SO WHAT?

As I write this, the government of the United States of America is getting ready to "shut down."

That means that "non-essential" services provided by the government will cease to operate.

Did you get that part about "non-essential?"

If they are non essential, why in the world do they exist?

Indeed, why do we even need a Department of Energy (they certainly don't provide us with any energy), a Department of Labor (they provide exactly "0" productive jobs), a Department of Education (they only make rules that make it harder to teach our children), or any other of those "non-essential" agencies?

Answer: we don't.

Do you know what the "shut-down" means?

It does NOT mean the government will shut down.

But wait...it's called a "shut-down!" Why would they call it a "shut-down" if the governemnt will not be shut down?

Because, dear citizen, that's how the government works: make the citizens fear so they'll do what we want them to do.

What WILL happen is that the workers in those agencies will be furloughed. They will go home, play with the kids, go to the beach, take a trip to Disney World and when the governmnet "starts back up again," they will return to work and get paid RETROACTIVELY for the exta vacation they just enjoyed.

Social Security will NOT be affected by the "shut down." You senior citizens will still get your checks...on time.

Medicare will NOT be affected by the "shut-down." You who are on Medicare will still get your doctor, hospital, surgeries and everything else paid for.

That is why I urge you to contact your congressperson and tell him/her "Go ahead! Shut the government down!"

It's no big deal.

The only ones who are making it a big deal are the Senate, House of Representatives, President BO and the MainStream Media.

Here's a video you can watch that deals with the "shut-down."

What President BO's Reelection Ad SHOULD Say

WHAT WAS HE THINKING?

"As President, my greatest responsibility is the security of the American people. It is the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning. It’s the last thing I think about when I go to sleep at night."

“But you should know that keeping the economy growing and making sure jobs are available is the first thing I think about when I wake up every morning. It’s the last thing I think about when I go to bed each night.”

I'm confused.

That might be President BO's main tactic: Keep 'em confused and they'll think I'm doing a good job.

Maybe this boy genius can think in 3-D, in Dolby 5.1 surround sound and of two things at once.

The first of his statements came at a 9/11 remembrance, the second last Friday.

Oh! Now I have it fugured out! Say whatever the occasion calls for, true or not.

But remember, if I can't count on your words being true one time, which time CAN I count on them being true? Please make me a list of things I can trust you on and things that I can't.

So I ask, what does he really think of when he first wakes up and when at last he lies down to sleep?

I know the answer to that question: the same thing any amateur who is also a narcissist thinks about...himself.

THE BURNING ISSUE

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan (Reuters) – At least eight foreign U.N. workers were killed, two of them beheaded, on Friday in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif after a demonstration against the burning of Korans by a U.S. preacher, a regional police spokesman said. "Eight foreigners were killed and two were beheaded," said Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai, a police spokesman for the northern region.

Terry Jones, the Florida pastor who oversaw the burning of a Koran last month, said he did not feel responsible for the violent protest at a United Nations compound in Afghanistan today that left at least 11 dead. Instead, he said the violence proved his point.

Rev. Jones is a pastor in a small, insignificant little independent church in Florida.

His actions would not have been noticed in another time.

But in this age of anti-Americanism on the part of our MainStream Media, his earlier threats to burn a Koran, and his subsequent actually doing so, made major league headlines...for no real reason.

Was he right in burning Koran?

Not in my opinion.

Did he have a right to burn a Koran?

He did in my opinion.

The real issue is about the disproportionate reaction of the Afghans.

What should have happened was for a high ranking representative of the Afghans to take to the airways and "condemn" the pastor's behavior.

Instead, we had riots in the street, killings and at least two beheadings.

How could this irrational response happen in a country so advanced, so civilized, so peace-oriented and so politically sophisticated as Afghanistan?

The answer is that Afghanistan is not rational, is not advanced, is not civilized, is not peaceful and is not politically sophisticated.

The common Afghan is a barbarian who believes, if anything is done or said that he doesn't like, he is justified in rioting and killing over it.

If you are a woman, he feels especially justified to publically humiliate you, sexually abuse you and stone you.

Liberal progressives will tell us it is a cultural thing and we should be more understanding.

I say it is a murdurous thing and is beyond understanding.

Women of America must be so looking forward to the day when some form of Afghan law takes a firm grip on this country.

