Thinkin’bout Stuff

In an updated article from Yahoo/AP:

In the video blog, she said she never really fit in.

“I was really just like a foster kid for a year,” she said. “I came, you know, we considered adoption, but I didn’t really fit into the family and now it’s time for the foster kid to go back home.”

O’Donnell fessed up that chief writer Janette Barber drew a mustache on a photo of Hasselbeck at the show’s studio before they left. “It was a joke on the way out,” she said.

To build upon O’Donnell’s analogy, she would be the foster child from hell; demanding all of the attention from mom and dad, refusing to let the other kids speak, lying to get her way, making fun of the other kids, and basically making it impossible for her to ever “fit in”.

As far as Janette Barber, the company you keep says a lot about you. Rosie is not only a bully, she is a spoiled brat who takes her ball and goes home when she doesn’t get her way and her little minion follows closely behind making childish gestures that mean little to those of us in the adult world.

Childishness aside, Rosie needs to get help. She has lost touch with reality. She reads conspiracy blogs and believes them (just saw a clip on Fox News where she claims that witnesses heard a bomb go off in the World Trade Center before any planes hit… part of her “evidence” that Bush blew up the World Trade Center), she thinks everyone is against her and is attacking her for no reason at all (since clearly she is just voicing her opinions and not attacking anyone… she even claims she never attacked Donald Trump), and she sees evil forces manipulating us to believe that Muslim terrorist exist so that… well, I’m not quite sure what she believes the evil plan is, just that the true evil is right here in the good ol’ USA.

Want to talk about conspiracies? Why is it that ABC and parent Disney tolerated her use of their platform to broadcast her insane theories to a national audience? And why did ABC compromise national security by revealing info about CIA secret ops in Iran? Could it be ABC and O’Donnell are plotting to undermine the current administration and pave the way for Hillary Rodham Clinton to fulfill her dream of a new America with all of the benefits of socialized medicine and redistribution of wealth that will put us on a par with some of the more successful socialist societies like… like.. umm.. like.. hmmm……. uh.. have there been any successful socialist societies?

Actually, that wouldn’t be much of a conspiracy… more like a well known common cause.

Speaking of ABC and treason, from AP:

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney criticized ABC News on Wednesday for its report about CIA plans in Iran, saying it could potentially jeopardize national security and endanger lives.

ABC News rejected Romney’s analysis and said it had given the CIA a chance to make the case that its report put people at risk but the agency didn’t respond.

OK.. let’s stop right there. So ABC, choosing to follow in the footsteps of Pontius Pilot, is washing it’s hands of any blood that may result from exposing CIA plans. They couldn’t figure this out for themselves? Either they’re too dumb to get it (in which case perhaps they shouldn’t be in the business of “informing” the rest of us) or they knew what they were doing and didn’t care (in which case they shouldn’t be in the business of “informing” the rest of us).

Suppose I asked you if I should shoot my neighbor tonight and you didn’t answer. Perhaps you didn’t hear me, or you are thinking it over or you need to talk it over with several other people before providing an answer. If I shoot my neighbor, will it be your fault for not telling me to not shoot my neighbor?  Of course not.

Some of these news organizations are treading extremely close to the border between reporting and treason, and ABC is hiding behind the “no one told us not to” defense for what could be considered a treasonous act.

Don’t think this might have a negative effect?

From Reuters: Tehran’s judiciary spokesman, Alireza Jamshidi, said earlier in the day the three dual citizens charged with acting against national security and spying were academic Haleh Esfandiari, social scientist Kian Tajbakhsh and journalist Parnaz Azima.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Swiss ambassador to Tehran on Sunday to condemn what it said was U.S. backing of “spy networks” inside Iran. The Swiss embassy represents U.S. interests in Iran.

Related?

Like all bullies, even a relatively weak smack-down is all it took to send Rosie running for cover.

Now apparently her feelings are hurt.

Oh sure, nothing wrong with her accusing President Bush of complicity in the 9/11 attack, saying that we are the terrorists for killing civilians in Iraq, saying right wing Christians are worse than the Islamic Fascists, making fun of the way Donald Trump looks or making fun of the way Asians speak, spewing venomous condescension in the direction of Elizabeth Hasselbeck almost daily, making up or repeating outlandish “facts” to support her wacko beliefs, and topping it off by telling everyone that Barbara Walters deserves all the credit for their Emmy nomination for having the wisdom to hire O’Donnell (talk about conceit, false modesty and condescension!)… none of those things justifies anyone criticizing poor, poor Rosie.

So now that O’Donnell is being criticize for essentially calling our troops terrorists (spin it anyway you want, but hard to come up with any other explanation for this: “655,000 Iraqi civilians have died. Who are the terrorists?”), when the target of many of O’Donnell’s attacks , Elizabeth Hasselbeck, did not rush to her defense fast enough, Rosie called her a coward and will never speak to her again.

