Welcome one and all to the most intense nightly read anywhere on the sphere… Bitsblog’s Nightly Ramble.
Upwards of 50 degrees around here today. Weird after so much snow. It’s all gone now, of course, but fear not; the forecast is for cold and snow moving in for the season within the next week.
Lots going on over the weekend, including a mess of Christmas shopping. Let’s get to it… get on board.
- That Ice storm [2] in eastern NY and western New England as I mentioned the other day? They’ve still got lots of power outages to deal with. They’ve got a little relief, with it being warmer today, but it won’t last long.
- Christmas shopping.. and shipping, too. What’s left of the post office says this is a heaviest shipping day of the year for them [3]. They’re making arrangements so tha it only takes twice the usual amount of time to ship a package of cookies to Great Aunt Matilda.
- Yeah, Billy, I know the type of snow-thrower guy you’re describing here. [4] I’ve got a neighbor up here… a really great guy… who putzes around in the rig he has simply because he likes playing with the big rig he’s got. He simply has lots of fun with the thing. Of course, we’ve been kinda light on the snow the last few years, so he’s really not had much call for his talents. When the snow comes, he pounces on it like a starvng man pounces on a steak. God bless them, though, that their hobbies and our needs mesh so well. Great shots, by the way. As I’ve told you, I’ve always liked it down your way for the change of the seasons.
[5]I see where pressure is mounting for Obama’s Chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel to resign [6] following revelations that he did in fact talk to Blago about a seat for sale [7]. His resignation would certainly be a good start, but not nearly the whole cookie jar. Does anyone with a brain really figure Obama had no clue on what Emanuel was doing? [8] Is this another case of Obama sitting in the pews for 20 years but never noticing the flaming racist in the pulpit? How long until we hear the now hackneyed phrase…”this is not the Rahm I knew”…? Sorry, Democrats. No sale. This goes deeper than one Chief of staff, no matter how dirty.- Listening to the Chicago stations, the outcry against Blago [9] is bloody amazing, just now. But don’t you dare mention that it’s totally illogical that Obama’s clean on any of this. I mean, is there something in the air ducts at WLS?
- Looks like the arrest of Blago got hurried a bit… opening up the utility of a really free press, again. This Ain’t Hell relates the tale [10].
- We heard reports here at BBHQ all day about how Blago was supposed to actually resign, today. Frankly, I took them as being more wishful thinking, hoping that this nightmare would go away and stop damaging the image of The Chosen One. He may do so later this week, but not today, is my own read.
- Also, check out this at the WSJ angles on Blago background [11]. And check out Day By Day [12], too.
- John Tierney [13] has it right:
“If we want our children to be scientifically literate and get good jobs in the future, why are we spending precious hours in school teaching them to be garbage collectors? That’s the question that occurred to me after reading about the second-graders in West Virginia who fought for the right to keep recycling trash even after it became so uneconomical that public officials tried to stop the program.
Well, no kidding. By the same token, why are we spending billions on ‘global warming’ [14], when we have neither the billions, nor the global warming? [15] Same reason.
- That shoe chucking moron [16] we were treated to over the weekend? His name is Muntazer al-Zaidi. He’s from Al-Baghdadia channel which broadcasts from Cairo. He ends all his broadcasts “From Occupied Baghdad”. I don’t suppose it’s ever occurred to anyone that this is a sign he’s not exactly playing with a full deck? Of course, it should be said that did we base security on such signs, half our domestic press would be in jail, too. Of course the leftards [17]are wishing he’d been tossing grenades, instead. Matthew Yglesias [18] reminds me yet again why I’ve never been as impressed with him as he obviously is with himself:
Some people got very upset when I said I thought throwing pie at Tom Friedman was funny, but I’m having trouble coming up with appropriately humorless language with which to express my fake outrage at this incident
[19]I have yet to see why Joyner finds him such a source of fascination. More examples of numbskullery. [20] (Shrug) I guess we should expect such from them. I’ll bet the guy hasn’t even considered the logical ramifications, here, any more than Yglesias has. I mean, think; if he’d done this with Saddam in power, he’d have been tortured and then killed for his action. When you come down to it, Zaidi owes the fact that he’s still alive, to Bush. And anyway, who throws a shoe anymore? Honestly… - Amie Parnes [21] over at The Politico notes that there’s no southerners in Obama’s cabinet as yet. Oh, I dunno. Doesn’t Hillary count? After all, even New Yorkers don’t consider that she’s anything but a Chicago girl who adopted Arkansas. That snark aside, there seems another anti-southern meme developing, as Boortz notes [22]:
After the auto bailout failed in the Senate … true colors are starting to shine. The unions are livid at one group of people for blocking their chances at getting a bailout (for now), and that group would be senators from the South. [23] Yup, the evil, anti-union South rears its ugly head. The evil Southern Senators are Mitch McConnell, Bob Corker and Richard Shelby. The UAW has gone as far to say that these senators are “representing the foreign brands” because their southern states are home to foreign automakers such as BMW, Honda and others. UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said, “They thought perhaps they could have a twofer here maybe: Pierce the heart of organized labor while representing the foreign brands.” A local UAW president at a GM factory in TN said, “What this is, is the Southern conservative senators trying to destroy the United Auto Workers, trying to destroy unions … It’s a sad day in America when the senators turn their back on Main Street.” Well last Friday was a sad day as well … a day when the UAW turned its back on the automakers….
Indeed; and what can you call the lack of consessions to reality from the UAW, other than that? That lack, dear reader, is anti-American. As Neal points up, the issue for the unions is their survival. They know Americans have figured out they… the unions…. are the problem. Too bad the Bush administration hasn’t gotten that message.
- One must wonder if the logic about the UAW will lead us next into demolishing the Teacher’s Unions [24]. They certainly think so. I can’t think of a single thing that would improve our government schools than the elimination of the unions.
- OK, I know I shouldn’t worry about being covered by an avalanche while skiing. One in a million shot, right? I’ll bet this guy [25] had similar thoughts.
- I see where the Amish are reportedly [26] genetically immune to heart problems. Genetics? Hmmmmm. I wonder about that.
- Good feedback on my John McCain post of yesterday [27]. Almost universally, the debate is over on the idea that McCain needs to be gone. By the way, a little reminder… you do know that McCain has come down on the side of those seeking to impose a ‘fairness’ doctrine, right? More about that later, at need.
- Speaking of weekend postings, I did mention the firebombing of Sarah Palin’s Chuch [28]the other day. None of the Dinosaur media did. Oh, AP ran a story and a few papers picked it up. Huffpo reprinted the AP article, so did Fox. Can you imagine them ignoring this, this way, if the firebombing was against Jerry Wright and his happy band of foamers?
[29]Oh, speaking of The Chosen One, I see now where Bill Richardson is under investigation. Dan Riehl has some of the details [30], and says, shaking his head…
Geesh! Can the Democrats and Obama put anyone forward who isn’t facing an investigation of some type?
Obviously the answer is ‘no’.