Waiting on Doomsday
Wired has a great article called Apocalypse Not: Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Worry About End Times
Give it a read, it’s filled with great quotes of harbingers of doom, like the worst President of the latter half the 20th Century, James Earl Carter III telling us back in 1977: “We could use up all the proven reserves of oil in the entire world by the of end of the next decade.”
For more of this prattle, check out the “predictions” from the first Lenin’s Birthday celebration, also known as “Earth Day.”
As I put it quite some time ago, “Between Global Thermonuclear War with the Soviet Union, Global Cooling, the Population Bomb, DDT, AIDS, the Elbola virus, a half dozen other doomsday issues, and now Global Warming, it’s like living in one long 1970’s disaster film.”
Ann Althouse’s great alternate history of Presidents if JFK lived
The original is here. Great stuff.
In 1964, JFK is reelected, with LBJ as VP. The GOP does not yet do its big shift to conservatism, and its defeated candidate is Nelson Rockefeller (whose VP choice is William Scranton). Barry Goldwater rises up in 1968, and he is successful, defeating LBJ (who has Hubert Humphrey as his VP). Goldwater’s VP is William Miller (as it was, in actual history, in 1964), and Goldwater is an immensely successful President, winning the war in Vietnam, leaving civil rights issues to the states (and in the process preserving federalism values, to be used to excellent effect in succeeding years), and foreseeing and avoiding the problems of dependency on imported oil. Goldwater is reelected in 1972, defeating Hubert Humphrey (who has Scoop Jackson as his VP).
In 1976, Bobby Kennedy is the Democratic nominee (with Walter Mondale as VP), and he wins, defeating William Miller (who has Bob Dole as his VP). Bobby gets health-care reform, called “Bobbycare.” But Bobbycare goes too far, and RFK goes down in 1980, crushed by Ronald Reagan (whose VP is George H.W. Bush). Reagan is reelected in 1984, defeating Walter Mondale (who has Geraldine Ferraro as his VP).
In 1988, it’s Michael Dukakis and Lloyd Bentsen against George H.W. Bush and Jack Kemp, and — no big surprise — Bush and Kemp win. But they’re in for only one term. Blamed for the economy — stupid! — they lose, in 1992, to Bill Clinton and Al Gore. Clinton and Gore are reelected in 1992 (facing Jack Kemp and his VP choice Tommy Thompson).
In 2000, it’s Gore (with Lieberman) against George W. Bush (with Cheney), and Bush wins. In 2004, John Kerry (with John Edwards) lose to Bush and Cheney. In 2008, it’s John Edwards against Mitt Romney, and Mitt Romney wins. (We won’t worry about their VPs right now.) Challenged by Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney is reelected in 2012. And we don’t get our first woman President. But the Romney terms come to a close. Now it’s 2012, and Hillary goes for it again, only to be defeated in the primaries by another “first,” the possible first black President, this fascinating upstart with the funny name Barack Hussein Obama. (But America, having avoided dependence on foreign oil, thanks to Barry Goldwater, never got dragged into crazy interactions with those Middle East countries, and there was never a 9/11 terrorist attack or an Iraq war, or any of those things that would make “Hussein” seem truly odd.)
Speaking of firsts, there’s a first coming up on the GOP side, a woman! It’s the hyper-competent and stunningly beautiful Sarah Palin. With 8 years as Governor of Alaska, her executive experience and record of accomplishment wow America. (She was term-limited in 2014, and spent the next 2 years running for President.) And so in 2016, we have our big first, the first woman President: Sarah Palin!
Quote of the Day
This is a point I tried to make over and over again in Liberal Fascism. Poisons are determined by the dose. A little nationalism is healthy, a lot of nationalism is dangerous. A little social solidarity is moral, too much is immoral. When a conservative tempers his social conservatism with libertarianism or when a Libertarian tempers his utopian tendencies with an appreciation of tradition, it’s not called hypocrisy, it’s called wisdom.
— Jonah Goldberg
Friday B-Movie Pick: This is Spinal Tap
Set the Wayback Machine to 1984 for this classic Rock mockumenary. Rob “Meathead” Reiner was the actual directory as the fictional director in this film about the back stage antics of the Heavy Metal Hair band, Spinal Tap. A cult comedy classic complete with a string of drummers that die of various means, including re-accuring spontainous combustion. My favorite was the one who choked to death on vomit, but not his own. Who produced the vomit remains shrouded in mystery.
