COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Friday, December 23, 2011

Be Happy, Go Lucky Strike for Christmas

90 comments:

  1. I'll pass.

    Three weeks in the ICU got me unhooked.

    I'm patchless, too.

    b

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  2. Rather fight - than switch.

    Quite correct, Q, the Iranians would only attempt to close the Straits if it was attacked.

    Which we hold the keys to.

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  3. Lucky Strikes, that was my gradathers brand.

    Cancer of the jaw, or some such was the result. Medicare paid to take out the bone, extending his life a few months.

    He said it was an error, on his part, to let the doctors do that. He hated how he looked in the mirror and was not a happy man, those last few months.

    A microcosm of a major problem, the Federals paying to extend life regardless of the costs, to the patient, their families and the Federal budget.

    Just because you can, does not mean you should.

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  4. It's a nightmare to be thinking of your hated Federal/Socialists extending your life.

    Here, have a Cool 100, my old brand.

    Here, have my last unused carton.


    Mama smoked Raleighs for the coupons, well, and she liked the taste too.

    Took her out at age 77.

    b

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  5. Senator Coburn has a new report on waste in Federal spending:
    Wastebook 2011

    Mangled Mango Effort Could Hurt Farmers It Meant to Help –
    (Pakistan) $30 Million

    In 2009, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) undertook a four-year, $90 million effort to spur hiring and sales among Pakistani businesses. Two years later, the USAID Inspector General (USAID OIG) found ―no measurable increases in sales and employment.‖7
    In four of five product areas USAID targeted – leather, livestock, textiles and dates – the agency abandoned its efforts roughly a year after it began them, with virtually nothing to show. For the remainder of the project, it focused its effort (and funding) on the fifth product area: mangoes.

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  6. Dead Federal Employees Continue to Get Benefits Checks – (U.S. Office of Personnel Management) $120 Million

    The federal government sent an average of $120 million in retirement and disability payments to deceased former federal employees every year for at least the past five years. 41
    In a September 2011 report, the Inspector General (IG) for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management found that ―the amount of post-death improper payments is consistently $100- $150 million annually, totaling over $601 million in the last five years.‖42
    In one example the IG found, an annuitant‘s son cashed his dead father‘s checks for 37 years. The son‘s scheme, which cost taxpayers more than $500,000, was discovered in 2008, when he himself died. ―The improper payment was not recovered,‖ the IG reported

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  7. A 98 page pdf

    The "Best"

    Millions In Foreign Aid to… China? – (Department of State & U.S.
    Agency for International Development) $17.80 Million

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  8. Need a doctor, pay for it yourself.

    Don't use the dimes of those that you don't know and don't know you.

    Why should medical care for the aged be a Federal welfare program, but the rest of US pay our own way?

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  9. Our nation currently faces many challenges; a shortage of beer and pizza, however, is rarely cited as one of them. Still, a private developer received nearly half a million dollars ($484,000) in federal funds to build Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers, a nationwide pizza chain, in Arlington, Texas.

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  10. Remake of “Sesame Street” for Pakistan – (U.S. Agency for International Development) $10 Million

    In 2010, Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop, a Pakistani arts organization, was awarded $20 million over the next four years, 71 to create ―130 episodes of an indigenously produced Sesame Street.

    The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided the first $10 million for the
    project in FY 2011.73 The Pakistan Sesame Street would be produced in cooperation with
    Sesame Workshop , creators of the original Sesame Street

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  11. TVs and Gas Generators for Rural Vietnamese Villages – (PA) $702, 558

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  12. Children, Prisoners, and Others Who Don’t Own Homes Awarded Energy Efficient Home Improvement Tax Credits (Internal Revenue Service) – $1 Billion

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  13. Taxpayer Money Supports an International Art Exhibition – (Venice, Italy) $350,000

    The U.S. State Department awarded $350,000 in federal funds for the U.S. Presentation at the 54th International Art Exhibition in Venice, Italy, which lasted from June 4 through November 27

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  14. Failed Energy-Saving Project in Pakistan – (U.S. Agency for International Development) $12 Million

    The citizens of Pakistan experience power outages every day which last between 4 to 16 hours.
    In 2009, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) decided to tackle the problem with a 3-year, $23 million project to help industries in Pakistan develop plans on how to use less energy.

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  15. Lots of money to Pakistan.

