Sunday, May 31, 2015

Corruption is winning

I'm back to driving an old car with mere broadcast radio, and that means a hefty dose of National Public Radio. When the FIFA indictments broke last week, NPR and the BBC (which runs on NPR) were all over it, interviewing "football" enthusiasts all over the world. The distinct impression was that Anglo-Saxons were all for the indictments, and more or less everybody else thinks it is American imperialism of some sort, pushing our cultural values and system to the detriment of the rest of the world. In this view, bribing is just another word for the things we do together, and who is to say whether it is a bad thing? The answer, of course, is Anglo-Saxons, whose descendants run most of the few fairly honest governments on earth (with all deference to the Scandinavians and a few city states and such).

Of course, one might stake out the principled position that official corruption is bad and ought to be prosecuted, but that Americans are not the people to do that job in the case of FIFA, or in many other cases. There is indeed a rather breathtaking arrogance in the American attitude about territory, especially in matters of taxation and business regulation. If (say) the French indicted senior officials in the (say) National Football League because they had held a relevant meeting in (say) Martinique or wired money through a bank regulated by France, most Americans -- and especially most American politicians -- would sputter in indignation. Yet that is what the Obama administration is doing in the FIFA case, more or less.

All of this nattering about American arrogance and British payback for losing out on the 2018 World Cup distracts us from the real point, which is that the biggest sport in the world is corrupt at its core. Don't forget that, no matter the blather about the Obama administration or American legal "imperialism."

We Anglo-Saxons, however, need to look at our own clay feet. In the United States, we have legalized corruption in our politics by various means. Everybody sees that Washington and many state capitals are places where permissions are now bought and sold with a careful attention to legality. See, e.g., the ridiculous posturing over the Clintons and their foundation, which has devolved in to a discussion of whether laws are broken rather than an honest debate about whether their behavior is wrong and morally corrupt, which it surely would be if everybody to the left of center were not terrified of a GOP sweep of the federal government in 2016.

This is the seemingly inevitable result of three big changes over the last couple of generations. First, political campaigns have become tremendously expensive, so politicians need a huge amount of money just to stay in office. Second, the regulatory state only metastasizes, with ever more federal, state and local permissions required to do really anything, and a swelling growth of affirmative mandates that extend well beyond basic consent. Many of these permissions and mandates involve such high stakes that the various victims and beneficiaries push for changes in the law or regulation to favor them at the expense of their competitors, and those changes tend to come from politicians who are financially supported by interested parties. This is "regulatory capture" to a progressive, and "crony capitalism" to a Tea Partier, but the meaning is the same. And the politicians say that it is not their money -- that will come after they leave office and start representing victims and beneficiaries of regulation -- but they need it just the same to pay for the next campaign. Third, our courts have correctly recognized that free speech also costs a great deal of money, and that if we require permissions from politicians for that we will have destroyed the First Amendment.

Progressives believe that the best solution to this is to regulate the spending of money on speech, at least if they do not approve of the source of the money or the speaker. Genuine small government conservatives, who are in no greater supply than principled progressives, believe that the best solution is to restore the inherent limits on government, so that there are many fewer permissions and mandates to be traded by politicians. Since neither progressives nor small government conservatives are likely to win their argument any time soon, if ever, and since political campaigns are not going to get any cheaper, we can expect our American style of lawful corruption to continue. Deep down, Americans understand this, which is why only partisans are worked up over the Clintons, pro or con. We know of no other way for the system to work, given that campaigns are so expensive, free speech costs money, and government now involves itself in virtually every moment of American life. But it still disgusts us.

Perspectives in "Thought Disorder"

Well it had to happen I guess, Martin O'Malley is in. He announced yesterday in Baltimore's Federal Hill Park in front of a crowd of well wishers and a security detail heretofore not seen since Douglas MacArthur landed on the beach at Luzon. Gov. O'Malley took an original approach to politics by declaring "I'm running for you". He then, to the delight of the crowd, took off his shirt and displayed his 47" chest and 19" biceps in an abbreviated Mr. Olympia routine. After the screaming and swooning and fainting had died down (instigated mostly by the well represented LGBT community) the Governor broke out his Gibson J-45 guitar (once owned by Freddy Mercury rumor has it) and gave a stirring rendition of Wham's "Make It BIG". Clearly O'Malley wishes to position himself as the "not TOO communist, not TOO corrupt and way way HOT" candidate. He's been working hard recently to expand his base of gay males, young voting age sluts and middle-aged divorced bimbos in the early primary/caucus states of Iowa and New Hampshire, so time will tell.  