There you have it folks, proof positive that O’Donnell is nothing more than a low class bully who will turn tail and run if you verbally bop her on the nose.

Some are looking forward to her eventual return to television. I hope we never hear anything from her again. This is not about freedom of speech or censuring different views. This is about spreading misinformation and lies to a national audience. Her lies and attacks on this country are hurtful to many and we would be better off if she would just pocket the big bucks she has made and fade away.

UPDATE: Blue Crab Boulevard said something I was thinkin’ and should have said: “But seriously, couldn’t you see your way clear to promise the rest of us you’ll never speak to us again?”

What’s the difference between the United States’ search for WMDs in Iraq and the US Senate’s search for a smoking gun in the firing of federal prosecuters?

Answer below the fold…

(more…)

Great article by Joan Swirsky: The Rest of the World Loves President Bush!  Check it out.

It almost seems unfair writing about Jimmy Carter anymore. Writing about what a failure he was as a president is as challenging as writing about why the sun rises and sets, why hitting yourself in the head with a hammer is a bad idea, or offering thoughts on whether or not Hitler was a bad man… these are all pretty much settled issues with indisputable conclusions. So why bother? Why not leave this “elder statesman” alone, allow him his delusions of competence, and thank him for his efforts to build houses for the homeless?  Because he doesn’t keep his ramblings to himself and he makes them news.

If anyone besides the Rosie O’Donnell fan club believes that George Bush is the worst president in history in international relations as Jimmy Carter contends, perhaps they should be looking to get their meds adjusted just a tad. And to have these words uttered by the worst modern day president reminds me of a last place runner, having just been lapped by the field, trying to claim that one of the front-runners is really a lap behind him; anyone paying any attention at all will know it is not true. In the interested of space, time and a need to avoid repeating the same thing over and over and over again, I offer these links and excerpts from previous postings in lieu of 10 paragraphs on how bad it was back in the good ‘ole days of President Jimmy Carter:

• Happy Anniversary Jimmy
• A proud history of symbolism over substance… your Democrat Party in action.  In honor of this great day in US history, remember to turn down your thermostats, put on a sweater, and form a line at your nearest gas station.
• What is up with Jimmy Carter?
• For all the good things Jimmy Carter has done since the end of his presidency, his four years in office are widely recognized as a failure.  From the Iranian Hostage Crises, to double digit inflation, prime interest rate at 21.5%, Panama Canal Treaty to turn over control of the US built canal, pulling out of the 1980 Olympics to protest Soviet aggression (I thought we were supposed to set aside differences in the spirit of Olympic diplomacy… a friend of mine trained his whole life only to have his dream crushed), reinstatement of the registration for the draft, cancellation of the B-1 bomber program, oil shortages, high unemployment, and slow economic growth… the list goes on and on.  The point is, when did Jimmy Carter become someone we would want advice on anything on?
• Thank You Jimmy Carter
• Seems our President Jimmy Carter (the very same who is so critical of the current administration) was a fountain of indecision, from the failure to act when our alliance with Iran was falling apart to his ineffective reaction to the hostage crisis (aka act of war).  

OK.. maybe just a few thoughts on some of his specific comments:

From Yahoo! AP: “We now have endorsed the concept of pre-emptive war where we go to war with another nation militarily, even though our own security is not directly threatened, if we want to change the regime there or if we fear that some time in the future our security might be endangered,” he said. “But that’s been a radical departure from all previous administration policies.”

Really? Never? We didn’t blockade Cuba in the Kennedy administration? Were we threatened when we joined our allies in the Kosovo War? Was President Clinton engaged in a radical departure when he bombed Iraq? Japan attacked us… but why did we send tens of thousands to die fighting against Germany and Italy? Was it because we felt directly threatened? Did we not feel threatened by Saddam Hussein when he threatened us with the use of WMDs, shot at our jets, sponsored terrorist attacks? Seems like Iraq actually threatened us more just before the continuation of the Iraq War (the “first one” never ended.. we were in a cease fire) than Germany before we entered into World War II.

Carter also offered a harsh assessment for the White House’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which helped religious charities receive $2.15 billion in federal grants in fiscal year 2005 alone.

“The policy from the White House has been to allocate funds to religious institutions, even those that channel those funds exclusively to their own particular group of believers in a particular religion,” Carter said. “As a traditional Baptist, I’ve always believed in separation of church and state and honored that premise when I was president, and so have all other presidents, I might say, except this one.”

