Thank You, Uno!!!

We sadly note that Uno’s reign as top dog is about to conclude as the Westminster Kennel Club is about to celebrate its annual tournament to select the most celebrated canine of the year.

What a joy it was to see Uno, the lovable and seemingly defiant Beagle, an everyman’s breed of dog, no designer or exotic yuppie or royal specialty breed take top honors last year. Especially enjoyable was that Uno was a beagle through and through. Sure he performed the obligatory rituals flawlessly, but he never surrendered his “beagle-ness” throughout. Uno took on each task with the usual “glad to please” attitude that the breed is famous for, but there was also a little sparkle in his eyes that seemed to suggest, “you’re going to owe me” for this.

In the heat of the Presidential primary, while John McCain, Hilary Clinton, and Barack Obama fought to see who would be elected top dog in November, for millions of dog lovers nationwide for at least that shining moment, the answer was clear, Uno.

Uno would appear on all the required television shows. Did Bill O’Reilly feel slighted that Uno was never the lead interview on “The Factor.” Thankfully, our beloved opinionated Irishman did not send pain-in-the-ass producer, Jesse Walters to attempt an ambush interview of the dogged celebrity.

Surely, if Uno had been invited to sing the national anthem at a major sporting event, he would have done much better than many of today’s pop music sensations who do so.

Alas, another pooch will be picked this week, and it’s hard to imagine any of the finalists will come close to capturing our hearts the way Uno did. While it’s unlikely another beagle will be top dog for decades, can we at least hold out hopes for a good old Labrador retriever. Perhaps Laura Ingraham can get her prime pooch, Lucy, to opine on the matter.

Michigan Metal

Retro-styling or hard reality? Which car best represents the future of the United States automotive industry?



I saw a new Mustang GT convertible on the parking lot today. What a beautiful car, its styling sleek and stylish. One could think of the original Mustang of 1964 and its descendents until the Mustang mystique was squeezed into a Pinto body as the Mustang II in 1974. Although it still looked like a Mustang in many respects, everything about it was a jazzed up Pinto, and folks have said something about putting lipstick on a pig?

Michigan’s unemployment rate is over 10%. Things aren’t much better in Indiana and Ohio, two states with a heavy interest in the automotive industry. Through out the country, automotive factories have closed down. Here in Baltimore, the Chevy plant died when GM discontinued the Astro van, but the writing was on the wall when they stopped making the midsized cars of yesteryear when beautiful Malibu’s, GTO’s, Cutlass’s, and Buick Century’s rolled off the assembly line.

Your writer was born in 1953. I was a very little boy when I was first blown away by Michigan Metal, our neighbor had just purchased a white 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 convertible with a red interior. They said it had a Thunderbird engine. A few years later the doctor who lived across the street got a giant Chrysler 300 convertible then a 1963 Corvette Stringray, the one with the split rear window. By the time I was in 6th grade, I loved building car models. My model building started with the 1964 automotive year and continued through 1968. In ’66 to ’67, I built every single model that AMT and another supplier had that represented everything from a Ford Falcon to Chrysler Imperial. I subscribed to both Motor Trend and Hot Rod going crazy over the sneak previews of the next year’s autos. Each summer, I went to Pontiac, Michigan where my grandparents lived. How I loved the trips to the Pontiac plant where they build both full-sized and mid-sized Pontiacs, such beautiful cars in the mid 60’s and Dearborn where Ford assembled the Mustang and Cougar. If we were out there too late for that model year, the plants would be closed, but we’d see the haulers out on the Ohio and Pennsylvania turnpike rolling the new cars for the next fall east. Though they tried to cover them with tarps, we could get glimpses of the front and rear styling and occasionally the side sheet metal. A lesson in Michigan geography was a lesson in the General Motors product line. Flint was the home of Buick and some Chevrolets. Lansing was the home of Oldsmobile. Detroit built Cadillac’s and Chevrolets. Guess what they built in Pontiac? Well, they also built some GMC trucks and buses. Dearborn was synonymous with Ford. There was also the city with in the city, Hamtramck, where Chryslers were built by a largely Polish ethnic community.

Latee ach September, my father and I would start off a Saturday morning at the start of the big north Baltimore commercial drag, York Road, work our way down into Towson stopping at every dealer. We had them all except Cadillac which only had two dealerships in the Baltimore area. My dad would scold me not to get too excited at the Chevy dealer, but it was okay to drool over the Corvette. He was a Ford man through and through. He only bought two cars that weren’t Fords or Mercury’s my whole life, a Morris Minor as the family’s first second car. Lots of people were getting Volkswagen’s but he’d have no part of that. Briefly, he had a 1966 Oldsmobile Jetstar 88’s, a beautiful car, that replaced the Morris Minor while mom was driving the second of two Ford Country Squire’s the deluxe mommy mobile of the era. The 1964 Squire was briefly my first car. I could fit the whole gang in it, and for a buck’s contribution from some of the passengers we could drive forever with gas at $ .27 a gallon even though that big steel machine got around 14 mpg. From cars around 1955 to the early 1970’s, there were so many classics. Is there any young man even today who can’t recognize an original Thurnderbird or 57 Chevy?

In 1971, Chevrolet introduced the Vega and Ford introduced the Pinto. How could we have ever known that these stinking little “subcompacts” were the first signs of the decline of the American automotive industry? They were priced to obliterate the Volkswagen Beetle and there were a few little Toyotas and Datsuns starting to show up around town. The midsized cars were becoming the most interesting cars. Meanwhile, the full-sized cars were getting so large and bloated and the revision of the “pony cars” lost the simple beauty of the originals. Gas mileage didn’t matter when gas was below $.30 a gallon.

Washington started to have its say in the late 60’s but most of the original regulations made sense. The 1965 Corvair was a lovely looking little compact car, but Ralph Nader came out with “Unsafe at Any Speed” showing what the news media failed to cover. They were bombs on wheels with the gas tank in front of the passenger where there was no protection given it was a rear engine car. Likewise, cars had no pollution controls and those who can remember driving along the major expressways in urban areas particularly in the industrial parts of down, the air pollution was choking even smarting the eyes.

Nobody saw it coming unless traveling in the Middle East, but the unthinkable happened in 1974 when the surrounding Arab states invaded Israel only to be defeated horribly with Israel taking territory from the surrounding countries in response to create a little safety zone, but the Arabs realized the power they had was their oil. They could punish Western nations who supported Israel but cutting off the oil supply. Over night, gas prices skyrocketed, and gas was in short supply. Gas lines extended for blocks on every major street in America. Some states rationed gas and began lowering speed limits. The Feds responded by lowering the national speed limit to a measly 55 mph, a measure few citizens obeyed and eventually common sense would set in and the law was revoked. The government started setting mileage standards for the auto industry. Detroit responded by bringing out new smaller cars and downsizing existing models. Suddenly, the Pinto and Vega were in high demand, but as more people drove them, the obvious was clear, they were terrible cars in every respect. Vega engines had an awkward problem of blowing up, but worse, Pintos would explode when rear-ended. In 1977, General Motors downsized its full-sized cars for the first time. All of a sudden, everything from a Chevrolet Impala or Caprice to Buick LeSabre were shorter and narrower than their midsized counterparts. Even the elegant Cadillac DeVille got shortened. GM then downsized its midsized fleet. What was the hottest selling car in Detroit, the Olds Cutlass Supreme, was miniaturized into a faint shadow of its former self. From Malibu’s to Century’s the code word was BORING, but they were also cheap, shoddy pieces of junk. Not to be outdone, Ford responded with the introduction of the Ford Fairmont and Mercury Zephyr, and downsizing the LTD, Mercury Marquis, and all Lincolns. Their midsized line became totally ambiguous as familiar lines vanished and failed to stabilize until Ford finally got it right for many years with the awkward looking, bar of soap cars, the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable.

Almost overnight in the mid-70’s, Datsuns, Toyotas, and Hondas were every where. The ultimate of cheap, but a very high quality cheap, was the Honda Civic. Quickly, Toyota Corollas, Honda Accords, and Datsun 510’s were everywhere. One of the sexiest cars on the market was the Datsun 240Z. As model confusion and crappy quality dogged the mainstream domestic midsized market, the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord became the most popular cars in the country.

