DADvocate

Via Instapundit

Vegetable trees? Makes me wonder how the spaghetti trees are doing.

Delbert McClinton embodies what I like most in a singer. A little rough, a little tender, and a down home good ole boy. Very few touch me as his music touches me.



Here is Delbert and Martina McBride with "Two More Bottles of Wine."

Join the crowd.

A group of up to 50 black teens attack white family on the front lawn of a friend's home.

Out of nowhere, the six were attacked by dozens of teenage boys, who shouted ''This is our world'' and ''This is a black world'' as they confronted Marshall and his family.

The Marshalls, who are white, say the crowd of teens who attacked them and two friends June 27 on Girard Street numbered close to 50. The teens were all black.

''This was almost like being a terrorist act,'' Marshall said. ''And we allow this to go on in our neighborhoods?''

They said it started when one teen, without any words or warning, blindsided and assaulted Marshall's friend as he stood outside with the others.

When Marshall, 39, jumped in, he found himself being attacked by the growing group of teens.

His daughter, Rachel, 15, who weighs about 90 pounds, tried to come to his rescue. The teens pushed her to the ground.

His wife, Yvonne, pushed their son, Donald, 14, into bushes to keep him protected.

Hat tip to Sweetness & Light

I wonder how much the teachings of people such as Louis Gates contributes to such incidents and the writing it off to "history" excuses it. Unbelievable that the police can't decide if it's a hate crime. Would there be any question if the races were reversed? Where's equal protection under the law? Libs would be descending on Akron in hordes.

The Akron mayor has requested the FBI assist the Akron police force.

In a letter to the FBI dated today, Mayor Don Plusquellic asks the federal agency's local office to help determine whether any civil-rights violations or hate crimes occurred during the attack last month on Marty Marshall and his family.

The investigation is being supported by civil-rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Good for Mr. Sharpton. Maybe, he's had a learning moment.

"help determine whether any civil-rights violations or hate crimes occurred"? Are you kidding?

Of course, we know where Obama's sympathies lie in such events. Just look at the difference in how he treated the murder of Dr. George Tiller and the shooting of two U.S. soldiers by a Muslim militant in Arkansas.

After two days of silence, President Obama issued a statement Wednesday on the shooting of two U.S. soldiers by a Muslim militant in Arkansas--but the White House didn't even email the statement to its list of national reporters. Rather, the White House appears to have quietly released this statement to a local AP bureau in Arkansas. ... In contrast, the White House blasted a statement to reporters via email about five hours after news broke that third-trimester abortionist George Tiller was murdered on Sunday:

Obama and Gates like to talk about history. The need to more closely consider the history they're making.

A Cup of Tea

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.

Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring.

The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!"

"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"

We've heard Obama state of a "teaching moment" regarding the Gates incident. I just heard Roland Martin on CNN describe how whites need to learn about how blacks and police interact, because they can't possibly know what it like since they're white. (Of course, Martin, et al, always seem to know what it's like to be white.)

Perhaps, Prof. Gates is finally getting it. "It is time for all of us to move on, and to assess what we can learn from this experience." If Gates is including himself in the "we", then he's getting it. If he's just talking about the rest of us, he's not getting it.

Yes, there's still racism in the U.S. Just as there is religious bigotry. My youngest son, as a Catholic, has experienced some of this recently from a "friend." It still remains to see how this works out.

But, the cries of racism every time a policeman or other person in authority in does something a black person doesn't like are growing more than old. We live in a country where in Jenna, La. black kids can beat a white kid nearly to death and liberals jump to the aide of the perpetrators because of "history." We've come no where since the days when a retired black football player could commit double murder and walk because the cops are racist.

During the late 1970s in Knoxville, TN, I turned into a Wendy's parking lot to stop and get a burger and drink. A policeman pulled in behind me. He stopped immediately behind me when I pulled into a parking spot.

