FrankJ talks some more about his wonderful world:

This blog post was written in real time.
Barack Obama walked into the Oval office and turned on the lights. He then heard the door slam behind him. He turned around to see a grizzled-looking man. “Who are you?”

“Mr. President, I am former CTU agent Jack Bauer.”

“Oh, thank me,” Obama sighed. “I thought you were a teabagger.”

“I’m here to tell you about a grave threat to this country.”

“Why did you have to sneak in like this? Couldn’t you have gone through official channels?”

“Sir, I didn’t have time.”

“Couldn’t you have texted me?”

“I didn’t have time — I’m really bad at texting. Takes me like ten minutes for a simple reply.”

“Then how do you update your Twitter feed?”

“Sir, we’re getting off topic. There is a threat to this nation from either nuclear or biological weapons… or possibly biological weapons that are radioactive.”

Obama gasped. “That sounds bad!”

“It is very bad, sir.”

“Any idea where this attack might take place?”

“Usually, terrorist attacks occur in the LA area, but that’s started to change in the past few years.”

Obama shook his head. “I don’t like going to LA; I always get attacked by cougars there.”

“I am not surprised. Anyway, to find the details on this attack, I need to use harsh interrogation techniques against a known terrorist we’ve detained. I wanted to get your permission for that.”

Obama thought for a moment. “Alright. If the situation is that dire, I’ll allow you to loudly shout at him.”

“Sir, this will take more than shouting.”

“You want to slap his belly? I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that.”

“I was thinking of a lot more than belly slapping.”

“If you’re suggesting waterboarding, there is no way I’m approving that.”

“Sir, I warm up with waterboarding.”

Obama frowned. “Torture is wrong; you are a bad man. This is why people like me hate America.”

“Sir, I know there is a lot of pressure on you as this nation’s third black president — and the first who isn’t a Palmer — and it has to be scary knowing the last half-dozen presidents all ended up either dead or in prison…”

“I’m hoping for prison!”

“We all are. Anyway, I know there must be a lot of pressure on you, and this must offend your sensibilities, but there is literally a ticking time bomb out there–”

“I would think time bombs these days would use digital timers.”

“Excuse me?”

“They would use digital timers, so there wouldn’t be any ticking. Thus you used the word ‘literally’ incorrectly. I’m very smart.”

“Sir, once again, I think you’re focusing on the wrong things. Tens of thousands of people could die unless I get the information out of that terrorist.”

“Well, Jack, tens of thousands of people die from car accidents each year, so I don’t know why you want me to get all worked up over that. Here’s what I’ll do, though. I’ll release a bunch of prisoners from Gitmo, and we’ll see if that will impress the terrorist enough to talk.”

“This is a man who thinks nothing of murdering children; I sincerely doubt he’ll talk out of the goodness of his heart.”

Obama rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I know; you red-staters just want to hurt all the bad men and think that solves everything. Instead of torturing, though, have you ever tried to be his friend? Maybe give him a hug?”

“A hug will not do anything, sir.”

“Maybe you’re hugging wrong. Here, give me a hug so I can see how you’re doing it.”

“Mr. President, I never put my arms around another man without him ending up dead afterward.”

“I don’t think this conversation is going anywhere. Here’s what I’ll do for you, Jack: I’ll try to make sure you have a fair trial for even suggesting torture. I’ll probably have to make an example out of you, though; I don’t want the rest of the world thinking we let people like you still run around.”

The door opened and Joe Biden walked in. “Hey, I just wanted to–”

Bauer immediately got Biden in a choke hold and choked him unconscious.

“Hey! That was the vice president! And the doctors have already been saying he’s not getting enough oxygen to his brain!”

“I’m well aware of who he is, sir; I just didn’t have time to explain things to him.”

“What’s it with you and not having enough time? Sounds like you just need better time management.”

“I’ll take that under advisement. Anyway, I guess I’ll just have to pursue this without your permission. Before I go, though, I want to warn you that I think there is a mole in your administration undermining you from the inside.”

