The Progressive Ideal: Fast on the heels of the death of the climate change bill, progressives everywhere are asking themselves, “What happened?” Mitch Perry at Creative Loafing quotes the following from a Washington Post article by Perry Bacon Jr.:

Joshua Freed, who directs the clean energy program for the centrist think tank Third Way, said the contrast shows the challenge Democratic leaders face when trying to marshal support for climate measures within Congress.

“China doesn’t have these problems,” Freed said. “It should be a wake-up call that the same day Republican opposition kills a carbon price in the Senate, China announces it will put a price on carbon in 2011.”

What kind of wake-up call is Freed talking about here? Should the U.S. dissolve its government and become a one-party totalitarian state? That’s the progressive ideal, except with the pesky human rights baggage. The Democratic party: a kinder, gentler totalitarian state.

D.C. Fires 241 Teachers for Incompetence: I haven’t actually read this article. I just like the headline, though it would be much better if it were legislators, as in, D.C. Fires 241 Legislators for Incompetence. That number sounds about right, though maybe 100 or so shy of the reality.

Massachusetts Over Taxed? The haughty, French-looking former-junior-now-senior senator from Massachusetts, who by the way served in Vietnam, is in the news again. Senator John Kerry has been docking his yacht in Rhode Island to avoid Mass. taxes. You have to love these transparent losers. Kerry has no problem soaking the public, unless, of course, he’s the one being soaked. These incompetent legislators turn their super soakers on the American public then cry like babies if someone turns a dollar-store water pistol on them.

The Racism Olive Branch: Shirley Sherrod is on the march. The same woman who didn’t correct an an audience full of racists is now in the name-calling business. On CNN Sherrod told Anderson Cooper that Andrew Breitbart wants to take us back to the days of slavery. Let the healing begin! Anderson Cooper didn’t challenge the smear, because he’s a pretty-face journalist masquerading as a poor man’s Phil Donahue. Cooper is skeptical of anything to the right of Michael Moore, but anything to the left he accepts without question. What an idiot.

Off to Priest Lake: That’s all I’ve got. I have three books to read over the next week. I have Sir Arthur Conan Dole’s Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories Vol. I and II. Another book I’m really looking forward to reading is Daniel Okrent’s Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. I intend to drink heavily during the reading of Last Call. It seems only fitting. You may recall that, in an earlier post, Club Soda called for Prohibition reparations to be paid with a keg in every fridge.

Most Ethical Congress Watch

“The American people voted to restore integrity and honesty in Washington, D.C., and the Democrats intend to lead the most honest, most open and most ethical Congress in history,” Pelosi said. She added, “And nowhere did the American people make it more clear that we need a new direction than in the war in Iraq. ‘Stay the course’ has not made our country safer, has not honored our commitment to our troops and has not made the region more stable. We cannot continue down this catastrophic path.” She called on the Bush administration to work with Democrats “to find a solution to the war in Iraq.”

I remember shortly after the Democrats took over the Congress that we immediately pulled out of Iraq. Well, I guess it didn’t quite turn out like that. The Democrats messed up that whole ethics thing as well. Charles Rangel joins the ranks of politicians caught up in ethics charges. This is hardly newsworthy. Corrupt politicians are a dime a dozen, but when you promise to “lead the most honest, most open and most ethical Congress in history” and fail catastrophically, it has to be pointed out. And what happened to transparency? Everyone loves to hear that we’ll find out what’s in a bill after it’s been passed. That’s comforting! Why would anyone be cynical about politics?

Most Biased Is? Big Journalism has completed the Top Ten Most Left-Biased American Journalists and the winner is Helen Thomas. I don’t know. Helen Thomas hasn’t been relevant since Antoninus Pius was a Roman emperor. Oh yeah, she didn’t like the Jews back then either; however, it was a lot more acceptable back then. What is truth?

Ego Watch: A recent Rasmussen poll shows Charlie “The Ego” Crist trails Marco Rubio in the Senate race. I point this out because I really don’t like Crist. I would rather have Lindsay Lohan as my senator than Charlie Crist. She would be an awesome Senator and far more ethical than most of the yahoos currently sitting in that august body.

