Say Anything Blog

The folks at BuildASign.com apparently got a big kick out of our abuse of their “Get a free Barack Obama campaign sign” promotion here on Say Anything, and sent along this email today about another promotion:

Hey Rob

We all enjoyed the different signs your members made and posted on your site during our Obama signs promotion.  We are running a different promotion now that you might actually support.  We are donating 10,000 vinyl banners to the family members of returning troops.  www.Buildasign.com/Troops is the link to the promotion.  If you know anyone in the military please forward this to them.  I hope you have a nice day.  Just trying to spread the word, hope you can help.

Certainly a worthy cause from a company with a sense of humor. 

Click the link above to check it out.

No joke:

Does a nation that already has more citizens in jail per capita than China really need a law against cutting in line?

It’s more than just a lapel pin and an American-damning spiritual leader:

The Nation ran a famous series then called “These United States,” in which smug emissaries from East Coast cities chronicled the “backward” attitudes of what today would be called fly-over country. One correspondent proclaimed that in “backwoods” New York (i.e. outside the Big Apple): “Resistance to change is their most sacred principle.” If that was their attitude to New York, it shouldn’t surprise that they felt even worse about the South. One author explained that Dixie needed nothing less than an invasion of liberal “missionaries” so that the “light of civilization” might finally be glimpsed down there. These authors simply assumed, writes intellectual historian Christopher Lasch, that “ ‘breaking with the past’ was the precondition of cultural and political advance.” Even today, writes Time’s Joe Klein, “This is a chronic disease among Democrats, who tend to talk more about what’s wrong with America than what’s right.”

Echoes of these attitudes can be found in Obama’s now infamous explanation that “bitter” working-class rural voters won’t embrace him because they “cling” to God, guns and bigotry. But Obama’s sometimes messianic rhetoric about “remaking” America — and the explicitly revolutionary aesthetics of his campaign — also rings a bell. “I am absolutely certain,” he proclaimed upon clinching the Democratic nomination, “that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.” So wait, America never provided care for the sick or good jobs for the jobless until St. Barack arrived? That doesn’t sound like the country most Americans think of when they wave their flags on the Fourth of July.

Read the whole thing.

Recently retired general Wesley Clark has made news lately by saying that John McCain’s experience in the military, which includes being shot down in Vietnam and spending seven years being tortured in captivity by Vietnamese socialists, doesn’t qualify him to be President.  Which is something I actually agree with.

But what’s interesting is that in 2004, when Clark was praising then-Democrat Presidential nominee John Kerry, he said that Kerry’s service in Vietnam, which included putting himself in for medals and then throwing those medals (but not the ribbons!) away during an anti-war protest, qualified him to be President.

I’m sensing a bit of hypocrisy here, aren’t you?

Obama before the election: States should decide gay marriage

Obama during the election: California’s attempt to decide gay marriage for itself is “divisive and discriminatory.”

Which, as far as I can tell, means Obama is a federalist only when states settle on policy he agrees with.  Which isn’t really the sort of federal leader you want, is it?  If you go to the polls and vote for some bill, do you really want a President Obama to come along after that vote and stick his nose in where it doesn’t belong?

Barack Obama told a San Francisco-based Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender group on Sunday that he opposes a California ballot measure that would ban same-sex marriage.

Prop 8 was added to the November ballot after the state supreme court ruled that a previous voter initiative barring gay marriage was unconstitutional.

“I am proud to join with and support the LGBT community in an effort to set our nation on a course that recognizes LGBT Americans with full equality under the law,” reads the Obama letter, available on the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club Web site.

Obama said he supports “extending fully equal rights and benefits to same sex couples under both state and federal law,” and called the measure a “divisive and discriminatory” effort to amend California’s constitution.

Discussion question: Is it just me or does Obama’s never-ending carousel of policy positions make him more and more like John Kerry each day?

Of course, it’s just rich Americans like Tiger Woods and Alex Rodriguez, so who cares right?

