The GaffeMeister

I knew after the election that Biden would provide a lot of laughs.

In that he does not disappoint. Roger Simon agrees:

Joseph Biden is frankly a comic character and we are lucky to have him. Things are just too grim these days – what with the putative swine flu catastrophe, the economic decline and Islamopsychos on the rise in Iraq again. We need a little Biden in our life. Kinda takes the edge off, listening to him bluster non sequiturs about the coming (or not) pandemic, telling us his family won’t be taking any public transportation at the same time he insists we shouldn’t close the border.

Funny stuff.

Will Scalia and Thomas Get Credit?

Not from the Left, for sure. But they made the right decision.

Enjoy it. Once The Messiah starts appointing Supreme Court Justices we won’t see much rationality there, much less constitutionality.

Speaking of Pirates

Update:

The Evil Party vs. the Stupid Party

Boy, what with the Democrats embracing social/marx/fasc/ism at full throttle (Evil Party) and the Republicans getting taken over by Flat-Earth Creationists (Stupid Party) where can one turn? Not to the “I’d rather win an argument than an election” Libertarians (Irrelevant Party).

I like to think I can’t be the only rational conservative with libertarian inclinations out there, but the other two guys are keeping a low profile.

Update:

The Loonie Fringe of the Republican party is just as idiotic as the Democrats’ moonbats. Barton, former vice chairman of the Texas Republican Party, is a self-styled “historian” without any formal training in the field. He argues that separation of church and state is a “myth” and that the nation’s laws should be based on Scripture. He says, for example, that the Bible forbids taxes on income and capital gains. Yet even such groups as Texas Baptists Committed and the Baptist Joint Committee have sharply criticized Barton’s interpretations of the Constitution and history.

Don’t take too much comfort in knowing they’re the fringe: The Democrats were completely taken over by their extreme fringe.  I worry that the disarray among the Republicans is creating a vacuum that attracts nutcases ike this. Oh, and by the way: Bobbie Jindahl also pals around with Barton.

NB: Yes, I understand that the “constitutional separation of church and state” is a myth, but it’s not the kind of myth Barton thinks. If he thinks the laws should be based on his “holy book” then he’s just as wrong and dangerous as the Jihadist cretins who want to impose Sharia based on the Koran. Your religion is your business, but as soon as you try to make it my government it is not a valid religion anymore and deserves no constitutional protection at all.

Four Legs Good!

Two Legs Better!

So “Swagga” beats “Swagger”.

Flecktones in Spain

What Victor Wooten can do with a bass is not only physically impossible, but likely illegal in several states.

The Real Culture War Is Over Capitalism

Good reading from Mr. Brooks (the good one, not the NYT one).

Still, the tea parties are not based on the cold wonkery of budget data. They are based on an “ethical populism.” The protesters are homeowners who didn’t walk away from their mortgages, small business owners who don’t want corporate welfare and bankers who kept their heads during the frenzy and don’t need bailouts. They were the people who were doing the important things right — and who are now watching elected politicians reward those who did the important things wrong.

Voices in the media, academia, and the government will dismiss this ethical populism as a fringe movement — maybe even dangerous extremism. In truth, free markets, limited government, and entrepreneurship are still a majoritarian taste. In March 2009, the Pew Research Center asked people if we are better off “in a free market economy even though there may be severe ups and downs from time to time.” Fully 70% agreed, versus 20% who disagreed.

Free enterprise is culturally mainstream, for the moment. Asked in a Rasmussen poll conducted this month to choose the better system between capitalism and socialism, 13% of respondents over 40 chose socialism. For those under 30, this percentage rose to 33%. (Republicans were 11 times more likely to prefer capitalism than socialism; Democrats were almost evenly split between the two systems.)

The way I put it is that “capitalism” is merely the economic term of art for “freedom”.

H1N1 Map

There’s a Google Maps mashup for everything, including tracking the swine flu.

And maybe future outbreaks will be spotted by search engines.

Meanwhile, maybe I named this post wrong. Just waiting for the Obamapromter to rename it the “Overseas Contingency Flu”.

Get A Room

Putting the “syc” in sycophant.

When Obama answers a question, you don’t slap your forehead and moan, “Oh, brother!” He is, as guest expert David Gergen noted on CNN after the news conference, not only “up to speed” on the pressing issues of our time but also articulate about addressing them in a friendly, accessible way. He’s not the student who wears a button that says, “Smartest kid in class,” but clearly he is, at least when surrounded by the White House press corps.

