If Obama Were a Lamer Duck, We Might Get the Economy Turned Around

So, unemployment remains steady at 7.6%. I just realized recently I didn’t know what the unemployment rate was anymore. It used to be a pretty important thing, but I guess we’re just kind of used to it hovering around 8% now. And it’s not like Obama cares much about it now with him on climate change and illegal immigration and what not.
I remember when 6% was high unemployment, but if it actually got there before the end of Obama’s term, everyone would hail him as the greatest president ever ever. Of course, for things to get there, he’d have to stop trying to actively beat up business like with his Obamacare and who knows what his ideas to fight global warming will cost everyone. If he could just embrace being a lame duck and stop scaring everybody with his trying to do stuff, the economy might turn around. But it take humility to not do anything, and that’s pretty much the thing Obama lacks the most — and he lacks lots of things.
Man, if only we could get another Coolidge in the presidency. Don’t know if we ever will, though; best bet would be to wait for a president to die in office and then just not replace him.

Independence Day 2013

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

• He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
• He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
• He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
• He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
• He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
• He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
• He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
• He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
• He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
• He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
• He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
• He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
• He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
  • For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
  • For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
  • For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
  • For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
  • For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
  • For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
  • For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
  • For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
  • For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
• He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
• He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
• He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
• He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
• He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

15 Fun Facts About Independence Day

1) The first Independence Day in America was celebrated on July 4th, 1776, the day the Continental Congress approved the document that declared our independence from Great Britain. The war that followed lasted until 1783, so basically less messy than most divorces.
2) The major objection to being ruled by Britain was pithily summed up as “taxation without representation”. Minor objections included “Brit hookers aren’t lookers” and “your tea tastes like pee”.
3) Thomas Jefferson presented the first draft of the Declaration of Independence to Congress on June 28th, 1776, but it wasn’t passed, so no one ever found out what was in it.
4) Betsy Ross actually sewed the first American flag two months before Independence Day, a case of premature embroideration.
5) The first public Independence Day event at the White House occurred in 1804 during the Jefferson administration and was attended mainly by hippies accusing the President of waging war to steal oil from the Barbary pirates.
6) Before cars ruled the roadway, Independence Day was traditionally the most miserable day of the year for horses, tormented by kids who threw firecrackers at them. Think of it as a primitive version of “Angry Birds”.
7) Lewis and Clark celebrated the first Independence Day west of the Mississippi at Independence Creek near Atchison, Kansas. The main festivity consisted of throwing firecrackers at cyclones, resulting in the death of over 100 Munchkins and the Good Witch of the South.
8) Both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on Independence Day, 1826. Jefferson, however, managed to outlive Adams by a few minutes, thus fulfilling the tontine and securing for himself the front of both the nickel and the two dollar bill.
9) The names of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were withheld from the public for more than six months to protect the signers from being prosecuted for treason. Not sure what Jane Fonda did to dodge that bullet.
10) In 1941, Congress declared Independence Day a federal legal holiday. It is one of the few federal holidays that has not been moved to the nearest Friday or Monday, due mostly to the fact that bills proposing the move are always introduced too close to the Memorial Day weekend to get acted upon.
11) Over 100 other nations besides America celebrate their own Independence Day. All of whom, ironically, are completely dependent on America to protect them militarily.
12) A large percentage of Americans also celebrate Dependence Day. Usually around the 1st of the month when the check from Uncle Sam hits the ol’ mailbox.
13) The traditional form of celebration on Independence Day is setting off illegal fireworks. If some killjoy cop tries to bust you for it, play “Angry Birds” with him.
14) Also traditional, yet less popular in modern times – writing long, bilious letters to monarchs That include random Capitalization and ftarting “s” words with the letter “f”.
15) To be safe on Independence Day, never carry fireworks in your pocket or shoot them off in metal or glass containers. To have fun on Independence Day, always light your fireworks with a burning sheet of safety tips.
______________
Have a happy Independence Day, and remember – an Independence Day parade ain’t an Independence Day parade unless it includes at least one tarred and feathered Redcoat.

The Continuing Obamacare Clusterfark

So a key component of Obamacare, the employer mandate, is going to be delayed being implemented until 2015 so that there won’t be this massive blow to the economy the Democrats will get blamed for just before the 2014 election.
I don’t know how you can positively spin this. This awesome Obamacare that everyone is supposed to love is just way too scary to actually go ahead and implement. And you think just delaying it will blunt Republican attacks on it? “Make sure to elect more Republicans, or Obamacare is actually going to be implemented. And it’s obviously going to be awful because Obama himself is scared of it.”
I don’t know what we expected though when we had a bunch of idiots in Congress shove through a massive health care law that none of them read or understood. It’s just taken three years for them to begin to realize how stupid that is and that they’re mantra of, “Eventually, everyone is going to love it!” is not happening. Have you talked to the HR department of businesses these days? No one understands exactly what Obamacare will mean for their business; they just know it’s going to hurt.
Anyway, did you know the president could just unilaterally decide to delay implementing a law? If I’m elected president in 2016, that will be my policy for like every law. Then again, maybe there will be a vote. Perhaps it could be an annual tradition — the annual delaying of Obamacare. It will be a yearly reminder that no matter how bad things are, it could be worse.