The fellow who played Spinal Tap will appear again, and again, in other mockumenaries, Best in Show and A Mighty Wind, for example.
Political Photo of the Day
Our Dear Leader’s Dan Quayle moment
Here we see our Dear Leader visiting the key swing state of Ohio, and not being able to correctly spell ‘Ohio.’
Before the moonbats go nuts with their conspiracy theories, zoom in on the photo and you can see the lettering on the red shirt behind him.
Not reversed, not Photoshopped, just Barack Hussein Obama being himself, unscripted and flying without a teleprompter.
Liberal Logic
“I’m not going to vote for Gov. Romney because he has the same views on same sex marriage that Barack Hussein Obama did when I voted for him.
Quote of the Day
“So called “compassionate” liberals who are more concerned about Gov. Romney’s tax returns than the 300 dead Mexicans killed by Obama’s Fast and Furious program are neither compassionate or liberal in the classical sense.”
Monday Book Pick: Eye of the Hammer
Eyes of the Hammer (The Green Beret Series) by Bob Mayer
Fast paced military fiction set the 1980s with that late 80s Golden Age of Tom Clancy Techno Thrillers feel. In this case it’s Columbian drug lords being targeted by Green Berets and the rest of the Special Operations Command. The Drug Lords have their moments, but they don’t fair well against in the long run against the U.S. Military. A good read with Good Guys and Bad Guys, and most of the Bad Guys get what is coming to them. There are the standard themes running through that you can pick up in other Military Fiction, typically written by former enlisted or NCOs, including the concept that the only good officers are mavericks.
The Onion nails the left’s bed wetting fear of Rep. Paul Ryan
The Onion posts a “Letter from Rep. Ryan to the left.”
Admit It, I Scare The Ever-Loving Shit Out Of You, Don’t I? By Paul Ryan Candidate for Vice President of the United States August 13, 2012 | ISSUE 48•33
When Mitt Romney selected me as his running mate, I knew the Democratic attack dogs would come out in full force…. But if we’re being honest with each other—if we’re able to put aside the talking points for a few minutes and say what we’re all actually thinking and feeling—I believe we can acknowledge the real truth here.
I’m young, I’m handsome, I’m smart, and I’m articulate. And that scares the ever-loving shit out of you. You can pretend like you have this thing in the bag, but you know good goddamn well that this race just got real interesting, real fast.
It’s okay to admit it. You’re frightened to death of me. It might actually be healthy for you to face your fears now rather than later, when Mitt and I are leading by a few points in the polls and it looks like this thing might end badly for you. Face it: I’m not some catastrophe waiting to happen, like a Sarah Palin or a Dan Quayle. On the contrary, you have the exact opposite fear. I’m a solid, competent, some might say exceptional, politician.
Did you get nervous when you read that last sentence? Is it because you know in your heart of hearts that it’s 100 percent true? Is it because, even if you strongly disagree with my beliefs on Medicare, Social Security, women’s rights, and marriage equality, you know my talent as a speaker and my well-thought-out approach to these issues—no matter how radical and convoluted you find them—might just be enough to win over independent voters?
Do you get chills just thinking about how strong my appeal actually is?
Obama Economy Chart of the day
Nothing fancy, just tracking inflation and GDP for the first half of 2012 to see how our Dear Leader’s economic polices have been working out.
As you can see, what money you have left after taxes is loosing value at a faster rate than the economy has been growing.
The only positive thing about this illustration is that it shows inflation is on the decline. Which is good for you the tax paying, goods consuming citizen, and bad for our Dear Leader and his economic team. They actually want inflation to rising, not falling. Look it up, their plan was a sharp spike in inflation so they could pay off the massive government debt (currently $15.9 Trillion and rising) with money devalued by inflation. Their greatest fear is deflation, where the currency actually gains value.
The decline in GDP is a clear indication that the American people should not repeat the economic policies of Barack Hussein Obama, which has put the country in the worst economic “recovery” since the Great Depression.