SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE!

Just go read this and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

VETERANS' DAY AND ALL THE WONDERFUL PEOPLE WHO DESERVE OUR THANKS

Starting in 1775, this nation has always been blessed with heroes who have by their actions made this country not only possible but exceptional (yes, President Obama, EXCEPTIONAL). In a world that is p.c.-crazy, I refuse to be stomped into accepting that other countries have just as much claim to exceptionalism as do we. T'ain't so. They'd be speaking German in Paris were it not for us. And had Lyndon Baines Johnson not decided that he was a wartime tactician, South Vietnam would not be dominated by North Vietnam. There will always be an England but it might not be the England we know and frequently love, were it not for us. A lot of monuments would have bit it had our brave soldiers not joined in the European war effort. And had Harry Truman not made the tough decision to drop the A bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, many hundreds of thousands of American and Japanese citizens might have died before the War in the Pacific ended. Were it not for our military, South Korea might not be as vibrantly free as it is today and it could not have produced the radiant Yu-Na Kim.

So thank you my dear Veterans. I appreciate your sacrifice and your hard work on behalf of a country that seems to only really express its gratitude once per year, another luxury you have won for us!

POOR LITTLE MASS MURDERER TO BE
EXECUTED TONIGHT!

John Allen Muhammad will die via lethal injection tonight at 9 P.M. unless Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine grants clemency which he is unlikely to do. Muhammad's attorneys are claiming that the poor soul was abused and suffered from PTSD (which is a real illness and not something to be claimed lightly) and Gulf War Syndrome. This flies directly in the face of evidence offered at his trial which indicated that his intent was to kill his ex-wife and that the other killings were just done as a smoke screen to obscure his involvement. Either way - he fomented a reign of terror in the D.C. Metro area and Virginia as well (I was living in Ohio at the time but my sister was here and I was seriously frightened for her).

I'm conflicted about the execution because I do believe in the sanctity of human life (unlike Mr. Muhammad and his cohort Malvo) but I also believe that some crimes are so heinous that they beg for the death penalty and I also believe that once the death penalty has been imposed, it's cruel and unusual punishment to the families and friends of the victims to prolong things indefinitely!

UPDATE: I've never like our governor particularly but today he showed me something. He said as far as he could tell, the Courts had done a good job and he saw no reason to interfere or intervene. So the execution will take place tonight at 9 p.m.

Virginia has handled this expeditiously and since the Supreme Court has denied any involvement, and since Gov. Kaine has indicated a lack of interest in granting clemency - Mr. Muhammad will pay with his life for his despicable crimes!

UPDATE: Last night at 9:11 p.m., Mr. Muhammad breathed his last and was pronounced dead. He died as he lived, never once expressing the slightest bit of remorse for his evil deeds. At the end he even denied the families of his victims the satisfaction of knowing that he suffered, as he quietly closed his eyes, took a deep breath and left this world. Pfui on him and leave him to Satan or God - as the case may be. There's no possibility that Mr. Muhammad will ever come back and wreak havoc in the lives of any other innocent people.

ALL THE USUAL SUSPECTS -
SOON TO BE UNEMPLOYED!

