Happy New Year!

Y'all enjoy ringing in the New Year. I plan on turning in early and catching up on my sleep.

Let us pray that 2016 does not offer the same gaudy flowering of stupidity that 2015 featured. I am not optimistic.

A question on the minds of many 9-year olds

"9-Year Old Asks Hillary About Gender Pay Equity at Town Hall".

Glad to see a well-known public figure finally use the "s" word to describe Obama and his gang

"“It is the level of stupidity that is incredible. I’m telling you, I used to use the word incompetent. Now I just call them stupid."

Come one, come all

"Agents nab Pakistanis with terrorist connections crossing U.S. border".

The guys I'm worried about are the ones that agents don't "nab".

And those would be?

"Obama to Travel the Globe in 2016 to Tout His Foreign Policy Successes" (emphasis mine).

Actually, there were a few:

- The highly successful joint maneuvers with the Mongolian Navy

- The Non-Aggression Pact with Andorra

- The bi-lateral nuclear non-proliferation agreement with Chad

I'm sure you all can probably think of some others.

Setting an example of good government...

...is obviously not a priority in Pennsylvania, at the moment.

Man, if that ain't the script for a profitable horror movie, I don't know what is

"Terror in Australia as Crocodiles Swept Into Town by Floodwaters".

If Charles Ponzi had gone into politics, he probably could have been elected president - twice

John Hinderaker points out the fraudulence and hypocrisy (yet strangely undying appeal) of socialism in this succinct, but comprehensive post. A sample:

Only under socialism could Fidel Castro become the richest warlord, relative to his subjects’ wealth, in recorded history. (And that was the least of his sins.) Only under socialism could Maria Gabriela Chavez, daughter of socialist tribune of the people Hugo Chavez, beloved by the American left, waltz off with a $4 billion fortune. But then, she was a piker: Chavez’s Minister of the Treasury stashed $11 billion in Swiss bank accounts.

Assortment

Would you sell a used gun to this man?

Militant Islam couldn't possibly get more depraved than it already is, could it? Why, yes, yes it could - and has.


(H/T: Girls Just Wannah Have Guns)

"5 Gunfighting Myths Debunked".

Take it from Snake Pliskin: "Now is not a good time to lay down your weapons".

Thomas Aquinas had Islam figured out hundreds of years ago: "Mohammad said that he was sent in the power of his arms, which are signs not lacking even to robbers and tyrants.”

Oh, I dunno, the vacant lot sounds pretty appropriate to me.

Rand Paul celebrates Festivus with the traditional airing of grievances.

Sunday funnies

Appalling, yes. Intriguing, no.

A man crashed his car into a shopping mall as he attempted to time travel. He's technically "unidentified", but we all know it's Wronwright, correct?

It's a Canadian thing, you wouldn't understand.

Some questionable physics in this scene from "Son of Paleface"...



Oh, one more thing about Canadians: they go in for very clever Christmas decorations...



Jim Treacher and friends have some fun at Michael Moore's expanse expense.

Gun control politicos in Virginia likely to get a nasty surprise in January

You will recall that State AG Mark R. Herring recently cancelled concealed carry reciprocity agreements with 25 other states. The Virginia General Assembly is now planning to cancel Herring:

Herring’s announcement came three weeks before the start of the General Assembly session, which is controlled by Republicans. In November, a bill was filed that would require Virginia to recognize permits from other states. If approved, it would reverse Herring’s ruling.

Carrico said he’ll address the issue come January.

“A lot of the governor’s power is deferred to the General Assembly at that point and I’ll be getting with my colleagues to circumvent everything this governor has done on this point,” he said. “I have a budget amendment that I’m looking at to take away his executive protection unit. If he’s so afraid of guns, then I’m not going to surround him with armed state policemen.”

Merry Christmas!

From all of us here at the Paco Command Center, best wishes for a happy holiday.

Update: Maggie, with friend.

Happy Feet Friday

Benny Goodman and his orchestra perform a swingin' version of Jingle Bells.



Bonus track! The lovely Mabel Scott sings Boogie Woogie Santa Claus.

Turn out the lights, the (Republican) Party's over

Ben Shapiro is skeptical about the GOP's continuing existence.

Elsewhere, Jon Gabriel takes the Republican establishment to the woodshed.

Tom Friedman, call your office

We're probably only one or two Democrat presidents away from something like this, ourselves:

China’s largest social networks have partnered with the country’s Communist government to create a credit score system that will measure how obedient its citizens are, a chilling prospect that could one day arrive in America if social justice warriors get their way.

I know, it's Alex Jones, but still...

Ted Cruz has last laugh

The Washington Post recently ran a political cartoon (since taken down) that featured Ted Cruz's children as monkeys. The quick thinking Cruz came up with a better one (click to enlarge):



H/T: The Washington Examiner.

So, are you saying that Karl Rove is Louis B. Mayer?

Chris Matthews continues to astonish with his, er, unique observations:

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews said Tuesday that old, smart Jews with cigars picked who would succeed in the 1930s movie business in an apparent effort to draw an analogy between Hollywood’s recruitment process in the old days and how today’s Republican Party chooses presidential candidates to support.

H/T: Friend and commenter Bruce.

I guess Obama was a member of the control group

"Intelligence genes discovered by scientists".

Herring makes fishy move

Virginia's partisan hack Democrat (I know, redundancy on top of redundancy) attorney general, Mark R. Herring, has just canceled concealed carry reciprocity agreements with 25 other states. And since many states won't offer reciprocity to states that don't honor their CC permits, this probably means I won't be able to carry in other jurisdictions.

Well, it's a small price to pay, I guess. Frankly, I was getting tired of all those people from North Carolina coming up here and cruising around the streets, hanging out of their car windows and taking potshots at pedestrians.

Seriously, here's a statistic that might have been useful in your deliberations, Mr. Attorney General Douche Bag: how many gun-related crimes have been committed in Virginia by lawful holders of CC permits issued by other states? I admit I don't know the answer - but I'm reasonably certain you don't either. This is a nuisance regulation that is intended to inconvenience law abiding citizens from other states (and citizens of Virginia, too, as they find their CC permits becoming useless elsewhere).

Hey, here's something you didn't think of, genius: Virginia is an open-carry state. You reckon the citizens of our fair commonwealth would feel more at ease if out-of-state visitors swaggered around festooned with Ruger Blackhawk revolvers and EAA 10mm pistols? Actually, that wouldn't bother me at all, but it might just cause you to have an "accidental discharge".


Mark R. Herring: proudly firing blanks in the war on gun violence.

Update: More here and here.

