TIME TO GET SERIOUS

The Republican field of had-beens and side-show fire-eaters is blessedly narrowing: Huckster Huckabee declines, Trump opts for tinsel and tap-dancing, Romney and Gingrich stay technically in the race, but choose political calculation over principle and assume kami-kaze mode.



The day is fair, the plain is wide and green -- look to the high ground, and see where the young lions cast their eyes across the expanse, in anticipation of sauntering down the hill through the tall grass and into the fray: Ryan, Bachman, Christie, Rubio, West, go forward to nudge their noses up against the waiting Pawlenty and sharp-toothed Cain -- amid Palin's roars of encouragement and zeal issuing from the Alaskan heights [above and to the left on the map, but standing shoulder to shoulder and to the right among the Party].





Snarl, stalk, pounce.











Anybody seen Fred Thompson?

PRESIDENT GINGRICH?

Uh, yeah. Right.


After years of odious behaviour with women, this was the topper. Remember it.



I am quite prepared to believe that Newt's conversion to Catholicism is sincere, as far as it goes. Or perhaps I would believe more deeply in it if it were accompanied by a realization that, as a fitting embrace of humility, it is his time to develop his talents as a historian and withdraw from the corrupting life of politics and public attention -- he has much, MUCH to atone for privately, and it is time for a more private life.

That he is prepared to welcome the full spotlight of a presidential run, and all that it will illuminate in his catalogue of personal sins, makes one wonder whether he has cultivated a sufficient sense of sin to consider his conversion complete. Let's remember his first response the first time he was questioned [for which he should have been amply prepared with an answer reliant on the Christian vocabulary of contrition], politely but pointedly, by a Christian journalist, about his dingy moral history. It was pathetic.

Newt Gingrich will never be President. The fact that he can't see this is evidence enough that he is still seeing through a glass darkly, and has a long way to go on the road to conversion. It's a road he should walk in solitude, not in the glare of public adulation. Sad.

Post-script: It is, of course, important to note that, by all accounts, Gingrich's personal history is pale compared to that of, say, Ted Kennedy, and it is flagrant injustice that Gingrich past sins will be illuminated with as much intensity as Kennedy's were hidden by a complicit press. But, at the end of the day, we must note that, after Chappaquiddick, everybody knew that Kennedy would never be President either, and, despite his best efforts, he never was. Despite the decades-long shielding by the complicit press, the American public did not forget, and Kennedy's fate was sealed at Martha's Vineyard -- thank God. If he'd been elected, I'd have had to move to Canada.

Oh wait. I did that anyway. But it was an apolitical, rather than political, move. That's my story and I'm sticking to it -- cuz it's true.

If I may quote myself:

Step out of the way, Newt. If it was ever your moment (and I doubt that), it has most assuredly passed. Make way for the New Kids on the Block (Kantor, Ryan, Rubio, even Palin. No Newt, no Mitt, no way. That's it.)

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

New York Times Magazine runs an anti-military hit-piece as its cover story a week before the Navy Seals become national heroes for giving Osama Bin Laden some old-fashioned high-velocity "lead poisoning". Obviously not bothered by the fact that it's a re-hash of Rolling Stone's recent anti-military hit-piece. Heck, when your professional soldiers are drooling homicidal maniacs, one can't cover the same piece of news too often.

Nice cover.


Interestingly, the article appeared on the same weekend I took this picture. Here's how my son the Marine-beast passes his off-hours.






What a psycho.

'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE O-DAY..."

Radio guru and tart-tonged funny-man Dennis Miller recently suggested that someone should write a parody of "The Night Before Christmas" to cover the Mother's Day events in Abbottabad, Pahkeestahn. On the fly he tried to name it, and came up with "Twas the Night Before Monday."


Here is my entry. Miller did not choose to post it. Epic Fail, if you ask me. See what you think.

I.

