Common Sense Political Thought

Everyone who is paying attention to politics knows about Eric Massa by now. And, everyone who pays attention to politics also likely knew Massa would be spending an hour on Glenn Beck’s TV show. Even in the UK, they know about Massa and about the interview. At the end of the program, Beck apologized for what he deemed was a first-time event for his TV program: wasting “an hour of your time.” And The Guardian appears to agree.

Glenn Beck’s Massa attack

Maybe it takes one to know one, but Glenn Beck wasn’t buying any of Eric Massa’s stream of gibberish last night

As a rule: an interview where Glenn Beck comes out as the sane and rational one means you’re doing it wrong.

While I will not agree with The Guardian’s position that Beck comes across as insane or irrational, it is worth noting that The Guardian considered Massa as the more insane or irrational of the two.

Earlier I asked a question and answered it myself. “So, did he leave the leftist reservation? You bet he did.” I have to retract that. Massa did not leave the leftist reservation. He was further left than what was being voted on and he voted “no” because it wasn’t far enough left. It is still possible he left the Obama reservation. And it is still possible he is being Alinskyed due to that.

At a time when Democrats rule the roost, things that Massa are alleged to have done get swept under the rug so long as the Democrat votes right. Witness Rangel, Dodd, Frank, “cold cash” Jefferson (who “got it” from a non-political justice system), etc, ad infinitum. And the speed at which Massa’s alleged impecadillos have been used against him, considering he is a Democrat, is very interesting to say the least.

I have decided Massa is, indeed, a scuzzball along the lines of Rangel, Dodd, Frank, “cold cash” Jefferson, et al. But, since he didn’t play along with the other scuzzballs, he got outed. And, like Dana, I have little use for him. Massa ducked, dodged, dived his way through an hour-long interview where he had every opportunity to set all sorts of records straight. He tried the tactic of “it depends on what the definition of ‘is’ is” and failed. He groped someone but it wasn’t sexual? Are you kidding me?

Since this Massa kerfuffle broke out, I have learned more information about Massa. Back in 2007, Massa was one of the crowd of Democrats demonizing Rush Limbaugh for calling certain people “fake soldiers.”

That long video advertisement was chock full of lies and Democrat talking points and inflammatory rhetoric. Concerning Limbaugh’s “fake soldier” statement, someone went to jail. It wasn’t Limbaugh. It was the fake soldier.

Lest we forget, ladies and gentlemen, Jesse MacBeth, who was the phony soldier that I called a phony soldier. Jesse MacBeth, back in September 2007: “Man who posed as military hero sentenced to five months in prison.” This is from the Seattle Times. He was a phony soldier. I was dead right about everything I said. And now the media, in trying to lump me with Eric Massa… I mean, what are they actually trying to do here? They’re actually trying to chide me for believing something a Democrat says? Are we not supposed to believe Democrats? So I’m now associated with this kook? What is their headline here? “Massa New Conservative Media Hero?” Here’s the bottom line: I’ve done more for Eric Massa — I’ve done more to illustrate that this guy is a lunatic fringe kook in the last ten minutes — than he’s been able to do himself his entire life.

Here is that Seattle Times article. It’s a short article. And one line, among all the other highly damaging lines, stands out to me. “MacBeth spent 44 days as a private at Fort Benning, Ga., in 2003, but was released ‘for issues related to entry-level performance and conduct,’ according to court papers.” Now Massa and all the other Democrats swept that little issue under the rug, as is SOP. No need for truth when there is a dishonorable agenda to further.

I reported on another out-and-out lie the Democrats used to further their agenda and then swept under the rug when Patterico brought the truth out for the public to see. Sheila Jackson Lee planted a fake doctor, who was an Obama delegate, in her Town Hall meeting to spread a lie in furtherance of ObamaCare. But the Democrats are not distancing themselves, and have never distanced themselves as far as I know, from the Houston Democrat’s dishonorable staging of abject falsehoods in furtherance of the Democrat goals.

Massa further claimed the unions were telling him if he didn’t vote the way they wanted him to vote, they’d cease giving him campaign money and asked the rhetorical “isn’t that bribery”. I, at first, considered that to be highly likely. But I have since changed my mind. That’s what people do with their campaign contributions. They send the money to politicians who support their agenda and cut politicians off when they don’t support their agenda. That’s politics. And, that’s First Amendment free speech rights. People send money to politicians to help the politicians further speak out on issues the people want pushed. Campaign money is speech.