    Lots wasted on the war effort:

    Wartime Contracting Waste and Fraud Costs Taxpayers Billions – (Iraq and Afghanistan) $4.38 billion 237

    In its final report to Congress, the Commission on Wartime Contracting estimated that ―
    [a]t least $31 billion, and possibly as much as $60 billion,
    has been lost to contract waste and fraud during military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan

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  16. Dr. Paul sez -- An October 1990 edition of the Political Report ridicules black activists, led by Al Sharpton, for demonstrating at the Statue of Liberty in favor of renaming New York City after Martin Luther King. The newsletter suggests that “Welfaria,” “Zooville,” “Rapetown,” “Dirtburg,”and “Lazyopolis ” would be better alternatives—and says, “Next time, hold that demonstration at a food stamp bureau or a crack house.”

    Here


    And, Paul Has Some Explaining To Do

    b

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  17. Paul's letter went on to describe various plots and schemes that he had "unmasked," including a "plot for world government, world money and world central banking." He also claimed to have exposed a plan by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to "suspend the Constitution" in a falsely declared national emergency.

    Despite being "told not to talk," Paul wrote that his newsletters also "laid bare" the "Israeli lobby, which plays Congress like a cheap harmonica," and a "federal-homosexual cover-up on AIDS."

    Paul claimed that his "training as a physician" helped him "see through" this alleged cover-up.


    Read All About It

    b

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  18. I always thought that Reverend Jackson hit his thumb, with "Hymie-town", and he's not even a Texican.

    Dr Paul's constituency does not seem to care, so there is no need for further explanation.

    No more than explanations are warranted for boobie's call for eugenic abortions of black babies.
    Back in November of 2008.

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  19. Let's see, here's more today

    Ron Paul Newsletters Not Going Away

    Some here at the bar have been big Paul backers, and some have flirted with him.

    Just trying to get a little more truth about the man on the table.

    I hadn't heard about these newsletters until recently, or some of the other things as well.

    b

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  20. Dr Paul's constituency cares as little about that Newsletter as Mr Obama's supporters care that Mr Ayers penned those books, for him.

    Ghost writers abound amongst US politicos.

    At least as far back as JFK, Profiles in Courage and Theodore Sorensen.

    No one cares.

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  21. He published newsletter and had anonymous ghost writers published.

    That's his story, he's stickin' to it.

    Whether true or not, he's holding the line.

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  22. RE: RuPaul.

    He's the least effed up Republican in my book. I'm going to register R so I can vote for him in the primary.

    Newsletters or whatnot. Since it is the Weekly Standard making this an issue, then RuPaul is obviously scaring the hell out of the warmongers. Asserting US and Israeli sovereignty in matters is too unpalatable for the Kristol consortium.

    Refresh my memory. Any of the Weekly Standard editorial board's kids currently in the sandbox?

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  23. Justice Dept. Rejects S.C. Voter ID Law
    By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
    Published: December 23, 2011 at 5:03 PM ET


    COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The Justice Department on Friday rejected South Carolina's law requiring voters to show photo identification, saying the law makes it harder for minorities to vote.

    Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez said the law didn't meet the burden under the Voting Rights Act and tens of thousands of minorities in South Carolina might not be unable to cast ballots under the law.

    Perez said non-whites comprise about one-third of South Carolina's registered voters. Minorities also are one-third of the registered voters who don't have the right ID to vote.

    Read more

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  24. Just as no one that supported Mr Obama cared about his church or the Reverend, there.

    Those that did care, they were not voting the Obama line, anyway.

    Same goes for Dr Paul's newsletter from the '90s. The folks that care about that, they don't support Dr Paul regardless.

    They're the folks that voted to celebrate the passage of the Civil Rights Act.

    Which the Doctor voted against commemorating. Race is not an issue that drives his constituency.

    His supporters are much more concerned about future military adventures than they are about race relations, and the reverse discrimination mandated by Federal quotas.

    Though that has some resonance with portions of his supporters, too.

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  25. Jubal posting current news of the Civil Rights Act, the legislation that Dr Paul stood alone amongst the Congressmen, in voting not to commemorate.

    One against 414, I believe were the numbers boobie posted.

    The overwhelming majority of the Congress favoring Federal involvement in voter registration and drawing Congressional districts that are gerrymandered to be "fair".

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  26. Gerrymandering that ensures the re-election of incumbents.

    85% are re-elected to a Congress with an 11% approval rating.

    Figure that is part of the process?

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  27. I'm with you, Bro D-Day.

    With Panetta out running around saying, "Iran will Not be allowed to have nuke," thus implying military action, Rupaul is the only one of the bunch I can trust not to send us back into another middleeastern war.

    At this moment, he would have my vote. Period.

    One must Prioritize.

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  28. Kinda funny, b lamenting Dr. Paul's racism. I remember how Deuce had to keep taking Bob's comments down the day after the election. It wuz ugly.

