Friday, October 17. 2008
 I have an early morning hunt in woodchuck country, so I will leave these:
"Festishism puts the kibosh on an upsurge"? Is that English? Or Eskimo? Speaking of Eskimo, how is a Palin t-shirt racist? Sheesh. She married an Eskimo, for heaven's sake. Beware of asking Obama a difficult question. They will rip your head off. More on the Army of Joes, at Jules. I am a Joe. Proof of fraudulent votes. Ace has a skull in flames. Selling soap, and creating fear. New, improved FEAR!!! Fear sells!!!! Where Caligula bought the farm. Call me when it's ready. Chicken-fried Chicken. I want mashed potatoes on the side, and biscuits. Nothing green, please. Do I look like a rabbit? David Brooks has an Obama wet dream. What is it with these straight guys and Obama? The Eve of Destruction. Not yet. Man, that was an idiotic song. I cannot keep up with MSM lies and keep my new job and pay my taxes at the same time. Thanks to Confed Yank, here and here. Why so many conservatives have to be from Wasilla It's the Iranian caviar that gets me
McCain roasts Obama at the Al Smith Dinner in NYC last night (h/t, Tiger). Amusing and good, as McCain tends to be (even if he cannot pronounce Zoroastrian. But who cares? Obama says "The Reverend Wright married Michelle and I..."):
Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering. Saint Augustine
The MSM has done more investigations into Joe the Plumber in 24 hours than they’ve done on Barack Obama in two years. . A Maggie's Farm commenter last night. Related: Anchoress discusses Going after Joe Plumber. The political message is that if you stand up, they will destroy you. It's funny though, because the issue wasn't Joe: the issue was Obama's arrogant mini-lecture to Joe.
That Ayers ghost-wrote Obama's memoir. But why would he?
 A short history of modern finance. Excellent.
An area of the economy which is booming Kofi Annan lends support to Obama. As did Castro, Chavez, Putin... Does military service matter any more in politics? The FBI is investigating ACORN The FBI is investigating Rep Mahoney Details on the Canadian election A Liberal supermajority? Rick Moran says forget about McCain and fight for the filibuster in the Senate. I think you have to fight to the finish. Related, click to biggify this. HT may be good for womens' brains More comic relief from Roger. A real quote from Ayers' defenders: It’s true that Professor Ayers participated passionately in the civil rights and antiwar movements of the 1960s, as did hundreds of thousands of Americans.
"Passionately"? How about "criminally and sociopathically, with no regard for human life or property"?
Thursday, October 16. 2008
The NYT is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Democratic Party. (h/t, several bloggers)
 They say that our Flicker numbers are decreasing, but we have tons of them around here. A couple of years ago, we had two young dumb ones decided to plunge down our chimney, and it was tough catching them and putting them outside. Sharp beaks.
I heard one calling this morning. "Flicka flicka flicka." They migrate, unlike most woodpeckers, but these guys do more pecking in the earth than they do in trees. They love to eat ants, and suburbia doesn't seem to bother them. You can read more about these birds here.
As Obama tries on his Teflon suit and tries to run out the clock while McCain-Palin nips at his heels, it brought to mind the ZZ Top tune. Sheesh, are we really going to elect a GQ Ivy league twit who has never done anything in his life, much less anything masculine? Curtis said it on the radio this morning: "He's The Candy Man. The candy man can..."
 Contrapposto: How to stand like a studly fellow. (See image on right) h/t, Vanderleun
Jay Nordlinger has some great points re the debate. My view: John McCain doesn't think like a lawyer. He doesn't have that calculating thing going. Karl Rove has some grim news for Repubs Never, ever, have sex on the beach in Dubai. It's just not worth it. If that ship isn't a floating nuclear weapon, then what is it? The hottest sex scandal you never heard about The coldest Arctic you never heard about. h/t, Tiger Creepy, from Obama: "If voters are … polarized and if they’re seeing two different realities, a Sean Hannity reality and a Keith Olbermann reality, then we’re not going to be able to get done the work we need to get done.”
Best for the greater good to just shut down us voices of freedom. Palin rumors that won't go away. Rumors are scary things. Going-out-of-business art sales A little commentary on pop culture Kos: We don't want to win. We want to crush their spirits. Nice. Who are these juveniles? From a banker friend: "If we get more banking regs here we will drive the entire world banking industry from New York to London, Dubai, and Hong Kong."
It looks like the Metropolitan Museum made a wise leadership choice. It is good to hear that the Met is not sinking into pomo insanity.
This is the very perfection of a man, to find out his own imperfections. Saint Augustine
Pic: Anticipating a McCain/Palin landslide after Joe The Plumber's impressive showing at last night's debate, the original French company that built the Statue of Liberty starts making plans for its replacement.
Well, I have dreadful news for you.
It really shouldn't be my job to shatter your life like this. We here at Maggie's Farm occupy most of our time tendin' the fields an' milkin' the cows an' sloppin' the hogs, but in those few brief moments of spare time we have, we use it to bring you, the Maggie's Valued Readerâ„¢, nothing but good, clean, wholesome radical right-wing anti-Obama smears news.
Well, we might as well get this over with. Better you hear it from a friend than some heartless voice on a newscast.
Here goes.
You live in fear.
Yes, you heard me right. From the fearful instant you fearfully wake up to the fearful moment you fearfully close your eyes after another fearfully long fear-filled day, according to Senators Barack Obama and John McCain, the one overriding emotion that governs your life...
is fear.
And you'd just never guess why.
Continue reading "Joe The Plumber: National Hero"
Mark Halperin grades the final debate. Time Paul at Powerline watched it too.