"Yea" Votes on H.R. 3962:
LA-2 Cao, Anh [R]
AR-1 Berry, Robert [D]
AR-2 Snyder, Victor [D]
AZ-1 Kirkpatrick, Ann [D]
AZ-4 Pastor, Edward [D]
AZ-5 Mitchell, Harry [D]
AZ-7 Grijalva, Raul [D]
AZ-8 Giffords, Gabrielle [D]
CA-1 Thompson, C. [D]
CA-10 Garamendi, John [D]
CA-11 McNerney, Jerry [D]
CA-12 Speier, Jackie [D]
CA-13 Stark, Fortney [D]
CA-14 Eshoo, Anna [D]
CA-15 Honda, Michael [D]
CA-16 Lofgren, Zoe [D]
CA-17 Farr, Sam [D]
CA-18 Cardoza, Dennis [D]
CA-20 Costa, Jim [D]
CA-23 Capps, Lois [D]
CA-27 Sherman, Brad [D]
CA-28 Berman, Howard [D]
CA-29 Schiff, Adam [D]
CA-30 Waxman, Henry [D]
CA-31 Becerra, Xavier [D]
CA-32 Chu, Judy [D]
CA-33 Watson, Diane [D]
CA-34 Roybal-Allard, Lucille [D]
CA-35 Waters, Maxine [D]
CA-36 Harman, Jane [D]
CA-37 Richardson, Laura [D]
CA-38 Napolitano, Grace [D]
CA-39 Sanchez, Linda [D]
CA-43 Baca, Joe [D]
CA-47 Sanchez, Loretta [D]
CA-5 Matsui, Doris [D]
CA-51 Filner, Bob [D]
CA-53 Davis, Susan [D]
CA-6 Woolsey, Lynn [D]
CA-7 Miller, George [D]
CA-8 Pelosi, Nancy [D]
CA-9 Lee, Barbara [D]
CO-1 DeGette, Diana [D]
CO-2 Polis, Jared [D]
CO-3 Salazar, John [D]
CO-7 Perlmutter, Ed [D]
CT-1 Larson, John [D]
CT-2 Courtney, Joe [D]
CT-3 DeLauro, Rosa [D]
CT-4 Himes, James [D]
CT-5 Murphy, Christopher [D]
FL-11 Castor, Kathy [D]
FL-17 Meek, Kendrick [D]
FL-19 Wexler, Robert [D]
FL-20 Wasserman Schultz, Debbie [D]
FL-22 Klein, Ron [D]
FL-23 Hastings, Alcee [D]
FL-3 Brown, Corrine [D]
FL-8 Grayson, Alan [D]
GA-13 Scott, David [D]
GA-2 Bishop, Sanford [D]
GA-4 Johnson, Henry [D]
GA-5 Lewis, John [D]
HI-1 Abercrombie, Neil [D]
HI-2 Hirono, Mazie [D]
IA-1 Braley, Bruce [D]
IA-2 Loebsack, David [D]
IA-3 Boswell, Leonard [D]
IL-1 Rush, Bobby [D]
IL-11 Halvorson, Deborah [D]
IL-12 Costello, Jerry [D]
IL-14 Foster, Bill [D]
IL-17 Hare, Phil [D]
IL-2 Jackson, Jesse [D]
IL-3 Lipinski, Daniel [D]
IL-4 Gutierrez, Luis [D]
IL-5 Quigley, Mike [D]
IL-7 Davis, Danny [D]
IL-8 Bean, Melissa [D]
IL-9 Schakowsky, Janice [D]
IN-1 Visclosky, Peter [D]
IN-2 Donnelly, Joe [D]
IN-7 Carson, André [D]
IN-8 Ellsworth, Brad [D]
IN-9 Hill, Baron [D]
KS-3 Moore, Dennis [D]
KY-3 Yarmuth, John [D]
MA-1 Olver, John [D]
MA-10 Delahunt, William [D]
MA-2 Neal, Richard [D]
MA-3 McGovern, James [D]
MA-4 Frank, Barney [D]
MA-5 Tsongas, Niki [D]
MA-6 Tierney, John [D]
MA-7 Markey, Edward [D]
MA-8 Capuano, Michael [D]
MA-9 Lynch, Stephen [D]
MD-2 Ruppersberger, C.A. [D]
MD-3 Sarbanes, John [D]
MD-4 Edwards, Donna [D]
MD-5 Hoyer, Steny [D]
MD-7 Cummings, Elijah [D]
MD-8 Van Hollen, Christopher [D]
ME-1 Pingree, Chellie [D]
ME-2 Michaud, Michael [D]
MI-1 Stupak, Bart [D]
MI-12 Levin, Sander [D]
MI-13 Kilpatrick, Carolyn [D]
MI-14 Conyers, John [D]
