Contributed by: filbert Thursday, March 04 2010 @ 05:40 AM CST
I went a little crazy with the YouTube videos of liberty-oriented songs. So, sue me. Or, rock on! Whatever. Scroll down, click the “read more” or do whatever you think you need to do. It’s a free country. Sorta.
In other news . . .
From the The Early Adopters: Reading the tea leaves[*1] –an excerpt (full document at the link as a .pdf.)
Attempts to define the Tea Party movement–its motivations, values, beliefs, and goals–continue to miss the mark and yet to date there have been no in-depth conversations with the people who actually make up the movement themselves. Market research through data collection has focused on the opinions others hold of the movement; this report examines the motivations of the individuals themselves.
– Due to continued participation and activity, the Tea Parties are emerging as a movement that is both long-term and critical for political strategists and participants to understand.
– The people involved with these movements are not political junkies or crusty right-wing extremists; 46.9% were uninvolved or rarely involved with politics prior to 2009.
– They aren’t in it to express anger alone. An overwhelming majority characterized the goal of their initial involvement as “to stand up for my beliefs.”
– They are self aware. They aren’t falling for a Third Party trap, including social issues on their docket, nor are they content to be labeled as protesting for the sake of protesting. 70.3% are hopeful that they are having a positive impact on their country.
– About one third remains unabashedly loyal to Sarah Palin’s presidential candidacy, yet the field splits from there. DeMint, Romney, and Huckabee each garnered at least 10% of their support.
– They have a sophisticated, well-informed understanding of the U.S. Constitution and American history in general.
The conclusion of this report is that the Tea Party activists are not the “other,” and they cannot be defined through a single statement, document, or definition. They are the early adopters of a new empowerment. As early adopters, they are paving the road they believe our country must proceed down in order to regain control over its government, and they are modeling the type of paradigm shift–the reawakening of the “people” component of a democracy–that they believe is necessary to our survival as a representative democracy.
The recommendation from this report is the time has come to better understand and attend to the Tea Parties. They are powerful, both in their political sway and in their passion.
This is what the Tea Partiers are upset about:
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| We’re So Screwed! From Veronique de Rugy at The American via Reason. “This is what ‘unsustainable’ looks like.” Obamacare will just make it worse. |
Too late to apologize? Maybe . . .
SECTION TWO: Things That Amuse Me:
Simians and other aminals*:
Oldest Known Dinosaur Relative Discovered [*3]
Cows Like Leaves Their Tongues Can Wrap Around Easily [*4]
*Yes, I know it’s “animals,” it’s just that I always found the childhood mispronunciation really, really cute . . .
Travel:
Officials say 2 dead, 6 injured when 26-foot wave hits cruise ship in Mediterranean[*5] — In the Mediterranean?
Deadly Waves Rock Cruise Ship in the Mediterranean [*6]
Sports:
Costello named senior associate athletic director [*7] — At SDSU . . .
Royals notebook: Ankiel hits two homers in first scrimmage [*8]
College buzz: MU has enough revenue-producing potential for Big Ten [*9]
Summit tourney director relishing league’s success [*10]
Circling the Summit – and then some [*11]
No. 16 Tennessee beats Arkansas 80-73 [*12]
Kansas Beats K-State [*13]
Science Fiction and Writing:
A Practical Guide to … Traveling Between Worlds[*14]
Saving science fiction from itself? [*15]
Science, technology, and space:
Virgin Galactic sees space test flights in 2011 [*16]
Straight News–Stuff sufficiently serious to deserve a serious treatment:
The Evil that Men Do [*17]
BREAKING: ‘Anti-Lobbyist’ Obama Administration Recruited Left-Wing Lobbyists to Sell Bogus ‘Green Jobs’ [*18]
Is Obama Selling Judgeships? [*19] — “the criticism is not well-founded.”
Miscellany (amusing things not fitting above, or below):
Speech Police: ‘Blazing Saddles’ Would Never Get Made Today [*20]
The Impossible Blindsiding of Hollywood [*21]
Where Are The Tomatoes?: Freezing Weather In Florida Blamed For Shortage [*22]
Chile Quake Could Cost You at the Checkout Lane [*23]
SECTION THREE: Politics: The neverending battle against blithering idiocy:
People doing potentially good things (including sightings of politicians doing something less than totally idiotic):
You can’t go home again [*24]
Anti-Washington message propels Perry in Texas [*25] — And, considering how very, very well Washington has “managed” things for the past century or so to the very edge of the financial cliff, how can you blame us?
