Happy Halloween!

Rotary Rollout

(Image by Gary Varvel)

The only thing missing from Our Dear Leader's Rose Garden Big Lie Speech was:  "Operators standing by--so call now!"

60 Minutes Benghazi Story 590,400 Minutes Late...

(Image by S. Kelley)

...give or take 1,440 or 2,880 minutes.

This past Sunday, CBS's Sunday program 60 Minutes ran an "expose" on Benghazi. 

While commendable for waking up and smelling the jihadist falafel, there's just two problems with this show:

1. It's over 13 months/410 days/590,400 minutes old at the time I'm writing this--and getting older.  And--

2.  There's no mention of Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.

One of my friends has the best explaination for this "breaking story" that most of us already knew about over 579,600 minutes ago:

(1) It does not really hurt Obama now that he's reelected

(2) It is released early enough so that, when Shrillary runs in 2016, it will be "old news"

(Image by "Blokbluster")  

So much for  60 Minutes being a "media watchdog."

Para-unormal Healthcare

(Image from The Franklin Center)

Last week, Republicans and the conservative masses called for Sebelius's resignation.  She rebuffed the hue & cry with I don't work for people who want me to resign.

Technically she's right.  She's not an elected official and is part of Our Dear Leader's "top people."

That being said, this illustrates the super-sized problem with super-duper sized federal government:  Unelected bureaucrats making decisions with no accountability whatsoever to "We the People." 

What really caught my attention was third paragraph to the FOX article link, which reads:  Sebelius said "no one is getting fired" over the liches and that her main focus is to get the website up and running. 

Liches!?

(Image:  Rise of the Lich King by "Jonboy")

Jeezusmaryandjoseph!  (Making the sign of the Cross).

It's no wonder then, why the Obamacare website is such an ungodly mess--so much so, that Madame Sebelius is now conjuring a batch of CYA spells to keep the pitchfork-wielding villagers at bay.   

Just one lich is enough to inflict a TPK upon a band of the mightiest of heroes.  A whole coven of them wrecking havoc in cyberspace is a harbinger of the Apocalypse. 

Of course, a more mundane explaination is that "liches" is a typo, or misquote for the run-of-the-spin "glitches" Team Obama and the media keep bandying about.

Or--was it a Freudian Slip by Madame Sebelius? 

Makes one wonder what other unholy terrors our self-proclaimed "most transparent administration in history" has unleashed upon mankind.

Seizing a Parking Lot to Make Room for a Parking Lot

(Image from FOX News/Q-13 FOX)

 

During these past five years, a lot of our attention has been focused on the federal government's overreach (which is putting it mildy).  But local governments, don't always live up to Tocqueville's ideal.

 

Last week, the Seattle Elders decided to invoke Eminent Domain to seize a privately owned parking lot, in order to make room for--a parking lot.  Here's the local flavor of the story. 

 

Watchdog.org is also on the case. 

Obamacare Horror Stories

(Image by Chip Bok)

 

 

Ever since Obamacare's attempted launch blew up on the pad, there's been a slew of horror stories about rising healthcare costs, getting kicked off their current plan and hardly anyone being able to log on to the Obamacare website.  The list goes on and on.

Despite Jon Stewart's comment that there's no way the Democrats can "spin this turd," there's still some true believers attempting to do so, as Megyn Kelly found out as the interviewee tries to drown her out.

Just like the government shutdown, Obamacare's failure to launch is the Republicans fault.  Yes, somehow magically, the very same bill in which no Republican voted for, are the ones to blame for this monumental fiasco.

And speaking of magic, Mark Steyn rolls-in on the magical thinking (and technical ineptitude) that formed the foundation of Obamacare.

The Diplomad also adds to the epitaph for the Republic...

(Image by Glenn Foden)

 

...we're left with the only option of letting the Obamacare Train wreck, in order to recover from the disaster.  Provided Our Dear Leader doesn't nationalize the healthcare industry outright.

 

Which may have been his plan all along.   

Our Unacceptable President

(Image by Eric Allie)

Our Dear Leader is a man of few over used words.  "Let me be clear" springs to mind.  Victor Davis Hanson ("VDH") points out that "unacceptable" is also one of his oft-used words.  The "glitches" in the Obamacare rollout are about as unnacceptable as violence in Egypt, chemical weapon use in Syria an a nuclear-armed Iran.