It was fortunate for Tiger that his most-recent U.S. Open win occurred in 2008. Under twin tax proposals from Obama to 1) remove the “cap” from Social Security taxes for individuals earning over $250,000, a plateau Tiger has long since surpassed in 2008, and 2) eliminate the “Bush” tax cuts, thereby raising the top marginal federal income tax rate to 39.6 percent, Tiger’s taxes on his winner’s check would have increased to approximately $776,000, a boost of almost $190,000. Instead of Tiger keeping 57 percent of his earnings and the government taking 43 percent, under the twin Obama tax proposals, Tiger’s federal and California taxes would have amounted to 57 percent of his winnings, leaving Tiger with just 43 percent.

Prefer baseball to golf?

The New York Yankees have a 2008 payroll of approximately $208 million. Under the twin Obama tax proposals, the 24 Yankee players would be hit with an aggregate increase in federal income taxes of just over $22 million, with slugger Alex Rodriguez single-handedly getting dunned with $2.6 million in additional federal taxes.

According to Democrats we’re not supposed to care when rich people face unfair levels of taxation, but it’s worth noting that this high level of taxation has ramifications for we little people too:

The owner of the Yankees would owe an additional $7.5 million of federal taxes. Ticket prices would need to be increased by about $65 million so that the owner and players could have the same after-tax income as before. The increase in ticket prices would amount to an average $16 per ticket. Given that the least-expensive ticket in Yankee Stadium currently is $14, this would more than double the cost of a seat in the bleachers.

Tax big business and/or taxing “the rich” actually hurts us all.  Because most of us buy products from big businesses and/or sell products to or do work for “the rich.” When big business has to pay more in taxes they pass that expense on to us in higher prices.  When “the rich” have to pay more in taxes they have less money available to spend on the products and services provided by people who aren’t rich.

Excessive taxation, no matter which demographic its aimed at, hurts us all.

Of course, just because the whimsical opinion of the masses right now is that free trade is bad for our economy doesn’t mean it’s true.

According to the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, 51 percent of the Americans questioned view foreign trade as a threat to the economy — the first time in a CNN poll that a majority of respondents report holding negative views on free trade.

That compares to only 35 percent of those asked who felt that free trade posed a threat to the economy in 2000, and 48 percent who felt it was a threat in 2006.

Now only four in 10 the Americans questioned say free trade presents an opportunity for economic growth, a sentiment that clearly makes the issue a challenge for McCain, especially in the crucial Rust Belt states most affected by the loss of manufacturing jobs over the last decade.

If anything, this is evidence of how effective protectionist interests (unions, Buchananites, Ron Paul supporters paranoid about North American Unions, etc.) have been in their rhetoric against free trade.  And scandals about bad produce from Mexico, and toys with lead paint from China, haven’t helped.  But really, free trade has positive ramifications for America both economic and diplomatic.

On the economic side of things, forget about short-sighted and naive rhetoric about jobs being “shipped overseas” and think about what trade with other countries does for you during a trip to the store.  Let’s say you’re looking for a lawnmower.  In a protectionist America you’d go to the store and find only American-made mowers.  But what if none of those mowers met your specifications for price and quality?  Well, you’d be stuck having to pick one anyway because you have to mow your lawn, right?

In a free-trade world your choices are greatly expanded.  Instead of just shopping for American-made mowers, you can shop for mowers made all over the world, and thus you have a much greater chance of finding one that best suits your needs and price range.

This impact of choice would be especially apparent in the consumer electronics industry.  Can you imagine how much your average television would cost you if you could only choose from televisions made in America?  It would cost you much, much more and thus you’d have less money left over for other things.  Like maybe taking your wife out to a nice dinner, or going to a movie.

Put simply, free trade increases our quality of life by bringing cheaper, foreign-made goods to our markets.  Those cheaper goods allow us to get what we want with more money left over.  It literally makes our dollars go further, and without it we’d be a lot worse off.

