Limbaugh on Thompson

Good stuff here.

Conservatism sees people and sees potential. Liberalism looks at people and sees victims. Liberalism looks at people and sees incompetence, and, “We gotta help ‘em out and keep ‘em forever dependent so we’ll always have power.” Conservatives don’t want to use the government to empower themselves. They want to get government out of the way to empower other people. So, to me it matters, and we have a campaign now where most of the candidates are not genuine conservatives.

Word.

Well, It's the Same Color as a Teddy Bear

Finn just dropped a big steamer on the lawn next to the garage. I'm thinking of naming it Mohammed.

Obligatory Post On That Nutjob

If anything can be learned from the events that unfolded in Rochester this afternoon, it's that more must be done at the federal level to prevent persons of questionable mental status from purchasing duct tape and road flares.

Pulling the Trigger on the HDTV Purchase

Slight change of plans.

Having seen the 42" Sharp Aquos in a couple different stores, next to some of the other makes and models, I decided to pass on it. This 40" Sony just blew it out of the water in picture quality (bright brights and dark darks) , side-angle viewing, and overall appearance.

Picking it up on Sunday.

Of course, the $3,900 "Uber-Monster"^TM mega-screen TV with Cars playing on Blu-ray looked pretty sweet, too. [ref: chapter 4 from the New York Times bestseller, "Divorce For Dummies"]

Fred Nails It...Again

Fred's response to the YouTube questioner asking candidates to describe their personal gun collections.

I own a couple of guns, but I’m not gonna tell you what they are or where they are.

If ever there was a perfect answer to a debate question, that's it.



Hey! Need a Fred '08 sticker for your car or truck?

The next ten people to e-mail me their address, and leave a comment saying "I'll take one!" will get one sent out to them, and I'll even spring for the stamp.

Also, a good opinion piece here from The Chattanoogan:

Take A Look At Fred Thompson

Mea Culpa

A few weeks back, I wrote that CNN had the journalistic credibility of chewed gum.

I would like to take this opportunity to apologize, publicly and profusely, to every discarded wad of chewed gum which may have been offended by that callous remark. I have nothing but the utmost respect for all gum and candy products, both chewed and unchewed.

I meant no harm.

Please accept my most humble apology, and allow me to rephrase my earlier statement..

CNN has the journalistic integrity of... um... CNN.

UPDATE: Link revised. Michelle Malkin's site seems to be down right now.

Musical Interlude

Gunpowder and Lead - by Miranda Lambert

What It's ALL About

Global Warming Marxism

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Helping the world's poor adapt to more floods, droughts and other changes from a warming planet will cost the richest nations at least $86 billion a year by 2015, an expert panel warned Tuesday.

Yeah, didn't see that one coming.

Isn't convenient, now, that no matter what happens to the amount water in any given region over time, it's miraculously global warming's fault?

A flood? All that extra water is due to global warming, of course.

A drought? Why, that shortage of water in the area was caused by...

Any guesses?

Yep...global warming.

Now, pay up.

"They must have help from the rich world," said Claes Johnasson, a co-author of the report commissioned by the U.N. Development Program. "Climate is forcing people into human development traps."

Because, the US just isn't shoveling out enough foreign aid these days.

Give me a break! What a load of piss.

Half the cost, $44 billion, would go for "climate-proofing" developing nations' infrastructure while $40 billion would help the poor adapt how the live to cope with climate-related risks, says the panel's report. The other $2 billion would go to strengthening responses to natural disasters.

The report recommends the biggest share be paid by the United States and other rich nations, based on aid targets and financing calculations by the World Bank and Group of Eight major industrialized nations.

A multi-trillion dollar, global taxation cash cow, to be controlled (I assume) by that wretched hive of tyrant-worshiping, child-raping, gun-grabbing scum and villainy known as the United Nations.

Gee, I'm all warm and tingly.

BBC: Unemployment Causes Riotous Jihad

Associated Press:

Rampaging youths rioted overnight in Paris' suburbs, hurling Molotov cocktails and setting fire to dozens of cars. At least 77 officers were injured and officers were fired at, a senior police union official said Tuesday.

The violence was more intense than during three weeks of rioting in 2005, said the official, Patrice Ribeiro. Police were shot at and are facing "genuine urban guerillas with conventional weapons and hunting weapons," Ribeiro said.

BBC:

Correspondents say a third of the 26,000 inhabitants in Villiers-le-Bel are under 24 and jobs are hard to come by.

Because, nothing says "Hire us!" quite like rampaging gangs of thugs torching storefronts and hunting police officers.

(links via Gateway Pundit)

Stating the Obvious

I'm finding it tough to pull any one quote from this OpinionJournal.com piece by Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, so you'll just have to read the whole thing.

The Suspense Was Killing Me

Pats just clinched the AFC East.

He Came, He Saw, He Shopped

UPDATE 11/25: Fox News video from the event here.

Original post 11/23:

From Fred Thompson's trip to Bristol, NH today.

ABC News' Christine Byun Reports: Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson squeezed in a little Black Friday shopping and sampled homemade moose chili at a local gun shop in Bristol, New Hampshire.

At Skip’s Gun and Sports store, dubbed “Daycare for Men” on their signature red shirts, the GOP hopeful admired different types of guns and talked about his support for the 2nd Amendment. He said some of his opponents have “bad records or no records” on the issue of gun ownership and rights.

Thompson -- who said he used to own a skeet shoot –- accused the Democrats for ignoring gun ownership rights, and also blamed former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani for siding with them, particularly on the assault weapons ban. He even supported just about every gun control legislation that came down the pike,” Thompson charged. “I saw that he was at bill signing ceremonies with [New York Sen.] Chuck Schumer and President [Bill] Clinton and others, you know, for gun control legislation over the years and was very outspoken about it. Course he’s not outspoken about it anymore.”

Pop Quiz Time!

How can you tell when Katie Levinson, Communications Director for the Giuliani campaign is lying?

In response to Thompson's remarks, Giuliani Communications Director Katie Levinson said in an e-mail: "Mayor Giuliani is a strong supporter of the second amendment and believes our focus should be on making sure criminals are the ones who can't get guns."

Um...

No.

Wrong.

Three-letter word?

Starts with "L"?

Means "opposite of truth"?

Mayor Giuliani has never been a strong supporter of the Second Amendment - not now, not last year, and certainly not during his tenure as mayor of New York City.

Oh, and if you haven't done so already, you might want to administer a healthy dose of emphasis on the word "should" in Ms. Levinson's statement there.

We're talking about a man whose primary focus in this department has always been on prohibiting law-abiding citizens from obtaining firearms for personal protection and filing frivolous lawsuits against firearms manufacturers to punish [read: bankrupt] them for the illegal use of their products by criminals who obtained those firearms in every unlawful manner imaginable.

Giuliani's past record on 2nd Amendment rights is simply non-spinnable.

File Under "Welcome to Boston"

Boston Herald:

Police are investigating the stabbing death of a man in his 20s who was killed in one of Dorchester’s most violent neighborhoods, marking the city’s 62nd slaying of the year.

[...]

It was the second violent attack in Boston in a span of six hours.

Just before 10 p.m. Tuesday, police responded to 4 Beale St. in Dorchester where they found a black man in his late 50s who had been shot multiple times.

