Heckers, yes!

Every one wants to elect some politician to tell them what to do and how to live.

Such a mindset is simply scary. No other way to put it. Best construction, too.

Another rule I have is this: Never comment on screaming meemie sites (LGF or Daily Kos), or any “conservative” site that wants more war as much or more than does Bill Kristol. On said sites, rationality not merely goes out the window, it takes down the whole wall. Ain’t worth it. Sometimes I will speak my piece at my site, and occasionally the really motivated will find what I say, but not often.

I read tons of sites, so the following list is not exclusionary.

My favorite site is Beck. He is an in your face, absolute “my life, my freedom” guy. Zero pretense. No comments, although you can e-mail him. He is one of the few who can set a tone, that most either acknowledge, or quietly ignore for fear of bringing the wrath of Beck down upon their heads. I have seen him in conversations with the clueless. It simply isn’t a fair contest any time.

I do all the news sites—Drudge, the majors, a few off-the-wall minors, and some “whoa!” sites just for spice. Glenn Reynolds is more Drudge than anything. Smart man, no doubt, but he thinks gummint will somehow pull it out in the last inning. I don’t, so . . . oh well.

Jon Venlet is a most reasonable soul, and a very witty observer of matters. And he will engage anyone interested in a reasonable discussion, even if he disagrees. He is “Beck-like” though, so tread carefully. He might eat your lunch unexpectedly.

Rockwell and Justin Raimondo never apologize, but just say what they have to say, which is kinda cool. Just not much chance to respond, and few if any comments. Vox is always a read—he is, despite his constant self adv’s, quite intelligent and a verbal marksman quite unmatched, IMHO.

In defense of my own site, I am a Irish piss-ant. When I started it I said it was for me, and it still is. I get some visitors, and usually, fairly well-reasoned responses, even if not all necessarily agreeable. I have the rare troll or two, but I can be more trollish than can they, so they seek weaker prey.

Strike the Root always has something worthwhile, and I even used to submit over there in years past. I do all the First Things blogs–especially Wes Smith’s site on ethics. Despite any differences, they are theologically attuned and that has always kinda sorta been what I like (even more than politics, David!)

And then there is the new guy on the block (yeah, you, David). His bio/confession is right there for all to read. He is always talking about his cats (I think he runs an UNofficial Humane Society), he is a confessed Christian without apology, and he used to write for a politician. Irresistable.

But what I like most about Mac, is that despite whatever stance he takes, he has a knack with words that allows him to remain moderate in tone almost always. I’ve managed to get him a tad testy once or twice, but I think he knew that I knew that he knew it.

And, those who comment at his site, with rare exception, are likewise folks of good humor and moderation despite strongly-held feelings. A good read all the way round.

(David, I will send you my bill for the adv!) Heh!

One would think that gummint, and the good ole Army Corps of Engineers, would have moved in wholesale after Katrina, and done what they themselves admitted was their responsibility. Of course, the Corps was “legally relieved” of their failures (gummint, after all), and likewise, the politicians had a blast blasting each other who was more to blame. We over Houston way had a large influx of the NO criminal population, who quickly returned to their trade once off the busses what brought them.

Now, a trop storm (Lee) that would have had us yawning in Florida when I was growing up, has all the weather forecasters breathlessly wondering if the levees will hold this time.

I bring this up because I have been pondering, not merely what would happen if gummint of every stripe and level took a year off, but the media of every stripe as well. Just empty DC and the broadcasters’ booths for 12 months. Give we the people a very welcome break from the ongoing perpetual reporting of Armageddon. I suspect the odds of Armageddon happening would go down considerably. We who do the living and dying out here would figure out a way to muddle through somehow. We might even prosper, and decided to make the hiatus of pols and media a permanent thing.

I might vote for that.

All of the tax schemes and wars would have gone on unabated anyway—those are how gummint keeps us occupied while they go about their real business of looting our wallets. And it all goes back to the silly mentality most have that if we just elect the right guy, good things will happen.

Well, exactly when has that happened? But be sure to vote!

I survived. Mama and I will enjoy this night. We earned it. Mr. Miller is only part of the fun.

A/O: I qualify the above . . . there was one other week, but I’m prolly never going to need to chronicle it. I’ll remember it till I die.

“Just fix it.” Words that GM took seriously, before it became a gummint whore. A great adv about a “once” great product. No more.

Now they don’t even honor their own warranties. Completely Bammsterized. But union heaven, to be sure!

It certainly was back in the 60′s and 70′s, when I served and we needed as many sacrificial bodies as possible in Vietnam.

Non-news.

Whenever I see gummints scrambling left and right to re-shush what they had to shush to begin with, and claiming that “something sensitive” might be revealed, sumpin’s up that ain’t quite right.

I, for one, think Julian Assange is merely a front man, Bradley Manning lower, but likewise. This whole matter is way too big not to have a gummint or several involved. The truth will out eventually, and there will be denials and accusations and scurrying like roaches by the pols when the machinations behind the scenes and supposedly in our “name” are revealed.

