelosi's energy tax on Hoosier families,’ explains Indiana Rep. Joe Donnelly in an ad, echoed by North Carolina Rep. Mike McIntyre and Pennsylvania Rep. Jason Altmire. And the yes votes are rushing to argue that all they were really voting for was ‘renewable energy.’”
It was just this last April at the family picnic when so many fine folk there expressed the concern that our country might be changed forever through Obama, that, as best summarized in a WSJ editorial, “Democrats purposely used the recession as a political opening to redistribute income, reverse the free-market reforms of the Reagan era, and put government at the commanding heights of economic decision-making,”and that this might work, that we saw something else. Take heart dear cousins.
We secured an anchor that day. We knew that this country would be alright, that the ship would right itself, that we were not destined to become another Greece, that the far left will remain what they have been past years - abnormalities.
Looks like we were right.
Robert Craven
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Deer in the Headlights
Our friends from the left suddenly have that deer-in-the-headlights look. They share a lot of the characteristics of deer now that we think of it, yet as opposed to deer, the chatterers actually sense that they are about to be rolled over. It’s just that most don’t yet know why.
We’ve noted before that Americans will forgive a lot. The unforgivable to Americans however were the gestapo tactics employed by BO to ram through the health heist. The process involved bribes and deceit; bo further endangered US military in Afg by promising an actual withdrawal date in a swap for votes. All of this would gag a maggot; it certainly gagged most of the electorate.
This was the bullet that did in the extremists.
Far lefties wanted a health deal so badly and for so many years that once they actually got traction they lost all sense of caution, all sense of self preservation. It was a frenzy.
This phenomenon is nothing new; it is in fact a common occurrence in the wild. When angling Hat Creek for example we have seen times when otherwise extremely wary native trout shed all sense of caution, all sense of self preservation. This will occur when enough of one variety of fat insect, say a salmon fly, floats overhead. They can't believe their eyes! Pretty quick the rainbow and browns get “keyed in” and there is a free for all. No longer shy of the fish hawk’s shadow, no longer keen to expel a false fly (vs the real thing) these fish commit suicide. In a very real sense they disregard tomorrow for their near term satiation.
This is the far left and health.
So yes, Mother Nature has seen this sort of thing before.
Oh, almost forgot - She’s also put deer on the face of the earth to be stupid.
Robert Craven
We’ve noted before that Americans will forgive a lot. The unforgivable to Americans however were the gestapo tactics employed by BO to ram through the health heist. The process involved bribes and deceit; bo further endangered US military in Afg by promising an actual withdrawal date in a swap for votes. All of this would gag a maggot; it certainly gagged most of the electorate.
This was the bullet that did in the extremists.
Far lefties wanted a health deal so badly and for so many years that once they actually got traction they lost all sense of caution, all sense of self preservation. It was a frenzy.
This phenomenon is nothing new; it is in fact a common occurrence in the wild. When angling Hat Creek for example we have seen times when otherwise extremely wary native trout shed all sense of caution, all sense of self preservation. This will occur when enough of one variety of fat insect, say a salmon fly, floats overhead. They can't believe their eyes! Pretty quick the rainbow and browns get “keyed in” and there is a free for all. No longer shy of the fish hawk’s shadow, no longer keen to expel a false fly (vs the real thing) these fish commit suicide. In a very real sense they disregard tomorrow for their near term satiation.
This is the far left and health.
So yes, Mother Nature has seen this sort of thing before.
Oh, almost forgot - She’s also put deer on the face of the earth to be stupid.
Robert Craven
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Accosted at the Nursery
We were accosted at the nursery today. Surrounded by a staff amply armed with garden tools, we were told that Bush is the cause of all our problems, especially our economic problems and that if we did not sign a statement to that effect, we’d seen our last sunrise.
After a harrowing escape we return to the keyboard.
Where to start? Why not at the beginning - ground zero, our heart of darkness. As we have explained at least two dozen times, the Democrats protected the mortgage twins in an effort to buy black votes. They falsely claim it was Bush’s fault the twins were not reformed. Bush tried. When he said in 2004 that Fanny and Freddy should be reformed or we’d have big trouble, the House blocked any attempt, led by Barney Frank, Pelosi, Waters, Rangel. Surprise. Surprise.
