June 29, 2012

At the Painted House Café...

Untitled

... we're still here. Come on in. Surely, there are new things to talk about.

102 comments:

Rusty said...

I hope he wasn't painting in yesterdays brutal heat. When it turned 95 deg in the shop yesterday I put my tools away, turned off the computer, and went home.

Rusty said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Deb said...

In the Atlanta area, temps are in the triple digits. Tomorrow it is expected to be 106 degrees.

Crunchy Frog said...

The Justice Departments declines to investigate the head of the Justic Department. Big shock.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/29/politics/holder-contempt/index.html

Patrick said...

Stay cool, Deb.

Deb said...

Thanks Patrick.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

In the Atlanta area, temps are in the triple digits. Tomorrow it is expected to be 106 degrees

OMG!!! I can't imagine with the humidity. I went to St Louis several times in the summer for business and it was only in the low 80's with high humidity. In business suits and nylons. I thought I was going to DIE.

When we got off of the plane in Phoenix with a temperature of 105 and low humidity, I thought I was in heaven. The sticky sweat finally evaporated.

Try some watermelon lemonade. Stay hydrated.

God, An Original A-hole said...

I have a new way of thinking about Thursday's decision.

The context:

We have a Congress that bickers amongst itself while pretty much ignoring first principles... or really any principles at all.

We have an Chief Executive that has failed to live up to his campaign promises more than any one before him. And his Attorney General is now a bona-fide criminal.

So who's in charge of the country?

John Roberts!

What happened Thursday was a coup d'état. Accomplished, maybe inadvertently, with cunning reasoning and sensibility via the almighty pen...

wyo sis said...

I saw several dry farmers out cutting or bailing hay about a week ago, and even more today. When I was growing up on a ranch in Idaho we hardly ever cut any hay before July 4th. It's an early dry year.

Wally Kalbacken said...

I don't care how hot it is, get back up on that ladder and finish painting the soffit!

bagoh20 said...

It's looking great, and since the color scheme is identical to the one I did on my house, I must say you have excellent taste, and owe me some sizable royalties.

Don't make me hire John Roberts to prove it, because we both know the man could find a way.

edutcher said...

So, it's been in the 90s here in NE OH.

You didn't have Meade up on that ladder with all those fumes in that kind of weather?

Did you?

PS God really is a moron, isn't he?

Anonymous said...

O God, send the spirit of bipartisanship into our elected leaders or put the fear of God into them. Let them feel the wrath of the people who elected them if they continue to make Americans their sacrificial lambs, to the gods of greed and power.

And if that fails, send plagues of snails, spiders and locusts in their midst.

And God, so far you've been somewhat wimpy.

Hagar said...

Was the existing finish on the soffit varnish? Will the paint stick or just make a mess of both?

God, An Original A-hole said...

Looking down on America... what do I see?

Oh those liberals are rejoicing at how CLEVER the Obama regime is!!!

Obama & Co got it done with the A.C.A.! And put us on the road to single-payer...

Just like Obama & Co killed that bad-ass terrorist Osama!

Obama is git'r'done President! Who cares about those old campaign promises?! Campaign promises from 2008 like transparency etc... are "quaint", just like the Geneva Conventions were quaint during the reign of Bush II.

Obama is going to be re-elected, folks! John Roberts just ensured that! He's Obama's man at 1 First Street.

ricpic said...

Chivas At Seven

Peaceful evening,
Work is done,
Setting sun,
Ice cubes gleaming.

Deb said...

Wednesday I have to participate in an Independence Day parade. I think it's plunging down to the mid-90's by then.

God, An Original A-hole said...

@AllieOop -

And God, so far you've been somewhat wimpy.

It is not my job to deliver to people the consequences of their choices.

Not until the time is right, anyhow...

Anonymous said...

Yes, God you are right of course, that's the job of Justice Roberts, for now anyway.

Hagar said...

Well, there is a good argument that something like this should be settled in Congress rather than by the Supreme Court, and CJ Roberts' quantum tax/penalty definition has now made that possible.

Humperdink said...

And God, so far you've been somewhat wimpy.

