Iran and N. Korea are going nuke with delivery systems that can threaten Israel, Europe, Alaska and Hawaii...
Afghanistan, Iraq, record unemployment, plummeting approval ratings...
Cabinet members who are batty, completely on the fringe or just outright crazy...
But what's at the top of the agenda? Making sure that Chicago get the Olympics.
Way to be commander in chief. Well really he's more like the organizer in over his head.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Czars, Czars, Everyone's a Czar.
Aside from the fact that this administration has more Czars than any other previous. (It's at 33 right now, with a planned 45.) The big difference between this administration and previous ones is most of these have had NO NADA NONE ZIP NIL NYET ZERO congressional confirmation hearings. Which is funny in a scary sort of way when you figure that then Sen. J. Biden (Ol' Foot-in-Mouth hisself) made a big storm out of that fact under Bush the latter, and even nixed a czar back then because of it. Now he's sort of silent on that fact.
Another example of holding your opponents to a rule book that you can conveniently ignore when it comes your turn. What was that called when we were kids?
Another example of holding your opponents to a rule book that you can conveniently ignore when it comes your turn. What was that called when we were kids?
Saturday, September 19, 2009
ITLAPD!!!
Yaaarrr, ye scurvy wags. We be knowing the way the seas be blowin on this day. Tighten up ye mainsail, load ye main guns. It be International Talk Like A Pirate Day! There's plunder out there, me buckkos!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Moments in History
This week, the senate defined what language it's members can use against or about other members of that body or the administration.
Gather your kids around you. Make note of this date in history. We are witnessing the death of free speech in this country. You'll be able to sit in your rocking chair and tell the youngin's you remember when this country was the land of the free.
Gather your kids around you. Make note of this date in history. We are witnessing the death of free speech in this country. You'll be able to sit in your rocking chair and tell the youngin's you remember when this country was the land of the free.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
The Race Card
You know, I thought they said that electing the anointed one would silence all the calls that we were a racist society. That really didn't work out the way they said did it.
But aside from that.
Over and over again in the news I hear the call that anyone who opposes anything proposed by this administration is racist. But when asked what is bigoted about their opposition, the accusers point to the president and say, "See, he's black (or 'of color', or African American, or whatever) therefore you're being racists.
So, what is being said is that because he is considered a minority, any time we're not in lockstep with him we're being racist. The accusors can't actually point out anything about the people they're accusing as being racist. They, in fact, have to point to outside criteria and then equate that with the accused. Hey, an example of Reductio Ad Absurdum.
Folks, I've talked about false logic and fallacious arguments before. Can you guess what kind of logic flaw this argument is?
This is a classic example of Ad Hominem (Argument To The Man). Rather than try to support your ideas or attack the others ideas. You instead attack the person. Since, if that person is bad or sick then his/her arguments must be bad or sick as well.
We could turn the argument around for example. As recent polls have shown, 55% of the American people don't like the president's health reform bill. The president is black, therefore 55% of the American people don't like the president and are racists. Put that way, the logic just isn't there. This then becomes an example of Affirming The Consequent. Another fallacious argument. Simply put "if P then Q" is turned around to "Q therefore P". For example, "All people whose surname begins with Mac are of Scottish ancestry. Dougal is of Scottish ancestry. Therefore his surname begins with Mac." But actually his name is Campbell.
The upshot is just because we don't like something that the president has done, is doing or is trying to do, doesn't make us racists.
And for a bit of fun, I could argue that because you're always agreeing with what the president is doing, and you think that anyone who disagrees with him is racist, that you're afraid of disagreeing with him and being thought of as racists, therefore you are racist.
But that's a fallacious argument for a later date.
But aside from that.
Over and over again in the news I hear the call that anyone who opposes anything proposed by this administration is racist. But when asked what is bigoted about their opposition, the accusers point to the president and say, "See, he's black (or 'of color', or African American, or whatever) therefore you're being racists.
So, what is being said is that because he is considered a minority, any time we're not in lockstep with him we're being racist. The accusors can't actually point out anything about the people they're accusing as being racist. They, in fact, have to point to outside criteria and then equate that with the accused. Hey, an example of Reductio Ad Absurdum.
Folks, I've talked about false logic and fallacious arguments before. Can you guess what kind of logic flaw this argument is?
This is a classic example of Ad Hominem (Argument To The Man). Rather than try to support your ideas or attack the others ideas. You instead attack the person. Since, if that person is bad or sick then his/her arguments must be bad or sick as well.
We could turn the argument around for example. As recent polls have shown, 55% of the American people don't like the president's health reform bill. The president is black, therefore 55% of the American people don't like the president and are racists. Put that way, the logic just isn't there. This then becomes an example of Affirming The Consequent. Another fallacious argument. Simply put "if P then Q" is turned around to "Q therefore P". For example, "All people whose surname begins with Mac are of Scottish ancestry. Dougal is of Scottish ancestry. Therefore his surname begins with Mac." But actually his name is Campbell.
The upshot is just because we don't like something that the president has done, is doing or is trying to do, doesn't make us racists.
And for a bit of fun, I could argue that because you're always agreeing with what the president is doing, and you think that anyone who disagrees with him is racist, that you're afraid of disagreeing with him and being thought of as racists, therefore you are racist.
But that's a fallacious argument for a later date.