Boston Globe:

Boston police are investigating a shooting this afternoon on Savin Hill Avenue in the city's Dorchester neighborhood, the third bloody incident there in less than 24 hours.

Now, don't any of you go blaming the Boston Police Department for not doing enough to fight crime in the city. It's not like they don't have enough work to do already.

Police issued four violations to Soho, 386 Market St., during an inspection around 11 p.m. on Nov. 17. The bar’s license prohibits dancing*, and the bar was issued violations for no sign posted for cover charge, no receipt given for cover charge [WTF??? - ed.], patrons dancing on dance floor and a DJ playing music on the upper level.

The next time some Menino-worshiping babboon tries to explain to you how the City of Boston needs to increase the tax burden on its residents and tourists to pay for increased police patrols on the streets in Dorchester, you have my permission to kick the brain-dead bumbleknob square in the groin.

* Ren McCormack was unavailable for comment.

Got Moose?

Fred Thompson will be in New Hampshire tomorrow afternoon at Skip's Gun and Sport Shop up in Bristol. My sources tell me Skip will be cooking up and serving moose chili.

[homer]Mmmm...Bullwinkle.[/homer]

Details and directions:

12:45 PM at Skip's Gun and Sport Shop
837 Lake Street, Bristol, NH 03222

Directions from Route 93: Take the RT-132 S / RT-104 W EXIT 23- toward NEW HAMPTON / BRISTOL / NEWFOUND LAKE. Turn LEFT onto NH-104 / NH-132 / BRISTOL-MEREDITH RD. Continue to follow NH-104 for 5.8 miles. Stay STRAIGHT to go onto LAKE ST / NH-3A. Travel 1.4 miles. Skip's Gun and Sport Shop is located at 637 Lake St.

I'm going to try to make the drive up.

Let Us Give Thanks...

...for quality gun porn.

This one comes from longtime reader, friend, and fellow Granite-stater "Angus Lincoln". I'll let him do the talking.

I'm just mailing you to say Hi, and show off a picture of my new piece: "The Black Beauty"...she's a model 17-8 S&W,10 shot 22lr, kind of a rare finish, only made them for 3 years,'96-'98 with the beaded blue finish which is actually flat black. I think I have found the perfect revolver. It was an even trade for my Chinese AK. Fuck China... Go USA!

And, Jay, the Ten Commandments made no mention of one's neighbors' handguns, so covet away.

Fred Gets It

Second Amendment: A Citizen’s Right

Excerpt:

The Second Amendment does more than guarantee to all Americans an unalienable right to defend one’s self. William Blackstone, the 18th century English legal commentator whose works were well-read and relied on by the Framers of our Constitution, observed that the right to keep and bear firearms arises from “the natural right of resistance and self-preservation.” This view, reflected in the Second Amendment, promotes both self-defense and liberty. It is not surprising then that the generation that had thrown off the yoke of British tyranny less than a decade earlier included the Second Amendment in the Constitution and meant for it to enable the people to protect themselves and their liberties.

Compare and contrast:

Rudy Giuliani’s version of the 2nd Amendment:

"A well-armed celebrity population being necessary for the well-being of a mayoral candidate’s campaign coffers (and for getting invited to all the cool parties), the right of the rich and famous to keep and bear arms in New York City shall not be infringed."

Mitt Romney’s version:

"The right of the people to own bolt-action hunting rifles and pump-action shotguns (provided they can afford to make it though the licensing procedure) shall not be infringed."

Hillary Clinton’s version:

[expunged by Presidential decree]

Buckle Your Seat Belts

The Supreme Court will be hearing the Heller case.

If liberty and truth prevail, I'd say it's a safe bet that DC mayor Adrian Fenty will be looking to implement Rudy Giuliani-style gun control as soon as possible. That would be where handguns can be carried for personal protection by all DC residents who happen to be rich and/or famous.

On the other hand, if the fascist/collectivist view prevails, and the Supreme Court puts down the hash pipe long enough to tell us that the 2nd Amendment protects the government's the "right" to maintain a military and prohibit civilian gun possession, you can expect for the gun rights voters to mobilize like never before in the months leading up to November 2008.

I'll consider it a good omen that this announcement came on the same day Live Free or Die Hard was released on DVD.

Other blog commentary:

Say Uncle:

I told you.

Sebastian:

Great news, but I’m going to be crapping thumbtacks over this until we get a positive ruling.

Jeff Soyer:

It is indeed a perversion of the intent of our founders to believe that the Bill of Rights, a document specifically designed to spell out individual rights, somehow stops short of that in the Second Amendment.

Hot Air:

Fearless prediction: Get ready to give up those guns, kids, because this one’s going the other way. And you know damned well whom you’ll have to thank. The Gipper!

A Little Help?

Hypothetically speaking, if you were hoping to find a new high-def LCD TV under the Christmas Tree this year, which of the following would you purchase ask Santa for?

Sharp Aquos LC42D64U 42" 1080p LCD HDTV ($1,420)
Samsung LNT4065F 40" 1080p LCD HDTV ($1,400)
Sony Bravia KDL-40V3000 40" 1080p LCD HDTV ($1,550)
Toshiba REGZA 40RF350U Super Narrow 40" 1080p LCD HDTV ($1,480)

Any others worth looking at?

It's gotta be a 40" or 42" model with a price tag somewhere in the $1,500 neighborhood.

Hypothetically speaking.

UPDATE: Well, it looks like it's going to be the 42" Sharp Aquos. The high contrast ratio, 4ms response time, and PC input tipped the scales for me. And, it's 2" bigger than the Samsung.

Now, to keep my eye on the Thanksgiving weekend sales. Circuit City had it for $1,200 last month. Too bad I missed that party. The 46" version will be at Circuit City on Friday for $1,299.99. My wife says it's too big for the room. What does she know?

I was also looking at HD DVD players today. This is a pretty decent deal - buy a Toshiba HD DVD player and get 10 HD DVD's thrown in for free. The two DVD's included with the player are The Bourne Identity and 300. Not bad.

Of course, the fact that Pride and Prejudice is among the choices for the other eight free DVD's means that at least that purchase will be granted instant spousal approval.

Platitudes 101

Could there be a more meaningless, bullshit* response from last week's Democratic presidential debate on CNN than this one?

"I support comprehensive immigration reform."

Translation: "The last thing I want is for the American people to be made aware of my real position on the issue. Next planted question, please."

It ranks right up there with "I support common-sense gun control laws." and "I will fight for affordable healthcare for all."

* So, needless to say, it was the official "position" of pretty much every candidate on the stage that night.

Just Doing My Part

My meager National Ammo Day 2007 tally:

550 rounds .22LR (Federal)
100 rounds .45ACP (Remington)
40 rounds 7.62x39mm (Winchester)

I do like to celebrate diversity.

Presidential Timber

The fact that this man isn't leading in every presidential poll out there is just mind-boggling to me.

UPDATE: Welcome, Fred File readers. Take off your coats and stay a while. Here are some earlier Fred-related posts of mine you might appreciate.