Some would say merciful. And I thank him for that.

Saint Croix said...

Okay, so here’s my brief history of the Supreme Court.

I’m going to start with Lochner. That’s a case where the Supreme Court said the government could not regulate the workplace, because of the right to contract. Conservatives loves the right to contract. It’s the basis of capitalism. Just think, the Supreme Court protected the right to contract decades before they protected the right to free speech. Yeah yeah, the unenumerated right that’s not in the Constitution, they protected. Free speech? Shut up. Anyway, conservatives really do like the right to contract, just like we hate those socialist fucks.

I remember when I was taking contracts in law school (which, by the way, you will study like a whole year before you get to free speech, oh we like our contracts!) and I was seeing contracts everywhere I went. I’d go into McDonald’s and I’d be like, this is a contract, I’m about to enter into a contract. “I’d like some nuggets and fries, please.” That’s an offer. And they said, “$4.99.” And I was like, okay, wait, that’s an offer. What I did was an invitation to offer. And I gave the lady $5. And I said, okay, that’s acceptance, we definitely have a contract now. And if I don’t get my nuggets, I am going to sue. For breach of this contract we have. You better give me my nuggets. And they did.

Anyway, Oliver Wendell Holmes, who we’re all taught was the coolest judge ever, dissented in Lochner. Also in another case he was like, “Free speech!” So that’s liberalism. They don’t like contracts and they love free speech. Also, they have a master plan. Watch out for those damn socialists and their master plans.

So there’s a Great Depression, and there’s no internet so nobody knows the socialists fucking did it. And FDR is elected again and again and again and again. Imagine electing Barack Obama four fucking times. Yeah! Not easy being a Republican in 1937. And the Supreme Court is filled with conservatives who are protecting, yes, the right to contract! Oh we love our right to contract. And FDR is pulling his hair out waiting for those old fuckers to die.

You will find in any conflict with the Supreme Court, the other party complains and complains and complains and waits for the old fuckers to die. It’s kind of rude but all the right-wingers who hate Roe v. Wade are waiting for those old fuckers to die. Rude but true. It’s the nature of the beast. Don’t let me jump ahead.

Anyway, one of the conservatives, I forget who, we never remember the squishy ones, he said, okay, okay, there’s no right to contract. But it doesn’t really matter because they’re all dying anyway, and FDR is up there like fucking forever. He’s up there so much we amended the Constitution so that shit can never happen again. Liberals are like, “what’s wrong with imperialism? As long as it’s us?”

edutcher said...

AllieOop said...

O God, send the spirit of bipartisanship into our elected leaders or put the fear of God into them. Let them feel the wrath of the people who elected them if they continue to make Americans their sacrificial lambs, to the gods of greed and power.

What was it Commandante Zero said when Eric Cantor wanted to try a little bipartisanship?

Oh, yeah...

I Won.

And the fear of the taxpayers was put into them 19 months ago and they'll get another dose in 4.

And it's the Demos who've been doing the bidding of the gods of greed and power.

Goldman and Sachs, to be precise.

Saint Croix said...

Now we jump ahead to Brown v. Board of Education. In the country there is this big divide between people who are racists, and people who believe in free will. Free will people are right, racists are wrong. That’s just the way it is. It’s literally a right vs. wrong debate. Anyway, if you can stand another jump in the space-time continuum (this time we’re going backwards!), the Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson said that racial segregation was okay. That’s because the Supreme Court was filled with racists. Even the dissenters were racists. John Marshall Harlan was like, “I’m a racist, white people are superior, but I can fucking read, and the Constitution says this shit is illegal.”

Of course our society also has people who believe in free will. Like that guy who integrated baseball. And that guy who integrated the army. The Supreme Court’s like, “Okay, these free will fuckers are making us look bad.” So all those liberals who FDR put on the Court got in a little huddle, and they came up with a master plan. “I know what we should do. Let’s take their children!”

Yes, the Court did it again. Instead of overturning Plessy and saying “racial segregation is illegal,” they literally decided to take all the six-year-olds and indoctrinate them with liberal goodness. And the racists are jumping up and down. “My child! You’re taking my child! Take me, you fucker, why are you taking my child!” Because liberals know best, that’s way. “Indoctrinate the children” is the liberal answer to everything.

