Category: Uncategorized

by Smitty

Many rail about the decay of American culture and politics. A few set about doing something. Declaration Entertainment is one of the better examples of getting it done. I have supported it since inception, hope you do too, and eagerly await the first product.

by Smitty

I’m within about 36 hours of starting the trip home. Travel within Afghanistan is simply not a fun thing for anyone. And there are more important things, like greeting the World’s Youngest Blogger on the plate. Still, there are other things on the to-do list.
Nice Deb posts a review of The Undefeated. Yeah, I’ll be busy massaging my wife’s feet. But you gotta do what you gotta do. Maybe Stacy McCain and I can get together for the show.

The movie is not really about Sarah Palin. The movie is about a distinctly American conservative spirit that will not die.

Oh, bring it. The point of American exceptionalism is that our country is modeled on the individual, not the state. “Progress” has been about destroying the individual, while claiming to save that person. It’s a godfosaken lie, and I hope the attendance recordes on this movie pummel that lie into dust.

by Smitty

Let me save you some self-abuse and summarize a post at Sal(ivati)on.

A 1998 voting guide published by a leading neoconfederate group and obtained by Salon not only endorses Perry for lieutenant governor, it also describes him as “a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.”
. . .
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the group experienced years of internal conflict between moderate and radical factions, essentially between those who wanted to focus on maintaining historical sites and supporting research and those who were committed to glorifying the Confederacy — in some cases, out-and-out white supremacists.

The latter faction seems to be in the ascendancy these days.

Now, it isn’t fair in a short online article to expect a doctoral thesis on what went on within the group.
On the other hand, Elliott seems to be of the modern ilk who thoroughly enjoy setting themselves up in judgement of precisely how much pure historical interest a Rick Perry or anyone else is permitted to express over 19th century American history. It is almost as though the Elliotts of the world want slavish control over Southerners of European descent.

After Bush was elected president and Perry became governor, he maintained his warm relations with Confederate-affiliated groups. Perry was featured in the United Daughters of the Confederacy magazine for a July 2001 visit to the 25th anniversary celebration of a library that had been given an archival collection of Confederate materials.

Breath deeply the scent of the non-falsifiable proposition: “Rick Perry did not do enough to distance himself from Confederate-affiliated groups.”

So how does the Perry of 2011 — the likely presidential hopeful who will have to appeal to plenty of Northerners — view the Civil War and these neoconfederate groups? We may find out soon. The Sons of Confederate Veterans is pushing for a Confederate flag license plate in Texas, but when the state motor vehicle board voted on the matter back in April, it was a 4-4 tie, with one absence. Since then, one member died and the board is waiting for Perry to appoint a replacement. Stay tuned …

OMG! Not the license plate!

Quick, Governor Perry! You better veto that plate, or this Lefty clown at Salon shall have successfully proven that you. . .allowed people freedom of speech or something.

Whew.
Slavery was morally reprehensible. However, Elliott’s attempt at saying

Slavery==Confederacy==Rick Perry

is just so much sad tripe.

by Smitty

Check out His Badness, Jim Hanson, of BlackFive fame:
Hanson’s a frequent visitor on RT, rapping with Alyona on various topics. I’m only endorsing Hanson himself, while not actually saying whether or not Hanson’s remarks reflect any ground truth. Dunno.
One side effect of the Surge Recover in Afghanistan is that there will be a flood of additional voters for 2012. Hopefully, despite problems that von Spkovsky notes over at NRO, this will have a positive effect on voting:

MVPP surveyed 24 states. Of the 2 million military voters covered by the report, 15.8 percent requested absentee ballots, but only 4.6 percent cast absentee ballots that were counted. This is at least partly due to the difficulty and uncertainty of the process. Both numbers were below the 2006 midterm election figures, when 5.5 percent of military and overseas voters cast absentee ballots that were counted.