“Really? I thought that was just incompetence.”

Bauer thought about that. “Yeah, I guess that is the more likely explanation.”

Doing some “research” for the post immediately previous, I stumbled across this gem of a list.

So now maybe you’ll have those TPS reports done on time today?

And they’re both local issues:

On health care, Massachusetts is in a unique position. It already has near-universal coverage, enacted in 2006 by Republican governor Mitt Romney and the Democratic legislature, so a national measure designed to extend coverage to millions of currently-uncovered Americans means little to Bay State residents. But the Democrats’ national health care plan would force Massachusetts residents to pay higher taxes to expand coverage elsewhere in the country — with relatively little new benefits at home.

“In this state, we basically have universal health care,” says Joey Buceta, a Boston independent who attended a Scott Brown rally in the North End Friday. “Why should we pay more money for it? We already have it.”

It’s an opinion heard often in this race, and it unites conservative voters who don’t like the Democratic national health care plan because it is too intrusive, expensive and coercive with independent voters who don’t like the plan because it seems redundant for Massachusetts.
:
On the second issue, one-party government, Massachusetts is also in an unusual position. Often called the bluest of blue states, it is certainly dominated by Democrats. But over the years Massachusetts voters have shown an inclination to elect a Republican to the occasional state office.

That balance has usually meant a GOP governor; four of the last five Massachusetts governors have been Republicans. At the same time, the rest of the state government, as well as the state’s delegations in the House and Senate, have been dominated by Democrats. But even with that lopsided situation, the presence of a GOP governor gave voters a certain sense of balance.

Now, even that is gone. Not only are all other significant state offices occupied by Democrats, the governorship is in the hands of the very Democratic, very liberal, and very unpopular Deval Patrick.
:
“This country was built on debate,” says Diane Anderson, a Brown voter from Swampscott, Massachusetts. “And with the Democrats having 60 senators…just for that fact alone, if for no other reason, we should continue to have debate, and Brown will bring debate, being the 41st Republican.”

Here’s the challenge that confronts Republicans…hopefully: How to properly celebrate if Brown should win. Lots of realistic types are out there urging caution — he might very well lose. They’re right. But the wise Republican also thinks ahead to the other prospect, because careful planning is needed there. With defeat, the only thing that can really ambush them is an emotional letdown, and emotional letdowns become part of history very quickly.

Think ahead. Brown wins — then what? If these two pivotal factors that pushed Brown over the top are both local to the Bay state, how does that get spread all across the fruited plain, sea to shining sea, later in the year? This is the real challenge. Failing that, the attitude in November will be “well now that they’re being checked by the 41st vote in the Senate…democrats are alright. Hopenchange.” And we’ll be right back to letting the kids run the show.

The treachery in which the democrats have engaged for this last year, is the deceit ritually practiced by bad salesmen. They knew exactly what they wanted to sell, and when the dispassionate observer compares that product to what the public really needed and desired, it is charitable to call the resulting mathematical overlap “skimpy.” The overlap was not there at all. In the case of solving our rising public debt problem, it was oppositional — the prescription exacerbated the sickness.

Superpower nations in serious financial trouble don’t need womb-to-tomb government health plans. That’s just plain common sense.

And you go right on down the list of things Obama has promised and delivered…which means, the list of things He has promised. It’s all like this. Problem: The world doesn’t like us, supposedly. Solution: Try Kalidh Shiek Mohammed in a civilian court in New York City. Okay, now how’s that work exactly?

That’s what needs to be pointed out, should things go okay tomorrow night. Martha Coakley lost in Massachusetts for a reason, and the reason was that the democrat party has its agenda, and it bears precious little resemblance to the country’s. When the democrat party “loves America,” they love America the way a man loves his raven-haired wife he didn’t really want to marry in the first place, fantasizing about his buxom blond girlfriend in high school every time he makes love to her. They love the country the way a prospective buyer loves your car…when he’s planning to rip the stereo out of it, put it in something else, and send the balance of what’s left to the wrecking yard. They love our country for the vision of this otherworldly utopia they can make from it, after they’re done changing it, dismantling it. They love everything about it except its spirit, the spirit of 1776.