Twas the night before Monday,
And all through the yard,
Not a creature was stirring
Not even the guard.
My turban was hung
On a hook by the closet,
And I’d put on that bathrobe
With its secret cash deposit.
The children were nestled,
Three or four to a bed,
While visions of goatburgers
Danced in their heads.
And mama in her bed-socks
And pink silk chador
Had just settled down
With one eye on the door,
When up on the roof
There arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed
To see what was the matter.
Then away from the window
I ducked like a flash
And wondered if someone
Was stealing my stash.
The moon on the breast
Of my new teen-aged wife
Gave me major incentive
To cling to my life.
When what to my wondering
Eyes should appear
But a camouflaged hulk
In a mountain of gear,
With a bunch of his comrades
So lively and quick,
I just about pee’d
And I thought I’d be sick.
More rapid than eagles
To the rooftop they came.
And they grunted and shouted
And called me by name.
“You Bastard, you raghead,
You murdering f#ck --
You’ve bombed your last building
And humvee and truck!
So mumble to Allah,
‘Cause the last thing you’ll see
Is one bullet from New York,
And one from D.C.,
And then Pennsylvania,
And then we’ll be done.
You got nowhere to hide,
You got nowhere to run.”
They had hovered above,
Down their ropes they had shimmied.
They came in from all sides,
Everywhere but the chimney.
As I rubbed my red eyes
And collected my hat
They had filled up the bedroom
And cornered their rat.
They had night-vision goggles
And great big-ass guns,
And scared me so bad
I developed the runs.
Their rifle-sights glinted
And fixed on me tight.
Their cheeks were all green
And their teeth gritted white.
The beard on my chin
Turned as white as the snow,
And I knew I was done for,
With no place to go.
My skinny old face
And my lazy-boy belly
All shook when they laughed,
Like a bowlful of jelly.
I gave a weak smile
And a ‘whatever’ shrug.
The last thing I remember
Was the 45 slug.”

II.
Then up to the house-top
These warriors blazed,
Jumped into their choppers,
And skyward they raised,
With a sh#t-load of hardware
From Osama’s hut
And a body-bag ready
For his sorry butt.

And back home in Washington,
Deep under the White House,
All the President’s men,
And one President’s spouse,
Were all taking notes
[with a few variations!]
To spread to the press
And the rest of the nation.
There was one basic theme
On which there was agreement:
That Obama, like Beowulf,
Had gone after the demon.
Like Leonidas, Caesar,
King David, or Patton,
Like Joanie of Arc,
Or that genius Saladin,
He’d pounded his fist
And said “It’s a go!”
Then they gave him a footstool
To sit on for the show.
He had raced off the golf course
To watch it go down,
And the nation was grateful
He'd managed to be in town.
He spoke not a word
While the Seals were at work,
In fear that, beside them,
He’d look like a jerk.
But I heard him exclaim,
As they choppered from sight,

“Hot-damn! Who’d have thought it?
I guess Might can do Right!”

HERE'S ONE FOR THE BOY

POST POST MORTEM


A SOBERING REFLECTION, OUTSIDE THE WIRE

Self-embedded journo J.D. Johannes sends reactions from Helmand Province, Afghanistan. No dance of jubilation here.


NOTHING FROM NOTHING LEAVES NOTHING

Acerbic journo Christopher Hitchens (peace be upon him, plus a miraculous cure of his cancer through the intervention of Blessed John Henry Newman.....) weighs in on the Bin Laden take-down. Can't argue with anything here.


This just in: NO CORPSE PHOTO RELEASE

A caller to Rush, in a dandy New York accent, just described us as "a nation of milksops". Well, not the whole nation. Just the shrinking violets in this photo -- that's not everybody, mind you. Who's the smallest, most pouty-looking guy in the room? :



Rush just now asks the $64 billion question: if the Navy Seals had put women's underwear on Osama's head, would the administration and Dick Durbin have demanded the release of the photos?

Rush -- such a tease.


This just in:

Some IDIOT REPUBLICAN -- Mike Rogers, House Republican Intelligence Committee Chairman, speaks on 60 Minutes this Sunday.

Imagine how the American people would react if Al Qaeda killed one of our troops or military leaders, and put photos of the body on the internet.

Imagine!



Imagine.


Imagine.



Two words for you, Representative Rogers: Menchaca and Tucker.

Think I'll send Mr. Rogers an email to his Beltway neighborhood.