Anyway, it was actually Congress that killed off racial segregation. Little thing called the Voting Rights Act. Just imagine a white politician in the South looking around at all the black people in his community. “You mean they can vote? Like people? They can vote like people? Like it says in the 15th Amendment?”

Yes. It turns out that we actually settled that fucking race issue in 1870. Way to go, Supreme Court. Way to follow the law!

Meanwhile, the liberals on the Supreme Court are jumping up and down, so happy that they told the American people that racism was bad. “We did it, we did it, we totally did it. Now you have to do what we say.” So then the Court promptly dehumanized babies and started killing off the unwanted children.

God, An Original A-hole said...

Enticed by the text...

'Proudly proclaim, "I am a Christian!"'...

I clicked on a paid Google link that led to this site.

It features an attractive yet sincere-looking woman at the top (what a combo!), and you can put in your name and address and e-mail and click "Submit". And thus you proclaim yourself a Christian. Or so they say...

But then there's this at the bottom:

After filling out the form above, please make sure to forward this page to other people proclaiming, “I am a Christian.”

So maybe you ain't done when you obediently hand over the marketing details? Must one also engage in the chain-letter scheme to have proclaimed himself, or herself?

The privacy policy is interesting. This, especially:

INFORMATION WE COLLECT
There are three different ways in which we collect information from visitors on our Web site:

1. From online requests for information (i.e. e-mail newsletters, contact forms, etc.);
2. From online requests for materials from our organization (i.e. requesting a free offer, or committing your life to Christ.); and
3. From online donations


I like the way "committing your life to Christ" is just nonchalantly shoved in there, right next to "requesting a free offer".

God, An Original A-hole said...

Hey! God's last comment has been censored! Or, more likely, spam filtered...

But it was not Spam! It was Christ-ly, with bona-fide links to Jesus stuffz.

Anonymous said...

Was it Satan?

God, An Original A-hole said...

@AllieOop-

Satan, Google, what's the difference?

...

Okay, just kidding about that. I learned way back about 1442 years ago that God should not try to make jokes. Nobody gets my sense of humour.

Anonymous said...

God, if we are lacking in a sense of humor, it's your fault, after all we are but mere mortals.

Palladian said...

Horrendously hot in New York City today too, with waves of heat reflected off of the concrete and the black asphalt road surfaces melting.

"Horrendous" apparently derives from Latin horrere, which means "hair standing on end". But it was too humid for hair to stand on end; everything just wilted. Maybe it's better to say that it was oppressively hot today. "Oppressive" is derived from opprimere, which means "to press up against". Ah! A much more apt description of humid heat and the ferocious sunlight.

Rosalyn C. said...

God has provided a website to answer all your questions about healthcare: www.healthcare.gov.

Good luck!

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

How can you sit there and talk about the weather after what Roberts has done.. is inexcusable.

I say it was the medication hes on.. or back on.. ;)

What are the chances many a conservatives are.. 'empinando el codo' tonight.

bagoh20 said...

God has smited young men in the know:

The wages of sin in Paris

Anonymous said...

Whoa! Baggy that guy doesn't look all that young, or maybe it's just the pants.

yashu said...

In today's celebrity news, apparently Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are getting a divorce. Contract's finally up! I wonder if she's leaving the "Church" too. Might be complicated to do so with their kid involved.

hawkeyedjb said...

"In the Atlanta area, temps are in the triple digits. Tomorrow it is expected to be 106 degrees."

It's a little warm in Phx this week, so we're hoping it will cool down to 106 or so. Ya know, seasonably warm.

The great thing about a dry climate: jump in the pool, hop out, and the evaporation just cools you right off. But it only lasts little while. So: rinse and repeat.

caplight45 said...

Palladian: I remember east coast heat from Philly. So humid. It was 104 today here in my part of Kansas but the humidity was only 22%. I'll take that any day over 90 degrees with matching humidity.

