Question: What keeps Joe Biden humble?
Answer: His unadulterated greatness.
What's even more mindboggling about this response is that it came in direct response to a direct question as to what keeps our Veep humble.
“Everywhere I go, crowds spontaneously assemble. They start to cheer, whether I go to a play [...]
Keith Olbermann hosts what is without a doubt the most self-important, least watched and intellectually vapid program ever aired. And that includes Hee Haw.
Much to my amazement, Ben Affleck does a perfect send-up of Olbermann's self-loving nonsense. Enjoy today's Friday Funny:
[...]In a most surprising development - particularly following the defection of Sens. Specter, Collins and Snowe on the "stimulus" package - the Senate Republicans held together to unanimously oppose Obama's tripling down on the federal deficit and the further mortgaging of our future:
The House and Senate approved competing $3.5 [...]
Assuming they have blood coursing through their veins - and we'll just go ahead and make that assumption - I'm sure this was the last thing on these reporters minds when they dialed into this conference call:
Journalists who dialed in to a White House conference call Thursday hoping for [...]
Prompted by a segment in the must-read Best of the Web Today from the Wall Street Journal's James Taranto, Christopher Alleva at the American Thinker brings to light some information on Jimi Hendrix of which I was heretofore unaware:
Those fussing over Hendrix should know he was an avowed [...]
Over in the land of fish and chips, President Obama's amateurism continues:
Barack Obama met the Queen at Buckingham Palace today and gave her a gift of an iPod loaded with video footage and photographs of her 2007 visit to the United States. In return, the Queen gave the President [...]
Oh, how I wish I could be in Los Angeles for this certifiable, circus freak-show:
The tease on their website is even more laughable. My snark is in italics.
Join us on April 25 in Los Angeles for a Socialism Conference & Workshops hosted by the Party for Socialism [...]
Just into my in box from Politico:
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has paid back taxes of more than $7,000 stemming from "unintentional errors" revealed during her accountant's review of recent tax returns.
Are you serious? Are you really serious?
Is there anyone with a prominent role in this administration who hasn't shirked [...]
I should begin by disclosing that I regularly read Eric Zorn's Change of Subject blog, and I usually find it to be very interesting. Outside of basic principles, I don't surmise that Mr. Zorn and I agree on much more than intrinsic superiority of the forename "Eric". Today in his [...]
While on my way to grab some lunch in Chicago's Ogilvie Train Station, I came across not one, but two different individuals with the appropriate number of firing synapses to think that these t-shirts were clever.
The first was adorned with this logo:
And the second was [...]
From Obama's remarks today concerning the US government intervening in GM:
Because starting today, the United States government will stand behind your warrantee.
Despite being trading about 20% lower today (gee, I wonder why...), GM's market cap is still about $1.73 billion.
One can't go anywhere in Chicago without coming across some piece of egregious Barack Obama merchandise. The 7-11 down the street from my office has been hawking Obama t-shirts, Obama hats, Obama pictures, Obama wall calendars other other similar kitchy items since January. And they show no sign of stopping.
Slapping [...]
With yesterday's announcement that President Obama demanded and received the resignation of General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner, we can now brace for the inevitable government-dictated "change of course" at the big automaker. First step, they'll need to reposition their brand relative to new chain of command. Fortunately for them, they [...]
While he's no Billy Mays - and let's face it... who else could ever put together that fashionable combination of logo-adorned blue dress shirts and never-ending yelling - I must confess to getting quite a kick out of that Britney Spears-microphone wearing ShamWow pitch guy, Vince:
As it turns out, a [...]
If you're a fellow Chicagoan, you'd undoubtedly traversed the rocky terrain that we locals refer to simply as "the street". Pot holes the size of moon craters are everywhere, and those crackerjack, get-er-done types at the Department of Streets and Sanitation don't exactly seem to be jumping to the alleviate [...]
At the New York Port Authority, symbolism has given way to practicality:
Freedom is so passe at Ground Zero.
Once hailed as a beacon of rebirth in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the Freedom Tower's patriotic name has been swapped out for the more [...]
