HEHE, Jambo can't drink. Anyways I'm glad he made it safe and wish I was there to help empty the ice chest but I'm down here sewing up fools that want to try and take their legs off with chain saws. It was an interesting day in the ER for sure.
Let me know if Jambo makes a fool of himself so I have some good ammo when he gets back.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Bund Update...
For all the lurkers... and Baddboy, of course...
Jambo made it fine. He arrived yesterday just as he was supposed to, and we grilled and drank beer till none of us could stay awake another minute.
Today, Ryan was scheduled to fly in... at 4:30 PM. I got a call late in the morning from him, saying that he had missed his flight due to a long wait in the security line and wouldn't be landing till 10:30 PM.
How much you do you want to wager that he waited till the last minute to leave for the airport and didn't factor in more than 45 minutes to check in and get through security? If you know Ryan, you know he loves cutting it close... and I'm betting today he cut it TOO close.
Hehe... that's F. Ryan, to a tee. I guess I'll have to buy more ice to keep the beer cold while he kills three more hours in Chicago. LOL
Jambo made it fine. He arrived yesterday just as he was supposed to, and we grilled and drank beer till none of us could stay awake another minute.
Today, Ryan was scheduled to fly in... at 4:30 PM. I got a call late in the morning from him, saying that he had missed his flight due to a long wait in the security line and wouldn't be landing till 10:30 PM.
How much you do you want to wager that he waited till the last minute to leave for the airport and didn't factor in more than 45 minutes to check in and get through security? If you know Ryan, you know he loves cutting it close... and I'm betting today he cut it TOO close.
Hehe... that's F. Ryan, to a tee. I guess I'll have to buy more ice to keep the beer cold while he kills three more hours in Chicago. LOL
Sunday, May 25, 2008
It's easy...
Two choices, Baddboy:
Get in your vehicle and drive north till you get to Scranton, PA, then hang a left... or hop a MAC flight to MacGuire AFB in New Jersey and I'll pick you up (it's about two hours away from my front door). Then it can be "all about you"... LOL
My apologies for not sending you an invite, but surely you must know you are as welcome as anyone else! Far more than Jambo, for Pete's sake.
The article was good, and correct. The GOP has to focus on his "leftist" issues right from the start... the man makes Clinton look conservative. However, it isn't his policies that scare me as much as the bias he controls in the media.
Look at some of his gaffs, man! 57 states and "one to go"? Bush mispronounces "nuclear" once too many times, and is labeled an idiot for life, but Obama suddenly thinks the US has 58 states and no one blinks an eye. "Iran is no threat", but less than 24 hours later "Iran is a very grave threat" is a BIG flip-flop, bigger by far than Kerry's voting record... but the media ignores it. The man has made more verbal mistakes than Quayle, and has half his political experience... yet he remains the darling of the media, unable to err no matter how hard he tries.
Unless McCain focuses on Obama's idiotic statements (which I certainly hope are within the bounds of his "higher ground" campaign), the media will ignore Obama's mistakes or spin them for him. Keith Olbermann is the brightest example of this kind of biased reporting and commentary.
The man is a walking example of doctrinal contradiction... we just have to let all of America see it.
Can't end without mentioning Obama's reference to how "bad" it is to have veterans as CIC (he said he was referring to an article, but I'm sure he agrees with the sentiment). Too much mental instability resulting from combat and life-threatening experiences, it seems. Has he forgotten that prior to Clinton's Presidency, EVERY SINGLE Democrat President for the last 40 years was a veteran? James Carter (US Navy), LBJ (US Navy), JFK (US Navy), Harry Truman (US Army). These are just the Dems, too... every one of the six GOP Presidents we've had also served. Even Reagan, although (like Johnson) he never saw combat theater duty while in the service.
Funny thing, though... of the 10 Presidents that DID serve in the military since FDR (and Clinton is the ONLY one that didn't serve at all), only 3 were Army (Ike, Truman, and Reagan). The rest?
All Navy men. Four decorated combat veterans, and one of the better CIC's (Bush Sr.) a very distinguished naval aviator. Seems history is in favor of McCain for President, doesn't it?
Get in your vehicle and drive north till you get to Scranton, PA, then hang a left... or hop a MAC flight to MacGuire AFB in New Jersey and I'll pick you up (it's about two hours away from my front door). Then it can be "all about you"... LOL
My apologies for not sending you an invite, but surely you must know you are as welcome as anyone else! Far more than Jambo, for Pete's sake.
The article was good, and correct. The GOP has to focus on his "leftist" issues right from the start... the man makes Clinton look conservative. However, it isn't his policies that scare me as much as the bias he controls in the media.
