Sob, snort, sob.

On the Monday after The Super Bowl every year America has a grand debate about all the new commercials they saw between the football action. Today the nation is debating "which Democrat had the best sob story" during Lord O's "healthcare" dog 'n' pony show.

My money is on the crusty old gal from the House who told of a constituent who uses her dead sister's dentures. That's pretty hard to top. Still it was funny to listen to someone as erudite and clear-headed as, say, Paul Ryan give a great presentation only to be followed by one of the dozens of "my constituents are so poor they can't afford chewing gum" stories from the D's.

These are our elected representatives. For shame.

Sorry, sir. No flying monkeys. Will you accept this monkey that goes round and round in circles?

Hope 'n' Change.

That Thing Really Stinks

The Examiner looks at the ignored 2,000 pound whale stinking in the middle of the room during the shameful Toyota hearings yesterday.

Aboard The DC Death Star

As the show trial plays out in DC we read this insightful piece from IBD.

That success seems to be why Toyota is being singled out for loud hearings by two congressional panels for its recent recall of nearly 650,000 cars. "While Honda recalled 636,000 models last month and Ford recalled more than 4 million vehicles last year, neither company was subjected to a Congressional Hearing," noted Americans for Tax Reform in a statement.
Small wonder then that a Toyota internal memo declared the current climate in Washington is "not industry friendly." That's a fact.

For starters, Toyota employs over 200,000 Americans across the spectrum of the auto industry. Parts plants, assembly plants, dealerships and repair shops all owe their existence to Toyota.
Already plants are shutting down and employees are being laid off, beyond all proportion to the recall problem, because of the congressional effort to drag Toyota through the mud.
City governments take in significant revenues from these operations. Don't think they won't feel the impact of these hearings.
Yet there's more than a whiff of Saul Alinsky's community organizing principles in this noisy government campaign against Toyota — "Pick a target, personalize it, freeze it, polarize it."

So now Congressional committees are hauling in Toyota's president Akio Toyoda all the way from Tokyo to testify. It's a sorry spectacle because Toyota has tried to be a good corporate citizen.
Recall that the first complaint against Toyota in the 1970s was that it imported cars to the U.S. instead of built them here.
So, Toyota built plants here, employing some 30,000 U.S. citizens directly. In the process, it also subcontracted to American companies — such as the one that makes the pedals in question now — all to make the "Buy American" crowd happy.
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Both FOX News Channel and FOX Business Network have treated this story the same way ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC & CNBC have. None have wrapped themselves in glory.

UPDATE: 355,500 Chrysler minivans recalled today for airbag issues. Will Congress call Obama, Biden, and LaHood in to testify about their auto company's problems.

Crazy as A June Bug

Out of the gray-bar hotel, rested, ready and running.

Yes, Traficant is back!

A Long Bumpy Road

Byron York has surmised that it's not too early to start handicapping the 2012 Republican presidential primaries. Since the state of South Carolina usually picks the winner (who sometimes turns out to be a loser, see: Dole, McCain) Mr. York decides to focus on the Palmetto State. What he finds out is... it's too soon to tell, but it will be interesting.

Must See TV

Newsbusters has the George Will speech at CPAC this past weekend.

Now that's 30 minutes well spent.

Tweeting fb Notes

This article points out how The Associated Press has changed the way they link to articles via their Twitter account. When someone who follows AP on Twitter clicks on a story that interests them they now go to the AP's Facebook page notes.

How fast is the media world changing? Imagine a column dissecting the pros and cons of AP's Twitter/ Facebook pretzel just a few years ago.

It does seem like we're trying to catch Niagara Falls in a Dixie Cup sometimes. Blogging is so 2000's.

Play Ball!

College baseball opening day is here. The USC Gamecocks take on Duquesne in Columbia at 3PM and the Clemson University Tigers host Miami of Ohio at 4PM in Clemson, SC.

Clear blue skies and temperatures in the upper 50's are predicted for both games.

Now, play ball!

Back To Earth (With a Thud)

A parade float of Obama The Redeemer from Germany's Spiegel online.

h/t Mark Steyn in The Corner

Pushing Back Against Junk Science

The state of Texas is preparing a suit against the EPA.
Now if a few dozen others will join them...

Bring in the hounds

The thrill of victory. The agony of defeat.
Tough competition in a cutthroat arena.

Yes, our attention is riveted to the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
Last night four groups went at it and some contenders were awarded their prizes. But can any of them top the odds-on favorite, the Scottish Terrier?

UPDATE: No, none of them could defeat the Scottie.