Team Obama is still trying to claim the reason for the failure-to-launch is due to the system being overwhelmed by eager enrollies.  But even Jon Stewart, who's not known for defending conservative values, calls them on it.  I predict  "...can't spin this turd..." will be the most famous anti-Obamacare cat phrases.

I haven't attempted to sign up because I don't want to lock-up my computer by waiting...

(Image by Jerry Holbert)

....and waiting and waiting...

As Obama's mouthpiece passes the buck on the tough questions, The Diplomad shows just how incompetent Team Obama really is.

Even Yahoo! News isn't buying the line that "top men" are toiling away to fix the website(s).
Unfortunately, the rolling trainwreck keeps rolling...

(Image by Glenn McCoy)

The Deficit, Debt Ceiling and Obamacare

(Image by Michael Ramirez)

Well, last week the Democrats and Republicans in Congress hammered a "continuing resolution" near the eleventh hour, before breaching the Debt Ceiling.

So disaster has been averted--if you now call $17 trillion in debt "averting disaster.  These continuing resolutions are merely band aids slapped on arterial bleeding until the next crisis.

And then there's the Obamacare roll-out.  Or more appropriate:  Rolling disaster (that the media refuses to cover).  But instead of trumpeting Obamacare is a success, here's some reasons why Our Dear Leader should be freaking out.

(Image by Henry Payne)

Mark Steyn ties Obamacare together with our Potemkin Parliament.



Dubya Did It!

(Image by Bob Gorrell)

Well, yesterday with less than 15 minutes before America went into default, the senate voted to reopen the government and raise the Debt Ceiling.

 

Maybe I should call my credit card company and demand a $16 million limit on it. 

 

Okay, I'm only joking, but folks in Louisiana did something similar.  A glitch in the Food Stamp Program lifted the spending limits on recipients EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) cards, sparked a "spending spree" at a local Walmart. 

 

I'm amazed and appalled that people actually thought this was legitimate.

And who's to blame for the current sad state of affairs of our great nation?

We've heard for five years--and counting--from Obama, that Dubya is responsible for anything that goes awry.


(Image by Michael Ramirez)

But do the American people believe this?

Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprising, some of the voting public still think Bush is to blame for our current troubles.

I guess being a "liberal" means never having to take responsibility for your actions/inactions.

Some of Our Euros are Missing...

...to the tune of about two and a half billion's worth.

An EU report expressed concern about the Palestinian Authority "losing" 2.5 billion euros of aid money.

Comrade Karla put the (uncensored) news of this "shocker" best:

Lost my ass.  I think we all know where it went.  A lot of it is in Switzerland and the rest was spent on various pyrotechnics and other naughty devices.

We're Experiencing Technical Difficulties...

(Image by Lisa Benson)

 

As our broke and broken government lurches toward tomorrow's Debt Ceiling, another major story is being ignored by the liberal media:  The Obamacare trainwreck. 

A couple weeks ago, Health and Human Services Head Honcho-ette, Kathleen Sibelius, received a grilling from Jon Stewart on his Daily Show. 

Then a few days ago, David Letterman rolled-in with some jokes about Obamacare's disastrous startup. 

Neither of these guys are known for their Tea Party sympathies.

I wonder if the number of "glitches" in the Obamacare sign-up equals the number of "phony scandals?"

The Cone Wars

(Image: Barrycades piled up in front of the White House, from benswann.com)

 

Yesterday, it was reported that various veterans groups tore down the barrycades surrounding the World War II Memorial dumped them in a pile in front of the "Spite House." 

 

Good for them!

 

Wish I were there to see the show.

 

As I've written before, I'm appalled by the ease at which Obama's "Order 66" was implemented and how it instantly transformed congenial park rangers into "Imperial Parktroopers." 

 

Mark Steyn's article this past Friday, puts an historical spin on the Park Service Paramilitaries.

 

Which makes me even more depressed.  At least he calls for the abolition of the National Park Service, since it's now obvious their not servicing "We the People."  Mark also calls for abolishing the "SWAT" of various alphabet soup agencies.

 

What worries me isn't just that Our Dear Leader tipped his hand on how despotic he can be in a pinch, but how liberals--you know the crowd always chanting "no blood for oil" and "speaking truth to power" and all that--are completely at ease with all this.  Not to mention assigning 100% of the blame to republicans.

 

But at least "we happy few" haven't lost our sense of humor (yet).  Over the weekend a few friends

engaged in an online conversation about the "Cone Wars," grafting dialogue from Star Wars with the closure of scenic views of Mount Rushmore:

 

Yes.  I was once a Park Ranger, the same as your father...