Study of Tea Party Activists Reveals Motivations of Political Movement [*26] — “The Sam Adams Alliance decided to learn what the tea party leaders are up to in the old fashioned way: We asked them.” Strangely enough, racism, totalitarian tendencies, or urges towards homosexual male sexual acts don’t seem to figure in Tea Partier thinking very much at all. Now, opponents of Tea Parties, on the other hand . . .
Sarah Palin Tries Out a Double McTwist 1260 on Leno (Video) [*27]
SCOTUS prepared to “incorporate” 2nd Amendment via 14th? [*28]
Justice Scalia’s Faint-Hearted 14th Amendment Originalism [*29]
Palin Knocks ‘Em Dead on ‘Tonight Show’ [*30]
Protest sign of the day: “Here comes Santa Claus” [*31]
Chris Christie’s Must-Watch Rallying Cry for Fiscal Sanity [*32]
The Reconciliation Nuclear Option Will Destroy Democrats: But Only If We Do Our Part [*33]
House Republicans propose federal spending amendment [*34] — 20% of everything we make. Since God Himself only asks for 10% (if you’re into that kind of thing), I think 20% is plenty.
Palin working on book about virtues and strengths[*35]
Supreme Court Protects Gun Rights, Fails to Restore Greater Freedom [*36] — Time to ask: What part of “shall not be infringed” does the Supreme Court not understand? Will it be necessary for the people to provide remedial reading comprehension tutoring to the Supreme Court?
Inevitable: Palin working on second book [*37]
Access to affordable health care courtesy of the Private Sector [*38]
Sarah Palin’s 2012 Presidential Campaign Update: Reality Show with Mark Burnett will be weekly hourlong campaign commerical on broadcast network [*39]
A song for Sarah Palin:
And another song that makes me think of Palin:
And I forgot how totally hot Connie Sellecca was to an impressionable teen-aged boy . . . even if the resolution of the video really, really sucks . . .
The cure for blithering idiocy: freedom and individual liberty (yeah, I know–ooh, ick, philosophy!):
Question: If you can’t acknowledge good in someone you don’t like, how are you Christian, and how are you any different from the Left? [*40]
To Keep and Bear Arms [*41]
Carry On: Does the Second Amendment apply outside the home? [*42] — “The experiences of these jurisdictions show there is no safety benefit from prohibiting public carrying of guns that could possibly outweigh the Second Amendment interests at stake.”
Stopping the Runaway Congress [*43]
The reality of President Obama and his entire Administration as blithering idiots:
More Diplomatic Incompetence from the Obama Administration [*44]
Rahm Emanuel: Obama’s Chief Of Sabotage [*45]
Mencken on Merchants of Idiotic Ideas [*46] — “The kind of man who demands that government enforce his ideas is always the kind whose ideas are idiotic.”
Obama Flashback: Dems Should Not Pass Healthcare With 50-Plus-1 Strategy (Video) [*47]
Andy Stern & Barack Obama: Fiscal responsibility fraudsters [*48]
Candidate Obama: It Is Morally Necessary to Garner a Supermajority for My Health Care Reform [*49]
Created or Saved or Estimated or Assumed: The Congressional Budget Office’s predetermined stimulus reports [*50]
National security stone wall: Fox tells you what Holder won’t [*51]
Limbaugh: Hey, Obama. Why Don’t You Shut The Hell Up And Stop Lecturing Us (Audio) [*52] — Rush speaks for tens, if not hundreds of millions of Americans here . . . at the link, commenter Sojourner brings up the Obama Administration Victims Theme Song:
The reality of Washington Democrats (and Independents, and Socialists) as blithering idiots:
How the Congressional Democrats Doom Obama to One Term [*53]
How not to run for Congress, 2010 version [*54]
Rangel takes “leave of absence” [*55]
Oh, Great: Senate Plans to Entrust U.S. Financial System to Federal Reserve? [*56]
GRAND JURY TO INDICT DEMOCRAT JOHN EDWARDS [*57]
Comedy Rap Video Slams Obama as O.T.P. (One Term President) [*58] — “Fool me once, shame on me, shame on WE . . .”
Nancy Pelosi Successfully Flips a House Vote! (From “Yes” to “No”) [*59]
Oh my: Two House yes votes on ObamaCare may flip to no [*60]
The reality of Washington Republicans as blithering idiots:
Jim Bunning Collapses in Late Season of Baseball, Senate Careers[*] [*61]
Does Mitt Romney Get It? [*62]
Senator Bunning In USA Today [*63] — If you didn’t really mean it, why did you do it in the first place?
