May 15, 2008
Bachelor Party "Fun" Not a Crime
So you tased your friend. All in good fun, right?
ROCKLAND — The Knox County District Attorney and the Maine Attorney General will not prosecute deputies who were involved in the Tasering of a fellow deputy last Labor Day weekend.Tased, duct-taped, oiled and feathered. This guy really needs to find some new friends.District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau issued a news release Thursday afternoon, saying that the officer who was shocked was aware that he would be Tasered and objects to anyone being criminally charged.
The use of the Taser occurred Aug. 31 during a bachelor party for then Knox County Deputy Thomas Welch. The use of the Taser and Welch later being duct-taped, oiled, feathered and ridden to Camden in a lawn chair on the back of a flat-bed truck was videotaped. Camden’s police chief witnessed Welch on the truck parked on Bay View Street.
Welch used 10 hours of sick leave the following day, according to time cards reviewed by The Courier-Gazette.
Posted by slublog at 11:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Protesting Too Much
Looks like someone hit a nerve.
By tradition, partisan politics comes to a halt when a U.S. president is on foreign soil, and Bush's remarks led Obama to quickly cry foul. The first-term Illinois senator responded to the comments as if they were criticism of his position that as president he would be willing to personally meet with Iran's leaders and those of other regimes the United States has deemed rogue.The chutzpah shown by the Democrats is astounding. Democrats have criticized the president while standing on foreign soil throughout the Bush administration. Their outrage is too transparent to be convincing. The worst offender is Nancy Pelosi, whose hypocrisy is mind-numbing. Of course, the media isn't pointing that out."It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence to launch a false political attack," Obama said in a statement his aides distributed. "George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the president's extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel.
In turn, White House press secretary Dana Perino denied that the Knesset remark was aimed at Obama. In fact, the language is fairly typical for Bush speeches, and Gordon Johndroe, a national security spokesman for the president, said Bush was referring to "a wide range of people who have talked to or suggested we talk to Hamas, Hezbollah or their state sponsors" over a long period of time.
The president, with a few words, cast some bait. And the Democrats took it hook, line and sinker.
Posted by slublog at 10:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
May 14, 2008
Cult of Personality
Okay, Barack Obama's supporters have officially given me the creeps. Anyone else getting a 'cult of personality' vibe from these folks? The first time I saw the painting at the National Review link, I thought it had to be a joke. Nothing that over the top could be serious, right?
You've got to wonder what Obama thinks of this sort of thing. Is he embarrassed by it? Pleased? Apathetic? No matter how he feels about it, he should be worried about how the hero-worship among some of his supporters is going to play with the voters he can't seem to win in Democratic primaries. Somehow, I have trouble believing that rural "bitter voters" will be impressed by these sorts of pictures, or the ridiculous secular worship songs by will.i.am. If you can make it through more than a minute or so of that video, then you've got a stronger stomach than I.
Personally, I'm more than a little disturbed by the level of fanaticism some have exhibited toward Obama. It's unseemly and, well, just kind of wrong. The man is running for president, not pope. Let's have some perspective on this.
If nothing else, though, the Obama picture has given ample opportunities to use my favorite photo-manipulation program.
Continue reading "Cult of Personality"
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An Open Letter to the GOP
Dear Retards Losers Distinguished members of the GOP Congress,
Don't say we didn't warn you. The GOP has now gone 0-3 in recent special elections in Republican districts. That's three fewer Republicans in Congress, and the trend line is looking pretty grim at the moment.
Yes, the Democrats used dirty tricks in Mississippi. Yes, the Democrats have had record turnout in their primaries and the president is really unpopular. Boo frickin' hoo. Don't try to console yourselves with that talking point or use it to ignore what you and I both know is the real reason for your recent losses - you've lost the trust of Republicans. We don't like you all that much, and with good reason.
We warned you about the spending, and the immigration and the earmarking. But you didn't listen. So the electorate smacked you upside the head in 2006. You obviously didn't get the message, so let me remind you of something. You're Republicans, folks, or at least you're supposed to be. At one time, that meant low taxes and minimal government spending. My taxes aren't all that low, and you've been guilty of finding new and worthless ways to spend the money you take out of my paycheck.