Somehow, despite all that happened. Detroit never got the message. Chrysler was mortally wounded but somehow sprung back with Federal loans and Lee Iacocca’s vision. Ford seemed to stay a little ahead of the curve in the late 80’s and early 90’s. It would be hard to notice due to their largesse, but General Motors was perhaps the most self-destructive of all. Can anyone remember the second round of downsizing of the Cadillac Deville? How sad. They had almost none of the traditional Cadillac elegance, but by 1991 they were able to cosmetically restore it to something that was worthy of the Cadillac crest. Many cars had wretch paint jobs that would start to oxidize after months. Quality issues and design defects by all three automakers were so widespread that almost any American car buyer could expect at least one or two recall notices. American Motors quickly folded and became part of Chrysler, but they had one product that would be a huge influence on Detroit’s future, the Cherokee.

Somehow, despite gas going as high as around $1.50 in 1979, the 80’s, 90’s and into the new millennium saws relatively cheap gas with only minor spikes in fuel costs such as during the first Gulf War. In 1991, Ford saw the potential of the Jeep Cherokee ditching its small sized Bronco II and introducing the Ford Explorer. Soon the Mini-Van, Detroit’s economical answer to replacing the mommy-mobile station wagons were obsolete as the mid-sized SUV took off like gangbusters. Eventually, even Lincoln and Cadillac would be in the SUV market with models based on their company’s Ford and Chevy large SUV’s based on the fullp-sized pickup chassis. Meanwhile, all of a sudden, even yuppies needed full-sized pickup trucks.

The Detroit cash registers were starting to ring again, but General Motors and Chrysler were still failing. The Japanese automakers continued to encroach on market share while the Korean Hyundai became mainstream and soon the KIA would follow.

Surprisingly, by the late 90’s, Ford and General Motors were actually building darned good cars. Their quality rivaled their Japanese counterparts, but car buyers had lost interest. Many baby boomers hit car buying age right as the downsizing fiasco started in the 1970’s and became accustomed to Japanese cars right away. Boomers didn’t feel the prejudice against Japanese cars as those manufacturers had built the weapons of war that killed thousands of American soldiers in the Pacific in World War II.

However, the glow of Michigan Metal had other factors causing it to rust away into dust. Through out the 60’s and 70’s, times were good. An auto industry strike against one of the big three could cost vital market share against its competition. Detroit had no sense of what the future could or would bring never realizing that even if everything continued rosy, they were building a model that was unsustainable in legacy costs. Auto workers were given incredible pension and benefits for life. The obligation on such costs were enormous and would escalate as the employees from the “Great” generation retired and the baby boomers settled in, but what would happen when the boomers started to retire?

Detroit’s workforce has contracted enormously since the 1970’s. Entire cities in the rust belt are essentially ghost towns in 2009. Flint, Michigan as one example, is a virtual wasteland. Here in Chesapeake country once proud factories in Baltimore, the famous “Chevy” plant, and Norfolk, the venerable Ford “F” series pickup are gone.

Nothing points to the changing face of the auto manufacturing landscape better than looking at NASCAR’s Sprint Cup. The body styles featured are the Ford Fusion, Chevrolet Impala, Dodge Charger, and Toyota Camry. Once the rules were American only, but they first had to bend a little when Dodge became a product of Daimler-Chrysler, then a German company. How could they keep Toyota’s fat bankroll out of the sport? Lots of good old boys were now driving Toyota pickups, and gulp, even full sized pickups as Toyota introduced its Tundra. Here’s the stark revelation. Look at where the cars are built. The Ford Fusion is built in Mexico, down in the land of drug lords and civil chaos. The Chevrolet Impala and Dodge Charger are built on the north shore of Lake Ontario near Toronto in Canada. The most American of all, the Toyota Campy built in Kentucky and Indiana!

The recent upsurge in fuel costs doomed Detroit’s remaining cash cow, the SUV and pickup truck market. Look at how much Ford depended on that market as most of their automobiles seem destined to fleet sales, company cars and the rental industry. Ford still builds the Crown Victoria but none are available to everyday consumers. They are built exclusively for fleet sales, mostly as police cruisers. What’s the small town sheriff department to do that maybe only has one to five cars?

The legacy cost of each American car is huge, a differential Detroit has to overcome to compete head on with the Japanese and Korean vehicles. How unfair can it be for those already retired who counted on a stable pension as part of their career compensation who never gave a though of having to save for retirement given the promise of steady income now wondering what will happen if any of the big three should fold or the workers of today sellout their processors to hold on to their existing jobs. Almost certainly, they would get some support from the government, but not at the level they were promised.

Today, most parking lots are full of virtually indistinguishable cars as a Mercedes doesn’t look that different from a Hyundai, and Ford, Toyota, Chrysler, Honda, General Motors, Nissan, Volkswagen, and Kia vehicles all look so similar. How is it that so many cars now are painted shades of gray and what few colors are still available, red, blue, and green are such dark muted colors? BORING! Only the retro VW Beetle and a few other small cars dare to be colorful even to the point of late 60’s tackiness.

The days of September excitement are gone as cars change so little over the years and almost none of them have any flare for style. Give Chrysler credit for pretty bold styling for its newest incarnation of the Chrysler 300. Perhaps its huge grill is supposed to be a “retro” touch to the big Chryslers of old.

How perfect the new Mustangs look. They are cars of the new millennium in almost every respect, but so recognizable as Mustangs of old. They are beautiful cars. Dodge responded with its retro Challenger which is likewise so faithful to the original. Soon Chevrolet will do the same with the reintroduction of the Camaro which goes back to the original design, mostly after the first body’s initial revision. All of these cars are so damned gorgeous, but all of them are essentially one or two passenger cars so as much as they fill a niche, they’re not the staple that cars like Impalas, Taurus’s, Malibu’s, Camry’s and Accord’s represent. The newest Camry is just plain ugly!

Are the new “pony” cars a glimpse of the potential the future could bring or just a little baby boomer sentimentality? Given what’s happened in Washington the last few months, one has to wonder as millions of taxpayer dollars have gone to General Motors and Chrysler just to meet their current expenses. So far, Ford avoided taking the dip, but all is not rosy in the land of the blue oval.

Government assistance means more government control, and given the recent energy price surge brought on demand for more fuel efficient standards and the current regime, the Democratic party, will surely seek pollution standards that will darn near demand emission perfection, Detroit’s ability to build quality, appealing cars will be further challenged while Toyota and Honda seem able to adjust at the snap of a finger.

It’s so easy to love the full-sized pickups and the pony cars, but is doing so living in the past? Given a camel is supposedly a horse designed by a government committee, we hate to think what Washington’s role in forging Michigan Metal could create. Given our seemingly irreversible march to socialism, the retro pony car could soon become a Trabant.

SPRINT CUP, 2009: Season Begins with Economic Pressures Changing the Face of Many Teams

A fan can’t listen to a broadcast or read an article without mention of how the current recession is affecting the sport. The chatter began last summer and has gotten louder ever since. There will be visible reminders on the race track but much more behind the scene that reveal how the sport is coping with the problem, but on the senior circuit, the Chase for the Sprint Cup, when it is all added up, it’s surprising on the top levels how little has changed.

NASCAR is affected in three ways. First, but probably the least significant economically for the teams, fewer fans will be attending races. This is more a blow to the race track owners which are pretty much just (Smith’s) and (France’s) groups both of whom have some events that will draw well regardless.

Second, corporate sponsorship is harder to find. Some companies, particularly in the financial sector are struggling and especially if they have received Federal “bail out” funds, large promotional expenditures such as sponsoring sporting events and race teams will be hard to justify.

Third, the auto industry itself is struggling. All four makes have seen a huge downturn in sales. Additionally, General Motors and Chrysler have received Federal loans to meet expenses. It would come as no big surprise if Chrysler Corporation does not survive. If so, what happens to Dodge in NASCAR competition. Would another company purchase the Dodge brand name, or would they go down the trail of tears that Hudson, Studebaker and other ghosts of the past have followed?