I heard Obama say last night "This country needs fundamental change." Fundamental, in Merriam-Webster: 1 a: serving as an original or generating source : primary <a discovery fundamental to modern computers> b: serving as a basis supporting existence or determining essential structure or function : basic2 a: of or relating to essential structure, function, or facts : radical
I could not disagree more. Furthermore, I'd like to see this country return to its fundamentals.
Wednesday, October 15. 2008
Heard on 770 radio, post-debate, from a caller: If you want to vote for an American Idol, vote for Obama. If you want to vote for an American president, you'll vote for McCain.
 Who pays taxes? From Spread Your Own Wealth Around at Powerline:
According to the most recent (2006) data released by the IRS, the top 1 percent of filers paid nearly 40 percent of all income taxes; the top 5 percent paid 60 percent of all income taxes. The bottom 50 percent paid virtually no income taxes (3 percent of all income taxes paid). The personal income tax, the federal government's main source of revenue, is collected overwhelmingly from a relative handful of Americans. The large majority of all Americans pay little or no income tax. Given that poorer citizens always outnumber the rich, political philosophers have long worried that government based on majority rule could lead to organized theft from the wealthy by the democratic masses. "If the majority distributes among itself the things of a minority, it is evident that it will destroy the city," warns Aristotle.
We have turned into a two-class society: the shrinking paying class and the large receiving class. Disgruntlement ensues, because the paying class resents carrying everybody else's load, and the receiving class covers up their embarassment and shame about receiving with resentment, envy, and a trumped-up sense of entitlement: it is basic human psychology that the recipient always must resent their benefactor who, in politics, is their neighbor and compatriot. The obvious political strategy is to increase the % that pay no taxes (or, under Obama's plan, get "refund" checks without paying taxes, aka welfare, aka vote-buying), while raising the numbers of government employees in any way you can. That's how you create a "grateful" population of spirit-crippled dependents, incentivized to work the system and to vote to their economic advantage. Obama's plan will take from the middle class and the small number of wealthy while bringing the number of non-taxpayers up to the magic number of 50%. 100 economists say it's a disastrous idea, and so do I. I believe that everybody should pay their dues so as to feel like a part of the country by contributing their sweat and to have a stake in it, but with 50% of people paying no taxes and getting checks instead, you'll never get a flat tax through. The receiving class would rebel. The now-famous Joe the Plumber understands life better than any Dem politician, latte liberal, or academic, because he is in real life and he made it work.
 We concluded our most recent planning meeting for our local Ducks Unlimited event by consuming a bottle of delicious, smooth, and healthful Liquore di Mirto (aka "Mirto") which the Dylanologist was kind enough to bring us back from Sardinia this summer.
It is apparently the national drink of Sardinia. They like it in Corsica too. This bottle was from Oristana. The rosso is like a port, with the extremely pleasant and unique fragrance of Myrtle. It's too precious and tasty to waste on debate-watching. We recommend shots and beer for that.
Bruce Kesler emails this post: Many Republicans are outraged that the major media has not delved into Barack Obama’s track-record of ties to radicals and crooks and of baldly denying his own prior words and actions, or ignoring Joe Biden’s gaffes, especially while devoting major resources and space to – often exaggerating – any deemed peccadillo by John McCain and Sarah Palin. While this is entirely legitimate ire, it is also so that almost all who are concerned about the deceptive self-presentation by Obama and Biden are aware of it. What is lacking is the major media imprimatur on their duplicity that provides it with greater impact upon the choice for president. However, as the election nears, the possibility has risen of Barack Obama being elected which stimulates some in the major media to reflect more on his background and programs. This increased attention, while likely being far from what is needed, will still reduce his margin. But, what is far more pressing on most voters’ minds is naturally the economy. It will do McCain little additional good to harp on Obama’s associates. Surrogates can handle that. The economy should be stressed. It provides little reassurance to honestly say we’re in uncharted territory. Most of the public expects government action. More reflection or restraint is not accepted, because of expectations developed by decades of government promises and interventions, no matter how hollow or unproductive, and by validation from both political parties that government still has ready remedies that will avoid pain.
Continue reading "McCain's opportunity"
An email from our WS friend: BUY MUNIS. Tax-exempt bonds pricing at 6.25? You'd be insane not to in this market. Plus, with Dems likely to take over, Muni rates will drop significantly because everyone expects taxes to go up. The value of your 6.25 coupons (aka bond price) will increase when market yields drop. (Market yields for Munis have spiked to over 10-yr highs in the past week, by the way.) When rates fall, you can either keep you tax free 6 percent or cash out. If rates don't fall, 6.25 still isn't bad... Its a win-win. New York City is in the market today and we are all placing bids! Gotta run -
 Obama campaign hands press their talking points - before the debate. The press needs to know what to say. Coordination, ya know?
Obama looks like a president. I guess that's what counts. I think he looks like a GQ model. Tim Blair on Devil Children Good logic on private property. Wilkinson Sowell on negative campaigning. Regulation vs. deregulation. Tiger. Related: The Reregulation mantra. Time to go "John Galt"? Dr. Helen Carbon taxes and the Canadian election Messiahs, mortals, and great men. Jules Michelle on more Ohio vote fraud. JFK pulled these stunts too. It works, if the press is in your pocket.
Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you. Saint Augustine
Mrs. Bird Dog attended this event last night. She and her companions said hi to John and Sarah. She appreciates these two fine folks very much, but she came home feeling discouraged about the election. They raised $9 million, but how to spend it? All I got was an XL McCain-Palin t-shirt. Where can I wear that?
Rants are sometimes therapeutic, aren't they? Vanderleun caught our friend Dr. Bob's recent jeremiad. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. I think we (slightly) grey hairs were saying such things in the cave-man days...not that such things do not need to be said.
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