The Afghans of Mazar-i-Sharif behaved in just the way as could be expected.

Truth is, the wayward pastor did not cause the bloodshed in Afghanistan, Afghans chose to do what they did. They are the ones responsible.

How could anyone condone their response.

But you can bet there will be plenty of Americans who will.

SUNDAY RESPITE

IT'S BEEN ALL OVER THE BLOGOSPHERE

I first saw this on another blog, but I don't remember which one.

I know you've been yearning for it, so here's my take on this mess.

First, as a conservative, I take the stand that the law is the law.

If it's a bad law, work to change it.

My beef is not with the fact that a goal post was taken down by the "powerful law enforcement agency."

My beef is with the procedure and the attitude of the "powerful law enforcement agency."

In all probability (although this might not be the case) the mean spirited blond was just doing her job.

In my humble, but correct, opinion, the citizen should have been issued a citation long before this incident took place, should have responded to the ticket, either paying it or challenging it in a court of law, and should have moved the goal post out of the right-of-way (known as an easement).

Whether he had the chance to move the post or not is not known through this video.

Either way, though, it is clear that he was told by the police officer that he would have the option of keeping his goal post...which was a half-truth and therefore a lie.

He was not offered the option of keeping the goal post, but of getting it back, albeit in a broken condition, due to the ineptitude of the heavy equipment operator. That's not the same thing.

Justify the law if you want to. I don't have enough information to either do that or not.

What cannot be justified is the overall attitude of the blond, who tried to stifle the husband's and wife's speech on their own property.

They were not being a threat to anyone, just trying to keep their goal post. He pleaded with her to have the time to plead his case, but was refused it in no uncertain terms.

The overall lesson from this is: you get the laws you deserve when you elect the lawmakers you elect.

Americans should be a lot more careful about whom they elect...locally and nationally.

Take President BO, for instance...please!

AT LEAST TEMPORARILY BACK! TRY TO CONTROL YOUR ENTHUSIASM!

Those of you who get all excited when pseudo-genius Michael Moore tells you we're not broke as a nation, watch this:
Here is the text from which Bill Whittle adapted that video (from iowahawk)

Feed Your Family on $10 Billion a Day

Seems like these days I hear a lot of whiney whiners whining about "out of control government spending" and "insane deficits" and such, trying to make hay out of a bunch of pointy-head boring finance hooey. Sure, $3.7 trillion of spending sounds like a big number. "Oh, boo-hoo, how are we going to get $3.7 trillion dollars? We're broke, boo-hoo-hoo," whine the whiners. What these skinflint crybabies fail to realize is that $3.7 trillion is for an entire year - which translates into only a measly $10 billion per day!

Mister, I call that a bargain. Especially since it pays for all of us - you and me, the whole American family. Like all families, we Americas have to pay for things - health, food, safety, uncle Dave America with his drinking problem. And when little Billy America wants that new quad runner they promised, do Mom and Dad America deny him? No, they get a second job at Circle K, because they know little Billy might have one of his episodes and burn down the house. So let's all sit down together as an American family with a calendar and make a yearly budget.

First, let's lock in the $3.7 trillion of critical family spending priorities; now let's get to work on collecting the pay-as-we-go $10 billion daily cash flow we need.

12:01 AM, January 1 Let's start the year out right by going after some evil corporations and their obscene profits. And who is more evil than those twin spawns of Lucifer himself, Exxon Mobil and Walmart? Together these two largest American industrial behemoths raked in, between them, $34 billion in 2010 global profits. Let's teach 'em both a lesson and confiscate it for the public good. This will get us through...

9:52 AM January 4 Okay, maybe I underestimated our take. But we shouldn't let Exxon and Walmart distract us from all those other corporate profiteers out there worth shaking down. In fact, why don't we grab every cent of 2010 profit made by the other 498 members of the Fortune 500? That will net us another, let's see, $357 billion! Enough to get us to...

2:00 AM February 9 So we're running out of corporate cash, but look - it's Super Bowl time! As we all know, the game has become a crass disgusting festival of commercialism. So let's take all the TV ad money spent on stupid Super Bowl ads, and apply that to government needs. That would be $250 million, enough to fund us for, let's see... 36 minutes. The half time show, at least. But why stop there? Let's take every cent of ad money spent on all 45 Super Bowls, a cool $5 billion, which would cover us until...