At first glance, the competition for the top of the Sprint Cup series looks pretty much the same. It’s a good bet that the championship will be a Roush, Gibbs, Hendricks, or possibly a Childress owned car. There are some interesting changes in their line-ups. First, though not in the chase in 2008, the #5 car is now in the picture as Mark Martin will be driving that car full time while Casey Mears goes to a “Chase” team from last year, the 07 Jack Daniels Chevrolet driven by Clint Bowyer. Bowyer will still drive for Childress, but behind the wheel of the new #33 General Mills (Cheerios) car. The Roush team remains the same with a few sponsorship changes including David Regan, just outside the chase gaining UPS sponsorship from Michael Waltrip Racing’s #44 ride. Meanwhile, Aflac will paste its duck feathers on the #99 Carl Edwards ride. The most eye opening change will be for the #20 car from the Joe Gibbs’ garage. Tony Stewart departed to start his own team buying a controlling interest to form Stewart-Haas racing which will also feature former chase contender, Ryan Newman. One of the youngest drivers ever to race in Cup racing, Joey Legano, will drive as a rookie for the #20 ride.

The big changes in the Cup series are found in teams outside the Chase. Most of these are more moves of desperation than attempts to consolidate through strength. First, Dale Earnhardt Incorporated merged with Chip Ganassi racing to form Earnhardt/Ganassi racing. The new lineup features Martin Truex remaining in the #1 Bass Pro Shops car. Juan Montoya remains in car #42, now a Chevy, with Target and Wrigley’s sponsorship. Aric Almirola pilots the #8 car full-time. Their fourth car is a mild surprise, John Andretti will drive a new number, #34, taking owner’s points from one of the no longer operational Ganassi or DEI rides.

Petty Enterprises merged with Gillett/Evernham racing. The #45 ride that started off as Kyle Petty’s to begin 2008 but became a tag-team operation once Kyle took his post in the booth for TNT’s part of the broadcast season, will at best be a part time ride this year.
Reed Sorenson will drive the famous #43 car with new sponsorship. Kasey Kahne remains the in the #9 Budweiser car. Elliot Sadler returns to car #19. A.J. Allmendinger joins the team in the #44 Dodge transferring points from the former #10 as Michael Waltrip’s team discontinued its #44 effort losing UPS sponsorship and establishing 00 as their second team. Reutimann and Michael Waltrip will continue as a two car operation.

Yates racing still faces sponsorship challenges with the #28 Ford with Travis Kvapil. Their new ride features Paul Menard, displaced from DEI in #98 with his family sponsorship. Though still technically a stand-alone team from an ownership perspective, All-Star Motorsports has broken its relationship with Joe Gibbs racing to become a partner with Yates racing with Ask.com as a sponsor and Bobby Labonte as their driver. This could be one of the most competitive teams of the lesser teams. They will assume the points earned by the defunct #38 ride and have Todd Parrott as their crew chief. Both Labonte and Parrott have championship experience. This could be a sleeper team ready to strike.

Surely much attention will go to Tony Stewart’s new team as co-owner of Stewart-Haas racing. Stewart will drive car #14 with Old Spice and Office Depot sponsorship. Ryan Newman will drive the second car, #39 with US Army sponsorship. From a technology standpoint, their cars will run Hendricks engines and chassis.

Meanwhile, Penske will see Kurt Busch drive the #2 Miller Lite beer can. David Stremme takes on Newman’s #12 ride with Verizon sponsorship, though Verizon will not be permitted to show their logos as a conflict with series sponsor, Sprint. The #77 car will see Sam Hornish in his sophomore year. Penske purchased Bill Davis’s assets and owner points from the #22 car showing Davis as a co-owner.

Red Bull racing was seen as an up and coming operation with the ascent of Brian Vickers in car #82. They discontinued car #84 switching to car #82 with Indy veteran, Scott Speed, running as a Sprint Cup rookie.

Robby Gordon remains in his #7 Jim Bean car but will run Toyotas after the Bud Shootout.

One longstanding team vanishes as the sport’s second most historic team slides into a part time role. Having lost sponsorship, most notably Caterpillar to Jeff Burton’s Childress team, Bill Davis racing has gone out of business. They’ve only been a marginal presence in Cup racing in recent years but were a major factor in the Truck series. The “legendary” Wood Brothers remain with Ford with Bill Elliot as their driver racing a limited schedule.


Tommy Baldwin attempts to establish a new team with Scott Riggs as his driver in car #36, a Toyota. Another startup venture includes Prism Motorsports with Phil Parsons as part of the ownership group. Racing the #66 Toyota will be former champ, Terry Labonte, and Dave Blaney. Others including Joe Nemechek, Todd Bodine, Jeremy Mayfield and others are attempting to assemble racing teams with varying degrees of commitment.

Add it all up, it’s hard not to think Jimmie Johnson is in strong position to capture his 4th championship in a row. Other teams are strong, but who’s better? Surely, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, and Kevin Harvick will figure strongly in the competition. How can anyone ignore Jeff Gordon who had his first winless season since his rookie year. Could Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Eury Jr. finally put it together and contend for top honors? How strong will Tony Stewart be in his new operation – good enough to make the Chase? Naturally, there other the rest of the Roush stable, Mark Martin who surely could be intense racing full-time for Hendricks, Denny Hamlin, and Jeff Burton.

We don’t see any Dodge teams making the Chase unless something magic happens with the new Richard Petty (Gillette/Evernham) operation. Casey Kahne would be the driver most likely to do the honors. Could Martin Truex or Juan Montoya break through for the Earnhardt/Ganassi operation?

In recent years, the Daytona 500 has lead to somewhat surprising finishes instead of the traditional restrictor plate wizards coming through. It’s hard to imagine that when decision day rolls around in Richmond, Sprint Cup fans won’t see mostly very familiar drivers from likewise familiar teams taking the top 12 spots and heading into The Chase.

Who can break the stranglehold Hendricks, Gibbs, and Roush has had on Cup champions since Dale Earnhardt’s last triumph allowing only Dale Jarrett for Yates Racing to claim a championship outside of the big three in the last fifteen years?

What looks good for the big three is the mergers that have taken place are ones mostly out of desperation to keep struggling operations going rather than ones of power. The only team established with positive expectations is the Stewart-Haas operation. Haas racing was a marginal operation with winless drivers. Stewart and Ryan Newman bring championship and Daytona 500 credibility with Hendricks horsepower.

Let the gentlemen start their engines, the green flag drop, and the competition begin!!! Much will happen between now and November. In our worst nightmare, it's not hard to imagine, Chysler Corporation could disappear and Dodge would be just a memory while Ford, GM, and Toyota will have more pressure to justify their involvement with the sport.

The Super Bowl's Other Show: The Music

The Super Bowl’s Other Game: The Music

Okay, we’re all good subjects, when the boss commands, we comply, “I want you to step back from the guacamole, I want you to put the chicken fingers down and turn your television all the way up!” With an explosion of energy, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band rocked the stadium showing that Super Bowl half time presentations have come a long, long way from the schlocky goody-two-shoes image of Up With People who performed multiple times or even worse, Disney’s “It’s a Small World” gag-me sweetness. The NFL was reeling with embarrassment after Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction,” an expression that has now becoming standard fare in modern lexicon. However, as embarrassing as that was, the Super Bowl shows matching diverse musical talents as in the last Super Bowl in Tampa where NSync, Britney Spears, and Aerosmith were all united on one stage, how contrived is that.

Nothing could break from the past than bringing on Paul McCartney who charmed the audience with Beatles’ classics and his solo crowd pleaser, “Live and Let Die.” From there, the Steelers must be the luckiest team in the world having the two most explosive acts in rock music history, the Rolling Stones and now Bruce for their half time show. Oh yeah, besides the two Steelers Super Bowls, we’ve been treated by performances from Prince and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, not bad? Our parents would have had to have had Frank Sinatra perform at an early Super Bowl to top this lineup. The only asterisk to this recent upsurge in quality, the Rolling Stones did agree to be censored as Mick Jagger’s microphone was turned off to censor some slightly naughty lyrics from their set, nothing new for the Stones. Are you old enough to remember, Mick Jagger rolling his eyes as he sung, “Let’s spend some TIME together” to be tame enough for the Ed Sullivan Show as they were promoting their new single, “Let’s Spend the Night Together.” How tame such lyrics seem now.

The disgrace was in the patriotic pregame music. Did anybody think the Faith Hill performance of “America the Beautiful” and Jennifer Hudson’s “Star Spangled Banner” were a little too perfect? How obvious could it be, they were lip-syncing? For Hudson’s number, where was the grand orchestra supporting her?