MI-15 Dingell, John [D]
MI-5 Kildee, Dale [D]
MI-7 Schauer, Mark [D]
MI-9 Peters, Gary [D]
MN-1 Walz, Timothy [D]
MN-4 McCollum, Betty [D]
MN-5 Ellison, Keith [D]
MN-8 Oberstar, James [D]
MO-1 Clay, William [D]
MO-3 Carnahan, Russ [D]
MO-5 Cleaver, Emanuel [D]
MS-2 Thompson, Bennie [D]
NC-1 Butterfield, George [D]
NC-12 Watt, Melvin [D]
NC-13 Miller, R. [D]
NC-2 Etheridge, Bob [D]
NC-4 Price, David [D]
ND-0 Pomeroy, Earl [D]
NH-1 Shea-Porter, Carol [D]
NH-2 Hodes, Paul [D]
NJ-10 Payne, Donald [D]
NJ-12 Holt, Rush [D]
NJ-13 Sires, Albio [D]
NJ-1Andrews, Robert [D]
NJ-6 Pallone, Frank [D]
NJ-8 Pascrell, William [D]
NJ-9 Rothman, Steven [D]
NM-1 Heinrich, Martin [D]
NM-3 Lujan, Ben [D]
NV-1 Berkley, Shelley [D]
NV-3 Titus, Dina [D]
NY-1 Bishop, Timothy [D]
NY-10 Towns, Edolphus [D]
NY-11 Clarke, Yvette [D]
NY-12 Velazquez, Nydia [D]
NY-14 Maloney, Carolyn [D]
NY-15 Rangel, Charles [D]
NY-16 Serrano, José [D]
NY-17 Engel, Eliot [D]
NY-18 Lowey, Nita [D]
NY-19 Hall, John [D]
NY-2 Israel, Steve [D]
NY-21 Tonko, Paul [D]
NY-22 Hinchey, Maurice [D]
NY-23 Owens, William [D]
NY-24 Arcuri, Michael [D]
NY-25 Maffei, Daniel [D]
NY-27 Higgins, Brian [D]
NY-28 Slaughter, Louise [D]
NY-4 McCarthy, Carolyn [D]
NY-5 Ackerman, Gary [D]
NY-6 Meeks, Gregory [D]
NY-7 Crowley, Joseph [D]
NY-8 Nadler, Jerrold [D]
NY-9 Weiner, Anthony [D]
OH-1 Driehaus, Steve [D]
OH-11 Fudge, Marcia [D]
OH-13 Sutton, Betty [D]
OH-15 Kilroy, Mary Jo [D]
OH-17 Ryan, Timothy [D]
OH-18 Space, Zachary [D]
OH-6 Wilson, Charles [D]
OH-9 Kaptur, Marcy [D]
OR-1 Wu, David [D]
OR-3 Blumenauer, Earl [D]
OR-4 DeFazio, Peter [D]
OR-5 Schrader, Kurt [D]
PA-1 Brady, Robert [D]
PA-10 Carney, Christopher [D]
PA-11 Kanjorski, Paul [D]
PA-12 Murtha, John [D]
PA-13 Schwartz, Allyson [D]
PA-14 Doyle, Michael [D]
PA-2 Fattah, Chaka [D]
PA-3 Dahlkemper, Kathleen [D]
PA-7 Sestak, Joe [D]
PA-8 Murphy, Patrick [D]
RI-1 Kennedy, Patrick [D]
RI-2 Langevin, James [D]
SC-5 Spratt, John [D]
SC-6 Clyburn, James [D]
TN-5 Cooper, Jim [D]
TN-9 Cohen, Steve [D]
TX-15 Hinojosa, Rubén [D]
TX-16 Reyes, Silvestre [D]
TX-18 Jackson-Lee, Sheila [D]
TX-20 Gonzalez, Charles [D]
TX-23 Rodriguez, Ciro [D]
TX-25 Doggett, Lloyd [D]
TX-27 Ortiz, Solomon [D]
TX-28 Cuellar, Henry [D]
TX-29 Green, Raymond [D]
TX-30 Johnson, Eddie [D]
TX-9 Green, Al [D]
VA-11 Connolly, Gerald [D]
VA-3 Scott, Robert [D]
VA-5 Perriello, Thomas [D]
VA-8 Moran, James [D]
VT-0 Welch, Peter [D]
WA-1 Inslee, Jay [D]
WA-2 Larsen, Rick [D]
WA-6 Dicks, Norman [D]
WA-7 McDermott, James [D]
WA-9 Smith, Adam [D]
WI-2 Baldwin, Tammy [D]
WI-3 Kind, Ronald [D]
WI-4 Moore, Gwen [D]
WI-7 Obey, David [D]
WI-8 Kagen, Steve [D]
WV-1 Mollohan, Alan [D]
WV-3 Rahall, Nick [D]