Look at some of his gaffs, man! 57 states and "one to go"? Bush mispronounces "nuclear" once too many times, and is labeled an idiot for life, but Obama suddenly thinks the US has 58 states and no one blinks an eye. "Iran is no threat", but less than 24 hours later "Iran is a very grave threat" is a BIG flip-flop, bigger by far than Kerry's voting record... but the media ignores it. The man has made more verbal mistakes than Quayle, and has half his political experience... yet he remains the darling of the media, unable to err no matter how hard he tries.
Unless McCain focuses on Obama's idiotic statements (which I certainly hope are within the bounds of his "higher ground" campaign), the media will ignore Obama's mistakes or spin them for him. Keith Olbermann is the brightest example of this kind of biased reporting and commentary.
The man is a walking example of doctrinal contradiction... we just have to let all of America see it.
Can't end without mentioning Obama's reference to how "bad" it is to have veterans as CIC (he said he was referring to an article, but I'm sure he agrees with the sentiment). Too much mental instability resulting from combat and life-threatening experiences, it seems. Has he forgotten that prior to Clinton's Presidency, EVERY SINGLE Democrat President for the last 40 years was a veteran? James Carter (US Navy), LBJ (US Navy), JFK (US Navy), Harry Truman (US Army). These are just the Dems, too... every one of the six GOP Presidents we've had also served. Even Reagan, although (like Johnson) he never saw combat theater duty while in the service.
Funny thing, though... of the 10 Presidents that DID serve in the military since FDR (and Clinton is the ONLY one that didn't serve at all), only 3 were Army (Ike, Truman, and Reagan). The rest?
All Navy men. Four decorated combat veterans, and one of the better CIC's (Bush Sr.) a very distinguished naval aviator. Seems history is in favor of McCain for President, doesn't it?
Saturday, May 24, 2008
What about me?!?!?!?
KK, so the bund is going to be in person and I'm stuck here with nothing to laugh at. If you guys have forgotten, let me remind you it's all about me!!! I haven't verified this article so I can't be held responsible for the accuracy but this was sent to me today and I thought you might want to read it.
Ken Blackwell - Columnist for the New York Sun
It's an amazing time to be alive in America . We're in a year of firsts in this presidential election: the first viable woman candidate; the first viable African-American candidate; and, a candidate who is the first front running freedom fighter over 70. The next president of America will be a first.
We won't truly be in an election of firsts, however, until we judge every candidate by where they stand. We won't arrive where we should be until we no longer talk about skin color or gender. Now that Barack Obama steps to the front of the Democratic field, we need to stop talking about his race, and start talking about his policies and his politics. The reality is this: Though the Democrats will not have a nominee until August, unless Hillary Clinton drops out, Mr. Obama is now the frontrunner, and its time America takes a closer and deeper look at him. Some pundits are calling him the next John F. Kennedy. He's not. He's the next George McGovern. And it's time people learned the facts. Because the truth is that Mr. Obama is the single most liberal senator in the entire U.S. Senate. He is more liberal than Ted Kennedy, Bernie Sanders, or Mrs. Clinton. Never in my life have I seen a presidential front runner whose rhetoric is so far removed from his record. Walter Mondale promised to raise our taxes, and he lost. George McGovern promised military weakness, and he lost. Michael Dukakis promised a liberal domestic agenda, and he lost. Yet Mr. Obama is promising all those things, and he's not behind in the polls. Why? Because the press has dealt with him as if he were in a beauty pageant. Mr. Obama talks about getting past party, getting past red and blue, to lead the United States of America . But let's look at the more defined strokes of who he is underneath this superficial 'beauty.' Start with national security, since the president's most important duties are as commander-in-chief. Over the summer, Mr. Obama talked about invading Pakistan, a nation armed with nuclear weapons; meeting without preconditions with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who vows to destroy Israel and create another Holocaust; and Kim Jong II, who is murdering and starving his people, but emphasized that the nuclear option was off the table against terrorists -something no president has ever taken off the table since we created nuclear weapons in the 1940s. Even Democrats who have worked in national security condemned all of those remarks. Mr. Obama is a foreign-policy novice who would put our national security at risk. Next, consider economic policy For all its faults, our health care system is the strongest in the world. And free trade agreements, created by Bill Clintonas well as President Bush, have made more goods more affordable so that even people of modest means can live a life that no one imagined a generation ago. Yet Mr. Obama promises to raise taxes on 'the rich.' How to fix Social Security? Raise taxes. How to fix Medicare? Raise taxes. Prescription drugs?Raise taxes. Free college? Raise taxes. Socialize medicine? Raise taxes. His solution to everything is to have government take it over. Big Brother on steroids, funded by your paycheck. Finally, look at the social issues. Mr. Obama had the audacity to open a stadium rally by saying, 'All praise and glory to God!' but says that Christian leaders speaking for life and marriage have 'hijacked' - hijacked -Christianity. He is pro-partial birth abortion, and promises to appoint Supreme Court justices who will rule any restriction on it unconstitutional. He espouses the abortion views of Margaret Sanger, one of the early advocates of racial cleansing. His spiritual leaders endorse homosexual marriage, and he is movingin that direction. In Illinois , he refused to vote against a statewide ban -ban - on all handguns in the state. These are radical left, Hollywood , and SanFrancisco values, not Middle America values. The real Mr. Obama is an easy target for the general election. Mrs. Clinton is a far tougher opponent. But Mr. Obama could win if people don't start looking behind his veneer and flowery speeches. His vision of 'bringing America together' means saying that those who disagree with his agenda for America are hijackers or warmongers. Uniting the country means adopting his liberal agenda and abandoning any conflicting beliefs. But right now everyone is talking about how eloquent of a speaker he is and- yes - they're talking about his race. Those should never be the factors on which we base our choice for president. Mr. Obama's radical agenda sets him far outside the American mainstream, to the left of Mrs. Clinton. It's time to talk about the real Barack Obama. In an election of firsts, let's first make sure we elect the person who is qualified to be our president in a nuclear age during a global civilization war.