All-in-all by today’s standards, Hudson provided a rather straight and appropriate rendition of the National Anthem though taking some stylistic liberties toward the end. We find it disgusting the way many pop singers mutilate our country’s most revered musical composition by “hot-dogging” and taking other liberties with the song that represents America around the world. The only alternative performance of the “Star Spangled Banner” which stood the artistic and patriotic standard was when Bruce Hornsby on piano and Branford Marsalis on saxophone provided a mellow, reflective instrumental version prior to the Orioles’ game where Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig’s record. Sadly, what many of today’s pop and country singers do when given the chance seems self-serving and disrespectful.

"All I Wanted Was Children" The California Octuplet Tragedy

The Octuplet Fiasco: The Mother Speaks, “All I Wanted Was Children”

Friday morning gave the world its first glimpse of the irresponsible, deranged, and stupid woman, Nadya Suleman, who gave birth to octuplets while already having six children none of whom have a known father all produced by a sperm donor through invitro implantation.

Watch this shocking interview from the Today Show at the following link:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/29038814/

The accompanying article is also worth reading as it gives significant background on this walking disaster.

Her interview with NBC personality, Ann Curry, plays out as a sickly soap opera. It was hard not to think of the mother-zombies of the Texas cult were young girls were rounded up as breeding stock for the pleasures of the male compound members, who looked glassy-eyed and robotic as they spoke in a soft monotone justifying their behavior as they too were engaged in a bizarre and disturbing mutation of motherhood. From her first words, the world saw a woman who did not have the emotional composure of a rational thirty three year old adult. A unifying theme that is not uncommon in today’s world is that she only sees the world through her own terms, her own needs, her own wants, and her own ability to twist the rational and moral to fit her sickly desires.

Ms. Suleman’s reasoning goes something like this. Describing her choice as “unconventional,” she felt neglected as a child being a single child she did not have the companionship of other siblings and that made her feel bad. In her own words speaking to Ann Curry of NBC News:

“Feeling of self and identity,” Suleman replied. “I didn't feel as though, when I was a child, I had much control of my environment. I felt powerless. And that gave me a sense of predictability. Reflecting back on my childhood, I know it wasn't functional. It was pretty dysfunctional, and whose isn't?”

Should we take that as a confession she’s too crazy to be a responsible mother? Why not?

While we might be quick to stereotype this idiot, she is thirty three years old and is college educated! This is not something that can be blamed on youthful immaturity. In her own demented way, this was her plan. This is what she wanted. She feels she is capable of being a good mother and her amazing compassion will work miracles for all fourteen children!

Consider this directly from the NBC interview:

“People feel, you know, this woman is being completely irresponsible and selfish to bring these children in the world without a clear source of income and enough help to raise them,” Curry told Nadya Suleman in a segment that aired Friday on TODAY. “The world outside is saying, ‘What are you doing?’ ”

“I know I'll be able to afford them when I'm done with my schooling,” the 33-year-old single mom replied. Calm, poised and articulate in the glare of the media spotlight, Suleman added: “If I was just sitting down watching TV and not being as determined as I am to succeed and provide a better future for my children, I believe that would be considered, to a certain degree, selfish.”

How clear her egocentric point-of-view and inability to see the consequences of her behavior are in these words. She thinks that she alone, her own feelings, is what will make life good for these doomed children. She doesn’t see the obvious cruel and horrible conditions that these children will have forced upon them with no escape. Not a single one of these kids will have his or her own living space. None of these kids will have the guidance of a father and will receive only a fraction of the attention a normal child would receive from his or her mom, but we question what quality of attention such a delusional mother could provide in the first place?

What kind of moral and personal guidance will be available for these retched kids? Who can attend to them in a substantial way in their moment of need? How can they develop any sense of individuality? For any of these poor children to have the nurturing environment allowing them to become well-adjusted responsible adults does not exist. Maybe a couple of them will turn out okay. There’s no denying the power of the human spirit, but the deck is stacked against them in ways we can hardly begin to understand.

Also lost in all the hoopla is this sickly, depraved idiot is living off disability income from the State of California! If she’s not well enough to work, she can handle the duties of fourteen children. This is a sick woman. Fourteen children all under the age of eight years old, how can anyone think that is acceptable.

As her background and quotes add up, the pure insanity of her situation explodes before the viewer’s eyes.

Her background was being employed at a state mental health facility from 1997-2006 injuring her back in a 2006 riot there. Hmm, doesn’t lifting and dealing with children put a lot of additional sprain on one’s back? How disabled is she? We can’t help but asking as she has such a deeply ingrained sense of entitlement to begin with.

Insisting she is a good mother she affirmed with pride:

All I wanted was children. I wanted to be a mom. That's all I ever wanted in my life. I love my children.”

She added: (again from the Curry interview)

“I'm providing myself to my children. I'm loving them unconditionally, accepting them unconditionally,” she told Curry. “Everything I do, I'll stop my life for them and be present with them. And hold them. And be with them. And how many parents do that? I'm sure there are many that do, but many don't. And that's unfortunate. That is selfish.”

Talk about the “audacity of hope,” she sets herself up as more dedicated than most parents. WHOA!

She thinks the good will of her church and her community will come forward to help her. What kind of retched sense of entitlement is that? Her value system is the “Me” generation played out to its worst extreme coupled with the ethos of a victim’s society and sense of entitlement.

What’s lost in this whole mess are two things: the children and the medical professionals who enabled this to happen. The children are doomed. They have a mother without a job living with her parents who don’t have the means to support their daughter and six children much less fourteen. Any responsible family with just one or two children knows the challenges of parenthood even in traditional two parent families juggling careers, budgets, and other commitments to give their kids the best upbringing to prepare them for a successful future in the world. Taking care of children is not cheap. We’ve documented the work of Diane Auer Jones, for instance, who has thoroughly laid out the challenges families face trying to help pay their kids through college. For starters, support for a college education will not be an option for any of these fourteen kids. Under the best circumstances, if only three or four of them would be college bound, the ability to borrow money to assist in their expenses would be out of reach. Parents being able to provide for their kids’ college education is the optimal degree of parental support. However, fourteen children, think of that. Think of what kind of living environment even parents with significant wealth could provide. How many kids would have to share bedrooms, bathrooms, and living space? Even a mansion on a farm might seem too cramped!

More importantly, each child is his or her own individual with his or her own needs, challenges, problems, and conflicts. Each child needs to be properly washed, dressed, and fed, prepared for school, and adequately supervised. Ask any teacher how much attention it takes just to supervise a group of children for the duration of one class period much less the amount of time elementary school teachers spend with their students where teachers have the resources and support of an entire school behind them.

Even with a staff of nannies and care providers, these poor children’s lives will be living hell starved for adequate attention and growing space. To think that they will be able to grow up as well adjusted, emotionally stable human beings is all but an impossible proposition.

Where’s the money going to come from to provide even minimal support? Right now, the mother is attempting to exploit the media through exclusive interviews, book deals, and any other means she can sell her story asking for millions. Let’s be real, while this story brings forth a lot of attention for how shameful and irresponsible it is and our natural compassion for the kids, how much more does the public need or want to know beyond what she has already presented in her Today Show interview? How much beyond the morbid sensation of passing by the scene of an accident does the public have for a person no one in his or her right mind could possibly identify with or feel any sympathy for the situation she has brought on herself?

This is a case about responsibility and justice. We’ve illustrated the mother’s irresponsibility, but how will she be held accountable for the millions of dollars it will cost to provide for her children. Yes, millions, as they say, “You do the math!” We believe while no criminal statutes apply to her behavior, she is intellectually, morally, and psychologically unfit to care for children. The children must be removed from her care. Foster care is living hell for children as there is an extreme lack of appropriate parents who can provide such help. We must deal with a very somber reality check here. These poor children would be much better provided for in an orphanage than with an insane mother leaching off her parents in a tiny dwelling. We’d pray that these kids are healthy and could be adopted by responsible loving parents.

The other obvious truth about this tragedy is that no matter how insane this horrible woman is, she could not have brought this situation upon herself without the support and efforts of grotesquely irresponsible medical professionals who have created a public health tragedy as fourteen children living together under one house all so close in age without the ability for responsible support cannot be justified on any moral or professional grounds. The State of California must investigate all aspects of this case to the fullest. They and the medical profession must take appropriate legal and disciplinary action against everyone involved in the decision making process that caused this horrible situation.

There is a final answer to this problem. One that we have heard many times before and have often laughed at as it has been the far reaching explanation for everything that’s wrong with our world today. Society is to blame!

