Random Thoughts for December, 2012
My prediction on the Fiscal Cliff: They will kick the can down the road six months, then not do anything for five months until we are in the same situation again.
I’m coming around to the view that the GOP should say: “We disagree with the tax increases, as we think they will hurt the economy by taking needed venture capital out of job creation and from small businesses. But if we vote “No” or “Yes,” the Obama-friendly media will blame us for whatever bad happens and give him credit for any good results, even if they are based on international trends. So we are going to take a page from then-State Senator Obama’s playbook, and vote “Present,” and let him have his tax increases. The country voted for Obamanomics and deserves to get it. Good and hard. Then the Democrats will own the success or failure of the economy, with no one to blame. Though we are sure they will try to find a scapegoat if things go bad.”
Heard this before: “I will gladly cut the deficit someday for a tax hike today.” We are expected to believe that if the Republican will only raise taxes now, eventually the Democrat senate—which hasn’t been able to pass a budget at all in over three years—will eventually cut the budget. This is Lucy and the Football, Charlie Brown.
One silver lining to Obama’s reelection: We will go on using drones to turn terrorists, suspected terrorists and anyone who is near them into red smears. Would have done the same under Romney, I suspect, but the media would have begun howling about civilian deaths and alienating “allies” like Pakistan
The 2012 election was not lost because of the Tea Party, though they gave us a few terrible candidates. It was not lost because of the establishment GOP, though they can be too timid. It was not lost due to Hurricane Sandy and Gov. Christie, though that helped Obama. It was not lost due to voter fraud, though voter fraud in the cities helped Democrats and has since Tammany Hall days. Conservative Republicans lost. Moderate Republicans lost. The election was lost because the something-for-nothing, loot-the-future voters now out number us. And will continue to do so until after the collapse, I fear.
Well, I was laughing at the Mayans…until November 6.
In two years, Obama may wish he’d voted for Romney.
I see the Racist Democrats defeated Mia Love and Allen West.
Criticizing Mia Love, Allen West, Condi Rice and Clarence Thomas wasn’t racist, because they are black Republicans. Criticizing Obama and Susan Rice is, because they are black Democrats. Got it?
A people that are willing to loot future generations for present benefits have no future as a people. I truly believe our grandchildren and great grandchildren will loath us for our greedy cowardice.
My plan for Peace in Gaza: All of the UN “diplomats,” leftist media and western Progressives criticizing the Israeli response to Hamas rocket attacks should be required to send a family member, preferably a child (or if lacking such, go themselves) to live in Israel in the Rocket Zone. If Hamas kills their kids, they shut up. If Hamas stops firing rockets into Israel , Israel has to stop attacking Gaza US Israel
I notice that none of the Hollywood celebrities or progressive politicians damning the bad US Healthcare system fly to Canada or Britain
If I can’t find my wife, I look in the bed. If she’s not there, I look in the bathroom. If she’s not there, I call the cops.
Everyone wants people to pay “their fair share.” The disagreement is over what “their fair share” is. Makes a nice slogan, though.
I think that straight people, both white and minorities, who are abandoning marriage, are a far greater threat to America
Liberals want to go back to the Clinton Clinton
I hope the conservatives who derided Scott Brown and Richard Lugar as RINOs are happy with their far-left replacements. And with Harry Reid and the liberals running the senate, because we lack six RINOs to tip the balance to conservatives.
There’s nothing like election or appointment to a position of authority to bring out the inner sociopath, if it’s there.
No one loves me anymore. I haven’t had one robo call since November 6. (After I wrote this, I got a sales robo call. Sigh.)
There was a time when Americans aspired to model the honorable phrase “His Word is His Bond,” even if too many didn’t live up to it. Now even a person’s written bond is subject to the fine print, and to lawyers and court interpretations. Further evidence of our decline. Who dares today to do business on a handshake, outside, perhaps, of the Amish and Hassidic Jewish diamond traders New York City
According to the fallacious “broken window” theory of economics, Hurricane Sandy should stimulate the economy, as people spend money to rebuild. The theory is if a thug breaks your window, you have to buy a new one, so the window guy has more money, buys a new suit, and so on. The truth is you would have spent that money on something else in the economy, or invested it in some way that helps the economy. And the total economy is still one window down. People who think like that never realize the good they could do by burning down their own homes….