Kind of scary, wouldn't you think
Ken Blackwell - Columnist for the New York Sun
It's an amazing time to be alive in America . We're in a year of firsts in this presidential election: the first viable woman candidate; the first viable African-American candidate; and, a candidate who is the first front running freedom fighter over 70. The next president of America will be a first.
We won't truly be in an election of firsts, however, until we judge every candidate by where they stand. We won't arrive where we should be until we no longer talk about skin color or gender. Now that Barack Obama steps to the front of the Democratic field, we need to stop talking about his race, and start talking about his policies and his politics. The reality is this: Though the Democrats will not have a nominee until August, unless Hillary Clinton drops out, Mr. Obama is now the frontrunner, and its time America takes a closer and deeper look at him. Some pundits are calling him the next John F. Kennedy. He's not. He's the next George McGovern. And it's time people learned the facts. Because the truth is that Mr. Obama is the single most liberal senator in the entire U.S. Senate. He is more liberal than Ted Kennedy, Bernie Sanders, or Mrs. Clinton. Never in my life have I seen a presidential front runner whose rhetoric is so far removed from his record. Walter Mondale promised to raise our taxes, and he lost. George McGovern promised military weakness, and he lost. Michael Dukakis promised a liberal domestic agenda, and he lost. Yet Mr. Obama is promising all those things, and he's not behind in the polls. Why? Because the press has dealt with him as if he were in a beauty pageant. Mr. Obama talks about getting past party, getting past red and blue, to lead the United States of America . But let's look at the more defined strokes of who he is underneath this superficial 'beauty.' Start with national security, since the president's most important duties are as commander-in-chief. Over the summer, Mr. Obama talked about invading Pakistan, a nation armed with nuclear weapons; meeting without preconditions with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who vows to destroy Israel and create another Holocaust; and Kim Jong II, who is murdering and starving his people, but emphasized that the nuclear option was off the table against terrorists -something no president has ever taken off the table since we created nuclear weapons in the 1940s. Even Democrats who have worked in national security condemned all of those remarks. Mr. Obama is a foreign-policy novice who would put our national security at risk. Next, consider economic policy For all its faults, our health care system is the strongest in the world. And free trade agreements, created by Bill Clintonas well as President Bush, have made more goods more affordable so that even people of modest means can live a life that no one imagined a generation ago. Yet Mr. Obama promises to raise taxes on 'the rich.' How to fix Social Security? Raise taxes. How to fix Medicare? Raise taxes. Prescription drugs?Raise taxes. Free college? Raise taxes. Socialize medicine? Raise taxes. His solution to everything is to have government take it over. Big Brother on steroids, funded by your paycheck. Finally, look at the social issues. Mr. Obama had the audacity to open a stadium rally by saying, 'All praise and glory to God!' but says that Christian leaders speaking for life and marriage have 'hijacked' - hijacked -Christianity. He is pro-partial birth abortion, and promises to appoint Supreme Court justices who will rule any restriction on it unconstitutional. He espouses the abortion views of Margaret Sanger, one of the early advocates of racial cleansing. His spiritual leaders endorse homosexual marriage, and he is movingin that direction. In Illinois , he refused to vote against a statewide ban -ban - on all handguns in the state. These are radical left, Hollywood , and SanFrancisco values, not Middle America values. The real Mr. Obama is an easy target for the general election. Mrs. Clinton is a far tougher opponent. But Mr. Obama could win if people don't start looking behind his veneer and flowery speeches. His vision of 'bringing America together' means saying that those who disagree with his agenda for America are hijackers or warmongers. Uniting the country means adopting his liberal agenda and abandoning any conflicting beliefs. But right now everyone is talking about how eloquent of a speaker he is and- yes - they're talking about his race. Those should never be the factors on which we base our choice for president. Mr. Obama's radical agenda sets him far outside the American mainstream, to the left of Mrs. Clinton. It's time to talk about the real Barack Obama. In an election of firsts, let's first make sure we elect the person who is qualified to be our president in a nuclear age during a global civilization war.
