Quick Takes, March 17, 2011

ITEM: I’ll start this edition of Quick Takes with a sobering, but uplifting, story (here). Consider it a bit of penance for Mr. Obama’s serial insults of our British cousins. British Army Lance Cpl. Liam Tasker, and his bomb-sniffing dog, Theo, were inseparable--in life and in death. Don’t read this one unless you have Kleenex in hand, and be sure to pet your dog tonight.

ITEM: Mr. Obama has written an editorial promoting better background checks for gun purchasers (here). Several of his comments: “...my administration has not curtailed the rights of gun owners - it has expanded them, including allowing people to carry their guns in national parks and wildlife refuges.” And “I know that every time we try to talk about guns, it can reinforce stark divides. People shout at one another, which makes it impossible to listen.” He also repeatedly talks about “common sense” measures.

Hmm, he’s expanded gun rights? Like he’s expanded American oil production? Might want to chat with the folks on the Gulf Coast and Alaska about that one. “People shout at one another?” No, we keep calmly bringing up the Constitution and actual common sense; it’s the other side that does the shouting. And as to “common sense gun control” measures, we know what Mr. Obama and his side thinks those are. Visit my recent article on Mr. Obama’s gun control views--here--to see just how believable he is.

ITEM: I know that you’ve often asked yourself this question: What happens when a proton beam traveling at nearly the speed of light pierces your head? The answer may be found here. Yeoow!

ITEM: The Hell Has Frozen Over and Pigs Are Doing Barrel Rolls Overhead! Department: From Hot Air (here), Bill Clinton, speaking on a panel with George W. Bush, said that there are “ridiculous delays in permitting when our economy doesn’t need it.” That’s right, Bill Clinton believes that we ought to be drilling for oil and natural gas! Actually, it’s hardly surprising. Clinton was certainly a liberal, but more than willing to race to the center when necessary. And if Hillary decides to take another run at Mr. Obama, his comments make more and more sense. A frightening thought: Have things truly become so bad under Barack Obama that even Bill Clinton seems like a wise, elder statesman by comparison?

ITEM: Louis Renault Award of the Week: The Captain Louis Renault Award this week goes to ABC, CBS. MSNBC, NPR The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today and the Los Angeles Times. We here at Confederate Yankee are shocked, shocked! that these news outlets have not, as of March 13, reported on the death threats made against Republicans in Wisconsin. Anyone depending on these “news” outlets would think the entire situation in Wisconsin was about oppressed workers fighting over crusts of bread denied them by the evil Governor of the state. Read the whole story here.

ITEM: Louis Renault Award II: At Jammie Wearing Fool (here), we learn that Geoffrey Eaton, Charlie Rangel’s Deputy Chief of Staff (a Congressman needs a Deputy Chief of Staff?!) had a rather bad day at the diner. Drunk and incensed that he couldn’t find his umbrella, he screamed obscenities at everyone in the restaurant where he was dining on March 10th. When a customer tried to calm him, he screamed “bleep you and mind your own bleeping business...you’re a disgrace to our race.” After fifteen minutes of trying to calm Eaton, the restaurant staff had to have him removed by the police. I’m shocked, shocked! that a race-baiting minion of a race-baiting, entitled congressman would behave this way!

ITEM: I know you’ve often asked yourself this question: Do redheads have a higher tolerance for pain? Find the shocking answer here. Double yeoow!

ITEM: Well, At Least He Has His Priorities Straight. With legislators in both parties wondering where in the world is Barack Obama on the budget, with the Arab world dissolving in conflict, with the deficit increasing with each passing day, Mr. Obama has chosen to swing dramatically into action! He has taped his NCAA picks to be revealed to an anxious and grateful public on March 16. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing for Mr. Obama to play so much golf after all; that way he can do less damage.

ITEM: Credit Where Credit Is Due, Department: At the Weekly Standard (here), Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich comments on the Wisconsin Democrats: “The absurdity of the Democrats’ outing was too much. They weren’t merely wrong on a procedural point. They were accusing Republicans of ‘making a mockery of democracy.’ operating like a ‘banana republic,’ and conducting a ‘coup d’etat.’ All the while, Democrats were hiding in another state trying to prevent a newly inaugurated senate from holding a vote on vital state business.’” Well, yeah...