Did you see Ann Coulter on Univision the other night? No? Well here's your chance. My God in Heaven the Spanish haven't taken a ass-whipping like this since Drake and Howard kicked the hell out of the Spanish Armada so bad they sailed NORTH to get away.
But let me say a few things Ann COULDN'T.
Jorge Ramos
typical Mexkin immigrant
 • The Mexkins we get are indigenous people, NOT Valencians on extended holiday. Ramos is a white boy carrying water for white boys (well as white as a Spaniard gets anyway).
• You want to see a top heavy society? Check out Mexico. Wealth (including massive oil wealth) is concentrated in the hands of the powerful elite, and they have no desire whatsoever to build schools or infrastructure or a social welfare system to accommodate the poor rising from their third world status. A much better system is to push the peons off on the Gringo to the north (fools that they are). The Mexican elite gets tremendous political influence in America, they don't have to worry about a quarter of their poor ass, needy population (the Gringo pays!) and they get a nice dollar infusion (again, courtesy of the Gringo). Hey hombre, IT'S ALL GOOD!
• They keep the "racist" focus on the Gringo. Mexico is a deeply racist country. Whatever sins the anglo is responsible for in the New World the Spanish have us beat by miles. The crimes of the Conquistadors surpass anything we every did, and I include slavery. By the way, the US was responsible for 17% of the slaves imported into the New World and 100% of the blame and guilt. Our Spanish friends South of the Border deny their societies are stratified therefore how can THEY be racists?  
• You think Southerners won't let go, talked to a Mexkin lately? They have one goal in mind, RECONQUISTA, the return of all the land lost after Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott (along with Bobby Lee, Thomas Jackson & US Grant) kicked the shit outta Santana (Antonio Lopez not Carlos) in the Mexican/American war of 1846-48. It is the elites' obsession and don't think it isn't, and they are well on their way to achieving their goal. Personally I think it's a lock at this point, and I'm not that sad about it. Goodbye California hello the new and improved United States of America (not including New England, sorry but it's adios mofo, YOU gotta go!).

Well that's all I got to say, now please, get outta my damn face! I'm sick of looking at you!

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

The Storage Unit

Having lived a peripatetic lifestyle for my 20's and 30's, I found not accumulating a lot of personal possessions to be a sound strategy. One favorite practice was to simply give away a lot of stuff while preparing for a move, either to shipmates who needed stuff or to Goodwill.  This allowed me to travel relatively lightly through my naval career, but there is a certain almost irreducible and in-compressible amount of stuff a normal man accumulates over time.  So when I cast my lot with this trio of Eastern Shore women, I needed to claim space for the things that I had accumulated over time--kitchen stuff, random pieces of furniture, towels and linens, uniforms, obsolete computer equipment and peripherals, the detritus of my undergraduate and graduate school studies, my ridiculously wonderful bed (I love my bed now, but it is a shadow of the splendor of my former one) and so on. This led to me procuring a storage unit.

I visit my storage unit infrequently, perhaps three or four times a year.  Before yesterday, the previous time was in January, when I rooted about in search of a few implements designed to make hip replacement recovery easier (sock aid, long shoe horn, etc--successfully located).  Yesterdays trip was designed to stow some random personal papers and photos that had accumulated and indeed a few more monitors and peripherals.  Each trip to my storage unit confronts me with my past and causes a bit of reflection.

