Friday, July 30, 2010

Clueless...Quality Cluelessness....But Clueless Just The Same

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs decided to take on Rush Limbaugh over the latter's criticism regarding the government bailouts for GM and Chrysler.  But something seems amiss:


“I’ll let those that sat in the cheap seats a year-and-a-half ago and wanted to walk away” from a milion workers, he continued, “explain to every one of those workers why they made that decision.”


Finally, he wrapped it up: “And then you should ask Mr. Limbaugh — I don’t know what kind of car he drives, but I bet it’s not an F-150.”


The F-150 truck, we should note, is made by Ford, which didn’t get federal rescue funds.


I suppose that you can't expect to have a rational discussion of the issues at hand with a person who doesn't understand the difference between profits generated by a company that wasn't bailed out with [much smaller] profits generated by a company that was bailed out.

From the 'cheap seats', I'll offer a question for Mr. Gibbs;  Where does the U.S. Constitution grant the federal government the authority to "bail out" any private company?

The country is in the very best of hands.....

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Happy Birthday Bugs Bunny!

He's 70 years old!  Not bad for a rabbit.

Here's a short he filmed back when he turned 51 and a half.  Regrettably, it is not embeddable.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

More Chris Christie

Any chance he could fix the US after he's done fixing New Jersey??

Marines Needed.....

Mark Shields is a columnist with whom I agree on a very infrequent basis.  He prefers a greater level of government influence than I believe to be compatible with living in a free country.

But Mr. Sheilds recently offered the following thoughts that I believe are right on the mark.  I am glad to share some of those thoughts with you here.


I was not a great Marine. I never saw combat. I got a lot more from the Marines than the Marines got from me. But I believe fervently that this nation today needs the values of the Marine Corps as much as the nation needs the Marine Corps.


Of course, honor, courage and commitment are always in short supply. But the Marines teach personal responsibility and accountability by example, that any chain is only as strong as the weakest individual link. As a unit, we are stronger working together than the individual members can separately be.


Marines take care of their own - and they take care of their fellow Marines before themselves. The well-being of the country and of the Corps is more important than our individual well-being.


This may best be stated in the hard-and-fast Marine rule: "Officers eat last." The Marine officer does not eat until after his subordinates for whom he is responsible - the corporals and privates - have been fed. Marines live by the rule that loyalty goes both up and down the chain of command. Would not our country be a more just and human place if the brass of Wall Street and Washington and executive suites believed that "officers eat last"?


The Marine ethic emphasizes responsibility to duty and responsibility to others before self. This is the very opposite of the unbridled individualism that elevates profit and personal comfort to high virtues. The selfish and self-centered CEO or senator who disregards and discards his loyal "troops" would be shunned in the Corps.


Civilian Americans must understand that the greatest civil rights victories have been won by the Marines and the U.S. military, the most successfully integrated sector of our national life. Why? No racial reference and no racial discrimination. The first time I ever slept in the same quarters with African-Americans or Latinos - or took orders from them - was as a private in the Marines Corps.


Yes, America really does need more Marine values and influence.