Let's Set Treyvon Aside For a Bit

The Race Circus has been renewed to a level not seen since the OJ arrest/trial.  People of all minds have pre-acquitted/pre-convicted Treyvon/Zimmerman, they have proof if his innocence/guilt and they shan't be convinced otherwise.

Enough already.  At this point, even calling the Great American Race Circus what it is can be construed as inflammatory and until there is more fact than conjecture and more light than heat, I'll not be discussing the matter here. Understand that I'm not cowed by unfounded charges of racism, I just thing that people of reason, having had their initial opportunity to comment, should back away and allow the justice system to work. Once that has happened, we can all state our opinions and those opinions (hopefully) will be based on fact.

Welcome to the Great American Race Circus!

There's nothing like a business opportunity to ease through the grief process.

Trayvon Martin’s family looks to trademark ‘I am Trayvon,’ ‘Justice for Trayvon’

Trayvon Martin's mother Sybrina Fulton is seeking to trademark phrases with her son's name. 

According to applications filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by the family's attorney last week, Fulton wants to trademark "I am Trayvon" and "Justice for Trayvon" for use in DVDs and CDs memorializing the slain teenager. 

In the wake of the news that her son had been suspended from school after traces of marijuana were found in his book bag, Fulton said Monday that those leaking information were trying to blame the victim. "They killed my son, and now they are trying to kill his reputation," Fulton said.

Soon, T-Shirts, bumper stickers, coffee mugs and, no doubt, hoodies will be popping up like spring wildflowers heralding our period of "national soul searching".... for a nominal licensing fee, of course.

Thanks to the likes of Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton (and yes, President Obama) who lit on this case like vultures on carrion, and now this example of tasteless, morbid opportunism, this affair is well on its way to living up to every nasty stereotype imaginable.

Speaking of living up to stereotypes:

Police: Trayvon protesters ransack store 

North Miami Beach police said surveillance video shows dozens of high school students demonstrating in the Trayvon Martin case Friday ransacking a Walgreens store. 

The incident occurred during a walkout from North Miami Beach Senior High School in support of Martin, 17, who was fatally shot in Sanford. Protesters have been calling for the arrest of George Zimmerman, 28, who has not been charged because he claimed self-defense in the shooting, according to police.

We all want to believe the best of our fellow man but this sort of behavior doesn't help.

Foster a Taste For Kool-Aide When They're Young

All that's missing are uniforms with the ubiquitous "Obama Logo".

Virginia middle school teacher had students do 'opposition research' on GOP candidates

A Virginia middle school teacher is under fire after making his students do "opposition research" on Republican presidential candidates, according to a report. 

Eighth-graders at Liberty Middle School in Fairfax County were assigned to research the backgrounds and positions of Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul and find any “weaknesses,” according to The Daily Caller. 

The students were then required to draft a strategy paper, mapping out how to exploit those weaknesses and then research how to forward it to the Obama campaign.

These same public schools continue to struggle in the mission producing graduates with an acceptable basic education.

Serial Killer?

It would appear that the Muslim terrorist, captured by American forces in Afghanistan and released by the French, who killed seven people in France is just another Ted Bundy.

From the Daily Mail:

Al Qaeda fanatic is DEAD: Serial killer jumps out flat window with all guns blazing in dramatic end to 32-hour siege

God forbid we should call him what he is, a Muslim terrorist. Even after incorrectly assuming he was some sort of "right wing fanatic", they cannot even bring themselves to even use the word Islam, or Muslim. It's as though his religion was as incidental as his choice of dental floss.

If we don't even have the courage to name our enemy and identify their philosophy, how can we muster the courage to fight?

Selective Outrage in LA

City Council Warns ‘Crack Ho’ Comments ‘Intolerable’, Calls For Diversity In Talk Radio

The concept of "equal protection" having completely eluded them, the LA City Council has chosen to regulate the speech used on talk radio while completely ignoring misogynist, sexist, racist and violent language found in some current Rap and Hip-Hop music.

It would appear "hate speech" is perfectly acceptable when accompanied by music, yet is "intolerable" when it's simply spoken.  They even admit as much in the very first paragraph of the news item:

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — City Council members were one step closer on Wednesday to becoming the first in the nation to adopt a resolution condemning certain types of speech on public airwaves.

The Limbaugh remark was a bit out of line and he apologized.  That said, the slurs against Bush, Palin and any number of conservative figures are, at the very least, on par with anything that can be found on conservative talk radio.  That these slurs have emanated from Cable news and entertainment channels and network television doesn't make them any less distasteful.

Some members of the Left are so convinced of their rightousness and so self-satisfied with their own beliefs that any opposing views are met with indignation.  I remember a day when there was an air of open mindedness on the Left, but now their minds are only open to ideas that were formed some 40 years ago.

