But, Monsieur...

...it's just a wafer-thin - and entirely temporary, I assure you - suspension of the Constitution.

MOSCOW -- With the clock running out on a new US-Russian arms treaty before the previous Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, expires on December 5, a senior White House official said Sunday said that the difficulty of the task might mean temporarily bypassing the Senate’s constitutional role in ratifying treaties by enforcing certain aspects of a new deal on an executive levels and a “provisional basis” until the Senate ratifies the treaty.

I wonder if there are any other "certain aspects" of that annoying document he'd like to "temporarily" suspend. For our own good, of course.

Obligatory Follow-Up: Who wants to play a quick round of "What if a Republican had suggested doing this?"

(link via Hot Air)

UPDATE: JammieWearingFool adds some perspective.

The Senate is able to write legislation in the middle of the night and vote on it without anyone reading it. Apparently, however, they can't work on this given five months notice.

Yep. Pretty much.

On the Palin Resignation

I'll say this. The last time we had someone on the national political stage who could generate this much press and internet buzz, simply by giving a five minute speech, the sumbitch became president.

Anyone who thinks the American political landscape has seen the last of Sarah Palin isn't thinking very clearly. She'll be back. In what capacity, I don't know.

This is one that's gonna have to go in the "we shall see" file.

One thing I can tell you is, we're gonna see a whole lot of hypocritical double-speak coming from the mainstream media and the "progressive" intelligentsia, should she announce she's running for president after having resigned from office in Juneau midstream.

Your typical damned-if-she-do, damned-if-she-don't stuff.

Stay tuned.

I know I will.

No TV News For MeToday

The thought of watching Barack Obama pay tribute to the brave men who risked their lives 233 years ago to secure their freedom, and ours, from an oppressive, overbearing, and uncaring government is enough to make me ill.

The very concept of an independent populace, whether it be here at home, overseas in the Middle East, or in Central America, is ideological Kryptonite to people like him.

UPDATE: I should have included internet news sources as well.

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama sought to rally support for his domestic initiatives, while Sen. John McCain called for Americans to support Iranian election protesters. The one-time presidential rivals both cited the spirit of the nation's founders in their Fourth of July radio and Internet addresses.

[...]

"That is the spirit we are called to show once more," Obama said Saturday.

If you insist.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

How a person can salute our Founding Fathers and honor their revolutionary spirit, while at the same time pushing forward with the largest expansion of governmental power and control over the lives of The People is beyond sickening.

I can only hope the American people wake up and take a good, close look at this con artist and his current attempts to undermine everything to which our Founding Fathers dedicated their very existence.

Don't count on anyone within the beltway establishment to call him out on this, or to effect real change in Washington. The corrupt, big government-loving authoritarians that make up the bipartisan Congressional Back-Scratching Society aren't about to do anything to upset the rotten apple cart.

If we are to once again have a government of the People, by the People, and for the People. It's on us to make it happen.

Get involved.

Be ever vigilant.

Know the enemy.

Vote for liberty.

What We Celebrate Today

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

Answer: A Masshole, a Mainer, and a Mick

Question: Who were the three representatives of New Hampshire in the Continental Congress who signed their names to the Declaration of Independence?

Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Matthew Thornton

More F***ing Rain On the Way

I am in serious need of some lead-based therapy right about now.

Calling This One Was Like Predicting Nightfall

Who could possibly have foreseen this?

Massachusetts state officials released study results that found consumers saved more than $270 million in premiums during the first year of the managed competition model for auto insurance, which started in April 2008.

I mean, other than those of us with functional, non-defective brains in our cranial cavities.

Flashback - November 2005:

Gov. Mitt Romney and Attorney General Tom Reilly sparred over auto insurance on Tuesday, with Reilly saying the governor's reform plan would create chaos for drivers...

[...]

"If that bill which has been proposed by the governor goes into effect, all hell will break loose in this state," Reilly said at a morning news conference.

From the Unabridged Hackachusetts Dictionary:

chaos (noun): the condition that results from private citizens being allowed to keep more of their hard-earned money, making it harder for politicians to funnel it through the system and back into their re-election coffers and the pockets of their campaign donors. (see also: all hell breaking loose)

And, because it's simply a fucking awesome screenshot:

Appropriately Filed Under "Weird News"

A 23-year-old man, armed with a knife, breaks into the home of a 72-year-old man and comes at him with the knife. The 72-year-old decides not to play along, ducks out of the way, grabs the scumbag by the arm and proceeds to beat the stuffing out of him.

The scumbag's scumbag attorney tried to argue that the homeowner used excessive force (against a scumbag who broke into his home and attacked him with a knife).

