Obamacare: Go, confront the problem! Fight! Win! — Edna Mode, The Incredibles

And also, to mix my metaphors: There’s no crying in baseball.

The Democrats want you to believe it’s all over. And really, if they didn’t suck so bad, they’d have the votes. But this vote and their philosophy and their means and their actions DO suck that bad and so, still, after all these months, DO NOT HAVE THE VOTES.

If they had the votes, health care would be firmly in the hands of the government right now.

But it’s not. And until it is, it’s not over.

This whole situation reminds me of a scene from The Incredibles. It’s not a perfect analogy, for sure.

However, it is good enough. Now, imagine the American people as Elastagirl–they are afraid that they’re about to lose everything they hold dear. Their freedom, their lives, and America itself.

What America needs is an Edna Mode:

EDNA: Pull-yourself-together! “What will you do?” Is this a question? You will show him you remember that he is Mr. Incredible, and you will remind him who *you* are. Well, you know where he is. Go, confront the problem. Fight! Win!

So Americans need to remind Congress what America is and remember who THEY are….

The flip side of freedom is responsibility. Americans cannot continue to sit around and whine about the leadership we have. We have to go, confront the problem. Fight! Win!

Health care reform ain’t over. And even when it’s over, it ain’t over.

This post dedicated to Dan Riehl: The Right’s Edna Mode.

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• Pence: America, we can win this fight (hotair.com)

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Elites, Pseudo-Intellectualism, & Language

Wow, Washington, D.C. is filled with preening, sanctimonious a-holes. Drunk on their own intellectualism and stunned into self-reflective absorption, the only thing that matters to this collective Narcissus is vainglory. This assessment includes conservatives and Republicans, by the way.

I read Andy McCarthy’s dissent from the National Review Online editorial about Sarah Palin and “death panels” and thought: they still don’t get it. “They” being the Conservative Intelligentsia which includes Think Tank leaders, Congressmen and Senators, etc. First, here’s what Andy concluded:

I think Palin was right to argue her point aggressively. Largely because she did, a horrible provision is now out of this still horrible Obamacare proposal. To the contrary, if the argument had been made the way the editors counsel this morning, “end-of-life counseling” would still be in the bill. We might have impressed the Beltway with the high tone of our discourse and the suppleness of our reasoning, but we’d have lost the public. I respectfully dissent.

Well, Andy is being far more respectful than I feel at this point.

You know, you can be intelligent, possess intellectual subtlety and a Webster-esque vocabulary, and still be ignorant and unwise. Conversely, just because a person speaks plainly and uses common language does not mean the person is stupid.

The smartest guy I have ever met attended Chiropractic college with me. He was a genius. He has a photographic and audio memory, but more than that, he can integrate the information in a meaningful way. And most impressive, he could teach what he knew simply without ever making the student feel stupid. He was my peer and a friend and he’d tutor a group of us (he was a semester ahead) from time to time. He was patient, never condescending and spoke plainly.

Who likes being treated like an idiot? No one. And yet, the Left and Liberals in general, speak to the American people like they’re morons. The absolute worst is Al Gore. The most insulting thing is the guy ain’t that smart and he comes across as a doltish buffoon and still has the nerve to lecture stupid Americans. It’s annoying.

And so, rather than engage Sarah Palin on the merits, even the editors at the National Review get lost in what they consider hyperbole. Elites hate hyperbole (except when they’re employing it to chastise the masses into using fluorescent lighting). The form-police ignore the substance because the messenger doesn’t have an air of hauteur and the Ivy league parchment required to engage in the “conversation”.

Oh blech.

Intellectualism is not on trial here. Pseudo-intellectuals who discredit valid opinions because they find the form bothersome is on trial. Also, the inability to write or talk plainly is on trial here.

Chief Justice John Roberts possesses a few admirable traits: He has a towering intellect. He has humility. He has grace. His opinions are straight-forward and written plainly. He makes his opinions understandable. This all demonstrates his intelligence rather than diminishing it. It also demonstrates empathy. He could, easily, write using complex language and arcane vocabulary, but that would serve only to aggrandize himself at the expense of the understanding of those with whom he communicates.

Too many in Washington, D.C. desire to sound smart over being smart. So laws and bills are convoluted, pages long, and complex. Editorials are snark-filled, eviscerating vanity [hello Maureen Dowd].

And through this wordy haze, the substance is lost.

The American people are not stupid rubes who need to be guided to enlightenment by their betters. The American people do recognize that there are experts in diverse fields in the government and media. They want those experts to speak plainly and argue the substance understandably. This is not too much to ask.

I hear D.C. insiders sniff about populist impulses. Their fears are laughable. These very same insiders condescend to those whom they ostensibly serve, treating them like no more than dull-witted peasants. This is a Republic not a constitutional monarchy. The representatives actually are supposed to represent people not command them. If there are populist embers burning, the insiders should spend some more time doing what they love: looking in the mirror. Any populist impulses are a reaction to obnoxious elites, not the other way around.