The Next President of the United States
This Is Somewhat Refreshing
The Next President of the United States (cont.)
New York Times Blogger "Phones One In"
A Little Vocabulary Primer For Hillary
Principles vs. Pandering
NYT Blogger Flogging Follow-Up
And the Hits (and Lies) Keep Coming
Boston Globe Gets Its Licks In
The Hit Parade Rolls On
Well, That Didn't Take Long
Anti-Fred Hit Piece du Jour

Enjoy.

Flaming Pianos and a Trebuchet

No further explanation necessary.



(link via Maggie's Farm)

Quote of the Day

"To paraphrase Junior Soprano, CNN is so far up the DNC's hind end, Howard Dean can taste hair gel."

Romneycare a Runaway "Success"

Well...not exactly.

Another stunning development just in from the "Nothing Could Shock Me Less" News Department.

First, a look back to April 2006:

Governor Mitt Romney signed most of a sweeping new healthcare bill into law yesterday at a festive Faneuil Hall ceremony hailed as a hallmark of bipartisan achievement, even as healthcare specialists expressed concern that the plan could start losing money in three years.

[...]

A number of economists and health policy specialists interviewed by the Globe said that the plan's financing is solid for the next two years, especially since lawmakers have added a cushion of money in case of unexpected costs.

But some specialists warned that the picture is less certain after that. "There are a lot of things that have to happen right for there to be enough money," said John Holahan of the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan policy research organization in Washington, D.C.

As I wrote in response:

Yeah, and one of those things is for the population of people paying into the system to keep up with the population of people taking out of the system. I'm not seeing that happening down the road.

Well, hey, guess what?

Boston Globe - November 2007:

Success could put health plan in the red

Enrollment in the state's new subsidized health plan is growing so quickly that the state could face a funding gap as large as $147 million by the end of the fiscal year, according to a state projection.

To understand how that can be classified as a success, you're probably gonna need your Mumbonics to English Dictionary. I don't want to know what would have to transpire for Flutiecare to be deemed a failure.

Welcome to Massachusetts.

Now bend over.

Welcome to the Blogroll

A most worthy addition, and fellow Granite State transplant, Fighting for Liberty.

... because the alternative pretty much sucks.

Quote of the Day

Ronald Reagan, January 20, 1981:

In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. From time to time we've been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden. The solutions we seek must be equitable, with no one group singled out to pay a higher price.

Gun Control

Because, the right of a deranged stalker to break into a woman's home, drag her out of a closet, and choke her to death is more sacred than her right to prevent him from doing so.

A northwest Indiana woman shot her alleged stalker to death.

Police say 41-year-old Ryan Lee Bergner broke into the woman's home in Hammond Monday night. The 51-year-old woman called 9-1-1 and hid in a closet with a gun she had been given for protection. She says she shot him when he opened the closet door and started choking her.

1. Hide.

2. Call 911.

This woman was following the instructions of the anti-gun crowd to the letter. Fortunately, when it came time to implement step 3, she chose to color outside the lines and not go with the more "progressive" choice of:

3. Be sure to hold the phone up high enough, so the police dispatcher can listen to the sounds of you being strangled to death. Because, only the police need guns.

And, of course, what Righteous Pest Control story would be complete without the obligatory quote about the finely tuned moral compass of the deceased.

His family says Bergner was a good man.

Well, they got the "was" part right, anyway.

Flying the Flag of Bovine Excrement

Alternate Post Title: How Can You Tell When a Gun Control Organization is Lying To You?

Sailorcurt at Captain of a Crew of One has a great post up on the latest example of fraudulent fact-f***ing from the freedom-hating fascists.

Weddings, Balloons, Haircuts, and Ice Cream

It's a quagmire, I tell you!

Quote of the Day

“When it takes two weeks and six different positions to answer one question on immigration, it’s easier to understand why the Clinton campaign would rather plant their questions than answer them.”

~ Barack Obama spokesman Bill Burton

(via Michelle Malkin)

UPDATE: Quite the coincidence, indeed.

That's an interesting coincidence, too. On Tuesday Quinnipac finds that Ohio voters oppose 84 - 11 percent issuing driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, and on Wednesday Clinton is "firmly opposed" to such a plan. It's John Kerry all over again.

Courage.

If Only...

Teen Shot To Death Walking Home From School

A 17-year-old Roxbury boy was killed after being shot multiple times while walking home from school Wednesday afternoon.

[...]

Police continued to canvass the area and went door-to-door questioning potential witnesses Wednesday evening. At least 6 shell casings could be seen in the road where police were investigating along with at least 13 cones, marking evidence.

Gee, if only those shell casings were "microstamped" with the firearm's serial number. Then, all the police would have to do is trace it back to the gun shop that sold it and arrest the 16-year-old gang member who purchased it there.

How people who think like that can function as living organisms without constantly hurting themselves is beyond my grasp.

Tools That Rule

Or, so say all the reviews I've read on the Bosch PS20-2 10.8V Litheon Pocket Driver.


I had been thinking about getting a second cordless drill to use as a dedicated screw gun. But, when I saw this driver a while back, I knew I was going to end up with one. Small, lightweight, powerful...what's not to love. And, the built-in LED will come in handy when I'm taking out old screwed-down countertops from underneath inside the base cabinets.

Just ordered one tonight from ToolUp.com for $108.99 (free shipping) with a bonus flashlight (Bosch promo for November). The PS20-2 normally sells for $129 at Lowes and $114.75 on Amazon.

I'll try to get up a more detailed review after I've had a chance to put it through its paces.

Cant...Resist...

Must...click...link.

The Criminalization of Cribbage (cont.)

A quick update this morning to this previous post.

From the Kennebec Journal:

AUGUSTA -- Cribbage players are confused.

Lawmakers are confused.

And Maine State Police say rules governing games of chance are anything but easy to explain.

Two weeks ago, a state inspector shut down cribbage games and tournaments at American Legion Post 4 in Gardiner.

[...]

The Gardiner Legion wasn't the only veterans' organization visited by a state inspector.

Al Michaud, quarter master at the Waterville Veterans of Foreign War, said cribbage is no longer played at that post since a state inspector stopped in.

The Augusta VFW also pulled its boards.

Shawn O'Conner, quartermaster at that VFW, said his post has no intention of applying for a game of chance license. It's too expensive.

The post could purchase a special license for just $7.50 a year, provided it charged no more than $1 a person and players did not gamble even a penny. Otherwise, a yearly license is $700.

Come on, guys. It's "for the children", dontcha know? What's wrong with you? Are you anti-children or something?

"The rules are there; we don't understand them," O'Conner said. "(Cribbage) is like playing monopoly or dominos. We don't know where the law came from. They just made it up. In Waterville, they went in and confiscated their cribbage boards and cards. They were just playing for fun and not having a tournament or anything. Just a couple of guys playing at the bar."

We're from the government, and we're here to help.

Seriously, WTF?

I'd hate to see what they would have done had the "offenders" been playing a friendly game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

As a commenter here noted earlier, and has been mentioned recently on a Boston talk radio show, the governor seems to be coming down on the right side of this issue.

Speaking on behalf of the governor, David Farmer said the governor believes the law is outdated and needs to be modernized. Farmer said the key to this law is that it has to do with establishments where liquor and food is sold and cribbage games and tournaments are used to make money.