Friday, September 11, 2009
In honor of 9/11
Please take a minute to remember all the men and women who died on this day 8 years ago. In the towers, the pentagon and on the planes. The firemen and police caught in the collapse after responding. The ordinary people who just happened to work in the towers or needed to fly somewhere that day. Everyone.
Let us NOT call this a "Day of Service" as one man would like. Let us NOT belittle the ultimate sacrifice of those who died on that day and after to keep us free just so one man can have his Marxist dream state.
As a great man from Illinois said:
We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.
To attempt to distract us from what happened on this day and try to use our feelings for this day as a way to forget that we are a FREE nation, a FREE people is reprehensible. To attempt to say that this day we should sympathise with those who would do us harm is, quite frankly, insane. We should remember what brought us together as one people.
But I shouldn't be surprised. The party in power has shown over the last 4 and a half years that they will stop at nothing to further their agenda. They have proved and will prove over and over that nothing is beneath them. For them that Machiavelli's statement that the ends justify the means really is the party maxim.
This is a day to remember brave men and women. A day like November 11th, December 7th, the last Monday in May, or July 4th. Or like the excerpt from the speech above, November 19th, 1863.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Sorry.
For the non-posting on this blog. I've been entranced by the 0's administration melting down. Seriously. A president's approval rating hasn't fallen this fast since Clinton (the Y Chromosomed one) tried to introduce Hillary-care. Hmm, coincidence?
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
The Passing of a Long Time Politician.
Within the last 24 hours the Honorable Senator from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy, passed away. My sympathies go out to the Kennedy/Shriver family.
But that's not what I want to talk about.
What boggles me the most is the fact that also within the last 23 hours 59 minutes the political left has been using his death to make political hay. There's calls that HE really wanted this, and we should rename the Health Care ReformBull Bill, the Kennedy HCR Bill. HE was a great man and HE worked for this all his life. etc. etc. You get the idea.
What's that other thing that feeds off of corpses? Oh yeah, Vultures.
They could not wait for the corpse to even cool off before they dove in to rend the political capital from the bones of the man. How inhuman, how utterly callous do you have to be to do something like that. Great bouncing Buddhas, they could have at least waited till after the family held the funeral. A week maybe? But when your motto is "Let no crisis go to waste." You can justify just about any action. No matter how reprehensible.
But I guess it's only fair. I mean when Reagan died, the conservatives were right in there saying we should push the war on terror because that's what he would have wanted and he'd spent his whole life... err... umm... They didn't do that did they. Never mind.
All kidding aside, when Reagan passed, the country honored the memory of the man. We eulogized his life and works. We respectfully allowed his family their time to mourn. We didn't use his death to further some agenda that the majority of Americans don't want. We didn't cheapen the man or his deeds by slapping his name on something in the hopes that it will pass by the American public's notice.
The ironic part of this is that they want to put the Kennedy name on the HCR Bill. But this man didn't have to sit before any "End of Life" death panels. His family wasn't told to feed him a pain pill and let him go. No, he fought tooth and nail to live as long as possible. He was given every treatment available to modern medicine, both through his insurance and privately paid for.
You know what. They're right. Everyone should have access to the same level of care that Sen. Kennedy had.
But I digress.
My point. I hope everyone out there is as disgusted as I am with the people who couldn't wait to exploit the passing of this man. I hope that anything that they try to attach his name to turns into a pariah. Not because of his name, but because of the callous way that they're using his name to turn political profit. I hope that some day they wake up and experience the pain that they're causing the family and loved ones of this man by their actions.
But I fear that I hope to much. And that's all I have to say about that.
But that's not what I want to talk about.
What boggles me the most is the fact that also within the last 23 hours 59 minutes the political left has been using his death to make political hay. There's calls that HE really wanted this, and we should rename the Health Care Reform
What's that other thing that feeds off of corpses? Oh yeah, Vultures.
They could not wait for the corpse to even cool off before they dove in to rend the political capital from the bones of the man. How inhuman, how utterly callous do you have to be to do something like that. Great bouncing Buddhas, they could have at least waited till after the family held the funeral. A week maybe? But when your motto is "Let no crisis go to waste." You can justify just about any action. No matter how reprehensible.
But I guess it's only fair. I mean when Reagan died, the conservatives were right in there saying we should push the war on terror because that's what he would have wanted and he'd spent his whole life... err... umm... They didn't do that did they. Never mind.
All kidding aside, when Reagan passed, the country honored the memory of the man. We eulogized his life and works. We respectfully allowed his family their time to mourn. We didn't use his death to further some agenda that the majority of Americans don't want. We didn't cheapen the man or his deeds by slapping his name on something in the hopes that it will pass by the American public's notice.
The ironic part of this is that they want to put the Kennedy name on the HCR Bill. But this man didn't have to sit before any "End of Life" death panels. His family wasn't told to feed him a pain pill and let him go. No, he fought tooth and nail to live as long as possible. He was given every treatment available to modern medicine, both through his insurance and privately paid for.
You know what. They're right. Everyone should have access to the same level of care that Sen. Kennedy had.
But I digress.
My point. I hope everyone out there is as disgusted as I am with the people who couldn't wait to exploit the passing of this man. I hope that anything that they try to attach his name to turns into a pariah. Not because of his name, but because of the callous way that they're using his name to turn political profit. I hope that some day they wake up and experience the pain that they're causing the family and loved ones of this man by their actions.
But I fear that I hope to much. And that's all I have to say about that.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)