The wheels of the free market grind slowly, but they grind exceeding fine
People say, “What’s your type?” When I was single it was female, unattached, legal age and within, say 15 years of my age (that expanded as I got older), no uglier than me and willing to date me.
Few things are as disturbing as finding that your profound trust in someone was misplaced.
Just because you have to interact with jerks doesn’t mean you have to become one.
I’m so out of it, I thought Fifty Shades of Gray was a book about bachelors doing laundry.
Who says civic participation is down? Some of the cemeteries here in Chicago
So, suddenly, it’s full dark by 5:00 pm. I guess winter is here, alas. If I thought it would help advance global warming, I’d buy a Hummer.
Progressive principles explained: You bake a cake. They deserve a piece of your cake. If you don’t give them as large a piece as they want, you aren’t giving your “fair share.” And the “fair share” you must give will always grow, until the cake is gone.
I had a political robo call, that started out, “Thank you, Senator.” I’m thinking, “How the hell does their machine know I was a state senator?” Turned out to be the local Congressman thanking the US
I think the reason we see wild party swings from election to election is that both parties have to promise the impossible to get elected, then the voters are dissatisfied when they don’t get it.
People often hear what they want. My dad got a call from a woman before my first election recount was finished, when we didn’t know yet if I would be a senator. “Mr. Hall promised to lower taxes. (Not true.) What has he done?” “Well,” my dad said, “He’s not even a senator yet—we have to wait for the recount to finish.” “I knew it was an empty promise!” she yelled, slamming down the phone.
Back in the bad old days, before we had seatbelts, then shoulder belts in cars, airline seatbelts made me feel safer.
Some people are able to go through life totally indifferent to politics. After November 6, I’m starting to think of that as a gift.
I'm always surprised when I find obvious spelling errors in news websites. Don't they have spell check?
The lesson of history is that when an aggressor says he wants to destroy you, he wants to destroy you. It was true in 1938 of Nazi Germany and just as true today of Political Islam.
Every Veterans Day, I get a card thanking me for my service, from the parents of a Marine who was killed in battle in Iraq
Manufactures keep touting food and diet substances as "all natural." Big deal. As far as I know, Hemlock, Death Cap Mushrooms and Poison Ivy are "all natural." As are vipers.
Well for the next two years, we can expect the media to blame all problems on the GOP House. During the problems of the last two Bush Years, 2007-2008, you would have hardly known that there was a Democrat Senate and House. And hardly anyone knows that Bush asked Congress to reform Fannie Mae several times before the housing collapse that started the recession. And was always blocked by Democrats.
I subscribe to what I call the pebble theory of dam building. If you have a stream in your backyard, and want to make a pond, you could dam it up with a huge boulder. But you can't lift it, so if you throw a handful of pebbles in the stream every day, eventually you will have a dam. I used to go for constant small positive PR hits in my papers when I was a Senator, rather than chasing the big front page story. I don' believe that perfection is definable or attainable, but constant incremental improvement is open to every individual and organization.
At a seminar, we were asked if we were introverted or extroverted. "Clinically extroverted," I said.
I've noticed that we perfect people are very irritated by people who are narcissistic. (For the humor impaired, this is called a “joke.”)
We were a tad concerned when the granddaughter started sixth grade in a new school in a new town. Not to worry. The first term, she had straight As. Doesn't take after grandpa much....
At a recent seminar I attended, it was reported that in the past five years, the number of surgeons under the age of 46 has dropped 5% and the number over 65—retirement age for many—has gone up 5%. This bodes a coming shortage of doctors, even before ObamaCare expands access without expanding the healthcare work force. From what I hear, Obamacare is likely to drive more doctors to retire early and fewer bright students to choose medicine as a career. Expect very long wait times in the future to see a primary care provider or a specialist.