That’s why we just finished out our first year listening to them make as many speeches as they want to make, for as long as they want to make them — and the word “freedom” was never uttered a single time. Did I miss it somewhere?

That is the third issue that can be nationalized, and the time is right for it.

The Trek 7300 and I were here when I was about to grab my chest and keel over. That’s alright, it just shows I’m pushing the envelope. What’s not all right is that I was 16 miles into my ride. Sixteen…miles…this is beneath pathetic. This is nothing. It is some one-quarter of the distance I’ve gone before. What is this, Christmas “gift wrapping” that needs to be unloaded from my gut and derriere?

Well, perhaps I’d know better if I had more experience with slime tubes. This is the first time I wore one out; it’s lasted me pretty well. I think I snapped it up sometime in August, July maybe. I inflated it at 17 miles according to my bike computer, and at 22 miles I had to inflate it again. Okay, the tube’s gunnybags. And the slimy insides seem to have turned to a green liquid, which further implies impending retirement and decrepitude.

Someone sold me a 43mm tire to fit on a 35mm rim. Said it would work out fine. I can’t remember who this shyster is…but it is now a chiseled-in-granite article in my faltering encyclopedia of bike knowledge, that this is not fine. I just got done staring at the Kevlar bands that were visible to the naked eye…all the way around the rim, 360 degrees, where rubber meets metal. It was clear the fabric was not intended to be bent this way.

Herein lies the appeal. I am not, contrary to what some have said, a “lover of bicycle riding.” It fucking hurts. But the culture in which we live is becoming so anesthetized, that there aren’t that many opportunities left to live & die by your ability to perceive things, and think about what they mean. It’s a puzzle, filled with parts that work or do not work. One must sit in judgment of each of them, and it is not a kid’s game, one must do this competently if one wants to live long enough to reach home again.

The slime tube, I think, should be declared a success overall. You can neglect the thing, and if it’s more-or-less whole, it will keep the pressure. The tire on the other hand is a huge fail. Of course, I had spare tubes — of course! — but spare tubes don’t help you much out there if your tire is killing your tubes.

Another lesson learned is to keep the ear bud charged up. Kid called. Girlfriend called. Kid called. Girlfriend called. We-ell…I spent about six or seven hours out there, and covered a piddly little 25 miles. Felt like I should be checked into intensive care when it was done. I’ve covered between 60 and 70 before, and came out of it in much better shape. You know…still in the mode of “don’t anybody look to me to do anything for the rest of the day,” which is to be expected.

But not “OMDFG I gotta collapse and take a nap or else I’m gonna fucking die.”

I think my equipment needs an overhaul from stem to stern. I know it makes an enormous difference. And I’m not that fat. Yet. I don’t think.

Language is not safe for a general audience.

Hope that made your day. It made mine.

A grateful hat tip to The Conservatives Who Say F*ck.

Click pic to view. SIWOTI.

How’d we come up with this expression? The answer may surprise you.

Get your mind out of the gutter…

Yep, it happened because of global warming.

This is just as risible as anything Pat Robertson said. Both men have their pet cause all picked out, and any remarkable event is just going to provide one more excuse to talk about it. The affliction is the same in both cases. Both of them probably believe the drivel coming out of their mouths, down to the marrow of their bones.

Sometimes, what money can do to a man’s thinking process is not a pretty thing.

Hat tip to Ed Morrissey at Hot Air, who adds:

The Massachusetts race shows fairly clearly that millions of dollars won’t rescue a Democrat from the outrage that the Obama agenda has provoked, and Reid’s continued presence has become an albatross around the neck of his son Rory, who wants to run for governor on the damaged brand of the Reid name. If ObamaCare runs aground, there isn’t much reason to linger to November to take his well-deserved beating at the polls.