Massa’s problem isn’t that he’s a known entity; it’s that he forgot what the team rules were. Massa is a far-left scam artist who uses lies to further his agenda and tries to redefine “is” to escape the results of his actions. Even when he accepts responsibility for his actions, he redefines his actions to avoid that responsibility. But that is nothing new. We had a recent Democrat President convicted of suborning perjury who did the exact same thing. Massa’s problem, as I see it, is that he’s so far around the bend that he forgot to play ball with his own team. And his own team is well-known for cannibalizing their own to further their agenda.

That’s Massa’s problem. I believe it was Glenn Beck who stated my position on Massa’s value before I got more information. Massa could be described not as a quality individual whose words are unassailable but rather as a member of the “mob” who turns State’s evidence. He’s a low-life who can be used to sink other low-lifes. But, on further review, he’s really not even worth that.
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Cross Posted on Truth Before Dishonor

Best all around car mag

Some other magazines may be better in specific areas, but for my money C&D is simply the tops for the all around car buff. It offers the best balance of serious automotive journalism, including perhaps the most comprehensive testing, along with plenty of offbeat fun. C&D isn’t above indulging in such hare brained stunts as sending a group of AWD minivans on a trek from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska in the dead of winter (a trip a friend of mine and I did the previous summer in a rented Chevy 4×4 pickup) and racing a Porsche 911 against a Porsche powered small plane in order to entertain their readers. I’ve been reading it since the late 70’s and I always liked their sense of fun and irreverence. In the years since, they’ve matured a bit, but thankfully not too much. I mean, what other car magazine rates, among other things, the “beer case” capacity of an SUV?

As for the complaints, the one that makes no sense to me is the charge that they are somehow “right wing”. True, they are unabashed car nuts, which probably offends the Naderite contingent of the political Left that seems to hate anything related to the automobile, but why these people even bother to read a car mag in the first place is beyond me. They’d be better served reading “Bike & Granola” instead. The other, more serious complaint, is that they favor certain carmakers over others, most notably Honda and BMW. I’ve no experience with the latter, however, my current car, a 1991 Civic Si (picked in part because of a good review in a C&D comparison test) just turned over 200K on the odometer, has been extremely reliable, and to top it off is a joy to drive. So, if the guys at C&D consistently rate Hondas and Bimmers better than the competition, I tend to take them at their word, especially since I recall how, back in the 80’s they were beating up on BMW for routinely selling overpriced, underpowered Yuppiemobilies to poseurs who cared more about impressing people at the golf club than handling, acceleration and braking.

In sum, after three decades of following this magazine, it’s still the first one I look to when I want to check out a specific car, or just see the latest trends in the auto world. Rating a car is a fine mix of the objective (test data and so forth) and the subjective (ride quality, handling properties, etc.) and these guys consistently do the best job. And, if they throw in some fun and entertainment, so much the better.

Culled out
Obama administration will accept no more public input for federal fishery strategy

By Robert Montgomery
ESPNOutdoors.com

The Obama administration will accept no more public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing the nation’s oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters.

This announcement comes at the time when the situation supposedly still is “fluid” and the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force still hasn’t issued its final report on zoning uses of these waters.

That’s a disappointment, but not really a surprise for fishing industry insiders who have negotiated for months with officials at the Council on Environmental Quality and bureaucrats on the task force. These angling advocates have come to suspect that public input into the process was a charade from the beginning.

“When the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) completed their successful campaign to convince the Ontario government to end one of the best scientifically managed big game hunts in North America (spring bear), the results of their agenda had severe economic impacts on small family businesses and the tourism economy of communities across northern and central Ontario,” said Phil Morlock, director of environmental affairs for Shimano.

“Now we see NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the administration planning the future of recreational fishing access in America based on a similar agenda of these same groups and other Big Green anti-use organizations, through an Executive Order by the President. The current U.S. direction with fishing is a direct parallel to what happened in Canada with hunting: The negative economic impacts on hard working American families and small businesses are being ignored.

Read the rest here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/saltwater/news/story?id=4975762

President Obama said, concerning his plan to “reform” health care:

We’ve been talking about this for a century. If not now, when? If not us, who?

How about never, by nobody? From The Philadelphia Inquirer:

Obama slammed Republicans for their opposition to the Democrats’ proposals, saying they had failed to act when they controlled Congress.

The statement contains the underlying assumption that government needs to do something about our health care system; to me, that assumption is faulty. For those with insurance, our health care system is the best in the world; for those who do not have health insurance, it should be their responsibility to get it, not the government’s — meaning: the taxpayers’ — responsibility to provide it.

Van Halen is what they listen to in Heaven, I am absolutely convinced
of that. These guys rock harder than any other band in the world, and
that’s saying something when you have Led Zeppelin and Guns & Roses to
compete with! I’ve seen them three times in concert, and each show
better than the last. Eddie is the best guitarist since Hendrix, and
Diamond Dave the best frontman in rock history, beating even Roger
Daltrey of The Who.