Diplomatically speaking, trading with a nation is perhaps one of the best assurances we have that we’ll never go to war with that nation.  A good deal of articles have been written about China’s fearsome, and growing-stronger, military.  And while that is cause for concern, one bit of solace we can take in Chinese-American relations is that China’s economy is almost totally dependent on ours.  Without America China goes bankrupt.  If China were to attack America the American market would suddenly be shut off to Chinese goods.  And then where would those goods be sold?  Does anyone think that France or Great Britain or Russia would suddenly increase their consumption of DVD players and laptop computers to keep China’s industries afloat?

Even if they wanted to it wouldn’t be possible.  Which is why China isn’t ever going to attack America as long as we’re their trading partner.  And the same goes with pretty much every other country in the world that America trades with.

Put simply: Free trade is the path not just to economic success, but also world peace.  Or, at least, a more peaceful world than we have now.

Interesting...

PEOPLE with high IQs are less likely to believe in God, according to a new study.

A leading psychology professor at Ulster University said many more “intellectually elite” people in the UK, especially univeristy academics, identified themselves as atheists than the national average.

Prof Richard Lynn said a decline in religious beliefs over the last century was directly linked to a rise in average intelligence, the Telegraph reported.

The study, published in the academic journal Intelligence, has been called “simplistic” by critics.

A survey of Royal Society fellows, the independent academy of science in the UK, found that only 3.3 per cent believed in God - at a time when 68.5 per cent of the general UK population described themselves as believers.

A separate poll in the 90s found only seven per cent of members of the American National Academy of Sciences believed in God, the Telegraph reported.

Personally, I don’t believe in god, but I’ve never really thought less of the intelligence of those who do.  I’ve always felt that it was a very personal decision.  Some people need or want the comfort and pleasure that organized religion can provide.  Others don’t.

I have a hard time believing that decision has anything to do with intelligence.

But McCain’s experience in Vietnam, and his ability to emerge from that crucible as a successful member of our society, does speak highly of his character.

As David Harsanyi notes:

Setting aside Clark’s ugly delivery, the truth is, getting shot down during a sortie does not qualify anyone to be president (though McCain had never claimed any such thing). Nor does traversing the Vietnamese waterways in a Swift Boat or bombing Serbia from the safety of a command post.

Military service, a valuable character reference for many voters, does not instill candidates with wisdom, a certain ideology, common sense or any extraordinary insight into policy. Take Clark, a man who proves that top-notch combat instincts can often translate into tragically inept political IQ.

Of course, challenging veterans can be risky business. You may be called a chickenhawk. You may be accused of “questioning the patriotism” of your opponent. Or you may just say something stupid.

Personally, I respect McCain for his service to this country in the military.  I think he deserves the praise and admiration of all Americans for that service.  And while that service informs us as to the quality of McCain’s character, it doesn’t not necessarily mean he’d make a good President.

I think McCain is a good man.  I think he’d make a poor President.  About the only thing he’s got going for him in this election is that he’d be a better President than Barack Obama.

This doesn’t bother me at all, though it sure explains a lot about Bob Beckel.

It is exactly this sort of unapologetic public disclosure that is going to end the madness of the government’s costly jihad against marijuana.  Let’s face it: Marijuana is not inherently a bad thing.  It’s no more or less harmful to humans and human behavior than alcohol, and we’d do well to just legalize it and spend the massive amount of resources expended on its banishment elsewhere.

Of course, such a move would mean a tremendous reduction in the law enforcement bureaucracy that has sprung up around the war on marijuana, and those bureaucrats aren’t going to give up their jobs without a fight.

Here’s a story that may have been overlooked by any nutter who confuses party affiliation with propensity to vice or inclination to malfeasance:

Durham, N.C. — A Durham couple charged with kidnapping, rape and assault was involved with a satanic cult, a prosecutor said on Monday. Joy Johnson and Joseph Craig appeared at a bond hearing Monday.

So far, just your run-of-the-mill, crime story!

