This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Politics

  • If You Want to See A Real Liberal Jerk in Action . . . (Part 2)

    Well, here ya go.  Different kind from that highlighted Poetrooper’s last article on the same subject, though.

    This one’s a CNN host – Fareed Zakaria.  Yeah, I know: that’s a “shocker”. (smile)

    Here’s the money quote from a recent interview (emphasis added):

    “The election of Donald Trump is really a kind of class rebellion against people like us, educated professionals who live in cities, who have cosmopolitan views about things.”

    In short:  according to      “Progressive” tools      those highly educated,      Metrosexual Euroweenie      “cosmopolitan” types like Lord Fareed here, anyone from the      peasant      working class – or who otherwise doesn’t agree with him – should just shut up and color.  Obviously, they should let their “betters” (AKA the     Socialist      “Progressive elite”) run the show.

    Oh, and later in the interview he plays the “racism” card, too. What a surprise.

    Sheesh. And his ilk claims that his side represents the interests of the “Little Guy”? That’s like an English Lord from the 1400s claiming he understands the peasants’ concerns and issues – when in reality he doesn’t give a damn about what happens to them at all, so long as he’s safe and comfortable in his Manor House.

    Yo, Zakaria:  did you ever think that maybe 8 years of failed      Socialism      Progressive policy under the previous SCoaMF – which Clintoon sought to continue – might have had something to do with Trump’s election? Along with the fact that Clintoon was one of the most personally disagreeable and seemingly financially corrupt Presidential candidates in history?

    Both Fox News and the Washington Free Beacon have short articles giving a few more quotes from Lord Foot-in-mouth here.  They’re worth a read.

    Sheesh.  What a freaking arrogant, elitist ass.

  • F-35 Lightning gets foreign orders

    F-35 Lightning gets foreign orders

    Hidden in all the late-breaking political hoopla Friday afternoon, when the media was in another Trump feeding frenzy over White House musical chairs, was an announcement by the F-35 Joint Program Office that a $3.69 billion contract for the F-35 Lightning had officially been awarded to Lockheed-Martin for its 5th generation fighter. Interestingly, around two-thirds of that order went to foreign buyers:

    Most of the money, $2.2 billion, goes to buy one British F-35B, one ItalianF-35A, eight Australian F-35As, eight Dutch F-35As, four Turkish F-35As, six Norwegian F-35As aircraft, and 22 F-35As for Foreign Military Sales customers.

    I say interestingly, because when I wrote a piece a few weeks ago about how my own assessment of this aircraft was changing after reading how awed pilots are who actually have flown the plane in simulated air combat against ground anti-aircraft defenses and aggressor air forces, our own in-house Wikipedia, Hondo, expressed some sincere doubt that the foreign buyers would come through on their agreed upon  acquisitions. Those purchases, he correctly noted were going to be needed to drive down the overall unit cost of the F-35 which, in excess of $100 mil per copy has been the primary criticism of the aircraft. If the numbers published by Breaking Defense are correct, then it looks like the foreign purchasers are getting their birds for less than $50 million a copy. Of course that $2.2 billion could represent partial payment. It also includes no Israeli aircraft and that country has said it alone will purchase fifty F-35’s in its various iterations with other countries saying they’ll order almost twice that number if the price comes down.

    Whatever, it’s a good sign for the American taxpayer that plenty of foreign governments are buying in on the Lightning. For a complete account on planned total purchases by country, go here:

    Look Who’s Buying Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Now

    Crossposted at American Thinker

  • The hater’s guide to the US Marine Corps

    The military branches are like a family, but that doesn’t mean everyone always gets along. With different missions, uniforms, and mindsets, troops love to make fun of people in opposite branches. Of course when it counts in combat, the military usually works out its differences.

    Still, inter-service rivalry is definitely a thing. We Are The Mighty has already showed you how everyone usually makes fun of the Navy and Air Force. Now, they’re taking on the U.S. Marine Corps.

    For the easiest way to make fun of the Corps, why to actually hate the Corp, and what to love about the Corps, read on. Semper Fi!

    We Are The Mighty

  • Friday Morning Foreign News

    Are we heading for another war in Southeast Asia?  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southchinasea-vietnam-china-idUSKBN1AD1FB

    I hope not. China and Vietnam are in a dispute over Vietnam’s right to drill for oil in its own territorial waters.

    This is silly. Oil is in a ‘glut’ state now, and some auto companies like Volvo and Tesla are planning to go all-electric within a decade or two. The UK has announced it will ban all diesel and gasoline-powered vehicles by 2040.  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/25/new-diesel-petrol-cars-banned-uk-roads-2040-government-unveils/

    The practical factors involved in something like this aren’t being addressed, but that is not my problem or yours. It’s theirs. Idealism is a wunnafulla thing, isn’t it?