Van Halen, how doth I love thee? Let me count the ways. Let’s start
with their first album. From the moment I heard the opening strains of
Runnin’ With The Devil I knew I had heard something unique. That is
followed by Eruption, a mind exploding guitar riff, the best since
Jimi played the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock.

Then comes Van Halen II, a worthy follow up effort, if not quite as
consistent as their first. Top songs include DOA, Beautiful Girls, and
of course Dance The Night Away, perhaps their most romantic song.

Next is VH 3, decent, but not up the standards of the first two. Best
track: definitely Everybody Wants Some. VH 4 is reviewed elsewhere on
this Site, so I’ll just leave it at that.

Diver Down, their 5th effort, well, sorry, but it just sucks. My
advice: just skip this dog of an album, and go straight on to 1984.
Van Halen never lacked for a sense of humor, thus this album, perhaps
the most fun and playful of the lot, is the exact opposite of the grim
world presented on Orwell’s book of the same name. Great songs include
Panama, Hot For Teacher, and Drop Dead Legs.

Anyway, that’s about it for now.

I am going to create a new series of reviews, namely, the greatest rock bands in the world - the Stones, Zeppelin, Van Halen, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd - you name it. It’s a departure from my usual book & movie reviews, and hopefully be of dome interest here. After all, we all grew up on rock n roll, do why not?

Anyway, enjoy!

Perhaps you’ve heard that Eric Massa (D-NY) has become embroiled in a sex scandal in his first term in Congress, and that he’s leaving office because of this sex scandal. If the claims in the scandal are true, Massa needs to go. But I have to question how and why the scandal got publicized. After all, he’s a Democrat and these sorts of scandals are very often covered up so long as the Democrat is doing what the left want him to do. So, did he leave the leftist reservation? You bet he did.

Here’s a small portion of Massa’s (D-NY) blast, as transcribed by NBC Chicago:

“Let me tell you a story about Rahm Emanuel,” Massa said on the program. “I was a congressman in my first eight weeks; I was in the congressional gym, I went down and I worked out and I went into the showers … I’m sitting there showering, naked as a jaybird and here comes Rahm Emanuel not even with a towel wrapped around his tush, and he starts poking a finger in my chest yelling at me because I wasn’t going to vote for the president’s budget.

“Do you know how awkward it is to have a political argument with a naked man?”

You can hear Massa himself saying it here.

But that’s not all. That’s not nearly all. Not by a long shot. There is a lot more fury from this Democrat Congressman aimed at ObamaNation’s front man, Rahm Emanuel. Again, from the above-linked NBC Chicago transcription:

“I was set up for this from the very, very beginning,” he said onWKPQ 105.3 FM in New York. “You think that somehow they didn’t come after me to get rid of me because my vote is the deciding vote in the health care bill? Then, ladies and gentlemen, you live today in a world that is so innocent as to not understand what’s going on in Washington, D.C.”

During the radio-show monologue Massa said Emanuel cursed him out like nobody’s business for voting against the president’s health care bill last year.

Massa said Rahm called him and cursed him out for voting against ObamaCare and that Massa told Rahm to do things that are anatomically impossible. Then Massa said he told Rahm to start over. “Let’s pretend you’re the White House Chief of Staff and let’s pretend I’m a Congressman.” Or something along those lines. Rahm told Massa that Massa had crossed the line with his language, to which Massa retorted “you already crossed that line first” or matters to that effect.

Massa continued by saying the union bosses said he would not get any union money unless he voted for ObamaCare and then asked the rhetorical question whether that was a bribe or no. And there’s much more to what Massa said, and was very much recorded live (except my meager google skills can’t find the whole thing I heard).

Massa very much blasted the Chicago machine that is in corrupt control. Massa very much blasted other corrupt machines which are also in control with ObamaNation. And Massa, the NY Democrat, is being Alinskyed in order to further the Obama Agenda.

Granted, if Massa did what is reported he did, he needs to go. But it’s the reason those on the left are airing Massa’s deeds that is the more egregious. There is massive corruption, massive arm-breaking, massive politics of personal destruction involved in the political assassination of Massa.

UPDATE: Lady Libertas has more. And, again, she is not necessarily singing Massa’s praise. But she does have popcorn.
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Cross Posted on Truth Before Dishonor

On the way to and from SPC Pico’s Army Reserve unit, there’s a covered school bus stop in Coaldale, Pennsylvania, with an amusing slogan painted on one side:

Continue reading ‘Coaldale’ »