One thing I would strongly urge Virginia CC permit holders to do - get a Utah permit. It's good almost everywhere, except among the most hoplophobic states.

This settles one thing, for sure: I won't be retiring in Virginia.

Like the doc says, if I had my druthers, I'd druther not be shot with either round...

...but he makes the case that a 5.56 can do more damage to the human body than a 7.62 (you guys can check his math, if you want to; it, ah, looks ok, to me).

C'mon, Donald!

You didn't really expect the Grandmother of Lies to apologize for telling another whopper, did you?

Sen. Lindsey Graham ends campaign joy ride

Well, there's one minor distraction out of the way.

When gangsters fall out

Hillary Clinton has stirred the ire of Obama's surrogate mother, Valerie Jarrett.

Only cops can be trusted with firearms (Example #168)

"Anti-Gun Sheriff Shoots Self With Accidental Discharge".

I bet that wasn't the only "accidental discharge" he experienced.

Putin's staying power might be greater than we thought

If it seems like the guy's been around forever, maybe it's because he has been (Bwahahaha!!!).

Sunday funnies

Prepping (H/T: Captain Heinrichs).


(From the Week in Pictures at Powerline).

Rest in peace.

Yeah, he ain't losing that bag...



Be careful if you're traveling in London. You don't want to run afoul of the law.

Merry Christmas, from Ted Cruz!



This Utah community has developed a strategy for dealing with package thieves (H/T: Mrs. Paco).

Chicago

That toddlin' cesspool of corruption.

I guess if I were surrounded by Secret Service agents and had the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines at my command , I wouldn't worry about terrorism either

"Krauthammer: Obama Believes People Afraid of Terror Because They Aren’t As ‘Intelligent’ As He Is".

Ignorant, quarter-educated, narcissistic, puffed up, parlor radical..."only" a little more than a year to go.

Happy Feet Friday

Clarinetist Edmond Hall and friends stomp out with Blue Note Boogie.

So, is "Pawl" Ryan just John Boehner without the drinking problem?

It's getting harder every day to tell the difference.

And what's with the beard, congressman? A little late to disguise your identity.

Well, I hear they can be surgically removed

Hillary Clinton: "I don't have horns".

We are warm-mongers, hear us roar!

What could be more effective in addressing climate change than a climate song belted out by Unitarians?

"Pawl" Ryan

Like the pawl in a ratchet mechanism, Republican Paul Ryan has made sure that the appropriations bill moved things in the direction of Democrat priorities.

Creepy rich guy joins elderly grandmother's conga line of crony capitalist fundraisers

"Just a week after Hillary Clinton announced her plan to stop corporate tax inversions, she is traveling to Nebraska to fundraise with Warren Buffett, who led Burger King’s corporate inversion to Canada last year."

If Jeffrey Dahmer were still alive, and had hundreds of millions of dollars at his disposal, no doubt she'd give him a wink and a nod as she gently chastised him for his cannibalism.

If the high command of ISIS had written our policy on the use of social media as an intelligence tool...

...how would it differ significantly from the policy of President Obama and Jeh Johnson? A sample from Andrew McCarthy's article at NRO:

As a matter of policy, the Department of Homeland Security — the bureaucratic behemoth created after 9/11 to enhance protection of our country — avoids looking at, much less scrutinizing, the publicly available social-media commentary of aliens who seek visas to enter the United States, including from Islamic countries that are jihadist strongholds.

This is what happens when you elect a pseudo-intellectual, knee-jerk leftist, "citizen of the world" as president.

Gawrsh, Lindsey Graham, I know you're goin' to get mad at me, but I'm startin' to feel a - what did ya call it? - a "visceral dislike" for Obama.

Do what I say, not what I do

A Saudi prince (how many of these guys are there, anyway?) condemns Donald Trump for wanting to ban Syrian immigrants from the U.S. - even though Saudi Arabia isn't taking any.

Unless, I suppose, they're really short Syrians.

How did you celebrate International Human Rights Day?

Raul Castro celebrated by arresting between 150 and 200 dissidents.

Hey, but at least he's not an ideologue (says the most partisan ideologue to ever occupy the White House).

Having Obama as president at a time when Islamic extremism is surging...

...gives us a pretty good idea of what it would have been like if progressive Henry Wallace had won the presidency in 1948 during the rise of international communism. More anti-anti-terrorism courtesy of Barry's sentimental attachment to Islam and lifelong alienation from American values.

Update: Barack Obama, shaman-in-chief.

Sunday funnies

Take the edge off of your holiday partying with one of these great products.

Putin may wind up choking to death on the floor: "Odessa home to Ukraine's Vader".

This restaurant is not only good, it's...






The dark side of bingo.



Best news bloopers of 2015.

Scientific inquiry

Is Lindsey Graham an idiot, or just a fellow traveler of idiots?

Everything Obama touches, he defiles

Barry even manages to turn a Hanukkah party into an odious propaganda exercise.

Happy Feet Friday

Here's Big Joe Turner belting out...er...well, I'll let him tell you.

Israel seems to take an effective approach to security screening

Which is why I imagine that our multi-culti, diversity-obsessed, safe-space religion-of-peaceniks will never go for it.

NYT pwnd by a hoax web site

Layer upon layer of fact checkers, folks.

Just another one of the huddled masses, yearning to breathe free

"Previously deported illegal charged with attempted murder of NJ police officer".

Another liberal "hero" for our absurd times

"52-Year-Old Man Says He is ‘Transage’; Lives Life as LITTLE GIRL".

Important safety tip for burglars in Florida

If you're on the dodge from the law, don't hide in a pond.

Life in Obama's America

Sometimes you just want to turn your face to the wall:

The mother of an injured Army veteran of the Iraq war is selling a rare letter from President Obama to cover her son's medical and personal expenses despite the president's handwritten promise to do "everything we can over the next four years to support your family."

Yet another Hillary lie?

"A new email made public Tuesday indicates the Pentagon had military forces at the ready when the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi was under siege, a claim the State Department has repeatedly disputed.

Jeremy Bash, then the Defense Department's chief of staff, wrote in an email to top aides to Hillary Clinton the night of Sept. 11, 2012 that Gen. Martin Dempsey and the Joint Chiefs of Staff had 'identified the forces that could move to Benghazi.They are spinning as we speak,' Bash wrote within hours of the start of the attack.While parts of the email were redacted, the message indicates the Pentagon was waiting for approval from the State Department to send the forces in. That help never arrived for the Americans under siege at the Benghazi compound."

If this awful woman becomes president, we are well and truly in for it.