I won’t be surprised if the New York Times, Boston Globe, Chicago
With all the confessions going around, I thought it was time to fess up. I told my wife I was having an affair with a hot super model. She laughed and told me to take out the trash. I get no respect….
A friend says that, though he finds their theology absurd, because of their values, if he was younger, he’d join the Mormon Church. I know what he means, though everyone’s theology, including mine, seems absurd to outsiders. But I’d have trouble giving up coffee and Single Malt Whisky.
We have to get rid of the RINOs in the GOP. Unfortunately, it turns out that everyone in the GOP is a RINO in some way, except you and me. So we won’t win many elections after we do. And I’m not too sure about you. Or, some days, about me. RINO, like ugly, is in the eye of the beholder.
A woman’s perceived attractiveness increases or decreases as I get to know her personality.
Wouldn’t “Beano” sell more product if they changed the name to “Fart-be-Gone”? (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)
Does anyone doubt that if the fanatical members of the Westboro Baptist Church
If you are not sure that something you are about to do—say, tell a joke in the office—is a good idea, ten to one it’s not.
Every morning when I’m home, I do 200 strokes on the rowing machine and 35 sit-ups. That may not sound like much, by try it at 66 hooked to an oxygen machine at 4 lpm. And every morning I think of some good reason why I could skip it today. That I don’t is because of the gift of self-discipline given to me by my DIs at Parris Island 48 years ago.
Though I’m on oxygen, 66 and married, I have apparently gotten far more attractive to beautiful young woman than I was as a 26-year-old state senator, judging by the number of e-mails I receive from them saying they saw my profile and picture on the Internet and want to meet me for romance.
“Man needs difficulties; they are necessary for health.” –Carl Jung. If this is so, I should be a lot healthier.
With my luck, if I got so depressed that I tried to kill myself, I’d live to 120.
The best jokes are always about inappropriate subjects.
Maybe stores should have designated lines for people using Food Stamp Credit Cards, so the rest of us don’t have to be nauseated.
My perfect record of never going Christmas shopping on Black Friday is intact. It’s a great day to stay home, read or have friends over, far from the madding crowd. We did Thanksgiving Dinner then.
Is it me, or has "Black Friday" become "Gray Thursday"?
How long until the leftist media starts referring to Sen. Marco Rubio as a “White Hispanic”?
“Mr. President, the people have no bread because farmers grew their corn for ethanol.” “Let them eat Twinkies!”
The liberal media, pundits and politicians have already started pounding Rubio. This will spread to any other possible conservative contender for 2016. The endless political war goes on. Like Israel
Conservative: “Ambassador Susan Rice isn’t completely wonderful.” Liberal: “Use of ‘isn’t’ instead of “is” is a racial code word.
The lesson is that GOP candidates and office holders must be squeaky clean, or the media will destroy you. Democrats, on the other hand, have to be egregiously corrupt to draw any negative coverage.
My wife called to tell me that our flag had caught on a tree branch and was getting tattered. She couldn't reach it. So it waited until I was in Madison
I never clean a toilet without thinking of Gunny Rounds in 1965, berating us at MCRD San Diego for failing to clean them to his standards. He ran his finger tip around the lip of the bowl and showed us the residue. "That's the shit you're missing." Then he ran it under water and, when clean, popped it into his mouth. "It won't hurt you. You get it out of there." Ugg. We never forgot.
If bread or rolls aren't good enough to eat plain, they aren't good enough to waste calories eating with butter.
If you want to have an unpleasant life, I recommend making frequent nasty, snide remarks to your spouse as a sure-fire method. It also usually works if you do it to your boss and co-workers as well.
When someone tells you they are an "idea person," it usually means they are bad at managing the small details that make any project a success or failure.