The above-listed members of Congress who voted in favor of San Fran Nan's disaster of a health care bill deserve to be voted out of office in November 2010. It is up to the individual voters in the various states to see to it that these EMPLOYEES of Americans who do not want this unbelievable intrusion into our personal business and lives and who have made it clear that they do not want this despicable health care debacle to continue should be handed their "walking papers" as of next November 2010. It's up to us to chastise them suitably. They do work for us - however much they'd like to ignore that fact!

NHK TROPHY - JAPAN

To my neverending astonishment, Ashley Wagner (of Fairfax, Virginia) finished in third place after the long program in the Ladies' Single competition. I wasn't holding out much hope that Ms. Wagner could win after the long program because she is so young and so new to international competition. It wasn't unexpected that the brilliant former world champion, the luminescent Miki Ando, rallied to take the prize. (Why does she skate ever so slightly bent over?) However, it was gratifying to see Ashley Wagner skate so well. Unlike so many of the elite skaters in her event, she actually lands her jumps fully rotated and that makes all the difference in the world, permitting her program to flow more attractively. Leonova of Russia placed in second. She is delightful to watch, bubbling and fun, but she's not the skater that Miki Ando is, barely ready to skate in Ms. Wagner's company, nor even remotely close to the radiant skills of Yu-Na Kim of South Korea. Well let's face it - Yu Na Kim is her own category! She is a skater who makes the viewer believe in God's benificent plans for his children!

Against my will, I found myself rooting for Brian Joubert of France in the Men's singles, just because he is just so masculine and (forgive me my cougar moment) absolutely sexy! And, as it happens, he won the gold with a very solid free skate which included a quad that was spot on! This is an improvement on his performance in his first competition of the season on home ice at the Rostelecom event. Jeremy Abbott of the United States did not skate well and therefore, it was Johnny Weir who fluttered into 2nd place with everyone else trailing behind. I have to say, I have long wondered about Takahiko Kozuka of Japan who is an excellent competitor. And then this morning, it hit me! He looks like Nancy Kerrigan! And shares some of her inconsistency as well. But he is still a lot of fun to watch and has some good technical abilities. The Czech skater placed in third.

Charlie Davis and Meryl White took the gold in ice dancing and are now ranked #1 in the world. I don't think they have the emotional stamina to win gold at the Olympics, however.

Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov of Russia were fantastic in the pairs competition - fantastically courageous. She pancaked onto the ice as a result of an attempted quad throw jump and they had to take a 3-minute break in their program in order to finish. Consequently, they placed poorly. The pairs skating was won by Pang and Tong of China who skated dependably well. I still have a serious gripe with her grooming and the filthy skate laces. This time, her hair was combed (in a peculiar style that defies description) but the laces still were dirty. Shame on you dear. It is a presentation faux pas of major proportions in my view.

Lake Placid next week kids. Looking forward to it.

FORT HOOD SHOOTINGS

The Muslim murderer who killed 13 and wounded 30 and was shouting Allah Akabar during his very calm and methodical rampage is being carefully tended in the hospital, recovering from his wounds (my sense of irony points out that he was stopped by shots from a FEMALE first responder)! Thus, we may be able to find out why he decided to do what he did. Personally, I don't need to hear from him. He is a Muslim, he was behaving irrationally before his rampage and he was shouting a favored phrase of demented Muslim killers everywhere! I have been told over and over and over again that profiling is wrong. I call it prudent. You have a Muslim psychiatrist (and it has long been said that most psychiatrists are nuts!) who is doing everything in his power to avoid being deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq where he might be forced to (horrors) kill one of his fellow religionists to protect his own life. He is a frequenter of radical websites (surely the Army or Marines track this kind of warning sign of Internet usage) and making irrational remarks around the base. WHY in hell didn't they slap his happy ass into a rubber room?!