Wal-Mart Deserves Nobel Prize: That’s what Mark J. Perry says and who can blame him? Perry links to an article that explains how apparel jobs created by Wal-Mart in Bangladesh appear to bolster school enrollments of girls, especially for young girls. Wal-Mart should be praised for how they’ve reduced poverty worldwide; however, progressives like IKEA and Target better because…. I’m not sure, but I think it has something to do with doing what everyone else is doing. Progressives are very susceptible to peer pressure. Winning the Nobel Prize is no big deal anyway since it’s been reduced to an honorary award given to failed presidents and terrorists.

Climate Bill Dead? Never underestimate the Democrats’ ability to pass unpopular legislation, but it looks like the climate change bill is dead. Score one for the Republic. The bill accomplishes nothing except to make the price of goods increase and make some hippies feel better about themselves, which is really what it’s all about. Imagine all the people, and so on and so forth.

Editorial Note: My annual trip to Priest Lake in my own private Idaho starts on Saturday, so I’ll be gone until August 2. Club Soda is going to be busy as well, so that means no posts for a week, unless Club Soda is struck with divine inspiration. I know… How will you survive? I don’t know. Read a book, play an instrument, or dream of Lindsay Lohan’s first day of freedom. I shall do the latter, but don’t tell my wife.

Captain International

He’s [Captain America] a guy that wants to serve his country but he’s not a flag-waver. We’re re-interpretating, sort of, what the comic book version of Steve Rogers was.

Why even bother then? Just come up with a different character name. The audience that loves this stuff is going to be outraged and the film will fail. But hey, at least it will be politically correct. I just hope the producers find a part for Lindsay Lohan. That’s what the world really wants… a re-interpretation of Miss Lohan. In fact, how about Sean Penn as Captain America? He brings health care to average Americans and puts everyone who doesn’t like it in a freaking gulag! Awesome! Nevermind. I’m all for this re-interpretation.

Danger Will Robinson: If the election was held today any Republican would defeat President Obama (who, by the way, wants to serve his country, but he’s not a flag-waver). Before the GOP starts to celebrate a lot can change before 2012, especially since the Republican who polls best against Obama is Jon Voight.

Never Wake UP: Inception has been out a week and it seems like there’s a million different theories about the movie. Here’s a take I read earlier today that created more questions than answers. Warning: If you haven’t seen the movie this article should be avoided. I’m hoping someday to write about this movie and give you my own theory. I slept through most of it, so I’m not so sure I’ll ever do that.

Massive Star (not Lindsay Lohan): Scientists claim to have found the heaviest star ever discovered. It’s not Mama Cass or Lindsay Lohan, if you’re asking. The only reason I bring this up is because of this part of the article.

“Unlike humans, these stars are born heavy and lose weight as they age,” said Crowther, an astrophysicist at the University of Sheffield in northern England. “R136a1 is already middle-aged and has undergone an intense weight loss program.”

Is this really the best analogy Paul Crowther could come up with? I mean, stars couldn’t be any more different than humans. Instead, you could say, “Unlike humans, these stars ____________________.” Insert whatever you want, like, “These stars have been forced on a strict diet by fascist government regulations, a.k.a., physics.” Isn’t that much better? Stars aren’t like humans in any possible way. Unless, of course, you’re talking about Lindsay Lohan. I think our star, the sun, has a drug habit, just like Ms. Lohan. That’s why I think it’s kind of hot this summer, at least here in Sarasota. Get your s*^t together, Sun, before I fry to death on Siesta Key!

Speaking of Lindsay Lohan: She’s only going to spend 12 days of her 90-day sentence in jail. I’m sure by then she will have learned her lesson. I can’t wait for the comeback! Captain America, maybe?

Rev. Jeremiah Wright:

In one instance, Spencer Ackerman of the Washington Independent urged his colleagues to deflect attention from Obama’s relationship with Wright by changing the subject. Pick one of Obama’s conservative critics, Ackerman wrote, “Fred Barnes, Karl Rove, who cares — and call them racists.”

This is how these people think. It’s okay to slander people as long as the progressive agenda moves forward. Is it really that surprising then that Obama received the greatest media coverage in modern history? From the beginning I didn’t think it was possible for someone with such a lack of experience and ties to shady characters to get elected. I underestimated the members of the liberal media. It’s beyond me how any liberal can complain about the Right’s paranoia when it comes to mainstream news coverage.