Why, you may ask, do I keep the stuff in the unit, other than the personal items?  At first, as the Kitten and I spent a few years sizing each other up, it was--honestly--a hedging strategy.  Getting rid of all those Calphalon pots and 600 thread count sheets struck me as akin to the Greeks burning their ships at Syracuse, and I was not as bold as they.  Now that it appears the two of us have settled in for the long haul, the storage unit serves as a shrine of inspiration, a place that I go to ponder the possibilities of a bright and exciting future, a future driven by the election of a Republican President and the prospect of serving in such an honorable administration. Each time I throw open the Unit's door, I begin to dream anew of a day in which I would be logistically persuaded to obtain a pied a terre in Arlington (I will NOT live in the District of Columbia) in order to support my professional life, a place to which I would retire at the end of long and frustrating days to feel once again the pleasure of wall-to-wall carpet under my feet (The Kitten loathes wall-to-wall), and to eat whatever it was that I set aside to thaw in the morning before I left. The unit represents hope, the hope of sane government and the opportunity to serve within it. It also represents 3.5 hours added to my day (sans commuting) and a bit more sleep.

For now though, it is the symbol of a dream. Keep hope alive!

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Trade Deals for Dummies

By the way, guess who the dummy is? That's right friends, YOU... the non-billionaire American.

The Senate Republicans have just given President Obama carte blanche to do any damn thing he wants with this new Asian trade bill. Of course the bill will NOT be made public because we don't live in an open society any longer (democracy is WAY too messy). Our Republican heel hounds are dutifully doing their masters bidding, and since the US Chamber of Commerce and Obama are on the same page, it's all good. So screw our 80% trade gap with China, let's GIVE 'EM MORE! In fact in addition let's let the PRC tax Americans directly, but Obama is already working on that in the UN from what I gather.

Do you happen to recall a little loudmouth bantam rooster by the name of Ross Perot? Come on, you remember, he's the guy who put Bill Clinton in office by syphoning off 19% of George HW Bush's votes. Well Perot wasn't that big a fan of that 90's trade bill everyone was so crazy about (NAFTA). He kept talking about that giant sucking sound from South of the Border (oh, FYI, for you ex NAVY he was referring to jobs, not a Tijuana street walker). And so it came to pass. With NAFTA (and other hair brained trade agreements) and Simpson Mazoli  we have about a quarter of the working population foreign born with 30% of the jobs we used to have being now located overseas.

So who benefits by all this (it sure as shit ain't the middle-class). The elites of course (corporate and otherwise) and Wall Street, that's who. Borders and tariffs and trade restrictions are a pain in the ass when it come to the American market. It's ok when the Japanese tariff the shit out of our snow skis because "their snow is different". And so what if there's a trade "deficit"? Hell, they got banks overseas don't they? It's easy enough to get around those silly laws if you're a billionaire. No, what's required is access to foreign CHEAP AS DIRT labor and the American market. Too many Trumka types in America, best go elsewhere.

Look, I'm all for reciprocating trade deals. But my trade deal would be two lines long.
You have unrestricted access to our markets, transportation system and financial infrastructure. We have unrestricted access to your markets, transportation system and financial infrastructure. Please sign here.

But what we are doing is trading away our wealth, our political independence and I would argue the freedom and hope of mankind. We with our "inclusion" have entertained and tolerated ideas that have corrupted our souls and acted like a cancer on our body politic. We are the last generation of the American dream, of American exceptionalism that made us incredibly wealthy and the only bulwark against the thugs and killers that have led this planet throughout the ages. Our failures are not the failure of the American people, they are the failure of our elites who have turned greedy and cynical. My only hope is that one day they will be held accountable for what they have done.


Friday, May 22, 2015

Glimpses of My Day

Since having my hip replaced, I have been undergoing physical therapy at a local establishment, and I am nearing the end of the treatment regimen.  It has been an abidingly positive experience, and I'm doing just great physically, thank you.   The boss of the establishment is a guy, and he is very good at his job.  He's great to talk to and we've developed a friendship I hope continues after the treatment ends.  The rest of his staff however, is exclusively female, and since he runs a site that is part of a larger chain, he is often out of the office at various other locations. In this time, the level of conversation among his staff dramatically increases, both in density and noise level.  It isn't annoying (generally), and clearly it is part of what makes going to work there each day enjoyable for the women.