Turning "No Fly" into "No Buy"

So, people on the terror watch list and the no fly list shouldn't be able to buy guns. It's the kind of thing that has a certain superficial reasonableness about it - until you look at the facts (those pesky things, again!)

Update: The one person on a "no fly" list who has actually been responsible for the death of an American citizen.

Update II: Rebecca, in the comments - "It all makes sense if you compare Obama's governing skills to a cat that got into the yarn basket."

Perfect.

Assortment

(H/T: Girls Just Wannah Have Guns)

Triumphalist Islam is a blight on humanity and should be extirpated (ok, Madam Attorney General, come and get me).

Related: "How the 'New York Times' and Loretta Lynch Made Me Join the NRA".

Geez, these totally random, motiveless attacks are quite perplexing.

According to the NYT, the best way to deal with violence in the U.S. is to make the country a huge gun-free zone.


(H/T: Moonbattery).

Female Canadian volunteer soldier fighting for the Kurds has a decidedly low opinion of ISIS manhood (H/T: Captain Heinrichs).



Hillary Clinton: lost in the fog.

Hey, Cankles, over here!



So, are they, like, monitoring themselves or what? "72 DHS Employees on Terrorist Watch List".

Sunday funnies

Yeah, the theft was newsworthy, but not as newsworthy to me as the mere existence of something called a circumcision ambulance.

I shake my head when I think of those days that I had to stay after class wiping what might well have been extremely valuable artwork off the chalkboard.

Looks like Darth Vader's fortunes have really hit rock bottom.

Probably because he didn't get the job...



Warning: your new Ford will rat you out.

Border insecurity

How safe do you feel?

Wow! Can I get some black-powder rim-fire .44 magnums to go with that?

Donkey Rep. Loretta Sanchez decries the plague of "multiautomatic round weapons".

Righteous Among the Nations

Robert Avrech at Seraphic Secret tells the story of Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds and his inspiring act of courage.

Happy Feet Friday

By tradition, the harp is generally thought to be the musical instrument of choice in heaven. If this is the way they play 'em, then move over St. Pete and let me cut some rug!

I see an IRS audit in her future

"Woman to Hillary: You Say Rape Accusers Should Be Believed, What About Your Husband’s?"

Horrifying irony

"Muslim Newlyweds Slaughter Co-Workers Who Threw Them a Baby Shower".

I suppose, among the Islamo-Nazis, gratitude is a mere sectarian notion.

Mass shooting in San Bernardino, California

Weasel Zippers, Breitbart and Drudge are posting updates.

He's just flippin' us off now

"A radical foreign policy adviser fired by President Obama years ago for meeting with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas is back as the administration’s new czar in charge of countering the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS)."

Bernie Sanders' pacemaker just made his electric garage door open

"Emily Ratajkowski Endorses Bernie Sanders For President".

Talk about cognitive dissonance!

"Obama: I’m Confident Next President Will Be Democrat, I’m Confident in Wisdom of American People".

Sorry, Wile E. Peyote, it can't be both.

Update: And in another observation representing shear jenyus, Barry said this.

The future capital of the future state of Pacovia

And the price is right!

Handicapping the Iowa caucus

The astute Smitty has Moloch out in front of the Sweet Meteor of Death and Cthulhu.

Frankly, I thought Tláloc would have been able to peel off some votes from Moloch, but he's not making much of a dent, so far (possibly a name recognition problem).

Once again, Hillary shows her deft political touch

"Hillary Clinton has appointed to her leadership team a former congressman who blamed his defeat on 'Jewish interests' and the 'Jewish media,' her campaign announced earlier this month."

How long before the Swedish people break out the spears and pointy helmets?

Among the nations of Western Europe, the Swedes have demonstrated the strongest tendency toward cultural and demographic suicide, with wide open immigration policies bordering on the insane. Entire neighborhoods of unassimilating Muslims, mostly from Africa, have created a reign of terror, and a series of governments have done nothing to impose order (too busy tut-tutting at the blond-and-blue-eyed natives about their presumed racism, I suppose).

But there is a growing discontent among the heretofore phlegmatic Swedish majority, as underscored in this post at Zero Hedge. When even Swedes start talking about carrying guns when they go shopping, perhaps something genuinely momentous is at hand (On de udder hand, dem bein’ Svedes, maybe it’s yust a lotta chin vaggin’. Vee see by an’ by, I reckon).

Global warming

Maybe we ought to be trying to promote it: "The Sun Is All But Spotless: Are We Headed For An Ice Age?"

Sometimes two out of three isn't good enough

"Third time's the charm".

Sunday funnies

More fabulous Hillary-themed gifts!

Measure twice, cut once.

A day in the life of Darth Vader.

Clint Eastwood waxes sentimental.

Funny Purolator oil filter commercial.

Breaking up with your girlfriend? Hey, there's an app for that!

A truly electrifying Australian.

Some people will go to great lengths to acquire ammo (H/T: Captain Heinrichs).

Now here's a genuinely useful tattoo...

Glad to see California still has some of the right kind of scofflaws

The L.A. Council passed a law banning all magazines that hold more than ten rounds, and requiring the surrender of any that are in non-compliance. The response has been what you might call underwhelming.

Bernie Sanders' fund-raising appeals apparently bear a strong resemblance to Nigerian email scams

At least, that's what Google thinks:

The Google Mail algorithm has determined emails from the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign are fraudulent because anything that promises so much free stuff must surely be a scam, according to reports Wednesday.

There you go; scientific proof that socialism is a total fraud.

Happy Feet Friday

Jimmy Dorsey and the boys heat up the joint with their version of One O'Clock Jump.

Assortment

The unusual art of fore-edge painting (completely unknown to me, until now).

Nice shootin', Tex.

Somewhere, over the, er, moonbow.

The Icelandic elephant.

Early attempts at developing battle tanks.

Kurdish general bears a strong resemblance to a late Soviet leader of some renown.


"Hey! The turkey's done!"

Happy Thanksgiving!

Special dispatch from the Paco Command Center: All readers are commanded to have a splendid Thanksgiving Day.


Turkey with a side order of "oomph!"

Update: Turkey freed by the equivalent of a jury of his peers.

Update: And, of course, the inevitable outcome - "Pardoned White House Turkey Defects To ISIS".

But which group will wind up being more inimical to the health of the Republic?

"More immigrants from Muslim nations than population of D.C. — 680,000".

Your feel good story of the day

"Al Qaeda suicide bomber takes out leadership of key ISIS brigade".

Now that's a rebuke

Obama says the climate summit will be "a powerful rebuke to the terrorists."