    Meantime, the US government has ordered family members of its embassy employees in Venezuela to leave that country, while violence in the streets increases as the elections draw near.

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-idUSKBN1AC1S9

    Caracas is possibly the worst hit by more and more crowd violence. That rogue police officer firing at government buildings a week or so is a mere symptom of what is going on down there. Maduro has raised the minimum wage by 50%, but if the bolivar is worthless, well…. That entire country is imploding.  The coming election is meant to revoke Venezuela’s constitution and install Maduro as dictator, plain and simple.

    I think we should get all of our people out, not just their families. Remember Carter’s Iranian fiasco? I don’t think we need to be forced to ransom our own people. Just get them out now.

  • Here Come the Lawsuits

    The Navy Times is reporting President Trump’s intent to reverse the 10-month-old Pentagon policy that allows transgender troops to serve openly is likely to set the stage for a legal battle between the Defense Department and those troops at risk of involuntary separation, legal experts say.

    ‘“We’re going to raise all holy hell that this is intolerable and say we’re not going to go away quietly on this issue,” said Matt Thorn, executive director of OutServe-Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), an organization that represents the transgender community in the U.S. military.’

    Trump posted tweets Wednesday morning baring transgender people from serving in the military “in any capacity.” While having no legal bearing, Trump’s tweets may precede executive orders formalizing changes to the Pentagon’s policy.’

    Thorn says his advocacy group has already identified several potential plaintiffs from among the estimated 7,000 transgender troops on active duty. The group would file a lawsuit almost immediately should a ban be enacted, he said.

    ‘However, a quick lawsuit might not lead to a quick decision, warns Greg Greiner, a partner at Tully Rinckey law firm and head of its Military and National Security Law Practice Group.

    Like litigation regarding the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, Greiner says that a court case against a transgender military ban would likely drag on for years. But the process could begin soon.

    “I get the impression that the Secretary of Defense [Jim Mattis] had been considering [the ban],” said Greiner. “If the president has it the way he wants, it will probably be sooner rather than later.”

    Advocates would likely ask the courts to stay the policy change, which would effectively prohibit the Pentagon from implementing the ban until the litigation is resolved.

    The ultimate outcome of a lawsuit is unclear. Traditionally the federal courts have given the military wide latitude to conduct its affairs. But there are instances where lawsuits have been effective: Advocates for gay and lesbian troops successfully blocked enforcement of the “don’t ask, don‘t tell“ rules in 2010.

    According to Trump’s tweets, healthcare costs and internal disruption were the driving forces behind the decision.

     

  • Democrats in disarray, disagreeing, with fundraising a mess

    There is much dissension within the Democratic Party in this summer of 2017. The surest proof of that is the huge drop-off in contributions, leaving the Democratic National Committee “broke” in June, according to multiple reports. That should surprise no one in the least, as the latest leader of that organization, Tom Perez, has proved to be more of a scatology-spouting disorganizer than a uniter of dissenting factions. Potty-mouth Perez may think it gives him street cred to sprinkle his speeches with oratorical ordure, but apparently the more genteel among the party contributors find Perez’s profane pleas for party unity off-putting, leaving them sitting on their checkbooks.

    Running out of other people’s money has Perez down in the dumps – literally. From the Observer:

    DNC Chair Tom Perez recently sent out a fundraising email to supporters claiming, “I know garbage when I see it,” citing that he once worked on a dump truck. It’s ironic that he referred to the GOP health care bill as a “flaming dumpster fire” because he has been presiding over the disaster that is the Democratic National Committee. The organization reported that May 2017 was its worst fundraising month since the Iraq War in 2003, and April 2017 was its worst fundraising month since 2009. In May, the DNC also reported that it has $1.9 million in debt. Despite the fact that former Secretary of Labor Tom Perez was recruited by Barack Obama to appease the party’s donors, lobbyists and PACs, even they have refused to prop up the failing brand.

    The Observer goes on to report that party fat cats, unhappy with the message the party establishment is putting out, are either tucking their bucks into their own organizations or spreading it among local political entities. Wherever those dollars are going, it’s not into DNC coffers, and the reason is clear: they don’t like the direction Perez is taking the party. These divergences within the party of diversity are numerous, with the rift created by the hard-left, full-on socialist “Bernie” faction being the biggest problem. Impending financial crises in many Democrat-ruled domains, Illinois being the most immediate threat, are also creating tensions that may explode into a party-rending financial crisis. Moreover, it doesn’t help with fundraising that the summer’s most visible faces of the party are Maxine Waters, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer, with the two female leaders providing a constant cornucopia of cuckoo quotes and Chuckie a steady stream of Trump porn.