If you missed John Stossel's 20/20 special "Bailouts & Bull" that aired about two weeks ago, it's really a must see:
Breaking news from Politico:
President Obama plans to announce a huge escalation in Afghanistan in a speech at the White House on Friday morning, committing 4,200 more troops and hundreds more civilians, and embracing a new system of benchmarks to measure progress.
Boy, what a warmonger!
You know, I wonder if [...]
Anyone familiar with former IL Congressman and current Obama Chief of Staff Rahm "Rahmbo" Emanuel will not be in the least bit surprised by this story:
Before its portfolio of bad loans helped trigger the current housing crisis, mortgage giant Freddie Mac was the focus of a major accounting scandal [...]
This is almost certainly, without a doubt, one of the worst interview appearances ever made by a politician. If you're Todd Stroger and you're the much maligned, lowly regarded President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, and you know you're going on a program to discuss the county's much [...]
And, for more insight into the real dictator of policy in this nation at the moment, please check out Barack Obama's TemePrompter's Blog.
By now, you've undoubtedly heard that the first sitting President ever to appear on the Tonight Show used said appearance to open his mount and insert his foot:
It began with the president joking about how bad a bowler he is.
Toward the end of his approximately 40-minute [...]
This just dropped into my inbox:
POLITICO Breaking News:
The House has approved a bill to impose a 90 percent tax AIG bonuses on a 328-93 vote.
Not that I doubted Congress' willingness to outwardly flaunt the Constitution to this point, but here's the language of Section 1, [...]
In the transcendent, syntax challenged words of Barry Obama...
Yes, Mr. President. We go play hoop.
The Bernie Madoff scandal explained so simply that even a child could understand it.
Which means the US Senate is probably still baffled by this, but so be it.
As you hear all of these politicians on both sides bellowing about the bonuses being received by the AIG officials who, for the most part, did indeed run the company into the ground, keep one thing in mind:
With the AIG bailout of around $170 billion, we now own an 80% [...]
I've had the privileged of hearing Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas speak in person. He's a remarkable man with a remarkable story and is one of the stalwart defenders of the Constitution on the Supreme Court today, along with Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Samuel Alito and Justice Antonin Scalia.
As [...]
During the election season, I was in the rather large collection of individuals who found our current system of Presidential debates to be both tedious and uninformative. Something needs to be done. Disbanding the Commission on Presidential Debates would be a good start.
Fortunately for us, the good people who produce [...]
You can't fault the New York Times for not having their finger on the pulse of America. A front page story today:
Well, that didn’t take long. Just 44 days into the job, and President Obama is going gray.
It happens to all of them, of course — Bill Clinton [...]
From Penn Jillette on Fox News' Glenn Beck discussing the financial mess:
Obama said we had to act now, before it was too late, to save the economy. The last time I was told to "act now, before it was too late", I ended up with 5 boxes of ShamWows.
Tremendous...
[...]Mike Quigley is probably useless to me now.
During his time as a Commissioner on the Cook County Board, he has been one of the stalwarts of the small bloc of reformers once dubbed "the four horsemen". They regularly sought to reduce the onerous level of taxation on Cook County residents, [...]
This... is a bit much...
Please don't tell me that his Lt. Governor would be seated on his right-hand side...
For the sake of the Republican Party, the Michael Steele experiment might need to end very, very soon. Politico has quite the summation of the cacophony of rather peculiar verbal offerings from Steele as of late:
Steadily becoming a dependable punch line, Steele has brushed back Rush Limbaugh, threatened moderate [...]
Second verse, same as the first:
Ron Kirk, nominated as U.S. Trade Representative in the Obama administration, owes an estimated $10,000 in back taxes from earlier in the decade and has agreed to make his payments, the Senate Finance Committee said Monday.
The committee said the taxes arise from Kirk's handling [...]
RNC Chairman Michael Steele made a fool of himself during his recent appearance on CNN's "D.L. Hughley Breaks The News".
As an aside... D.L. Hughley has a show? Really? When did this happen? I'm not sure how Hughley's past theatrical roles in blockbusters like "Soul Plane" and "Scary Movie 3", [...]
