Marcel The Shell With Shoes On

Brilliant.

Republican in San Francisco

Brian is a friend, coworker, and crazy talented musician. Read the back story of the song. I can really, really relate.

Call Her Ma’am Again

David Zucker is sorry he ever donated to Barbara Boxer. Very, very sorry. Here is his apology.

Listen to the Professor

Not that they’d actually talk about the dangers of big government in China. Great spot none the less. Pass it along!

Capitalism. Is there anything it can’t do?

The Rent is Too Damn Up

Who Says Islam Is Totalitarian?

Well, I do, for one. And I’m apparently in good company.

I have nothing against the people. I don’t hate Muslims. But Islam is a totalitarian ideology. It rules every aspect of life — economics, family law, whatever. It has religious symbols, it has a God, it has a book — but it’s not a religion. It can be compared with totalitarian ideologies like Communism or fascism. There is no country where Islam is dominant where you have a real democracy, a real separation between church and state.

Religious Tolerance

This little history lesson from Kenneth Davis comes close to attacking a straw man. But the lesson is a valuable one. One of the worst things about most, if not all, religions is intolerance. When you have “the truth” everybody else is automatically “wrong”. It’s worth reading the whole thing to see just how and why the framers made sure ours was a secular government.

In his litany of religious intolerance in America Davis even soft-sells it.

At about the same time, Joseph Smith founded a new American religion—and soon met with the wrath of the mainstream Protestant majority. In 1832, a mob tarred and feathered him, marking the beginning of a long battle between Christian America and Smith’s Mormonism. In October 1838, after a series of conflicts over land and religious tension, Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs ordered that all Mormons be expelled from his state. Three days later, rogue militiamen massacred 17 church members, including children, at the Mormon settlement of Haun’s Mill. In 1844, a mob murdered Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum while they were jailed in Carthage, Illinois. No one was ever convicted of the crime.

Boggs didn’t just want the Mormons expelled, he issued an “extermination order”. It wasn’t rescinded until 1976. (Still, I doubt you’ll hear a better name today than Lilburn Boggs. Gotta use that one in a movie script some day.)

Do read the whole thing for a reminder of just how beastly religious people have been to each other in this country, even starting hundreds of years before it was a country. Then rejoice that the constitution specifically keeps religion out of government both for the good of the country and the good of religion.

The Very Model of a Modern U.S. President

The brilliance of this piece is that it works either way. It could be one of those pro-Obama things that only looks anti-Obama, or it could be the most sly anti-Obama thing in weeks. Many commenters on YouTube apparently think He really is the very model. When I watch this I see His clueless arrogance on parade.

Like I said, brilliant.

It’s the Arrogant Cuttlefish!

Watch Obama spew ink in His response to this racist.

Note how, at least twice, He claims to have “passed” legislation. Man, with this guy it’s always about “me, me me”. Note also that He never actually answers the questions.

Not Rocket Science

I’ve long insisted that the constitution was not meant as a brain buster. It’s written in plain English, to the level of understanding of an average person. John Derbyshire got a great email from a reader who agrees.

To this day, I’m amazed at all the seemingly bright students in my class that never seemed to “get it.” I am convinced they made things more complicated than they needed to be because of an expectation that things had to be difficult. Indeed, I think it is a hallmark of lawyers to make things more complicated than they need to be — part of it probably to create a mystique that gives more apparent legitimacy to the profession and part out of a preening intellectualism, and I think it has long been this way with attorneys. But I think with the modern legal profession there is something more sinister going on. The “complexity” of the law (specifically of constitutional law) is in far too many instances merely a smoke screen for those that would use the law to achieve political ends for which our legal system was not intended and for which there would be no popular support. If Justice Blackman had stated in his Roe v. Wade opinion that “there is clearly no right to an abortion protected by the Constitution, but a majority of us justices feel there ought to be,” clearly that ruling would have no political legitimacy. Hence, we get double speak like “unenumerated penumbras” designed, I believe, to make the layman throw up his hands and say “this stuff is too complicated for me…but if the experts say there’s a right to an abortion in the Constitution they must be right. Heck, they went to law school!”

Ana One, Ana Two

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Saskatchewan Philharmonic.

Strangely Compelling

or merely strange? You decide.

Update: (And bumped)

The first copy of the video I linked to got taken down. Here’s a fresh one. I still have to watch this every few days.

He may talk like a thug

but at least He’s self-centered.

“If we turn out in strong numbers, then we will do fine. If we do not, if we are depressed and decide, well, you know, Barack’s not running right now, so I’m just going to stay home, then I’m going to have my hands full up here on Capitol Hill.”

The Socialist

The High Cost of Muslim Intolerance

Your must-read of the day.

Islamic Republics don’t work. The only one that has been established (not counting others that say they are but aren’t) is in Iran. The major problems were twofold. First, the radicals had too much power. Radical religious types are no fun, and you can’t argue with them because they are on a mission from God. Most people tire of this in short order. To speed this disillusionment, many of the once-poor and now-powerful religious leaders became corrupt. This eventually sends your popularity ratings straight to hell.

The Michael Bayifier

Now you can make any photo look like a frame from a Michael Bay movie! Awesome!

Just look what it did with my drivers license photo.

No Pressure

I’m sure you’ll want to go green after watching this.

See Instapundit: ECO-FASCISM JUMPS THE SHARK.

Update:

Iowahawk goes behind the scenes at Splodey, Youngblood, Gutz & Bones.