Hmmm. I'm thinking not as "powerful" a "rebuke" as Apache helicopters...

Must be trying to blunt the backlash

"Australian army to ban chaplain’s crosses, appoints imam in deference to Islam".

Americans feel "leaderless"

Or so says right-wing media outlet...MSNBC.

Straight, no-nonsense talk on the war with ISIS

Larry Correia tells it like is. A sample:

Liberalism is a suicidal political philosophy that focuses on non-problems and ignores real problems. We’ve got an actual death cult massacring people? Well, we’d better crack down on regular Americans civil liberties. Hey, there’s a conservative organization in rural Nebraska that has absolutely nothing to do with militant Islam, better tap their phones and sick the IRS on them. We do security theater at the airports, while having a foreign policy that makes zero sense and no border. Bad guys are massacring people with machine guns they smuggled into a country with incredibly strict gun control? Well, we’d better double down on gun free zones to minimize the number of people who could effectively fight back.

Via Ace of Spades.

Smartest woman in America scores an own goal

Hillary Tweeted her support for victims of sexual abuse, stating that they have the "right to be believed" - except, I guess, in a few special cases.

Monday movie

Something a little different this week: a fan film pitting medieval knights against Predator.

The people of Greensboro, North Carolina must be sleeping a lot easier tonight

A volunteer gun surrender event netted precisely one BB gun - oh, and one knife.

Elsewhere on the gun front, the D.C. police chief unwittingly makes the case for legal concealed carry.

Hey, nice little Califate ya got dere

Be a shame if sump'n happened to it.

Sunday funnies

Some people really like their French fries...



Brother Smitty has the latest Taiwanese animated video on Shrillary, and it is hilarious.

Penguins in a Danish zoo attempt to go over the wall (I love the title on the video: "Pengvinflugt")...



I'm not sure why this candidate in the New Hampshire primary isn't a Democrat super star on the national stage, since his platform pretty much captures the essence of the party's ideology: "Perennial candidate and performance artist Vermin Supreme also signed up at the secretary of state's office, wearing his signature rubber boot on his head. He's touting a plan to provide every American with a pony."

It was only a matter of time before global warm-mongers got around to studying kangaroo farts.

Happy Feet Friday

Little Esther and the Robins get it on with Lovers' Lane Boogie.

Almost let it slip by

Happy National Ammo Day!

This year, I'd like to commemorate the .38 Super - one of my favorite rounds.

Related: The so-called "smart gun" is tested; hilarity ensues.

Special guest post by Björn Lyvall

In response to the post entitled “The Swedes have lost their minds”, and to a comment at that post by Bruce, the Swedish Ambassador to the United States, via a telephone message, provided a statement, which I have transcribed below:

Dis here is Björn Lyvall, Svedish Ambassador to de Yew Ess.

By yimminy, who dew yew fellers t’ink yew are, makin’ de slander against my countrymen (an’ against my contryvimmen and, er, dee transyenders and all dem udders in betveen)! Vee ain’t no more galen in de hjära dann yew Americans (an’ iff yew really vant to talk crazy, I could go on about dem “blooks” from “dawn oonder” fer hours!) By gawly, yew better be glad vee done gib up all dat Vikin’ shit a long time back, yessirree, uddervise I vould be over dere at de Paco Command Center a’burnin’ and a’pillagin’ to beat de band, by t’under, yah, I vould! Now, yew fellers cut it out, yew hear? I got bigger problems on my hands an’ don’t haff time fer dis here libel talk. I know vhat: Paco, vy don’t yew stick to writin’ about how de second amen’ment is de best t’ing since sliced kringler; and dat udder guy, dat dere “blook” from Australia, vy don’t he yust go shake some platypurses out ov dem yewcalyptus trees?

Well…um…I guess he sure told us.

With apologies to Winston Churchill

Obama is an idiot wrapped in an ignoramus inside a schmuck.

Really, the pejoratives virtually write themselves as this president’s bone-headed mistakes keep piling up. He stated yesterday that he’d agree to partner with Russia in fighting ISIS - but not until an end to the Syrian civil war is brokered – i.e., basically, not until Assad is booted out.

Sure, Assad is an evil man (certainly not a “reformer”, as he was once described by the current administration, a point made in the linked post). But Assad’s soldiers are not presently gunning down Parisians, threatening to attack New York and Washington, or trying to fan out across Europe and the U.S. using fake passports. Maybe this isn’t the time for multi-tasking in one country, Barry. Of course, what’s really going on is that Obama is creating a contingency that he knows is unlikely to be met as a prerequisite for tackling the more important task that he’d rather not be bothered with anyway.

We are experiencing technical difficulties

I was just going through my spam comments to delete them when I noticed that comments from some of the regulars were getting caught up (i.e., were not published). I have no idea why this is happening, but I have now "de-spammed" the comments. My apologies to Deborah and Steve at the Pub (whose comment on the Springfield M1A and the M14 was very interesting and helpful).

The Swedes have lost their minds

This guy is both funny and spot on.

Too good to wait for the Sunday funnies

Ace does a hilarious riff on the absurd Tom Friedman.

Elsewhere, Donald Trump draws laughter from his response to a heckler.

Another non-solution to the wrong problem

Ah, me. The state of Illinois really does breed a...well, a very special kind of politician. Barack Obama, Valerie Jarrett, Rahm Emmanuel. Oh, and let's not forget Congressthing Jan Schakowsky, who thinks the terror in Paris is a "chilling reminder" that we need more gun control in the U.S.

Ok, got it. Let's respond to terrorism by stripping law abiding Americans of their constitutional rights. Today the 2nd amendment, tomorrow...what? Freedom of speech? Freedom of religion? How about if we just quarter S.W.A.T. teams in our houses on a rotating basis?

Mrs. Clinton is not amused

That enemies list must be getting pretty long: "In what appears to be a first for a serious presidential contender, Hillary Clinton’s campaign is going after five comedians who made fun of the former Secretary of State in standup skits at a popular Hollywood comedy club."

From Russia, with love

"Russia Pounds ISIS With Biggest Bomber Raid in Decades".

Don't forget!

It's time for the annual buffalo auction!

I think one or two would really dress up my front yard.

Secretary of State, the honorable John Dunning-Kruger

If only someone could slip some super glue into his lip balm.


John Kerry: Still half-baked, after all these years.

Could be like old times

I bet the French Foreign Legion could kick some ISIS a**. Right, guys?


"Oui, monsieur Paco!"

If you're wondering why the American air strikes against ISIS haven't been more successful...