His defense lawyer, John Simmons, argued that Corti received only minor injuries in the confrontation while "photographs of the defendant showed what looked like a car accident.

(waits for applause and celebratory cheers to subside)

But the judge didn't feel sorry for him.

"Luckily, Mr. Conti was an able-bodied 72-year-old who was able to defend himself," Recorder Angela Morris said. "The jury might well have concluded you got what you deserved when you entered that property and took a swipe at him with that weapon."

Now, you're probably wondering why such a story wouldn't be filed under "Freakin' Awesome News!". I mean, what's so "weird" about it?

Well, turns out our hero resides in Jolly Old England, a sad, yet once-great nation, where the nanny state government has discouraged self-defense among the common class to the point where it is nearly against the law to defend one's life inside one's own home.

A sliver of hope for the downtrodden subjects of the Crown?

A sign of the changing of the times?

That probably depends a lot on how much play this textbook Gun Control Success Story gets.

Britain's violent crime record is worse than any other country in the European union, it has been revealed.

Official crime figures show the UK also has a worse rate for all types of violence than the U.S. and even South Africa - widely considered one of the world's most dangerous countries.

An entire population has their right to self-defense taken from them, along with the most effective means of protecting themselves and their families, and it creates an environment wherein they are less safe.

Wow! Couldn't see that coming.

But, It's FREEEE!!!

That is, if she lives long enough.

Slowing Down With Age

I'm still working on the 41-ounce bag of Skittles that my kids gave me for Fathers Day.

On an unrelated side note: The next person who tries to make a stupid joke about the rain in my presence is getting his ass kicked.

The Sincerest Form of Flattery?

From the latest incarnation of Christy Mihos' campaign website:



Think he'll want to borrow my old header graphic? It's a classic.



(H/T: e-mail from John K.)

UPDATE: And, I find his "Digging for Truth" The Big Dig Story page somewhat lacking as well.

Quote of the Day

Mark Steyn:

Well, it would be unreasonable to expect Hamilton, a city of half-a-million people just down the road from Canada's largest city (Greater Toronto Area, five-and-a-half million) in the most densely populated part of Canada's most populous province (Ontario, 13 million people) to be able to offer the same level of neonatal care as Buffalo, a post-industrial ruin in steep population decline for half-a-century.

Nothing like a good bit of snark to start your work week.

And, from the I Guess It All Depends On One's Definition of "Guaranteed" file:

I won’t get into the relative merits of the American and Canadian health-care systems here. Suffice it to say that there obviously need to be more neo-natal intensive care unit beds up here. Thankfully — and this doesn’t mean that the American system is better (after all, at least the couple and their baby are guaranteed care up here, thanks to our public system, even if it’s not perfect) — there was an opening south of the border.

Reality disconnect, aisle five!

Pabst Gets the Blue Ribbon

Under-bite helps Pabst become World's Ugliest Dog



That's Mr. Pabst to you, buddy.

Writer's Block Strikes Again

I've been racking my brain trying to come up with a good (and, by that, I mean utterly tasteless and insensitive) Billy Mays/OxiClean joke, but I'm coming up empty.

Rest in peace, Billy. Head toward the bright Orange Glo.

This is Getting Eppin' Ridiculous

So, I've been planning on writing a post here about the drinking water in Epping, New Hampshire, as in "What the hell is in the water in Epping?". But, there's so much blogworthy crap going on there, it's hard to keep up.

Seems I can't go two days without hearing some news story on the radio about some dipshit doing something off-the-chart stupid/bizarre in Epping (the hometown of noted boyfriend butcher/burner, Sheila LaBarre).

A couple weeks ago, there was a guy who got into a fender-bender that popped his hood up, and he kept on driving with his head sticking out the window until the cops pulled him over (no link, sorry).

Then, last week, there was this story of a guy who was arrested for firing a rifle in his front yard during his daughter's graduation party.

A couple days after that, 19-year-old Russell Call of Newton went missing after crashing his car in Epping and walking through the woods for two days before showing up in some guy's back yard.

And, just yesterday, this asshole decided to jump on the hood of a car driven by a guy who supposedly cut him off on 125 by the Burger King and drew down on him.

Not to excuse what Captain Shitferbrains did, by any measure, but I've been cut off a couple times by people whipping out of that Burger King parking lot. There's not a whole lot of merging space available there.

Google Street View:


It's also on the stretch of 125 near the 101 interchange where the speed limit drops to 40 mph before going back up to 55 further down the road. Needless to say, people don't always give half a crap about the speed limit signs, especially if they get green lights at the 101 underpass. I'll wager Quickdraw McDouchebag wasn't going 40 when he came up on the Burger King.

UPDATE: Here's the missing link, via reader PISSED in the comments.