Quotes of the Month: August 2013

Quote of the Month: "I picked the wrong vice. I should have picked alcohol. I should have picked drugs or I should have picked up beating up my wife or girlfriend because if you do those three, you get a second chance."

-PETE ROSE

Dumb Quote of the Month: “The fact of the matter is we will be running on Obamacare in 2014. In fact, we set it up to run on it in 2014."

-JAMES CLYBURN

“I am not a monster.”

-Ariel Castro

"Bud Selig is trying to alter his legacy from the commissioner who tacitly condoned steroids to the one who tried to stamp them out."

-Bob Wojonowski Detroit News

"Not worth it at all."

-Mark McGwire on steroid usage

“I am the shooter.”

-Nidal Hassan

"Federal Election Commission can't do anything about it; they want the IRS to fix the problem. 'So everybody is screaming at us right now, 'Fix it now before the election. Can't you see how much these people are spending?'"

-Lois Lerner on Tea Party Groups

“First of all, you got to be a good liar, a good lowlife, and an imbecile. You gotta take steroids. You must take steroids! And anybody that takes steroids is a garbage pail.”

-John Gotti 1998 (tape recently released)

“the ACA as presently written could “destroy the foundation of the 40-hour work week that is the backbone of the middle class.”

-Labor Leaders on Obamacare

“If you do watch the Al-Jazzera America equivalent of "60 Minutes" and you hear a "Tick-Tick-Tick" sound from the TV, dive out of the room.”

-Dennis Miller

"The indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, the killing of women and children and innocent bystanders by chemical weapons is a moral obscenity."

-John Kerry

#18 Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder was a star at 13. He billed himself as “Little Stevie Wonder” and was a novelty at first. However, he soon proved a gifted songwriter and is considered the greatest artist of the seventies. Between 1972 and 1976, Wonder released classic after classic. On top of this, he performed the majority of the instruments on his albums. One exception to this was when guitar god Jeff Beck was in town. Despite the fact his best work was in the early to mid-1970s, the late 70s to mid 1980s saw his greatest success. Ironically, his most successful single was also one of his weakest. “I Just Called to Say I Love You” went #1 in the U.S. and U.K. in 1984. The following year he performed on “We Are the World” with USA for Africa. Stevie continued to record into the new millennium. During the mid-90s hustle craze, Wonder’s “My Eyes Don’t Cry” supplanted the original 1970s Hustle by Van McCoy. Nowadays, he seems to pop out during presidential campaigns supporting Democratic candidates.

Rock n Roll Moment: During his most creative period, Wonder often played all the songs on his album except when Jeff Beck was available.

Essential Stevie Wonder:
Talking Book (1972)
Innervisions (1973)
Fullfillingness’ First Finale (1974)
Songs in the Key of Life (1976)

Stevie Wonder’s Top 10:
Higher Ground
You Are the Sunshine of My Life
Superstition
Signed, Sealed, and Delivered I’m Yours
Fingertips (Part 2)
Uptight
You Haven’t Done Nothin’ (w/The Jackson 5)
Master Blaster (Jammin’)
Sir Duke
I Wish

The Obama Doomsday Prophesy

The Mayan Calendar ends on December 22, 2012. That corresponds with the end of the Obama Presidency. Some think that the Mayans predicted an apocalypse at the end of 2012. With the way the Obama Administration spends money, it could very well be a financial apocalypse.

With spending out of control, tax increases are next. Cap and Trade is nothing more than a tax bill. It will raise taxes on utilities while passing the blame onto utility companies. The cost could be $3000 a year for the average family. So much for the promise to not raise taxes on those making less than $200,000.

The other big ticket item is health care. The administration has already stated it is open to taxing health benefits. Unions would be exempt because they gave Obama a lot of money. So much for changing Washington.

With spending out of control, an economic slump, and tax increases on the horizon, the Mayan Doomsday Prophesy is beginning to look like reality. Of course, what did we expect? The country elected a man without the resume, gravitas, or ability to do the job. Instead, the country elected a celebrity wannabe that has the ability to make pretty speeches on a teleprompter. Take away that prompter and there is nothing left unlike the Mayans who survived their own apocalypse through their artifacts and their descendants.

Assorted Ramblings

Item: President Obama warns that if we don't pass the stimulus, a Great Depression will happen.

Reaction: Why is it ok for Obama to scare people with stories about a coming economic apocalypse, yet when the Bush Administration warned about a nuclear armed Saddam, that was fear mongering??