"It clearly wasn't what was going on at the American Legion and we need to fix that," Farmer said. "We're going to have to do it through the law, but the governor has asked the Department of Public Safety to work on a fix. I'm not sure what that will mean or what it will look like, but it clearly needs to be modernized. It needs to take into account levels of harmless activity."

I can only manage how many legislative manhours will be now be wasted trying to "modernize" the law.

I guess we'll have to wait for the final report form the soon-to-be empaneled Cribbage Legislation Task Force (which will be reporting directly to the new Blue Ribbon Card Game Commission, operating under the bureaucratic umbrella of the State Police Leisure Activity Enforcement Squad).

Last, but not least, please welcome Cribbaholics Unanimous to the blogroll. A timely addition, as his latest post covers an important story I've been woefully lax in getting around to posting.

Cribbage player Pedroia wins rookie of the year...

Yeah, baby!

This Makes Sense

After all, it's obvious global warming made him do it.

LOS ANGELES -- A 10-year-old boy who admitted starting a 38,000-acre fire last month that destroyed 21 homes in northern Los Angeles County will not be charged, prosecutors said Tuesday.

I blame Rush Limbaugh.

Mayor of Portsmouth (NH) Tries His Hand at Satire

...I think.

For fiscal responsibility, NH must elect Democrats

AT ALL LEVELS of government, the record of the last 15 years is clear: If you care about fiscal responsibility, if you care about a government that knows we must live within our means, then you must elect Democrats.

Come again?

He's being serious?

Holy cerebral disconnect, Batman!

Where to begin?

How about the unprecedented 17 percent increase in state spending the Democrats pushed through upon achieving their majority in the State House this year? Did I mention they're not really sure where the money's going to come from to pay for it all?

If that's Marchand's definition of "fiscal responsibility" and "[living] within our means", I'll pass, thanks.

Here are some of his other "compelling" reasons to vote Democrat.

In terms of which party is more concerned with the world we leave the next generation, the choice is even clearer. As a U.S. Senate candidate earlier this year, I heard the anxiety of countless residents concerned that the direction of the Bush administration -- supported by Sen. John Sununu and most Republican leadership -- was disastrous for the next generation.

A war with no plan, and no end in sight.

As opposed to the State-sanctioned rape rooms, torture chambers (no "panties on head" treatment here), ethnic cleansing, and mass executions of women and children which would still be operating today "with no end in sight", while the perpetrators thumb their noses at the international community, enjoy the life of luxury, and starve their own people while they hoard relief supplies and food shipments intended for "the children".

And, not that I agree with his fifth grade-level assessment of the current status of the war, but I'll take "no plan" over "Let the U.N. handle it" any damn day.

An economy with a shrinking middle class, and over $9 trillion in debt -- much of it owed to China.

Given that the Democrats in Congress are now pushing for an expansion of government-run health care for "poor" people making more than $80,000 a year, and one of them is running for president on the promise of increasing the tax burden on the "rich" people making $98,000 a year to fund Social Security, I'm surprised there's still a "middle-class" left.

At the rate they're going, if a Democrat makes it to the White House in January of '09, not only will the middle class not exist, but the goalposts defining the middle class will finally pass each other like lost ships in the fog, and their Socialist workers' paradise will at last become a reality.

An environmental policy that creates the false choice of growing our economy vs. protecting our environment. (To the contrary, a strong 21st century economy will be driven by innovation in environmentally friendly technology.)

As if the Democrats are all about letting the free market drive the development of new alternate energy technologies. As Teddy "Wind Farm" Kennedy or Hillary "Excess Oil Profits" Clinton about this one.

Please. What a joke.

Two words: Carbon offsets (make checks payable to Albert Gore, Jr.).

A disdain for Americans' civil liberties, from the Patriot Act, to government intrusion in a woman's right to choose.

A woman's right to choose what, exactly?

Where to smoke?

Where to send their kids to school?

Which talk radio shows to listen to?

How best to spend their own money?

What kind of car to buy?

What kind of donuts to eat?

Whether to own a handgun?

Gimme a freakin' break! The Democrats cornered the market on government intrusion into our private lives decades ago.

This guy's living in some kind of George Costanza "opposite world". There's simply no other logical explanation. What's really scary is he probably thinks he's got his finger on the pulse of mainstream America.

A health care policy that has seven million more Americans uninsured today than when President Bush entered office in 2001.

Of course, that number includes a lot of folks who are in between jobs, or have just started new jobs and don't qualify for their employers' health benefits quite yet.

And, let's not forget all those Americans who can afford to purchase private health insurance, yet CHOOSE not to. Now, I thought we were supposed to respect and celebrate their right to choose.

I'm confused.

OK, one more before I hit the sack.

Moving back to the belief that deficits do matter, particularly to our children who will inherit the debt that comes from this generation's lack of leadership, is about leaving behind the strongest, most dynamic economy possible for our children. They should not be held captive, through indebtedness, by the Chinese.

Democrat presidential candidates being "held captive, through indebtedness, by the Chinese."?

No problem.

Pass the duck sauce.

"Common Sense" Library Control Laws Now!

For the children!

Violence Increasing Problem At Boston Library

They Can Have My Cribbage Pegs

...when they pry them from my cold, dead hands.

File this one under "If this doesn't piss you off...".

GARDINER -- Bill Meserve passed hours playing cribbage with other veterans at American Legion Post No. 4.

The 87-year-old World War II veteran said the $5 entry fee to play in cribbage tournaments on Sundays was an inexpensive way for someone on a fixed income to have fun.

But that all ended a couple of weeks ago when a state inspector walked into the Gardiner Legion post and shut 'em down.

The inspector told players their game was illegal because the Legion had not acquired a license to host games of chance.

Needless to say, if these vets were pooling their money and heading down to the Big Apple every weekend to load up on scratch tickets, we wouldn't be reading about this.

What with scratch tickets being a "game of skill", and all.

In fact, not only would this not be a story, but I'd wager there'd be some ding-dong up in Augusta who would find out about it and propose legislation to use the taxpayers' money to buy their lottery tickets for them, all the while labeling those who would oppose such a measure as being "anti-veteran".

Meserve said he still can't believe state government would do such a thing to a bunch of old veterans who risked their lives for their country.

No disrespect intended, but the fact that they're "old veterans" shouldn't even enter the discussion. The fact that American citizens are being assessed a fee [read: confiscatory tax] by the government to play a friggin' game of cribbage should (in a perfect world) be sufficient grounds for armed insurrection.

UPDATE: Big Apple link added for the benefit of my readers located "south of the wire".

Just Don't Dare Call Her a Liberal

A maniacal, power-hungry control freak of the nanny-state, socialist variety, maybe, but not a "liberal". That heinous appellation simply wouldn't go over too well with the American public.

Hillary Rodham Clinton was asked this summer if she would describe herself as a “liberal.”

The Democratic front-runner shied away, saying the “word” — noticeably not using the word — has taken on a connotation that “describes big government.

Given that "I love big government!" has become the dominant defining trait of today's liberal bureaucratic busybodies, I can only say, "Well, duh!".

“I prefer the word ‘progressive,’” she said. It has a “real American meaning.”

Yeah, like "progressively" stripping American's of their right to bear arms in the defense of their families, as they work toward their end goal of total civilian disarmament.

