Contributed by: filbert Wednesday, February 10 2010 @ 05:35 AM CST
The next “national discussion” we need to have is how we have come to the national near-death experience we are now living through (at least, the hope is that we can keep it to just a near-death experience), how to step back from the cliff, and how to reinforce the guard rails so we never do anything like this again . . .
SECTION TWO: Things That Amuse Me:(see what I did there, tease-wise . . . now you have to click on “read more,” don’t you?) Simians and other aminals*:
Asian Carp in the Great Lakes? This Means War! [*1]
*Yes, I know it’s “animals,” it’s just that I always found the childhood mispronunciation really, really cute . . .
Travel:
Japan Airlines rejects Delta, stays with American [*2]
Sports:
Jacks explode in second half, rout SUU [*3] — Women’s basketball, SDSU 93, Southern Utah 59.
No. 5 Tennessee downs Vanderbilt 69-60 [*4]
Tuesday Tidbits [*5]
Pac-10 considering possible expansion [*6]
Rutgers suspends Stringer for a game [*7]
Science Fiction and Writing:
Black and White [*8]
Science, technology, and space:
Brain scans enable communication with vegetative people [*9]
Are New MacBook Pros Imminent? [*10]
Miscellany (amusing things not fitting above, or below):
When to Walk Away [*11]
Time Lapse “Snowmageddon” [*12]
Dog waste problem piling up at popular forest trails in Jackson, Wyoming [*13]
SECTION THREE: Politics: The neverending battle against blithering idiocy:
People doing potentially good things (including sightings of politicians doing something less than totally idiotic):
Newest target of tea partiers: Er, Ron Paul [*14] — Paul has generally good economic ideas but fails dismally at presentation . . . and he is NOT where the American public is right now on national defense and foreign affairs . . . Americans are tired of being told by politicians what they’re supposed to think, believe, and do. Any politician whose toolkit includes lecturing about pretty much anything is in serious trouble right now.
Today On The Bigs: What You Might Have Missed [*15] — Breitbart continues to Take Over The World . . .
Iowa Poll: 33% of Iowans support ‘tea party’ movement [*16] — And “support” plus “not sure” is 55% . . . I’d be interested in knowing how many of the remaining 45% have Clue #1 about what the Tea Partiers are really talking about, vs. what the propagandists at MSNBC, CBS, and the White House say they’re talking about . . .
Sweet Tea for GOP in Alabama [*17]
Another Palin hand-note sighting [*18]
Party of ‘No’…and Proud [*19]
The Army of Davids: ‘All Is Proceeding As I Have Foreseen’ [*20]
Myth Alaska: Sarah Palin bounces a reality check. [*21] — Nick Gillespie doesn’t like her very much, I think . . .
PARTY TIME! [*22]
Americans Losing Hope, Looking For Change [*23]
The Right of Recall [*24]
Ron Paul and the Tea Parties [*25]
Outside the Beltway: Americans Angry, But Also Engaged [*26]
Paul Krugman Has Convinced This Libertarian to Vote Republican in the Next Election [*27]
Is Obama Failing? (Part 2) [*28]
Shock! Horror!….. A Palin-Friendly Article in the UK…. [*29]
Misunderstanding the Tea Party [*30]
American tea-party dishes hopey-changey thing [*31] — This Brit gets it . . .
The cure for blithering idiocy: freedom and individual liberty (yeah, I know–ooh, ick, philosophy!):
Federal Overreach and the New States’ Rights Movement [*32] — The American Founding Fathers intentionally created a federal governmental system–as they tried to distribute bits of power so widely that they would never come together to threaten the people’s freedom. We now know that they did not go far enough with that distribution of power . . .
Jacksonian Democrats are Reagan Democrats are Hillary Democrats are Palin Democrats [*33] — “Democrat” does not necessarily mean “blithering idiot,” you know . . .
Are We a Center-Right Nation? [*34]
Ah, The Blame Game [*35]
Live! Nude! Economists! [*36] — Article is not quite as unsettling as its title . . .
The reality of President Obama as a blithering idiot (and he’s the President, so he gets credit, if that’s the word, for the entire Executive Branch):
Obama’s Latest Gallup Numbers Seem Somewhat Late Bushian [*37]
No More Rock Stars! [*38]
I Was a Teenage President [*39]
Poll: Special interests more influential under Obama [*40]
Drillgate: Internal Emails Shows Obama Team Lying to Public [*41]
Brennan’s Op-Ed: An AOSHQ Response [*42]
Gallup: Obama approval hits new lows on economy, health care, deficit [*43]
The Clinton Voters Jump Ship: Obama’s shrinking base. [*44] — Where do Democrats who still love freedom and liberty go, now that the progressive collectivists control the Democratic Party?
Steering Clear of Obama’s Bermuda Triangulation [*45]
IBD/TIPP poll shows lowest confidence in Obama policies yet [*46]
Robert Gibbs is an Immature, Cartoonish Buffoon [*47] — A lot like his boss, actually . .
On Same Day That Obama Attends Press Conference & Calls For End of Petty Politics – WH Press Secretary Gibbs Mocks Palin With Notes On His Hand [*48] — Heh. Oopsie! Do as I say, not as I do!
Obama: I Hope My Obvious Attempt At Political Theater Will Not Be Labeled “Political Theater” [*49]
Obama’s “Reset” Button Quickly Changing to “Panic” [*50] — Obama would be much better off hanging up the “Community Organizer In Chief” coat and putting on the “Chief Executive of the U.S. Government” coat. He shows no sign of doing so, however–possibly because he has never managed anything substantial in his entire life. So, he doesn’t know how.