...wonder no more:

The Islamic State knows the Americans’ rules of engagement. The terrorists are well aware that U.S. pilots won’t hit anything if there is even a chance of hurting a civilian. So of course the Islamic State positions its fighters and equipment near civilians.

Even in obvious cases, like a gathering of 300 oil trucks — more than one-quarter of the Islamic State’s entire fleet — American pilots have held off attacking for more than a year, while the oil smuggling business made the Islamic State richer and richer and the terrorist organization extended its reach to the streets of Paris.

The clothes have no emperor

Whether the West can survive the twin threats of Islamic terrorism and Islamic migration will depend on the commitment of European and American leaders to identifying and defending the sacred ground of core western values, and combating the existential threats to our civilization both at home and abroad. Inevitably this means, among other things, a commitment to military action which, while it should be realistic and limited in scope, must be overwhelming in the effect of its execution. Although it is useful, and necessary, to pick off the occasional “Jihadi John”, there is no substitute for demolishing the enemy’s infrastructure, supply lines and training facilities – and for cutting their soldiers down by the thousand.

None of this will be possible, at least as far as the United States is concerned, until the next presidential inauguration (possibly not even then, if our ageing Evita is wheeled into the White House courtesy of the Wall St./ media axis). One thing that is certain is that President Dunning-Kruger will be making no changes to his failed strategy - because, in this administration, while failure’s always an option, the awareness of it, let alone the acknowledgement of it, never is.

Update: As if I had just ordered up a piping hot cup of "told you so", here come Ace and Red State with some prime excoriation of Obama's bizarre press conference today.

Really, what does this farrago of clotted verbiage mean?

“What I’m not interested in doing is posing or pursuing some notion of American leadership or America winning or whatever other slogans they come up with that has no relationship to what is actually going to work to protect the American people and to protect the people in the region who are getting killed and to protect our allies and people like France. I’m too busy for that.”

Well, there's at least one unintended true thing he spoke: he's definitely not interested in "pursuing some notion of American leadership".

France counterattacks

The French Air Force has bombed the ISIS "capital" of Raqqa in Syria.

Good point

I was talking on the phone with Bro Paco today, and remarked on the irony of Obama's comment that ISIS has been contained, followed only a few hours later by the terror attack in Paris. He said, "Sure, they've been contained. But what Obama didn't mention was that the holding pen includes France."

Very true. In fact, the pen includes all of Europe, and perhaps the U.S. before too long.

Baffled

Hillary's claim that Wall St. is making huge donations to her campaign because of women and 9/11 is equal, on the inscrutability-meter, to "What's the frequency, Kenneth?"

Sunday funnies

Apparently you can get just about anything from vending machines these days (most of these, not surprisingly, are located in Japan):



Good advice.

Interesting window seat design (you go first).

New, from Paco Enterprises' fashion subsidiary, Douche Bag Products: the clip-on man bun.

Cheating expert:



Oh, swell. Just what we needed here in the good ol' US of A: authentic haggis.

Looks like it's got to be one or the other

CO-EXIST.

That's my pick.

By the way, is Angela Merkel still the "indispensable European"? With her crazy immigration policy, I'm guessing not really.

Elsewhere, one of Bloomberg's anti-gun groups weighs in on the terror attacks in Paris; they know exactly where the blame lies: "We are united in mourning all lives lost to gun violence". If only France had strict restrictions on gun ownership. Oh, wait...

Well, THAT'S a relief

Updated and bumped: Mr. President, I don't think "contained" means what you think it means.

Barry says ISIS has been "contained".

Look, I don't know who carried out today's terrorist attacks in Paris - by which I mean, of course, that I don't know which group of Islamist psychopaths is responsible for these particular massacres. But as the old saying goes, six of one, half-a-dozen of another. The various groups of radicals are not enemies, they are rivals, and all are dedicated to turning the world into their prophet's footstool. Containing one group here only means that another breaks out somewhere else (like when you squeeze a balloon). They've all eventually got to be eradicated.

Update: Maybe this would be a good time for Angela Merkel to announce that she's increasing the quota for Syrian refugees in Germany.

Lebensraum: it's not just for Aryans anymore.

Terror in France

Multiple terrorist attacks are under way in Paris, with scores dead and perhaps a hundred hostages being held in a concert hall (and, apparently, being gunned down). Borders closed, curfew ordered.

Our prayers are with the French people, particularly with the victims and their families. May the culprits, and their masters, be annihilated.

Happy Feet Friday

The late, great B.B. King demonstrates that he could boogie with the best.

The Secret Service...

...seems to be having a whole lot of trouble keeping things secret these days.

Ok, here's the deal

College students are now advocating for tuition-free education.

Fine. Just find a whole bunch of professors, instructors, and administrators who are willing to work for nothing. Or for the same $15/hour wage that cafeteria workers are supposed to get (in the latter case, I guess you could pay them all with Department of Education scrip, good for purchases at school stores and eateries only).

Of course, the fee structure at universities is, in reality, completely out of control, and the kids certainly aren't getting their (or their parents') money's worth. But I find that the demonstrators seem to be ominously silent on the question of the quality of education; it's mainly the absolute dollar cost that has them upset. Looking beyond their period of matriculation, how many students are seriously evaluating the link between college and their future financial independence? Even if tuition were free, how many more majors in political science, feminist literature and interdisciplinary gender history can our nation absorb?

Semper Lie

Show of hands: how many people believe Hillary Clinton really tried to enlist in the Marine Corps?

R-man, is that you out there raising your hand? Oh, you’re just stretching. Ok, good. So, the tally is zero then.

Update: The ever-vigilant Smitty brought to my attention the broken link. It's fixed now.

Shocking allegations against Dr. Ben Carson

Explosive! Outrageous! Unbelievable!

Many thanks to our veterans

And here's a classic tune from WWII that relates the daily travails of the GI:

On bringing a knife to a gunfight

Heh. Weren't expecting that, were you, sonny? A Palestinian whips out a blade and runs smack into some Jewish lead.

To mark the flight path of our modern universities...

...which is currently at a 45 degree descent line straight toward the tarmac at 200 mph from about 1,000 feet, Iowahawk (shouldn't we routinely be appending "the Great" to his name?) has proposed making today National Offend A College Student Day.

Also, catch this hilariously spot-on satire of campus p.c. fascism from Australian comedian Neel Kolhatkar.

Fox, henhouse

"A former San Francisco police chief and vocal supporter of a sanctuary cities policy is on a short list of candidates to become the new chief of the Border Patrol".

Maybe her main job will be to keep people from getting out.

Yowl if you love feminism

Jim Treacher passes along the latest in feminist attention-grabbing: scream singing.

