RIP: Robert Byrd 1917-2010

In the '40s, he attained the rank of Exalted Cyclops, the leader of the local chapter of the KKK. In the 1945 controversy of racially integrating the military, he said, "Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds. . . I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side."

Yet, he has been the longest serving Senator (D-WV) of all time. He may very well have been the first really mean Democrat. Can't President Obama find a way to fine and/or imprison his descendents?

McChrystal's balls (as published 6/28)

There are two factors at work in the dismissal of General Stanley McChrystal. First, the founders, fearing the excessive power exercised by King George III, constructed a constitution which ultimately put control of the military in the hands of the people. Over the years, it has been customary for the military to execute its duties as prescribed with complete deference. It is not appropriate, therefore, for any soldier to criticize the decisions of those who are higher in the chain of command; and, competent or not, the President is at the top. It's a matter of discipline. The General was clearly out of line.

Second, the General had no choice but to resign, especially since he further showed an outstanding lack of common sense in dealing with, and allowing his staff to speak to, "Rolling Stone," the main content of which is pop culture. I cannot imagine why a four-star general, a man steeped in international military affairs, would think that the regular readers of the magazine would understand or appreciate the intricacies of military tactics or political infighting. They probably skipped over the war talk to see what was happening in the lives of Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and Michael Jackson's illegitimate sister.

Apparently, someone just wanted to damage the war effort, and was thwarted in the attempt. Curses! Liberal meanness foiled again.

BY THE WAY: If you're going to Arizona to partake of Black Bear Diner food in Goodyear, Gilbert, Lake Havasu City, Bullhead City, Glendale (larger), or the one in Phoenix(?), don't forget to carry your "papers."

Comic Carmen Lynch still "standing"

"I have a daughter. She lives in Peru. I send what's-her-name $28 a month for food and clothes and stuff. My mother asks me when I'm going to have children, and I say, "What about my daughter in Peru?"

CREATE: Having watched six seasons of "Lost," and now three episodes of "Persons Unknown," I have decided how such television dramas are created. They make it up as they go along, with no real vision of where the story is going. They create some interesting, frequently unbelievable, circumstances, and then, on the way out the door, the head fantasizer says, "Remember to think up some explanations for what just happened in the story, so that later on, we can say, 'See, that's what we meant all along.' I'll write down all your ideas in a big book, and we'll pick out the best ones later in the season. See you next week, and we'll brainstorm some more confusing crap that sounds like it might mean something.

"Oh, by the way, try to humanize the characters. The network loves it when the viewers identify with kinds of people who have never existed."

DISAPPOINTMENT: The downturn in the economy has really caused chaos at the Black Bear Diner. Since our last visit, they have eliminated ALL the generous sides they used to provide. No tasty mac and cheese, no garden veggies (mostly squash), no soup or salad, no scalloped potatoes, no baked beans, not even any bread. The server said, "Corporate decision," for the 40+ locations serving "old-fashioned, home-cooking" in mostly small towns in CA, NV, OR, WA, AZ and CO. So the next time you're in Goodyear, Arizona, wherever that is. . . .

The Bottom 20

A new entry to my 20 worst films is a stinkeroo called "The Hunting Party" 1971. . . a complete waste of the talents of Oliver Reed, Gene Hackman, and the desirable young Candice Bergen, who plays the part of the hypotenuse in their triangle of passion. Two bands of miscellaneous Western bad guys kill each other until only Reed (who does "cowboy" pretty well), who has abducted Hackman's wife, Bergen, and the cuckold Hackman himself, remain. So, the adulterers set off across the desert, always a wise flight plan. Their horse dies, and Hackman, on foot, tracks them down and kills them both, ritually dispatching her with one shot to the pudendum. Then, Hackman has the good grace to expire himself, for no apparent reason except as a result of his contemplation of the long walk back to civilization. One of the most unsatisfying endings ever.