…compiled by John Hawkins. All from the last decade. The top five are quite remarkable, packing a pronounced anti-military bent…but do check out the others. Each of them should get the responsible voter’s mental gears spinning, seriously pondering the question of who or what it is we have put in charge.

5) Through every Abu aib and Haditha, through every rape and murder, the American public has indulged those in uniform….We pay the soldiers a decent wage, take care of their families, provide them with housing and medical care and vast social support systems and ship obscene amenities into the war zone for them, we support them in every possible way, and their attitude is that we should in addition roll over and play dead, defer to the military and the generals and let them fight their war, and give up our rights and responsibilities to speak up because they are above society?…[T]he recent NBC report is just an ugly reminder of the price we pay for a mercenary — oops sorry, volunteer — force that thinks it is doing the dirty work. — The Washington Post’s William Arkin

4) In Vietnam, our soldiers came back and they were reviled as baby killers, in shame and humiliation. It isn’t happening now, but I will tell you – there has never been an army as violent and murderous as our army has been in Iraq. — Seymour Hersh

3) Over time, however, the endless war in Iraq began to play a role in natural selection. Only idiots signed up; only idiots died. Back home, the average I.Q. soared. — Ted Rall

2) As to those in the World Trade Center…Let’s get a grip here, shall we? True enough, they were civilians of a sort. But innocent? Gimme a break. …If there was a better, more effective, or in fact any other way of visiting some penalty befitting their participation upon the little Eichmanns inhabiting the sterile sanctuary of the twin towers, I’d really be interested in hearing about it. — Ward Churchill

1) The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not ‘insurgents’ or ‘terrorists’ or ‘The Enemy.’ They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow — and they will win.” — Michael Moore

The other question that comes up is, now that the inmates are running the asylum, exactly how much power should they have. Guess that’s up to Massachusetts to figure out.

Zombie reports from Pajamas Media:

Obama and the Democrats have not conceded the Massachussetts senate race, as some have suggested. Quite the opposite: This morning, Obama’s national Democratic activist group Organizing for America sent out a mass email to supporters saying they will fight tooth and nail to hang on to “Ted Kennedy’s seat”:

OFA is going all out in Massachusetts — we’re sending organizers, knocking on doors, and making phone calls by the tens of thousands to make sure that folks know how to participate.

Prediction: Scott Brown m-u-s-t win by at least a thousand votes; if the margin is any less than that, expect an Al Gore/Franken “recount” debacle several weeks or months long, followed by a victory for Coakley based on boxes and boxes of “found” votes.

Any election a Republican doesn’t win by at least a thousand votes, goes to the democrat. It’s a rule of Natural Law. They’re whiners and complainers, so they get the benefit of each & every doubt, because that’s just the way it works.

Urmila Matondkar, Bollywood legend. She’ll be turning 36 next month if my math is right. That’s twenty-seven years of acting success, with truckloads of wins & nominations. Three weeks ago, she lost out to Torrey DeVito.

Victoria Silvstedt, Swedish model, same age, Playmate of the Year 1997.

I think Urmila takes this one. I know with the pictures above that seems inconceivable. It’s a distance thing. If you zoom in on both of them, Urmila looks more enticing, Victoria less so. Not quite as wholesome.

That’s how I’m calling it tonight…

Ah-boom boom boom…another one bites the dust…

Rep. Vic Snyder (D-Ark.) announced tonight that he will be retiring at the end of his term, citing the difficult political environment that he would have faced to win an eighth term in the House.

“2010 will be a robust election year during which great forces collide to set the direction for our country for another two years,” Snyder said in a statement.

“I have concluded that these election-year forces are no match for the persuasive and powerful attraction of our three one-year old boys under the leadership of their three-year old brother, and I have decided not to run for re-election.”

Blah blah blah pursue other opportunities spend more time with my family blah blah blah.

Snyder is the 11th House Democrat to announce his retirement. — and Republicans are aggressively contesting nine of those open seats. Griffin, a former U.S. Attorney, was mounting a vigorous campaign against Snyder and had already banked over $300,000 for his campaign, according to a GOP source.