Item: Retail sales were up.

Reaction: Perhaps the recession is not as bad as they say. Maybe we don't need the stimulus plan.

Item: Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are spatting over the stimulus plan.

Reaction: Like that is a surprise. Reid is a wimpy self important liberal while Pelosi is a nutty self important out of touch limousine liberal.

Item: The stimulus plan has a provision whereby health care and doctor's decisions will have to be run past a government bureaucrat.

Reaction: Having a mid-level HMO employee decide what medical care a patient can have is bad while having a bureaucrat do the same thing is good.

Item: The Census has been taken over by the White House.

Reaction: Yeah, having Rahm Emmanuel involved in the census is going to result in a legitimate count. If Emmanuel was not in politics, he'd be in the mob.

Item: Bret Favre Retires (we think)

Reaction: Favre created the man crush. He was tough on the field, but a prima donna off. He was not the best QB ever and not the best of his generation. However, his signature games were as good as anyone that ever played. (See: Favre to Sharpe, The Superbowl win, and the game after his dad died).

Item: Baseball players gone wild. A-Rod admits to steroids, Bonds is charged with perjury, Miguel Tejada pleads guilty to lying before congress, and Roberto Alomar is accused of trying to spread the AIDS virus.

Reaction: It can't get much worse...well maybe if a star got caught with an underage...oh wait...

Item: Michael Phelps is caught on film tapping a bong.

Reaction: I was a bit surprised anyone cared. After all, President Obama admitted to being a crackhead at one point. We've had several politicians and celebrities admit to drug use. What's the deal? Well, Phelps is on film...maybe that is the barrier celebs can't cross now.

Caroline Kennedy

A lot of people are questioning Caroline Kennedy's qualifications to be a US Senator. However, if Barack Obama can be president, the Caroline Kennedy can be senator.

2008: Historical Paradigm Shift?

Every couple of generations, there is a political earthquake which changes American politics. 2008 could be such a year. The country could shift away from conservatism and toward European leftism. If this happens, it could mean the country will stay in Euro fashion for generations. It all depends on what happens in the presidential election. If people are willing to roll the dice on Obama, then it will probably happen. If they judge him to be too risky because he is not qualified for office or out of fear of a Democratic government, then it will not happen. (Of course Reid and Pelosi have been pretty incompetent, so even with an all-Dem government, the GOP might be gearing for a takeover that could last a century with those clowns in charge).

Here is a list of American Political Eras:

1. 1789-1800: Federalist Era: Pro-industry and national defense. Against the excesses of the French Revolution. (Washington and Adams presidents).

2. 1800-1860: Democratic Era: Pro-southern, pro-slavery, anti-protectionism, anti-big government, pro-agrarian, expansion of white male voting rights.

3. 1860-1932: Republican Era: The first part of the era is characterized by the Civil War. It was pro-northern and pro-African American. The entire era was pro-industry and pro-tariff.

4. 1932-1968: Democratic Era: The New Deal, Great Society, and Cold War Dems dominated.

5. 1969-present: Republican Era: Dominated by Nixon and Reagan. Pro-nationalist foreign policy, low taxes, against big government (except Bush 43), for expansion of civil liberties and democracy around the world.

The Man from Georgia: 1976

The Republican Party was in tatters. Watergate decimated the G.O.P. Although personally honest and likeable, President Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon had amplified voter anger. On top of this, the right wing had decided to make its move. Ronald Reagan launched an insurgency that cut into Ford even further. On top of all this, Ford had been appointed to the Vice-Presidency and ascended to the Oval Office upon Nixon's resignation. So, he was not elected to either of the top two offices.
The Democrats were delighted and looked forward to recapturing the White House. They nominated Jimmy Carter. Carter was a one term governor of Georgia and former peanut farmer. Carter ran as an outsider that would clean up Washington and jumped to a 33 point lead in the polls.
Despite his immense lead, Carter made several mistakes that brought him back to Earth. Carter remained vague on the issues and Ford hammered him for his inexperience. Additionally, Carter's mother gave an interview with Playboy that was less than complimentary to the candidate.
Despite Carter's problems, Ford made the biggest gaffe of all during a debate. In it, he claimed the Soviet Union did not dominate Eastern Europe. Carter responded, "Tell that to the Poles." Ford failed to retract the blunder and it reinforced the media's image of him as dumb. It also brought up visions of a shifty Nixon.
On election day, Carter pulled out a narrow victory 50-48%. The electoral college was 297-240. Carter would go on to be the worst president since James Buchanan. He'd even get attacked by a rabbit. Ford would go golfing. Ronald Reagan would lead a revolution that would redefine the terms of debate in American politics to this day.