Incivility on Stilts

Liberals don't just agree to disagree, they lash out like petulant children insulting your intelligence, integrity, morality and everything but your momma.  They also don't seem to be in any mood for compromise (as if they ever were), or even simple standards of verbal decency.

WHITE HOUSE DECLARES RYAN "AGGRESSIVELY AND WILLFULLY IGNORANT"

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney didn't pull any punches in his attack on Paul Ryan's budget, as he declared that supporters of the budget -- and by extension, Ryan himself -- are "aggressively and deliberately ignorant" about the need for green energy and other programs slated for cuts. 

"You have to be aggressively and deliberately ignorant of the world economy not to know and understand that clean energy technologies are going to play a huge role in the 21st century," Carney said after decrying the clean energy spending cuts in Ryan's plan. "You have to have severely diminished capacity to understand what drives economic growth in industrialized countries in this century if you do not understand that education is the key that unlocks the door to prosperity," he added.   

Carney concluded that "the budget proposed by Chairman Ryan and supported overwhelmingly already by Republicans suggests that those problems" -- aggressive ignorance and diminished comprehension -- "exist in the minds of the supporters of that plan."

How in the hell do you negotiate with people like this?  This administration becomes more strident and dictatorial by the day and this type of vitriol is unworthy and dangerous.

Let's All Think Happy Thoughts

Ever at the President's disposal, CNN goes into a lengthy explanation as to why high gasoline prices are not as bad a situation as you cretans think it is.  It gives me the impression that these high prices will be with us for some time, which is why they're trotting out the "it could be worse" feelgoodisms. 

RISING GAS PRICES AREN'T AS BAD AS YOU THINK 

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Gas prices are once again dominating the national debate.But despite rhetoric, high gas prices aren't hurting as much as they used to.

In 1981, when oil prices spiked following the Iranian Revolution, gasoline represented nearly 5% of the nation's spending, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In 2011, only 3.7% of spending went to gas, even though prices averaged at their highest level ever that year.

In addition to spending less, we're driving more than ever -- 90% more than compared to the early '80s, according to the Federal Highway Administration.

This isn't to say high gas prices don't hurt -- they do, especially for people living paycheck-to-paycheck or those that drive a lot.

But for the average American household, which has an income of over $62,000 a year, the increase in gas prices represents a relatively small portion of total spending.

Got that?  I guess if you're not a $62,000 per year "average" American because you're unemployed or because you just don't measure up, then maybe, just maybe, high gasoline prices actually are as bad as you think.  What ever happened to Democrats going into high dudgeon when any group of Americans, regardless of how small the number, or the circumstances, were not enjoying the American dream?

Oh yeah, that only applies when a Republican is in the White House.

Cry Me a River

My, we're getting pouty, aren't we?

Obama blamed troubles on Fox News, book says 

President Barack Obama blamed Fox News for his political woes in a private meeting with labor leaders in 2010, saying he was “losing white males” who tune into the cable outlet and “hear Obama is a Muslim 24/7,” according to journalist David Corn’s new book, “Showdown.” 

In “Showdown: The Inside Story of How Obama Fought Back Against Boehner, Cantor, and the Tea Party” — which hits bookstores on Tuesday — the Washington bureau chief for Mother Jones chronicles the White House from the 2010 midterm elections to the start of the 2012 campaign. The book focuses on key moments of Obama’s presidency, such as Osama bin Laden’s assassination, the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the Arab Spring, the debt ceiling crisis, and the president’s dealings with Congress.Continue Reading 

Corn writes that after the midterm elections, Obama told labor leaders in December 2010 that he held Fox partly responsible for him “losing white males.”

Incredible.  I watch Fox News quite a lot and have never heard this "Obama is a Muslim 24/7".  In fact, Fox is a hell of a lot fairer to Obama than the networks have ever been to any Republican President.


The President and his apologists are apparently so out of touch, and so absolutely convinced of their righteousness that they've determined that fabrication is not the least bit dishonorable.  Either that or the paranoia is playing tricks in their heads.

Man-Made Wonders

Too cool.

Mammoth cargo ship arrives at Port of Long Beach 

The Fabiola is almost as long as the Empire State Building is tall, as wide as a 10-lane freeway and big enough to carry the contents of eight 1-million-square-foot warehouses.

When I was in the Navy, I saw a supertanker in dry dock in Yokosuka, Japan. It's still one of those experiences that sticks with me to this day.

Natural wonders are, well, wonderful. That said, we oft give man-made wonders short shrift as though they're somehow unworthy of pride. I think much of this stems from the environmentalists who see accomplishments such as this to be harmful. Fools.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is progress; it's what man does. Drink it up.

A Random Monday Thought....

Both the Mexican drug cartels, as well as Cuba's Castro regime have promised to play nice during the Pope's upcoming visit to those respective countries.

Perhaps the President should take the Pope, in particular and Catholics, in general, a bit more seriously. Invisible and imperceptible influence is, nonetheless, influence......and considerably more than he's wielding at the moment.