ITEM: In the National Review Online (here) David French asks “Why Is It So Easy for Lila Rose and James O’Keffe?” His thesis is that organizations like NPR, ACORN and Planned Parenthood have never had any significant vetting, not from the news media, not from the government. Indeed. And that has bred an institutional arrogance that leads them to believe they are beyond reproach and rebuke. If they believe they’re with like-minded people, they have no fear of revealing their souls, and empty souls they are. Taxpayer dollars must not fund such folly, even if we have the money--and we don’t.

ITEM: “I’d rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president.” Barack Obama, January 25, 2010. Isn’t it our civic duty to help Mr. Obama realize his dream? After all, he’s done so much to us...

ITEM: Former Speaker of the House (oh, it feels soooo good to write that!) Nancy Pelosi recently took to the House floor to proclaim that “Democrats have long fought for fiscal responsibility...” Uh...is that the same Democrats who have spent us into a pit so deep we may never climb out? The same Democrats who refused to pass a budget to hid their obscene spending binges? The same Democrats who think that cutting a few billion from a trillion-plus deficit is morally wrong? And isn’t Nancy Pelosi the same Speaker of the House who wasted millions commandeering military aircraft to fly her back and forth from San Francisco to DC despite the fact that she is independently wealthy? Thought so. It’s things like this that make me worry that irony may, in the near future, no longer be ironic enough. To get anyone’s attention, we may have to resort to super irony, perhaps even mega irony. And as long as we’re on that topic, Obama and the Dems are also quickly rendering a single exclamation mark insufficient. That’s super, mega, cosmic ironic!!!!!!!!

ITEM: Are you a brutal, repressive dictator? Are the peasants revolting (they certainly are, nyuk, nyuk!)? Is Barack Obama threatening to uphold universal human rights and to bear witness? Then you’d better read Rick Richman’s advice for dictators at Commentary (here).

ITEM: A Few Quick Thoughts On Energy: As Japanese nuclear plants continue to have “difficulties,” Mr. Obama has affirmed his commitment to building new nuclear plants, a commitment that has not yet resulted in the beginning of a single plant. Mr. Obama is, as always, trying to have it both ways. He can read his teleprompter to give lip service to nuclear energy all he likes, knowing that his bureaucrats will throw up an impenetrable wall of red tape to prevent the construction of a single plant. And even if a particularly determined utility was capable of surmounting such obstacles, Mr. Obama’s many environmentalist allies are certain to file lawsuit after lawsuit, but at a distance sufficient to provide Mr, Obama plausible deniability. And of course, federal bureaucrats will be watching any project like hawks, ready to revoke permits at the drop of a progressive hat. It’s win-win for Mr. Obama and his allies and lose-lose for America. As usual.

ITEM: Maybe America Has A Future After All...A recent Rasmussen poll (here) has revealed that only 3% of Americans think that an Ivy League education produces a better worker. A whopping 79% thinks otherwise. It’s good to see that Americans retain their essential common sense and practicality. You don’t suppose these poll results were influenced by the current occupant of the Oval Office and all of his various czars, sub czars, assistant deputy secretaries to the assistant deputy undersecretaries, etc., many of whom have Ivy League pedigrees, do you? Nah.

ITEM: We’re All About The New Civility: New Time magazine cover: “Wisconsin’s Governor Wins But Is He Still Dead Man Walker?” Oh dear. Wasn’t the lamestream media in a lather of late over the Gabrielle Giffords shooting? You know, the shooting by the rabid conservative, who turned out not to be a conservative, but plenty rabid? Weren’t we all supposed to avoid provocative language in discussing politicians? Apparently not so much, particularly if they’re republicans.

