I'M NOT A WORLD LEADER WHO
LIVED THROUGH WORLD WAR II,

BUT I CAN PLAY ONE ON TV


The French Horn, the Scotch Egg, and the Obamessiah (who will pay tribute to the Sauer Krauts) are all primed to pose and ponder at the next June 6 commemoration of the D-Day landings -- the beginning of the end for the Nazis and the the beginning of rebirth for occupied Europe (ahem, you're welcome) -- but none of them thought to invite the reigning Queen of England, the only one among them who remembers being bombed and wearing trousers for her country.

The three Euro-Mouseketeers put the "NO GURLZ" sign on their clubhouse, and had planned to spend Da Day together, cultivating their warm personal working relationship ("...loves red wine, band music, and long walks on the beach.....").

Now they find out that the Old Girl is royally cheesed that no arrangements and no apparent consideration at all had been aimed in her direction regarding her rightful place in the reviewing stand. Step aside, Granny, the Young Lions are in charge now ("Oh I just can't wait to be king!") -- and they want to party like its 1968 at the Sorbonne. Might as well do it while they can -- in not too many D-Days from now they are likely to be called to attention by the local muezzin.

What, no room for HRM? Can't squeeze her in, between the statesmen? Let's see....




Pretty tight there...












OOPS! Wouldn't want to intrude there!









Looks pretty Sar-Cozy... Awkward!


Who let Laughing-Boy in?



Oh, naff off, the pack of you.

I'll still be Queen when you're all off having your self-justifying autobiographies ghost-written. (Again, in some cases.)


Not amused. Ipod or no ipod.

OVER AT MY ALTER-EGO BLOG:

News round-up at SUMMA CONTRA IMPROBOS ET PLUMBEOS

Among the headlines:

Separated at birth -- Roseanne Barr & Sonia Sotomayor:















Hat-tip: Dennis Miller
"Roseanne Bar-Exam"

MEMORIAL DAY, U.S.A.

Day is done, gone the sun, but I'll make my contribution anyway. This morning I went to the weekly Mass I arranged to be said for my son and family during his deployments, and found a prayer in my missal that I'd never seen before. It was found tucked away on the body of Lt. Andre Zirnheld of the British S.A.S. (professor of philosophy in his civilian life) when he was killed in Libya in 1941.

Civilians will take note, and perhaps be surprised. Soldiers will know exactly what it's all about:


I bring this prayer to You, Lord,
For You alone can give
What one cannot demand from oneself.
Give me, Lord, what You have left over,
Give me what no one ever asks You for.
I don't ask You for rest,
Or quiet,
Whether of soul or body;
I don't ask You for wealth,
Nor for success, nor even health perhaps.
That sort of thing You get asked for so much
That You can't have any of it left.
Give me, Lord, what you have left over,
Give me what no one wants from You.
I want insecurity, strife,
And I want You to give me these
Once and for all.
So that I can be sure of having them always,
Since I shall not always have the courage
To ask You for them.
Give me, Lord, what You have left over,
Give me what others want nothing to do with.
But give me courage too,
And strength and faith;
For You alone can give
What one cannot demand from oneself.


Dear Mr. President, and representatives all:

PLEASE, can you manage not to ADD to his burden?

YOU GOTTA LAUGH, or you'll cry....

THE FILM THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO SEE!!!!



Coming soon, to a gas pump, WalMart, Piggly Wiggly, Macy's, and (gasp!) Amazon.com near YOU!!!

OBAMA TO ROOSEVELT:
"I WANNA BE JUST LIKE YOU WHEN I GROW UP"

Maybe we can start with
INTERNMENT CAMPS


[Check it out -- New York Times, PAGE 18]

In his continuing effort to out-Janus Janus, President Obama prepared for his national security speech about the evils of the Gitmo by revealing, in an off-the-record meeting with human rights advocates, that he may propose legal changes which would enable the United States to hold in "preventive detention" people suspected of contemplating acts of terrorism -- people who have done nothing yet, and who could not be convicted of any crime, but who have manifested behaviors of potential terrorists, being held in prison to keep them from carrying out what we think they were thinking about doing.

Been there -- done that: 1942-46


Chains we can believe in?