Before we laugh this off, what kind of social environment, what lack of proper education, upbringing, and moral guidance could make a situation like this even thinkable. While we hold the idiot mother responsible for her stupid and evil behavior, lots of things happened that allowed her to become the walking disaster she is. Between the doctors who worked with her, any social service agents who attended to her and her parents, so many have played enabler in this situation the responsibility falls on many hands, but none of this takes away the blame that must fall on Nadya Suleman and the primary care physicians who enabled this horrible human tragedy to become reality.

Finally, once again, we challenge those who approach this immoral and disgusting tragedy with their, “Who are we to judge?” amorality. There is no responsible justification for what has happened here. Any person who does not feel intense revulsion over a situation as horrible as the Suleman litter reveals has some serious issues of his or her own that helps feed the kind of social conditions that make such moral catastrophes possible. We extend the blame to each and every person who harbors that kind of lack of conviction and cowardice responsible as well as surely people like this are the architects of the moral-free environment where a disturbed and idiotic person can find reinforcement for such horrible decisions.

After Just Two Weeks: The Failed Obama Presidency (Yes We Mean It!)

As expected, the lack of any real managerial experience and his naïve idealism coupled with far-left sympathies have played out as expected as the Obama administration is off to an embarrassing and awkward start despite the “slobbering” media, as veteran reporter Bernard Goldberg describes it, trying to paint pictures which indicate otherwise with all their human interest focus on the President,

First, despite promises of ending business as usual in Washington, and that traditional Washington insiders would have no part in his administration, Barack Obama is facing tremendous problems with some of his key appointments and nominations, many of whom are traditional DC power moguls. Whether for corruption or failure to pay taxes, here is a partial list of the problem appointments so far.

Bill Richardson, Governor of Arizona, nominated for Secretary of Commerce. Withdrew nomination because of grand jury investigation into corruption charges.

Tom Daschle, Former South Dakota Senator and Senate Minority Leader. Nominated for Secretary of Health & Human Services, Withdrew nomination for failure to pay taxes and conflict of interest charges.

Tim Geithner, Former President, Federal Reserve, New York, CONFIRMED as Treasury Secretary despite failure to pay taxes.

Nancy Killefer, senior director at McKinsey and Co. and former Assistant Secretary for Management,Treasury Department, appointed to Performance Officer, withdrawn for failure to pay taxes.

Hilda Solis, US House of Representatives, California. Nominated for Labor Secretary. Conflict of interest lobbying for American Rights to Work, a radical pro-labor organization while serving as a member of the House.

Eric Holder, former Deputy Attorney General, Clinton Administration, CONFIRMED as Attorney General. Instrumental in orchestrating Mark Rich and Puerto Rican terrorists pardons.

Leon Panetta, former Clinton Chief of Staff and member of the House of Representatives. Nominated for CIA Director. First, Panetta has no serious intelligence experience. His background is that of a political insider. Second, he faces conflict of interest issues having made much money from companies involved in contracts with the intelligence services making money from bailout companies like Wachovia and "BIG OIL" BP. Here's the ultimate Washington wheeler-dealer who Obama swore would have no place in his administration. This is the man who can keep tabs on Bin Ladin's whereabouts?

Second, despite promises of an immediate “stimulus” bill to help citizens facing hardships brought on by the current recession, rather than showing leadership by crafting a bipartisan bill with input from the appropriate economic experts, writing the bill was left in the hands of Nancy Pelosi and her designees who created a huge package full of massive spending measures for a wide range of long sought after exotic left wing causes including $246 million in tax breaks to Hollywood film makers, $650 million in coupons for digital TV converters, $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees (what’s the potential fuel savings?), $150 million in Smithsonian upgrades, $75 million in smoking cessation programs, $1 billion additional funding for the 2010 census, $2 billion for FutureGen, a program withdrawn for inefficiency previously as a zero emissions power generation station, $1.2 billion for youth activities, plus billions on new and upgraded Federal buildings, training programs, and equipment.
Though supposed to help create jobs and ease financial burdens, what little return to the economy these programs would have are ones that would take years to flow back into the economy failing to provide immediate relief. Some might be justified, but most of these smack of being a victory celebration for the Democratic Party’s new lock on power. As such every single Republican and eleven Democrats voted against this financial disaster.

Unless the Senate can radically reshape this barrel of pork and earmarks, this represents a huge failure in wasteful spending but also demonstrates Obama’s failure to exert leadership in pushing high priority legislation through the house.

Besides these two huge messes, President Obama has also announced plans to close the terrorist prison at Guantanamo without having any clear plan what to do with the worst of the worst terrorists captured so far including 9/11 mastermind, and Bin Ladin right hand man, Sheik Mohammed. He continues to vote support for a provision which reflects a total cave-in to labor union goon tactics, the Card Check program, which bears the name of the Employee Free Choice Act, removes the requirement that votes to determine a work force’s desire to unionize no longer be conducted by secret ballot but instead by having organizers have workers simply check off their intention on ballot cards. This would open the door to all kinds of corruption and intimidation of workers who oppose unionization.

Meanwhile, overseas, it is frightening to note that Iran has launched its first satellite into orbit demonstrating they have the technology to deliver long range warheads. Further, surveillance shows that North Korea could be preparing more strategic missile launchings.

While the press “slobbers” over their perceptions of Barack Obama’s personal charms and communication style, his press secretary, Robert Gibbs, has looked as embattled and helpless as Scott McClelland who almost single handedly destroyed the Bush administration’s day-to-day credibility with his weak and fuzzy delivery versus a hostile White House Press Corp. It hasn’t deteriorated to that extreme yet, but given the “main stream” media’s obvious pro-Obama feelings, the extent to which Gibbs has been shown up as unprepared and contradictory shows tremendous weakness in the new administration’s PR campaign, something they did so brilliantly by avoiding the press while he Obama ran for office.

We are not supporters of the Obama Administration and have expressed serious concerns about Obama’s character, background, and values from the beginning. While we oppose his positions on most policies and hope the GOP can begin a dramatic turnaround with the next election, for the good of the country, we have to hope Team Obama meets with some success in keeping our country safe from terrorists and can take some appropriate measures to help stabilize the economy.

If what we have discussed today is any indication of the next four years, our dire warnings that Barack Obama could make Jimmy Carter look strong by comparison are well on their way to becoming true. We could care less whether or not Obama is perceived as a loser, but in his losses, we also realize the comfort and fortune of the American people hang in the balance. The challenges are tremendous. Only our attention and diligence can save us from Obama-Nation.

Chris Matthews Shoots Off Mouth Like Cheep Handgun Claiming Chaney Caused 100,000 Deaths

When speaking of ultra-left wing extremist bias, one needs to go no further than MSNBC and to the extent their content bleeds over to their mothership, NBC news, to find the absolutely most extreme, most disrespectful, and totally off base examples of left wing extremism. Exhibit A is the man with the frosty long bangs and voice like an air raid siren, Chris Matthews, who just claimed on the Wednesday, February 4th airing of Hardball, “Well 100,000 people are dead now because he got it wrong about nuclear weapons before.” then added, “We have to remember that Dick Cheney was wrong in a way that was lethal. 100,000 people dead including 4,000 Americans are dead, something like 15,000 wounded because he was wrong.”

On the panel were also left wing cry-baby, the man with the persistent, “I just wet my pants” kind of irritated facial expression prone to sharp temper outbursts, David Corn, and Joan Walsh. another member of the journalistic chattering class.

It’s also interesting to note that in this discussion, Matthews also quoted Tom Brokaw who was once seen as a rather straight forward “main stream” journalist who is increasingly sounding more and more like his NBC brethren when he commented during the Obama inauguration of Dick Cheney, "He does seem like a character out of 'Dr. Strangelove.”

For a media figure who so conspicuously was fawning for Barack Obama from the very beginning given the real news of the day is the embarrassing “stimulus” bill crafted by Nancy Pelosi which every single Republican representative and eleven Democrats voted against loaded with pork barrel gems for every imaginable left wing cause-du-jour including money to the Hollywood film making industry, and Obama’s continuing parade of nominees for high office who are revealed to have problems with paying taxes or significant ethical conflicts of interests despite Obama’s campaign assurances that his administration would set a new tone for Washington, what’s a guy like Matthews to do?

Obviously, last night, rather than try to make sense of the current mess of Obama’s embarrassing, though not surprising, start, revert to what was nightly fodder for eight long years of contast BS, Bush-Cheney Derangement Syndrome.