If you missed tonight's broadcast with Andrew Kretschmar and the #dontgomovement's Blog Talk Radio Program, you can listen to the podcast here:
I'll be joining host Andrew Kretschmar and the #dontgomovement's Blog Talk Radio Program tonight at 6:15 for some witty and entertaining banter on a myriad of topics.
You can listen in here:
For those unaware, it was the #dontgomovement that was the driving force behind [...]
Jack Bauer to that timorous senator:
And you, sir, are weak, unwilling and unable to look evil in the eye and deal with it.
Huzzah...
Breaking "news" about former Gov. Blago, although it's more like the continuation of a exceptionally protracted car crash:
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich today signed a six figure book deal with one of the largest independent book publishers in the U.S., the PR firm representing Blagojevich announced today.
Blagojevich, who [...]
Well, we must be eternally grateful that we got that "stimulus" bill rushed through Congress at the speed with which Lindsay Lohan plows through "ladies night" drink specials at whatever be the posh, must-be-seen club de jour. And after having read as much of it as has Lindsay Lohan.
So [...]
Sadly, it was one year ago today that the man who played such an instrumental role - if not the ultimate role - in the building of the conservative movement passed away at the age of 82.
That man is, of course, William F. Buckley, Jr.
It might have [...]
Spending, spending, spending. Congress is just fresh off foisting on the American people a whopping $789 billion "stimulus" bill that included funding for, among other universally agreeable, vital investments such as:
> $24 million for United States Department of Agriculture buildings and rent
> $176 million for renovating Agricultural Research [...]
Ahhh, Joe Biden. Have they banished him to Cheney's bunker in that "hidden location" yet?
It's like he's the decidedly dour, depressing, pessimistic Obama administration's comic relief. While Obama pontificates about impending disaster and castrophes in the offing in we don't act immediately - and do exactly what he wants to [...]
Over at National Review, Jonah Goldberg has completely captured the essence of the man who formerly stood watch over the rickety assembly line that is Chicago Public Schools - a performance so pitiful it earned him a promotion to Secretary of Education in the Obama Administration.
Although, in all fairness, [...]
I came across this Google ad while surfing the "internets":
Free government money. From his Highness, Barack Obama. He's just giving it away. And at no consequence to anyone! It's just free! And you never have to pay it back.
Did you get that!?! IT'S FREE!!!
This [...]
In the special election race to replace former Cong. Rham Emanuel, the increasingly irrelevant Chicago Sun-Times - rather than delving deep into the nuance of their candidacies, their guiding principles, their legislative and political accomplishments or the like - has opted instead to take a turn towards an US Weekly [...]
It's reasons like this that are why I expect the grand design of the Obama administration is to have Joe Biden spend as much time in Dick Cheney's "undisclosed location" as humanly possible:
Oh yeah, what was that website number? I think it's 1-800-RECOVERY@JOEBIDEN.TV That's it, right?
Oh well, no big deal, [...]
Cutting through all of the (generally expected) pomposity surrounding President Obama's speech last night, one line in particular jumped out at me, as I imagine it did for a good many other right-thinking people:
As soon as I took office, I asked this Congress to send me a recovery plan [...]
From a Politico breaking news report:
Sen. Dick Durbin has told Sen. Roland Burris he should resign. "If I were in that position, I would resign," Durbin said Tuesday afternoon.
So now the question becomes, "how do we get Dick Durbin in 'that position' so that he'll be compelled to resign"?
Your [...]
Not that I was unaware of Alexander Ovechkin's affinity for the mind-boggling preposterous goal, but this only serves as a reminder of why hockey is the greatest sport not enough people are watching:
I find it remarkable that this passage from William F. Buckley, Jr.'s 1952 essay Commonweal strikes me as so fully applicable and descriptive of this very moment in time.
That and I just find it rhetorically delightful.
One thing we know: in the past we have temporized with collectivism, and we [...]
And now for a little prognostication from Robert Morganthau, who served as Secretary of the Treasury to Franklin D. Roosevelt. Given, Morganthau was clearly here speaking of Roosevelt's New Deal programs, but to be truly honest, how one can read this passage and not have spendthrift President and Congress [...]
And the Obama obsession keeps getting creepier and creepier...
Now ask yourself... are you really surprised that this guy's been working part-time at McDonalds for the past 4 years?