“Well, maybe,” say our nursery pals but how about Wall St? Bush refused to reform this bunch and that’s key to our problem, they pant. (We’ll admit that Wall St types are predators. So what? It’s legal.) Dem’s controlled both houses before BO became president. It was this majority who encouraged financial institutions to package bad loans - Frank and Obama (when senator) and the rest were gung ho because Wall St took the twins out of the garbage they originated.
“OK, maybe so,” say our little chattering buddies, but how about the earlier stuff? What about the deficit BO inherited? From the economist Thomas Sowell, “No president of the United States can create either a budget deficit or a budget surplus. All spending bills originate in the House of Representatives and all taxes are voted into law by Congress. The deficit Obama inherited was created by the congressional Democrats, including Sen. Barack Obama, who did absolutely nothing to oppose the runaway spending. He was one of the biggest of the big spenders.”
Oh, that. Facts and names are such an inconvenience.
Sowell continues, “The only direct power that any president has that can affect deficits and surpluses is the power to veto spending bills. President Bush did not veto enough spending bills, but Senator Obama and his fellow Democrats in control of Congress were the ones who passed the spending bills.”
At this point we can just see our lefty friends - eyes averted, shoulders slumped, sorry sights to be sure. They screwed up big time.
Robert Craven
After a harrowing escape we return to the keyboard.
Where to start? Why not at the beginning - ground zero, our heart of darkness. As we have explained at least two dozen times, the Democrats protected the mortgage twins in an effort to buy black votes. They falsely claim it was Bush’s fault the twins were not reformed. Bush tried. When he said in 2004 that Fanny and Freddy should be reformed or we’d have big trouble, the House blocked any attempt, led by Barney Frank, Pelosi, Waters, Rangel. Surprise. Surprise.
“Well, maybe,” say our nursery pals but how about Wall St? Bush refused to reform this bunch and that’s key to our problem, they pant. (We’ll admit that Wall St types are predators. So what? It’s legal.) Dem’s controlled both houses before BO became president. It was this majority who encouraged financial institutions to package bad loans - Frank and Obama (when senator) and the rest were gung ho because Wall St took the twins out of the garbage they originated.
“OK, maybe so,” say our little chattering buddies, but how about the earlier stuff? What about the deficit BO inherited? From the economist Thomas Sowell, “No president of the United States can create either a budget deficit or a budget surplus. All spending bills originate in the House of Representatives and all taxes are voted into law by Congress. The deficit Obama inherited was created by the congressional Democrats, including Sen. Barack Obama, who did absolutely nothing to oppose the runaway spending. He was one of the biggest of the big spenders.”
Oh, that. Facts and names are such an inconvenience.
Sowell continues, “The only direct power that any president has that can affect deficits and surpluses is the power to veto spending bills. President Bush did not veto enough spending bills, but Senator Obama and his fellow Democrats in control of Congress were the ones who passed the spending bills.”
At this point we can just see our lefty friends - eyes averted, shoulders slumped, sorry sights to be sure. They screwed up big time.
Robert Craven
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Generosity Time Is About Over
We mused in a Jan/19 sketch that Americas are generous with their leaders. They will forgive simple gaffs - 57 states, the "Austrian" language; they will even forgive outright lies - jobs "saved or created," Muslims inventing both the printing press and the Renaissance, "no more lobbyists in government," guaranteed transparency, Iran in compliance with the UN summit, the lie of airing the healthcare debate on C-SPAN, the phony deadlines on Gitmo, BO’s bribing of senators with taxpayers funds, making a lie of his promises to the contrary. Still, many folk simply looked the other way.
In that same sketch we continued: Americans will not forgive however Obama’s attempt to steam-roll their liberties, that drastic change in life style - the major insertion of government control of their lives, BO’s plans to remake the US using health, education and energy as vehicles - the unprecedented federal intrusion into American industry and commerce. That is something you just do not try on Americans. It will not work.
We predicted that Obama’s election would radically change the nature of the Democratic party.
We all know what happened. An element in control of the national party but never at the helm, gained the helm; the agent was Obama. Its agenda was/is radical. BO’s half color and a sick economy provided the propellent. Now that most Americans who pulled the trigger understand the implications of that foolishness, never again. The party will encounter reality Nov/3.
If the Democratic party intends to survive, it must obviously shed its radical ways. Look for such a change over the near term.