"Progressively" dissolving our nation's borders and sovereignty, disguising these insidious, incremental maneuvers as "compassion for the needy".

"Progressively" stripping parents in America of their ability to choose where to send their kids to school, in the interest of keeping their well-heeled campaign donors happy.

"Progressively" taking parental responsibility over their children's medical needs away from the parents and handing it to a bunch of agenda-driven, nanny-state bureaucrats.

"Progressively" trying to raise our taxes, cripple our country's economic output and restrict our individual liberties, in their fraudulent campaign to convince the American public that such punishing measures, undertaken for the benefit of the"common good", will prevent the sun's rays from heating the surface of the planet in a cyclical manner.

"Progressively" taking away the rights of property owners to dictate which lawful activities can take place on their property.

"Progressively" restricting what we, as free people, can choose to eat, both at home and in our favorite restaurants.

Because, nothing screams "American values" quite like the utter destruction of personal freedom and individual responsibility.

Then she expanded the term to “modern progressive,” and, finally, clarified that she was a “modern American progressive.”

You say tomato, I say centralized government-loving, Marxist thug.

Well, It's About Time!

I finally got my first political survey phone call, as a registered New Hampshire voter, this morning.

It was all automated, so it wasn't as fun as the call I got last week, where I had to let the caller know that (as should have been evident by my 603-area code phone number) I would not be voting for Michael Flaherty* for Boston City Council.

*Not that he would have stood much chance of getting my vote, had I not moved out of Boston last year.

Vinatieri Misses Possible Game-Winning FG

From 29 yards out. Chargers win the squeaker, 23-21.

But, what I want to know is, what was San Diego doing going for the 2-pt. conversion in the first quarter with a 16-0 lead?

Because Some Gave All

Anti-Fred Hit Piece du Jour

This one's a classic.

From Scott Martelle, writing on the L.A. Times "Top of the Ticket" blog:

Thompson's got a plan for Social Security. Sort of.

Fred Thompson offered a proposal today for dealing with Social Security's anticipated meltdown, and it includes a plank likely to draw fire from the conservatives he has been courting since before he made it official (though he has banged this drum before).

The plan: Provide a federal match for private investments in an ancillary 401(k)-style savings account. Individuals could contribute up to 2% of their monthly income and receive the federal match. Thompson offered no estimate of how much that would cost. But it would not allow workers to opt out of the Social Security program itself -- a linchpin for those advocating independent retirement accounts.

Thompson also called for indexing future benefits to changes in the price of goods rather than to wages, though he offered no estimates of what sort of savings that might lead to. But he said it would not affect people age 57 or older (he earlier put that level at 60).

Significant here is the general lack of details. [...]

Um...no.

Significant here is the fact that Mr. Martelle seems to have based his entire synopsis of Thompson's Social Security proposal on the press release announcing his proposal, and not the actual, four-page proposal.

Reesurch iz yur frend, dood.

Here's the comment I left on Mr. Martelle's sad excuse of a blog post. Needless to say, I won't be holding my breath waiting for it to survive his moderation process. [UPDATE: My comment was just posted there.]

You wrote: Significant here is the general lack of details.

Um...no.

Significant here is the fact that you based your entire synopsis of Thompson's proposal on the press release announcing his proposal, and not the actual proposal.

I'd be looking for a tuition refund from whichever institution was charged with teaching you the basics of journalism, if I were you.

Thompson's proposal is over four pages long. There's simply no way you read it all.

Not even close.

UPDATE: Compare and contrast.

Amy Schatz (Wall Street Journal):

WASHINGTON -- Although former Sen. Fred Thompson entered the presidential race late, he ventured Friday into an area few rivals have tread: advocacy of a fundamental overhaul of Social Security.

The Republican candidate laid out a detailed, four-page proposal calling for the creation of voluntary personal retirement accounts and a change in the formula for future retirees that would result in lower Social Security benefits.

Was that too tough for ya, Scott?

Feel-Good Euphemism of the Week

It wasn't a "home invasion". It was an "unwanted visit".


Gotta keep the crime stats in check.

"As this graph clearly shows, there has never been a single home invasion in the 302-year history of this town."

I'm guessing street robberies will now be known as "unwanted no-interest loans", and car thefts, "unauthorized test drives". Wouldn't want to bother the good people of Brookline, Massachusetts with all this crazy talk about inherently bad people sharing our planet with us.

They already have more than their fair share of terrifying invaders to worry about down there.

UPDATE: Call me crazy, but if I woke up to find some psychopath in my bedroom at 4:00 in the morning (as an unarmed ward of the state living in liberal la-la land), and was able to chase the guy out of my house, my first phone call would not be to my father living some 20 miles away.

Way to give the guy a good head start.

Reason No. (n+1)

This one is about as shocking as the corroded AA batteries you had to chip out of the bottom of the Little People Animal Sounds Farm you picked up for your kids at that yard sale down the road last month.

After her speech, Clinton accepted questions. But according to Grinnell College student Muriel Gallo-Chasanoff ’10, some of the questions from the audience were planned in advance. “They were canned,” she said. Before the event began, a Clinton staff member approached Gallo-Chasanoff to ask a specific question after Clinton’s speech. “One of the senior staffers told me what [to ask],” she said.

Anyone so blatantly incapable/afraid of sitting across the table from ordinary American citizens, and addressing their concerns in an open and honest fashion, lacks the qualifications to sling hash at a roadside diner, let alone assume control of our country's armed forces and nuclear arsenal.

Not To Toot My Own Horn...

...but I make the frikkin' best pancakes.

A Moment of Silence, Please

Finn had his, um, "procedure" this week.

I'm Getting a New Neighbor

And, I suspect we'll get along just fine.

I've been sitting on some news for a while. Until today, I couldn't make it public, but Robin finally gave her notice at work today, so now I can blab.

In a few weeks, we'll load up a moving truck, and drive about a thousand miles north. Robin accepted a position in New Hampshire, and we purchased a new house there.

[...]

So, yeah, we're excited. The best thing about the place--other than the whole backyard range thing--is the fact that I'll be able to step out onto the front porch in my boxer briefs with a gun in one hand, and a glass of bourbon in the other, and nobody will be around to care...or call the SWAT team on me.

This Just In!

CNN still has the journalistic credibility of chewed gum.

The Republic Is Not Lost

It's been way too long since my last "Compare and Contrast" post. Please, allow me to remedy that situation.

Nantucket:

Essay winners tackle right to bear arms

Samantha Pillion and Stephanie Norris, first- and second-place winners in the annual Macomber Essay contest, found themselves writing about the Second Amendment – the right to bear arms – at an interesting time in our country’s history, given the April 2007 Virginia Tech shootings where 32 people were killed by a fellow student.

“The Second Amendment was never designed to say to a student that you can walk into a gun store in Virginia and buy a Glock,” said former Nantucket District Court Judge W. James O’Neill, who was on-island last week to award the Nantucket High School seniors checks in the amount of $1,000 and $500, respectively.

“Stephanie and Samantha gave a good analysis of the Second Amendment and the use of weapons so prolific in this country. No one in my generation has the courage to stand up to the powerful gun lobbies,” O’Neill continued.