That's a lot of economists that don't seem to think this whole "massive government intervention" thing is such a good idea:
You can click here to view a PDF of this ad.
[...]First, Radiohead (actually just Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood) along with the USC Trojan Marching Band (who get all the good gigs) blew away the Grammy awards last night:
And to top it off, Johnny Greenwood took a delightful swipe at the Grammys:
"Everything I know about pop culture I know from [...]
Beware the political leader pressing the fierce urgency of now:
President Barack Obama warned on Thursday that failure to act on an economic recovery package could plunge the nation into a long-lasting recession that might prove irreversible, a fresh call to a recalcitrant Congress to move quickly. In an op-ed [...]
The pathetic episodes of Tim Geithner, Tom Daschle, Rep. Charles Rangel, Nancy Killefer and their respective tax cheating should have everyone furious. What's remarkable here is not only that all of these instances have occurred recently and are - with the exception of Rangel - all [...]
The Office of the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, has some very distinct messaging problems. Like, for instance this gem from spokesman Brendan Daly that I posed yesterday:
The speaker has said many times that the members are representative of their district . . . Many of the districts [...]
If you weren't able to catch my appearance on Andrew Kretschmar's #dontgo Movement Blog Talk Radio Program, you can listen to the spirited discussion on the the preposterous spending bill posing as a "stimulus package" in the US Senate, IL Gov. Pat Quinn and the 2010 IL Governors race here:
[...]
From the Chicago Tribune:
Tom Daschle has withdrawn his nomination to be Health and Human Services secretary.
That's according to a joint White House statement from President Barack Obama and his former nominee.
Obama said today he accepted the withdrawal "with sadness and regret."
[...]
Ben Stein is truly a man of many talents.
He is most popularly remembered for his bit role as the droll history/economics professor in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and as the host of the hit Comedy Central game show Win Ben Stein's Money. In addition to his numerous other media forays, [...]
It is said that the Washington definition of a "gaffe" is anything uttered by now-Vice President Joe Biden.
Wait... that's not right. Let me try that again.
It is said that the Washington definition of a "gaffe" is when a politician accidently tells the truth.
Enter Brendan Daly, spokesman for House Speaker Nancy [...]
You can file this under "even the stopped clock is right twice a day". From a New York Times (!) editorial today:
When President Obama nominated former Senator Tom Daschle to be his secretary of health and human services, it seemed to be a good choice. Mr. Daschle, as [...]
If I were a more naive man, I would believe that the spectacle of Michael Phelps smoking some green via bong hit, as published in the London tabloids...
... might have a positive impact on the debate over the relevancy and the effectiveness of the "war on [...]
Tonight at 6:30pm, I'll be joining Andrew Kretschmar on the #dontgomovement's Blog Talk Radio Program. Listen in as we discuss the upcoming vote in the Senate on the Democrats' massive spending bill masquerading as a "stimulus" bill and Illinois' new governor, Pat Quinn.
You can listen to the program here:
[...]
In the next couple of hours, the IL State Senate will pass political judgment on Rod Blagojevich. Most people are predicting a 59-0 vote.
I'm going out on a ledge and predicting it'll be 58-1, with the single nay vote coming from Sen. Rickey Hendon:
As the impeachment tribunal of Gov. [...]
In the interest of full disclosure, I'm a big fan of Glenn Beck. I like his big-picture focus and his off-beat humor.
When most of Rod Blagojevich's media blitz interviews were near mirror images of each other, his interview with Glenn Beck was distinctly different. Have a watch, particularly how he [...]
... as I watched Gov. Blagojevich's speech to the IL State Senate of the words of the great philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville:
In a democracy, the people get the government they deserve
Blagojevich feels like he's in a movie?
How about "Governator 2: Judgement Day"?
There are some rumblings that in Blago's 90-minute speech to the Senate, he'll actually resign before he can be removed from office. I have no reason to doubt this possibility, as there's really just no telling what he might [...]
This whole process certainly doesn't lack for sheer entertainment value:
Gov. Rod Blagojevich has agreed to appear in his own defense at his impeachment trial Thursday, state Senate President John Cullerton said today. Blagojevich will not take questions from senators but will deliver his own closing argument, Cullerton said.