You have to wonder what the democrat leadership says behind closed doors. There is 1933…there is 1965. And then there is 1993. There is, clearly, a decline. There were no “come-uppins” for 1933, although ’33 had to do with tearing apart the very fabric of what makes America. It may be argued that not quite so much the legislation passed in 1965, but the drive to marginalize the opposition that surrounded the activity — brought 1968. Lyndon Johnson’s narcissistic, psychotic personality brought 1968. Earl Warren letting all the murderers and rapists out of jail. “Knowing Where The Bodies Are Buried” politics.

And then 1993 brought 1994. But at least there wasn’t quite as much…well, maybe we should be charitable and call it “foresight.” And, a good democrat legislator was more-often-than-not proud, not ashamed, to climb on board the Clinton locomotive. It was where he belonged.

Today, the democrats need all the stars to line up before they can enjoy an instantaneous shot at pushing through whatever is “good for us.” They have to do it in the dark of night. Sneak around. Crouch and pounce. And it’s still a suicide run. Sixteen years ago, it was more like a gamble; I seem to recall there was just a vague feeling in the air that was only mildly suggestive of a “Republican Revolution,” one that was not perceptible (at least to me) until Election Day eve.

This is more like a slow-moving car wreck. Congressman Snyder joins Larry, Moe and Curly…and perhaps more as events continue to unfold.

Now, this is interesting:

On Twitter, Republicans are absolutely dominant, according to a recent study by a prominent Washington policy analyst. The study found that Republican politicians have far more followers and influence on the micro-blogging site than do their Democratic counterparts.

GOP prominence on online social networks heralds a markedly different trend from the technologically dominant Obama presidential campaign, which outmatched its opponents in virtually every area of online communications. But necessity is the mother of invention, and having been relegated to the minority both in popular opinion and electoral prominence, Republicans have had to turn to alternative ways to get their messages out.

According to Forbes, the report shows that

in the House of Representatives, Republicans are far more prolific, sending out 29,162 Tweets through early January, five times as many micro messages as their Democratic counterparts. In the Senate, Republicans’ 6,310 tweets outnumber Democrats’ by a far smaller 35% margin.

Because Republican Congressmen tweet more often, more people subscribe, or “follow,” their Twitter feeds. Thanks in part to lots of Twitter activity from groups like Top Conservatives On Twitter (TCOT), Republicans occupy 18 of the top 20 spots in terms of followers on Twitter. Republicans “follow” people back, too–or at least more than Democrats. The study says they subscribe to more people’s feeds by a factor of 10.

“Mother of invention” theory. I find this to be an intriguing explanation. It implies this isn’t quite so much a Republican groundswell as a democrat retreat. Like, as soon as they’re done beating that opposition they don’t have a whole lot to say to us.

True of both sides, I suppose.

Ah….finally some good news.

Riding a wave of opposition to Democratic health-care reform, GOP upstart Scott Brown is leading in the U.S. Senate race, raising the odds of a historic upset that would reverberate all the way to the White House, a new poll shows.

Although Brown’s 4-point lead over Democrat Martha Coakley is within the Suffolk University/7News survey’s margin of error, the underdog’s position at the top of the results stunned even pollster David Paleologos.

“It’s a Brown-out,” said Paleologos, director of Suffolk’s Political Research Center. “It’s a massive change in the political landscape.”

The poll shows Brown, a state senator from Wrentham, besting Coakley, the state’s attorney general, by 50 percent to 46 percent, the first major survey to show Brown in the lead.

The watershed issue is, of course, that rancid carbuncle of a health care bill.

And the watershed issue of that, of course, is about the majority party completely marginalizing the opposition. Absolutely gelding them. If only for a moment…so they can pass this legislation a whole lot of people don’t want, and stick us with it. Forever.

That’s not Republican propaganda, it’s things the way they really are. And yet it doesn’t really sound “democratic” when it’s described that way, does it?