I listened to this (some of it, anyway) and couldn't help thinking that I had heard something very like it before. Then it hit me...

Spssst! Chris, Rachel...Look behind you!

A little guerrilla signage crops up at MSNBC.

Monday movie

WWII nurses face a bombing raid in the 1943 film Cry Havoc. Look for a brief appearance toward the end of the clip of a young actor who would eventually go on to become a Hollywood superstar.

Sunday funnies

Yeah, government does tend to grow out of control before you know it.

The kid's a literalist.

Isn't volcano warfare banned by the Geneva Convention?

Only "rarely"?



Alan King and the family dinner.

Assortment

With respect to "sensible" gun control, Democrats continue to helpfully telegraph their true intentions; for example, in Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Barack Obama remains the all-time greatest gun salesman in American history. I think it would be fitting if S&W or Ruger or somebody came out with a commemorative pistol honoring Barry and all he's done for gun manufacturers in the U.S.

Obama has also been a boon to state-level Republican politicians.

Of penguins and microagressions.

Insufferable twit Piers Morgan tweets that he'll never let Ben Carson near his brain. Hilarity ensues.

Legal Insurrection surveys the war on free speech.

Beat him up, maybe: "Hillary Clinton Says She Could Beat Bill Clinton".

How lawless is Obama? Let us count the ways...

I believe that there's as much hair on the inside of John Kerry's head as there is on the outside. Here he is, talking more nonsense on Muslim vs. Jew.

Glad to make your acquaintance. And thanks for bunching up like that.

If the government ever does decide to confiscate privately owned firearms, the project would be such a massive undertaking that I wouldn't be surprised to see the feds deputize citizen posses to help them carry the program out.

If this comes to pass, I'd be delighted if the group that comes to get my guns included Bill Ayers, James Kilgore and Bernardine Dohrn. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than an opportunity to demonstrate to this trio the virtue of celerity when ordered off private property.

Happy Feet Friday

Nothin' like ridin' along the Navajo trail with Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters.

My favorite sheriff

Milwaukee sheriff David Clarke offers some, er, gentle, understated criticism of Barack Obama.

Ma Clinton: "Drop your weapon!"

Hillary's going all out for gun control. We'll see how that strategy pans out in the general election.

Let's see now...one of her campaign slogans is "Ready for Hillary". How about it, boys? Ya'll ready for Hillary?


"Ready as can be, Cap'n Paco!"

Hillary decides to pardon herself in advance

Hillary's big cankles tripped over her Freudian slip last Friday while she was pandering to the NAACP in Charleston, South Carolina:

“Earlier today, I announced that as president, I will take steps to ban the box, so former presidents won’t have to declare their criminal history at the very start of the hiring process”.

Guess she's thinking ahead.

Use this one simple trick to flush millions of dollars down the drain

Mike Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City and gun control zealot-at-large, pumped a ton of money into Virginia in an attempt to flip the state Senate to the Democrats and got the same return on investment he got the last time he tried - zero. Republicans still control both houses of the Virginia legislature and will continue to serve as a brake on the gun-grabbing ambitions of Governor Terry McLowlife McAuliffe.

Mrs. Paco and I voted last night, but, unfortunately, our state senator and delegate are both Democrats who ran unopposed. On the upside, that titan of industry, J. Packington Paco III, will go down in history as a tiny footnote as my write-in candidate for both positions.


"Ah, yes. Politics. Pots of money in it, you know."

So, how's our cozy new relationship with Iran coming along?

"Iran announced over the weekend that it is beginning to implement a blockade of all U.S. goods into the country following an order by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has directed the country’s government to form an 'economy of resistance.'"

Hmmmm...

David Brooks inadvertently said something interesting in an interview with Mark Shields recently:

A major American party doesn’t nominate Donald Trump. I just can’t believe it. I will have to go to Canada after that.

Great idea, Dave! In fact, just to make sure that you stick to your vow, I am establishing a special non-profit organization to facilitate the relocation of you and other establishment putzes north of the border. I hope you and your like-minded friends will take advantage of Progressive A**holes' Advocates' Canadian Opportunity! We'll help you find new homes, new jobs, and, best of all, new friends.

Act now, while Trudeau is in power and the chances of retaliatory military action by Canada are slim!

Fill 'er up, Mr. and Mrs. American Taxpayer!

"Nearly $43 million of U.S. taxpayers' money was spent on building a gas station in Afghanistan — 140 times more than it should have cost, according to a government watchdog."

Hey, but if you happen to drop by on Mohammed's birthday, you can take advantage of the free Slurpee offer!

Out of control

He may be a lame duck, but he's still flapping his wings madly, hellbent on soaring into the higher reaches of lawlessness: "A newly leaked internal DHS memorandum produced for an off-the-record agency conclave reveals that the Obama administration is actively planning to circumvent a federal court injunction that suspended part of last November’s deferral-based amnesty initiative."

Transforming America to the end. it seems.

Crikey!

This fellow Turnbull sounds like a bit of a tick, at least according to Hal G.P. Colebatch.

Perhaps not all is lost, however:

For Australia there is one possible thought. Its greatest prime minister, Sir Robert Menzies, was, like Abbott, deposed by his own party (the same Liberal Party) after two years’ leadership. The second most successful, John Howard, was also deposed when leader of the opposition. In both cases they bided their time and eventually returned in triumph.

Abbott is a fighter — an outstanding amateur boxer with an unbroken nose. I hope that stands for something.

Halloween follow-up

In the town of Peoria, Arizona (where I lived when I was in graduate school), a giant pumpkin went on a rampage.

Monday movie

I recently saw David Lean's 1946 version of Great Expectations and enjoyed it immensely. Direction, casting, performances, screenwriting, set design, everything is superbly done.

Here is the opening scene.

Sunday funnies

The folks at Bad Lip Reading tackle the Democrat debate.

Shades of Rube Goldberg!

Trumpkins.

If you're looking around for a Ford Mustang, don't forget to check out your roof.

Yeah, good luck reselling those.

I'd say he looks shaken, not stirred...

Happy Halloween!

Have a bewitching evening.

Update: And here's an urban legend from my own Occupied Northern Virginia - the notorious Bunny Man.

Update II: When Halloween and politics collide...

Happy Feet Friday (Saturday edition)

Just in time for Halloween, the Brian sisters issue a warning about the Boogie-Woogie Boogie Man.

Have you ever wondered how Australians developed that cool accent?

According to this professor, alcohol was involved.

A rose by any other name...