People on the train this morning were discussing this horrendous event and saying, why wasn't he brought down sooner. It was, after all, a military base. Some of our wonderful Marines who were traveling to Quantico said that they don't trundle around their base armed. It would just be weird. Hmmmm! That might have to change, guys!

Finally, once again, Zippy the Prez stuck his skinny foot in his oversized and overused mouth yesterday when he appeared (after the news of the shooting broke) at an event honoring Native Americans where he waded into a speech into the third or fourth paragraph before even mentioning the tragedy with a cursory "Sorry guys!" I hate to say this, but y'all elected a major "tool" to be president! He is a disgrace and an embarrassment. Dems, as fast as you can, move away from the train wreck named Barack Hussein Obama! Don't let him bring you down next year when you're up for reelection. Don't let that lizard faced crone who is speaker of the House convince you to throw yourselves under the bus for her disastrous health care bill. Quick now, save yourselves!

UPDATE: This morning our oh so wise President had more to say:

In the wake of the deadliest mass shooting at a U.S. base, President Obama on Friday cautioned against jumping to conclusions on the motive of the suspect. (I think the fact that he was shouting "Allah Akabar" whilst running around killing far too many of his fellow humans would be a big fat clue you ignorant wetback!)

"We don't know all the answers yet and I would caution against jumping to conclusions until we have all the facts," Obama said on the White House lawn. (Even when you are smacked in the face with the answers, Mr. President, you still won't "get it"!) Contrast this with his remarks when his pal in Cambridge was arrested for being overly contentious with the Cambridge police. Then he assumed racism before he knew ANY of the facts!

Well, President Obama - which is it? Get all the facts and then opine or opine absent any facts at all?

THOUSANDS OF "WE THE PEOPLE" ON THE STEPS OF THE CAPITOL

They came from Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia and a plethora of other states to tell the U.S. Congress that "We the People" their employers do not like or want the incoherent and costly health care reform bill that San Fran Nan has put together her own self and is attempting to ramrod through the U.S. House of Representatives - as soon as Friday, in fact!

She doesn't listen, she doesn't hear, she is an overly botoxed haridan with the intelligence of a flea (don't like to insult fleas) who has decided that this boondoggle of a bill (2,000 pages in length) that is doubtless loaded with earmarks is going to pass whether we want it to pass or not. Thank goodness the Senate is not such an easy sell on this bill. There are enough Blue Dog Democrats (and thank God for them, I might add) who can and will - out of self-preservation if nothing else - block passage of this [probably] unconstitutional trampling of the American citizens' rights!

I might not be so very very against this massive health care bill if it were written with clarity, hashed out in committees where any obvious problems could be both aired and corrected. The American people don't like to buy a pig in a poke, Mrs. Pelosi. Put down your pen, you ignorant old bag and listen to the American people who are telling you what NOT to do. And yes, Madame Speaker - I CAN call you an old bag because I am one of them myself. However, my IQ is slightly above plant life, unlike yours, and I can see all the unintended consequences and bankrupting of your great grandchildren this bill will cause.
First photograph by Dave Anderson and
fantastic 2nd photograph by Ed Schultz!

BREAKING THE UNWRITTEN RULE!?

The unwritten rule has always been that until a primary contest is decided the national party will not endorse either candidate. Now Senator John Cornyn is endorsing a candidate in a primary that has yet to be held! Back the bus up, bucko! Let Florida have its primary and then endorse the WINNER of the primary. The National GOP is not and should not be in the business of deciding who candidates for individual offices are to be. No sir. We're tired of the disastrous crap being ladled out by the National GOP bigwigs who think they know better than "We the People" who don't like anything you guys are doing lately.

