The New Bogeyman: “Shadowy Conservative Groups”

So once again we have a president blaming his problems on nefarious figures who work in the shadows (see also Bill Clinton’s Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy):

Courtesy of conservatives on Twitter, we now have a wonderful hashtag of all those #ShadowyConservativeGroups:

• Voters with IDs
• Investors
• Bitter Clingers
• West Virginia

The list goes on , and you can see who many of these shadow figures are on Twitchy (or simply check out the hashtag on Twitter). I must say that Conservatives have truly become the stars of Twitter these days. If you doubt it, just scroll through the Twitchy archives.

But there’s something else that’s fairly disturbing about Pres. Obama’s tweet: his assertion that people are trying to “take down the President”. With his statement, he is implying that there are shadowy figures attempting to overthrow the Presidency, or stage a coup d’etat, rather than the more mundane truth of our quadrennial election, in which the current office-holder is likely to lose his job.

This fear of being “taken down” seems out of place, smacking as it does of paranoia, rather than the President’s usual extremely narcissistic behavior. Perhaps we’re seeing the beginning of a clinical melt-down.

We’re in the very best of hands.

Stoutcat

Memorial Day 2012

I recently had a discussion with a friend (a veteran) regarding an email he received. It was an email full of glurge, about how birds could can exhibit bravery, compassion, loyalty, etc. The message was entitled, “His Eye Is On the Sparrow“, and was quite touching; the included pictures were heart-wrenching. The problem we both had was the way the email opened:

“While many use this holiday weekend to celebrate war and those who engage in it, there are other forms of courage, kindness, tragedy, and other innocent hearts filled with forever love of for the also innocent…” [emphasis mine]

Ugh! That’s all quaint and warm and fuzzy except that it’s both profoundly stupid and grossly flawed reasoning. It’s stupid in that no one in his right mind celebrates war, and the reasoning is warped because birds didn’t end slavery, demolish Nazism, or stop ethnic cleansing. Most of us observe Memorial Day as a time to reflect on the sacrifices made, to consecrate the blessings achieved in blood, and to say thank you.

This is a photo of  my uncle Horace. He was born in 1920 and died by his own hand in 1945. He was wounded while serving as a machine gunner on a B24 Liberator. From what I’ve been told, he never did get over his injuries and chose to end the suffering.

Look into his eyes. His skin tore and burned just like yours might. His bones broke just like yours might. And his mind no doubt went wild in horror, just like yours would. But there was a terrible cancer upon this earth, and he rose to try to help excise it.

Dear readers, have a safe and happy holiday, and if you could be so kind and respectful, amidst the car races and the hot dogs and the beer, stop for just a moment and think of my uncle’s face. He never got to have a career, children, or grand kids. He never got to earn his college degree or celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary. He missed out on a lifetime of Thanksgivings and Christmases. He never watched humans on the moon, listen to the Beatles, or fuss with the Internet. Gone, baby, gone. Just meditate a prayer and whisper a soft thank you.

With that, we give heartfelt thanks to all who serve, active and reserve. Thanks to the past, present, and future members of the United States Marine Corp, the United States Army, the United States Air Force, the United States Navy, and the United States Coast Guard.

Alan Speakman

Cross-posted at eBirdseed.com

That Pesky War on Women (and Civility)

In the past few days, the Left has made much of the “war on women” meme being bandied about online. They’ve accused the Right of “inventing” it as a way to tar the Left, decrying any use of the phrase as right-wing smears. (Oh, except poor Joe Biden, who apparently didn’t get the memo.)

The latest salvo in this non-existant war on women came after Hilary Rosen commented about candidate Mitt Romney’s wife Ann that she had never worked a day in her life… For a women who raised a family of five boys, this would come as something of an eyebrow raiser. Mrs. Romney responded with simplicity and grace by remarking on Twitter:

After all sorts of backspinning by Rosen, the President, the First Lady, and a great many other Dem operatives, you might think that this would have died down.

You would be wrong. You ignore the great unwashed masses of venom-spewing hate mongers at your peril. They saw the subtle but unmistakable inference that Mrs. Romney is now fair game, and they are running with it for all they are worth. Twitchy has the story, in concepts of 140 characters or less. Since this is a family-safe blog, I won’t be posting any of the filth, but if you have a mind, click on over and see what the Romneys will now have to endure.

In retrospect, Sarah Palin caught a break. They didn’t start eviscerating her until July of 2008.

It’s not a war on women per se. It is, as it always has been, a war on conservative women.

Stoutcat

Mending Fences

Now that the dust is settling in the Republican candidate stakes, it looks like Mitt will be our nominee. And I’m fine with that. Really. I am.