...would still smell like a partisan hack. News wallah Charlie Rose professes himself baffled by Marco Rubio's charge that Hillary Clinton is a liar.

What is interesting is not that Rubio would call Clinton a liar - a self-evident observation that is on the order of noting that the sun rises in the east - but that Rose seems stunned by the comment.

Seriously, how can anyone not believe that Clinton is a chronic liar when evidence of her mendacity is thicker on the ground than excreta Bovinae in a livestock exhibit at the county fair?

In New York City...

...it's never too late for Obama Care!

Two men who went to hell and back reunited

Dan Bloom has the story of two Holocaust survivors of the Bergen-Belsen death camp and their "reunion".

Another question

If Hillary makes a comment and there's no one around to hear it, is it still a lie?

Question

Anyone out there own a Springfield M1A rifle? What do you think of it?

Assortment

What you might call a left-handed compliment: "Dem Whip says Ryan an 'outstanding' choice for speaker".

The right stuff. These guys have it: "HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS SERVE AS PALLBEARERS FOR HOMELESS VETERANS WITHOUT LOVED ONES".

"President Obama Says He’s Not Going to ‘Take Everyone’s Guns Away’". Damned right you're not, you jug-headed peckerwood. And I don't need you to tell me that.

Even people who are ready for Hillary might not be ready for her stuff.

Hillary's a sure thing (you know, like the 1968 Baltimore Colts).

I wonder if Bernie Sanders counts the corpses of Cuban political prisoners to get to sleep at night.

Related: Hey, what a boon it was for the Cuban people that Che Guevara was able to overcome his asthma problem.

My favorite sheriff flicks another hysterical critic off his lapel.

Silly! Of course sleep is racist



H/T: Moonbattery

Yeah, there's a surprise

Since the Department of Just Us declared that Lois Lerner's war against her boss's ideological foes represented no wrong doing, I profess myself to be not in the least shocked by the news that the IRS is continuing to harass conservative organizations.

Update: On the upside, the House has filed articles of impeachment against John Koskinen, IRS Commissioner. As Ace points out, this move will probably fail in the Senate, where Democrats can be counted on to form a shield ring around one of their own, no matter how outrageous his contempt for the law. Still, I believe it's worth the attempt. Obama, of course, is never going to be impeached; however, there's no reason the GOP can't go against at least some of his more "ethically-challenged" minions. Make the targets squirm, and make the Democrats publicly defend them.

Not promising

Paul Ryan, who seems headed for the Speaker's chair, has named a Chamber of Commerce flunky as his chief of staff.

Presidentissimo Barack Obama

Great! We now live in a banana republic.

Sunday funnies

Sydney's Michael Pederson has created some highly original street signs. For example:



Lenin gets remodeled.

Sumo wrestlers try a new sport.

Swing dancers cut the rug to the sound of hip hop, and hip hop dancers bust some moves to swing music at the Montreal Swing Riot.

C'mon, you know you want one: the pedestrian horn.


(H/T: Moonbattery)

Maureen O'Hara, RIP

The Queen of Technicolor has died at age 95.

Here she is, with long-time pal John Wayne, in a scene from The Quiet Man.



Ah, the old days are gone forever, sure an' they are.

Victorious liar

The only thing more disgusting than Hillary's towering mendacity is the fact that the news media really don't care - indeed, they seem to admire her for her eel-like ability to slip over, through and around the facts. To the MSM, the search for truth is simply a sport, and they have declared that Hillary won on points.

Is there any lie she could tell that would give her media fans pause? I doubt it. Is there any horrible truth about her that, once discovered, would trigger alarms? Probably not. Defeating her in the election may be the most patriotic thing some of us wind up doing in our lifetimes.

"Guilty as sin, free as a bird"

The heading is a quote from William Ayers - incompetent would-be revolutionary and early booster of Barack Obama - describing himself after he managed to slip through the U.S. justice system with nary a scratch. Apparently, practically all of Obama's friends enjoy this particular kind of good luck.

Among Rush Limbaugh's many contributions to a better world...

...not least is his ruining of the word "feminism" (at least, Gloria Steinem says he ruined it; although I'd say the word was actually ruined by people like...Gloria Steinem).

Happy Feet Friday

Smiley Lewis gets us up and moving this morning with some of that early 1950s New Orleans shuffle boogie.

Slow Joe Says No Go

Joe Biden, concerned that he has insufficient time to put together a successful presidential campaign - and, no doubt, fearful of getting knee-capped by Ma Clinton and her mob - has decided to retain his hat for the purpose of winterizing his hair plugs instead of tossing it into the ring.

Whittier was surely right: "For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been'". What a contest we will miss! On Biden's side, the endless series of gaffes; specially trained minions armed with crowbars and grappling hooks, standing by day and night, instantly ready to remove foot from mouth; the unseemly pawing of females from 8 to 80.

And in the Cankles Camp: Imagine one or two decades down the road, when one of the late Hillary Clinton's last remaining old flunkies - secure in the knowledge that he (or she, as the case may be) is safely beyond the reach of the defunct harridan's devouring vindictiveness - writes a tell-all book describing the scene where Hillary learns of Biden's shocking act of lèse-majesté. What a tale we would have heard of screaming, lamp-tossing, scratching and biting; the deployment of the extra-large butterfly net; the copious amounts of scotch required for pacification. Such entertainment would have been well worth the wait.

Ah, well. There's still Clinton vs. Trump. That should be fun. And of course we have the present spectacle of the GOP frogs clamoring for Paul Ryan to be their stork king.

Woman calls upon her god for redress

The Director of Women and Gender Studies at the College of Brockport has revealed her radical position on gun control - and, more interestingly, a strange faith in the totemic qualities of place mats:

During his 2008 presidential campaign, my two daughters, partner, and I ate every meal in our house on Obama placemats. We bought these at our local supermarket, plastic-coated, plate-sized paper rectangles with an image of his face framed by colors of the flag. While politically minded, I am not overly patriotic, so this mealtime ritual of American allegiance was odd for me. Still, we looked at the image of his face each day and we believed that he really could be the change in America.

This person is a classic example of what psychological experts refer to, in precise scientific terminology, as a "dumb ass". You can almost visualize her willing Obama to flap his ears and create a mighty wind to blow down the factories of Ruger, Smith & Wesson and Mossberg.

Perhaps a smidgen of orthodox theology would enlighten her: "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." [Psalm 146: 3-4]

Update: Of course, I would criticize her, wouldn't I? I mean, bein' white and poorly educated an' all.

Oy, Canada

The "progressive" virus is going around again, as indicated by the victory of Trudeau minor in Canada.