But there is one small thing bothering me, and I thought I'd bring you into it.  One of the therapists is going to be married in a few weeks, and for the last 3.5 months, she has discussed virtually nothing else. No element of the nuptials is too mundane for great drama, and as I show up only a couple of times a week, I have to assume that this is a near continuous conversation.  The ladies she works with are either incredibly patient human beings, or they are genuinely interested in the seemingly unending banality of this woman's clucking.  It is hard to conceive of the latter. It is driving me nuts though.  Whenever I drive to therapy, I always hope the manager is there, as the conversations tend to be much more quiet and even a little more diverse.

What's really kind of sad though, is the degree to which this woman is investing herself in this one day--perhaps this is a statement of my views on weddings in general (wasteful, inefficient, etc).  That said, what happens when the honeymoon is over?  Is that it?  Is this woman of 30 or so to be left without another seminal event to chatter about for the rest of her life?

Onto another glimpse.

I got my hair cut this morning here in Easton.  For the longest time, I had been using the Korean Lady (Helen) who has a shop in my old building in Arlington.  All things considered, I'd still rather get my hair cut from Helen, but it hasn't been convenient for a while (parking, Metro, etc) and so I've gotten my last three haircuts locally, the first from a straight stick dude barbershop of the old school, and the last two from a pleasant young woman (Kate) at the Hair Cuttery.  Kate cut my hair a few weeks ago, and I thought she did a good job.  She was given to me at random the last time I walked in, but this time, because I had a safe and trusted alternative, I called to make an appointment.  I was told that they do not take appointments, which was disappointing, but that I should just come in, there would likely not be a wait.  She was right, Kate was available when I arrived and gave me another very acceptable hair cut.  The reason I am sharing this banality with you (yes, I realize it) is the irony (or is it the inconsistency?) of being FIERCELY loyal to a hair cutter who has only cut your hair once, after having been FIERCELY loyal to someone (Helen) who cut my hair every time for five years or so.

A final peek?

The Kitten has an extensive garden right outside the window of the mancave.  She's often out there slaving in it, and I generally watch her with great admiration and gratitude, as I enjoy the fruits (so to speak) of her labor--and I admire the hard work it takes.  Having had a bad hip for the entire time we've been together, I've avoided garden duty just as I've avoided most every other pursuit that involved bending and kneeling.  I no longer have that option, as I have two good, bionic hips.  So I've been trying to get out there and help now and again, and like my previous writing on the joys of cutting grass, there is something renewing about mucking around in the garden. Not that I'm going full-bore on it mind you.

Finally--remember--this weekend is for remembering those who DIED in combat, not slugs like me who drew a paycheck for a few years.  Don't thank Veterans this weekend--do that on November 11th.  Spend a little time in quiet gratitude for those who gave Lincoln's "last full measure".  Cheers.

Big Fat Friday Free For All

What's the matter, Chumley?  Are you graduating with that coveted Medieval Studies degree, and can't seem to find someone looking for a scholar of Chaucer?  Are the emails you tried to get rid of about to start hitting the street?

Share your pain!

Weighed in today at 164.8.  Down 34.  Five weeks to go, 4.9 lbs....very, very doable.


Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Elizabeth Warren's letter of the law

Elizabeth Warren apparently has a $1.4 million home equity line from Bank of America, which she chose not to disclose. The reason for this choice seems oddly, or perhaps appropriately, technical, coming as it does from banking's most notorious foe in the United States Senate.

Here’s how the Democrat’s office explained the situation to the Boston Herald: “An aide for Warren said the amount represents a home equity line of credit, not a mortgage. According to the aide, a line of credit does not trigger reporting requirements if the borrower has not borrowed on it, or if the amount owed is less than $10,000. Warren’s account had a zero balance, the aide said.”
Allowing for all of that to be true, Warren has nevertheless sought and obtained a commitment to lend from one of the too-big-to-fail banks, secured by a mortgage and no doubt documented by a note, which definitely makes it a "mortgage" even if it is also a line of credit. So at a minimum we know that Warren's "office" cannot clearly explain a relevant difference other than that there is nothing yet borrowed under the line.