I don’t think Shales even got his own joke in that last sentence.

The Dippin’ Dots President

He looks so far forward all he can see is what’s behind him.

On issue after issue, Obama has made it clear that instead of blasting past “the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long,” (as he promised in his inaugural address), he’s moving full speed ahead toward policy prescriptions that already had less fizz than a case of Billy Beer back when Jimmy Carter was urging us all to wear sweaters and turn down our thermostats. Instead of thinking outside the box, Obama is nailing it shut from the inside.

and

For those Americans who voted for Obama, a question: Is this the change you had in mind?

Pelosi: “I didn’t inhale”

“So I kinda like, you know, heard about waterboarding, but they totally said they were kidding about, you know, using it.”

Handy Stimulus Flow Chart

Seen at a Tea Party:

1/4th of a Penny For Your Thoughts

This graphic is a pretty good way to visualize The Messiah’s so-called budget cuts. So is this.

Dumb Idea

I’d really like to know who requested that New York photo op.

I note that there is no mention anywhere of a chase plane, meaning the photos were intended to be taken from the ground. It’s possible that this mission originated at the Pentagon but my instinct is that He is behind this somehow.

Update:

Do I win?

Bumped:

President Investigates Own Incompetence: Hilarity Ensues

Spin This

The One, 100 days in, is less popular than Nixon and the Nasty Little Man.

According to Gallup’s April survey, Americans have a lower approval of Mr. Obama at this point than all but one president since Gallup began tracking this in 1969. The only new president less popular was Bill Clinton, who got off to a notoriously bad start after trying to force homosexuals on the military and a federal raid in Waco, Texas, that killed 86. Mr. Obama’s current approval rating of 56 percent is only one tick higher than the 55-percent approval Mr. Clinton had during those crises.

And the chickens haven’t even turned toward the roost yet. Except maybe one big blue one…

Bo Goes for a Walk

Rumor: Arlen Specter to Switch Parties

Sorry to get your hopes up, but the rumor is false. He’s still a Democrat.

Update:

Comedy!

Don’t Fear the Flu

Here’s a factual, calm, rational piece about the Swine Flu. I had it vetted by the official Buttle’s World MD, who says, “Yes, that’s reasonable advice.”

Swine flu is one more strain of flu. It sounds really scary because it originally came from pigs, and that creates some mystery around it. It also sounds scary because we don’t have any vaccine to protect those who are most vulnerable.

But it behaves like other flus. We catch it the same way, and we can protect ourselves the same ways. We can make choices to protect ourselves and our families.

Do you fear the seasonal flu? Probably not. And this flu is really no more frightening than seasonal flu. In fact, to date, no deaths have occurred outside Mexico, whereas thousands die each year from seasonal flu.

Read the whole thing.

This just in:

Our MD has forwarded the CDC link on Swine Influenza which is updated at least every 24 hours. And here are their recommendations and even a page for clinicians.

I Was Looking for Something Else

and I found this. What a coincidence!

The Foundations of a Free Society

Dr. Nathaniel Branden recently emailed a link to this talk he gave back in 1995, pointing out that recent events make it timely. He is, as usual, absolutely right.

For thousands of years, to turn to an ethical dimension, people have been taught that self-interest is evil. And for thousands of years they have been taught that the essence of virtue is self-sacrifice. To a large extent that is a doctrine of control and manipulation. “Selfish” is what we call people when they are doing what they want to do, rather than what we want them to do.

The world is changing. Imagine, for example, that a speaker was addressing a room full of women, only women, and he said, “Ladies, the essence of morality is realizing that you are here to serve. Your needs are not what is important. Think only of those you serve; nothing is more beautiful than self-sacrifice.” Well, in the modern world, such a speaker would rightly be hooted off the stage. Question: What happens if the same speech is made to a mixed audience? Why is what’s wrong with it different if men are also in the audience? We need to rethink our whole ethical framework. We need to rethink and realize that it is the natural right of an organism, not only to defend and to sustain its own life, but to fulfill its own needs, to pursue its own values, bound by the moral obligation not to violate the rights of others by coercion or fraud, not to willingly participate in a coercive society.

You owe it to yourself to read the whole thing. It’s not very long, but it is very timely.

Hail to the Chief

I hope this report is correct.