Update: The democrat party braces for impact:

Here in Massachusetts, as well as in Washington, a growing sense of gloom is setting in among Democrats about the fortunes of Democratic Senate candidate Martha Coakley. “I have heard that in the last two days the bottom has fallen out of her poll numbers,” says one well-connected Democratic strategist. In her own polling, Coakley is said to be around five points behind Republican Scott Brown. “If she’s not six or eight ahead going into the election, all the intensity is on the other side in terms of turnout,” the Democrat says. “So right now, she is destined to lose.”

Intensifying the gloom, the Democrat says, is the fact that the same polls showing Coakley falling behind also show President Obama with a healthy approval rating in the state. “With Obama at 60 percent in Massachusetts, this shouldn’t be happening, but it is,” the Democrat says.

Yeah, take that.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The way democrats choose their contenders during their off-elections — that is to say, during presidential election seasons, when the White House is occupied by their opposition — ought to arouse deep, festering skepticism in any true American who is thinking of supporting them. Since JFK, although the fanfare and the hubbub has changed in cosmetic content, the one consistent desire/fulfillment that is given unswerving priority in the nomination contest is this: Something about the individual that makes it likely he can sell product contrary to the interests of the buyer.

Usually it’s “charisma.” They call it by a lot of other names too. “Moral authority” was something John Kerry stole from Maureen Dowd, or Dowd stole from Kerry. Bill Clinton was someone who would be a hell of a lot of fun as a drinking buddy if you were a guy, and if you were a gal, you could sleep with him and later on watch Hillary beat the shit out of him. One way or another, Bill could sell you some crap that wasn’t good for you. Carter? He was a decent guy who didn’t have anything to do with Watergate. So he, too, had a gimmick for plying us with crap. And did. For a little while.

To say suspicion is what this should arouse, is an understatement and a disservice to suspicion. If selling is a test of sound policy, then the sale should be just as likely when it’s sold by an every-man. You shouldn’t need some extra-special, once-in-a-lifetime silver-tongue-demon to get it sold. This is the philosophical basis of Thing I Know #271. So after a year of watching the crap get sold, it just makes sense to say “yeah I like your guy a whole lot because He’s really likable…and your product still sucks.” Now, if Massachusetts can figure this out, what’s everybody else’s excuse?

I shouldn’t make cracks about them, I guess. They’re about to decide if the Declaration of Independence still has meaning for the other forty-nine states…and besides, I’m here in California.

So a group is going to have a sit-down with Avatar on an IMAX screen. I’m part of the group, and it happens I’ve already seen it this past weekend. It is, indeed, a stunning visual treat, and I’ve been wrestling with this decision, but ultimately I’ve decided to sit it out. It would be purely a celebration of “Hey, we’re a group, we’re together, isn’t it great” and I’ve never added much to those…and while by itself this is an excellent product of entertainment, when placed alongside all the others it shows serious gaping defects in originality.

It’s not good enough to see twice. It certainly isn’t good enough to own.

This reviewer speaks for me:

“Avatar” is a cool film. Stunning visuals. Staggering technology. It’s a true breakthrough. That’s the James Cameron way.

But this is the first time Cameron has stopped there — the first time I’ve seen him fail to turn a good-looking film into a great one.

In order to do that, you still have to provide things like a strong story, memorable characters, sharp writing, emotional connection and humor.

Even one or two. Something other than this formulaic story we’ve seen before, populated by two-dimensional types — including token military villains and heroic tree-huggers — stretched out over 162 minutes just to show off Cameron’s tech prowess.

This is not how you spend $300 million. Didn’t anyone learn from the well-spent $30 million of “District 9”? Or, heck, the $27,000 of “Clerks”? Or the $140 million of “Star Trek” that showed how big-budget blockbusters can still be done right?

This is why I’m not a film critic. In all honesty, I would have to give Avatar a very high rating; to pan it would be a disservice to my readers, most of whom would decidedly enjoy it.

It didn’t work for me. And perhaps it’s just me; I’m story-sensitive. And Avatar — there’s no getting around it — has a poor story. The scenery, stunning as it is, is bogged down by this Peter Jackson-ish feel, which is the loss of timing. A scene justifies ten seconds, perhaps fifteen at the most. Instead, it is stretched out to several minutes because it is so awesome.