But for now, I am content to watch the show unfold, and who says what and takes which side in it all. I suspect once it all gets out in the open, egg producers are going to have a banner week.

His only cure is predictably more of the same. It’s an addiction. He’s getting like Krugman and Friedman anymore . . . what they will say will be predictable in the end. The one entertaining factor is how differently they can say the same thing over and over again.

****************

Elroy was in an interview with a trucking company about doing a mid-length haul from Toledo to Atlanta, which meant traversing the mountains around Knoxville and Chattanooga. The boss man explained all the details, and Elroy said all was fine but, he had a partner/rider, Leroy.

Boss man said: “We don’t hire riders, only drivers.“

Elroy: “I’ll pay him, but he rides with me.“

Boss-man ponders. Elroy has a great driving record for several firms, and has never been in an accident to boot. So he tries another approach . . .

“Okay, you are cruising down the mountains south of Knoxville, and you round the bend and see a 20-car pile-up on the bridge over the river below. You’re doing 65 mph, you hit the brakes, and nothing happens. Whatcha ya gonna do?” (Sports Fans, that mountain and bridge do exist).

Elroy doesn’t miss a beat. “Why, I am gonna wake up Leroy!“

Boss-man is flustered. “Why are you gonna wake up Leroy, for God’s sake?“

Elroy responds: “Well shoot, that’s simple. Leroy has never been in a wreck like we would be about to be in then!“

“The 50 state attorneys general have been negotiating a settlement with banks over robo-signing and other bad mortgage practices. Analysts say it could top $20 billion. But the attorneys general of some states, including New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, Delaware and California, have balked because banks have demanded a release from all future liability on past mortgage practices or the mortgage-backed securities they sold to investors.

Meanwhile, federal bank regulators have focused on getting banks to clean up their act in the future, not on fixing the potentially millions of tainted documents that have been filed in land record offices in counties across the country.”

Translation: “Yeah, we screwed investors and homeowners, but we have a lot of money and if we fail then it all goes down. So you can’t make us pay up.“

The banking BS goes wider and more international than most know, but no one is really permitted to go there because that would be a conspiracy theory and of course, such things aren’t permitted. In a post or comment I wrote recently, I obliquely said that I have done things my way to avoid both the fraud, and the havoc. As I also mentioned, it’s not easy going all the time. But save for property taxes, it is most certainly worth it as opposed to the sorry choices otherwise (but, as I have mentioned before, property taxes still prove gummint owns my property—try not paying them and see who the owner really is!).

There is a major power/financial play coming down; there are big players (Warren was just the first to go public), that is restructuring (or trying to) the currency, property ownership (of that there is a finite amount), and gummint. It is banks and gummint in cahoots, and the big boys who can bring a wheelbarrow of chips to the gaming table. Watch the politicians according to those factors, and you will quickly know who is bought and paid for already.

I will put it another way . . . if gummint could divorce itself from its mercantilist roots and the lobbying dollars, and would approach the banks as they have the supposed steroid crisis in sports, this would be over already. The banks would cave, homeowners reimbursed, and the Fed declared unconstitutional and dismantled.

And Santa Claus exists, and is hanging out with Elvis in Bermuda for the Labor Day weekend.

Never think the gummint will not stoop to whatever low level necessary to prosecute citizens. The gummint lawyers knew precisely what they were doing, they got caught, and now are claiming it was all an innocent mistake.

Their whole case is a mistake, but hardly innocent. I hope Judge Walton not only tosses the fed’s case (or lack thereof), I hope he makes a very public statement warning gummint lawyers against judicial misbehavior, and also, scurrilous charges on even more scurrilous evidence from even more scurrilous witnesses who themselves are convicted felons trying to cop some time off their punishments.

Welpers, as I type, it is reported that Walton rejected Clemens’ motion to squash a second trial. Gummint always sticks up for its own in the end. Walton had a chance to put the kabosh on this vindictive BS gummint lawyers pull on the perjury issue when they lose. If Americans were to bring charges against gummint every time gummint lied to us, we might be able to shut the bastids down for good.

Gummint has the prevarication market cornered.

A/O: As I was typing and the decision came down, ESPN in usual fashion changed the original article. So the link above is quite watered down with regard to what the judge said. But then again, he sided with his boys in gummint, so his words seem to be pretty much worthless now.

The last constitutional war fought by Americans was in 1812. The rest were fought to protect gummint, banking, or corporate interests. Millions died in the name of patriotism when patriotism had nothing to do with it. It grinds my skinny Irish ass when I listen to or read those who are so willing to sacrifice other folks’ kids to their long vision of matters political. Put those bastards on the front line of just one of the wars they encouraged, and watch them come squealing home to Mama on the QT. Imagine Bill Kristol in uniform, in Tripoli. Hilarious! (How do you pull the trigger on this thing?) LMAO

Folks ought to be grown up enough to admit those facts. Unfortunately, most are not. However, it matters not, since what is coming will visit the intentionally ignorant as well.

And then, we will discover who are Americans, and who have been pretenders.

I have been keeping my cool, for the most part, and not bleeding all over my site about my travails.

But this . . . is funny. And I needed it.