Robert Craven
In that same sketch we continued: Americans will not forgive however Obama’s attempt to steam-roll their liberties, that drastic change in life style - the major insertion of government control of their lives, BO’s plans to remake the US using health, education and energy as vehicles - the unprecedented federal intrusion into American industry and commerce. That is something you just do not try on Americans. It will not work.
We predicted that Obama’s election would radically change the nature of the Democratic party.
We all know what happened. An element in control of the national party but never at the helm, gained the helm; the agent was Obama. Its agenda was/is radical. BO’s half color and a sick economy provided the propellent. Now that most Americans who pulled the trigger understand the implications of that foolishness, never again. The party will encounter reality Nov/3.
If the Democratic party intends to survive, it must obviously shed its radical ways. Look for such a change over the near term.
Robert Craven
Friday, September 3, 2010
GIRLY MAN
Where we grew up (cattle ranch) most males are men. We’re strong. We’re virile. We’re capable. We’re not feminized.
How may saw BO toss out the first pitch?
Enough said.
We know some pretty whimpy lefties (most, Eastern transplants). But then we know some pretty masculine lefties too - the nursery guys make the grade. These guys are fit, certainly they’re capable. And yet they continue to maintain that voting for this girly guy was not a mistake. What?
Obama is a gossamer creature - light, sheer, delicate and empty. He and Axelrod and Emanuel could no more see to things physical than walk on water. Turn a bolt, wield a chain saw, drive a tractor, mow the lawn, fix a dishwasher? You kidding? First to rescue a stricken woman and babe under an overturned car? Come on. Intervene with sheer physical strength, thwart a thug? Build something from nothing? Build a business? Build a campfire even? Ride a horse? Chop wood? Backpack the Muir? Handle a car, change the oil, change the tire. Defend their family from physical harm? Punch the bully in the nose when he insulted your sister, or, especially in Obama's case, your country?
America was not made from the likes of Axelrod and Obama. They and their kind have had zero input to the greatest of America. It was made from the likes of Lincoln, Teddy and Reagan, from the likes of Charley Goodnight, Henry Miller and Joshua Craven, my great grand father.
Of course the left responds in Pavlovian fashion - “So what if he can’t do stuff real men do? He doesn't have to. He’s bright.”
How many times must we re-learn this lesson. A high SAT does not hack it, especially when one is suddenly Commander-In-Chief.
As Vic reminds us, “If Bush was a supposed ‘cowboy,’ there at least was never doubt that his first and foremost interest was the U.S, not the ‘international community.’” But now we have a girly man president who is embarrassed about our history and culture (well, not quite embarrassed enough not to enjoy its material bounty) and who crosses his hands over his ??? while the national anthem is played.
Who would you seek out?
From Vic: “Americans would prefer to be in a foxhole with George Bush, who would swagger and announce as decider-in-chief at H-hour, ‘OK, pard, we’re going over the top together on this one.’ They wouldn’t want to be with Obama, who would stutter and give a long-drawn out exegesis why race and class had condemned us to such an unfair predicament, whose only solution is to go into a fetal position and condemn ‘them’ who did this awful thing to us.”
Robert Craven
How may saw BO toss out the first pitch?
Enough said.
We know some pretty whimpy lefties (most, Eastern transplants). But then we know some pretty masculine lefties too - the nursery guys make the grade. These guys are fit, certainly they’re capable. And yet they continue to maintain that voting for this girly guy was not a mistake. What?
Obama is a gossamer creature - light, sheer, delicate and empty. He and Axelrod and Emanuel could no more see to things physical than walk on water. Turn a bolt, wield a chain saw, drive a tractor, mow the lawn, fix a dishwasher? You kidding? First to rescue a stricken woman and babe under an overturned car? Come on. Intervene with sheer physical strength, thwart a thug? Build something from nothing? Build a business? Build a campfire even? Ride a horse? Chop wood? Backpack the Muir? Handle a car, change the oil, change the tire. Defend their family from physical harm? Punch the bully in the nose when he insulted your sister, or, especially in Obama's case, your country?
America was not made from the likes of Axelrod and Obama. They and their kind have had zero input to the greatest of America. It was made from the likes of Lincoln, Teddy and Reagan, from the likes of Charley Goodnight, Henry Miller and Joshua Craven, my great grand father.
Of course the left responds in Pavlovian fashion - “So what if he can’t do stuff real men do? He doesn't have to. He’s bright.”