Here’s the full text of the panel discussion from the Wednesday, February 4th edition of Hardball courtesy of News Busters.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/geoffrey-dickens/2009/02/04/hardball-100-000-people-dead-because-creepy-cheney

Joe Francis Arrested Again

Joe Francis is a LOSER who had made a fortune making porn flicks luring every day girls to take their clothes of in public, flash their breasts or butts, to be woven into a sick voyeur's dream in his "Girls Gone Wild" video series.

The problem is, along with many others, Mr. Francis is a tax cheat who is accused of posting $20 million in false business expenses. More details from the A/P. Well, he must have been out late making his naughty films if he couldn't show up for court five hours late for his trial.

He is now on house arrest.

It seems ironic he should be facing such legal problems. Have any of the Obama appointees in tax trouble paid any penalties? Given, porno priest, Larry Flynt, is a big supporter of liberal causes and Francis behaves much like fellows like Tom Daschle, he might have a bright future in the Obama administration if some girl's father, boyfriend, or husband doesn't shoot him first.

Want to bet he's lining up talk show gigs to whine about how he's being picked on by the law again. He and Blago would make quite a pair!

Sick, Embarassing, Stupid, POWERFUL - The Most Powerful Woman in Washington, Nancy Pelosi

God save the bitch!

Oops, her people don't believe in God.

Look at their court decisions.

Check out this video clips. This is how far down the crapper the Democratic party has fallen considering this is the person who leads the House of Representatives, the person 3rd in line to the Presidency. But what would you expect from someone born from a Baltimore Democratic Party family who then moved to San Francisco? She fits the bill so well and we'd wish she'd go to hell.

Hmm, maybe we need serious drug testing or just a good old police roadside sobriety test for Ms. Nancy. This is embarassing. CHECK THIS OUT! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8hMJVXt09E

Ms. Nancy doesn't have much good to say about families and somehow she wants to spend a lot of money but it's not clear just how. CHECK THIS OUT! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omxQuDtF1ZM&feature=related

She is one edgy bitch, is she not, America?

Nationally Respected Educational Reform Spokesperson Identifies Nanny State Extremism in the Name of Higher Education

The Honorable Diane Auer Jones, President/CEO, The Washington Campus; former Assistant Secretary for Post Secondary, Department of Education

The insane onslaught of the Nanny state continues out of control. Here’s an example of the over-reach of the Federal Government thanks to the clowns on Capitol Hill that not only represents an outrageous waste of money and resources, but it also intrudes into areas that the government has no business invading. As this story unfolds, the “nanny” concept couldn’t be more appropriate. Why this outrage hasn’t made it to the talk show circuit or been covered in the media is alarming.

Former Post Secondary Chief for the Bush Administration from August 2007 to May 2008, Diane Auer Jones reports of this outrage in her article in “Minding the Campus” where in passing The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, educational institutions which receive federal student aid assistance must track all residential students who are “missing” from their residence for 24 hours. Ms. Jones does such a brilliant job exposing this issue, we need explain it no further. Please read this. It is not only outrageous for what it is but for the thinking it represents and just how far the nanny nonsense extends under the leadership of Nancy Pelosi and Harry (I need a laxative) Reid.

http://www.mindingthecampus.com/originals/2009/01/missing_the_point_about_missin.html

Does Ms. Jones say it all as it pertains to this issue? We will be on the look out for and report other examples of this kind of insanity which illustrates what life in Obama-Nation will be like if these fools continue such outrageous intrusion into citizens’ private lives and through the unfunded mandate cost society millions by forcing them to pay for unnecessary and insane programs.

Diane Auer Jones is possibly the nation’s leading authority on the state of post-secondary education today. She resigned her post in as Assistant Secretary of Education for Post Secondary in reaction to how the Department sought to “vocationalize” liberal arts programs essentially reducing the function of a college education to simple vocational training. She has spoken out assertively about the escalating cost of higher education and inequities in the admissions process. Ms. Jones was also a major proponent of The American Competitiveness Initiative while serving as a senior White House policy advisor. She is also a tremendous spokesperson for an expanded roll for community colleges and alternative education options.

Ms. Jones recently was a featured speaker at the annual conference for the National Association of Scholars. Her address was to address what she learned serving as Assistant Secretary with the Bush Administration and what lessons she learned should the incoming administration consider. Her address amounts to a brilliant state-of-the-state of the post secondary experience and a blistering indictment of its short-comings.

Here’s a link to her remarks:
http://www.nas.org/Diane_A.cfm

A much longer presentation, here is Diane Auer Jones in one of her last presentations as Assistant Secretary addressing the College Savings Foundation on the runaway escalation of the cost of post-secondary education and the problems students and families face trying to finance a traditional four year degree.

http://blip.tv/file/981599

This is a long presentation and her remarks begin after a brief introduction, but her insights are very disturbing for families with potential college students.

We applaud Diane Auer Jones’ efforts to bring much needed attention to the many challenges that are threatening the quality of a college education and the financial burders one faces trying to achieve such an education. Be familiar with her name. She is rapidly becoming the voice of the future of quality post secondary schooling.

Hats Off to Sully!!! A TRUE HERO

HERO

Hats off to Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III. It was a heart-warming and touching moment to see this 21st century American hero and his crew be honored for their miraculous splash landing on the Hudson River when both of their US Airways Airbus blew both of its engines having sucked in geese flying around the plane's point of departure.

Every thing about this wonderful man speaks of dignity whether it was his few words and "just doing my job" attitude to the distinguished well-mannered behavior he has shown through out after a potentially fatal event that would have killed over 150 people.

Unlike many who would exploit such a situation by making the talk show rounds, "Sully" has maintained a low profile letting his behavior not his words do the talking.

Now we've found that he even reported that he had lost a library book in the cargo hold of that flight to his local library. What was he reading? A book on professional ethics.

What a guy!

We are thankful to be able to honor some real heroes from time to time on our blog. In a world of moral cowardice and sleazy oportunism, here's a man who is the real deal, a role model to all.

God bless Captain Sullenberger!

16 Year Old Boy Undergoes Sex Change Surgery: MORAL OUTRAGE II

Hopefully NOT Coming to America, but...

Read it and weep (or more likely throw your hands up in despair!)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,487807,00.html

What in the hell is this world coming to? We question that sex change surgery is responsible medicine in any circumstances but for someone sixteen years old? At sixteen years old, a person is still forging his or her sexual identify regardless of how powerful one feels about his or her sexual desires at the time – the hormones run wild at that age as are all kinds of identity and personality issues.

We can’t chose our parents nor can we truly chose our gender. People now have the surgical option available to undergo severe mutilation to take on the physical characteristics of the opposite sex and can “feel” more like one of that gender through massive hormone treatment.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect in this article is noting that this child began hormone treatment at the age of twelve, yes twelve!!! For most, that’s just the beginning of puberty, and adults could play enabler to some child’s sense of confused gender identity at that age?

While we consider “gender reassignment” a grotesque perverted practice, it is one thing if it is the decision of a mature adult, say someone is his/her/its 30’s, but to pursue this with a child is sick, immoral, and disgusting.

Yes, America, it’s time to start talking of immorality again. There really is such a thing and its running wild in modern secular society.

Eight is Enough??? Moral Outrage!

So What Do You Think?

How about that unwed mother, Nadya Suleman, with six children who just dropped a litter of eight more human larvae thanks to the modern miracle of implanting eight fertile eggs all of which she carried to delivery? Now the health care system in California is forced to nurture and incubate each larva, the smallest of which is only 1 ½ pounds.

The mother, Ms. Suleman, does not have a job; however, is college educated. There is no known father on the scene. She was supposedly impregnated by a “sperm donor.” She lives with her parents in a small house.

As usual, we’re hearing the typical poor victim mantra surrounding this woman and the need for public services to help her provide for her children. For starters, somebody’s picking up the tab for the babies in prenatal care for at least $1000 a day for each larval unit. She hasn’t the means nor has she insurance, so who’s paying, the TAXPAYER!!!

This insane woman, Nadya Suleman, is already living way beyond her means supporting the six children she already has, all of them born in-vitro, with no father figure available. The cost of raising these children will be substantial, so she is also playing “Plan B.”

“Plan B” is exploit the media and hold out for a deals – book deals, appearances on Baba Wawa, “Oprah,” and Animal Planet – which ever media outlet or publisher will allow itself to be exploited if they feel she has a story to sell and as cheesy as the media is today, you can bet there will be at least one or two buyers, but they might shell out as much as she thinks she should get.