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  29. I'm a culturist not a racist Rufus, you old fool, and you know that too.

    And, I think your Cherokee half is your better half.

    b

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  30. Those were some pretty harsh "cultural" epithets, Bob. :)

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  31. I like both halves, Bob. Makes the study of history just a little more interesting. :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. Culturally speaking, of course.

    You put up an excellent Cherokee spiritual when Buddy Larson died, for instance, but your white half just continues to dis all religion like a fool.


    b

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  33. I'm relaxing, having a whiskey and coke, and listening to Christmas Carols, folks. Wish you could join me.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Like all peoples, the Cherokee had their spiritual side, Bob, but they pretty much did away with the Shamans, and "religious elite."

    Found'em to be too damned corrupt, and troublesome.

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  35. It was devo when the Cherokee tried to fuck some culture into the brains of the Scots/Irish.

    A major major mistake on the part of the Cherokee.

    b

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  36. The talk was cheap; walking the walk, much more expensive:

    In a victory for common sense, America’s largest trading partner has become the first country to bail on the Kyoto Protocol before the nearly $7 billion in non-compliance costs comes due next year. Thus ends a pointless and pricey exercise in martyrdom.

    Having committed to reducing 1990 level carbon emissions by 6%, Canada somehow managed to go in the other direction by 33%. Not that anyone in Canada would have noticed by any tangible common-sense measure, except perhaps for all the Canadian plants and trees quietly cheering the abundance of carbon dioxide and overproducing fresh oxygen as a result.

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  37. It was the sacred rational Cherokee part was for Sarah.

    The irrational profane Scots/Irish part is now flip flopped over and is for Obama.

    b

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  38. The word you used, boobie, was "black", the desire was to abort them, but no others.

    Had nothing to do with culture, everything to do with color.

    You claimed to be against abortion, but for blacks.

    That, boobie, is racism, flat out.

    Perhaps you've "grown" since November of 2008.

    Perhaps not.

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  39. My New priorities, Bob:

    1) Stay out of War

    2) Renewable Energy

    3) Healthcare

    4) Sane Tax Policies

    5) Everything else



    # 1 is way the most immediately pressing. I'm looking more, and more, like a "Paulian."

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  40. Speaking of population: Did you all know that "Births, Globally" Peaked in 1990?

    That's right the current growth of population is entirely due to greater longevity.

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  41. No euphemisms.
    No doubt of intent.

    Promoting different standards, based solely upon race.
    In November of 2008.

    No revisionism permitted, now.

    Just admit you were what you were.
    Or tell us you had a ghostwriter.

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  42. Rick Perry didn't make it on the Virgina ballot, the Grinch might not too.

    That leaves, according to the pundit I just read, Romney v. Paul for the Virginia race.

    HOHOho

    Things are turning into a farce....

    b

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  43. Santorum, Bachmann, Huntsman didn't make it, either.

    Interesting. I wonder if Paul can beat Romney in Va in a two man race?

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  44. In 2008 the candidate that did the worse, in the primaries across the 12 southern states, Mitt Romney.

    Paul wins in Iowa, does well in New Hampshire and comes in first or second in South Carolina and wins in Virginia.

    Joy to the Whirled!

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  45. :)

    That would be a sight to see.

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  46. The answer is yes, Virginia is an open primary.

    Wonder, who does that benefit the most Mitt or Ron?

    My bet is Dr Paul benefits more than Mr Romney, from an open primary where only the two of them are on the ballot.

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  47. Voters can register up to 28 Feb 2012, for the 6 Mar vote.

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  48. Open primary, rufus, anyone can vote in it, regardless of Party affiliation.

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  49. Rufus II said...

    My New priorities, Bob:

    1) Stay out of War

    2) Renewable Energy

    3) Healthcare

    4) Sane Tax Policies

    5) Everything else


    1a) Get out of any wars we're in.

    2a) Fracking

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  50. I'd say that favors Dr. Paul, Rat.

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  51. Bob, the war "we're in" is to War with Iran,

    as a bible school picnic is to Hell.

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  52. Dr Paul becomes the only viable "Anti-Romney".

    The DC elites will have a conniption.

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  53. The establishment is getting ready to go crazy.

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  54. We were typing at the same time.

    Great minds . . .

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  55. Ron Paul becomes the Barry Goldwater of the 21st century.

    Losing the election but bringing a "New Dawn" to the Republican Party.

    The Eastern Elites, smacked down.

    Will Gary Johnson then become the next Ronald Reagan?

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  56. It's gonna be a grand Christmass, now!

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  57. I still believe the resonating line from All the debates is,

    "Why do you want to start Another War?"