Picked up 10 pizzas for church tonight. They wanted to know if I wanted them in thermal carriers. I told them no need. My car was hot enough.

Haven't mowed the lawn in two weeks. Power company is asking churches to run at 80 degrees. My question is what about wind power?

God, An Original A-hole said...

@bagoh20-

That ain't the wages of sin. Sin generally looks much much much better than that. In fact, you can pretty much rely on Sin being pretty fucking dapper!

I seriously hope that young man has some immense Samurai or Kung Fu talent... because, you know, in those movies it's often the dude who looks like that who raises himself up to kick some evil ass. Think Kung Fu Panda. Or Stephen Chow.

Then again, it's Paris. I don't think they do Kung Fu there. They can't even make a decent cup of coffee.

Yup, it's probably a portent of the end of the world.

But not the heat wave. The heat wave portends nothing, save for the fact that God has drunk rather too much vodka... For some strange reason, God's blood alcohol content is directly correlated with the temperature in Missouri...

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

The Red Sox have finally opened up on Mariners pitching.

The sox lead them 5 to nuthing in the 6th.

Chip Ahoy said...

The pink, it's like a protoflamingo trying to come into existence.

This didn't happen today but it did the previous two days. Afternoon buildup of dark clouds.

Dark clouds. Dark.

Darkness at 5:00 dark.

And you're going, oh shit this is for real. Lightening cracks. Thunder. Lightening, thunder, more of that, darker and darker and the wind whips up like a tornado is happening and I'm thinking, this is a good time for hummingbird feeder stress analysis and we're all totally expecting a flood because that's exactly what it looks like and then nothing. Nada. Completely 100% dry. Like dry heaves.

This weather related anecdote is anti ... climatic and I apologize for that. For the pun and for the pointless anecdote.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

So..forget all that political shit. This stuff will curdle our souls if we let it. It is 8:30 right now and I'm on my 3rd or is it 4th drink of scotch. Whatever. The cat is in the open window looking longingly out through the screen at the quail who are cooing, scratching and eating the grain we threw out earlier. We just had some great hamburger steaks, sauteed mushrooms and salad. Yes...dieting..low carb.

We sat on the deck, listened to music, watched the birds, laughed at the cat, talked about the garden, planned a future weekend getaway.

The Dumbplumber, my ever lovin' husband has gone to bed because he worked his ass off today and is going to do the same tomorrow. We have food in the pantry, ammo in the shed...I am going to have another drink.....

And Obama can kiss my ass!!

God, An Original A-hole said...

The black eye and noose?

Fascinating!

God, An Original A-hole said...

Proportion of conservatives that have been more-or-less hammered since the SCOTUS ruling on Thursday?

I'd say 40% or 50%...

I opened a 1.75L jug of Tito's the evening before, and it is nearing its end...

Anonymous said...

I'm having rum and a diet cream soda on my deck, contemplating how to learn a foreign language in just 10 days.

God, An Original A-hole said...

Althouse:

I suggest you paint your front door a bold Chinese-money RED!

Your house colors are a little drab...

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I opened a 1.75L jug of Tito's the evening before, and it is nearing its end...

Good thing you are God and can conjure up another liver.

The rest of us have to rely on Obamacare and government death panels for help

:-D

JC said...

Sorry, but the feet's too muddy. God bless

JC said...

Dust Bunny Queen, thanks for drinking the TEXAS vodka

JC said...

Darn, that was god, should have known he would know quality source, even thou He rents out Texas and lives in Hell

ed said...

@ God

"I opened a 1.75L jug of Tito's the evening before, and it is nearing its end..."

I'm slowly working on a bottle of Glacier vodka. Finest distilled vodka of Idaho. lol.

Hey potatoes, Idaho, vodka. It's the trinity I tell you!

God, An Original A-hole said...

@ed -

I'm glad you find Glacier to be pleasurable. Potato vodka is a wonderful thing. Even the cheap Luksusowa is exceptionally good. But it's Polish, not Idahoian. Then again, the Poles do know how to make good cheap vodka. Sobieski, for instance...