Spying an AK-47 automatic rifle aimed at Phillips’ back – and with standing orders from President Obama to shoot to kill the pirates if necessary – snipers perched on the fantail of the guided missile destroyer USS Bainbridge opened fire from some 85 feet away when three of the pirates’ heads came into view, Gortney said.

If those standing orders really came from The One, then bully. Let’s have fewer Apology Tours and more of this, Mr. President.

Meanwhile, why aren’t the crews of every ship sailing near Somali waters being armed to the teeth? For about twenty grand in machine guns and ammo per ship they could make any AK-toting fishermen consider a new line of work, and at a respectful distance.

Update:

The authorization was not as specific as being reported, but I’m with Jonah.

Another Update, (and bumped):

There’s an email going around purporting to have SEAL origins. As snopes points out, it’s mostly false. I mean, good grief. I just lived through eight years of Bush Derangement Syndrome. I don’t want any Obama Derangement Syndrome. There’s plenty that America’s least-prepared, least-qualified and so far worst President has done and will do to merit criticism. But let’s stick to the real stuff and be thankful that, at least some of the time, He has done the right thing.

Domestic Dependence

It’s a good thing He isn’t a Republican else we’d be hearing nothing but Telemprompter jokes.

Letter from a Soldier

How the soldiers see themselves.

We are not your sons and daughters, whom you must protect and defend. We are your sword and your shield. We are men and women who volunteer to place our lives on the line so you do not have to. We do not decide when or where we will be sent. We go. You are our advocates, not our parents.

Perspective

Consider the good news about Swine Flu.

Being able to fret about just one serious communicable disease is a luxury beyond price.

British Frog Notices Hot Water

This observation is simple, elementary common sense. It’s notable, though, because of who is saying it.

Last Thursday I met with a thirtysomething guy. I absolutely depend on him in a highly technical area of theatrical production. For legal reasons he has to employ himself through his own company. Under the new tax regime, he will have to pay 13.3 per cent to employ himself before he pays himself anything. And then he will have to pay 51.5 per cent on what’s left.

This is a guy at the cutting edge of his profession who works all over the world. He is in demand in every major territory where entertainment is produced. He has a young wife and two children. Last Thursday he told me that he and his wife had decided that the UK was no longer where they wanted to live.

Coming Out of the Closet

For some values of “atheist” I am one, although it’s not the word I’d first use to describe myself. I have no interest in capital-A Atheism which seems to be a religion in its own right.

But humans did evolve in tribes, and religions form some of the greatest tribes in history. So I have to appreciate efforts to form atheist tribes.

“It’s not about carrying banners or protesting,” said Herb Silverman, a math professor at the College of Charleston who founded the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry, which has about 150 members on the coast of the Carolinas. “The most important thing is coming out of the closet.”

This seems much more productive than those stupid bus signs in England. Getting past the point where supposedly religious people debate ignorant, bigoted questions like “Can an atheist be a good person?” would be a step forward for the world. Maybe I should see if there’s a local chapter.

Meanwhile, I’d love it if California made these license plates available.

Parody Proof President

Is this the fawning of an Obamadroid thrall, or a vicious parody? You tell me.

Update:

My confusion appears to be the artist’s goal.

D’Antuono insists that this piece is a mirror; reflecting the personal opinions and emotions of the viewer; that “The Truth” like beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. D’Antuono expects that individual interpretations will vary as widely as they do in the political arena. The work will be seen by one viewer at a time behind a voting booth-inspired public installation.

So D’Antuono may be a genius.

Another Update:

It’s a fine line, really, between genius and naive.

Britain’s Got Talent Getting Too Good at This

One could become suspicious of ringers. Now, I do know that there are ten year old girls who can sing this well. But Simon Cowell just may be one of the best actors working in England. I wonder if he knew ahead of time about the bad costume and dancing.

Still, Little Hollie held up her end whatever the deal was.

Two More Gaps Found in Fossil Record

At least that’s what the liars at the so-called Discovery Institute will have to say when they learn about the missing link between seals and land mammals.

The animal had a long, streamlined body with heavy limbs, suggesting it had well-developed muscles. It had a long tail and likely moved much more easily over land than modern seals. It was little longer than a cat from the tip of its nose to the tip of its tail (about 110 centimetres). It didn’t have flippers, but had flattened digits that suggest webbed feet. Its canine teeth were large, indicating a meat eater, and it had a short snout and muscular jaw.

Spotter’s Guide

Iranian sniper or Wookie?