As I got out of my car, a beat up old VW Bug, he stated that my plates had expired. My appearance at this time was anything but a clean cut guy in his twenties. I had long, thick wavy hair, a fu Manchu mustache, faded jeans and God know what kind of shirt I was wearing. Basically, I was a hippie and could have been the local drug dealer.

Luckily, I remembered that the plates had been renewed and that my wife must have stuck the decal in the glove compartment rather than the put it on the license plate. (I was driving her car at the time.) I explained this to the officer and he let me check the glove compartment from which I retrieved the decals.

Showing them to him, he then requested my driver's license. Being slightly rattled, I had forgotten that I have put my wallet in my front pocket instead of my back one because it was hurting my butt. I patted my back pockets and feeling that my wallet wasn't there, I stated that I must have left it at home.

At that, he told me to turn and put my hands on the car and began to pat me down. He began at my ankles and patted up my legs. When he patted my front pockets, he felt my wallet and asked me what it was. I smiled, "That's my wallet and my driver's license is in it." He let me pull it out and I showed him my license.

By this point, people were watching from inside Wendy's and from their cars. Some with shit eating grins on their faces as I'm sure they approved of a damn hippie being harassed by the cops. The policeman looked at it. Realizing that everything was in order, told me so and that I could have saved both of us a lot of trouble if I'd had the decal on my license plate. I said, "Yes, sir," gave a weak smile and he left.

Throughout the incident, the policeman was rather hostile and belligerent. Maybe he thought he had to be so in order to assert his authority and power to a man larger and stronger than himself. Maybe he was just a jerk. I believe part of the problem was a week or so before there had been an incident where the Knoxville police had arrested Anna Sandhu Ray, the wife of murderer James Earl Ray, and taken her to police headquarters of a rather minor violation. The police had caught a lot of heat in the press because of this and I think they may have been arresting more people for minor incidents in order to "prove" that it wasn't unusual.

(This doesn't explain why racist cops would arrest the wife of Martin Luther King's murderer rather than pat her on the back and send her on her way though.)

During the incident I maintained a respectful tone of voice, cooperated fully. Despite my appearance and suspicious looking car, everything turned out OK. I could relate numerous other incidents involving friends and family but I've bored you enough.

Do people like Obama and Roland Martin think that whites are given a pass at all times? Are they so naive or stupid that they don't realize that the police have a responsibility to make sure everything in the household is OK? (Watch Panic Room with Jody Foster if you haven't already.)

What if Gates had been an angry husband in the midst of a nasty divorce and the police didn't check the house? There's more than one famous case of insufficiently curious police.

Back to the learning moment. Obama thinks this is a teaching moment. Naturally, a narcissistic man, like Obama, always thinks he has something to teach others but rarely learns except to how better manipulate others. This is not a teaching moment, it is a learning moment. The basic lesson to learn is to treat police with proper respect and etiquette. Another lesson to be learned by Obama and Gates and others of their mindset is that the constant cries of racism are falling on increasingly deaf ears as did the boy's cries of wolf. Not every unpleasant event in the life of black person is the result of racism. If you're black, you don't know what it's like to be white. Quit assuming our lives are a walk in the park. They're not.

Gates is an elite black professor at one of most esteemed universities in the world. The mayor of Cambridge is a black woman. The governor of Massachusetts is a black man. The President is a black man. Racism, on some level, will always exist. The knee jerk screaming of racism hurts the cause rather than helps.

"It is time for all of us to move on,...."

Oh, and, if Gates did show his driver's license, what address was on it?

Vote for this health care bill. Don't read it. Don't analyze it. I haven't, why should you? Our country is in the midst of a crisis, a horrible, horrible crisis. We must act with haste, don't worry about the waste.

To save the economy, we must have health care reform. We must act with haste.

Don't worry, our plan will "will keep government out of health care decisions,..." That's why the government is taking over, to keep it out of health care decisions. Except, "The government is already making some of these decisions," said Obama. Some of the decisions may involve painkillers in place of heart surgery. At least you'll die without pain.