    But, and oh what a but this is, there is one issue where you find near solid agreement (with the rare exception) across all party lines and that is the issue of voter ID and registration reform. The Democrats are united in their unyielding opposition to this single issue. While Democrat-ruled bureaucracies across the nation have no qualms requiring photo ID-supported government regulation of every imaginable human activity, they have carved out this singular glaring exception, with only the weak excuse that voting is a sacred (this from the party of atheism) constitutional right. And if you point out to them the inconvenient truth that there are all these other requirements for photo ID, they will haul out the old racisss!!! blunderbuss and blast you with that.

    Crossposted at American Thinker

  • Gerald Ford gets the last laugh

    The USS GERALD R. FORD, the lead ship in a new class of ten supercarriers, also called Ford Class, was conducted this week, presided over by President Donald Trump. I was waiting for someone, perhaps an old political sailor, to point out both the justice and the irony of that. I’m referring to the relentless pounding in the liberal media of both presidents for exaggerated physical attributes. With Trump it’s that unique reddish-blonde mane and his supposedly tiny hands, which, of course is a snarky jab at the then proportionately-presumed small size of his manhood.

    With Ford, a favored target of media derision after he pardoned Nixon, it was his supposed mental slowness, as was fallaciously evidenced by his slow, measured speaking delivery. More frequently the left derisively mocked him for being a stumbling klutz, whose constant clumsiness led to frequent trips and falls, and whose sporting ineptitude came from his occasional driving of golf balls into the gallery, once actually hitting a woman in the head, or on another occasion driving a ball into his tennis partner’s head. Ford’s most egregious tormenter for all these inflated bumblings was a comedian, Chevy Chase, whose “Saturday Night Live” skits featured pratfall scenes and comedic monologue in which the Ford character appeared mentally deficient, much as Trump is portrayed there today.

    Actually, Gerald Ford always had the last laugh on his detractors during his presidency, laughing along with all the goofy portrayals for the simple reason that Ford was a good sport. Unusual among our presidents, Ford was a skilled athlete, an Eagle Scout, football captain, and an all-city selection from his Grand Rapids high school football team; then he became an all-star and championship football player at the University of Michigan helping them as a linebacker and center through two undefeated seasons and to two national championships. Ford received offers from both the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers but turned them down to become the boxing coach and assistant football coach at Yale while he attended law school to add to his undergraduate degree in economics.

    When that first Ford Task Force ventures forth from Norfolk Naval Base to begin its far-reaching patrols of the world, it will demonstrate the continuing military supremacy of the Navy in which Ford served as a lieutenant commander on a carrier in WWII. And the name Gerald R. Ford will be embarking on a 50-year global journey during which it will be viewed with awe, respect, and sometimes fear, in far-flung ports and across all the world’s oceans. So our sitting president, who is regularly mocked on SNL by a very unfunny actor, should take heart. It just may come to pass that the lead ship of the next class of carriers, being built in the 2040s to replace the aging carriers of the Ford Class, will be christened the USS Donald R. Trump.

    Crossposted from American Thinker

  • Sterling Scott still scamming

    Sterling Scott still scamming

    We’ve been writing about Sterling Scott since December, 2014 when he pretended to be an Army Sergeant Major to defraud the Coast Guard Mutual Assistance Program. In December, 2015, he was sentenced to ten months in jail after the judge caught him lying to the court. Well, according to Virginian-Pilot, he’s back at it, this time using his daughter and GoFundMe;

    Sterling Scott’s “daughter” has horrible luck.

    She’s been badly injured in a car crash in South Korea, left brain dead in a wreck in Mexico and killed in an accident in Texas, to name a few of the tragedies.

    But don’t feel bad for the young girl Scott is hugging in an old photo federal agents found on an online fundraising page set up to help the former soldier pay medical bills.

    The girl, the daughter of Scott’s ex-wife, is fine. And the stories he — or at least someone claiming to be him — keeps telling about the child are at the center of a new federal investigation.

    He’s on his way back to US District Court, but he claims he’s innocent;

    In phone interviews, text messages and emails the past two months, Scott told The Pilot he was not behind the GoFundMe page. He claimed his email and Facebook accounts were hacked.

    “Somebody set me up,” Scott said. “I didn’t receive a dime from anyone and didn’t want to receive a dime from anyone.”

    He offered a similar defense June 12 when confronted by Bissette about calls to the Nebraska charity. He said he lost his phone the month before and believed someone was trying to frame him.

    Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? That’s the same excuse we hear almost every time we come across a pretender on the internet. I’m guessing there’s a “Poser-ism for Dummies” guide out there, because they all seem to have a copy of it.