How many times must we re-learn this lesson. A high SAT does not hack it, especially when one is suddenly Commander-In-Chief.
As Vic reminds us, “If Bush was a supposed ‘cowboy,’ there at least was never doubt that his first and foremost interest was the U.S, not the ‘international community.’” But now we have a girly man president who is embarrassed about our history and culture (well, not quite embarrassed enough not to enjoy its material bounty) and who crosses his hands over his ??? while the national anthem is played.
Who would you seek out?
From Vic: “Americans would prefer to be in a foxhole with George Bush, who would swagger and announce as decider-in-chief at H-hour, ‘OK, pard, we’re going over the top together on this one.’ They wouldn’t want to be with Obama, who would stutter and give a long-drawn out exegesis why race and class had condemned us to such an unfair predicament, whose only solution is to go into a fetal position and condemn ‘them’ who did this awful thing to us.”
Robert Craven
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Fun In The Archives
Save these blogs! Put ‘em in away with your jewels and most treasured documents.
Holy mackerel but we’ve been on a roll.
For example, just happened to land on INCEST this evening, the sketch of 2/12/10. Naturally you all remember it but just in case: We begin (quoting ourselves, offending the Eng dept) “Most of the left try to fathom the destruction of their party, acted out right in front of them. Literary types, the media, legals, academics, the nursery class - all in a state of despair. The far left is wondering why Americans are so stupid; the average Democrat is wondering just why Obama will not move to center.”
“Our readers know the answer and thus have an anchor - elitist types associating only with other elitist types - A CLOSED SYSTEM. It really borders on incest does it not? The result, as is usually the case with incest, is a dumbing down. BO is such a product; he is a run-of-the-mill ideologue who regularly postures as a saint while insisting his opponents are sleazy. He feels he is the chosen one, perched high above the unwashed. To him it’s all about his kind directing the herd. This is all very boring.”
We move in the piece to Noemie Emery, contributing editor to The Weekly Standard, who reveals that BO has misjudged both the times and the country and that in his ignorance, "he has created a nightmare for most in his party..." And this elitist class? "It is full of itself, and values too highly its skill sets, which are entertaining, but not on the optimum level of consequence. This class fooled itself, and much of the country, for which the country will not soon forgive it."
Ah but it’s lovely to witness this demise. Just lovely.
Readers will recall that in an even earlier sketch we predicted the end of the modern Democratic party, that which for 30 years has been controlled on the national level by the far left, those extremists who finally gained traction in the person of BO.
What came along? Consequences. These have sickened most Americans.
Don’t believe us? Better. BO has been nothing less than the agent to the end of his party. You will see that in November.
Robert Craven
Holy mackerel but we’ve been on a roll.
For example, just happened to land on INCEST this evening, the sketch of 2/12/10. Naturally you all remember it but just in case: We begin (quoting ourselves, offending the Eng dept) “Most of the left try to fathom the destruction of their party, acted out right in front of them. Literary types, the media, legals, academics, the nursery class - all in a state of despair. The far left is wondering why Americans are so stupid; the average Democrat is wondering just why Obama will not move to center.”
“Our readers know the answer and thus have an anchor - elitist types associating only with other elitist types - A CLOSED SYSTEM. It really borders on incest does it not? The result, as is usually the case with incest, is a dumbing down. BO is such a product; he is a run-of-the-mill ideologue who regularly postures as a saint while insisting his opponents are sleazy. He feels he is the chosen one, perched high above the unwashed. To him it’s all about his kind directing the herd. This is all very boring.”
We move in the piece to Noemie Emery, contributing editor to The Weekly Standard, who reveals that BO has misjudged both the times and the country and that in his ignorance, "he has created a nightmare for most in his party..." And this elitist class? "It is full of itself, and values too highly its skill sets, which are entertaining, but not on the optimum level of consequence. This class fooled itself, and much of the country, for which the country will not soon forgive it."
Ah but it’s lovely to witness this demise. Just lovely.
Readers will recall that in an even earlier sketch we predicted the end of the modern Democratic party, that which for 30 years has been controlled on the national level by the far left, those extremists who finally gained traction in the person of BO.
What came along? Consequences. These have sickened most Americans.
Don’t believe us? Better. BO has been nothing less than the agent to the end of his party. You will see that in November.
Robert Craven
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