Make no [...]
This is all a soon-to-be moot point as it's only really a matter of days until the State Senate votes to remove him from office, but either way, the authors of Obama/Democrat "economic stimulus bill" thought it necessary to include the illustrious Rod Blagojevich by name in the stipulations [...]
From the Borders at State & Randolph in Chicago:
I'm sure every parent is looking for a way to put their kids to sleep quickly. And boy, if An Inconvenient Truth can't make that happen, then I just don't know what will.
[...]Poor Al Gore just can't catch a break. From Drudge:
Al Gore is scheduled before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday morning to once again testify on the 'urgent need' to combat global warming.
But Mother Nature seems ready to freeze the proceedings.
A 'Winter Storm Watch' has been posted for [...]
I'm not sure what I find to be more hilarious here. That someone is profiting off of dolls of the Obama girls:
... or that there might actually be people out there willing to pay $92.99 for one - especially when the pair are [...]
The famous words of Joe Biden:
Inasmuch as Biden's remarks are rather open ended, I guess with each unpleasant development overseas, we'll have to ask ourselves the question...
Is this what he was talking about?
During 2009, Iran will probably reach the point at which it has produced the amount of low-enriched [...]
Over at NRO's The Corner, Yuval Levin takes exception to the mini-story of the end of Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol's column in the New York Times:
The New York Times today runs a brief story on the end of Bill Kristol’s weekly column in the paper, which includes [...]
Q. What is an Economic Stimulus Payment?
A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.
Q. Where will the government get this money?
A. From taxpayers.
Q. So the government is giving me back my own money?
A. No, they are borrowing [...]
I particularly enjoyed Blago's cowboy metaphor, most specifically his fortitude to extend it out as long as possible.
On that topic...
I'm wanted... WANTED!!! DEAD OR ALIVE!!!!
This picture is about a year old. That doesn't make it any less tremendous.
Paul Aplington, a school teacher from Pontiac, Illinois, pays his respects to the guv on a recent teacher's field trip to Springfield.
Just a warning: this is freaky. Circus freaky.
I don't know whether I should excoriate her for the preposterous "journalists can only be liberals" notion, or whether I should thank her for at least being honest about the fact the doesn't even pretend to be objective.
Either way, I hope you find [...]
While even in the midst of celebrating the inauguration of their personal political Messiah, some of the Left couldn't resist acting like petulant school children:
The crowd packed on the west side of the Capitol grounds serenaded President Bush in mocking fashion when he took to the inaugural stage alongside [...]
... I feel the need to ask this question on the final night of George W. Bush's presidency:
George W. Bush. Great President? Or the greatest President?
If the Left-wing nutcases really want to portend that they aren't socialist/commie whack-jobs, they might want to start by dropping the distinctly Communistic compulsion to prosecute the outgoing regime for a various array of "crimes against the state":
Activists who have spent years protesting President Bush admit their chances are [...]
This popped into my mind after reading a Facebook update from a Lefty friend of mine anticipating "our long national nightmare" finally ending...
What is the Left going to do with all it's down time they'll have that used to be filled by overwrought hand-wringing over Dubya?
They might need to find [...]
This is something that Bush should have done a long time ago:
President George W. Bush has commuted the prison sentences of two former Border Patrol guards whose convictions for shooting a Mexican drug dealer ignited debate about illegal immigration.
Bush's act of clemency on Monday for Ignacio Ramos [...]
I will be most enjoyably away form a computer and the mad drug that is Illinois politics for about a week as I'll be in my honeymoon.
Thank you to everyone who checks this blog regularly. I'll be back in about a week!
eric
As you might remember, I made a pledge shortly after Barack Obama's election. You can read the full version here in the St. Clair & Madison County Record. In short, my promise is that I'm not going to sink to the level of the pathetic infants who have spent [...]
... the answer is no.
I did not liveblog my wedding.
But much thanks to Fran Eaton and Illinois Review for the very nice shout out:
Having not heard any news to the contrary, we are assuming that IR Contributor Eric Kohn and Rebecca Reed successfully tied the knot today and are now [...]