Did this summer's tea parties tell you nothing about the mood of the American electorate? Have you learned nothing? Are you capable of learning anything? Would you prefer that the entire Republican Party be torn down and a new party that is responsive be built in its place? We can do that you know. We might do that out of sheer frustration with the boneheaded stupidity on display at a national Party level.

And lest the Dems get all excited and think that a civil war is brewing in the Republican Party - look to your own guys where San Fran Nan and Senator Cadaver of Nevada are selling you out on a minute-by-minute basis to the worst excesses of the looney leftwing! Y'all have your own problems to solve, doncha!?

WAS HE HOPING THAT WE WOULDN'T NOTICE?

Our esteemed obfuscator, President Obama, is apparently not vouchsafing to release to us poor peasants the contents of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a document which, if it is to have the force of law, must be ratified by the United States Congress. The contents that have been winkled out (hat tip to The Anchoress) are chilling in their effect:

The internet chapter of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a secret copyright treaty whose text Obama’s administration refused to disclose due to “national security” concerns, has leaked. It’s bad.
…ISPs have to cut off the Internet access of accused copyright infringers or face liability. This means that your entire family could be denied to the internet — and hence to civic participation, health information, education, communications, and their means of earning a living — if one member is accused of copyright infringement, without access to a trial or counsel.

How much longer are we willing to have our elected officials play fast and loose with our Constitutionally protected freedoms, all the while parsing their actions in such a way that we're supposed to be convinced that they're completely innocent of their incursions? Fie on them and their works.

Bunch of thugs!

WE TOOK BACK OUR STATE!

And in the process sent a message (I hope) to the Dems in Congress - screw with over half the population at your peril! Bob McDonnell defeated rather convincingly a run-of-the-mill tax and spend Democrat who had the added good fortune of having our President campaign for him. President Obama has no coattails!

The victory of Christi in New Jersey was another indication that the moderate and right of the nation are fed up with the insanity taking place in our nation's capital and most especially the insanity being displayed by Speaker Pelosi and Harry Reid in their fervid push to take over 1/6th of the nation's economy and rain destruction upon seniors in this nation. I might remind them that they are seniors themselves and thus should be more thoughtful and respectful.

Blue dog Democrats should be and probably are shaking in their BVDs over their prospects of retaining their seats in the 2010 election. This bodes well for putting the brakes on a nearly 2,000 page incoherent health care reform bill put forth by San Fran Nan that will cost close to $1 trillion! Has the botox finally rotted her brain beyond redemption? Please dear Lord, take that frozen and ugly visage out of our sight sooner rather than later. I can wait until 2010 but that's the best I can do!

It is essential to replace a good portion of the current crop of loons occupying The Hill with sensible and more moderate people who will put the electorate's concerns and best interests before their own political gain. So what if we're saddled with 4 more years of Al Franken and his stolen Senate seat - if we can put enough intelligent and qualified people in the Senate and the House, he'll be marginalized, as he should be!

Remember - if it isn't close, they cannot cheat!

UPDATE: The immature infant posing as our president at the moment (only until we can boot his skinny ass back to Chicago in 2012) claims he didn't even watch the returns last night. May I say - horsefeathers to that claim? The man is nothing if not a politician and to a politician, election returns are like crack! Addictive and as necessary as breathing. And our president knows, he has to know, that the election returns in New Jersey are a loud and very clear message to him and to the Congress to cool their jets! Virginia's results, as delightful as they are, not so much because Virginia has always been a more conservative state, but New Jersey? Give me a break!

UPDATE #2: There is a rumor going around that NY 23rd was lost because of hatred for Sarah Palin. To that I respond succinctly: "Bullshit!"

I VOTED!

And was it a sign that not one Democrat was out in front of my polling place? Only Republicans and Independents bothered to get up that early.

Lazy bums! (I've been up since 5 a.m. and took a train into D.C. from Fredericksburg that made me late for work - I'm entitled to be more than normally grumpy!)