PRESIDENT DRAGGED KICKING AND SCREAMING
INTO HISTORY

A slight exaggeration, but only that. According to "White House Insider" this was not so much a "gutsy decision" on the President's part, but a decision forced down his guts by E.T. (Leon Panetta, resident grown-up) and others with a better-developed sense of world affairs. And the ditherer-in-chief still took 16 hours and a nap to make up his mind about it. We have that from Britain's Daily Mail -- and aren't we tired of hearing top-line U.S. stories only from people overseas?

White House Insider is an unidentified internet source, with a long history of exposing chaos and incompetence inside the Obama administration, whose reports are published on a few different third-party sites. He or she is apparently a big Hillary Fan, so not some plant from Fox News or other Traitors to America (/sarcasm on).

I just discovered him/her only yesterday, and can make no claims for validity, but have since found that someone as savvy and sage as Roger Simon pays serious attention, and has urged the dude/dudess to come out of the shadows.

Some background here. One to watch for, I'm guessing.


PAKISTAN CLAIMS TO HAVE INFORMED U.S.
ABOUT BIN LADEN HIDEOUT IN 2009

Again from the Brits, at Sky News.

We report, you decide.

Oh say can you see
Muslim sensitivities,
Which so proudly we hail
Facing east on our knees.

SO HOW WAS YOUR WEEKEND?


GLORIOUS

I'm embarrassed to admit that, with all the other events of this weekend, personal and global, I have neglected to devote any time to watching or reading about the Beatification of Pope John Paul II. But how wonderful that the events of his life, death, and growing hagiography have changed forever the complexion of "May Day".


JUST AS GLORIOUS

Blessed John Paul would approve of my excuse: just too busy gathering with the fam in sunny So-Cal to witness as new granddaughter was welcomed into the Body of Christ, waking up just long enough to "WAH!" her assent. A truly beautiful blossom on the family tree.


HITCHED WITHOUT A HITCH

Felicitations to the once and future King William of What's Left of the Empire, and future Queen Katherine. We wish them the best, despite the fact that it was a case of "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to join in Holy Matrimony this man and this woman who have been shacked up together for at least three years that we know of, and undoubtedly making the beast with two backs for years before that....."

Considering the colossal marital failures of his immediate family, especially the tragic exploitation of his child-bride mother, one can hardly blame Prince Wills for creeping a slow and twisted path toward the altar of glaringly public commitment.

Anyway, lovely show (if musically under-served -- pretty boring choices on the whole -- "Jerusalem" all the more outstanding by comparison). And sincere hopes that the good side of Diana -- the one that enabled her boys to physically embrace the dark-skinned, the down-and-out, and the diseased, and to scrub toilets in Patagonia or eat dust in Afghanistan, and to wait in line behind the "commoners" at McDonald's -- will aid them both, toward transforming yet preserving the British monarchy for generations to follow.


NOT SO GOOD:

BUSH-WHACKED!!!

There have been scores of brilliant headlines in the past 48 hours, many of them via the always brilliant Instapundit. This may be my favourite:

Team Six: From Cheney's Secret Assassination Squad To Obama's Super-Awesome Clean-up Crew

Team Six is the elite pocket of the Navy Seals that carried out the 40-minute raid that ended ten years on the hunt for September 11 Master-mind and Sugar Daddy, Osama Bin Laden.

The headline says it all: how every corner of political left in America, from the raving street-mobs to the cosmetically "civilized" denizens of federal congress, took one position while George W. Bush was President [an official position which, we hasten to add, they maintained aggressively during the Obama campaign of 2008, and during the formative years of the Obama administration], and took the totally opposite position, at least for one week in springtime, in order to support and praise a military mission ordered by President Barack Obama.



Let us be clear [as Rush Limbaugh has just now pointed out -- I paraphrase]:

The assassination raid which killed Osama Bin Laden was made possible ONLY by the kind of interrogations carried out years ago, during the Bush presidency, for which Obama and many others now wielding power in Washington D.C. would happily have prosecuted and at least impeached, if not imprisoned, the former President, Vice-President, and members of their administration.

And, had this assassination been carried out during the Bush administration, Obama and the voices of the left would have made the case that such an act would inevitably create and incite more terrorists, and make the world less safe.