*************************

A cardiologist died and was given an elaborate funeral. A huge heart covered in flowers stood behind the casket during the service.

The proctologist fainted…

On another site tonight/this morning/whenever, I made the point that this is my joint—it doesn’t belong to a blatant communist like the Bammster, or the fascists parading around as cost-cutting Republicans while protecting every corporation that contributes to the campaigns and sending kids off to war. None of that silly nonsense. I am an American.

Most of those who would be called my country-men have conceded their citizenship. A matter of convenience or taxes or advancement or whatever . . . they have chosen, actively and willingly, to be slaves to a system decidedly UN-American. I cannot change that, or their minds. The horrific thing about communism is that it beguiles one into thinking that going along is getting along, as as long as you get your bucks all is going along well. Gramsci would love it!

The collectivists and communists like Obama love those folks. That includes most of Congress, who suckle the gummint teat left and right.

But there are two mindsets that frustrate me immensely. One is those who either want to flee (which is highly understandable—I oft-times do, too), and those who are what I call, without reservation, my absolute enemies.

They hate freedom, they want to rule, and this is my country, Sumpin’s gonna have to give.

It won’t be me.

“America must lead with clarity of intent, a commitment of purpose and unlimited resolve,” Mr. Romney said. “Unfortunately, when we look around the world today, we see a muddled picture of American policy and our power.”

No, Mitt. You don’t get it. Americans are sick and tired of being spread out all over the world, losing sons and daughters, just to prop up the Pentagon, defense contractors, and the various oil companies that act like United Fruit of 80-100 years ago.

There is nothing about America’ original intent that should have us globe trotting as we do. and your pandering to more of the same makes it clear you won’t think for yourself.

Chavez should be retiring soon. Go run for Prez of Venezuela. Or, just go away.

A/O: Let’s be serious . . . a proposed cut of 40 bill a year is going to hamper that 5 sided-building and its multi-trillion batch of defense contracts? Who in hell do you think you are kidding? Go back to Massachusetts and fix the medical mess you signed into law, and do not bring your Daddy’s method of governance (which we hated in Michigan), to us all.

You would make Obama look good. You make me wax nostalgic for McCain.

He usually has some excellent commentary.

But on this one, he goes off the rails.

Let me get the stupid stuff out of the way right away. I can (at age 58) (and have) gone to the batting cage and caught up with a 90 mph heater. Why? Because I was blessed with the eye/hand coordination necessary to do so. I would whiff on a 94 mph heater, which is why I am not a retired MLB’er. But that 85 mph stuff was a piece of cake, and I clocked a former major leaguer who played in our men’s league—3-5—and he told me I clocked him.

Jayson . . . ramble on, because you need to write a column that seems important. But the bottom line in baseball is what it has always been, which makes it the game it has always been.

Some guys know how to pitch, some guys know how to hit. Computers, charts, graphs and all that other technomofological BS will never matter. Prove to me that 2004 was predicted by any of the methodologies you advocate. You cannot.

And why aren’t hitters batting .400 as a matter of course, and all, not merely 1 or 2 pitchers, tossing the spheroid under a 2.00 ERA?

What’s wrong with all those computerized gizmos? And why are the Red Sox and Yankees still running the show?

Because they understand how the game really works.

I give you, in perfect harmony, Derek Jeter and Dustin Pedroia. They both understand the game. I played and understood the game for 45 years, even if I didn’t make the bigs.

But Jayson, I’ll bet you a year’s salary I can strike you out, even at 58 and almost 6 months!

Wanna bet?

‘Cause I have been there and done it . . . you just write about it. I’d drop an overhand curve aimed at your ear into the zone, do a side armed slider at about 60 mph that would lift you out of your spikes, and do a back-door 85 mph fastball on the outside corner that you would stare at in disbelief.

Baseball will never be directed or distracted by electronics. Baseball, as the kids showed us in Williamsport this past week or so, is about playing baseball. That is how the game goes down.

Pitch, hit and catch. Let Steve Jobs and Bill Gates build their computers. Neither of them could hit my curve, nor a heater from that kid pitching the final out at the LLWS.

Nor could you, Dude. Pick a better topic.

P.S. Joe Maddon’s team is 9 games out, only 13 over .500 and hasn’t a prayer for the playoffs. He needs a new IPad or puter, ya reckon? The Sox and the Yanks put out guts and glory ballplayers (as do the Phils), and they win. Baseball is the one sport computers will never conquer. You either know how to play or you don’t. You can’t take the keyboard or the phone onto the mound or into the batter’s box. You got ta do it, or else!

You lose. I haven’t seen Francona or Girardi keyboarding during games.

I guess Jose fizzled out, so we need a new and terrifying storm to cow us all into submission yet again. But “Katia?” Katia? It is a variant of Katherine, but it supposedly means “pure.”

As in bullshit.

Honest to God, gummint thinks we are sheer idiots, pretending they will rescue us from every fear, and we do nothing to dismiss such absolute sheer stupidity.

But the bubble-headed bleach blond will be on the 5 o’clock news . . . betcha!

We have become a nation of morons.