Richard Nixon Back Again!

Thursday, July 24, 2008Subject: The Return of the NixonTime: 5:14:00 PM EDTAuthor: cicero390 Edit Entry Delete Entry
Richard Nixon lost a nail-biter to John Kennedy in 1960. Two years later, he lost in his bid to become governor of California. He promised the press they would "not have Nixon to kick around anymore." Nixon went into the wilderness to re-emerge in 1968 as the Republican frontrunner. The American voter wanted order, a resolution to Vietnam, and a competent government.
The Democrats had screwed things up. The nation seemed paralyzed by anti-war protests and the war in Vietnam was getting more unpopular. The Vietcong launched attacks across South Vietnam and were thoroughly defeated. The press declared defeat (much like in Iraq). President Johnson struggled in the primaries and dropped out. The new frontrunner, Robert Kennedy, was murdered two months after Martin Luther King's assassination. The new frontrunner, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, was mortally wounded by Vietnam, riots and violence in America's streets, and a riot at his own convention.
Despite the mortal wound, HHH made a race of it. LBJ suspended bombings of Vietnam right before the election in a cynical attempt to swing voters. Additionally, Governor George Wallace attracted many blue collar voters that despised what the Democratic Party had become (in 2008, they voted for Hillary). Wallace siphoned off votes from Nixon, but Nixon managed to win by a hair. Governor Wallace would run again in 1972. During that campaigne, Wallace was paralyzed by an assassins bullet and never was a factor.
In 1972, Nixon took on the first modern Democratic candidate in George McGovern. Senator McGovern gave the Democrats proportional representation in their primaries (which gave the nomination to Obama this year) and their socially liberal platform that is almost always rejected by voters. One critic claimed the Senator's campaign was based on Amnesty, Abortion, and Acid. McGovern ran a classically liberal campaign and got trounced. He could not even pick a vice president correctly. His original choice was treated for depression with electric shock therapy. Nixon got 61% of the vote, but did not enjoy the victory for long. Despite going toChina and ending Vietnam, Nixon got bogged down by Watergate and was forced to resign in 1974.
Tags: Presidential Election, Richard Nixon

FDR's Golden Sombrero

Franklin Roosevelt was elected to the presidency four times. None of the four elections were close because of FDR's personality and the nature of the times. In each election, Roosevelt ignored his opponent, concentrated on what he wanted to do, and attacked the Republican Party as a whole for the Great Depression. Ironically, FDR was a Democrat because Theodore Roosevelt had so many sons, that FDR believed he could not compete with them. They did not enter politics, but FDR did not know that. Had he known TR's sons were going to stay out of politics, he would have been a Republican.
1932: The country was in the middle of the Great Depression. Herbert Hoover was the incumbent. Hoover got the blame. His name became synonymous with poverty. Any chance he had of being re-elected came to an end when Douglas MacArthur unleashed tanks on a tent city full of World War I vets. FDR won big.
1936: The Depression had not ended. The GOP ran Governor Alf Landon from Kansas. He attacked the New Deal as wasteful and ineffective. The polls showed a Landon landslide, but pollsters only talked to people with phones, so a large swath of the electorate was ignored. FDR won a monster victory as people felt he was on their side.
1940: World War II had begun in Europe and the Depression still hampered America. The Republicans nominated Wendell Wilkie. Wilkie was a moderate and his nomination signaled the beginning of moderate domination of the GOP. Essentially, voters could choose New Deal or New Deal light. Wilkie ran a spirited campaign and the GOP attacked FDR for not ending the Depression, warmongering, and the third term. FDR won as people did not want to FDR to leave with World War II at their doorstep.
1944: FDR was dying. The Democrats knew it, but ran him again. They dumped incumbent vice president Henry Wallace from the ticket because he was too far to the left and was involved in weird mysticism. They replaced Wallace with Harry S. Truman of Missouri. Truman had gained national attention and acclaim rooting out wasteful wartime spending. The GOP nominated Thomas Dewey of New York. With World War II waging, Dewey could not hit Roosevelt without looking bad. As a result, Roosevelt won again. He died five months later.