Cowboy Confessional

News breaks today that the champion of British/Canadian style socialized medicine has a malignant brain tumor.

Teddy Kennedy was diagnosed via biopsy very quickly, which is a much different story than we get from places where socialized medicine is mandated.  This is because Kennedy opted-out and paid for the services he wanted, got those service when he needed them, and thus got acceptable results (given that his type of tumor can have a survivability time of less than a year, timely diagnosis and treatment is essential).

Makes you wonder why Teddy values private medical services when his needs are dire, but doesn’t want it for the everyone else.  Probably for the same reason that Fidel Castro flew to Spain for medical care, despite his much lauded government medical system.

Bookmark to:

In San Francisco we have an annual athletic event that over time has gone horribly wrong.

The Bay to Breakers is a 12 kilometer run, jog, walk, crawl. Elite athletes start the race, because if they had to weave past the costumed mob that congregates each spring, they just wouldn’t bother showing up.

It is the mob that helps solidify San Francisco’s global reputation as an open air asylum (and I mean that in a good way). What was originally a foot race has become a marginally organized parade for people normally not allowed to be in parades … or even in public … and an excuse to drink beer for breakfast.

Ahhh Budweiser, the breakfast of ex-champions.

According to the official web site for the event:

For everyone’s safety and enjoyment NO ALCOHOL or NUDITY is allowed …

Yeah, right. This is San Francisco folks. People come here specifically for nudity and booze, and then never leave. Both ingredients are the foundation of the city’s political process. An outdoor event without naked drunks is considered by the average San Franciscan as gauche.

Feel free to browse some of this year’s madness.

Bookmark to:

Cattle are dumb. I know this first hand having corralled more than a few in my youth. Bovine spook easily, and with little effort you can get a cow to run directly into the slaughterhouse.

Barack Obama may be part black, part white, and part cow.

While in Israel this week, President Bush was pitching to an audience of folk who have experienced terrorism firsthand, daily, for the last 50 years or so. Given the unfortunate history of Jews being sent to abattoirs at Auschwitz and other sunless spots, Bush decided to mention the failed foreign policy decisions that led to that human butchery.

Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along … We have an obligation, to call this what it is: the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.

Without accusing anyone in particular, Bush made a statement of policy — a policy that preceded him by three other Presidents.

Obama took it personality and reacted with a level of youthful impetuousness normally reserved for a prom night grope.

Obama reacted from the gut, based on what he (and the rest of the country) know to be his major failings: a lack of foreign policy experience and immature decision skills. In a time where terrorists are willing to fly hijacked airplanes into skyscrapers, his paired weaknesses could cause voters to have second thoughts.

His reaction to Bush’s speech shows why.

If Obama had let the sleeping dog sleep, Bush’s comment might not have made the evening news. Obama instead reacted like a schoolyard boy being taunted about his ugly appearance (with those Dumbo-sized ears, I’m sure he had his share of childhood taunting). He protested that Bush was picking on him, and by proxy, all Democrats.

I invite you to reread Bush’s words. He could have be talking about pacifist leaders in Italy. He could have been talking about the soft-on-terrorism government in Spain. He could have been addressing Neville Chamberlain.

But Obama took it personally and showed himself to be an absolute knee biter in the process.

Take what you will about the wisdom (or lack thereof) of wasting breath talking to terrorists or state sponsors thereof. The lesson here is that on serious matters with geopolitical dynamics, Obama reacted. He didn’t pause to think. He didn’t evaluate his alternatives. He didn’t show maturity.

That, my friends is reason enough to vote against him.

Bookmark to:

I was browsing a mailer from the Cato Institute with an article by one of the most astute, and funniest, political commentators, P.J. O’Rourke.

In discussing the failings of politicians to eliminate — or even understand — “unfairness” P.J. notes that he has a 10 year old living at home who often says that something is “unfair”, as most 10 year olds are prone to do. P.J. gives the child some instant perspective and a lesson in blessing counting.

“Honey, you’re cute; that’s not fair. Your family is pretty well off; that’s not fair. You were born in America; that’s not fair. Honey, you had better pray to God that things don’t start getting fair for you.”

Almost makes me wish I had a kid so I could plagiarize P.J.

Bookmark to:

Never trust a terrorist … especially if you are one.

Trust between violent extremist equals that between criminals, and by criminals I mean elected Republicans and Democrats. Anyone willing to kill large numbers of innocent bystanders of their own race/religion/party will undoubtedly kill anyone, including their alleged allies.

A second installment in the war between terrorists recently erupted. Ayman (rhymes with hymen) al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda’s aging and enfeebled second banana, has once again denounced fellow Muslim terrorist. Ayman delivered an audio presentation dull enough to drive a man to suicide (perhaps this is how Al Qaeda is creating new bombers). In this presentation Ayman criticized Iran of discrediting Al Qaeda.

Isn’t that like Hillary accusing Barack of being liberal?

A rumor has spread that Israel was the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks. It is normal for people with tightly wound turbans to accuse Israel of every atrocity, from eating small children to not recycling old copies of The Protocols. It is little wonder that someone, somewhere in the zany world of Islamofascism would yoke Israel with that particular crime. Delusional minds need to work constantly on conspiracy theories lest their tiny brains freeze-up.

This reassignment of blame for 9/11 offended Al Qaeda more than a pulled-pork sandwich, wrapped in a picture of Mohammad and served with a shot of tequila.

Seems that when is comes to mass murder, Al Qaeda doesn’t like others taking credit for their work. Ayman senses that Iran, through their efforts to stoke terrorism within Iraq, is competing for top honors in the kill-a-mom-for-Mohammad competition (the Taliban, the previous title holder, has been disqualified for lack of breathing contestants). Perhaps Ayman is feeling emasculated (which in his case is redundant) because Al Qaeda hasn’t conducted a significant strike against anyone in seven years while Iran is happily murdering thousands every week through their proxies Hezbollah and the mad-dog Mahdi Army.

Yep, jealously among genocidal maniacs. Humanity has risen to a new low.

Speaking of terrorists, Jimmy Carter was also in the news. While the Shiites were doing real damage through Hezbollah, Jimmy decided to visit the Sunni equivalent, Hamas (losers do tend to hang together). Despite requests not to interfer in foreign policy — a field for which Jimmy has proven inability — Carter traveled to meddle the Middle East. While the current administration (elected once more often than Carter was) avoids negotiating with any terrorist leaders — including Harry Reid — Carter diddled with Hamas ringleaders for photo ops and phony platitudes.

And with predictable results. Days after the visit, Hamas claimed that the post-presidential visitation was “a recognition of the legitimacy.”

This is odd use of the word ‘legitimate’. An illicit visit by an dethroned president to a terrorist organization is “a recognition of the legitimacy”? Hamas spokesman Taher Nuhu receives this years Political B.S. award, which is a major coup during an election year.

What I want to know is why Israel — who Hezbollah/Iran alleged orchestrated the 9/11 attacks and who have committed war against Hamas/Al-Qaeda — didn’t bomb Jimmy while he was sitting down with other terrorists leaders? Such a strike would have save everyone a lot of future grief.

Bookmark to: