Obama's Attack on Rush: The Results are In

The results of the Obama Administration's demonization of Rush Limbaugh are in.  For Q1 2009, Rush Limbaugh's ad revenue is up 13.5%, and his listenership is up 32%.

The results inspired this quote from Rush:

  

It would be ridiculous for me to get depressed and to get worried about being demonized, because human nature is proving out. Just as I told the Politico, "They're elevating me at the White House. They are strengthening the bond between all of us involved."

Hmmm.  The Obama Administration's coordinated attacks on Rush Limbaugh have caused more people to tune in to his show, and thereby be exposed to a source of information unedited by the Mainstream Media.  This can only be a good thing.  Maybe Obama the Manchurian Candidate is secretly working for us?

On the Job Training

From the Sunday Telegraph, the hazards of electing a President who requires on-the-job training:

His staff are being warned to get a firmer grip now he has passed the 50-day mark in the White House, and prevent a repeat of the mistakes that marred the last seven weeks.
A White House official last week passed details to The Sunday Telegraph of Mr Obama's desire to avoid a repeat of such errors as the inept handling of Gordon Brown's recent visit to Washington.
The concession came as allies of Mr Obama have begun breaking cover to question his performance and leadership on the economic meltdown and public diplomacy.
A new poll revealed that the president's personal approval ratings have slumped to levels below those of George W. Bush at the same stage of his first term, undermining the common assumption that Mr Obama is enjoying unusual levels of public popularity. The Rasmussen survey found that Mr Obama enjoys the confidence of just 56 per cent of voters, with 43 per cent who do not have confidence and a third strongly disapproving of his early performance.
Mr Obama has now told his staff to learn from the errors made during Mr Brown's visit and to ensure that the protocol is observed when he meets the Queen later this month.

Prime Minister Brown looks a bit bleary-eyed.  Staying up late watching DVDs, perhaps?

 

Semper Fly

On March 10, Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced that it has obtained documents from the Department of Defense (DOD) detailing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's multiple requests for military air travel. The documents, obtained by Judicial Watch through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), include internal DOD email correspondence detailing attempts by DOD staff to accommodate Pelosi's numerous requests for military escorts and military aircraft as well as the speaker's last minute cancellations and changes.

Full story and incriminating documents available at the Judicial Watch website.

Obama's Personality Cult

When future generations undertake research in an attempt to understand how a personality cult could have taken hold in 21st century America, this utterly creepy video will be among their source documents.

A Killing in County Antrim

I thought that when Obama became President, lions would lie down with lambs.  Isn't that what he and his supporters promised us?  A new era of global peace?  "A new time," as an acquaintance from Berkeley earnestly and breathlessly insisted?

I'll tell you, this one caught me by surprise.  China, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, even India; these I'd numbered among the countries which would be the first to take advantage of the leadership vacuum that characterizes the Obama Administration, to test us in the way that Joe Biden warned us of, tried in vain to prepare us for.

But I wasn't prepared for bad news from Ireland.  I wasn't prepared for the resurgence of the Real IRA, for young British soldiers being ambushed as they accepted a pizza delivery.  Obama's economic policies have already roused 70's style stagflation from its long slumber, are we doomed to repeat all the worst mistakes of the 70's?  We had Quaaludes and Led Zeppelin to get us through it the first time around, how on earth are we supposed to cope if we have to live through it all again?

Starry, Starry Night

And for those times when the news gets to be a bit too much, and you need to just sit outside staring up at the night sky, there's a handy way to figure out exactly what you're looking at.

Space.com has a Starry Night feature which shows you the alignment of planets and constellations for any given location at any time of day.  Your troubles will their sharpness for a while when you realize that the beautiful, vivid point of light you've been seeing is Venus, which at its closest approach is still more than 23 million miles away.

Commercial for "Nationalized Citibank"

OK, this video of the sort of commercial we might expect from a nationalized bank is wicked funny.  As anyone who has contemplated widespread nationalization of American financial institutions will have anticipated, there are a few naughty words.

  

Civil Disobedience Leads to IRS Audit

Update to prior post on "Tax Cheat" currency stamps:

Michael Williams, founder of TaxCheatStamps.com, is being audited by the IRS.  Do you think it's a coincidence?

Some commenters on Williams' blog have suggested that a causal link is impossible because the wheels of government don't turn that fast.  That's funny, it hardly took any time at all for a public servant in Ohio to go rogue, start accessing private information on Joe the Plumber and releasing that information to the media.  There's no way this doesn't smell funny.