"...health insurance reform will not add to our deficit over the next decade, and I mean it." See. He means it! We must vote of the health care bill, NOW! It's only a trillion dollar program but it won't add to the deficit because he means it.

Obama's working hard for bipartisan support. "You haven't seen me out there blaming the Republicans."

"I've heard that one Republican strategist told his party that even though they may want to compromise, it's better politics to 'go for the kill.' Another Republican senator said that defeating health reform is about 'breaking' me." See, he means it.

"Let me be clear: This isn't about me," Obama said, noting that he and every member of Congress -- including those trying to scuttle health care reform legislation -- "have great health insurance." (CNN.com)

No, it's not about him. Except, when it is.

Yes, he, the legislators and all federal employees have great health insurance. And, they still will if this legislation passes because they're excluded. As they should. As they are more important that the rest of because they run the country.

There are alternatives but don't bother to check them out.

Trust me he says, trust me. We saved the economy with our stimulus package. Medicaid and Medicare have worked out so well. Social Security will provide stable incomes for retirees for eternity.

Over here, we have a lot full of nice used cars. Low mileage. Excellent condition. Don't bother to look at the odometer or take a test ride. Trust me.

A local man's vision of visit to the doctor in 2020.

Part of my daily blog reading includes Post Politics: Political News and Views part of the Nashville Post website. I find it the best single source for me to keep up with my native state, Tennessee.

Today Post Politics quotes the New York Times quoting Tennessee Democratic Governor Phil Bredesen and another Democratic governor.

“Medicaid is a poor vehicle for expanding coverage,” added Mr. Bredesen, a former health care executive. “It’s a 45-year-old system originally designed for poor women and their children. It’s not health care reform to dump more money into Medicaid.”

He was far from alone. “As a governor, my concern is that if we try to cost-shift to the states we’re not going to be in a position to pick up the tab,” said Gov. Christine Gregoire of Washington, also a Democrat.

In another post, Post Politics also notes (via The Hill Briefing Room blog) that, finally, we're seeing bipartisan cooperation, against Obama's health care plan.

Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) asserted that an "interesting development" is taking place underway that, if true, could effectively remove Democratic leadership from the driver's seat on health care reform legislation in the House.

"There's an interesting development occurring behind the scenes, wherein moderate Democrats — so-called "Blue Dog" Democrats — and business-friendly new Democrats are actually starting to have conversations with us to build a coalition from the center outward, to actually really come up with substantive and well-founded health care reform," Boustany said during an appearance on Fox News. "And that's the only way to do this."

As someone whose income is only slightly above the national average and with three children for whom I provide health insurance, I would love a more affordable health care system. Observing government in action since sometime in grade school, I possess little faith in government to efficiently, economically and fully meet the health care needs of my family.

I believe that if Obama and company were proposing truly good health care legislation they would encourage open and lengthy debate on the issues. They would welcome in-depth analysis of the legislation and input to make it better. However, they did quite the opposite in the House and are attempting to do the opposite in the Senate. These are not the actions of people to be trusted, especially with your lives.

Thank goodness there are Democrats out there with the courage to speak the truth ever if it's counter to the words of our president.

This morning I caught a short bit on a record 56 consecutive days in New York City of the temperature staying below 85 degrees in May/June/July. A Minnesotan ponders a year without a summer. (Via Instapundit) A few weeks ago, in South Bend, IN, I camped while my son attended football camp, it had been so cool I was forced to buy an extra blanket for sleeping and left wishing I had brought a jacket. (My two trips to Tennessee have been typically hot, comparatively at least.)

Curious, I went to the Nation Weather Service site to check out Cincinnati temperatures. This years summer hasn't felt particularly hot to me, but, as a native Southerner, Ohio weather rarely feels too hot for me. June, 2009 looks like a pretty typical month temperature wise. Ten days of below average temperatures, 2 of average and the rest above with a couple significantly above. July's temperatures surprised me.