A Good Obama Campaign Slogan; "All Of The Credit, None Of The Blame"

Israel's now being set up as the new scapegoat for rising gas prices. Alas, they'll have to share their title with George W. Bush, Wall Street speculators, Big Oil and, of course, the source of all evil; Dick Cheney and the corporate Death Star known as Halliburton.

I saw a blurb on Fox that claimed that, if Israel stroke Iran, it may bring about $6/gallon gasoline. The thing is, the specter of gasoline rising to these levels has already been raised, so this sounds curiously like a "prophylactic explanation" being trotted out, you know, just in case.

There seems to be no limit to this administration's capacity to shamelessly shift blame.

In reality, any president's power to reduce gas prices is seriously limited, but he can heavily influence prices upward. The administration's overt war on domestic oil production, capped with his blocking of the Keysone Pipeline, has tremendous influence on oil prices.

But of course, it's far easier to demonize "Big Oil", deflect responsibility, and expect the American people to buy it.  It's worked so far, but it can't work forever.

Damn!

I let the day slip away without posting one reference to The Ides of March. The shame is profound.

Should Stone Age Cultures Be Held Equal To Our Own?

No, they shouldn't be, but.....

Wyoming Native American tribe gets rare permit to kill bald eagles 

CHEYENNE, Wyo. –  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has taken the unusual step of issuing a permit allowing an American Indian tribe in Wyoming to kill two bald eagles for religious purposes. 

The agency's decision comes after the Northern Arapaho Tribe filed a federal lawsuit last year contending the refusal to issue such permits violates tribal members' religious freedom. Although thousands of American Indians apply for eagle feathers and carcasses from a federal repository, permits allowing the killing of bald eagles are exceedingly rare, according to both tribal and legal experts on the matter.

Where the hell is PETA when you need them?


Aside from the deplorable "animal sacrifice" factor, I don't think I'd be AS concerned if all religions were given the same deference. They're not.  And spare me the "Noble Red Man" nonsense; the inconvenient fact is that "Native Americans" were stone age hunter-gatherers and were little more than cave men when the Europeans arrived.  Continuing to venerate them and their "culture" is just another exercise in self destructive White Guilt.

Even ancient legitimate religions such as Judaism eliminated animal sacrifices nearly 2,000 years ago. Modern Native American "tribesmen" using the internet, talking on cell phones and riding around in cars while still practicing a stone age "religion" is inconsistent and, quite frankly, a bit of a stretch, but I'm willing to honor it - as long as they leave the bald eagles alone.

Let a Thousand Breitbarts Bloom

BE BREITBART. 


Don't boycott the culture: embrace it and engage its inhabitants. Listen to popular music, don't get old before your time, regardless of your age. Rejoice in your conservatism and share that joy with others. Wear their insults and hate as badges of honor and return heir bile with laughter and good cheer.

Always remember that YOU are the enlightened and THEY are the benighted and be willing to share that enlightenment with anyone who'll listen and find ways to get through to those who won't.  You're not regurgitating the tired, old bromides that have been trotted out now for almost 50 years; they are.

Most of all, take your victories wherever you can find them and don't lament the small ones - parlay them into large ones.

He left the blueprint, it's up to follow it. Let a thousand flowers bloom - let a thousand Breitbarts bloom.

The Volt: A Car Built So People Can Build Volts

Alas, the car built to make work for the UAW (at Taxpayer expense) isn't even successful at that:

Volt Production Halted for 5 Weeks, 1,300 Employees Laid Off 

General Motors has told 1,300 employees at its Detroit Hamtramck that they will be temporarily laid off for five weeks as the company halts production of the Chevrolet Volt and its European counterpart, the Opel Ampera. 

“Even with sales up in February over January, we are still seeking to align our production with demand,” said GM spokesman Chris Lee. 

Lee said employees were told Thursday that production would put on hold from March 19 to April 23. 

The Chevrolet Volt, an extended-range electric car, is both a political lightning rod and a symbol of the company’s technological capability. 

Chevrolet sold 1,023 Volts in the U.S. in February and has sold 1,626 so far this year.
In 2011, Chevrolet sold 7,671 Volts, but fell short of its initial goal of 10,000. 

GM had planned to expand production of its Volt plug-in hybrid to 60,000 this year, with 45,000 earmarked for the U.S.

Perhaps just a wee bit optimistic, no?

Godspeed, Andrew

I doubt that I've ever shared a Zip Code with the man, much less a beer, but I feel as though I've lost a very dear friend.  RIP.

Andrew Breitbart, Dead at 43

Breitbart believed that we conservatives must be comfortable with popular culture in order to win political majorities and he was right.  That the Republican Party is currently deciding between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum is testament that we have much work to do.  Let us honor him by taking up his standard and using his zeal as inspiration.