Yes, it is appropriate to be judgmental on this issue. This wasn’t a young and stupid issue where a night of love making resulted in an unintended pregnancy. Nadya Suleman is 33 years old and intended to get pregnant and chose to have eight embryos implanted. So let’s be real: this woman is an irresponsible idiot. Her decisions and lifestyle are immoral, period. Of course the Liberal response is we shouldn’t judge other peoples’ private matters. Baloney!!! Who is paying for her stupid decisions? Furthermore, the medical professionals responsible for this fiasco are accountable and must be punished serverely.

While we will not condemn single mothers universally, the notion that it is perfectly okay for women purposely to have babies without a father in the home is irresponsible. God created human life to be perpetuated through the interaction of a man and a woman. Fathers and mothers each have unique qualities that help raise a fully realized and mature human being. Even a heartless atheist has to recognize that it takes “two to tango” in rearing children. However, in the new secular world of liberal values, moral values are relative and ultimately the pursuit of happiness has been redefined in bizarre unhealthy lifestyles. The only morality they seem to understand that they believe it is wrong for the state to interfere with a woman’s decision to terminate a pregnancy. We will not weigh in on our opinion on abortion or “Roe b Wade” in this editorial.

While the liberal education model calls for sex education, what kind of values are going to be a part of that curriculum? To what extent is personal responsibility and the concept of a traditional nuclear family going to be stressed?

The eight larva litter brought into being by the immoral decisions of an insane mother and the enabling technology and total abdication of ethical professional behavior on the part of the medical staff present America with an obvious example of where the breakdown of traditional values leads. Whether it is through a sense of entitlement to the social services required to raise these human larval units or the notion that one can cash in on one’s irresponsible decisions through media manipulation, the notion of personal responsibility is turned inside out by this stupid woman’s decisions. Failure to recognize this situation as a total breakdown of morality and responsibility is very disturbing.

How will these human larva units be nurtured into becoming babies with a bright future? We suggest that the proper solution is that they should be made wards of the state and offered for adoption once they are healthy enough to be transferred to responsible loving parents. Nadya Suleman, in turn, should have her tubes tied, and have a lien slapped on her where some of her income will be perpetually applied to pay for the care these larva received until that debt it paid in full.

Ever hear of tough love? Well getting quality parental love will be mighty tough for these eight kids should they be allowed to live in a household with one mother, no father, and no morality in effect.

YOKEL SOUTH CAROLINA SHERIFF MAY SEEK LEGAL ACTION AGAINST PHELPS

Can it get any more stupid? For whatever reason, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott sure sounds like a world class ASSHOLE! Either he's trying to make a name for himself, is playing the good old boy macho tough guy "nobody gets away with this in mah town!," or even scarier he feels he is duty bound and this is the right thing for him to do.

In Sheriff Yahoo's own words: "This case is no different than any other case. This one might be a lot easier since we have photographs of someone using drugs and a partial confession. It's a relatively easy case once we can determine where the crime occurred."

Here's the article we almost had to know was coming.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,487304,00.html

Enough already. Leave the kid alone. Legalize pot. Cut out the f**king hypocrisy and idiotic pompous moralizing. Weed is illegal. Beer is not. Millions if not billions of dollars are wasted, not to mention resources, enforcing this archaic and stupid law. How much of our border problems would be solved if this moronic law were overtuned.

It's the 21st century, America! WAKE UP! While no man is above the law, no law is above the people. If there were ever a time to get our priorities straight it is NOW!!!

More on Michael, One Day Later

American Hypocrisy 101: Olympic Gold and Acapulco Gold

Surely, it will be the fodder of talk shows, editorial pages, sports columns, and water cooler and lunch room chit chat at the office all week, but damnit, the Michael Phelps situation IS NO BIG DEAL!!!

I feel sorry for his mom who has the unfortunate job of being a middle school principal in Baltimore County with its insane “zero tolerance” policy which runs kids out of school for a little reefer as if they were carry a loaded gun or selling heroin or crack cocaine. Of course, this zero tolerance extends to aspirin or Tylenol too and will probably extend to Coke and Pepsi once the nutrition Nazis rule that caffeine and sugar is a dangerous drug too.

Mrs. Phelps sure must have a lot of explaining to do when kids being kids will ask the typical "emperor's new clothes" kind of questions on the subject.

That being said, the hypocrisy of America is on display, BIG TIME!

Be honest, how many people younger than sixty five have not at least tried marijuana and probably smoked it at least socially if they went to college in the late 60’s into the 1980’s and probably since then.

How many people have never taken the wheel of an automobile after consuming too much alcohol?

How many people have not driven at least fifteen miles over the speed limit? Yeah, it was a wide open country road and the speed limit was 30 mph. We hear yah.

How many people have purchased something in Delaware or some other state that doesn’t charge sales tax and not declared it when returning to their high tax states like Maryland and Pennsylvania?

How many people have neglected to do something necessary in servicing their cars or tweaked a little something to avoid pollution controls?

How many people have disposed of something that’s not supposed to be put in the garbage? What did you do with that old CRT monitor when you got a flat screen panel for instance?

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. It’s unfortunate we live in a culture that is governed more with the ethos of “Don’t get caught” than “Do the right thing” but let’s face it, laws come from our fellow man. They are not the divine orders of a supreme being. Some laws should never be broken, period. Others, well, it’s a personal decision and weighing the consequences of one’s behavior knowing that one’s reputation will be on the line for any illegal digressions.

Face it, most people have certain laws they chose to ignore and have all kinds of rationalizations for breaking the law.

Be clear on something, breaking the law does not mean someone is doing something wrong, just something illegal. But let’s be real, many laws that folks casually disregard are ones that simply are hard to justify being on the books. From 1974 until common sense set in, the national speed limit was 55 mph. People voted for revocation of that law with their right foot on the accelerator. Yes, we should be law-abiding citizens, but our country was founded on articulating the citizen’s duty to deal with government that becomes too intrusive.

Were marijuana legal, no one would be forced to smoke pot. It would probably be subject to the same smoking bans as cigarette smoking. Likewise, driving under the influence would be essentially the same as consuming alcohol. There would be company policies forbidding pot smoking by employees whose jobs involve public or personal safety likewise drug testing would be in place to ensure compliance.

Parents could probably discuss drug use a lot more intelligently removing the hypocritical barrier imposed by drug laws.

How to handle more dangerous drugs is a much tougher issue because there is no question that drugs like cocaine, LSD, and heroin can be extremely dangerous, but suppose marijuana were legal and enforcement efforts were devoted to the less popular but more dangerous drugs, could those efforts eradicate those scourges to society?

This writer has no idea, but thinks it would help some.

In the meantime, Michael Phelps’ stupid decision to party in the midst of folks he didn’t know and trust is causing a silly debate where the answer is clear.

Finally, recognize that this campaign that we have been supporting since “Right Minded Fellow’s” inception is from a voice that is essentially conservative on most issues. First, for us, conservative is an outlook not a dogma. Ultimately, what policies, values, and procedures are most beneficial to mankind should prevail regardless of whether they are liberal, conservative, Christian, or secular. We’ll be quick to concede, it’s mighty hard to argue with the wisdom of the Bible or the U.S. Constitution.

Our conservatism has a strong libertarian slant to it. While the libertarian philosophy is appealing on the surface, many of its assumptions crumble when realizing we live in a society of millions of individuals and simple pragmatism shows pure libertarianism would result in anarchy. That being said, conservatives need to heed more toward their libertarian impulses than holier-than-thou, flag waving, chest-pounding, lock ‘em up dogma, and realize that the legalization of marijuana is also a sensible belief for conservatives too.

Do conservatives not believe in less government intrusion, individual responsibility and freedom? Do conservatives not hate the concept of a “nanny” state? Do we not criticize the government over reaching its boundaries?

If you are conservative and believe the correct answer to those questions is “yes” then legalizing marijuana is also an issue conservatives can and must embrace.

It’s 2009 folks, not 1966. It might have been shocking when the world found out the Rolling Stones and Beatles smoked pot. By the end of the decade, the spicy aroma of marijuana filled college dorms and rock concert arenas around the world.

Michael Phelps is just who he is, and for this writer, this marijuana episode just makes him a little more human. That’s fine with me.

Give Michael a Break!!!!