“I challenge you children to have the courage to act on the wisdom shown in your essays,” added O’Neill during the presentation. “Semi-automatic handguns were never intended in the spirit of the amendment. We cannot tolerate the amount of violence generated by handguns.

New Hampshire:

From a Bill of Rights project hanging on the wall of the main corridor of an elementary school in New Hampshire, which for obvious reasons*, shall remain nameless.



Bonus pic from the same display (too good not to share).



The Republic is not lost.

* I wouldn't want to get any teachers in trouble for committing the grievous offense of teaching our children about the concepts of individual liberty, Constitutional rights, and personal responsibility.

Well, That Didn't Take Long

On Sunday, I wrote:

I can't wait to hear the official Democrat response to this one. Needless to say, I won't be holding my breath waiting for them to demonstrate even a modicum of consistency with regards to their own ideological beliefs.

From the L.A. Times (11/6/07):

Thompson advisor steps down

BEDFORD, N.H. -- A top fundraiser with a criminal record for selling drugs resigned from the campaign of presidential hopeful Fred Thompson on Monday, and a spokesman for the candidate said Thompson would stop using the man's private jet for campaign travel.

[...]

Democrats mocked the former "Law and Order" star Monday for his ties to Martin. In a statement titled "Fred Thompson's Judgment on the Wrong Side of Law & Order," the Democratic National Committee questioned the credibility of the candidate's statement that he first learned of Martin's criminal past over the weekend.

"Is this the type of vetting process we'd see in a Thompson White House?" DNC Press Secretary Stacie Paxton asked.

This from the same party that can't manage to raise an eyebrow over their queen bee's explanation that she had no idea Norman Hsu was involved in any corrupt business dealings in recent days (as opposed to decades).

Doesn't leave much doubt as to what type of vetting process we'd see in a Hillary "I *heart* Sandy Berger" Clinton White house.

Next, from the DNC's comrades in the news media...

The reaction of ABC News to the news that someone involved with Fred Thompson's campaign had a decades-old criminal history?

Stop the presses!!!

Their reaction to Hillary Clinton's campaign receiving illegally bundled straw donations from a known fugitive currently in federal custody on corruption charges?

Yeah, yeah. We'll get to that one someday.

When the Wall Street Journal in late August broke the fugitive Norman Hsu illegal fundraising scandal, it took ABC's World News three days to get around to reporting it -- and despite developments as the fugitive has moved through the court system, ABC hasn't mentioned him since. But after the Washington Post on Sunday disclosed the criminal past of an adviser to Fred Thompson's campaign, ABC pounced immediately with a full story Monday night. CBS also got into the action with a brief item. NBC, which waited two days to touch Hsu, got to Thompson with even less delay, citing the matter in a larger Nightly News story Sunday about Thompson's appearance on Meet the Press where Tim Russert asked him about the Post story. (In the EST and CST zones, only NBC had a newscast on Sunday night.)

Fred Thompson Takes to the Airwaves

I'm with Frank J. on this one.

I think it would be better if it ended with him ripping the head off a terrorist with the spine still attached, but this is still pretty good.

Too Many Hands on My TIme

I'll try to get to all the posts that I currently have lingering in draft format, or floating around inside my head, by the end of the day.

Stay tuned.

Good stuff on the way, if I do say so myself.

Yeah...Didn't See This Coming

Raise you hand if this shocks you in any way, shape, or form.

From George Washington University:

After evaluating evidence from a hidden camera positioned in response to the swastika postings in Mitchell Hall, University Police have linked the student who filed the complaints to several of the incidents.

Following a final interview with investigators today, the student admitted responsibility for those incidents.

Wow.

Who'd have guessed?

(link via Michelle Malkin)

File Under: If You Have to Ask...

Your tax dollars hard at work.

PORTSMOUTH — An admitted heroin addict is being held on $100,000 cash bail for credit card fraud charges because, say police, his criminal history includes an attempted murder conviction and he is a suspect in "several violent crimes" committed in the city.

Hector Mojica, 50, with a last known address of 55 Columbia St., was arraigned in Portsmouth District Court Monday on eight charges alleging he stole credit cards from the Community Campus building and forged the cardholders' signatures to make purchases.

During his arraignment, Mojica asked for a public defender and help for a heroin addiction.

Prosecutor Corey MacDonald petitioned the court for the high cash bail based on Mojica's "dangerous level." According to the prosecutor, Mojica served a prison sentence for the attempted murder conviction, and his criminal history also includes convictions for robbery and drug possession with intent to distribute.

Mojica told the court he is indigent, does not have a job and lives on Social Security payments.

Do you think I'll be eligible to receive any social security payments in nine years when I turn fifty? What if I promise to spend it all on heroin?

If we're going to insist of making Mr. Mojica a ward of the state, and keeping him as such for the remainder of his days with us here on Earth, I know of a great "assisted-living" facility, where he'd fit right in.

It's a place with room service (breakfast in bed!), on-site recreational facilities and laundry room, landscaping service (never cut your lawn or paint your house again), strong steel bars on all the windows to keep you safe from unwanted home invasions, and a vibrant singles scene!

(And, I'd be most remiss if I didn't post the accompanying picture.)

But, you can call me "Mojo".

The Hit Parade Rolls On

This latest "Fred Sucks, Because We Say So" piece one comes none other than (surprise, surprise) our good friends at The Caucus, the now-infamous New York Times' blog anti-Fred mouthpiece.

It seems Julie Bosman, writing for "The Paper of [Broken] Record", had no trouble finding this Ordinary Joe* in the crowd at this morning's "Politics and Eggs" event in Bedford...

“I want to support him, but I don’t think the passion’s there,” said Walter Wise, a consultant from Nashua. “He hasn’t spent enough time here.”

..but couldn't be bothered to track down anyone with anything favorable to say about Senator Thompson and his campaign. Truly shocking, I know.

Then again, no one's ever accused the New York Times and its staff of agenda-driven scribes of being overly "fair and balanced".

* I wonder if Mr. Wise was wearing his "Rudy 2008" button when he was singled out by the Times for this unbiased assessment of his.

UPDATE: What do you know? Turns out Fred's message did resonate with at least some of the folks who went to see him speak in Bedford yesterday, contrary to the impression, with which the New York Times would like to leave you.

Via the AP:

"Of all the candidates that are out there, he's the one who most closely represents my values. He has my vote," said Laura Clark, 39, a stay-at-home mom from Bedford, who hadn't been convinced Thompson was her guy when she and her young daughter arrived Monday at a local inn to listen to him speak over breakfast.

Others weren't sold — but indicated they could be if they knew more about him.

"He answered questions very completely. But I'm still undecided," said Monica Zulauf, 51, the executive director of the YWCA of Manchester who sought an autograph from the actor-politician. "I'm waiting for a candidate who resonates on all fronts for me."

Could Thompson be that person? "He might be," she said.

AAAAGH!!!! Fair and balanced journalism!!! Accuracy in the media!!!

Fetchez la vache!!!

Did I Miss a Memo?

Is this "Make Fred Look Bad Week", and nobody told me?

What's up with this headline from EagleTribune.com ?

Finally, Fred Thompson expected in N.H. tomorrow

"Finally"?

Is someone having attention span issues?