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Well, I would drink the Texas vodka if I had some. Texas is awesome(My brother was born in Houston and we lived in Galveston for a while.) However, I do like a single malt scotch better. Although....don't hurt me...a whiskey sour is pretty nice on occasion.

God, An Original A-hole said...

GOD'S SIMPLE DIVINE CHICKEN

Start with some boneless skinless chicken breasts, 'cuz Mrs. Obama has scolded us about eating too much fat.

Marinate in a bowl with some cheap Italian salad dressing; refrigerate, covered, for at least an hour.

Grill on the outdoor grill! Slopper dat marinade over it, baby! And don't be scared about making it a little black on the outside-- like marshmallows, the black parts are bits of special goodness!

Meanwhile, heat some diced green chillis up in a saucepan.

Take grilled chicken, cover with the heated green chilis and sliced sharp cheddar cheese, and broil in the oven until the cheese has passed melted and gotten browned.

Serve the green-chili-and-cheese-covered chicken with Red Hot! Yum! Yum! Yum!

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Back in the early 70's I went to Ireland for a couple of months (road trip!), and was warned (by the St. Patrick Fathers...long story) to avoid the potato alcohol distilled, Poteen. That it would make us go blind.

Well, I can still see.

I'm sure it was nothing like the great vodkas you are all talking about...but hey.... I can still see!

hawkeyedjb said...

DBQ - I'm on the patio with a scotch too. Once the sun goes down, it's just pleasant... as long as the temp stays below 120... which it almost always does.

wyo sis said...

We had dutch oven potatoes and salt and vinegar grilled chicken. Excellent.

It's getting cool and a slight breeze is blowing. Tomorrow we go to see the grands for the 4th where it's hotter than hinges. Life is good right now. I wish all of you cooler weather and delicious summer food.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Wish in me heart it was Sunday

:-D

yashu said...

I'm a terrible philistine, drinking Maker's Mark & Diet Coke.

God, An Original A-hole said...

That was very educational, D.B.Q....

Sometimes a little more whoop-ass is called for.

Makes we want to bash some fucker's face in.... ARRRRRRRGH! FIRE!!! BRIMSTONE!!! GRILLED CHICKEN!!!

They made an album with the same name as y'er song, btw...

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Obama can Kiss my Irish ass!!

Well the half that isn't Welsh. He can kiss that too.

Recommended reading. Born Fighting

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Before Roberts there were sin taxes..

After Roberts taxes on drys and non smokers will be known as piety taxes.

Patrick said...

Sunday? Hell, I can't wait 'til Breakfast

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

HIDDEN PORTALS IN EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD:
A NASA-sponsored researcher at the University of Iowa has developed a way for spacecraft to hunt down hidden magnetic portals in the vicinity of Earth. These gateways link the magnetic field of our planet to that of the sun, setting the stage for stormy space weather.

David said...

It's the almost painted house.

The heat is slowing things down. Even in bickerbickercheeseheadland.

Stay cool and healthy, Meade. You won't impress us by getting heat stroke or falling off a ladder.

David said...

Headline in Christian Science Monitor:

World's most powerful rocket launches secret US satellite

The second classified mission for the National Reconnaissance Office to launch in nine days blasted off with the most powerful liquid hydrogen rocket engines ever built.

The spy agency plans a third launch in August.


Iran, are you watching? Because we are watching you.

FYI the United States has been assembling forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and in bases in Africa for over a year now. Don't discount the possibility. If Obama's in trouble come October, the odds go up. The Israelis don't care why we help them. They just want the help.

Chip S. said...

World's most powerful rocket launches secret US satellite

Something seems not quite right about that as a newspaper headline.

Mark said...

God, the thing is, "God" isn't something a real liberal likes mixing into things. (By real liberal, I mean someone who has bought in to the whole Enlightenment gestalt).

"God" is always the construct brought in to support some authoritarian impulse that someone thinks to be A Good Idea Right Now.

I am a Conservative precisely because I deny the authoritarian impulse.

The schtick is ugly regardless, but more so when it comes from the "progressive" side of the debate. You've lost your bearings.

God, An Original A-hole said...