Reefer Madness (Again)

Here we go again, the tabloid trade does what it does best, find celebrities in compromising situations and exploits them accordingly. The photo doesn’t lie, Olympic hero, all-American Boy, and lovable down-to-earth nerd, Michael Phelps was caught taking a bong hit.

Was Michael Phelps silly to do so?
Of course he was.

Is it a big deal or should this diminish his star power in any way?
Absolutely not.

Will he pay a price for this and maybe lose some very lucrative endorsements?
CERTAINLY

Will there be a lot of moralizing, hand-ringing, and pompous expressions of outrage from everybody from the moral conservatives to the so-called progressive crowd who would prohibit orange juice if its sugar content were too high?
You can bet on it.

Can anything short of the Obama daughters getting caught red-handed smoking pot in the White House ever get the conservation started to legalize marijuana and end all this insanity be realistically expected to happen in the foreseeable future?
Hell no.

Michael Phelps acknowledged that, yes, he was toking on a bong, but he carefully avoided admitting he was smoking marijuana. At very worst, he is guilty of nothing more than being 23 years old and doing what is the unofficial pastime of young people that age, PARTYING. While such behavior can lead to bad things, like driving while intoxicated and various other problems generally associated more with alcohol consumption than pot smoking, let he is without sin, cast the first stone. The Baby Boomer Generation, the shameless originators of the “ME culture,” now in late middle age will surely be seen saying stuff like, “How could this happen?” “How could this kid be so stupid?” and on and on with more nonsense, can most of them deny what they were doing in the late 60’s and through the whole 1970’s?

Most people under the age of 65 who say they have never tried marijuana (much less smoked it for some period of time) are more likely lying than telling the truth.

The correct reaction to the revelation to Michael Phelps being shown doing a bong hit should be, “SO WHAT?”

However, in a larger context, this should be one more illustration that the continued illegal status of marijuana is a joke. That making ordinary folks who enjoy the pleasure of a little buzz criminals is beyond insane. The consequences and costs to society of continued prohibition of marijuana is infinitely more harmful than any of the known harms of smoking pot pose to society. That just as the prohibition against alcohol created all kinds of unintended consequences as normal citizens desiring a drink would find their way to imbue, so does the criminalization of a funny little plant people can grow in all fifty states. The legends of Al Capone and organized crime that created slaughter fields in cities like Chicago are seen today on city street corners across the land. The problem is, in both situations, since the market is run by criminals, the criminals deal in other commodities far more harmful than bathtub gin or a nickel bag of Mary Jane.

Is smoking marajuana a good idea?

Hell no, but we condone lots of things that aren't good ideas that are far worse, and as for guilty pleasures, how much worse can a few puffs of pot be compared to a glass of wine, a big juicy steak, or driving 15 miles over the speed limit, all behaviors that go on every day that only the most self-righteous on certain pursuits would get upset over. Let's be real, a few puffs of marajuana is a lot like a glass of wine. It's relaxing, loosens up the inhibitions, and helps put all the hornet's nest of the day-to-day grind behind.

The big argument the anti-drug crowd tries to use to terrify the public about marijuana use being so deadly dangerous is that smoking pot leads to the use of harder drugs. Let’s be real. Is there anything in one substance that can lead for a craving of another substance? Are folks who enjoy a mild buzz going to want to explore what it is like to be tripping their brains out? NO-NO-NO

There are two reasons the few marijuana users go on to use more dangerous drugs. First is their reaction to the big lie. From the time they were little kids, they have been told repeatedly, marijuana is dangerous and many of the alleged harms are pure lies that by the time they are in middle school will be well aware of being false. Having heard the constant drumbeat of marijuana being so awful and seeing with their own eyes that it is not, then how bad can the things that are really dangerous LSD, heroin, crystal meth, and prescription drugs be any worse? If society lies about marijuana, how can anyone trust that the real dangers are real dangers? Second, given the market place for drugs is an illicit point-of-sale, the same fellow who can sell an ounce of pot can surely also sell a few tabs of acid, a couple grams of cocaine, or a few shots of smack. The profit margin for the dealers is higher for the more dangerous drugs. They are also easier to distribute because the product is more concentrated and harder to detect. It is much more advantageous to sell something that is easier to conceal. Besides that, it is also a benefit to sell a substance that will almost guarantee repeat customers as nobody’s going to go through horrible withdrawals for not getting the marijuana he or she desires, but cocaine and heroin are highly addictive, and for the dealer, it is mighty nice to have customers who are locked in for life. Just ask the tobacco industry. Ooops, their product is very harmful but very legal despite recent measures to protect the rest of us from the stench, irritation, and possible health consequences of their public consumption of their stinking habit.

One thing that is for certain, our society’s current approach to marijuana usage is ridiculous. A program of half-assed enforcement which generally results in a slap-on-the-wrist to most but results in unbelievably harsh incarceration for others particularly where the “three strikes” law comes into play does nothing but waste vitally needed law enforcement resources and makes the whole criminal justice system look arbitrary and ridiculous skewed especially against the less fortunate in society who don’t have the resources to work the legal system.

Legalized and taxed marijuana is the only sane answer. The cost to produce, distribute, and sell marijuana is practically nothing – think of the cost of produce at the grocery store. Surely, marijuana should cost far more than an ounce of oregano (which McCormick sells for a small fortune). Perhaps, realistically, after taxes, suppose a quarter ounce of marijuana cost about the same as a case of the national big brands of beer: Budweiser, Coors, and Miller Lite, somewhere between $15.00 and $20.00. The seller would certainly make a nice profit if their markup took the total cost of goods to around $5.00. The rest would all go to the government.

Imagine how this would redefine the concept of “getting wasted.” While the goal of the increased tax receipts resulting from the legal sale of marijuana should be to reduce the tax burden on the highly overtaxed citizens and businesses of the United States with some set-asides for health care and substance abuse treatment, give the government more money to spend, especially in today’s world, sadly this golden opportunity, a new revenue source to the Feds would be surely wasted. Look no further than Nancy Pelosi’s Democratic Party’s idea of a stimulus package, which is mostly giveaways to all the usual suspects that are the bread and butter of their party’s base.

The real benefit, knowing how irresponsible congress is with any money to spend, would be the ability to reallocate the resources currently dedicated to marijuana prohibition. The courts would be freed of unnecessary trials and prosecution of marijuana cases. Law enforcement could be redirected to illegal immigration, the war on terrorism, and other illicit trade.

Michael Phelps is just as good a fellow as he was before this seemingly embarrassing photo surfaced. His mistake was more not being aware of just how public his every move is than that as a young man in his twenties he might have puffed on a little bit of reefer.

Part of the irony of this situation is that Michael’s mom is a principal in Baltimore County Public Schools that has had an aggressive antidrug policy in effect for thirty years. Any student caught using marijuana is removed from the regular day school program, in essence expelled, for the remainder of the school year. This is the same penalty for being caught with a weapon, assaulting a fellow classmate or a teacher, and stealing or vandalizing school property. It is also the same punishment for a girl who might get caught with pepper spray in her purse for self protection, possessing a nail file or clippers (possible weapon), aspirin, Tylenol, ibuprofen, or any variety of legal over-the-counter cold medicines (some kids might take too much, be allergic, or try to pedal such medicine as something illicit). For a school system in rapid decline as Baltimore County’s schools are in many places and are struggling with their arms tied to teach any kind of values thanks to political correctness and the ACLU, where cussing out teachers generally results in the teacher being held to account for what he or she did to provoke such conduct and nothing happens to the student but an honor student gets expelled for having pepper spray since she works at night and has to cross a dangerous parking lot to get to and from her mode of transportation and place of work, what message does that send to kids who are trying to prepare for their futures? The hypocrisy and mixed signals are overwhelming. Add to that the natural tendencies for adolescent rebellion, its little wonder kids are having so much trouble with their schoolwork, and we continue to see reports of such outrageous behavior by some kids who are driven mad by the process.

The legalization of marijuana is one small but bold step toward making justice in America make more sense. It will surely help not hurt teenage kids as things are usually better dealt with when they can be brought out in the open and not kept a big secret.

Will Michael Phelps’ little boo-boo help bring this issue into sharper focus? Probably not, but we will continue to speak out on this issue as a horrible waste of society’s resources and a horrible abuse of the reach of the long arm of the law.

We love you and support you Michael! Don’t let the bastards get to you!