At least we know that Warren will be sympathetic when banks raise literal or technical compliance as a defense to claims they violated the law. Oh, and we also know she lives in a really nice house, because she would never do something like ask a bank to give her a mortgage loan at too large a percentage of market value. Or something.

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Travels, Politics, etc.

I've awakened this morning in Newport RI at the stately Hotel Viking, my HQ for the next two days as I consort with "China Hands" at the "China Maritime Studies Institute" of the Naval War College.  Newport isn't quite up to Maryland par when it comes to having implemented the "Spring" memo, but it is trying to make up for lost time.  I like Newport almost to a fault, having spent portions of every season here--though the two winters here were notably brutal.  Christmas time is wonderful, the Summer is insane, Fall brings all the charms of New England--but May--the latter part of Spring--may be best of all.  You get the benefits of an increasingly warming temperature married to the absence of tourists.  I ambled down from my hotel to the main drag for dinner last night and then walked along the waterfront for a bit after dinner.  It was eerily quiet--the sounds of some manner of sport occasionally peeping from a watering hole.

Sometime later today, I will serve as a "discussant" on a panel looking at Chinese Shipyard Infrastructure.  Four academic papers will be presented by their authors, and then I will get to opine about what I found notable in their work.  Many of the people I consort with regularly in DC are here, along with the War College crowd who I have come to know over the years.  I am quite sure there are lesser places to live an academic's life.

Can we talk about a pet peeve of mine for a second?  I call it the "gratuitous fiance reference".  Now, I have some sympathy for the heavy burden carried by attractive young women, what with having to fight off the lecherous advances of oldsters like me on a routine basis.  But sometimes, a comment is not a come-on.  So I was tucked against the window of the Southwest flight yesterday, when a large man sat down on the aisle seat.  As the plane grew more crowded, an attractive young woman pointed at the seat between us and asked it it were empty.  She had in her hands an oddly rectangular red box, which kind of looked like a pizza warmer to me (albeit a pizza in a rectangular vice square box).  As she attempted to seat herself and maneuvered the box under the seat in front of her, I casually stated that "I sure hope that's not a pizza".  It was not a come-on. I was not looking to close the deal. I have a busy schedule ahead of me for the next few days.  I'm quasi-married.  But in an instant came back a small laugh and a "oh no, it's some of my fiance's artwork".  Now, I may be overly sensitive, but my spidey senses tell me that the immediate raising of her status as a woman claimed by another was NOT just casual information.  It was a well-practiced gambit to drive off the lecherous old dude.  I smiled in a friendly way and returned to my work.  She easily could have said, "no, it isn't pizza unfortunately, it is some artwork", at which point I would have returned to my work and she could have returned to whatever it was she was going to do to pass the flight.  It seems to me that she felt it necessary to get the "fiance" out there within the first five seconds of conversation in order to blunt whatever nefarious offensive was represented by my obvious come-hither line.  These are the burdens of being young and beautiful, I suppose.

A little politics?  Don't mind if I do.  It seems that Hillary's "ignore the Press" campaign is beginning to rile up those who are ignored, except that there doesn't seem to be any real evidence that she will pay a price with the American people for it.  It is a gamble, but one that may very well pay off for her, both from the perspective of the indifference of the electorate and the great likelihood that the Press won't get TOO far out of line, for fear of contributing to the Republican cause.

Ah, Republicans.  I am weary of JV mistakes from men who have had so long to prepare for the process of running for office.  Some of this comes from a lack of preparedness for the obvious, gotchya questions, and some of it comes from a desire not to go back at reporters in an aggressive way so as not to appear aggressive.  Whatever it is, it hasn't been a particularly good week for our growing field, a field whose growth is not improved by numbers, only diluted.  I cannot get over the fact that I think Mitt Romney made a HUGE mistake when he decided not to run.  The circus that is the Republican field needs a ringleader.