@Mark -

Get over it, dude! Have a drink. Relax. Enjoy.

Yours faithfully,
GOD

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Here At The Home - Tribe

Be of good cheer now somehow
You can forget for now
You know your glass is always full
Down here at the home
Cooking/Eating

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Rescue Me - Tribe

He knows how to make me feel tragedy
He's crafty
He senses many ways to quiet me
He's clever

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Tied - Tribe

What's that you're saying there, do you think I'm blind?
I know what you think, you think I fell for him like quite a find
Well that's not it at all, no I'm just fine
It's you I'm sorry for, with your scheming little minds.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Outside - Tribe

I think who knows
What it is what it might be
I know anything goes
I've been there don't remind me
All kinds of twisted thoughts..

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Every time we thought Obamacare could not possibly survive.. like some Damien from the gates of hell, the baby lived on.

Roberts has deliver it..

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

maybe that should be the vowels of hell.. presumably the gates of hell is the only good thing about the place.. now that I think about it.

KCFleming said...

Can't sleep.

A little over ten years ago, I had an epiphany at work. I was struggling until I suddenly realized that I was not, as I had imagined, a professional, but an employee.


And my eyes opened, and I understood.
The employee game is an easy one to play, unless you don't know you're playing it.

So with the ACA ruling came a similarly uncomfortable epiphany.

I was the rube.
I was the patsy.
Shit!

Like the die-hard Cubs fan, always waiting for the conservatives to win, I hoped.

But then Roberts ruled, and my eyes opened, and I understood.

All that kabuki about conservative undercurrents in Washington was complete and utter bullshit. It was all of a piece, just different players jockeying for position.

And I was the idiot, believing there was some chance of reversion to ancient times.

Instead of a professional, I am an employee.
Instead of a citizen, I am a serf.
And the serf game is an easy one; its rules are old and easily learned. Bow and scrape, basically. Get yours.

My apologies for having mislead anyone otherwise.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I was thinking of Matthew 16:18

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Well.. I guess I was right.. so I'm switching my vote.. gates of hell it stays.

Jim in St Louis said...

Oh! Vey !

Enough already with the rending of garments and the wailing etc. Its a ruling of a fallible institution, just as our other two branches of government are filled with people who are just as liable to error as you or I.

Don't like the law? Then change it!

We are an orderly society that values reason and argument and persuasion*. And we have the tools to construct the form of governance that will best ensure the blessings of liberty.



* I love that word 'persuasion' its a very attractive word to say out loud. Per-suas-ion. I wish we had more words that sound like they mean. Its not true onomatopoeia; but it feels like the meaning of the word.

Curious George said...

Will Meade tape off or cut-in that frieze board?

MadisonMan said...

I hope the neighbors appreciate the new color.

Here at the beach, it was very hot yesterday. No sea breeze, no clouds. It does appear to have rained overnight.

Scott said...

Aren't you just sick of Democrats?

Shanna said...

Tomorrow it is expected to be 106 degrees.

Cheers! It's supposed to be 105 here today (yesterday, it said high of 108 but I'm not sure if it ever got there)

I'm going to go walk while it's still under 80!

Anonymous said...

Pogo, welcome to the world of serfdom, it's the one the rest of us have been living in for quite sometime and you are mistaken, it's not as easy as you think.

But about the kabuki dance, you couldn't be more right. Now you must have another epiphany and realize it's the "powerful elites" who pull the strings in Washington. You tell me who they are, I think I know, but I can't be sure.

Maybe it will become painfully clear to all before long. The other question is can we as a society defeat them, can we be honorable?

Paco Wové said...

Hey Meade - you missed the soffits on the sides of the house. Back up the ladder!

MadisonMan said...

Driest June on record in Madison. (sigh). Good painting weather if you're used to the heat.

David Blaska said...

Lookin' good Louis.

Lookin' good, Billy Ray

Rusty said...

Time to go John Galt, Pogo?

Anonymous said...

The problem with us is that we've beem divided and conquered for quite sometime now and sadly so few realize it yet.

Identify the kings instead of making your fellow serfs your enemy.