And then there was....

FUN WITH DICK AND JANE

The American Enterprise Institute hosted Darth Cheney himself, delivering a speech on national security which Atlas Shrugs calls "the definition of common sense" and "required reading."

So do as you're told and read it.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Obambi delivered his own speech defending his rather sissy approach to national security.

It was the tag-team event of the year, and the guy with the droopy lip seems to have come out on top.


So, see it this way:












Or this way:


But SEE it. It's not going away.

Nice work, Dick. Where were you for eight years?????

BAD CASE OF THE [SOUTH]BENDS

OBAMA DOES THE DAME



The University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN, was treated to the rare privilege of a commencement address delivered by the President of the United States. It was also treated to the not-at-all rare experience of a commencement address consisting of tiresome pap about finding common ground among people of diametrically opposed world views, blah blah blah. It's hard to say what's more offensive: Obama's thoroughly inappropriate presence on the podium of a Catholic institution of higher education, the anticlimactic banality of his words, or the rank vulgarity of his opening "softening up" paragraphs as he once again displayed his total lack of taste and talent in the field of light comedy, especially as he tries to make light of things that are just not funny.

It was a performance not so far removed from his recent lame-o appearance at the annual Washington correspondents' dinner, where he had the good fortune to be followed by the Wanda Sykes act which so surpassed him for crass mean-spiritedness that most people forgot how crappy the President's own "set" had been -- how many pained silences and occasional thuds and groans had greeted his attempts to make light of serious issues and problems, from the "Scare Force One" disaster over Manhattan, to death from Mexican flu, to the shameful persecution of Larry Summers at Harvard, to the terminal idiocy of his chosen Vice President.

At Notre Dame Mr. Obama delivered in many respects exactly the kind of speech one would anticipate from such a person [and the world is full of them]: one who has absolutely no concept of what it means to have a deep-seated, irrevocable moral conviction grounded in the dictates of an eternal and unchanging God. This is why there is never any need for any Catholic institution to hand a microphone to this sort of speaker -- there are far too many accomplished and brilliant Catholic scholars and leaders (really, there are!), living examples of fidelity, for a school to waste its commencement address on someone who doesn't speak the same language the students do (or SHOULD DO, after four years in a Catholic college) on matters of the greatest importance to their lives, to the future of human existence, and to life in the world to come.

It is hard even to be offended by Mr. Obama's self-serving analysis of the dangers and challenges that lie before this graduating class, made worse by the massive the burdens he himself has laid upon their futures in a mere 100 days of national deconstruction. Nor by the recitation of leftist talking points about climate change, diversity, greed, yada yada yada. Nor even by his obtuse referencing of "cultural divides" regarding stem cell research or AIDS, or the perverse bromide about how "faith necessitates doubt" [excuse me?].

And he can be forgiven for holding up the execrable Cardinal Bernardin as an example of moral leadership, since in this he is no different from far too many Catholics -- that scandal is on their heads rather than Obama's. Sadly, it is not so difficult to imagine how a "faith journey" that leads past Bernardin can wind up in the pews of Jeremiah Wright (though Obama carefully avoided mentioning that this was his resting place when he was "brought to Christ").

No, none of these irritations constitute the most offensive elements of President Obama's performance today under the Golden Dome of Our Lady. What offends most is that, having persevered in keeping an engagement that would be a source of controversy and division among adherents to a faith he does not share, he thought he could joke his way around the gravity of the situation, with a crass and clueless riff on the previous controversial address at a Catholic college [Xavier] which declined to award him an honorary degree. And that he could paper over the deep moral divide between his very clear record (furthering the deliberate termination of innocent but inconvenient life both before and after birth), and the doctrine of the Catholic Church on the sanctity of human life, by giving lip service to support for adoption, childcare, and contraception ("reducing unintended pregancies") -- as if this makes his record less of an outrage.

What offends is the bald-faced lie that Mr. Obama actually desires "common ground" -- that he has any intention of "honoring the conscience" of those who disagree with the received leftist position on the "right to choose." With a straight face he spoke of the desirability of "vigorous debate", in hopes that "surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature." Then, about half a dozen paragraphs down, the students are warned that, "You will hear talking heads scream on cable..." Are these "Fair-minded words" or reduction to caricature, Mr. President?