July, 2009 to Date for Cincinnati:

TEMPERATURE IN F:
DAY	MAX	MIN	AVG	DEP
1	69	62	66	-9
2	70	59	65	-10
3	78	60	69	-6
4	72	58	65	-10
5	75	61	68	-8
6	82	57	70	-6
7	84	58	71	-5
8	78	65	72	-4
9	80	63	72	-4
10	85	66	76	0
11	82	69	76	0
12	82	68	75	-1
13	82	63	73	-3
14	82	60	71	-5
15	78	66	72	-4
16	84	69	77	0
17	78	61	70	-7

Every day temperatures are below average except for three average days. Two days 10 degrees below the averge, one day 9 below and anther 8 below. Brrr! These temperatures have made July quite pleasant for outdoor activities, but I'm beginning to worry about another Ice Age.

Sunday my daughter left for Nashville, TN with others from her school to attend the FCCLA (Family, Career and Community Leaders of America) National Leadership Conference. She was attending because her and two other students had prepared a project promoting conservation. They won the state competition for this project. Competitions were based on grade level and she was in the 7th grade this past year.

As winners, they were entitled to attend the national conference. At the national level, rather than winners, projects were awarded gold, silver and bronze medals with gold being the best. My daughter's team won gold. Naturally, I'm quite proud of her and her two teammates. One was her cousin. I'm also thankful for the dedicated teachers at Mason County Middle School (Kentucky) who made all this possible.

Their project used the old Beach Boy's song, "Surfing USA" and changed the lyrics to "Conserving USA." I've never gotten to see the entire presentation. Knowing these kids, I'm sure it is lively and imaginative.

The market made significant gains today. The Dow rose nearly 257 points, the NASDAQ over 63 and the S&P rose Nearly 27. As we all know, this is because Obama said,

I love these folks who helped get us in this mess and then suddenly say, 'Well, this is Obama's economy,'" the president said in a pointed deviation from his prepared text. "That's fine. Give it to me!

In your ignorance, you may have thought the market climbed for other reasons, such as Intel, yesterday evening, reporting "profit and revenue late Tuesday that dipped from a year ago, but surpassed forecasts. Also, the chipmaker predicted better revenue growth in the third and fourth quarters thanks to improved demand for personal computers." Or, perhaps, because the Fed said this afternoon, "...the end of the recession might be on the horizon." Be not mistaken or mislead, the market rose because Obama spoke.

Rumors say Obama plans to next speak in Michigan where unemployment has hit 15.2%, via Instapundit.

Please hurry, O Great One.

Perhaps, this unfortunate fellow would have survived if he had heard this song.

Don't you just love the eloquent name given to Congressional bill bound to wreak on the American public? Contact your Senator to fight this bill that would dramatically increase the cost of living for ordinary Americans, cost jobs and enrich Democrat favored corporations.

Go here for more information on the junk science of global warming. (Now called climate change by many because the globe isn't warming.)

Global warming is based 100% on junk science. The most vocal promoters are not interested in the details of physical science. They are interested in two things: political control over the general public and the establishment of international socialism.

---

If you like poverty, inefficiency, and bureaucratic controls over the economy, and therefore control over your choices, the "climate change" movement is ideal.

If you want to subsidize China and India, neither of which will enforce the rules laid down by unelected international bureaucrats, this movement is for you.

If you want to pay more for less energy, there is no better way than to pass the cap and tax bill which the House has passed. It will be sent to the U.S. Senate next week.

The rest of us should oppose it.

Hat tip to Darren at Right on the Left Coast.

Al Gore has gone all fascist on us and is accusing "deniers" of being Nazis. According to Godwin's Law, this means Gore has lost the debate on global warming. More on Gore here. As usual, there is no indication that global warming means anything to Gore personally other than a way to get richer. His personal carbon footprint outsizes the average person by many times, as does he personal girth.