Chip Ahoy said...

Is Shirley going to talk about her new things or not?

I'm leaving.

Patrick said...

Pogo,

You need to snap out of the funk at some point. You're not a serf, or anything like it. Serfs had a short miserable life. Serfs had no say in their existence at all. They owned nothing and had no hope of owning anything. Yet, they escaped serfdom.

As long as government exists in a democracy, people will use it to their own ends, intruding on the freedoms of others. It looks bleak, but it could be worse. There is nothing - nothing! that is irreversible except death. The US has not died, the Constitution has not died. Democracy has not died.

Don't take it lying down. Resist it at the polls, get involved. Run for Congress or the State assembly. Write your Congressman. Weak tea? Only if no one does it.

Take heart. The US has been through much, much worse.

The day may come when the American spirit fails, that is not this day

Celebrate July 4th. Go to a military graveyard. Think about whether those guys would give up.

This is the day the Lord has made. Enjoy it.

Patrick said...

And if Herb Brooks could motivate those guys wearing those pants, anything is possible

HT said...

Listening to David Pollock talk about Syria (hey, that's different)...very interesting. He speaks very deliberately and intelligently. CSPAN radio. (Not a fan of where he works currently, but seems to have quite a depth of experience.) Very personal and conversational.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Maybe we are convinced that we serfs if we do not get "our" party to do what we think is right, we cannot depend on the SC.

I want to believe we still have the capacity for greatness, to be honorable.

Here is my take, we don't have to bend to the will of those who pull the strings. The puppet masters are still not in complete control, not while we are still a Democracy or Republic (whatever you choose to call it) and have the right to vote.

Out biggest and most daunting task will be to find honorable uncorruptable men with courage to run as candidates, are there any out there? I don't see any yet.

Anonymous said...

Or women of course.

Chip Ahoy said...

Schrödinger's helicopter

Patrick said...

Out biggest and most daunting task will be to find honorable uncorruptable men with courage to run as candidates, are there any out there? I don't see any yet.

It is an irony of American politics. Such men aren't usually drawn to politics. There are some, but on both sides of the aisle get overwhelmed with the game it has become. That's one of the reasons I favor limited government - fewer government programs means less largesse for the political class to pass around.

I'm going to take my boys canoeing and decorate the wagon for the 4th of July parade. Have a ggreat day and stay cool!

Meade said...

Feeling good, Uncle Blaska!

rhhardin said...

Thunderstorms - ending a 100 degree heat for a while and planting some rain on the drought - came through at 16:00 Friday, taking out the DSL. Lots of upload and download speed but no internet.

Embarq has a recorded message that they have their top guys on restoring Ohio, which 18 hours later they have not done.

Dialup with the ISP that I never cancelled and don't automatically load images until it's fixed, probably Monday, when the Embarq staff returns, if they're not off for the whole 4th of July week.

I'd upload a wind video but that takes DSL.

rhhardin said...

You can always be a professional employee both, if you don't mind being fired now and then.

Occasionally the same guys hire you back.

Rule: don't burn any bridges. Speak glowingly of your former employer. The next one imagines you'll do the same for him.

Farmer said...

AllieOop said...
Out biggest and most daunting task will be to find honorable uncorruptable men with courage to run as candidates, are there any out there? I don't see any yet.


George W. Bush was honorable. He wasn't corrupt. He got bashed by the Left for sticking to his convictions on the war, and by the Right for spending too much money. A little more business-as-usual would've made things a lot easier on him. Everybody says that want a President with the strength of his convictions, but then we get one like Bush on terrorism, or Obama on health care, and everybody flips out. Most of us couldn't care less how honorable or decent our President is as long as he gives us what our side wants.

I think Romney has the potential to be a truly great President. He pisses off both the Left and the Right. In 2012 America that's the sign of a principled and pragmatic man.

rhhardin said...

The Ohio outage map suggests nothing is going to come back for a few weeks.

Some counties with 98% of power customers without power.

All the lines go past the same tree.

Milliscent Morgan said...

This is such a great post but aside from this I'm also looking for house painting Seattle.