Do you want to win again? It's pretty simple - listen to us and stop with the earmarks. The last few elections should make it very clear that we'll stay home and let you keep losing if you don't cut it out. And don't try to scare us with the 'but the Democrats will be worse' talking point. Let's be honest here - that's not much of a threshold to cross at this point. On spending, you're just as bad if not worse than the other party. Cut it out.
On another note, how hard can it be to get rid of Larry Craig, really?
P.S. A special note to my own Senator Collins, who's running for re-election here in Maine. Your record on pork is really not all that good. Did the Penobscot Theatre Company really need $150,000 from the federal government to renovate its building? Did the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard really need over $10 million in funds last year? And a million for potato research?
Senator, that's a lot of my money you're tossing around.
Posted by slublog at 08:23 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (1)
May 13, 2008
Never Thought I'd Say This...
But Hillary Clinton is getting a pretty bad rap from the media following her win in West Virginia. At this time, it looks like she might win by as much as 30 points.
Sure, it may be all but impossible for her to win, but as Geraghty points out, Obama failed once again to attract the demographic he's going to need to win key states in November. The superdelegates may be slowly moving Obama's way, but the lack of overwhelming support indicates that many may still have doubts about his ability to win.
Don't get me wrong - it would be a good thing for the Democrats if she quit the race, but I don't think the media is doing Obama any favors by ignoring the fundamental weakness of his candidacy among important constituents. If John McCain decides to start acting like a Republican instead of a self-important Maverick™, he could have a pretty good chance at capturing the Reagan Democrats.
Needless to say, I'm not optimistic.
Posted by slublog at 09:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (1)
May 12, 2008
The Evangelical Manifesto
Okay, I'll admit. When I first heard of the Evangelical Manifesto, I was a bit skeptical. Generally, when a group of people get together to create a document by committee, the results are less than inspiring. The media stories about the document did little to reassure me.
This evening, I decided to release my skepticism and read it. Having done so, I encourage you to do the same. I was especially struck by this passage:
The politicization of faith is never a sign of strength but of weakness. The saying is wise: "The first thing to say about politics is that politics is not the first thing."That's just a small part of this document. A blog post, frankly, can't do it justice - so again, I urge you to read it.The Evangelical soul is not for sale. It has already been bought at an infinite price.
Posted by slublog at 11:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tom Allen: Look at Meeee!
Can you blame the guy? He's at least 20 points below Susan Collins in a blue state. That's got to hurt.
So it's time to grab some headlines. First, endorse the guy who's basically won. Then, step away from Stephen King.
I'm tempted to goof on the guy a bit more, but both of these are actually quite interesting moves on his part. His decision to support Obama, while suspiciously late, comes after a very long-term friendship with the Clintons, one that goes back to college. With the second move, he risks irritating some of the more moonbat-ish voters in Portland who agree with King's remarks. Plus, King has a massive amount of cash and the ability to raise tons more.
Still, if you're going to lose, might as well do it with some panache.
Posted by slublog at 09:43 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
McCain/Huckabee?
Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and defeated contender for the GOP presidential nomination, is currently at the top of John McCain's short list for a running mate. At least that's the word from a top McCain fundraiser and longtime Republican moneyman who has spoken to McCain's inner circle...The story continues by pointing out the logic of picking Huckabee for the spot. My favorite is the last one:
Economic conservatives and supply-siders may balk, but the threat of four years of Obamanomics and higher investment, income, and corporate taxes might be enough to keep them on board.Get that, guys? If this source is correct, McCain is counting on the 'lesser of two evils' strategy.
Not sure that's going to work out for him.
Personally, I think this is probably just a Huck-backer trying to push his guy onto the ticket with selective leaks. Still, Allah's logic is far too convincing here. Don't do this, Maverick. To paraphrase Michael Corleone in Godfather 3, just when I thought I was in, he pushed me back out.
Thanks to V the K at AoSHQ for the tip.
Posted by slublog at 08:23 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Set the Pin-ups Free!
The newest column is up at the Republican Journal.
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May 09, 2008
Hillary's Crusade
Hillary just won't quit.