A person who calls himself "fred" and comments at DrHelen a lot accused those opposed to nationalized health care as having the attitude of "I got mine...screw the others." Sounds like Mr. Gore and climate change to me. Go home to Carthage, Al, and enjoy the money your daddy made in the oil and coal business. Leave the rest of us alone. That's the best thing you can do for the world. Maybe Al's a traitor to the planet incognito.

BTW - I have a higher lever of education that Al. So believe me, not him. :-)

Seriously, folks, continue to put pressure on your Senators. It's time for this country to do what's right for the everyday person again, not the privileged buddies of Congress.

Instapundit linked to a post at Reclusive Leftist, a genuine feminist, who scolds the feminists and left for spreading lies about Sarah Palin.

Of course, the first answer you’ll get if you ask feminists why they hate Sarah Palin is that “it’s because she ____” — and then fill in the blank with the lie of choice: made rape victims pay for their own kits, is against contraception or sex ed, believes in abstinence-only, thinks the dinosaurs were here 4000 years ago, doesn’t believe in global warming, doesn’t believe in evolution, is stupid and can’t read, etc., etc., etc., etc.

But none of those things is true. None of them.

Emphasis added.

Some of the final thoughts in the same post.

So: are we back to Obama after all? Is this a transference thing? Are people subconsciously frustrated by the fact that Obama is an empty suit, and are they transferring that rage to Palin?

As you see, I don’t have the answers.

Awhile ago I came up with what I think is the most plausible explanation yet when I said:

Sarah Palin is the Designated Hate Receptacle for self-described feminists. They know they’re not supposed to hate other women, but they do anyway because their feminism is not quite as strong as their patriarchal brainwashing. Sarah Palin is the culture’s designated Hate Receptacle.

I’m not entirely satisfied with that, but it’s the best I can come up with. If we add to that the subconscious Obama resentment-transference, perhaps on a kind of sliding rheostat thing, we may be getting close to a solution.

Intriguing and honest insights from a member of the left. Amongst other things, this reminds me of one of Sean Hannity's repeated themes, the left can't win in the arena of ideas, so they have to tell lies.

Woody at GM's Place.Com posts about Sarah Palin resigning as governor of Alaska. Interesting reading, but a response he made in the comments really caught my eye.

What If George W. Bush had …

…made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have thought this embarrassingly narcissistic and tacky?

If George W. Bush had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had visited Austria and made reference to the non-existent “Austrian language,” would you have brushed it off as a minor slip?

If George W. Bush had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current on their income taxes, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had been so Spanish illiterate as to refer to “Cinco de Cuatro” in front of the Mexican ambassador when it was the Fifth of May (Cinco de Mayo), and continued to flub it when he tried again, would you have winced in embarrassment?

If George W. Bush had misspelled the word advice would you have hammered him for it for years like Dan Quayle and potato as “proof” of what a dunce he is?

If George W. Bush had burned 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to go plant a single tree on “Earth Day”, would you have concluded he’s a hypocrite?

If George W. Bush’s administration had okayed Air Force One flying low over millions of people followed by a jet fighter in downtown Manhattan causing widespread panic, would you have wondered whether they actually “get” what happened on 9-11?

If George W. Bush had been the first President to need a teleprompter installed to be able to get through a press conference, would you have laughed and said this is more proof of how he is inept he is on his own and is really controlled by smarter men behind the scenes?

If George W. Bush had failed to send relief aid to flood victims throughout the Midwest with more people killed or made homeless than in New Orleans, would you want it made into a major ongoing political issue with claims of racism and incompetence?

If George W. Bush had ordered the firing of the CEO of a major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had proposed to double the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year, would you have approved?

If George W. Bush had then proposed to double the debt again within 10 years, would you have approved?

So, tell me again, what is it about Obama that makes him so brilliant and impressive? Can’t think of anything? Don’t worry. He’s done all this in 10 weeks — so you’ll have three years and nine-and-a-half months to come up with an answer.

What if?

Of course, the left and the MSM will fail to see their monumental hypocrisy.