The Wal-mart thing again

Matt Walsh vs. a Walmart employee: "I'm spoiled and lazy but Walmart should pay me more money."

Extra - Legal Insurrection looks into the future of the $15 minimum wage.

Swish - purrrrrr

Flashbak: "6 common sounds of yesteryear we no longer hear."  Number 6 is "the rotary dial."

I actually have a rotary and I love that phone.  It weighs about 50 pounds and the ringing bell is clear and sonorous.  And here's the best part: when you're pissed at a caller (e.g. telemarketer) you can slam down the handset with great force and abandon.

Thus always to entitlements

The Washington Post's Robert Samuelson has a great article about how Social Security has been gradually shifted over the years to the point where it now violates the principles that FDR once insisted upon: "Would Roosevelt recognize today's Social Security?"

Roosevelt would surely be proud of this, and yet he might also have reservations. Social Security has evolved into something he never intended and actively opposed.
It has become what was then called “the dole” and is now known as “welfare.” This forgotten history clarifies why America’s budget problems are so intractable.

Social Security's shift from a kind of savings plan to outright generational theft took decades, starting from an override of FDR's veto over payroll taxes.  The shift from Obamacare's always-specious claim of "budget neutrality" was far, far briefer.

Seems legit

The Hill: "Why is Obama returning to Washington?"

This theory seems as good as any.

Inflating the asset bubble for retirement dreams

Zero Hedge: "We're relying on phantom wealth to fund our retirement."  This will not end well: "Perhaps it's time that we face up to the fiscal reality that unprecedented promises can only be paid out of current income and hard assets that can be sold in vast quantities without depressing the price of those assets."

What did Hunter Pence do now?

MLB: "The 11 best signs trolling Hunter Pence."  Example: "Hunter Pence puts ketchup on his hot dog."  Heh.

Vanity of vanities - all is vanity

I've been trying to lay off the Obama-bashing posts because the blogosphere is already thick with posts, such as these:

Hot Air: "Remember when Obama took credit for pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq instead of blaming Maliki for it?"
Twitchy: "Obama counters own claim Iraq troop pullout wasn’t his decision."
Ace of Spades: "Obama Now: It Wasn't My Choice to Pull All Troops Out of Iraq; That Meanwich Stinkburger al-Maliki Made Me
Obama Then: It Was Totes My Decision to Pull All Troops Out of Iraq!!!"

This is why the remainder of Obama's "presidency" is going to be golf and fundraisers: golf is his reward to himself after the dime-store adulation of a fundraiser.  Rinse and repeat.

As public approval of Obama's foreign policy drops into the thirties, you'd think it would invite a little introspection, some self-assessment, maybe a new approach.  Not this guy: he gets a little criticism from his former Secretary of State and he throws a scatological temper tantrum.  This follows a pattern of reaction that Obama usually reserves for Republicans: there is no other valid viewpoint than his and those who oppose him only do so because they're "hatin' all the time."

Everything this guy does is designed to stroke his ego.  Even the vague threat of impeachment is something to be turned into a badge of honor (and - natch - fundraising.)  Instead of viewing his inability to move legislation as a fault, he turns it into a power trip.  Nothing is ever his fault, and he's constantly disappointed by everybody from Putin to the intelligence community.

The midterm elections are often, fairly or not, called a referendum on a President's performance and recent polling indicates it's going to be quite a vote of no-confidence.  But that's not Obama's fault either because, as he never tires of telling his fundraising crowds, Democrats just don't get excited for midterm elections.  Maybe they forgot to get gas for the car.  The football game was on TV.  Something.

Whatever the excuse, it has nothing to do with Obama.  Because he's awesome sauce.

I did not have relations with that foreign policy

Hillary Clinton has an interview in the Atlantic and she wants to make it clear that "‘Don’t do stupid stuff’ is not an organizing principle."  So the distancing has begun for the former Secretary of State.