Some insight from a superdelegate I spoke to Thursday:While I'm hesitant to count the Clintons out, I think Noonan is right - Barack Obama's won this nomination. Hillary's refusal to admit defeat shows the extent of her entitlement - she began this campaign thinking the nomination was hers to claim, and it seems she hasn't let go of that idea. I don't think she's going to do so anytime soon.It's not math anymore, it's psychodrama. If she can't have it, no one can have it. If she has to tear the party apart, she will.
Nancy Pelosi can't make her drop out. The Clintons think the speaker is for Obama anyway, her San Francisco district went for him 70% to 30%; they'll dismiss her. Chuck Schumer can't do it, he'd offend women in New York. Harry Reid can't do it, he'll offend women, period. If black political figures go to the Clintons and make a plea, they'll be dismissed as Obama partisans.
So who, I asked, can do it?
To be honest, though, I can't yet bring myself to believe that the Clintons are out of national politics for a time, that they've been defeated by their own party. It's almost too good to be true. Sure, it will take some work to defeat Hope Man, but there's nearly no chance now of electing a Bush or a Clinton - 20 years of the presidency in the hands of two families is enough, don't you think?
Thanks to Ace's headlines for the photoshop inspiration.
How bad is it for Hillary? This bad.
Posted by slublog at 12:25 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack (1)
May 08, 2008
Quick Review: Iron Man
Saw the inside of a movie theater this evening. Wow. Like a forgotten world.
Iron Man is great. Go see it.
End of review.
Update - Wow. Kyle Smith found a review by someone who really, really needs to get a life.
Posted by slublog at 10:42 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
May 07, 2008
Ridiculously Late Movie Reviews: Cloverfield
Yes, it really took me this long to see Cloverfield.
My review?
Clever movie, but it would have been better if I actually cared whether the characters lived or died. And it could have used about 83% fewer uses of the word "dude."
The effects were good, though.
Posted by slublog at 11:51 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
$20 Million for a Vote? What a Deal
Great system you've worked out, Democrats.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - What will it take for a Democratic presidential candidate to win the support of California superdelegate Steven Ybarra?Whatever happened to the concept of shame, exactly?Say, $20 million.
The Democratic National Committee member doesn't parse his words when it comes to what he wants from Barack Obama or Hillary Rodham Clinton - an ironclad promise to spend that heady amount to register Mexican-American voters and get them to the polls in November.
In a telephone interview Wednesday, he said he plans to remain undecided in the tight contest until "someone shows me the money."
Posted by slublog at 11:41 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Consider Yourself Warned, Maverick™
Drudge points out a bad sign for John McCain. In both Indiana and North Carolina, a not-insignificant percentage of Republicans turned out to cast their votes for someone other than the presumptive GOP nominee. I goofed on Ron Paul supporters earlier, but they aren't the only ones who turned up at the polls today.
In both states, nearly a quarter of Republicans voted against the man who is the nominee. I wonder why? Okay, that may not be the only reason, but it certainly doesn't help all that much. Is McCain so enamored of his Maverick™ image that he's willing to alienate segments of the GOP base? The evidence is not promising - the harshest rhetoric he's used lately was not against Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama - it was against the North Carolina GOP, which ran an ad he didn't like.
It's clear that McCain has yet to internalize a simple truth - many of us didn't want him as our nominee, and we're not all that thrilled with him on top of the ticket. My vote in November will not be for John McCain - it will be against Barack Obama. This is a 'lesser of two evils' election for me. McCain seems to think that his Maverick™ image is attractive, but he's mistaken. Our tolerance and begrudging acceptance of his candidacy should not be mistaken for enthusiasm.
McCain will get my vote, but there's no way I'm giving him my money. After all, he didn't think it was a good idea for me to keep more of what I earned, so why should I bother? And blogging on his behalf? No thanks. Don't blame me, Maverick™ - you made the bed.
Posted by slublog at 12:32 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Ron Paul: Still Running, But...
The Ron Paul campaign is not over, but it's losing to campaigns that ended weeks ago.
rEVOLution!
Continue reading "Ron Paul: Still Running, But..."