Friday, May 15, 2015

Do not care about Greeks bearing gifts

After ten years and thousands of posts, I withdrew from blogging for many reasons. Among them was unreconstructed fatigue with the state of our "national conversation" on almost any topic (including, of course, that we call whatever this is a "national conversation"). To rip an object lesson from the headlines of the current news cycle, consider the latest manufactured outrage to spin up my friends on the right, the arresting news that George Stephanopoulos is a partisan for the Clintons.

As in, who could imagine that the former Communications Director and Senior Advisor for Policy and Strategy in the Clinton Administration might actually like and support the Clintons? Did anybody out there need to know that Stephanopolous had given the Clinton Foundation money in order to know he was their friend and supporter? Presumably not readers of this learned blog.

Apart from the sheer tedium of this kerfuffle -- and that is all it is -- the conservative argument implicitly concedes that partisan hackery in the media depends from financial evidence. It doesn't. Quite to the contrary, personal and ideological connections are far more important, especially when reinforced by a shared enterprise as intense as waging and winning a presidential campaign. By attaching totemic significance to the money, conservatives imply that Stephanopolous' sham journalism would otherwise be objective. It isn't, and nobody should expect it to be.

But wait, didn't Stephanopolous violate some network policy about disclosing financial ties? Sure, but that policy is as figgy a leaf as there ever was. How about demanding that journalists be intellectually honest, and reminding viewers that they have a professional and personal history tied to a particular politician, party, or ideology? That might actually give effect to the "ethics" modern journalists cynically assert to legitimize their "profession."

Release the hounds.

Monday, May 11, 2015

On the Future of This Blog

Friends, it has probably become obvious to you that my interest in the blog has waned, that my life has become more full with other matters, or that other social media have risen in importance in how I express myself.

All are true.

And frankly, the blog has suffered.  The plain truth is that when the guy who owns the blog doesn't participate, the guest bloggers feel a hell of a lot less motivated to contribute.  I know this, because I am a guest blogger elsewhere, and this reality certainly applies there.

A blog is a demanding mistress, and maintaining one is not for the faint of heart or the casually involved.

And so, it is with heavy heart....

that I...

announce....

that it is nearly time for me to GET MY HEAD OUT OF MY ASS AND GET THIS PLACE HOPPING AGAIN.

That's right.

No surrender.  No wussing out.

I have a couple of projects that are destroying every waking hour right now, but they will pass later in the summer, and I look to re-energize things here to support having a place for engaged intellects to come in order to read the best in politics, culture, and social commentary.

I will soon be reaching out to new guest bloggers to see who might wish to join the team, and I will be corresponding with our current team members to see what their level of interest is in amping things up a bit.

We have work to do friends.

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Post Racial Post Mortem

Black folk are pissed, and I can't say I blame them. But, as usual my perceived reasons for their frustration and anger differ from the establishment elites'. Cops whipping on their asses or otherwise killing them is not the issue, after all African-Americans are 13% of the population but account for about 80% of the anti-social, self destructive behavior that plagues our society (crime, dependency, illiteracy, hip-hop, $2,000 wheels on a '74 Impala worth $300 max, etc). No the cops are, generally speaking, taking it to their asses because they are where the crime is, again generally speaking. Sorry middle-class person of color, but if you'd speak up a little more and not tolerate crime among your own then perhaps you wouldn't get pulled over so much for "driving while black".
Look at Baltimore. Six cops were charged, three were black. The town is run by blacks INCLUDING the police and has been for decades. I don't think a racist cracker hell-bent on whipping black ass would last long in that department. Detroit is the same way, run by of and for blacks for generations, and it's one of the biggest shitholes in the country if not the world. No, white racist cops are not the problem.
The problem, or at least a big part of the problem is a half century of welfare. As I have said many times, in many significant ways black Americans were BETTER OFF under Jim Crow than now. It's just a fact. The welfare state has destroyed the black family (the cornerstone of ANY healthy society) and as a great man once said "If I hated someone's guts I'd give them $1000 a month!" (that would be $3061.43 in today's money).
Baraq Obama made a promise to blacks, to bring them into the fold, to make them part of the American experience. But what he has done is double down on the policies that have kept lower class blacks sucking hind tit since forever. He has been devastating to the black community and I think they're just starting to realize that this "change" thing ain't gonna happen, at least not for them. They are lashing out, which is understandable if not justified, however they're blaming the wrong people. I've heard liberals talk about a "Marshall Plan" for inner cities and the like. This is insane. Their only solution is to throw money at the problem when they know full well money is not the answer to the problem, it IS the damned problem! It's been tried to death, $21 trillion since 1964. Look before you say it I realize there are other issues at play here such as stupid trade deals that export our jobs and increase our trade deficit (like the one the Republicrats are "negotiating" right now). It's not ALL the welfare state. But how do you convince a population of semi-literates that NOT giving them money is the right way to go? And how do you convince Democrats who see ignorant, dependent poor people as a reliable voting bloc so long as they are kept poor, dependent and angry?
I don't have an answer but I think this is going to be a long hot summer and Baltimore may be just the beginning. Who woulda thought when the Democrats were talking "post racial" what they really meant was riots and cop killing?