2:00 PM February 9 Speaking of sports, why should the players be immune to our pressing public needs? Lord knows professional athletes make obscene salaries for playing a dumb game. So let's take the combined salaries of all players in the NFL, Major League Baseball, the NBA, and the NHL. Hey, they've got endorsement deals, they'll hardly miss it. Throw in the total winnings of everybody on the PGA tour and NASCAR, and we get $9.4 billion, enough to get us through until...

1:00 PM February 10 Okay, it's time to stop messing around. Athletes aren't the only ones greedily raking it in. What about America's rich - those fancy pants fat cats living the high life in the above-$250,000 income bracket? According to IRS statistics, these 1.93% of US households are hogging 25% of US income. And why do they need it? For crying out loud, they probably stole it anyway. I say let's take 100% of every penny they make above $250,000. They can use the rest to pay their state and local taxes. Now we're talking big bucks, brother. How much? Let's see...

A: Number of US households: 116,000,000

B: Average US household income: $68,000 (median = $52,000)

C: Total US household income (A * B): $7.89 trillion

D: Percent of households above $250k income: 1.93%

E: Number of households above $250k income (A*D): 2,238,800

F: Percent of national income earned by households making $250k or more = 25%

G: Total income of households making $250k or more (C*F): $1.97 trillion

H: Total income of households in excess of $250k (G - E*$250,000) = $1.412 trillion

Alright! Take that, fat cats! Our $1.412 trillion windfall has us covered for the next 141 days, or until...

6:00 PM July 2 Well, I guess maybe there are a few items we can cut from the budget. Those quagmires in Iraq and Afghanistan, for example. Why don't we end all funding for those wars, and bring our troops home to march in the Fourth of July parade? That would save us $105 billion Afghanistan and $159 billion in Iraq, a total of $264 billion - enough savings to cover us until...

4:00 AM July 29 Summer blockbuster season! And of course the biggest blockbuster of all time was Star Wars. To punish George Lucas for those stupid sequels, let's confiscate every penny of revenue generated by the Star Wars franchise since 1977 - movies, TV rights, books, toys, action figures, everything - which nets us $25 billion. Enough to keep the lights on until...

4:00 PM August 1 Well, there's plenty more money in Hollywood to go after. So, for the national good, let's evict everyone in Beverly Hills and sell their homes at current market value. 15,000 homes at $2 million per gets us another $30 billion, paying the bills through...

4:00 PM August 4 The kids will be going back to school soon, so we're gonna have to bring out the big guns and really go after those moneybag plutocrats like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. Between 'em, those two bastards have amassed a combined fortune of $100 billion. What kind of jerk needs that kind of money? The worst thing is they're shielding it from the public treasury using the oldest trick in the billionaire playbook - by continuing to live. Once they kick the bucket, and after we close the estate tax loopholes, the American public will get the 50% of their ill-gotten loot we so richly deserve. So let's say we arrange a couple of unfortunate "accidents" for Mssrs. Gates and Buffett. Now we've got another $50 billion for the US coffers, enough to get us to...

4:00 PM August 9 Aw, screw it. There are plenty more American billionaires to go after - 398 more to be precise, according to the latest Forbes 400, with a combined total net worth of $1.29 trillion. 398 more "accidents," 398 more estates taxed at 50%, and we've got another $650 billion to tide us through...

4:00 PM October 13 Crap. Okay, let's just kill all the billionaires and take all their money. Add in another 100 or so of the almost-billionaires, and that buys us an additional 73 days until...

4:00 PM December 25 Merry Christmas! Just one more week to go. In the spirit of the season, let's give the surviving conservative wingnuts a few of the budget cuts they've been bitching for, like getting rid of foreign aid. This saves $50 billion - getting us to...

4:00 PM December 30 Only 32 hours to go! To cover the remaining $12.5 billion vital federal program tab, let's pass the cash bucket and demand every surviving American man, woman and child to kick in another another $40 bucks. I'm pretty sure they will, after all those previous "accidents."

12:00 AM January 1 Happy New Year!

See? Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Time to do it all again, except this time we'll need to come up with $11 billion per day. I'm sure we'll figure it out somehow.

Do you know where we can get some more plutocrats?

So, how many of you liberal/progressives still hate rich people?

How many of you get a paycheck from one?