Mud flaps and straight pipes get attention....

When I was a boy, a few thousand years ago, as soon as someone got a car it was equipped with a set of mud flaps, the mufflers removed and replaced with straight pipes, or if the owner was well off, twin "smittys."

It usually resulted in getting the owner a ticket and a high degree of disdain by the adults in the community.

President-elect Barack Obama is looking very presidential these days. When he makes an announcement, he is ringed by American flags and stands behind a lectern that has a very presidential-looking placard announcing "The Office of the President-Elect."

But the props are merely that. Under the Constitution, there is no such thing as the Office of the President-elect. Technically, Obama will not even become the president-elect until the Electoral College convenes after the second Wednesday in December and elects him based on the results of the Nov. 4 general election, as stated in the Constitution.

Link to FNC.

And he is doing it again this morning as he announces his team of Clinton retreads even as the press questions Bubba's deals and relationships in the Middle East.

Outside of making the legs of various so-called journalists tingle, what purpose does it serve?

Despite its lack of formal power, some argue that the "Office of the President-Elect" must maintain an official and authoritative front -- even if just for show. This transition comes at a particularly vulnerable time for the U.S. government in protecting against terrorism -- as evidenced in 1993 when terrorists bombed the World Trade Center as former President Bill Clinton prepared to take office.

Hmmmmm... So the belief is that the terrorists are so stupid they don't know that Obama has no power...

No, the "some argu(ing)" want some pomp and show. Obama would have done well to reject it for some needed show of humility. He has yet to understand that his real problems will be caused by his "friends."

Getting what you want for UT football

Well, we got a new coach. When I first heard his name I said, "Who?"

I suspect I was joined by a 1,000,000 or so other UT fans.

Come to find out he has almost no experience and what he does is bad. He guided the Raiders to a 5 and 15 record in a year and a half.

Now it is rumored he wants to bring in his Daddy and brother.

Huh?

I could never argue against Fulmer leaving. If you look at the last seven years or so you will see a steady drop in players going on to the NFL and that is a sure indication of a drop in recruiting success, and that's the head coach's job.

But there is more to it than tossing a ball out on the field and letting them play. Eighteen year old athletes are not exactly wired to follow orders. Like sales people, managing them is like herding cats. They don't need friends who relate, they need coaches they can believe in. Kiffin doesn't bring that with him. I hope he develops it in a hurry. I will pull for his success, but I have to wonder why he was hired. Surely they could have done better.

In the meantime Fulmer may have had the last laugh.

In his final press conference following the game, Fulmer deftly issued a challenge to his successor.

"To me he ought to win every football game next year. How's that for pressure on the new guy?" he said with a grin.

Let me add that along with Kiffin's head on the block, the Athletic Director who hired him should be there with him. Just because the choice looks so bad and the whole thing was handled so poorly.

I even know a guy who could be the new AD without costing a dime in relocation expenses. Loves UT, has a great reputation, knows football, loyal.........

Go safely, Coach. You gave us a million thrills.


Link to calender.

Glad you asked

You can blame Mike L for these.

1. Ratio of an igloo's circumference to its diameter = Eskimo Pi

2. 2000 pounds of Chinese soup = Won ton

3. 1 millionth of a mouthwash = 1 microscope

4. Time between slipping on a peel and smacking the pavement = 1 bananosecond

5. Weight an evangelist carries with God = 1 billigram

6. Time it takes to sail 220 yards at 1 nautical mile per hour = Knotfurlong

7. 16.5 feet in the Twilight Zone = 1 Rod Sterling

8. Half of a large intestine = 1 semicolon

9. 1,000,000 aches = 1 megahurtz

10. Basic unit of laryngitis = 1 hoarsepower

11. Shortest distance between two jokes = A straight line

12. 453.6 graham crackers = 1 pound cake

13. 1 million-million microphones = 1 megaphone

14. 2 million bicycles = 2 megacycles

15. 365.25 days = 1 unicycle

16. 2000 mockingbirds = 2 kilomockingbirds

17. 52 cards = 1 decacards

18. 1 kilogram of falling figs = 1 FigNewton

19. 1000 milliliters of wet socks = 1 literhosen

20. 1 millionth of a fish = 1 microfiche

21. 1 trillion pins = 1 terrapin

22. 10 rations = 1 decoration

23. 100 rations = 1 C-ration

24. 2 monograms = 1 diagram

25 4 nickels = 2 paradigms

26. 2.4 statute miles of intravenous surgical tubing at Yale University Hospital = 1 IV League

27. 100 Senators = Not 1 decision

Brave men and heroes.

With the Senate runoff election in Georgia, the issue of Max Cleland has came back up. Cleland, in case some of you may not remember, lost three limbs in an accident in Vietnam. He won a Senate seat but lost it in a bitter election. Both sides slung mud but Cleland lost, probably as much over his leftie voting record as anything else. Of course Kerry, with his damnable comments about American service men in Vietnam, did much to negate any sympathy vote Cleland may have won otherwise.


In one of the forums I occasionally opine in another member quoted Ann Coulter writing about Cleland and the Democrats. I didn’t believe, and so noted.

“Fred, the Coulter quote looks like one of those made up quotes that float around the Internet supposedly written by Jay Leno, Maureen Dowd, etc. And if she wrote it, it exists some place on the Internet. Quotes claiming to come from Newsweek do not impress me.

But that is beside the point.

Those who claim there was no bravery in the incident in which he lost his limbs are like those on the Left who claimed that there was no bravery in McCain getting shot down, or those on the Right re Kerry serving on a Patrol Boat or the Lefties denigrating Bush going through flight training and flying a F102.