ITEM: So that’s The Cause of All the Economic Distress! Speaking at the National League of Cities Conference (here), First Lady Michelle Obama said: “You all know better than anyone that childhood obesity is already affecting your communities. It’s already weighing down your budgets. It’s already hampering economic growth.” And we all thought it had to do with lunatic federal economic policies, out of control entitlements and unrestrained spending on vital national programs like cowboy poetry. Who knew fixing it all was as easy as keeping Twinkies away from the kiddies? Those Obamas! What a shame there’s no Nobel Prize for sheer awesomeness.

ITEM: From the Associated Press (here): “Wholesale prices jumped last month by the most in nearly two years due to higher energy costs and the steepest rise in food prices in 36 years. Excluding those volatile categories, inflation was tame.” The AP also noted that “There was little sign of inflationary pressures outside of food and energy.” What good news! Outside of two of the three necessities of mere existence--food, housing and affordable energy--everything is great! As Dr. Pangloss used to say, we live in the best of all possible worlds. But wait a minute! Maybe you ought to read the next item...

ITEM: More Economic Good News: From Ed Morrissey at Hot Air (here), HUD has reported that housing starts for February dropped 22.5%, the lowest level in 27 years--that’s more than a quarter century, folks. But wait a minute! What about the Summer of Recovery? What about Mr. Obama who has “broken the back” of the recession? What about government statistics showing that unemployment is going down? Mark Twain said: “There are lies, damned lies and statistics.” Is it possible, just vaguely possible, that people who are under-employed or unemployed don’t buy new houses, and that if there is less demand, fewer new homes will be built? So it’s actually three for three for the Obama Administration! We’re number one! we’re number one!

ITEM: At a recent White House presser, Obama Administration press secretary Jay Carney fielded questions about the wisdom of Mr. Obama’s upcoming trip to Latin America in light of the rest of the world, you know, more or less, well, falling apart. Said Mr. Carney: “Obviously, the trip is on, and the president will be going to Latin America, and he's looking forward to having discussions with leaders in the region about our bilateral relationship.” Ah! So Mr. Obama will continue the strategy that has worked so well for the first two years of his administration: Talking. And when they’re done talking, they’ll talk about how the talking went, and about how to talk better in the future, about a new talk to the American people, and about how to set new deadlines for new, more forceful talking, and they’ll talk about talking about more talking about talking, and ...

ITEM: This Pretty Much Says It All: From Fox News via the excellent urgentagenda.com, we discover Mr. Obama’s priorities from his last weekend radio address: “Amid chaos around the world and on Capitol Hill, Obama’s Saturday radio address was devoted to Women’s History Month and a call to pass the Paycheck Fairness, Act, a proposal meant to address the income gap between men and women. Then, the president went golfing at Andrews Air Force Base [rimshot, and cue applause].”

ITEM: And in the continuing news from the religion of peace department, early on March 15th (here), the Israeli Navy boarded and seized a Liberian flagged German tanker loaded with peaceful Iranian weapons--such as peaceful mortar rounds, peaceful land to sea missiles, and other peaceful munitions--bound for Hamas in the Gaza strip, no doubt for completely peaceful purposes, such as peacefully murdering sleeping Israeli children. The weapons were recently transported through the Suez canal on peaceful Iranian war, er, peaceships. Newsflash: George Bush said that you’re either with us or you’re with the terrorists. Indeed. For a satiric and satisfying look at what Jihadists have to look forward to, visit this classic bit from the Onion (here).

ITEM: ObamaCare Isn’t A Government Takeover Of Health Care, Honest! Department: From CNS News via Hot Air (here) comes Representative John Conyers (D-Michigan), speaking at the National Press Club on March 14th. Conyers confirmed that ObamaCare has, from the start, been intended as a vehicle to establish absolute government control over health care. Said Conyers: “Well it’s a platform. I don’t think they flow smoothly but without it, if we didn’t have this then health care, universal health care would be an even more difficult legislative objective.” Whoda thunk it?

ITEM: I Knew It! Department: Visit here for an article that explains it all, everything you didn’t know you needed to know about the Age of Obama.

And on that informative and uplifting note, thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you next Thursday!!