Saint FDR: Historians are frothing at the mouth defending Franklin D. Roosevelt’s record during the Great Depression. Over the decades there’s been some kind of deification of Roosevelt’s policies during the Depression. The problem is that upon analysis the story doesn’t add up. Amity Shlaes has a point by point take on Conrad Black’s assertion that FDR’s policies saved the economy. I love Shlaes and I’m happy to learn she’s writing a biography about Calvin Coolidge. If she would only write one about Lindsay Lohan, then I’d really be stoked.

About Massachusetts: As a followup to yesterday’s post about the electoral college, I am so sad to learn that the popular vote legislation being kicked around in Massachusetts wouldn’t take effect until enough states have passed identical legislation. In other words, I won’t hold my breath waiting for this trend to sweep the nation. As an interesting side note, the Constitution actually calls for the election of electors, who would then cast votes for the President. The founders envisioned a true republic in which the only popular election was for the House. True wisdom.

Top Ten Most Left-Biased American Journalists: Big Journalism is doing a series on biased leftist journalists. One of my favorites, the indelible Paul Krugman is #3. The cartoon character Krugman is a hypocrite at best and at worst an ugly partisan hiding behind a Nobel Prize. “But he writes for the New York Times!?!” So what? Who cares?

That’s all I got today. It’s only Tuesday. Tuesday nights mean Hell’s Kitchen on FOX and endless Google searches for the latest on Lindsay Lohan. Now that’s my kind of entertainment.

The Democratic party knows they cannot effectively pass its agenda through the legislative branch without the help of judicial branch. They can ram it down our throats like they’re doing today, but the courts won’t allow it unless they’re stacked with brainwashed zombies who care more about International Law, personal experience and faux diversity than about the Constitution.

What happened to Miguel Estrada is a national tragedy, but there’s no one in the press that cares enough to write the story. The ends justify the means.

NAACP

U.S. Manufacturing: I know there’s a lot of doom and gloom these days, but Carpe Diem sheds some light on why losing manufacturing jobs isn’t necessarily a bad thing unless you manufacture stuff. What is Mark J. Perry’s conclusion? A threefold increase in worker productivity is a major reason why there are less manufacturing jobs. Losing jobs is never pleasant, but manufacturing is going through the same cycle that farming went through 150 years ago. Soylent Green is people! Aughahgaghagagh!

Constituency: It looks like President Obama has found his constituency. The President’s approval rating sucks throughout most of the United States, but the residents of Washington, D.C. give Obama an 85% approval rating! It’s worth noting that the top ten states where Obama has the highest approval are also some of the most bankrupt. I guess if a state is used to bad leadership, what difference does it make? It might also have something to do with the fact that most of the residents either work for the government, are on the dole, are in their sixth year of graduate school or are otherwise drags on society.

More Good News: It appears the oil seepage two miles from the oil spill isn’t related to the BP disaster. I know that’s a load off the minds of the American people. Sure, there’s another leak out there polluting the Gulf, but at least BP isn’t responsible. It’s Obama’s fault!

Finally… It appears the racist member of the NAACP has resigned. The good news just keeps on coming. I’m sure the whole thing is a big misunderstanding and the truth is really that I’m a racist for even pointing out this story.

Update: It appears the video that was at the center of the controversy was edited in the worst possible way. Shirley Sherrod’s story is actually touching, except for the Marxist sentiments. However, it must be noted that the crowd of NAACP members seems on board with the whole “our kind” message. I expect that to be an overlooked part of this story.

Toga, Toga, Toga!

Progressive lawmakers across the nation are trying to reform one of the biggest problems facing the United States. Yes, the electoral college. Twice in American history the person with the most votes has lost. Critics complain that our election system is too complicated. I complain that if you believe it’s too complicated you probably shouldn’t be allowed to vote. The electoral college exists for some clear historical reasons. It keeps states like California, New York, and Texas from bossing everyone around. Given all the problems in California and New York do we really want that mob deciding national elections?

The original electoral college wasn’t designed for a direct election. The only directly elected politicians were supposed to be the House of Representatives. Now we have a slightly different system today. However, I love the idea of Massachusetts giving their electoral votes to the popular vote winner. That would create all kinds of awesome possible election scenarios. Imagine if Obama loses the popular vote and has enough electoral votes, but Massachusetts gives their votes to the popular vote winner. There would be rioting in the streets.