The reality of Washington Democrats (and Independents, and Socialists) as blithering idiots:
Democrats, Meet Your Biggest Nightmare [*51]
Reports: Democrat Sen. Ben Nelson to oppose radical SEIU appointee [*52] — Something about closing the barn door after the horse has already gotten out . . .
Destroying The “Ungovernable” Canard [*53] — Isn’t it weird how America suddenly becomes “ungovernable” as soon as Democrats take up the reins of power? Spooky, isn’t it? Instead of blaming the people, maybe . . . (conclusion left as an exercise for the reader)
The reality of Washington Republicans as blithering idiots:
“Bi-Partisan Health Care Summit” Or Political Theater? (Update) [*54] — I hate it when politicians hold out the hope that maybe, possibly, they’re not blithering idiots. (Actually, I like it a lot, but it almost never really happens . . .)
Charlie Crist Crisis: Hand-picked Chair Gouged Party With Secret Contract [*55]
Michael Steele: My critics are racist [*56]
Hey Honey, Instead of Going Out For Dinner On Valentine’s Day, Why Don’t We Just Stay Home and Hate Democrats Together? [*57] — The Stupid Party strikes again . . . “Hey, I’ve got a boffo idea! Let’s politicize Valentine’s Day!”
Other blithering idiots at large making life difficult for regular folks:
5 Super Bowl Commercials About Women Emasculating Men [*58] — Tedious . . .
The Road to Serfdom: Public Servants Our Masters?[*59]
Your 2/9/10 Treacher update [*60] — The blogger who got run over–literally–by the State Department . . .
Raises won’t amount to much [*61] — If you were out there expecting a raise this year, you are either a blithering idiot, or a government employee (but I repeat myself [rim shot]) . . .
Airport Workers Copy & Distribute Naked Body Scanner Images Of Bollywood Star Shahrukh Khan [*62] — But, but, but . . . we were told that sort of thing couldn’t possibly happen with the new nudie airport scanners!
Felony Snowball Tossing Charges Lodged [*63] — Disturbing the peace or disorderly conduct, maybe, but a felony?
Daily Gut: Asian-American Activists Upset Over ‘Yellow’ Train Line [*64]
Think Progress: ‘Let’s Not Pay Back China’ [*65]
Opposition Research: because blithering idiocy can be dangerous, especially when organized into idiotic groups with idiotic ideologies:
Blueprint Denver offers KC a model for urban design [*66] — As you might guess, I am deeply skeptical of “urban planning” … and I’ve got a graduate degree minor in it . . .
Liberal Conceit [*67]
Frances Fox Piven: Thomas Jefferson Would Be ‘Stunned’ at America Today (But Not For the Reason You Think) [*68]
GOP: White House has politicized terror all along [*69]
The Keith Olbermann Memorial “Special Comment” on blithering idiots in the Media:
‘Miss Me Yet?’ Billboard With Photo Of Bush Is Real; Not An Internet Trick [*70] — They still don’t get it, but they will . . .
How to Write A Piece On How to Save the President [*71] — Mickey Kaus tries to be helpful . . .
Guest commentary | Banks have been unfairly vilified in economic crisis[*72] — It has to be a “guest commentary” because they can’t find anybody in the newsroom who thinks this way . . .
Get Over It: ‘Birtherism’ Is Not Journalism [*73]
Shoe, Meet the Other Foot [*74]
The Andrew Breitbart Tea Party Speech: A Declaration of War on the Democrat-Media Complex (Video) [*75]
Why the Media Ignored a Scandal [*76] — Oh, take a guess. Go on. You don’t even need to know what scandal the article talks about. Just guess.
USA Today refuses to “cheerlead” for Brennan, White House [*77] — Man Bites Dog . . . Newspaper Refuses To Roll Over For Democrats . . .
‘Teabaggers’: Roger Ebert Trashes His Own Fans (and Palin) on Twitter [*78]
Introducing: Retracto, the Correction Alpaca Theme Song [*79] — It’s got a beat, and you can dance to it . . .
Event: “The Crisis in Journalism – What Should the Government Do?” [*80]
Hate choo [*81]
SECTION FOUR: Case Studies in Blithering Idiocy
“Global warming” aka “Climate change” — or should that be “Climate Reform?”:
NOAA’s new website climate.gov – a first day sin of omission [*82]
If you’re going to do good science, release the computer code too [*83]
Parody: Resolved that snow is hereby banned [*84] — Are you SURE you’re opposed to “global warming?”
Climategate: Plausibility and the blogosphere in the post-normal age. [*85]
Health care “reform” aka health insurance “reform” — or should that be health care “change?” Perhaps “Global healthing?:
Obama’s healthcare summit sets stage for end-game [*86] — The game has ended, they just don’t realize it yet . . .
The “Con” of American Hospitals [*87]
Bipartisan Health Care Reform [*88]
Obama’s Health-Care Summit – Gimmick or Negotiation? [*89] — I covered this yesterday . . . IT’S A TRAP!
The Canadian Patients’ Remedy for Health Care: Go to America! [*90]
Phony Centrists Pay the Price for ObamaCare [*91]
The Economy (Can the blithering idiots bring down the most productive economy the world has ever seen? Yes, They Can! Will they?):
Dow closes below 10,000 for first time in 3 months: Stocks fall as investors remain wary of rising debt problems in Europe; Dow slides 104 [*92]
Big Changes Coming for Those Who Use Credit Cards [*93] — Credit: The only winning move is not to play . . .
That scorching GNP? It hit a brick wall in December [*94]
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’s debt bomb [*95]
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?)