No rational and/or literate human being can deny this. The record is the record.


[I suspect that Limbaugh will be putting his monologue up on the site this afternoon. Audio's of the past two days are on his Facebook page. Nobody can lay it out better.]

The record is the record. Or is it?


NBC's DAVID GREGORY BEGINS NEW ASSIGNMENT BROADCASTING FROM SOME DISTANT PLANET

What colour is the sky in your world, Mr. Gregory? Does it hurt your brain to engage in contortions too extreme for Cirque de Soleil?



[hat-tip Breitbart TV]


As one of my military family once put it (can't remember which one -- possibly the nephew), we went in there to win hearts and minds: one to the heart, two to the mind. Waitin' for the photos.


By the way....

ANYBODY REMEMBER
THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE?

Of course not. That was the point -- the point of releasing it when a third of the entire planet (literally) was preparing to watch Wills and Kate get married. The Prime Directive of political PR is that, if you have bad news, release it on a Friday when everybody's focused on their weekend fun. The Birth Certificate came out on a Wednesday, but heck, with the wedding on Friday, the excitement at fever pitch, and the pre-game shows in full swing, the weekend really started on about Wednesday, so timing was perfect......


HA HA HA!! THEY GOT US!!

WE THOUGHT THEY WERE USING THE WEDDING
TO BURY THE BIRTH CERT,

WHEN ALL THE TIME THEY HAD OSAMA
UP THEIR SLEEVE!!

Even if you believe the certificate is genuine, and Barry Soetero was birthed on Oahu [and I'm quite prepared to believe it -- though I was equally prepared not to, in which case I preferred it not be discovered], the issues surrounding Obama's childhood and the phony biography he has been selling for years [I'm not talking about Dreams From My Father -- that's just a symptom] are still an albatross, and not the sort of thing the President wants floating to the surface as he prepares to run in 2012.

It's still a mystery as to why Obama has spent nearly three years and a rumored $2 million resisting the release of the certificate. If his calculation was that the longer the birthers boil over about it, the more foolish they look, and the 2 mill is a small price to pay for keeping them in this condition -- well, that's actually a reasonable political strategem.

But maybe it's still risky to have them on the fringes of the campaign in the summer of 2012, so better defuse it earlier on, especially as fund-raising is gearing up. So release the certificate -- which shines a light on the fact that his mother was a gormless teenager at the time, and his father a 25-year-old itinerant student who may or may not have married her -- and do it well enough ahead of time, at a moment when it would be swamped by other news, and you have the best possible scenario for putting the matter to rest. Game, set, match. Advantage Obama.

That was the theory. Subsequent efforts by the Mainstream Media (and Obama himself) to paint the President as the bold captain who forged the plan to take out Osama, and who stood alone in that crossing-the-Delaware moment as he gave his manly utterance "Get 'er done" to cue his well-muscled death squad er, Special Ops team, are designed to make the swamping seem complete.

Good luck with that, scribblers. At the end of the day, there is way to much fibre optic cable lying around to allow you to stuff the inconvenient truths down the memory hole.


WHILE WE'RE AT IT:

Let's not forget one of the other famous deeds of Navy Seal Team Six. Our friends on the Left cheered and jeered when the Seals were subject to Court Martial for punching one of the world's most wanted terrorists, and giving him (ooooh) a bloody lip in the process of apprehending him, alive, for prosecution. All were exonerated, of course, because it was 100% B.S. Where were their fans in the sycophantasmic media then?


A peaceful and uneventful next weekend to one and all.

P.S. Last night Canada voted in a Conservative majority government, and despatched the Liberal Party (Canada's Natural Rulers, if you ask them) into political Siberia. Spring is here.

MICHAEL YON

DEO GRATIAS

On the one hand, maybe we should congratulate that fine journalistic organ, Rolling Stone [see example of pioneering edgy cover art, left -- NO WARNING re: extremely graphic and disturbing image], for covering the story that no one else in the MSM will touch, for fear of making the Anointed One look bad from what's going on under his watch [see my post below] -- but wouldn't you know it, their version has to turn out to be a MASSIVE LIE.

How to we know? Because a guy in the know, on the scene, totally ahead of this story, has "called BULLSH*T" on Rolling Stone's heinous distortions.