Mandate equals tax: The dishonesty of the White House is becoming comical. When it was politically beneficial the White House claimed the ObamaCare mandate wasn’t a tax. My, how times have changed. The President told George Snuffaluffagus Stephanopoulos, “You can’t just make up that language and decide that that’s called a tax increase.” Or, you can, and that’s the way the White House is going to sell its unconstitutional bill to the courts. Let me be clear… The most transparent administration in the history of our great nation is also the most opaque. I’ll let you figure this paradox out on your own, because I can’t.

Inception: I saw the best movie of the year on Friday. Christopher Nolan’s Inception is the most original movie this year and by far the most entertaining. It also contains the best action sequence I’ve seen in a film since the Matrix. Did I mention it’s rated PG-13 and fairly family friendly? The only problem with the film are the petrol-guzzling, jet-setting, tire-burning, I-can-have-mine-but-you-can’t-have-yours stars, but most conservatives have learned to separate willfully ignorant artists from their work. Unfortunately, the willfully ignorant have a very hard time keeping their willful ignorance to themselves, just as Narcissus had a very difficult time taking his eyes off himself.

Gulf Oil Spill: It looks like the spill might finally be contained. The fallout, though, is going to play out for a significant amount of time. I don’t want to subscribe to any conspiracy theories, but it appears there’s been some kind of cap on the media coverage of the effected areas. I guess the devastation is too much for the American people. That didn’t seem to be the media’ philosophy when covering Katrina or Iraq, but who am I to complain? Plus, I’m too busy glued to TMZ and the latest on Lindsay Lohan to really notice. Apparently, she’s pretty “freaked out” about going to jail for 90 days. Don’t bend over for the soap, Lindsay!

Humanitarian Shopping Crisis: Speaking of lazy journalists, here are some images that western media outlets will not show in Gaza. Gauging by the images it sure doesn’t look that bad. I wonder how all those supplies are making their way into the the Hamas-controlled state? I’m sure human-rights activists like Jimmy Carter are all over this one since it looks like the Jews are allowing only three different colors of balloons into Gaza.

Finally, I can’t wait for the movie The Politician. The Aaron Sorkin project will be about the rise and spectacular fall of John Edwards (who, by the way, is a Democrat). I’ll be interested in how they spin one of the worst politicians to come around the past couple of decades. Something tells me it will be a re-telling of that classic tale, The Jerk…

www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3Vp9fQ616k

Double Rainbow: I’m a few days behind this internet sensation, but the Double Rainbow video is amazing. At first I thought the guy was on drugs, but after seeing an interview of the guy and seeing where he lives, I’m not so sure. He sure does love rainbows.

Apple iPerfect: Steve Jobs told everyone what we needed to know; they’re not perfect. Perfection aside, according to Jobs, 0.55% of all iPhone 4 users have called Apple Care to complain. For those scoring at home that’s one half of one percent. It should be noted that calling Apple Care is almost useless. Also, if someone is having problems getting a signal how exactly are you supposed to call Apple Care?

Foxes Running the Henhouse: The ass clowns who told us there was nothing wrong with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now celebrating the new “consumer protection bill.” When Nancy Pelosi, Christopher Dodd, and Barney Frank talk about “consumer protection” it’s almost certain that consumers are about to be screwed. These people should be in prison. Instead, they’ll continue to get sweetheart deals the rest of us can only dream about.

The Holy Trinity of Politcal Evil

While these idiots trade high fives some of the problems that led to the crisis aren’t being addressed. The Democrats are either too corrupt or too ideologically tied to the welfare state (take your pick) to deal with the problem.

Sheila Jackson Lee: Finally, we have a fantastic history lesson from Democrat Representative Shelia Jackson Lee. Did you know there’s a North and South Vietnam still living side by side? Nope, neither did I. Before anyone simply says she had Vietnam confused with Korea, she cites the correct number of American casualties from the Vietnam conflict. I only point out the ignorance of this representative because of white privilege.

That’s all for today… I’ll close with the Rainbow Guy song. Classic!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX0D4oZwCsA

Hence, anytime you see a headline citing “extreme temperatures” and it’s based on the NOAA just ignore it. I know I will.