Does last week's visit not count? Or, have Concord and Manchester seceded from the rest of the state and become parts of Vermont without my knowledge?

Pats Rally in the Fourth to Beat Colts, 24-20

One heckuva game.

Boston Globe Gets Its Licks In

From the Boston Globe (via the Washington Post):

Influential fund-raiser for Thompson has drug record

Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson has been crisscrossing the country since early this summer on a private jet lent to him by a businessman and close adviser who has a criminal record for drug dealing.

An issue that Senator Thompson candidly addressed on this morning's Meet the Press with Tim Russert. I'll post the video or transcript as soon as it's available.

[Philip] Martin entered a plea of guilty to the sale of 11 pounds of marijuana in 1979; the court withheld judgment pending completion of his probation.

He was charged in 1983 with violating his probation and with multiple counts of felony bookmaking, cocaine trafficking, and conspiracy. He pleaded no contest to the cocaine-trafficking and conspiracy charges, which stemmed from a plan to sell $30,000 worth of the drug, and was continued on probation.

I can't wait to hear the official Democrat response to this one. Needless to say, I won't be holding my breath waiting for them to demonstrate even a modicum of consistency with regards to their own ideological beliefs.

You see, bleeding heart, criminal-coddling liberals like Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, and his sympathizers writing for the ________ (insert left-wing newspaper of your choice here), are all in favor of reforming states' Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) systems to help convicted criminals, who have "paid their debt to society", re-integrate into mainstream society and have a second chance at leading a productive, law-abiding life.

But if, God forbid, the individual in question is friends with a (gasp!) Republican, then it's a pretty safe bet that it'll be open season on all parties involved, no holds barred.

As I'm wont to say (as I'm wont to say), we shall see.

Just don't get me started about what the liberal establishment in Massachusetts, and elsewhere, considers to be the fair treatment of gun owners who are found to have been involved in minor skirmishes with the law during, say, the Eisenhower administration.

I Wonder What They're "Worried" About

From Editor & Publisher:

'NYT' Introduces Comments on Web Stories -- But Worries

Quietly, without promoting the move, The New York Times began this week publishing on its Web site readers' comments at the end of certain articles. This is a move The Washington Post and USA Today, and many other newspapers, began long ago.

However, most papers do not "moderate" comments unless a reader flags them. The Times, however, has created a new "comment desk," with the hiring of four part-time staffers, "to screen all reader submissions before posting them, an investment unheard of in today’s depressed newspaper business environment," Public Editor Clark Hoyt reveals today. "The Times has always allowed reader comments on the many blogs it publishes, with those responses screened by the newsroom staff."

Martin Nisenholtz, senior vice president for digital operations of The New York Times Company, informs Hoyt, “A pure free-for-all doesn’t, in my opinion, equal good. It can equal bad.”

But Hoyt adds that the experience so far with moderated blogs "suggests what the paper is letting itself in for." He then details some of the unsavory blog postings that have gotten past editors, quoting from racist comments on Mexicans in California and backing a hit on Rudy Giuliani.

Yeah, among other things.

"As The New York Times transforms itself into a multimedia news and information platform — the printed newspaper plus a robust nytimes.com offering breaking news, blogs, interactive graphics, video and more — it is struggling with a vexing problem,." he observes. "How does the august Times, which has long stood for dignified authority, come to terms with the fractious, democratic culture of the Internet, where readers expect to participate but sometimes do so in coarse, bullying and misinformed ways?

NYT readers behaving in "misinformed ways"?

Pot, kettle, conversation - some assembly required.

(link via Hot Air)

And the Hits (and Lies) Keep Coming

More of the same, really.

Agenda-driven media types doing their best to discredit Fred Thompson and his candidacy. Why, it's almost enough to make you think they're afraid of something.

This time around, it's Larry Daughtrey, writing for Tennessean.com:

Here's the part that got my attention.

Since his announcement two months ago, Thompson's campaign has been something of a mystery. If you got up early this morning, you might have caught him on Meet the Press from Las Vegas.

That's funny.

I'm still waiting for that program to air, and it's barely 8:45 AM here on the east coast. But, then again, I have a life. I'm not a do-nothing layabout who sleeps until noon every day, leaving the house only to fetch my government check from the mailbox.

If you are willing to pay $2,300, you can get your picture taken with him Thursday night in Dickson.

Yeah, that's the funny thing about fundraisers. They're used by every candidate running in this race to...wait for it...RAISE FUNDS!

Oh, the horror!

He has a small breakfast in New Hampshire on Monday. Other than that, his schedule is a blank.

Funny how Mr. Daughtrey could use his computer to write this column, but couldn't use his computer's internet connection to find this.

Here are all the stops Senator Thompson will make in New Hampshire on Monday!

8:00 am Bedford - Fred Thompson Delivers Remarks at “Politics and Eggs” For Members of the New England Council

10:00 am Nashua - Fred Thompson Participates in a "Tea with the Candidate" Interview with Jennifer Horn. The interview will be aired on the Jennifer Horn radio show – WSMN AM1590 Nashua on Monday, Nov 12 Jennifer’s newspaper column on the interview will be printed in the Lifestyles Section of the Nashua Telegraph on Sunday, Nov 11

1:15 pm Rochester - Fred Thompson Tours Thompson Center Arms – New Hampshire Firearms Manufacturer. Employees of T/C Arms will participate in a Meet & Greet with Senator Thompson

4:45 pm Dover - Meet Fred Thompson Reception

WHEN 4:45 pm guests should arrive
WHERE Orchard Street Chop Shop
1 Orchard Street
Dover, NH 03820
RSVP (603) 669-0239 or by email NHEvents@Fred08.com

Maybe his Google's broken.

Or, maybe he simply has no use for facts, when it comes to smearing those with whom he might disagree.

When Blog Posts Just Write Themselves

'Tis but a scratch!

Welcome to Massachusetts

Here's the story.

Scumbag with a prior criminal record and a loaded gun [and one of the few unrestricted Class A Licenses to Carry issued by the City of Boston, no doubt] walks into a pizza shop and robs the owner of the 60 bucks in the till.

Owner objects and takes off after the above-referenced scumbag.

Scumbag turns, points loaded gun at the owner's head, and pulls the trigger.

Bullet strikes owner in head, killing him.

Scumbag: I didn't mean to.

Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley:

"Once again, an illegal gun has struck down an innocent family man, and once again a young man may pay for his actions for the rest of his life," he said.

Uh-huh. The gun did it.

The armed, violent criminal allowed to walk the streets with impunity, courtesy of the limp-wristed judicial system in Massachusetts, had nothing to do with it.

I mean, really, wow! A career hack politician in Massachusetts [redundancy alert: on] ignoring the realities of life and choosing to adhere, instead, to the politically correct, feel-good talking points of the day? I am simply beyond shocked!

And, the way I'm reading that, Conley's talking as if it would be a great tragedy to have this piece of dirt taken off the streets, thrown into a prison cell, and kept there until he draws his last breath.

Something about not wanting to violate his constitutional right to re-offend, I suppose.

Ooh, I know! How about a law requiring licensed gun owners to purchase costly and ridiculously unnecessary liability insurance policies as part of the process for getting permission from the government to own a gun.