A White House 4th of July

Obama apparently has a very long to do list this year for Independence Day.  Here is what my leaks claim he will be busy with this holiday:

• Lay by the pool with his old, lovingly dog-eared copy of The Communist Manifesto.
• Finally get around to reading The Declaration of Independence.
• Ruminate about making his birthday National Black President’s Day.
• Finally beat the Korean Team in the annual White House hot dog cook off with his special version of Bo-wurst.
• Cancel the 4^th of July and blame it on the sequester.
• Debut his new 4^th of July Pageant in which the British win and King Barack eventually takes the throne.
• Announce that 9/11 will now be National Tolerance Day, and tell his fireworks crew to ‘light up the sky like Benghazi.’
• Spend the day in white face and a powdered wig.
• Go through the NSA phone and e-mail records so he can get his next list of targets to the IRS before the audit deadlines, which inevitably means, get a good tax lawyer, Frank J.
• Have Bill Ayers over for drinks to discuss their plans for his ‘unauthorized’ autobiography.
• Give everyone in his administration a gift certificate good for one free pardon.  The offer never expires.
• Put tiny holes in Biden’s water wings and alert the media so they can catch him jumping into the pool and saving Joe’s life.
• Take a $29,000,000 family vacation instead of a $30,000,000 vacation, stupid sequester.
• Take a day off from his arduous golfing schedule.
• Let Joe come with them to Disneyland so they can jump to the front of the lines.
• Buy extra bandages and salve in case Joe keeps grabbing the wrong end of the sparklers again.

Deviled Deen?

So I don't know what to think about Paula Deen. I like to cook. On occasion, I watched her cooking show. I would have described her as a sweet, warm, welcoming Southern woman who showed her love for others by making them food. I was not raised in the South, however, and some of the Southern mannerisms, colloquialisms and traditions are foreign to me. The race struggle is very different there. In the south, blacks and whites live side by side in both the wealthy and poor areas of town. Though it's not "segregated", the racial distinction is pronounced. In some ways, the south seems to be decades behind the rest of the country. The High School next door to my Grandparent's church building is called "Jefferson Davis High". I have seen the  flag of the Confederacy flying at a variety of homes and businesses. Apparently, old wounds and prejudices heal slowly in the Southern climate.

Basically, this woman has been accused of making unkind, ugly remarks. She has been accused of making choices based on antiquated prejudices. I believe she admitted to these allegations and offered an apology.

Perhaps that is not enough?

Of course, one apology does not make up for a history poor choices.

But a sincere apology is the first step in that direction.

We Americans seem to like to make people into symbols. We remove all of the real characteristics from the person and equip the symbol with only the bad (or good) qualities with which we disagree (or agree).  The rest of the person...is abandoned. And frankly, that is unfair.

Below are two opinions I've read supporting Ms. Deen.

Valid points.

It does seem as though she is being judged by the media and retailers without a full understanding of the problem. Shouldn't we try her before she is convicted? Should more than one of her qualities be examined before we do a character assassination? Do retailers fear Progressive backlash so much that they can endorse such hasty unilateral cuts? Her livelihood is being destroyed. That, and the livelihood of all those she employed. I'd be surprised if they were all disgruntled workers. They are probably a bit dismayed now, though, as they'll all be losing their jobs.

Innocent until PROVEN guilty in America? Hmm.

Unless the definition of proven = *hashed over by the progressive media*. Then she's irretrievably guilty. She deserves to be lynched.

Why I hate Walmart

Okay, I understand. Walmart is great. It’s wonderful. It’s awesome.
Now, will that shut you Wal-bots up for a second?
Not everybody likes Walmart. I’m not part of the left-wing “Oh Walmart is a big company and therefore evil” group. In fact, the fact that the left hates Walmart kinda makes me on Walmart’s side.
The thing I don’t like about Walmart is … well, how much time you got?
Tell you what. Let’s just focus on my latest encounter with Mr. Yellow Happy Face Discounter.
A couple of weeks ago, on June 15 to be exact, I decided that I wanted to move a computer from the living room, where it was supposed to be serving as a media server (I never used it as such, though), into the bedroom, where it could be a desktop computer. Only, I needed a desk.
I didn’t want to spend a lot. Just something simple to stick in the corner and hold my desktop computer. So, I went online and found that one of the Walmart stores in Columbus had a sub-$50 desk in stock.
“Okay, Self,” I said to myself, “I can go ahead and order it and pay for it online, then pick it up later. It’ll be there waiting on me.”
“Brilliant plan, Self,” I then said to myself.
So, I did. At least, I did the first two things: I ordered it and paid for it online.
After a couple of hours, I decided to meet someone for lunch, called her, and we met at a restaurant near that Walmart. But then, Walmart decided to be Walmart.
As I approached the restaurant, at 12:57 PM, I got a text from Walmart. Turns out the desk wasn’t in stock.
Great. There’s more than one Walmart around, so after lunch I’d run to another one and see if they have it. Totally not what I had planned to do, but hey, I’ve had worse days, right?
After lunch, I went to several Walmarts and, sure enough, found one in stock, bought it, took it home, and put it together.
As soon as I had finished and set the computer up, I opened email and read the email they sent along with the text. They didn’t cancel the order. No, they were gonna ship another one from the warehouse. Not point me to a nearby Walmart with the desk in stock. No, they’d have a desk for me in 3-6 days to pick up.
So, I went online to cancel the order. There was no “cancel” option. I wrote them. They told me that it was too late to cancel, and that the desk was coming, come hell or high water. They didn’t exactly say it like that, but that’s what it meant.
Two days later, I got notice the desk I didn’t want had shipped. Two days after that, I was notified that it was ready for me to pick up. And, they warned me:

Any items that are not picked up by the date specified above (July 3) will be cancelled and a refund made to your original method of payment.

Which is what I wanted to start with.
So, it’s still sitting at the Walmart, taking up space, awaiting me to pick it up. And, tomorrow, when I don’t pick it up, they’ll return it, and eventually give me my money back.
That’ll teach me to buy from Walmart.
No, really.