I have shown him that a man without hope is a man without fear

Wow, Harry Reid just shut down the Senate rather than allow a vote that quoted (then) Senator Obama on what the President of the United States is NOT allowed to do with the military.

GWB was recently quoted as saying he hoped the US wouldn't leave Afghanistan, and there's a point to be made by keeping them perpetually aware of something they can't touch. 2001: A Space Odyssey had a point, with the sun rising over the monolith at dawn.

The nutball in Florida went and burned a Koran quietly. Ten days later, when Friday prayers got out, a bunch of Afghanis slaughtered 10 United Nations workers and burned down their offices because of the offense. They would have attacked the Americans, but that never works, so they took their rage out on who they could. Maintaining a presence in the region itself is valuable for that reason. By the time they're able to damage us, they'll already be civilized enough to contribute more and better things, so it's worth keeping them aware over generations of the option always being there.

I think the President flamed out around Christmas, when Michelle and the kids went on a sudden vacation and he started publicly bitching about both the right and left so Bill Clinton had to take the reins at a press conference. It's not clear what's been animating the President since, and I'm actually willing to give him quite a benefit of the doubt in some ways regarding the Libya operations, but in general the office has been vacated.

He's been overwhelmed by the day-to-day tasks of being chief executive that wouldn't leave any time for evil-doing if Satan himself was the one who got you there. Burnout often seen in middle-level executives when moved up the ladder. The people who villified Chimpy McBushitlerburton didn't have the slightest clue what the job entailed and neither did the one they voted for.

I think the choke point will be when he actually has to speak about reelection. Plans can be made - I think John Kerry intends to replace Biden or step up as primary alternate - but when the candidate himself has to actually defend anything he's done, it'll be game over for him. Video and quotes of him saying the exact opposite two, four or six years ago will exist in plenty, and Obama has nothing else to justify it with. I don't think he's enough of a sociopath to be capable of sustaining that performance any longer, just because he doesn't have anything in reserve. Kerry has a proven track record, Hillary was a good girl and proved she could get reelected a second time first, even Sarah Palin at least ran marathons.

In theory, Obama could win a campaign, if he's kept in a locked box and nevre called on to defend any of his decisions or previous claims. He'd have to exploit the worst in every way he could find it, probably leading to civil war. I don't know if the country is as fragile as that, but why should we find out the hard way?

If he can actually sustain a few speeches and tape a few commercials - "I'm Barack Obama and I approve this message" - he won't get past the Democratic Party machinery, who have an idea of what the voters out in Smallville see and want to know their guy is ready for what the Republicans will say. The Hillary voters who were called racist, the people who might actually support getting rid of Qaddaffi, who think spending a trillion dollars is a little extreme even if you don't go on to endorse and expand GWB's War on Terror.

Hell, Bush even put forth ideas for his second term, entitlement reform (privatize social security) and immigration (blanket amnesty for illegals). Does anybody think Obama (or his handlers) are capable of something like that?

The House of Representatives can starve the government of money if not appeased. Such is the benefit of the populist house with the purse strings. Thank you, whichever Founding Father had that bright idea.

Work's going well, the book's going slowly.

I'm sure I posted it before, but here are the Muppets doing their thing.


And here's a clip from a simpler time, a time when good was good and evil didn't smell quite so bad.


A more recent movie from one of the Zucker Brothers, it bombed in theaters but I assume it will succeed in the long run thanks to scenes like these.