Other blithering idiots at large making life difficult for regular folks:
SPLC’s Interesting Ideas of “Right Wing Hate” [*64]
Fearmongering at the SPLC [*65]
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished [*66]
Unions: Forever War [*67]
Unions outraged at Obama’s endorsement of mass firing at RI school [*68]
What’s Next? Jello Biafra Walks Back “Holiday In Cambodia,” Pronounces Pol Pot’s Record as “Mixed at Best”? [*69] — Kill the Poor was always a personal favorite of mine, along with Let’s Lynch the Landlord.
“Convince the liberals it’s OK”
Politicians Increasingly Aware Of Reality [*70] — And they don’t like it one little bit . . .
Opposition Research: because blithering idiocy can be dangerous, especially when organized into idiotic groups with idiotic ideologies:
The Riskiness of Putting Trust in the Best and the Brightest [*71] — “But it certainly is the lamentable history of man that we have the power to screw things up all the time.”
The Weird Failure of the Left [*72] — “The article does everything a good left-wing rag should do: whip up hatred and paranoia. Of course, in vilifying people as dangerous, Mother is the one inciting violence.”
Debunking Some Emerging ACORN Liberal Myths [*73]
White House Planning Eminent Domain Land Grab? [*74]
Troll Dissection 101: the pro-Horsemen of the GOP Apocalypse Troll [*75]
They’re feeding our people that government cheese . . .
The Keith Olbermann Memorial “Special Comment” on blithering idiots in the Media:
Dylan Ratigan Slanders Tea Party Movement [*76]
New Rules, MSNBC and MSM: Every Time You Call Us ‘Nazis,’ We’re Punching Back [*77] — The German National Socialists were . . . um . . . socialists . . . progressives, even . . .
SECTION FOUR: Case Studies in Blithering Idiocy
“Global warming” aka “Climate change” — or should that be “Climate Reform?”:
Fuel Taxes Must Rise, Harvard Researchers Say [*78]
A question to the USGS and NPR [*79]
About that “increased moisture” due to global warming … [*80]
It’s time to admit that CO2 abatement is going to be freaking expensive [*81]
Health care “reform” aka health insurance “reform” — or should that be health care “change?” Perhaps “Global healthing?:
The Big Problem with Health Care Is Cost, Not Access [*82]
WSJ: Democrats Are Abusing Power By Ramming Through Obamacare [*83]
Abortion still the stumbling block for ObamaCare [*84]
Speaking of reconciliation, part 2 [*85]
Harsanyi: Two steps forward, no steps back [*86] — “Remember that Congress estimated Medicare’s cost at $12 billion for 1990 (adjusted for inflation) when the program kicked off in 1965. Medicare cost $107 billion in 1990 and is quickly approaching $500 billion. Who’s going to stop it?”
Here comes the reconciliation “nobody” is talking about; Update: Oba-kabuki lab coat props reappear; “Make your voice heard;” McConnell: “National referendum” [*87]
We’re So Screwed [*2]
Leaked Excerpts From Obama’s *censored*-You-America Speech [*88] — Quit “trying to prove you can govern.” Start small. Try proving that you can COUNT.
The Fake Bipartisanship of Changes to Obamacare [*89]
The Truth about Rising Health Insurance Premiums [*90]
Stopping Obamacare in the House [*91]
Rep. Mike Pence: “It seems like the president was at the health care summit last week but he had the sound down” (Video) [*92]
GOP House Press Conference [*93]
The Economy (Can the blithering idiots bring down the most productive economy the world has ever seen? Yes, They Can! Will they?):
State of Kansas Dealing with Budget Crisis [*94]
Aw, heck, we’re rocking out today . . . why not? Keynes vs. Hayek, Fear the Boom and Bust, again:
Keynes was wrong (“I want to steer markets”). Hayek was right (“I want them set free!” “Your so-called ‘stimulus’ will make things worse!”).
The more I watch that video, the more freakin’ brilliant I see it is . . .
Foreign affairs and National Security (Will blithering idiots get us all killed, or make us all speak Spanish–or Chinese–or Arabic–or all three?):
China parliament examines growth, living standards [*95]
Germany welcomes Greek plan, but rules out aid [*96]
The Morning Whip is a (mostly) daily review of what’s out there that caught my attention, sometimes but not always posted before 11 am Central time in the U. S. of A., unless I just don’t feel like it that day, am out doing something more important or more fun, or I’ve been abducted, detained, arrested, or otherwise flummoxed by the agents of blithering idiotry.
I surf the Web, so you don’t have to! (which would be a trademark, but come on, who am I kidding?)