 

My father wasn't a Park Ranger.  He worked in the gift shop at Yosemite Lodge selling post cards and t-shirts.

That's what your Speaker told you. He didn't hold with your President's ideals. He thought he should have stayed in Chicago and not gotten involved.

 

While many liberals like to load blame of the government shutdown exclusively on Republicans, at least some of them are waking up and realizing Obamacare isn't the healthcare system they were looking for.

National Park Service Anthem

 

I'll be away from the internet most of the day today.  So I thought I'd try to end the work week on a positive-ish note.

 

Here's a little ditty I came across from Mark Steyn:  Song of the National Park Service.

 

The other day, one of my coworkers got a kick out of my comparison of the parks shut down with Order 66 in Revenge of the Sith.  That Darth Obama issued his own Order 66 to the National Park Service, which turned your friendly neighborhood park rangers into mindless clone troopers, hell-bent on enforcing their master's will.

 

 

(Image by Red Tusker)

 

Oh, I'm sure some (most?) hate manning the barrycades, but what creeps me out is the collective ease at which they've transitioned to Imperial Parktroopers. 

The Peasants are Revolting

(Image from the movie:  History of the World Part 1)

 

Our Peevish president continues his attempt to "make life as difficult for people..." as he can.  Mark Steyn calls it petty despotism, but warns that "...despotism rarely stays petty for long."

 

One of the latest crimes-against-the-state:  Running through Valley Forge National Park. 

 

I had the same assumption as the hapless marathon runner.  I figured the shutdown would mean the closure of visitors centers in open-air parks.  But I guess none of us realized Obama feels he has a "divine right" to close what he wants, when he wants.  Even evicting residents off of their own property.

 

Shots rang out on Lexington Green in 1775 for far less taxation and civil liberty violations.

 

But today, "We-the-Peasants" are defying the royal decree and "storming the barrycades."

 

And while most liberals, along with the non-FOX News-based media, still believe the Republicans are 100% responsible for all this, the tide appears to be turning against them.

 

A poll taken among college students at the University of Colorado at Boulder show that many of them blame Obama and the Democrats for the shutdown.

 

Let's hope the tide continues to roll-in.

"Once More Into the Breach Dear Friends!"

A couple of days ago on Facebook, I half-jokingly posted that we should start an Occupy National Parks Movement.

Yesterday I discovered some veterans took this idea seriously and are planning a Million Vet March on the Memorials.

My thoughts and prayers are with these folks.  I'll be working that day and will be unable to show up at any of my local/regional Rally Points, so I hope one million people DO march on the memorials.

Barrycading the national parks is vindictive shutdown theater.  Not only that, the Obamunists are certainly playing favorites.  While vets are locked out of their own memorials, protestors for immigration reform were allowed to host a rally on the "closed" Washington Mall. 

As a friend of mine posted on Facebook:  Who would have thought National Park Service (part of the Department of the Interior) would be the Federal Government stormtroopers.  More specifically--stormtroopers for the Democratic Party. 

Back on Facebook, I got into a long discussion with a high school alum over this.  He believes this is mostly (entirely?) the fault of the Republicans.  While it's true Republicans share a debatable amount of blame for the shutdown, I kept pointing out that they're not the ones controlling the Executive Branch. 

The National Park Service and every other federal agency take their marching orders, directly, or indirectly from the White House--currently occupied by Obama--with a parenthetical "D" at the end of his name.

Prior to all the shutdown shenanigans I had a lot of admiration for the NPS.  But now?  I agree with Mark Steyn on this.  When a supposedly apolitical agency becomes the paramilitary wing of a political party, it should be abolished. 

 

While I tried to coin the phrase, Occupy National Parks, Michelle Malkin does one better and issued the call-to-arms to Occupy America. 

Closing Off the Oceans and Shorelines

(Image:  King Canute at the shore)

Sometime during the 1th Century, it is said that King Canute demonstrated the limits of kingly power to his courtiers in a vain attempt to hold back the tide.

Fast forward to the 21st Century, our very own "King Barack" and his cronies are attempting to close down any strip of federally-funded public land.  The supposedly latest outrageous stunt to "make life dificult for people"--prohibiting fishing in the 1,100 square miles of Florida Bay, part of Biscayne National Park.

I'm not sure if I believe this one, but after the World War II Monument and the Normandy Beach Cemetary closures, who knows?