How bad is Robert Redford's crockumentary on the Dan Rather/Mary Mapes fraud?

This bad: "CBS BANS ADS FOR ROBERT REDFORD’S DAN RATHER ‘TRUTH’ FILM".

To which I respond with a resounding "HAW!"

Sunday funnies

"The year's 10 weirdest excuses for calling in sick". My personal favorite is the excuse provided by this hero: "Employee broke his arm reaching to grab a falling sandwich."

Important international economic question of the day: should Australia's currency be renamed the "dollarydoo"?

Innovative optician branches out (click to enlarge)...



President 666.

Home security system...



Deadpan comedian (and, incidentally, the voice of Frosty the Snowman) Jackie Vernon does his famous slideshow bit.

Just in time for Halloween, Hickok45 demonstrates the quick and easy way to carve a pumpkin...

How about if we just give you your dollar back?

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!

State of Illinois: Not so fast.

Assortment

So, will the next big wave of immigrants to the U.S. be dominated by Swedes?

"Migrants" in Germany engage in , er, extreme sexual objectification of a cleaning woman.

No doubt Grandma Clinton also thinks kangaroos would make great "comfort" pets.

Obama's minions tie themselves into knots trying to avoid labeling Palestinian militants as the murderers they are.

Chicago politics: alive and well on the shores of the Potomac.

There's just no sense of gratitude anymore: "3 nations the Obama admin has established 'historic' relations with are opposing the US in Syria".

Who said that, Che or Hitler? (H/T: David Thompson).

Call me crazy, but I think that criminals who won't be able to pass background checks to purchase ammunition will get the stuff from the same place they get the guns they can't legally buy.

Happy Feet Friday

Fred Astaire sings the lovely ballad, The Way You Look Tonight.

Obama recently said that Fox made him look scary

Well, we don’t need Fox to make Obama look scary. He is scary. Not in the way of a cruel and omnipotent dictator or a super-human villain or a brilliant psychopath. He’s scary in exactly the same way as a four-year-old boy who’s gotten hold of a loaded revolver. Obama is insensible to the danger inherent in the improper use of the instrumentality – political power – that he holds in his hands, yet he can’t resist the urge to play with it, even fancying himself an expert because he’s had occasion to witness other people (genuine adults) employ the same power successfully and often to great acclaim. Yet what Obama can’t or won’t admit is that these others have almost always been smarter, more knowledgeable and more experienced than he, not to mention less burdened by the myopia associated with the blinders of an overweening narcissism.

Hmm. Now that I think of it, Barry's more like a four-year-old boy who's not only got his hands on a revolver, but a box full of speed-loaders as well.

Update: Now, you want to talk really scary, let's talk Evita 2.0 (or is she the reincarnation of La Pasionaria?)

Did you watch the first Democrat debate?

Yeah, me neither. But some brave souls, like Jim Geraghty, did, and based on his observations, I'd say that practically the whole thing sounded like a revival of the Comintern.

As I've said before, the truly interesting (and ominous) thing to me is not the revolution going on in the GOP, but the ideological fossilization of the Democratic Party. Through a kind of petrifaction, the form of the organization is still recognizable, but its constituent elements have been almost completely replaced through the crystallization of statist nostrums which admit of few, if any, competing variations.

I'm just absolutely shocked that this woman is a human resources manager

Not! (of course). She sounds like a slightly warmer, more humane HR chief than the one at my agency. Excerpts from the Guardian article:

A Manhattan human resources manager is suing her 12-year-old nephew for leaping into her arms when he welcomed her to his eighth birthday party.

The aunt, Jennifer Connell, claims her nephew acted unreasonably when his exuberant greeting caused her to fall and break her wrist in 2011, the Westport News reported from the courthouse on Monday.

She is seeking $127,000 in damages from the boy, whose mother died last year [Smelled a legacy, perhaps? - Paco]. Westport News also reported that the 12-year-old appeared confused as he sat in the courtroom with his father. Connell reportedly testified that she loves her nephew, whom she described as always being “very loving, sensitive” toward her.

Of the damage done, Connell testified that she did not complain at the time, but she said her life had been “very difficult” since the injury because of “how crowded it is in Manhattan”. “I was at a party recently, and it was difficult to hold my hors d’oeuvre plate,” she reportedly said [Manhattan martyr! - P.]

There's an update to the article which suggests that not all sanity has been drained out of Connecticut: "Aunt receives zero damages from suit over nephew's wrist-breaking hug".

Update: Alex, in the comments, offers some interesting context.

That’s ok, boys

There’s still all a’ them in’trestin’ articles to read. Ain’t that right?



"Sho nuff, cousin Paco! We was always big readers of Playboy (‘cept for Lester back there, who had to have the articles read to ‘im). It’ll continue to be the operatin’ manual for us hipsters here in Frog Pond, and a eesential guide to members of the local jet set (or rather, I oughtta say backhoe set, since we ain’t got no airport)."

Here's a common sense gun control law I can get behind

No guns for liberals.

Well, duh!

That's been evident for years: Hillary Clinton is "really not even a human being."

Still, for a robot, she's no great shakes. More "artificial" than "intelligence".

Sunday funnies

Courtesy of the ever-alert Captain Heinrichs, "The Best British political insults and putdowns". The Brits really do have a knack for this sort of thing. One of my personal favorites is this zinger Harold Wilson used to describe Edward Heath: "A shiver looking for a spine to run up".

Well, it might be if you're trying to sneak out of prison...



Hillary's coming to town!

Meet Kyle Waring, the new head of product development at Paco Enterprises.

Career change...

Chaos?

The word has been used frequently to describe the current state of the House of Representatives, as Kevin McCarthy has resigned (unexpectedly and without explanation), and conservatives struggle to wrest power and legitimacy from the sclerotic GOP establishment. Wars - especially civil wars - are always chaotic. But they also tend to clear the air and can, for a time, at least, settle important questions which have stubbornly resisted the arts of peaceful negotiation (in the present instance, I would argue, primarily due to the bad faith of the so-called moderates, who seem to think they were elected for the purpose of withdrawing in good order before the onslaught of our kingly chief executive).

I am reminded of the words of Thomas Jefferson:

"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion.The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ...And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

We live in a less rugged age than the founders, so perhaps - perhaps - no blood will be required. But of a certainty, the tree of liberty needs to be watered with something more vivifying than John Boehner's flop sweat.

Overall, I see the spectacle of Republicans grappling with one another for the soul of their party as a healthy thing - in contrast with the Democrats, whose party lost its soul a long time ago, and who therefore march along in a lock-step, invariable gait on the road to perdition.