ON THE OTHER HAND: Do not be put off by the title "Palookaville" 1995. Three young slackers embark on a series of ill-conceived and poorly executed crimes with surprisingly humorous results. Any five minutes of their machinations are more entertaining than the entire above-mentioned kill-fest.

"From the Oval Office," a play

(THE SCENE: THE OFFICES OF BP, TVS BEING VIEWED)

CLIVE: Hey, Nigel, are you watching this?

NIGEL: Do you mean that silly boob, President Obama?

CLIVE: Yah, he just said that WE have to repay all those colonists for the money they've lost because some oil got spilled.

CLIVE & NIGEL: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

NIGEL: Aren't those the people who took the country away from us originally?

(MORE LAUGHTER, WHICH HAS NOW SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE COMPLEX)

CLIVE: Well, it's theirs now.

NIGEL: How do you say "fuck you" in American. Oh, that IS American.

CLIVE: Wait a minute, now he's babbling about "alternative energy sources." Ooo, I'm scared; he won't be needing oil any more.

(GALES OF GUFFAWS)

NIGEL: He must have realized how silly that sounds because he just signed off. Shortest speech he ever gave. Must be his bedtime.

CEO TONY HAYWARD: Tea, Nigel?

"Last Comic Standing"

The three stand-up comic judges appear to be bent on eliminating everyone except other stand-up comics. For instance, I thought the ventriloquist whose dummy had his own dummy was quite inventive, but he's gone. Also lost was one of my favorites on Monday night, Jared Logan. His classic, unpredictable line, "Will everyone born out of wedlock, please stand to the side," (the context of which was not completely understandable) was quite memorable.

ALSO: The new NBC summer offering, "Persons Unknown," started strong last week, but grew somewhat derivative and less fascinating last night. Hints of "The Prisoner" BBC 1968, and "The Truman Show" 1998, snuck in. Just like the ax that mysteriously appeared at the plane crash in "Lost," a large van materialized last night to further the plot, and got us to dreading that the clever ending we are hoping for may be diluted over the upcoming couple of months.

Flag Day

"The flag of 1777 was used until 1795. Then, on the admission of Vermont and Kentucky to the Union. . . the flag [had] 15 stripes. . . and 15 stars on a blue field. When. . . it became evident that the flag would become burdened with stripes. . . Congress. . . ordered that after July 4, 1818, the flag should have 13 stripes, symbolizing the original 13 states. . . and that whenever a new state was admitted a new star should be added on the July 4 following admission."*

God bless America.

*The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 2010

Limbaugh married?

Rush Limbaugh, popular talk-show host and multimillionaire, has married again. Unless he has discovered the most unusual woman in the world, that union seems doomed to failure. How many weeks/months of joy do you predict?

About 40 years ago, my cousin was a Catholic priest and an Air Force Chaplain. He was posted somewhere in Asia, and met a woman. To the disappointment of my aunt and uncle, he left the priesthood, married her, and settled on a farm in Missouri. Since then, I have lost track of them, but I do remember the one time I met her. She was completely obedient and submissive. She walked a respectful three paces behind him, and was only heard to speak when spoken to.

Do you suppose Rush has married such a woman? If he hasn't, it's unlikely the mouth-that-roars could settle down with a stronger feminine personality. Perhaps I believe that because I doubt I could, being as opinionated and chary of my liberty as he.

Macho man

Trying to sound like a man, President Obama, the boy-king, said he wanted to know "whose ass to kick" in the oil spill flap. What a stunning display of masculinity.

As one caller to talk radio observed, "That would be those asses in Congress." You know, Democrats whose mascot is a donkey, Biblically referred to as an ass.

I have been driving cars for almost 60 years, and I refuse to feel guilty about it. Despite his show of indignation and concern, the President is secretly relieved that now he can order some of that drilling to stop that he had authorized in contravention of his campaign promise. Yet another example of his childish backtracking, and an additional attempt to fill you with more guilt for how you are destroying the planet. I won't be joining that pity party.