Go ahead and read them here, if you have nothing better to do -- and be sure to watch the Motorcycle Kill video ["WARNING!...extremely graphic and disturbing images" says Rolling Stone!] to see what kind of MURDEROUS MANIACS we have running around in the American uniform.

I watched it, and found myself scratching my head as to what was the big deal.

Of course, as it turns out, the soldiers involved in that incident were never members of the so-called "kill team" which is the so-called subject of the article, and had turned their filmed record of this encounter over to Michael Yon a year ago because they had nothing to hide.

So if you really want to know what goes on, read Michael Yon as he calls bullsh*t on Rolling Stone -- which may not be gathering any moss, but certainly knows a lot about collecting slime.

SAY WHAT?

I only heard part of el Presidente's Libya speech tonight. Managed to miss this little gem:

To brush aside America's responsibility as a leader and - more profoundly - our responsibilities to our fellow human beings under such circumstances, would have been a betrayal of who we are.

Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries.

The United States of America is different. And as President, I refused to wait for the images of slaughter and mass graves before taking action.

[emphasis added]

Well, some images of slaughter are more action-making than others, I guess.

And it is all about image, isn't it?


So glad the President was able to exercise a bit more patience rather than meddle in Iran's internal affairs, while this woman bled out on the streets of Tehran.



By the way, Mr. Obama...

EXTRY! EXTRY! READ ALL ABOUT IT!

GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE DISSES OBAMA FOREIGN POLICY!

As read in my Tridentine Missal, in lovely Douai English:

When a strong man armed keepeth his court, those things are in peace which he possesseth. But if a stronger than he come upon him and overcome him, he will take away all his armor wherein he trusted, and will distribute his spoils. He that is not with Me, is against Me; and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth.

So there.

Message: Carry a big stick. Soft walking optional. Strong horse/weak horse. Not complicated.




IN OTHER NEWS...

I took a running-on-vapor empty gas tank to the pump this morning and filled it to the brim. I stopped pumping in little squeezettes when the meter hit

$92

for 75.6 litres of petrol.

Gotta love that economic recovery.

Did I mention that up here in Canada we managed to suffer almost nothing of the recent recession? I'm just sayin'.


STORY OF THE DAY, IF NOT THE AGE

Arnold Ahlert gives a depressingly bang-on assessment of news management in the Age of Obama: How the MSM is doing a complete down-the-memory-hole dance with news of deliberate murder of Afghan civilians and coverup by a few bottom-feeders in the American military -- did so because they did it under the OBAMA REGIME, and it might, just might, reflect badly on the Annointed One.

Read it and fume. [hat-tip Jewish World Review]

SECRETARY of SHTATE HILLARY CLINTON
ANNOUNCES CEASEFIRE!!! ....

...between NATO members

The FOX News guys (and the other networks, no doubt) had their camera trained on a large wood-panelled door and an empty podium, with the promise of an appearance at 6:15 p.m. by the Sec-State to make the announcement of a NATO decision to take CCC (committee consensus command) of the No-Fly-Zone over Libya.

By 6:45 the news panel was starting to suppress giggles and grope around for more commentary, but the podium remained empty. By the close of broadcast at 7:00, no-Hill-no-thrill. More giggling.

Eventually, Madame Secretary emerged with her triumphant announcement, laying out some sort of less-than-coherent plan, which the reader can untangle here.





UNCLE SAM WANTS YOU
TO WET YOURSELF AND HIDE UNDER THE BED

The more earth-shaking news of the day turned up on Pajamas Media, where Ed Driscoll relates the key graf of an Obama address deftly delivered below the radar on his stopover in El Salvador. I'm quietly meditating on whether his self-described dereliction of duty constitutes an impeachable offense. Check out this peach:

And we will continue to support the efforts to protect the Libyan people, but we will not be in the lead. That’s what the transition that I discussed has always been designed to do. We have unique capabilities. We came in, up front, fairly readily, fairly substantially, and at considerable risk to our military personnel. And when this transition takes place, it is not going to be our planes that are maintaining the no-fly zone. It is not going to be our ships that are necessarily involved in enforcing the arms embargo. That’s precisely what the other coalition partners are going to do.

