Month: May 2009

In an alternate universe . . .

Sarah Palin was elected President, instead of The One. How would her first 100 days have gone? Victor Davis Hanson[*1] speculates:

WASILLA CHIC
Also in the Times, Gail Collins weighed in on the already-tired yokelism of the new commander in chief. “What we’re getting is Wasilla chic. That’s what we’re getting. She arrives in the Oval Office, and first thing sends back Blair’s gift of the Churchill bust as if it’s a once-worn Penney’s outfit. Then she gives the Brits some unwatchable DVDs as a booby prize — as if she idled the old Yukon and ran into Target’s sale aisle. Did Sarah send Bristol into Wal-Mart back in Anchorage for that ‘engraved’ iPod for the queen? And what’s this don’t-bow-to-the-queen stuff, but curtsy for a Saudi sheik?

. . .

WORSE THAN ‘NUCULAR’ABC’s Katie Couric summed up the general disappointment with the president’s communication skills. “I tried to warn the American people in that interview a few years back what they would get if they voted for her. Let’s face it: She’s a walking embarrassment. I mean just count ’em up: The mayor of Wasilla thinks Austrians speak some lingo called ‘Austrian.’ Then she tries her hand at Spanish and comes up with some concoction, ‘Cinco de Cuatro.’ Next thing she’ll walk into the window of the Oval Office and expect it to open — oops, she’s already done that. No wonder that when her Teleprompter stalls, she shuts her mouth until it catches up. I’m surprised she managed to get sworn in. And did she think that tasteless ‘Special Olympics’ slur was funny? Or making fun of octogenarian Nancy Reagan’s séances? No wonder Wanda Sykes feels at home.”

In case you missed the humor, the only changes VDH made from Obama’s first 100 days are that he changed the name from Obama to Palin, and changed the news coverage from worshipful homage to tiresome snark. And I only excerpted maybe an eighth of what VDH wrote. Everything else really happened in this universe, to a guy named Obama.

This is called satire. It probably will soon be illegal as a “hate crime” in the new Democratic Socialist Worker’s Paradise. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Obama’s recovery plan isn’t working

The blog Innocent Bystanders[*1] has the ugly truth:

The graph should speak for itself, but in case it doesn’t: Obama’s projection is the lower line. The actual performance of the economy is worse than the projection of what would happen had the Democrat Congress and the Democrat President had done nothing at all.

To repeat: The performance of the economy is worse BECAUSE of the “Stimulus.” Now some people knew that this would be the result. These tend to be people who, oh, I don’t know, actually WANT to read bills being considered in Congress before they get passed.

I have every confidence that our new “progressive” overlords will continue to go out of their way to turn it into an even bigger disaster, celebrating all along the way how much better they’ve made things–well, at least for their major campaign contributors, anyway.

Democrats: Government–You’re doing it wrong.

US to borrow 46 cents for every dollar spent

AP/Yahoo News[*1]

Borrow and spend, borrow and spend. It’s the Democratic way, and it’s back . . . Big Time!

Guess who’s going to pick up the tab for all of this? Just guess (and the answer isn’t going to be “the rich.” The rich can figure out ways to not pay. You probably can’t.)

Orangutan makes a run for at at Australian zoo

AP story via a Sacramento, CA TV station[*1]

It’s the story of a 27-year old orangutan female named Karta, who got out of her enclosure at the Adalaide (Australia) Zoo, sat around for a half hour, then decided that the grass was not in fact greener on the other side, and retreated back into her enclosure.

And the mark reaches for his wallet . . .

UK’s Telegraph: Barack Obama’s rich supporters fear his tax plans show he’s a class warrior

Wealthy Wall Street financiers and other business figures provided crucial support for Mr Obama during the election, backing him over the Republican candidate John McCain as the right leader to rescue the collapsing US economy.

But it is now dawning on many among them that Mr Obama was serious about his campaign trail promises to bring root and branch reform to corporate America – and that they were more than just election rhetoric.

“You get the government that you deserve.” Unfortunately, these morons gave Obama to all of us. Command economies don’t work, if your goal is a rising standard of living for all people. Under the worker’s paradise Obama is leading us to, the ruling class enjoys the paradise and the rest of us get to work to support the rulers. A sufficiently cynical writer would call it serfdom.

A really cynical writer would call it slavery.

The good news is . . .

The inflation from Obama’s massive borrowing and injection of dollars into the money supply hasn’t hit yet.

The bad news is . . . here’s how well Obama’s brand of economic theory has worked, from the time of his intellectual/political precursor, FDR:

Tell me again how getting off the gold standard was a good idea?

Chart from Zero Hedge[*1] via Instapundit[*2] .

Your yard/garage sale is probably illegal

Surprised? Don’t be. This, from Reason Hit and Run[*1] via Instapundit[*2] :

Selling old kids books, anything with metal, paint, or plastic that a kid might use, old clothes or shoes with metal components that a kid might wear? You know, any of the stuff people routinely sell at yard sales? Technically, you could be on the hook for thousands of dollars worth of fines. Obviously, it’s unlikely the CPSA goons are going to bust up your yard sale. But putting out a detailed booklet that reserves the right to do so is hardly encouraging about where the implementation of this legislation is heading.

Here’s the Government’s booklet (pdf)[*3] in case you’re interested in how you’re tarnishing the New Worker’s Paradise.

Should you wish to report on your neighbor’s blatant flaunting of these common sense Government dictates, click here to be a Good Citizen and rat out your neighbor. You know you want to.Remember, you are only as good as your Government lets you be.