Saturday, May 9, 2015

WOW! That was close!

I love this photo. It speaks to me. It says "Don't you even THINK of messing with me!". And so it shall be.
There's a good article in Politico about how Hillary's team knocked down Clinton Cash by Peter Schweizer. Say what you will about those bastards, they know how to play the game. They had Stephie "He's SOOOO cute" Stephanopoulos interviewing Mr. Schweizer saying stuff like "You're aware that the non-partisan blah-blah-blah foundation says your book is a pack of lies" when the fact is the blah-blah-blah foundation is funded by several of George Soros' front organizations along with half the leftist groups in America. Of course what this friggin' idiot was doing on Stephie's show is another question. Hillary won't go near a reporter but this guy sits down with a Clintonista to get beat up for twenty minutes? It's so typically stupid of those who go after the Clintons. They have always been lucky with their enemies.
Here's the deal, matching up against the Clintons is like USA/Soviet Union in 1980. There is NO ROOM FOR ERROR. You need to know what you're trying to accomplish and EXECUTE PERFECTLY otherwise don't even suit up. They will make very few errors and exploit your errors for maximum effect, and they play dirty. Schweizer is learning this lesson as we speak.
Now, having said that, I'm thrilled Hillary came through this ok. She's tracking left so as to appease the Demokrat lunatic fringe which can only help the Republicans. But whoever the Republican nominee may be, he or she MUST be ready for two things: Number one, be prepared for slander, they will tell lies upon lies upon lies without ever uttering a word themselves. Number two, go on offense and stay on offense. Turn their lies against Hillary. Nothing fights a lie like the truth, don't play Hillary's game. Stay on message, and that message is Hillary is a liar, a cheat, an opportunist and an incompetent. There is AMPLE evidence for this argument, hell the argument makes itself, and it has to be made over and over and over again. When stories come out about how the Republican bullied a kid in the third grade or abused his dog by giving him cooked chicken bones, these must be dealt with and discarded. Attack the media for bringing up Hillary's lies as being pawns of Hillary. Put THEM on the defensive.
One disadvantage Hillary has, and she has several, is that the Clintons are a target rich environment. There are so many things to attack. Knock down the "this is old news" canard and make it about character and competence and the Clintons are deader than Hillary's cooter. People are tired of the lies, they want honesty and competence. Let's give it to them.




Friday, May 8, 2015

Big Fat Friday Free For All

What's got you down, friend?  Your hero exposed as a cheater?  Your national icon go down in flames in Vegas?  Are you the only one who still puts two spaces after a period?  Well then--emote, share, kvetch, bitch, whine!

Weighed in today at 167.2, down 31.6 for the diet and 1.4 for the week.  Need to lose 1.04 lbs per week from here until the big 50 to reach the hoped for "150's by 50".  It looks achievable.




Friday, May 1, 2015

Big Fat Friday Free For All

What's got you down, Champ?  Have to play a ball game in an empty stadium this week?  Get your foot stung by a wasp hiding in your bed (yes!).  Share, friends.  Share.

Weighed in today at 168.6, or 1.2 lbs less than last week.  At this pace, I will be at 159 lbs on my 50th birthday in eight weeks and a day.

Cutting it close....