Government spending cuts work like this: An interest group demands a $50 million increase in it's budget area. The legislative body reduces the increase to $30 million. They are then excoriated in the media for draconian spending cuts to vital projects.
Optimists are buying gold. Pessimists are buying ammo and canned goods.
The loot-the-future voters are now a majority, and they are determined to continue to vote themselves largess from the fisc and pass the bill to future generations. But the future is bearing down on us, and there will be an inevitable fiscal collapse, followed by social and political collapse, violence and immense hardship. But they will not learn any other way.
Some who returned to the US after serving in Vietnam Vietnam
Republicans and conservatives are having great fun after the election ripping each other apart. Obama and progressives must think it’s better than football.
I’m not usually considered “cold and uncommunicative,” but Comcast knocked down my Internet connection and my landline right before two business conference calls one night, and my furnace died at the same time. This left me cold and using words learned at Parris Island . The next morning, I was so busy getting the furnace guys in and catching up, I didn’t make my bed. Now I’m worried my DIs will find out. Somehow, they always did when I screwed up.
We are all owned by our stuff.
I’m a “put things somewhere” person. My wife is more “put it anywhere there’s room.” Usually on the first flat surface. Leads to conflicts.
Though I held my weight over Thanksgiving, I think the second piece of pie was an error. I’m sure the third one was.
We got the granddaughter a Teddy Bear puppy for Christmas, which she has named “Caramel.” Since she lives in a “no-pets” apartment, it has to live with my wife in Madison
You know you’re old when your “orange drink” every morning is Metamucil.
All those people calling for compromise: In 1943, a fair compromise with Germany to end a horrific war would have given them half of Europe and let them kill only 50% of the Jews, Gypsies, Gays, Christians, etc. Cool with you? Moral?
I’m not sure there is a winning GOP strategy any more. I’m sure that, “We will give you free stuff and everything you want too, just not quite as much of it” won’t work.
Liberals care not at all what happens to real people as long as they can feel good about being for fairness, social justice, equality, multiculturalism or the environment. Intentions matter, not results or outcomes.
Shorter Obama on the fiscal cliff, tax hikes, the deficit and the economy: “Après moi, le déluge”
In Third World countries, the better a political party’s name sounds, the worse it usually is. Thus something called the “People’s Party for Freedom and Justice” is very likely to hang you for saying the wrong thing. Or worse.
You can never pay enough for Progressives to think you are “paying your fair share,” if you are a productive person. We can never all pay enough to satisfy their demands for “social justice.”
I get tired of hearing, “If this is a life threatening emergency, please hang up and dial 911” every time I call my doctor’s office. Any one too dumb to know that deserves to be thrown out of the gene pool.
Or maybe I’m just grumpy today.
Nothing like having lunch with a couple of colleagues and have them spend the first 15 minutes checking e-mail and text messages on their smart phone to convince you that civilization is doomed. Most people now have phones with IQs 20 points higher then the owners.
I’ll be for wealth redistribution when John Kerry, Barack Obama, Al Gore, George Soros, Warren Buffett, Franklin Raines, Jimmy Johnson (both from Fanny Mae), Jon Corzine, Michael Moore, the Clintons and all the Obama cabinet members agree to reduce their wealth level to match mine. They don’t have to give any to me—all to the poor. I call that “paying their fair share” for “social justice.”
People say to me, “You’re so organized!” I reply it’s because I’m lazy. “If you aren’t organized, it takes twice as much work to get done the things you need to get done—but they must be done, regardless.”
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For a free PDF of the book, e-mail him at tartanmarine(at)gmail.com.
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Unfortunately Scott Brown would have lost with or without conservative support. The Democratic Party, embarrassed that Brown won a few years ago, steamrolled him. Elizabeth Warren portrayed Brown as being anti-women. Although her attacks were groundless, like Obama's attacks on Romney if one says something often enough people start to believe it. Brown won most of the suburbs; Warren won the cities.
ReplyDeleteAs I start looking towards retirement New Hampshire is awfully appealing.
Bob Shannon