In Today's Mail

This:

Heh.

Tonight's ADWH Soundtrack

A one-hit wonder and the BEST of that particular genre, at that:

Oh, you don't know me, but you make me so happy
I tried to call you before, but I lost my nerve
I tried my imagination, but I was disturbed

I don't think I ever called a number written on a wall, any wall, but I sure as hell danced my ass off to this tune in the wayback.  There's quite a back-story to the tune, in case you haven't heard it.  I hadn't heard this tune in years upon years before tonite... and hearing it this evening made me smile.  A lot.

―:☺:―

In other news... I lied.  I said I wasn't gonna watch Barry's speech this evening but I did... watch it.  With my teevee muted, which is to say I watched but didn't listen.  The exercise was pretty instructive, in that a lot of my suspicions were confirmed.  

Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

First and foremost among those suspicions was the speech was gonna be mostly a campaign speech; that suspicion was confirmed by the number of standing-O's the president received... from the Democrats.  The correct side of the aisle... the Republicans... remained seated, for the most part.  That told me nearly everything I needed to know.

Second: The Deity At Hand hates Democrats.  Why else would she make the great majority of 'em so damned ugly?  The camera panned into the audience periodically and we got to see Mrs. Pelosi (omigawd-ugly), Maxine Waters (jeezus!), Hillary (ecch!), Biden (heh), Sheila Jackson-Lee (yow), Charlie Rangel (nice suit, Charlie)... and on and on.  THAT was almost enough to make me turn the whole thang off, but I hung in there.  Why?  Because...

Third:  Boehner.  He may cry at the drop of a hat but his poker face while The One was going on and on... and on... was just fan-fuckin'-tastic.  I watched intently for eye-rolls but saw nary a one.  BIG props to the Speaker for that feat; I couldn't have pulled it off.

I still haven't read any post-speech reax, mainly coz I had other priorities... like After Dinner Whiskey Hour.  Never let it be said I don't have my head screwed on properly.

Miscellanea

We're right in the middle o' Happy Hour and took a break to come inside and put up yet another post, this time to celebrate the third consecutive day o' NO AC here at El Casa Móvil de Pennington , mainly coz there's no need for artificial cooling.  Witness:

We have all our windows and door (one each) open to capture as many of the soft breezes as we can, for it is GORGEOUS.

―:☺:―

And then there's this: Incentive...

I only wish ABQ wasn't a four-hour drive from ECMdP coz this is powerful incentive to make the trip.  And then there's this from the link in the screen cap above:

Red Chile Fields: Secrets for growing the best chile from Salsa Twins on Vimeo.

"Holy Cow!" sez the guy in the video and I agree... them's a LOT o' chiles!  Tasty, too.  You can order New Mexico's best chile here; but lucky me:  I can buy it at Wally-World here in P-Ville.

―:☺:―

About tonite's "Big Event"...

The great danger facing Mr. Obama tonight is that the public simply tunes him out, viewing his pronouncements as either irrelevant or annoying. 

It's been a dramatic fall for a man who was, his supporters assured us in 2008, America's best orator since Abraham Lincoln. Now he's reduced to a warm-up act for a football game.

That would be Karl Rove, writing in today's WSJ.  Mr. Rove is correct, at least as far as YrHmblScrb is concerned: I tuned the president out quite some time ago.  No surprise, eh?

Off To a Slow Start

That would be me.  I seem to be unable to consolidate my excrement (he said, recycling an old military sayin') this morning and am just now beginning to make the blog-rounds.  In so doing I see Blog-Bud Dan noticed something that a lot of us on the right and proper side of the political divide have been seein' this weekend: the Left is beginning to whine, piss, and moan about Barry.  Publicly.  Loudly, too.  I dropped this comment at Dan's place a few minutes ago:

This buyer's remorse thing is contagious. I read a liberal whine and moan piece in the NYT this weekend that basically said Barry ain't got no passion and... on top of that... sucks at story telling. I kid thee not.

But the bit that got me was this:

The most charitable explanation is that he and his advisers have succumbed to a view of electoral success to which many Democrats succumb — that “centrist” voters like “centrist” politicians. Unfortunately, reality is more complicated. Centrist voters prefer honest politicians who help them solve their problems. A second possibility is that he is simply not up to the task by virtue of his lack of experience and a character defect that might not have been so debilitating at some other time in history. Those of us who were bewitched by his eloquence on the campaign trail chose to ignore some disquieting aspects of his biography: that he had accomplished very little before he ran for president, having never run a business or a state; that he had a singularly unremarkable career as a law professor, publishing nothing in 12 years at the University of Chicago other than an autobiography; and that, before joining the United States Senate, he had voted "present" (instead of "yea" or "nay") 130 times, sometimes dodging difficult issues.

Heh. SOME of us realized Barry was just an empty suit. I think it's pretty damned funny the Left is just now beginning to see that.