Kind of scary, wouldn't you think
Damn... quiet again
And it's only going to get worse starting this week.
That's because the Bund will be at MY house in NEPA. From Tuesday to Tuesday, Ryan, Jambo and myself will be holding these debates and arguments face-to-face, rather than having them on the web for all to see and follow.
You'll just have to wait for the commentary after the event.
That's because the Bund will be at MY house in NEPA. From Tuesday to Tuesday, Ryan, Jambo and myself will be holding these debates and arguments face-to-face, rather than having them on the web for all to see and follow.
You'll just have to wait for the commentary after the event.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Mac/Jindal?
Did I read that right? Bobby Jindal is on the four-name "short list" for VP candidate?
Look, don't get me wrong... the man is solid. Catholic, born in Baton Rogue, LA (so he really is Southern), and real conservative in his make up. He has had a meteoric rise in the Party since his '06 re-election to Congress (winning almost 90% of the vote), and is the first non-white Governor of LA, and only the second Republican to win the Governorship since 1877 and the end of Reconstruction.
But, damn... the guy has only been Governor since October, and he was born in '71! That makes him damn near as young as Ryan...
Is this the GOP (and McCain) pandering to minorities again, or is he really the best choice for the job? I can see wanting some youth behind Mac's age on the ticket, but that's a 40-year swing, right there.
Look, don't get me wrong... the man is solid. Catholic, born in Baton Rogue, LA (so he really is Southern), and real conservative in his make up. He has had a meteoric rise in the Party since his '06 re-election to Congress (winning almost 90% of the vote), and is the first non-white Governor of LA, and only the second Republican to win the Governorship since 1877 and the end of Reconstruction.
But, damn... the guy has only been Governor since October, and he was born in '71! That makes him damn near as young as Ryan...
Is this the GOP (and McCain) pandering to minorities again, or is he really the best choice for the job? I can see wanting some youth behind Mac's age on the ticket, but that's a 40-year swing, right there.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
I was doing some reading...
... after hearing about Ted Kennedy's malignant brain tumor. Made me think about the passing of an era. He is the last vestige of my mom's Democratic Party. And while nothing he did outshone the shadow of Chappaquiddick (I know I butchered that), for the eulogy he gave Robert alone I need to pause out of respect.
I can hear Ryan and Baddboy now, each choking on their coffees.
For real now. Think about it. Everyone here has a brother. Everyone here has seen family in crisis. And no matter what sins Ted is taking to the grave, there was a moment in his life where he stood and sang the praises of his big brother out of tribute and not out of self glorification. It's not hard to find the text, and if you find a streaming video even better, but in the eulogy where he talks about Robert seeing wrong and wanting to right it, tell me that doesn't make your throat tight with emotion. (Not bile, Baddboy. I know this is hard for you.)
It brings up a thought. Could Robert have beaten Nixon in '68?
It was in Robert's platform for a unilateral withdrawal from Vietnam. His record on civil rights, social programs and defense were well documented. He very well could have been a far better president than his brother. And imagine the state of our nation without Watergate, without the bitterness of a Ford pardon, (no matter how right the act was) without the necessity of the disgrace of a presidential resignation. Robert could have made Camelot work.
Man, no wonder Mom is bitter.
And think of this. With no Nixon and Ford, there is no Carter. A very real possibility for president in 1976, following the political pendulum swing, would be Reagan.
Wow.
I can hear Ryan and Baddboy now, each choking on their coffees.
For real now. Think about it. Everyone here has a brother. Everyone here has seen family in crisis. And no matter what sins Ted is taking to the grave, there was a moment in his life where he stood and sang the praises of his big brother out of tribute and not out of self glorification. It's not hard to find the text, and if you find a streaming video even better, but in the eulogy where he talks about Robert seeing wrong and wanting to right it, tell me that doesn't make your throat tight with emotion. (Not bile, Baddboy. I know this is hard for you.)
It brings up a thought. Could Robert have beaten Nixon in '68?
It was in Robert's platform for a unilateral withdrawal from Vietnam. His record on civil rights, social programs and defense were well documented. He very well could have been a far better president than his brother. And imagine the state of our nation without Watergate, without the bitterness of a Ford pardon, (no matter how right the act was) without the necessity of the disgrace of a presidential resignation. Robert could have made Camelot work.
Man, no wonder Mom is bitter.
And think of this. With no Nixon and Ford, there is no Carter. A very real possibility for president in 1976, following the political pendulum swing, would be Reagan.
Wow.
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