3rd Time's The Charm

Coolidge signs tax cuts into law.

For the third Presidents Day of the Flingin' Darts era we honor the great Coolidge. The prior posts are here:

Keep Cool in 2008.

Trying Again in 2009.

Here are some political cartoons from the Coolidge presidency. They are quite a bit busier than today's cartoons and may be very difficult to read without blowing them up, but we'll give it a go:

Anniversary

On this day, February 12th, in 1999 the US Senate concluded its 21 day trial of President Bill Clinton. The vote on both counts before the Senate fell short of the 2/3rds majority needed to remove him from office.


We hope the former president recovers quickly and completely from his latest heart incident. We also (gently) point out that stress is a contributing factor to heart issues.


Here's a nice picture of Bill and Hill in happier times...

He Said What?

Yesterday when I mused about Slow Joe being snowed in I had no idea he was actually suiting up to go on CNN and talk to the suspendered cadaver in residence.

But, oh my, what a jaw-dropping load of hoo haw did he leave behind in Larry's studio.

Did he really say: "I am very optimistic about--about Iraq. I mean, this could be one of the great achievements of this administration." ????

Why, yes. Yes he did. And he really did mean the Obama administration, not the prior one who deserves, lemme see, oh yeah, all of the credit!!!!

Just when ya think old Joe can't get any slower he goes and outdoes himself again.

Dinner With Slow Joe and The Mrs.

Sunny, clear, 40 degrees and windy-er than Sheecargo today. They keep showing pictures of WashDC on the TV insert on my trading screen. I lurve the fact that they have called a 3rd straight snow day at the US Capitol bldg. The public is never safe any day that congress is in session so-- we're good!

But, with all that snow, I can't stop imagining Slow Joe Biden trapped in his house and unable to get out of his drifted-in driveway. You know Lord Zero sure isn't going to send a plow over to free him. In fact, when Joey called in to tell the White House he couldn't get out Herr Gibbells pranked him and told him the storm had knocked the wires down on the cell phones and they couldn't hear him. He bought it.

So, stuck in his house with just his own self and the lovely Dr. Biden, what do ya suppose they chow down on? I'm guessing microwave popcorn, hot pockets, and a six of Bud Lite.

3D Mania

The Persian people want the world to know that they have been at the cutting edge of new technologies throughout world history. In our current age Iranians don't believe they should take a back seat to the West on advances like, oh, nuclear bomb making and Member's Only jacketry.


So it was no surprise to see today that, in response to the huge success of Hollywood USA's Avatar, the Iranians premiered their own 3D feature last night. Here's the Iranian president at the first screening of "Lectures from the Ayatollah in 3D" We hear it was one groovy night at the flicks.

Hoping For A Snow Day in DC

Not so Good To Be King?

At about this point in every job Lord Zero has had he gets bored and decides to move on.

Byron York wonders in this thoughtful piece if our young president is longing for something to do here on Earth more fulfilling than his current civil service posting.

Fed up?

What's Wrong With That Guy?

Friday we pointed to the story that the guy who records those "Osama bin Laden" tapes has gone back to knockin' the Bush administration for not stopping Global Climate Change (TM). We love that story. If Vince Flynn put that in one of his Mitch Rapp books his editor would probably send the galley proof back with "implausible" blue penciled in the margin.

But equally out-to-lunch is our senior Senator, Lindsey Graham. So desperate is Graham to have bipartisanship reign supreme in DC that he's still promoting the "energy" bill he's slopping together with Kerry and Lieberman. Warmism has always been a hoax. But I will allow that there were lots of people duped and not all of them were dumb-as-a-box-of-rocks. You would think now though, post-Climategate, that even clowns like Lindsey G. would quietly slink away from this fraud. Instead we get this:

"We tried immigration. It's hard. And we failed. We tried Social Security. It's hard. And we failed. We tried health care. It's really hard. And it looks like we're going to have to start over again," Graham somberly told a luncheon audience of energy and climate advocates on the Hill. "On the energy, climate change front, I don't want to add that to the list. There is no reason in my mind that the Republican Party and the Democratic Party can't come together."


So it doesn't matter how bad it is as legislation... how much damage it will do... that it's based on junk science promoted shamelessly by hucksters in lab coats... what matters is that the US Congress gets a "win".

When I hear "bipartisan" I grab for my wallet. If there had been even one Republican to sign on to Obamacare we would have gotten a $2 Trillion plus monstrosity. That's how expensive bipartisanship can be. As the wise man said, "The public is never safe any day Congress is in session."

h/t Maggie's Farm and Gateway