Something bad in Baghdad

Twitchy reports early Twitter chatter of a possible coup in Iraq.  Or maybe a coup in the sense that Maliki won't step down from power.  Rumors are flying.

Race track tragedy

This is just an awful story but a young dirt track driver was killed by three-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart in a race last night.  Kevin Ward Jr. climbed out of his car to confront Stewart who hit Ward while the field was under caution.

This happens every once in a while in NASCAR where a (wrecked) driver will walk right in front of another driver who done-him-wrong.  In fact, here's an angry Tony Stewart back in 2012 throwing his helmet at Matt Kenseth:



Almost certainly, NASCAR will make a rule change that drivers cannot get out of their cars on the track until they get permission from safety crews (unless, of course, there's a fire or some other safety concern.)  This is not to exonerate Stewart's actions - nobody's quite sure what happened yet - but when tons of metal are on the move, it's probably best to stay out of the way.

Par for the course

Washington Post editorial: "Obama’s authorization of Iraq airstrikes isn’t connected to a coherent strategy."  "While U.S. airstrikes and drops of supplies may prevent the terrorist forces from massacring the Yazidi sect or toppling the pro-Western regime in Kurdistan, Mr. Obama lacks a plausible plan for addressing the larger threat posed by the Islamic State."

I understand the dilemma the President is in: he ran for office on the pledge to get out of Iraq.  But now that ISIS is on the march to Baghdad, the U.S. is dragged (reluctantly) back into the fray.  As the WashPost notes, it would be nice if Obama didn't just "check the box" again.

Extra - From Nice Deb.

More - Minuteman: "The Man Sans Plan."

Block-tastic!

I just saw "The Lego Movie" and can't remember the last time I LOL'd so much.  And, without giving away any spoilers, the Duplo addition was hilarious.

Borrowed words

At the suggestion of a friend, I'm reading Rick Perlstein's "Before the Storm" about Barry Goldwater.  It's pretty even-handed even though there are little slights and asides that reveal Perlstein's leanings.  Now there's an allegation that he plagiarized sections of his new book on Reagan.  Here's Tim Cavanaugh at the Corner: "Rick Perlstein: Probable plagiarist, definite jerk."

Dear Leader wants to hear from you

It was Obama's birthday yesterday - did you know?  Don't you even care?

The Federalist: "Kneel before Zod: On Celebrating Obama's Birthday."

As Twitchy likes to remind us, this is not a cult.

Over the cliff

Zero Hedge: "US is Bankrupt: $89.5 Trillion in US Liabilities vs. $82 Trillion in Household Net Worth & The Gap is Growing. We Now Await the Nature of the Cramdown."

Whole lotta similarities

This list of "Top 10 Rip-off Songs" caught my ear because I recently purchased the Spirit album with "Taurus" which is the - um - "inspiration" for Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven".

ManBearPig update

Darn you, empirical evidence!  Watts Up With That: "Global Temperature Update – Still no global warming for 17 years 10 months."

It's never the dog food

Hit and Run reports: "Survey Shows Massive Spike in Anti-Obamacare Opinion."  "In the last month, the survey reports an eight-point increase in unfavorable views of the health law, rising from 45 to 53 percent, and a two point drop in favorability from 39 down to 37.  Unfavorables are at their highest point ever in the survey, and the gap between positive and negative views of the law is nearly as large as it has ever been."

Could it be the ongoing policy cancellations or skyrocketing premiums?  Nope.  According to the reality-based community, it's stupid Americans.  Daily Kos: "Misinformation still driving Obamacare poll numbers."  By gum, this Administration just can't get their message across!

As they say in the ad biz: it's never the dog food.

That's enough carbonation for you, missy!

Legal Insurrection: "Judge Awards Student $210K for False “Bottled Water” Arrest."

Forget what that guy said

Hot Air: "Of course: 2014 Obama’s position on Ex-Im Bank is the opposite of 2008 Obama’s."  This is a common theme of that guy.