 

Putin's Best Week Ever

On Monday, March 2, the New York Times revealed that Obama sent a "secret letter" to the Russians offering to back out of America's commitment to the European missile defense shield in return for Russia's assistance in getting Iran to play nice.  This is actually a pretty sweet deal for Vladimir.  By abandoning the missile defense shield, Obama would be ceding Eastern Europe back to the Russian sphere of influence, thus repeating the tragic mistake made by FDR and Churchill at Yalta.  It took Eastern Europe more than 40 years to throw off the Soviet yoke; and now, when their economies are facing their first real crises of the post-Soviet era, the Americans are about to abandon them to the arms of Mother Russia again, when they are too weak to do anything about it.  An absolutely shameful betrayal of the American commitment to freedom and democracy, and way too valuable for Russia to pass up; I have no doubt that Russia and their buddies in Iran could strike a deal under which Iran would put up a cooperative show just long enough to allow Russia to extend its tentacles west again. 

On Friday, March 6, Hillary Clinton was unintentionally hilarious as she presented Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with a prop push-button marked "reset" in Russian and English, designed to symbolize the radical rethinking of American foreign policy under the leadership of Hope and Change, Inc.  Only the Russian word on the push-button didn't actually translate as "reset," it translates as "overcharge."

The nation formerly known as The World's Sole Remaining Superpower is being steered through choppy waters by a confederacy of dunces.   Is there any doubt that Vladimir Putin had the Best Week Ever?

  

A "Handy" To Do List

They say memory is the first thing to go.  Ever drive all the way to the supermarket and realize you forgot your list?  Fred, a Chinese manufacturer of things useless and desirable, has the solution: temporary tattoos for the palm of your hand, shopping list template helpfully provided.

 

BTW, love the items on the list.  Bacon, vodka, kitty litter; I don't even need to make up my own shopping list, I'll use Fred's!

Your Anus Causes Global Warming

"No forest of any kind should be used to make toilet paper." --Allen Hershkowitz, Natural Resources Defense Council.

That's right, our desire for soft, fluffy toilet paper is wiping out the forests and probably causing global warming (doesn't everything cause global warming?)  So what's a guilt-ridden consumer to do?

Fortunately, there's an army of folks at the ready to tell you how to assuage your environmental angst: switch to reusable toilet wipes!  That's right, a company called Wallypops makes washable, reusable toilet wipes, pictured above, in a variety of fun...

I can't go on.  I've shown you a picture of the aforementioned wipes, but I really can't think about this any more.  I post this only because I remember how the enviro-lefties used to try to change our behavior.  Remember the TV commercial with the polluted river and the weeping Indian?  Well, fast forward four decades, and we've gone from TV commercials to government fiat, to the brink of a carbon cap-and-trade system that will transfer vast sums of wealth from disfavored industries (oil and gas, big cars, cement) to favored industries (alternative energy, sustainably grown $8 nectarines), and which will increase the cost of everything you buy.

So when you hear the next Great New Idea Which Will Make the World a Better Place for Everyone, know this:  if the Left can't talk you into doing it now, they'll force you to do it soon enough. 

Note to the Left:  get your hands out of my wallet, and please get out of my bathroom. 

 

Timmy Geithner, Tax Cheat

From the blog Where's the Change, a fabulous suggestion for a little group exercise in civil disobedience.

When the new currency with Timmy Geithner's signature starts hitting the banks, get yourself some of the crisp new bills and make your views known on the elevation of a tax cheat to Secretary of the Treasury.

The internet is full of sites where you can design your own rubber stamp; I went to Stamp-Connection.com and ordered a custom pre-inked stamp in a matter of minutes.

For the record, it is not unlawful to write or stamp some sort of sentiment on United States Currency.  Per Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 17, Section 333 of the United States Code, for a bill to be unlawfully defaced, it must be rendered unfit for issuance.  So wait for the Geithner bills, and get yourself a-stampin!  

I AM JOHN GALT

Obama has declared war on productive members of society.  Those of us who kept our noses clean, played by the rules, worked hard, and thereby secured for ourselves and our families some portion of the American Dream.  Those of us who with vision and sacrifice have created businesses large and small, providing jobs for others and spreading wealth throughout our communities.  Those whose values define the American Experience.  Those whose love of freedom has made America a beacon to the world.

In Obama's twisted worldview, the productive members of society are the greatest threat to society, and the fruits of their labor need to be taken away and given to those less productive. To those who don't work as hard.  Those who sit back idly and wait for other to do for them what they should do for themselves.  Those who don't share the values that make America strong.  

If you subsidize something, you get more of it.  And if we continue to subsidize sloth and irresponsibility, the smothering demands of the slothful and indulgent will snuff the spark of industry, subordinate individual liberty to the veto of the mob, and America as we know it will cease to exist. 

Now more than ever, we need our poets.  We need a rallying cry.  We need something to remind us that we are not the last people on earth who still love America.  

When you get discouraged, read I AM JOHN GALT, posted by Keith Arnold on September 24, 2008.  His call to arms closes thus:   

And I have a pulpit.  I may not be able to stop the motor of the world, but I will stomp on the brake, and I will fight for control of the steering wheel before the motor seizes up on its own - and believe me, that motor is on its way to seizing up.

I will give Caesar his due, but I will not bow to him.

I am John Galt.  Come and join me, or come and get me.  Here I stand.