["I'm proud to be an American -- where at least I know I'm free... From the halls of Montezu-uma to the shores Tri-po-leeee....."

Keep reading, it gets better.]

And that’s why building this international coalition has been so important because it means that the United States is not bearing all the cost. It means that we have confidence that we are not going in alone, and it is our military that is being volunteered by others to carry out missions that are important not only to us, but are important internationally. And we will accomplish that in a relatively short period of time.

[Emphasis added.] Authority abdicated. Treachery confessed.

Just another day at the Oval Office.

NEW TRENDS IN ARAB ANTI-SEMITISM

A nifty compilation from MEMRI, via Powerline.

Make some popcorn and gather the kids around the crystal set for that old-timey Saturday Night hit, "Fibber McGee and the Blood Libel".

New Trends in Arabic Anti-semitism from Henrik Clausen on Vimeo.

If you need a break from thinking about the three-ring circus in Libya (as the President clearly does), take a gander at...





EPISODE #257 OF



"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME [ ! ] IS THAT WOMAN WEARING?"





"Fashion Icon" FLOTUS Michelle Obama swept through a swath of countries south of the equator sporting a series of outfits which, as usual, leave us, uh, wondering.... And she seems to have been put in charge of dressing her children in equally oddball concoctions.




The Fabulous Tom and Lorenzo weigh in with sensible opinions.


A pageant of 95 testimonies to the worst/weirdest-dressed First Lady in history -- masses of misses, and a few hits -- and hits are big ones, showing that with the right designs Mrs. O can wear dashing colours and cuts like few women can. So why has she accumulated such a collection of ill-fitting little cardigans that can spoil anything she puts on?

FashionFoisGras, shows what some of the outfits are supposed to look like.

(On the right: A great dress ($1000), if properly worn by someone who wears good shoes and stands up straight -- in the wrong hands, bears an uncomfortable resemblance to a Hudson's Bay blanket.)






















It don't "sit" well or fit well.





How are things in Guacamole?









One of two cute sundresses worn down south. Both great dresses, but too little-girl to be worn in any but the most informal settings, not for tarmac arrivals by the President or official engagements.





Seems like a great dress. Curses, spoiled again! Yet ANOTHER crap necklace.









Now, wasn't that fun, ladies? Meow, meow, meow.

Much more fun than applying one's brain matter to the current crisis-es-eez, brought about by the presence of a swell-headed student council president in the Oval Office with his lanky, free-throw hands limply grasping the reins of power as leader of the Free World. God help us.

I defer to Instapundit. Here, here, here.

UNITED STATES RIDES
THE RUNNING BOARDS OF HISTORY


SEC-STATE CLINTON BOASTS:
"WE DID NOT LEAD THIS"


PREZ OBAMA AFFIRMS:
"WE WILL NOT DEPLOY ANY AMERICAN TROOPS
ON THE GROUND"

Brings a tear to the eye, doesn't it folks?


The world's last remaining superpower treads water and waits for the FWENCH to take the lead -- and they do.

Not so super.

So the French have already gone airborne and dropped their first package, to be joined by the Brits, the Canadians, the Danes, the Norwegians, and various other players to be named later -- forces which, all combined, aren't half what is needed to enforce a no-fly zone, according to military talking heads on the tube.

The U.S. now maintains command and control of the operation, but will [PROUDLY] surrender the con to a coalition committee, or some such thing.

Kinda gets ya right here, don't it?

Meanwhile, certain well-trained pilots on a certain American aircraft carrier twiddle their thumbs in nearby waters, wondering why their C-in-C has plunked them unceremoniously into the rumble seat.

Well, we'll see how long this long-distance involvement lasts -- over a hundred Tomohawk missiles have departed their Mediterranean-based chutes, as President Obama pushes the red button on "Operation Keep Your Head Down".

Unconfirmed reports tell us that the Commander-in-Chief, currently on tour in a production of Flying Down to Rio,

has been heard to mumble,






"I got me some of these...."








"Now if I can just grow me a pair of these."










BTW: Anybody heard from Code Pink?????


Damn you, George W. Bush!!!!!