The bravery is in the act of going in harm's way.

All four acted bravely, as millions of others have done. The soldier who died in Vietnam is dead. The ANG pilot who crashed is dead. The Navy seaman who was killed on his ship when a missile misfired is dead. All died serving the country. Millions of others were injured. All were brave.”

But the quote had been more or less accurate and a link to her article was promptly provided. If I ever want to find the missing Dead Sea Scrolls I will start a thread about them and then deny they exist. An intrepid blogger will show up at my front door with them in a matter of minutes. But I digress.

Coulter wrote:

“Former Sen. Max Cleland is the Democrats' designated hysteric about George Bush's National Guard service. A triple amputee and Vietnam veteran, Cleland is making the rounds on talk TV, basking in the affection of liberals who have suddenly become jock-sniffers for war veterans and working himself into a lather about President Bush's military service….

….On "Hardball" Monday night, Cleland demanded to see Bush's pay stubs for the disputed period of time, May 1972 to May 1973. "If he was getting paid for his weekend warrior work," Cleland said, "he should have some pay stubs to show it."

The next day, the White House produced the pay stubs. This confirmed what has been confirmed 1 million times before: After taking the summer off, Bush reported for duty nine times between Nov. 29, 1972, and May 24, 1973 — more than enough times to fulfill his Guard duties. (And nine times more than Bill Clinton, Barney Frank or Chuck Schumer did during the same period.)

….Moreover, if we're going to start delving into exactly who did what back then, maybe Max Cleland should stop allowing Democrats to portray him as a war hero who lost his limbs taking enemy fire on the battlefields of Vietnam.

Cleland lost three limbs in an accident during a routine noncombat mission where he was about to drink beer with friends. He saw a grenade on the ground and picked it up. He could have done that at Fort Dix. In fact, Cleland could have dropped a grenade on his foot as a National Guardsman — or what Cleland sneeringly calls "weekend warriors." Luckily for Cleland's political career and current pomposity about Bush, he happened to do it while in Vietnam.

There is more than a whiff of dishonesty in how Cleland is presented to the American people. Terry McAuliffe goes around saying, "Max Cleland, a triple amputee who left three limbs on the battlefield of Vietnam," was thrown out of office because Republicans "had the audacity to call Max Cleland unpatriotic." Mr. Cleland, a word of advice: When a slimy weasel like Terry McAuliffe is vouching for your combat record, it's time to sound "retreat" on that subject.

Cleland wore the uniform, he was in Vietnam, and he has shown courage by going on to lead a productive life. But he didn't "give his limbs for his country," or leave them "on the battlefield." There was no bravery involved in dropping a grenade on himself with no enemy troops in sight. “

Link

Plainly caught in denial, although agreeing that such comments were bad by anyone, I replied.

Thank you Fred:

Based on the article I say that Coulter would have been better off not writing the article and she was wrong. As much as I enjoy her quick wit and sharp tongue she has over reached herself in this column and deserves to be told, 'Shut up."

Coulter is a partisan as is Cleland and Terry McAuliffe. Both were very much involved in dishonest attacks on Bush and like many times in life she let her temper get the best of her and deservedly gets zapped for it.

But like the finger in the eye or the unseen head slap in the NFL, the gouger and slapper also deserve condemnation and should also be told "Shut Up." Better Cleland should have used his background to (correctly) point out our strategy, at that time in Iraq was remarkably similar to Vietnam... kill some terrorists and fly away... than complain that Bush was AWOL when the White House was showing TANG pay records. The Vietnam strategy was wrong. Rumsfeld's Iraq war strategy was wrong. (But the objectives of both were honorable and worthy.)

Besides the fact partisan attacks regarding the service of an individual are just wrong, I think we make the mistake of confusing "brave" with "hero."

Vietnam was not a "battlefield" and Cleland was not a "hero." Both are exaggerations. Cleland's injuries were the result of an accident. His bravery was in being there.

To be a hero a person must do something beyond being brave. You have the soldier falling on a live grenade to save friends, a Sgt York calmly taking the German machine guns out of action and capturing a large number of troops... a NY fireman going back in and up the WTC towers when he knew it could collapse any moment... the passengers of UAL flight 93 who crashed it rather than letting the terrorists fly it into a building.

Bravery is knowingly going in harm's way. Heroism is taking actions that you know will likely kill or harm you while benefiting others.

There are many brave people. There are few heroes.

We live in the age of hype and overstatement. It is time we settle down and start remember that words have meaning.

The origin of the Marine Corp hymn

It is amazing what you can stumble on to on the Internet. If you ever wondered about the origin of the songs of our military, this article will tell you.

That it is written by a Marine seems to have caused a bit of bias, but when you can do it, it ain't bragging.

Is Obama watching the terrorist attacks in India?

Evidently the Iraqi people are,

BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq's parliament on Thursday approved by a wide margin a security pact with the United States that lets American troops stay in Iraq for three more years.

The vote in favor of the pact was backed by the ruling coalition's Shiite and Kurdish blocs as well as the largest Sunni Arab bloc, which had demanded concessions for supporting the deal.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki appeared to have won the comfortable majority that he sought in order to give the agreement additional legitimacy.

Parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani said an "overwhelming majority" of the lawmakers who attended the session voted in favor of the pact by a show of hands. The parliament's secretariat, which counted lawmakers as they entered the chamber, said 220 out of 275 legislators attended.

Link

The religion of peace strikes again.

Carter's failures in 1979 lead directly to what is happening now.

You cannot negotiate with these people. They seek to kill to intimidate.

It will be interesting to hear what Obama has to say about it