OUR UNLUCKY FAMILY: It was the first time we ever agreed to put a candidate's sign on our property, and he lost. He was the incumbent whose name, Holzapfel, couldn't be pronouned by the news. Too German, I guess.

Two from AP

1. Despite the admonition "Copyright the Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed," Newsmax quoted their article.

Is it possible the AP, the regime's propaganda arm, is beginning to bail? That seems to be the implication of at least one unnamed author who suggests that President Obama may be playing Chicago politics in one or both of the following basic ways:

1. Breaking the law,
2. Keeping it legal, if shadily close to the line.

Rats abandoning a sinking ship?

2. MOUNTAIN DUPLICITY: In Aurora, Colorado (a large city near Denver the residents of which are no doubt miffed that the AP called their home a "suburb"), a coffee shop with the suggestive name of Perky Cups has been sending bikini-clad women onto the nearby streets to advertise.

Nosy Councilwoman Molly Markert is complaining, saying that the women are in danger of being "raped and murdered." Apparently, she is not one of those women who insists that a woman should be perfectly safe in public no matter what she wears. Feminism can't have it both ways, Molly?


(Meanwhile, the state-run televison is cramming this oil spill down the throats of all you evil gas-guzzlers. Repent, and drill no more.)

Hopper night

I had never seen "Blue Velvet" 1986, until last night. I'm not convinced I've seen it yet. It was on "this," that regular TV movie channel, and although they warned us it was TV-M, nothing outraged me, and I only detected some of that glorious Lynch weirdness in the last five minutes, when all was supposedly resolved. Before then, I suspect there had been copious editing. . . to the extent that I was never confused as to what was going on, except at the very end when their lives appeared so idyllic it was creepy.

Dennis' character died, as usual.

D-DAY 1944 -- Lest we forget.

Splitsville

Don't get me wrong. . . I have absolutely no interest in the fact that Al and Tipper Gore are divorcing. However, I was mildly amused when CBS News emulated Jorge Smirnoff syndrome, and blamed the whole thing on George Bush. I won't mention the name of the woman who embarrassed herself by saying that things would have been better "if only Bush hadn't taken [the election] from them;" but, in addition to the historical inaccuracy of that statement, the idea is as foolish as my blaming my own divorce on women's lib. (Yes, after all these years, it's easier to live with that than the thought of accepting any portion of the shared blame.)

"The Census"

I pray my census saga is over. Cute little Leticia Enriquez came to my door yesterday, and said she didn't remember my earlier phone call to her. She had left me a billet doux 2-3 weeks ago, and I talked to her on the Ameche. I told her our little hovel housed two adults, declined to give her my name, but gave her our phone number because "someone from 'The Census' might call to verify she hadn't lied to them." She looked trustworthy to me.

She "forgot" that conversation, and reappeared at our door. She's in her last week of work, and I got the impression she wouldn't be paid if she couldn't get my name. I didn't even think of lying, but then, I never do, and I'm proud of my name and American heritage.

Now that they have my name, someone at "The Census" may call to ask me those other questions I don't believe I have to answer. I suppose they think they're doing "scientific research," but I suspect that somehow, someone will be negatively impacted by some of the incomplete information they will glean. Especially during the Obama regime.

Here in California, where the majority of the population is Hispanic, it was easy to profile Leticia. The charming accent sealed the deal. I assume "The Census" saw her "papers" before they hired her. I didn't ask. Did I mention she was cute?

UPDATE: Moments ago, I received a phone call from another "The Census" person. She wanted my birthdate, and first born's name and birthdate. She said that would end it, but then, so did Leticia. This new enumerator THREATENED that more people would be coming to my door if I didn't respond, and the word "fine" was heard when I asked, "What if I don't tell them, either?" She was a nice lady with a thankless job, so after I jerked her around for a while, I gave up the information, although I'm not convinced I had to.

What's next? Guantanamo? After all, both women had apparently been severely admonished not to lie, because liberals have a real problem with honesty.