So, Congressmen and the press react in horror at American outrage. Why is everyone so angry? Well, this question just demonstrates dull-wittedness. How long would you, Mr. Smartypants Inside-the-Beltway person like someone to call you stupid overtly or imply it through your arts (Hollywood’s dystopian representation of American culture), your opinions and your laws? Yeah, you’d be pissed off, too, to use the common vernacular.

Enough, already. Americans deserve better than this from their leaders. By being too smart by half, the insiders end up sounding all stupid. Perhaps a return to more straight-forward actions, simpler language and respect for the voter will mend the relationship that is broken. It’s going to take a while, though. And it’s probably going to take new leaders who aren’t so far removed from those whom they serve.

Posted in America, Corrupted Culture, Political Animals | 10 Comments »

I’m Staying At A Best Western

Nothing like a fulminating Senator to bring out murderous impulses and the desire to openly mock:

H/T Brutally Honest

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Stimulus: Sinking Soon & Might As Well Enjoy The Trip

Someone on Twitter suggested that the news reports of the impending American demise will quickly right itself as soon as the Stimulus gets passed. “Hallelujah! We’ve been saved!! Praise Jes..I mean Obama!”

In the meantime, I think this may be closer to the reality. We’ll be sinking soon, but it will be a beautiful trip in a boat made with straw and sticks:

Thinking is so like out of vogue, but for those who still enjoy the practice some links for your consideration:

The Bill isn’t quite what is promised.

Even Democrats are admitting to voting with one hand and keeping their fingers crossed. Nice.

Voting, they’re voting. Bah.

Wal-Mart is a winner in this bailout. What a relief! “Unemployable 16-25 year olds” will be a tax break for employers. Ha!

Obama’s “Queen For A Day” strategy. A friend calls this “ain’t it awful”. I got it awful. No, I got it worse. You think that’s bad……

“My stimulus“….phallic issues…plentiful.

Posted in Political Animals, Show Me The Money | 4 Comments »

Powerline

Proof That God Has A Sense Of Humor
Oops! Al Gore does it again!

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New D.C. Politics Look Remarkably Asinine

Who was I kidding? One of my hidden fears was that this sentiment would reign:

Some, who won’t be quoted by name, even suggest that Feinstein aims to establish her clout as an influential player on intelligence issues – and as a key voice from California – as Obama takes office. Panetta, they note, has long been popular with state Democrats and has a good relationship with the incoming president.

Boxer acknowledged that for any president, “it’s good to work with the chairman” of key committees on important appointments – though she noted Obama “didn’t confer with me on the (Environmental Protection Agency) appointment. I talked to him about it, and I would have loved to have known.”

“I think the more communication with the Senate, the better … (it’s) a better way to go,” she said. “We’re all going to be on his team.”

[Emphasis added.]

His team, eh? Yes, well, that kind of ingratiating ass-kissing has been de rigeur among the press, other Democrats, Hollywood, and heck, the world. So I’ve been worried that all these no-minds will be of one empty mind and work together for the greater good in a seamless enterprise of dragging the country into oblivion in borg-like bliss.

But how stupid could I be? Harry “I don’t work for Obama” Reid and Nancy “Torture” Pelosi run the Congress.

Dianne Feinstein is upset at the slight of not being informed of the Panetta pick. In a shocking turn of events, Obama is acting just like he did during the campaign–imperious and indifferent to the powers that be.

Besides the mind-blowing debt and inane policy decisions, the politics of the next four years should be entertaining. So far, between Blago, his Senate pick, Obama’s security picks, Caroline Kennedy and Biden, it’s like watching the keystone cops.

And I thought these schmucks would work together in a productive way that made Republicans look even worse. Republicans will have to make themselves look stupid, the Democrats are busy. Silly me.

Posted in Political Animals | 2 Comments »

The Fight Is Never Over, Ever

During the last leg of the campaign, I was tired and disgusted with the political nonsense. I was appalled at the lack of curiosity by both the press and the electorate. The salacious smears against decent people made me think that no rational person would ever want to serve his or her country. The ignorance and vitriol being spewed made me think that voters could be sold anything anyway, so it didn’t matter.

What was the point of being involved? One vote hardly seemed enough of a message when one educated vote was canceled out by someone whose breadth of understanding about the issues could be encapsulated in Sarah Palin’s daughter’s uterus.

And today, the Congressional Visitor’s Center opens and with it some nameless, faceless bureaucrat plasters propaganda up all over because Congress critters were more worried about office placement then the content of the ideas they’d be sharing with the world. In addition, the new $620 million dollar (9x over-budget of course) center is created to keep the “smelly” people, the BOSSES of these ostensible public servants and the ones who paid for this politically correct and self-aggrandizing shrine, out.

Relax for a minute, or ten, or a year, and those in the government will create something bad for Americans and make Americans pay for it, to boot. My brother told me, “they count on you getting tired”. Indeed.