The greatest offense in this whole affair -- it goes without saying but let's keep saying it anyway -- has been the conduct of Fr. John Jenkins, president of Notre Dame (at least until tomorrow morning), which has gotten more petulant and abrasive with every development in the story. He topped it all off with his sycophantic Kumbayah introduction of the interloper at today's commencement. Too obtuse himself to recognize what a strategically advantageous move it was for Obama to, literally, don the mantle of Notre Dame for a day, Fr. Jenkins actually congratulated the President for accepting his invitation to speak, as if it required a thimbleful of courage. On the contrary -- having garnered more than half the Catholic vote last November, Obama's appearance increased the comfort level of Catholic voters with their choice, in case his immediate pro-abortion policy decisions might have made them a little dubious.

Fr. Jenkins was especially memorable as he praised Obama for not being "someone who stops talking to those who disagree with him." This was specific to the issue of abortion -- as if Notre Dame should feel grateful that the Great One deigned to appear under these unsavoury circumstances.

Let's re-cap, Father: This is the same Obama who, in his first meeting with Republican leaders in Washington, slammed the lid on discussions of compromise by trumpeting, "I WON", and told a fellow Democrat who couldn't support his stimulus plan that he was "KEEPING SCORE." [links here] It's not so much that Mr. Obama doesn't stop talking, it's that he wants those who disagree with him to stop talking, period -- just ask Hannity and Limbaugh.

Ever since the advent of candidate John F. Kennedy in 1960, it's been a dark sort of entertainment to watch unworldly Catholic priests and religious weigh in on political matters, too often showing themselves to be at least babes in the woods -- the sad part of the last 10 or 15 years has been watching them willingly throw Catholic principles under the campaign bus in their continuing quest to look relevant and modern. At least l'affaire Notre Dame has also been an occasion for the greater public to see uncharacteristically faithful leadership from six dozen bishops, resistence from substantial numbers of students and (to a lesser degree) faculty, and 350,000 signatures on a petition to halt the travesty which proceeded this afternoon. This follows on some equally powerful counter-witness during the fall elections regarding apostate Catholic politicians who would try to remake the Church in their own image. Let us pray that this is a sign of a corner turned in American Church-state relations, with a fresh font of faith bubbling up from below among the John Paul II generation.

Cheer, cheer for New Notre Dame?

WHERE HAS ALL THE BLOGGING GONE.......?

Answer is simple: we're in San Diego visiting the Sprout and his Mom, and it's just

ALL THOMAS, ALL THE TIME.







Well, almost all the time.

Lest those of us who think General Petraeus walks on water be accused of being a bit over the top......

MULTIPLE HANKY ALERT!!!!!

[hat-tip Gateway Pundit]

COMING TO A SUPERMARKET NEAR YOU????

Brown shirts are just so-o-o last-century -- green is the new brown. Pack a double-whammy with your eco-friendly Islamo-sacred green Tee's that say to everyone, "Hey, I support all things biodegradable -- especially vaporized Jews."

Watch as sworn enemies of Israel swarm a French suburban supermarket and strip the shelves of all Israeli products. Watch as their fellow-shoppers, intimidated or brain-dead as they may be, go about their own business as usual. Watch as store management is nowhere to be seen while the green-shirts fill their baskets and then appear to walk out of the store unimpeded with loads of shop-lifted merchandise.

Is anybody in charge of anything over there?




Think twice before you reach for those matzohs.


MEANWHILE, BACK IN THE NATION OF NICENESS....

Back in the sane and civilized Great White North, yet another HONOUR KILLING trial is underway in Ottawa, capitol of Nice. 23-year-old Afghan-Canadian (in Canada since childhood) shot his sister and her fiance as they sat in a parked car, with a .44 magnum he hadn't intended to bring along -- looking for a "manslaughter" verdict because, like all upstanding Muslim sororcides, he was "provoked" by his disapproval of the sister's engagement, based on his "profound attachment" to his heritage. Not to mention his belief that he would make his sister a martyr who would go to paradise.

Nice. Not the first of these in the Nation of Niceness -- won't be the last, either, safe to assume.