After four years of President Downgrade, we will need to do some fast damage control if we hope to regain even a bit of our former standing in the world community. With that in mind, I have several suggestions for actions President Romney can take very soon after he is sworn in:

1. Contact someone in England and suggest that, because of the very special relationship that exists between the two countries, we’d really love to have that bust of Churchill back and proudly displayed in the White House.
2. Issue an invitation to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to a White House state dinner in his honor. Allow him to dine with the guests.
3. Ditto the Dalai Lama. Allow him to enter and exit by the front door.
4. Make sure there is a fully-staffed Protocol office, and that they actually know what they are doing regarding things like vetting guests at state dinners and choosing special gifts for foreign dignitaries.
5. Make sure you know how to pronounce military jargon… like “corpsman”.
6. Start practicing now so that you can throw a baseball from the pitcher’s mound across home plate. Bonus points if you don’t wear mom jeans while doing so.
7. Call a spade a spade: Drop the stupid “kinetic military action”, “overseas contingency operation”, “man-made disasters”, jargon and call them wars, terrorists, etc.
8. From the time of your election to the day of your inauguration, don’t begin your transition using the non-existent position of ”Office of the President-Elect”. And definitely don’t design a seal for this non-existent office.
9. And please, whatever else you do, when you accept the nomination at the convention, do not fist-bump Ann.

If you can start off your presidency with these few things, you’ll definitely be on the right track. And I’m fine with that. Really. I am.

Stoutcat

South-Side Styles

First Lady Michelle Obama has made a point of bringing Chicago’s South Side to Washington DC. Last week, it was south-side values, in which the First Lady expressed her determination to bring those somewhat questionable morals to the White House.

This week it is apparently south-side styles she is bringing into view. As Katie Pavlich of Townhall said:

“Cleavage and skin tight metallic jeans……completely appropriate outfit for the First Lady of the United States, right?”

And after seeing that, I can only say, please, no mas! No mas!

I actually liked the First Lady when she looked and acted like a First Lady. Sadly, we haven’t seen much of that recently.

Stoutcat

I’m Talking To You

…and so is Bill Whittle. In his latest video, Mr. Whittle addresses himself to people who don’t really get too deep into politics (which may be why you’re reading Grand Rants, and not HotAir, Malkin, Instapundit, or others):

And he’s right.

Stoutcat

Happy Birthday, ObamaCare!

I think this video says it all.

Stoutcat

South Side Values

You may already have heard what the First Lady  had to say when speaking with David Letterman (David Letterman?) the other night about raising kids in the White House:

“For us, it’s the values. The thing that we try to do is make sure — the residence is on the second and the third floor of the White House. And what we want to have happen is when they get off that elevator and walk in to our residence that it feels like the south side of Chicago, the same values, the same rules, the same sense of responsibility…” 

She may want to re-think the import of those “south side values,” given what’s going on back home these days:

“Chicago’s police superintendent says the city is re-tooling its anti-gang strategy, following a particularly violent weekend during which several people, including a 6-year-old girl, were killed.”

“The majority of shootings in the city between Friday evening and early Monday morning happened on the city’s South Side, but areas from West Rogers Park to Humboldt Park also saw gun violence. The youngest victim was a 6-year-old girl, who was likely the innocent victim of gang violence in the Little Village neighborhood.”

Based on a quick search of “chicago south side violence”, I really don’t want South Side values being instilled in the White House. Do you?

2012: Anybody But Obama

Stoutcat

H/T: Daily Scoreboard

Don’t Mess with Alan Grayson

I was enjoying the response to the MoveOn.org flowchart at iOwnTheWorld when I noticed an advertisement on the sidebar for Alan Grayson. “Put Progressive Champion Alan Grayson back in Congress!” the ad crowed. But given Mr. Grayson’s recent troubles, I took the liberty of modifiyng the ad slightly.

Much better!

Stoutcat

Who’s Your Buddy?

Well, if you’re a member of the US International Longshoremen’s Association, that would be Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. Yes, you heard me correctly; an American union (snort) awarded the leader of communist China the title “Best Friend of the American Worker.” China Daily reports:

ILA Vice President William McNamara said his association was honored to give the award to Premier Wen to thank China for its great contributions to creating more job opportunities for American workers.

 The award ceremony coincided with the 10th anniversary of the first direct vessel call to the Port of Boston by China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO) in February 2002.

Because on the docks of Boston, nobody does more for the longshoremen than… the Chinese? One might think that the USILA (and its parent union, the AFL-CIO) might have had second thoughts about giving an award to the head of a nation that does not allow actual trade unions. The irony, it burns!

I really didn’t think there existed an award more meaningless than the Nobel Peace Prize. But I think we’ve finally found one.

Stoutcat

H/T: WFB