MVPP also found that local election officials in 14 states and the District of Columbia failed to comply with the federal requirement that all absentee ballots must be mailed at least 45 days prior to the election. That requirement, imposed by the 2009 Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE Act), was intended to ensure that voters had enough time to receive and mail back a ballot, given the long transit times for overseas mail, particularly in war zones. These failures affected more than 65,000 voters.

Most of the states did a good job counting the ballots they actually got back — the overall acceptance rate was more than 94 percent. However, there was one glaring and shameful exception: The state of New York rejected nearly one-third of all absentee ballots from military voters. Based on a combined estimate of military members who voted in person in the U.S. as well as overseas voters, MVPP concluded that the overall turnout rate of military voters was 11.6 percent. Since the turnout rate of all voters was 41.6 percent in the 2010 election, this means that military voters were 3.5 times less likely to vote than other voting-age citizens.

This is a significant voting issue that the Left never seems to notice. Can’t figure out why.

by Smitty

Workin’ hard, tryin’ to be surprised that Kenneth Gladney received a legal thrashing to match the physical one. No mention at Big Journalism, but if there is a fund to appeal this case, I should like to hear about it.
What is going on in St. Louis? The comments mention Casey Anthony. Has our legal system substantially turned away from the notion of justice?
More at Ace of Spades HQ.

by Smitty

Newton’s Fourth Law:

For every tragic action, there is a correspondingly idiotic, bureaucratic jerk of the knee, whose only real effects are to throw liberty further off balance, and make it a still easier prey for lawyers.

From Volokh:

The recent controversial acquittal of Casey Anthony has stimulated efforts in many states to enact “Caylee’s Law” as a response. The law would require parents to report a missing child to the authorities within 24 hours, and the death of a child within 1 hour. If they fail to do either, they would be guilty of a felony (a federal one if the law is enacted by Congress).

Let this be a campaign point. Let a thousand attack ads flourish against any politician sponsoring legislation that is pure emotional pandering, and which is more despicable than the evil act which spawned the legislation.

by Smitty

Pardon me for two links to Colmes in one day, but T-Paw is under fire for questioning the Progressive Orthodoxy that sexual preference is hardwired.
My question is: how do you handle the freewill/destiny question? It seems that the “Born this way” approach becomes a slippery slope argument, dropping you into a mechanistic universe. Or am I missing something?
Not to be a tease, I’ll offer my take, briefly. Even if freewill does not exist (because we can’t seem to reach a conclusive proof either way) our very system asserts and assumes freewill, despite all Progressive attempts to reduce society to an ant heap.
Go, Pawlenty!

by Smitty (h/t Lucianne)

As reported in the Daily Caller

Appearing on Nashville radio host Steve Gill’s show last week, West said Obama would be “complicit” with what he sees as Justice Department attempts to slow down and avoid a congressional investigation into Operation Fast and Furious and Project Gunrunner if he didn’t push his attorney general to resign. “The president needs to realize that Eric Holder needs to be removed from the Department of Justice,” West said after detailing why he thinks Holder should appear before an investigative committee to testify about how the DOJ has handled its response to the Operation Fast and Furious investigation. “Or else I believe President Obama is complicit and he is in approval of the actions of his attorney general.”

Gill followed up by asking West if he thought a special prosecutor was needed to investigate Operation Fast and Furious. West said he thought so, adding that the mishandling of the operation is a part of a “trend” he sees forming at the DOJ. West said the way Holder has handled Operation Fast and Furious is reminiscent of how he handled the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation scandal.

Read the whole thing.
I’m already on record as saying I think this scandal will result in a premature ejection from Pennsylvania Avenue. OFF has a special straw-breaking-camel’s-back feel to it, atop all of the other creepy, idiotic undertakings from this administration. It will be the OFFramp for this clownshow.
And who better to be the spokesperson for the ‘Get this joker out of here!’ chorus than West? Having shaken the man’s hand, I daresay they don’t arrive more impeccable. Thank you, Florida, for electing him.