(Yet, asking a potential voter to show an I.D. at the polls is a discriminatory poll tax on the poor)

That'll put an end to this scourge of "illegal guns" that are magically sprouting legs and running around the streets gunning down innocent passers-by.

NYT Blogger Flogging Follow-Up

OK, so my head's finally returned to something close to normal size, following my recent Instalanche^TM (my second, actually) and Michelle Malkin linkage.

Needless to say, the camera will be accompanying me on any and all Fred Thompson campaign appearances I'll be attending from now on. If I hadn't shot that video, Christine Hauser's account of what went down in the State House corridor on Monday could have stood as the official media record of that event.

Though, not everyone was convinced.

Where is the proof this was the same event the NY Times was referring to. Based on your previous stretching of the truth why should we believe you?

Translated: Where is the proof that this video footage of Fred Thompson walking out of the Secretary of State's office on the second floor of the State House in Concord to an assembled group of supporters is actually video footage of Fred Thompson walking out of the Secretary of State's office on the second floor of the State House in Concord to an assembled group of supporters, as Ms. Hauser wrote about?

Now, as to my history of "stretching the truth", I asked the commenter for specific examples of when I had done that. The response:

Bruce, you really are saying you do not know when you have been accused of stretching the truth?. Are you drunk?

OK, so now we've gone from my having stretched the truth to my having been accused of stretching the truth.

If that's what you call bringing your A-game, you're out of your league, friend.

But, hey, I enjoy this. Let's have it.

UPDATE: Add National Review to the link list.

Though Greg Polowitz incorrectly asserts that I claimed my comment at the NYT blog was "deleted". My comment never made it past the moderator, as I had clearly stated [UPDATE: OK, maybe not that clearly. What I said was, "My comment seems to have been misplaced somewhere over there."]. Can't delete what you never posted.

Technically speaking.

UPDATE II: File under "Detecting a pattern, yet?".

From The Jawa Report - April 2006:

Which leads me to believe that Christine Hauser at the Times hasn't seen the video which is about as crystal clear as I've ever seen. In fact, the video runs at 512 mbs. I had to make the images smaller for this post as the originals would have taken nearly the entire center column! If you read the rest of the column, you realize that what Hauser had done was read an AFP story and then simply repeated most of it!

No way.

I Like This One

From Frank J.'s Daily Fred Thompson Facts:

Fred Thompson was initially confused by conservatives' opposition to "the Fairness Doctrine" since that's the name of one of his guns.

See them all here.

Obligatory Rush Lyrics Tie-In

Manhattan Project (1985):

Imagine a man when it all began
The pilot of "Enola Gay"
Flying out of the shockwave on that August day
All the powers that be, and the course of history,
Would be changed for evermore...

R.I.P. Paul Tibbets

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Paul Tibbets, who piloted the B-29 bomber Enola Gay that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, died Thursday. He was 92 and insisted almost to his dying day that he had no regrets about the mission and slept just fine at night.

(h/t Jay)

Choice on the Ballot in Utah

No, not that choice.

I'm talking about one of the many choices*, which those on the left side of the aisle** believe are simply too complicated to allow free people to make on their own without being told what to by an all-knowing government.

John Stossel writes:

Next Tuesday, Utah voters go to the polls to decide if their state will become the first in the nation to offer school vouchers statewide. Referendum 1 would make all public-school kids eligible for vouchers worth from $500 to $3,000 a year, depending on family income. Parents could then use the vouchers to send their children to private schools.

Freedom of choice! AAAGH! RUN AWAY!!!

What a great idea. Finally, parents will have choices that wealthy parents have always had. The resulting competition would create better private schools and even improve the government schools.

Parental involvement! EEK!!!

But wait. Arrayed against the vouchers are the usual opponents. They call themselves Utahns for Public Schools. They include, predictably, the Utah Education Association (the teachers union), Utah School Boards Association, Utah School Employees Union, Utah School Superintendents Association, the elementary and secondary school principals associations, and the PTA. No to vouchers! they protest. Trust us. We know what's best for your kids.

Education over indoctrination! OH, THE HUMANITY!!!

Bureaucrats and unions tremble at the thought. On my "20/20" special on education, one teacher had the nerve to sneer, "Competition is not for children!" The opposite is true. Competition and choice mean parent power. It's parents whom the education lobby really fears. The last thing it wants is a system in which parents choose their children's schools. Parents might not choose the union-dominated establishment schools. Better not take that chance.

Free market principles! HOLD ME, MR. SOROS!!!

This issue ranks right up there with the Spitzer/Clinton plan to give illegals drivers licenses as a prime example of what happens when a no-brainer of a proposal meets a bunch of politicians pandering to voters with no brains.

R.T.W.T.

* What to eat, where to smoke, how to protect your family, what kind of light bulbs to buy, what kind of car to drive, which radio talk shows to listen to, how much to pay your employees, etc.

** Yes, I know there are equally anti-choice ding-dongs on the right side of the aisle as well. But this post isn't about South Carolina's ground-breaking dildo ban. I covered that one earlier.

Principles vs. Pandering

Can you imagine Hillary Clinton giving a speech in Backwoods, New Hampshire or Smalltown, Iowa, and telling the voters there that she believes it is within the authority of the federal government to confiscate all their lawfully-owned firearms at a time when they would most be needed to defend one's family and community?

Yeah, me neither.

And, not because she doesn't find such a violation of our Constitutionally-protected rights acceptable.

She clearly does.

She simply lacks the courage of her convictions to stand up in front of the American people and be forthright and honest about her candidacy, her positions, and the things she would do as president. So, what the voters end up with can be described as, at best, a gross misrepresentation of the truth.

Case in point.

The bottom line:

America is, as it should be, a nation comprised of a vastly diverse population. No matter what your political affiliation may be, your views and positions on any given issue are bound to run contrary to those held by some smaller subset of that population.

That's called reality.

And, it speaks volumes when a politician like Hillary Clinton - someone more concerned with attaining power than she is with learning about and respecting the wants and needs of real Americans - goes out of her way to avoid having to stake out a position on any issue carrying even a whiff of controversy.

For them, the "answer" will always come by assuming the default position of pandering to, and insulting the intelligence of, whichever subset of the population they're addressing at any given time.

Compare and contrast:

Fred Thompson, in S.F., calls civil unions 'not a good idea'

"I do not think that they're a good idea," the GOP candidate said of civil unions.

But, he added, "I do think that states have the power under our Constitution to make their own determination with regard to those matters ... (I) think the federal government's powers ought to be limited to what's set out in the Constitution - and states, with regard to matters that are traditionally state matters, ought to be free to make those decisions themselves, even if Fred Thompson might disagree with them."

Taking a stand, adhering to your core principles, and telling the American people openly and honestly what you believe, regardless of the potential for damaging political fallout resulting therefrom.

That's called integrity.

And, it's something Senator Clinton is woefully lacking.

PSH Buzzword of the Day

From the comments to this HuffPo post (via Sebastian):

"...lubricant-coated rounds that can penetrate Kevlar..."

Hey, if we're lucky, word will get out to the armed and dangerous criminal population that marinating all your ammo overnight in WD-40 will render it super-extra deadly.

This seems as good an opportunity as any to remind all of you that National Ammo Day is fast approaching (18 days away). Don't forget to stock up on bullet lube.