The reviewer mentions “Star Trek,” which I assume is this year’s release. I have a vivid memory of “The Motion Picture” some thirty years ago in which Kirk and Scott climbed into a shuttle and took an entirely unnecessary back-and-forth sweep across the starship’s exterior. When I held a stopwatch to this it came in at just over four minutes. This particular scene, needless to say, has aged rather badly.

But I suppose there are two types of people in the world, those who like a good story, and those who are more enamored of impressive effects. You’ll certainly enjoy Avatar if you identify more strongly with the second of those two. You really need to ask yourself a serious question about what exactly it is you are trying to get out of a film experience.

Cassy Fiano has made herself lately into the go-to spot for news on this campaign and all the weirdness in it. Many other bloggers have put more energy into it than I have, and to them, we owe our thanks for news like this.

Fueled by the energy of conservative activists, a solid debate performance and a 24-hour, $1.3 million Internet fundraising haul, Massachusetts state Sen. Scott Brown (R) has thrown a major scare into the Democratic establishment in his bid to win next Tuesday’s special Senate election over once heavily favored Attorney General Martha Coakley.

The intensified activity around the campaign to fill the seat of the late senator Edward M. Kennedy (D) highlights the degree to which the race has taken on national significance. A victory, or even a narrow loss, by Brown in the competition for the symbolically important seat would be interpreted as another sign that voters have turned away from the Democrats at the start of the midterm election year.

More urgently, a Brown win would give Republicans 41 seats in the Senate and the ability to block President Obama’s health-care initiative and much of the Democrats’ 2010 congressional agenda. Strategists on both sides concede that a Brown victory would drastically reshape the calculus of the health-care debate, which is now in its final stages.

Of course, it bears mentioning that this all relies on the use of the filibuster, which I’ve said repeatedly should be done-away-with permanently regardless of “who it helps or hurts.” Somewhere, sometime, I should jot down my latest thoughts about this in light of ObamaCare. Like Bob Dole said once, a filibuster is an awful process unless you’re trying to stop something. I must confess that this made a lot less sense to me at the time I was watching him say it, than it does right now.

This legislation is downright repulsive. If I’m ever going to flip on that position of mine, just once, now would be the time. I’ll certainly admit that much.

Boortz says all that needs to be said…not a single word needs changing, adding or dropping.

EARTHQUAKE IN HAITI

And a devastating one at that. High casualty numbers are expected. So, what happens next? America comes to the rescue, that’s what. American taxpayers will spend tens of millions of dollars helping the people of Haiti. The American military will soon be involved. The U.S. Southern Command was gearing up for a relief effort within hours after the earthquake. Why? Well .. because that’s just what we do, that’s why. Frankly I would rather see the money spent to help the innocent victims of an earthquake in a neighboring country than on enabling single mothers, drunks and druggies in this country. You see pictures of the children trapped in the rubble in Haiti and you can’t help but want the do something. Not only American government, but American relief agencies will be stepping forward. My wife is a Red Cross volunteer … If she wasn’t involved in another project she would have been packing her bags last night. Americans will step forward .. and the world knows it and expects it. Can’t help but wonder, though, what Hugo Chavez will be doing. How much aid will be coming from Fidel Castro and Venezuela’s socialist whack job? Token help, at best. And what about the United Nations? Care to guess whether or not the wonderful U.N.’s efforts will exceed that done by the people of America. Right. Didn’t think so. And the aftermath? Chavez and his ilk will continue to preach their anti-American rhetoric and Central American will continue to bask in its hatred of the United States. The United Nations will continue to work day-after-day on its anti-American agenda. Then … the next time a disaster strikes … we’ll be there, as usual.

This CNN link lists resources you can use to help the people of Haiti. I urge you to chose agencies that are identified with the people of America rather than agencies affiliated with the UN. We can help without strengthening those who revile us.