Now that said... 2008 was gonna be a Democrat year, given the negatives Dubya had on his way out and the fact the GOP fielded a weak-ass candidate.  The Dems could have run the proverbial yellow dog and won... it was that bad.  Well, come to think on it... they DID run the proverbial yellow dog, didn't they?  And he won.  I find all this buyer's remorse interesting and I'm getting no small amount of pleasure from it, too.  But this is small comfort, given the way Barry's run us into the ditch... and we still have to put up with him for another 16 months, at the very least.

But I'm with the Left on at least ONE thing (aside from their new-found displeasure with Obama): Hillary would have been the better choice.  I mean... how in the HELL could she have been worse?  Barry's making me look back at the Big Dog's tenure at 1600 Penna Ave with wistful, almost nostalgic, yearning.  And that's sayin' something.

When the Perfect Is the Enemy of the Good

I became aware of a new Harris poll by means of a tweet from Iowahawk, to wit:

iowahawkblog

77% of Americans have no idea who Thad McCotter is; 43% would vote for him over Obama bit.ly/ot3skj 

So I went and checked out the poll and its results, which pretty much confirm the thoughts I've had about the Republican field... up to this point.  The Readers Digest version:  I'm not happy with most of the candidates and the ones that please me have the proverbial snowball's chance in The Hot Place of actually winning the election.  That's sorta the point Mr. Burge was making but not really; Burge is more on about how a complete unknown would run a good race against The One.  Point taken, Mr. Burge, but Rep. McCotter would still LOSE... and here's what the Harris people have to say about that:

Against President Obama

Looking ahead to November, it seems there are three possible candidates who could give President Obama a difficult time. President Obama would lose his re-election if Rudy Giuliani (53% to 47%) or Mitt Romney (51% to 49%) was the Republican nominee. Each candidate would receive 50% of the vote if the President was running against Ron Paul. Right now, President Obama would win re-election against the 10 other candidates presented.

So What?

Right now the Republican party needs to figure out who they are and begin the process of coalescing around one candidate. In the study of politics, there is always a debate regarding electability and this election may show that clearly. Should Republicans nominate a candidate who stands for certain values or policies important to a sub-section of the party, even though that candidate may not be electable in the general election? This is a question the Republican party needs to answer if they want to win next November.

It's an old, old tale but it's one that bears repeating and above all, remembering as primary time approaches.  I know some conservatives (can you say "Palinistas?"  Sure you can!) who would rather see Obama in office for another four years than see the GOP nominate a candidate who fails some aspect of their ideological purity test.  This line o' thinking usually features the "I'll stay home if so-and-so gets the nomination" argument and that consistently amazes me.  This line of thinking has to be The Mother of All Facepalms, as the graphic on the right illustrates.  

The other thing that knots up my underwear is the sheer hubris of such a statement... as in who the fuck cares if YOU, as an individual, stay home?  Not me.  The problem is the aggregate effect of that attitude, which is to say thousands of individuals throwing a hissy fit and staying away from the polls on election day.  There's always an exception, of course, and by that I mean if those thousands of individuals happen to be moonbats who think Obama has betrayed them... in which case, yes.  Stay home.  Please.  

But if it's the conservatives that throw the hissy fit?  I mean... WTF?  You'd rather see Barry Fuckin' Obama win another term than see Romney in the White House?  Really?  You need to see a shrink if you REALLY feel that way, coz you're one sick puppy.

"I Thought I Was Cynical..."

That would be Mr. Doctor Krauthammer, on The One's stump speech last evening.  Here, see fer yerself:

Heh.  I didn't watch Barry, I can't watch Barry, I WON'T watch Barry.  The next time I'll watch Obama give a speech will be when he concedes on the evening of November 6, 2012.  I did watch Boehner, though, and I thought he did a good job.  But I guess I would think that, wouldn't I?

Apropos o' not much, FNC canceled Red Eye last evening in favor of another fucking re-run of meaningless bullshit emanating from Washington.  I'm still pissed.

What an Asshat

The right-side commentary about Barry's foot-stamping, piss 'n' moan, hissy-fit during his presser last evening was pretty entertaining reading (one such example).  I got the biggest kick out o' readin' all the gnashing and thrashing in the fever swamp blogs, though.  It seems like nobody likes poor Barry these days, even the moonbats who used to worship him.  That breaks my iddy-bitty lil heart.

Not really... Schadenfreude Я Us.  

More Truth

From the Usual Source.  Many's the Talking Head who've made the same sorta observation... that bein' all the Taliban have to do is wait us out... ever since The One gave his cynical and politically motivated version of the "Peace For Our Time" speech.  Yes, I question the timing...

I suppose I should be givin' props to our senior military guys for saluting smartly and movin' out on this, which IS exactly the right and proper thang.  I just can't find it in my heart to do that and I reserve the enlisted trash's god-given right to gripe, bitch, piss, and moan about the ossifers appointed above me... including my CinC.