Monday, June 21, 2010

Obama and the theatre of the absurd


All this blather from the Prez and his minions about how they are going to crush BP, foot on their throat, etc., etc., is so unseemingly it is hard to believe it is coming from the man who expects to have "Hail To The Chief" played when he walks in.

Enough already.

You know, I have read the Constitution very carefully, and being Chief Thug is not listed as one the Prez's powers.

Constitution

And just to be sure that no one got confused and start thinking that the government defines our rights, the Founding Fathers gave us the 10th Amendment:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Now this may come as a surprise to many of you but we have a Justice Department and various law enforcement agencies. One of them is now investigating BP for criminal activities in regards to the blow out, fire and loss of life.

It would be a shame if the actions of the President wind up with the defendants claiming, and winning the claim, that the actions and statements of the President and other members of his administration have so poisoned the pool of jurors that the defendants cannot receive a fair trial and are granted an acquittal.

It is past time that the President quit playing politics and let the law be enforced.

But he really doesn’t care about that. This is all just theatre of the absurd with him being full of sound and fury… and playing the fool.......something he has proved very good at.

My apologies to Shakespeare.

submit to reddit OnTwitter I am Lesabre1

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.” - William Pitt

An object lesson



submit to reddit OnTwitter I am Lesabre1

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.” - William Pitt

Problems of being a Senior Citizen

Yesterday my wife asked why I didn't do something useful with my time. She suggested I go down to the senior center and hang out with the guys.

I did this and when I got home last night I told her that I had joined a parachute club.

She said "are you nuts? You're 73 years old and you're going to start jumping out of airplanes?"

I proudly showed her that I even got a membership card.

She said to me, "You idiot, where are your glasses! This is a membership to a Prostitute Club, not a Parachute Club!"

I'm in trouble again and don't know what to do! I signed up for five jumps a week!

Life as a senior citizen is not getting any easier.




And I went to a Tea Party and all they served was prune juice and coffee.....I'm getting more confused by the minute.

Hat tip to Jimmy M!

submit to reddit OnTwitter I am Lesabre1

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.” - William Pitt

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Ciagrettes to over $10 a pack?


Holy smuggler, Batman!

Almost $11 for a pack of cigarettes? It might soon become a very real reality in many stores in New York City.

snip

The Paterson administration hopes the proposal would generate $440 million in revenue this year, which would be a help close the state budget gap which is estimated to be over $9 billion. Despite the dire budget situation there is no guarantee that the emergency bill will pass after Republicans threatened to vote against a bill that includes tax increases.

By at least one estimate, half the cigarettes consumed in New York are purchased from Native Americans who don't collect and pay state taxes. A new proposal would attempt to limit the number of cigarettes purchased from tribes.


I remember Sea Stores cigs were $1.00 a cartoon..... and Flight Rations had a free 4 pack, usually Winstons...

Now I wonder when MJ will be cheaper than tobacco????


submit to reddit OnTwitter I am Lesabre1

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.” - William Pitt

Texas trucks

Mike L sent me this:

A lady was telling her neighbor that she saw a man driving a pick-up truck down the interstate, and a dog was hanging onto the tailgate for dear life.

She said if the pick-up truck driver hadn't been going so fast in the other direction, she would have tried to stop him.

A few weeks later, her neighbor saw this truck at the local Bass Pro Shop.

The pick-up truck driver is a local TEXAS taxidermist with a great sense of humor.

Taxidermists are a twisted lot anyway.

And it is not a dog in the 1st Place ; it is a Coyote.

Can you imagine how many people tried to stop this guy?



submit to reddit OnTwitter I am Lesabre1

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.” - William Pitt

Let's stir the birthplace pot.

It's great fun and keeps the blood stirring. And that's important for us old folks.



link

Hat tip to Trish!

submit to reddit OnTwitter I am Lesabre1

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.” - William Pitt

Father's Day

This is an old post about my Father. I thought of him today.

I think it's time for a Father's Day post.

What? You say it isn't Father's Day? True, but I'm not much on such "days," believing that they were created more to put money in some one's pocket rather than honor a Father, or Mother or the birthday of Christ.

But I think of him a lot, the older I get the more so. Born into a middle class environment, he saw that disappear with the Depression. And while banks even then were probably cutting special deals for Senators, a la Dodd and Hussein and Conrad, no one was cutting any special deals for the common man. At least not until Roosevelt.

So his formal education was cut short but he loved books and newspapers and because of that tolerated his oldest reading anything and everything in sight. He loved to hunt and he loved dogs. There's a picture of him with his dog and his shotgun. He would grin and say that he had no shells for the gun but carried it because the dog expected it. He loved jokes but his humor was gentle and I have often seen him dance around the warm morning stove in the morning, just pleased to be alive and in the world.

There were no jobs, just farming, timbering and working in a "store." So he went to Roosevelt's CCC camp and sent money home to the family while working to build roads and parks. It was hard physical labor with actual things done. No "organizing," no "midnight" basketball. Just work. And that was precious and meant something.

Later he met my Mom and they married and I came along. Having nothing they became sharecroppers and lived in a shotgun house. When WWII came along he was 36 and it was unlikely he would have been drafted. Yet he joined the Marines and served in the Pacific. He never discussed his service and refused to see any war movies. But he was always a Marine and had a disdain for the Army that was only partially hidden.

He was Scot Irish tough but would give you anything he had if you asked. Family came first followed by friends and country. Politicians and police were not to be trusted although both groups were required. He taught me that it was "Yes Sir and No Sir and Thank You Sir Please." He never lectured about segregation, but the "N" word was not allowed. It was "Colored People" or "Negro" and the greeting of respect was used without exception to race. Both may be out of favor now but remember this was in the early fifties.

He learned to be a machinist and my Mom worked in a local garment factory. They bought and paid for a farm and they retired comfortably, yet he never wanted to quit working. He worked a few years with the University on demonstration projects and could drive you around the county and show you the results. We have to grow more food he would say. Simple and direct and spot on. I don't have to wonder what he would think about using corn for ethanol while people in the third world are going hungry. "Who in the hell is doing that?" he would demand, even though he knew.

He never had a major health problem, yet at age 75 stood up one morning while at a friend's place of business and announced, "I feel bad." He died on the spot the same way he lived, quietly and with little fuss.

It broke my heart but I have since come to understand there are much worse ways to die. He was a Common Man that did much with very little. The country use to have millions of them. But there appear to be damn few left. We suffer because of that.



submit to reddit OnTwitter I am Lesabre1

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants. It is the creed of slaves.” - William Pitt