Did He Say This With A Straight Face?

The One, pontificating in Ghana:

“No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top…. No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery. That is not democracy; that is tyranny, even if occasionally you sprinkle an election in there. And now is the time for that style of governance to end.”

Rush Limbaugh asks the right questions:

“Our government is soon going to be skimming 51 percent off the top of everything we make! What does that make Obama? Obama just kneecapped the auto industry. He just put the United Auto Workers in charge of on the board of directors and made ’em owners. What the hell is that?”

Well, Rush, I’ll explain. President Teleprompter meant to add “Do as I say, not as I do.” I swear that the Thug in Chief, especially with his handling of GM, reminds me more every day of another swell guy from Chicago. (The squeamish will want to stop that clip before the 2:00 mark.)

This One Goes To Eleven

It seems like the blink of an eye to me – albeit a slow blink – but it’s been four decades since Apollo 11. NASA will be observing the event with an audio webcast of the sound of the entire mission, starting at 7:32 EDT tomorrow morning. From their press release:

The audio retrospective will begin at 6:32 a.m.  CDT Thursday, July 16, two hours before the spacecraft launched. The audio  will continue through splashdown of the mission at 11:51 a.m. CDT Friday,  July 24, and recovery of the crew shortly afterward. The Web stream  will feature the communications between the astronauts and ground  teams, and commentary from Mission Control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center  in Houston.

Listen here.

More info on Apollo 11 40th anniversary observations here.

Dinner at the White House

A parable.

Once upon a time, I was invited to the White House for a private dinner with the President. I am a respected businessman, with a factory that produces memory chips for computers and portable electronics. There was some talk that my industry was being scrutinized by the administration, but I paid it no mind. I live in a free country. There’s nothing that the government can do to me if I’ve broken no laws. My wealth was earned honestly, and an invitation to dinner with an American President is an honor.

I checked my coat, was greeted by the Chief of Staff, and joined the President in a yellow dining room. We sat across from each other at a table draped in white linen. The Great Seal was embossed on the china. Uniformed staff served our dinner.

The meal was served, and I was startled when my waiter suddenly reached out, plucked a dinner roll off my plate, and began nibbling it as he walked back to the kitchen.

“Sorry about that,” said the President. “Andrew is very hungry.”

Read the whole thing.

Road Trip!

First Private Commercial Satellite Launch

SpaceX has done it.

Here’s the windup…

I’m not a baseball fan, so I’ll have to trust Andy McCarthy on this. Which I’m pretty comfortable doing. He’s certainly right about the video clips.

Though it’s not a widely appreciated fact, we right-winger sports nuts have long known that the sports press is among the media’s leftiest precincts.  So I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised at how little was said (as in nothing at all) about the reception President Obama received last night when he came out on the field to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the baseball all-star game in St. Louis.  It was a packed house (over 50,000 in attendance), and the jeers were easily discernible.

Update:

Now it’s First-Pitchgate!

Another Oversimplification from the Republicans

It simply cannot be this uncomplicated.