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  58. Serious question.
    Is war good for business?

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  59. Serious answer: It's good for "certain big businesses."

    In the long run it destroys wealth.

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  60. For 1/3 (at the most) of the War in Iraq we could be completely Independent of Foreign Oil, Forever.

    Which would have been better for the country?

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  61. The amount we spent on Iraq was mostly due to nation building, wasn't it?

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  62. War was good for business when we borrowed from war bonds (domestic lenders) we seriously restricted domestic consumption (left lots of savings for war bonds) and spent all the money on consumable war goods and infrastructure ,all from domestic sources.

    Now that we no longer smoke Lucky Strikes and outsource, it just aint the same.

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  63. Well, I'm doing my part for the lowered domestic spending by rolling my own cigs :)

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  64. By the way --

    LS MFT

    loose straps mean floppy tits

    fifth grade joke around my school growing up

    hardeharhar

    b

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  65. We had no choice in 1941; it was win, or die.

    So, we destroyed every other industrialized nation in the worlds' factories, and assembly lines (except for Britain, of course - that was done for us by the Nazis.)

    As a result, after the war, whatever the world wanted, they had to buy from us. We rocked. For awhile. That war was an anomoly.

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  66. "Occupy Mexico" has a nice ring to it.
    Especially during the winter months.

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  67. Now, we've got the concepts of "war," and "policing" conflated, and all bolloxed up.

    We're just burning vast amounts of money, foolishly, and arrogantly.

    No good end can come from it.

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  68. "Occupy Destin" sounds better. :)


    More expensive; but closer.

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  69. I can't remember fifth grade.
    Brain is to damaged.
    Self inflicted (alcohol:)

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  70. Silent Night


    Now, all we need is a couple of inches of snow.

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  71. Something needs to be done with Mexico.
    I think of the illegal aliens more as refugees.

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  72. You couldn't waterboard Jesus because he'd turn the water into wine. And no one complains about getting wine boarded.

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  73. If you’re unfamiliar with the particulars, you should read James Kirchick’s original New Republic piece from 2008. These are not your run-of-the-mill euphemisms. These are blatantly racist comments by, I would hope, nearly any measure. Jews and gays get their moment in the sun, and there are code-word comments of the sort we’ve come to expect about matters like secession, the right of which “should be ingrained in a free society”; but all those are just warm-up acts for the race stuff. The “Special Issue on Racial Terrorism,” produced after the Los Angeles riots, offers many gems, including this advice: “I’ve urged everyone in my family to know how to use a gun in self defense. For the animals are coming.”

    From The Daily Beast

    b

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  74. It's disgusting how people post here about Israel being an apartheid nation, when -

    For years, the trend has been one of Christians fleeing from Muslim nations where religious freedom is being slowly extinguished. Then there’s Saudi Arabia, where no such freedom exists, and conversion to Christianity means a death sentence. In the historic Holy Land, only one state has seen an increase in its Christian population — Israel.

    from The Chicago Sun-Times

    b

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  75. It's not an either/or situation, Bob. The whole damned middleeast is apartheid (including Israe.)

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  76. This is the crappers hero -

    It is no longer a credible argument that Ron Paul didn't know about what was in those newsletters. He is, to this day, a conspiracy mongering nutcase which fits in perfectly with the contents of his newsletters back then as well as the now discovered direct mail solicitation.

    His ideas are not only poisonous, but the man himself is revealed to be little better than an apologist for the KKK. The GOP doesn't need to be seen as supporting a man like this for any office, much less president.


    Warning: American Thinker Alert: Paul Forecasts Race War

    g'nite

    b

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  77. Nobody cares about that stuff, Bob. Everyone that might care already knows.

    It's a "Protest" vote.

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  78. All the establishment can do is pray for good weather in Iowa on caucus day.

    Like the man said, "if it snows, Paul wins."

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  79. Rat,

    I think you are right. RuPaul is going to lose big and make a huge impact on what is left of the R party. It's going to be another interesting decade.

    Ruf,

    Sipped a Crown Royal Manhattan while listening to Sinatra and Crosby croon the Christmas classics. Great mitigation for the election year blues.

    Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  80. “I’ve urged everyone in my family to know how to use a gun in self defense. For the animals are coming.”

    Jeez Louise. I've said the same damned thing for years and it has nothing to do with race. There are bad people out there of all stripes who can and will do you harm. Best to make sure it's never a fair fight.

    That Daily Beast article is Beltway "journalists" doing their Beltway thing.

    According tho that standard, Victor Davis Hanson must be a closeted SS member judging by his response to lawlessness.

    ReplyDelete