Folks, all other presidents did not honor this false premise; this is merely a convenient rewrite of history so that you and I will believe that only secular groups have a right to receive tax dollars in support of programs to feed, cloth and house the neediest among us.  For reference, here yet again is the full text of the 1st Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

More thoughts on this topic here, and an excerpt about President Jefferson who I tend to believe might disagree with Jimmy Carter:

Many point to President Jefferson as a guide to interpreting the 1st Amendment, with the belief that his words help to define the original intent. In Newt Gingrich’s speech to the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications, he reminds us of the following:

We then take you to the Jefferson Memorial, Jefferson often being cited as the president who was the most interested in secularism, remember he wrote the Danbury Baptists and said: We need a wall of separation between Church and state.  What no one will tell you is what he meant by that is this should not be an official state religion.  He clearly did not mean that you could not have God in public because two days after he wrote that letter he went out front of the Whitehouse, got in a carriage, road up the hill to the Capitol, and went to church in the US House which served as a church until the 1860’s. He also loaned the treasury building every Sunday as a church.

And if you go to the Jefferson Memorial he says around the very top of it: “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against all forms of tyranny over the minds of man”.  Now you can ask your secular friends what do you think Jefferson meant by “I have sworn upon the altar of God’, but it’s fairly difficult for them to explain that he meant large purple banana or some other deeply symbolic meaning.  It’s quite clear if you read Jefferson’s writings in total, they meant God.

Sounds to me like Jefferson believed religion and government were not mutually exclusive. 

Jimmy Carter was the worst modern day US president and the facts support this reality. Many of his diplomatic efforts following his presidency have ended in failure as well. His best hope at a legacy that he can be proud of is Habitat for Humanity, but he dishonors himself by insisting on breaking with tradition and attacking a sitting president… then again, it seems clear that honor is not something liberals much care about these days, nor is integrity, loyalty, responsibility or any of the other things grown-ups are supposed to care about.

Also thinkin’bout this topic: Gina Cobb

Just don’t seem to be in a mood to think about all he political stuff right now… but here’s some other stuff of interest.

One of the sounds that brings back memories of hot summer days (before we all hid inside with air-conditioners turned up all the way) is the mating call of the cicada. I remember hunting the source of that loud stuttered clicking sound until I came upon the biggest bug I had ever seen, looking like something out of one of my dinosaur books. I grabbed my Kodak Instamatic camera and snapped a picture of this amazing creature, which to a large extent led to a lifelong obsession with capturing just about everything on film, tape, and flash cards. Maybe obsession is too strong a word… but I have approximately 20,000 photographs and stacks of video tapes that need to be archived.

As much as I look forward to hearing the cicadas every year, in the Midwest they are likely to experience a bit too much of a good thing this year (assuming the cicada population has not been thinned through soil disturbance over the last 17 years).

When Brood XIII, which is a 17-year cicada brood, emerges as scheduled this month, there is a potential that there will be 1.5 million cicadas per acre in some areas… one million, five hundred thousand cicadas in an area less than the size of a soccer field!!!

They expect the noise to be so bad folks are planning concerts and weddings around the event.

That’s way too much nostalgia for me…

I had the pleasure of attending an event today where Robb Armstrong was the keynote speaker. Mr. Armstrong, the creator of the comic strip “Jump Start“, spoke to a group of 16 year old students attending a HOBY conference (HOBY stands for “Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership”) and I was one of the proud parents in attendance.

My experience with keynote speakers at high school level events has not been great, so I was ready for a long, boring clock-burner standing between us and a long trip home.  I couldn’t have been more wrong… Mr. Armstrong was excellent.

He spoke from the heart, he spoke from experience; there was laughter, applause, and even a few tears… and when he was done, the room erupted in applause in a real standing ovation; not the kind where a couple of folks stand and then everyone else feels obligated to follow along… everyone rose together in thanks for a great speech and for his delivering an important message in a way that parents can only hope these wonderful 16 year olds will hear and carry with them for many years.

What did he tell these kids, selected to attend this conference because of their accomplishments and their potential? He could have told them how wonderful they all are, how they are the future of this country and how success is within their grasp… and in fact he did tell them all of these things, but he didn’t just feed them candy. More importantly, he told them that success is not guaranteed… that they can fail and will fail if they do not stay focused on their goals.

He shared life experiences and very personal challenges and tragedies that he faced; he spoke of how easy it is to stray when “friends” are following a path to failure, including the use of drugs and alcohol; and he impressed upon them how hard it is to get back on the right path once they have started heading down the wrong path.

I can’t come close to doing justice to his presntation or his message in a few short paragraphs.  If you ever have an opportunity to have Robb Armstrong speak to teens in your area, don’t miss it. 

Update: I found this brief clip of Robb Armstrong to share… still hard to get the message from such a brief clip taken of context. If I can find something better, will provide another update. (Note: you’ll need RealPlayer to view this clip).

Seven nights gone and still not thinkin’bout nuthin’? Nah… been thinkin’, just not writin’.

So… how about a movie night to break the ice and get this thing back in gear…

My daughter shared some new music with me tonight that I think is worth a listen. Reminds me a bit of some of the late 60’s to early 70’s with a hint of Freddie Mercury. Have a listen to “Mika”:

Speaking of Freddie….

Speaking of Somebody to Love, I thought Anne Hathaway gave a great performance…

Hope you enjoyed Movie Night…