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May 06, 2008
"The Power of Political Staging"
Mary Katharine Ham shows that the Obama rally of television was not the Obama rally of reality, and raises a very good point: "McCain's event at the Wait Chapel at Wake Forest today was nicely filled if not overflowing, but I imagine if he had held it at Groves Stadium and filled only the endzone seats, someone in the media might have said something about it. Obama doesn't have such worries, I guess."
I guess.
Posted by slublog at 11:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
End of the Line
Allah lays it out.
In fact, as of this moment, even if Florida and Michigan are counted RCP gives her a popular vote lead of just 3,000+ votes — a margin of less than one-tenth of one percent. And that’s assuming that the popular vote totals from the caucuses in Iowa, Washington, Maine, and Nevada (which weren’t reported) aren’t counted at all. If you estimate for those states, he ends up with a lead of more than 100,000.Of course, as I'm writing this, C-SPAN is showing the Hillary rally in Indiana. "Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty is playing. Probably bravado, considering that the superdelegate defections are likely to begin in the next few days. The super to watch is starting to make noises about an endorsement. My guess? He'll go with Obama.
Just for the heck of it...created this one earlier.
Continue reading "End of the Line"
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May 05, 2008
Duel of the Fates: The Classical Guitar Version
Whoa.
This is probably old, but still pretty cool.
Posted by slublog at 09:56 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Hillary: I Will Smash OPEC
Drudge's headline made me create this:
Clinton's attacks on oil prices as artificially inflated, Enron-style, keep escalating, and today she appeared to threaten to break up the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.After she takes on OPEC, I look forward to seeing her take on the laws of supply and demand, and the oil futures market. A fight for the ages."We’re going to go right at OPEC," she said. "They can no longer be a cartel, a monopoly that get together once every couple of months in some conference room in some plush place in the world, they decide how much oil they’re going to produce and what price they’re going to put it at," she told a crowd at a firehouse in Merrillville, IN.
"That’s not a market. That’s a monopoly," she said, saying she'd use anti-trust law and the World Trade Organization to take on OPEC.
Posted by slublog at 09:05 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (1)
This Can't Be Good
I'm sure the display of enormous weapons in the middle of Red Square is no big deal.
Russia's use of heavy weapons at this week's World War II commemoration parades is not intended as a threat to any nation, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.Any similarity to Soviet-era parades is purely coincidental."For the first time in many years heavy military equipment will be used. This is not sabre-rattling. We are not threatening anyone and don't plan to," Putin said ahead of the traditional Victory Day parade on Friday.
"This is a demonstration of our growing defence capability.... We are capable of defending our people, citizens, our state, our wealth, which is not small," he said.
Posted by slublog at 03:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (1)
Shocker: Congressional GOP Weak
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Operating outside public view, the House Democratic majority is taking extraordinary steps to maintain spending as usual while awaiting a Democrat as president. Remarkably, the supine House Republican minority hardly resists and even collaborates with its supposed adversaries.So I guess they weren't content with simply losing control of Congress. Now they're well on their way to allowing the Democrats to have veto-proof majorities. Only the GOP could give legislative victories to two of the least effective Congressional leaders in recent political history.There has been little or no public Republican protest over seizure of the appropriating process by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her clique. For the second straight year, no appropriations bill other than defense is scheduled for passage. Instead, spending details are crafted in the Speaker's Office, negating President George W. Bush's veto strategy. In a little-noticed maneuver April 23, Pelosi won passage of a bill preventing Medicaid billions from being saved through Bush administration regulations. Despite the GOP leadership's nominal opposition, House Republicans voted for higher spending by two to one.
Posted by slublog at 02:29 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (1)
May 02, 2008
Vortex of Crazy
Sorry for the lack of blogging lately. Life has been more than a bit busy. Tomorrow, my wife's brother is getting married. So today was spent welcoming family to the area and attending the rehearsal and dinner. Fortunately, I have no formal role in this wedding other than helping with sound in the church. My daughter, however, is the flower girl, which is bound to be entertaining.
Weddings are fun, but quite the logistical nightmare.
I'll write more later...if I make it out alive.
Oops - There was a nice comment on this post, and in a flurry of span-erasing, I accidentally deleted it. Thanks for the comment - sorry about that.
Posted by slublog at 11:04 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