In any case, Mark Steyn exposes just how broken our legislative system is with his commentary on the simulacrum shutdown. 

Obama:  "You see, unlike the feeble King Canute, I CAN hold back the tide."

Okay, the above picture is actually of Obama chatting-it up with reporters during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, but the imagery was impossible to resist comparing it with King Canute's beach-side excursion.

Chris Matthews Wanders Off The Liberal Reservation

I'm certainly no fan of MSNBC in general and Chris Matthews in particular.

But there are times when one must give the devil his due.

This morning, Comrade Karla Senior sent us a YouTube link of one of Matthews rants.  But this isn't his usual tirade against us "right-wingers."  Instead, this one's against President Obama's leadership style, or lack thereof, with the IRS Scandal at it's epicenter.

You know, one of the scandals Our Dear Leader dismisses as "phony."

While Chris seems to act like a tingly-legged jilted lover, his comments are spot-on.

I've probably said this before, but among the slew of scandals, Benghazi angers me the most.  I'm retired military and the idea of abandoning our fellow Americans under siege appalls me.

However, the scariest scandal to me is the IRS one, with the NSA as a close second.  Not because the IRS is picking on my Tea Partying buddies & buddyettes.  This has the potential of affecting every American.

I'm glad to see Mr. Matthews gets it, even if his fellow spliced-out commentator/Obama acolytes appear not to.

Hopefully this isn't just a fleeting moment, but spark igniting the dissatisfaction some (most?) liberals feel about their Chosen One.

I just wish he reached this epiphany from the get-go, like most of us on the right did. 

Green Pirates

(Image from Greenpeace)

A few days ago the Russian government charged charged nearly half the crew of Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise with piracy. 

Someone in Greenpeace didn't get the memo that Russia doesn't play by the same rules Western Europe and North America do.

(Image:  Russian Coast Guard Cutter)

Meanwhile, the literary world is mourning the loss of Tom Clancy.

So what does the death of an insurance salesman-turned-author have to do with the Greenpeace Pirates?

Richard Fernandez sums up the consequences of waning American military might very nicely with his Tom Clancy thread. 

Reinforcing the Barrycades

(Image from FOX News)

The travesty of closing national monuments, especially the World War II Memorial continues.  After storming the barrycades a couple days ago, "someone" within Our Dear Leader's inner circle ordered the barrycades wired together. 

Despite being the 17th time the government has shut down, Obama is the first president to lock veterans out of military cemeteries. 

And not just here within the US but overseas too, particularly Normandy, France.

To add salt to the wounds Our Dear Leader and his minions don't care about the shutdown, because they think they're winning. 

Charles Krauthammer rolls-in on who's really to blame in this blame-game.

Worse Than Your Normal Banana Republic

(Image by: Steve Breen)

Next to veterans storming the barrycades erected around the World War II Memorial, an article by Mark Steyn caught my eye.  He not only warns us that worse is the new normal, but Our Dear Leader is turning our democracy into a choice between tyranny and anarchy.  

Storming the "Barrycades"

(Image by:  Gary Varvel)

I learned a new word today while trying to catch up on a week's worth of news:  "Barrycades", in "honor" of our Dear Leader's former name.

Apparently, Barry's administration decided to make a symbolic gesture about the government shutdown and take it out on the American people--by closing national monuments

All in order to blame Republicans.

But World War II vets, guys who survived storming enemy held beaches weren't having any of this:  A couple of days ago they stormed the barrycades surrounding the World War II Memorial.

Barry's administration is even trying to close Mount Vernon.  The only problem is:  Mount Vernon is private property.

Despite the Democrats holding the levers of power in the Executive Branch and in the Senate, Our Dear Leader's media minions continue to gloss over Obamacare's "minor glitches"--and blame Republicans for the gov'mint shutdown.

(Image by: Glenn McCoy)

While I Was Away...

(Image by:  Nate Beeler)

...the government shut down three days ago. 

A good thing the FAA was up and running for my return flight home.

The crux of the matter is, of course, Obamacare.

Which, by the way, 1 October was the first day people could register for "The Affordable Care Act."

And guess what?

Various websites crashed.

(Image by:  Henry Payne)

Surprised?

All of us like-minded folks would like to see this fail on it's own.  But The Diplomad is not optimistic about such an outcome.

Can't say that I blame him.  As Mark Steyn often points out, government entitlement programs take root and grow.

I wonder how future historians will commemorate this occassion with something like this?

(Image from The People's Cube)