With the vast amount of information, misinformation, and sheer enormity of the government now, it takes armies of interested people to pay attention and alert others to what is going on. And still, it’s impossible to sustain the battle-readiness mentality. For years now, really since Clinton’s presidency, it has felt as if there is an all-out war and it has felt like conservative ideas, even when we’ve been are in power are losing.

The government has gotten gluttonously bigger funding all sorts of suspect projects. Americans seem to not mind as long as they’re getting their share.

The conservative-libertarian movement must get across to the populace that government giving means loss of liberty. The government owns those it subsidizes. Citizens become slaves.

America’s Founders rebelled against taxation without representation. Well, we are represented, alright. And the representatives need to be held to account. The glad-handing, you-scratch-my-back-I’ll-scratch-yous-on-the-back-of-the-taxpayer mentality must be stopped.

We can’t afford to get tired. We have to continue to fight and we need to unite against leaders whose primary goal is self-service while insulting the smelly people who put them in power to begin with.

Posted in Political Animals | 3 Comments »

Chris Dodd’s Illegal Activity That The MSM Is Hiding

Chris Dodd’s Illegal Activity That The MSM Is Hiding
Dodd guilty of mortgage fraud?

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Senate Wants To Empower Parent Censorship

Found via Slashdot, Matt Lasar reports:

The United States Senate has unanimously passed a bill that requires the Federal Communications Commission to explore what “advanced blocking technologies” are available to parents to help filter out “indecent or objectionable programming.” The “Child Safe Viewing Act” (S. 602) was sponsored by Senator Mark Pryor, Democrat of Arkansas.

“With over 500 channels and video streaming, parents could use a little help monitoring what their kids watch when they are not in the room,” Pryor said in a press statement following the passage on Wednesday. “Today’s technology to protect children from indecency goes above and beyond the capabilities of the V-Chip. It’s time for the FCC to take a fresh look at how the market can empower parents with more tools to choose appropriate programming for their children.”

The text of the bill notes that the average child watches four hours of television a day. It also observes that “99.9 percent of all consumer complaints logged by the Federal Communications Commission in the first quarter of 2006 regarding radio and television broadcasting were because of obscenity, indecency, and profanity.” Many of those complaints are controversial, it should be noted, because they come from Web based autoforms that allow people who have not actually seen a program to file a complaint.

Well. I’ve complained not to the FCC but on my own personal bloggy soap-box about advertising and content thrown into the middle of shows aimed at families–NFL football games or the dancing shows, for example. Do I want more rules like this to find ways to censor?

The problem is that I’m usually sitting right there during this programming but the ads come on so quickly that the image is already in my kid’s head (the news blurbs are the worst and would ostensibly not qualify for censorship). The only answer is just turning the whole thing off.

Right about now, I’m just not in the mood to have the government creating another law to make my life better. They need to stop legislating on this crap and stick with building the military and rebuilding America’s infrastructure. All the rest of this legislative nonsense is not their business.

Cross-posted at Right Wing News

Posted in Corrupted Culture | No Comments »

When The Government Is Immoral

Dan Friedman sent that to me and it landed in my inbox along with the best article that R.S. McCain has written (yet). It’s about the immorality of the American taxation system. You’ll want to read the whole thing:

Whereas transactions in a market economy are voluntary and peaceful, the actions of government are essentially coercive, backed with the threat of violence to those who disobey. What government does, it does “at the point of the bayonet,” so to speak. Therefore, the fearsome power of government ought to be constrained to limited and specific purposes — defending the life, liberty and property of citizens.

When government begins to meddle in the economy, picking winners and losers, using appropriations and fiscal policy to transfer money from one group of citizens to another, it divides society into two classes, taxpayers and tax consumers, punishing the former in order to reward the latter.

Such a policy is not merely misguided, it is immoral — indeed, it is sinful, as I told the Christian homeschoolers — and by displaying the spectacle of government engaging daily in legalized theft, the welfare state tends to corrupt the morals of its citizens.

Many people viscerally dislike the bailout because it seems obviously wrong. It offends anyone who has a sense of fairness. For those who want a new car or a new house or a business line of credit and don’t qualify, they are not so happy. But should they be getting this money to begin with.

I wonder if the House Republicans will have the strength of character to withstand the pressure coming to bear upon them now. Michelle Malkin quotes Margaret Thatcher: “This is no time to go wobbly.” Michelle has a list of Congressmen and their phone numbers. I just got off the phone with my Congressman’s staffer and hope to do an interview with him, because he alone, in Houston, voted for the bill the first time around. Is he seeing something other conservatives are not?

And to those of you who might lose a significant chunk of your 401K should the whole banking system go South: Are you willing to lose it in the greater principle of free markets, eliminating unfair taxes and keeping this sort of financial power out of the hands of the government?

Cross-posted at RightWingNews.com

Posted in Political Animals, Show Me The Money | 1 Comment »