...Prosecutors said a man and a woman met Craig through a shared interest in Satan worship, but the pair never consented to physical abuse. Craig shackled his victims to beds, kept them in dog cages and starved them inside his Albany Street home, prosecutors said. He was charged with beating the man with a cane and a cord and with raping the woman.

Okay! Just your run-of-the-mill, Satanic cult crime story! Very nasty individual! Depraved and remorseless.

...Johnson, who was third vice-chair of the Durham County Democratic Party and vice-chair for the Young Democrats, was charged with two counts of aiding and abetting. Prosecutors said she knew her husband planned the crime and watched as they were committed.

Mirabile dictu! Did I spot a “D" in there? Vice chair? Man have they got this gal’s number! Heh.

She has resigned her positions with the Democratic Party, said state Sen. Floyd McKissick, D-Durham.

Wouldn’t want to embarrass the rest of the Dems who haven’t gotten caught yet!

Hat tip to Jammie Wearing Fool
Cross posted at Proof Positive

Robert Levy, who went to law school at age 50, is now 66 and believe it or not, this is the only lawsuit he’s ever litigated!

Hat tip Transsylvania Phoenix
Cross posted at Proof Positive

“I’m a Christian. I praise Jesus every Sunday‏”

Hat tip Hugh Hewitt
Cross posted at Proof Positive

Instead of a cute robot movie, I went to see the Angelina Jolie’s “Wanted” over the weekend.  (Warning: Some spoilers.)

The story (I’d hate to call this mish mash a plot!) revolves around nebbish Wesley Gibson, a cubicle dweller, intimidated by his obnoxious boss, his best friend who is boinking his girlfriend, and life in general.  Wesley is taking drugs to control what he thinks are anxiety attacks. In the world of “Wanted”, it’s indicative of a genetic trait that gives one near super human abilities. (Think X-Men, but without the fancy tights!)

Then, the movie leaves logic, laps it a couple of times and heads for the big finish! Wesley is recruited into a thousand year old brotherhood of assassins called The Fraternity, started by …weavers! The Fraternity receive their orders to kill people from “The Loom of Fate”. Cloth coming off of the Loom can be interpreted by a binary code which will spell out the name of someone who needs to be eliminated for the good of society. Allllllllllriiiiiight! They don’t tell us who built the Loom, or which of the weavers invented a binary lettering system hundreds of years before the first computer. But, the Fruit of the Loom (Sorry! Couldn’t resist!) is to spread death. (Don’t ask why, it will only spoil the rest of the movie for you.)

Wesley is trained to be an assassin, like his father was. Mostly, his training involves getting the crap beat out of him, getting stabbed and shot repeatedly until he gets better at avoiding the pain. The Fraternity uses some sort of mystery bath to speed healing in hours instead of days. This allows our hero to get beaten, shot and stabbed repeatedly until he’s ready to go on his first assignment.

The question you may not ask yourself in the dark theater, is why, if The Fraternity have this near miraculous healing method, why don’t they share that with the world instead of killing people with exotic bullets? Or at least patent it and make enough money to let your fellow weavers live in comfort for the rest of their lives?

The special effects are very good. The story (I still can’t say “plot”) moves along fairly quickly once Wesley makes the cut. There is a sequence on a train that might be worth the price of admission by itself! Lots of slo-mo shots of bullets supposedly hitting other bullets, bullets that shoot in circles, etc.

If you just want a couple of hours of semi-mindless entertainment, Wanted may be your ticket. It’s rated “R” for brief nudity (Angelina’s tush), a half a dozen or more “f” bombs and violence- mostly violence. (Oh. And simulated boinking. I forgot the boinking!)

If you are easily offended by violence or foul language - skip this one. If you can suspend disbelief for a couple of hours, parts of the movie are quite enjoyable.

I’d give it about 3.5 stars out of 5, but it’s not for everyone.

Cross posted at Proof Positive

Last week I posted about plans to put protesters at this year’s national Democrat convention in fenced-in cages (don’t worry, they’ll be open on top!).  Now the Denver Post is reporting on the story:

The fence around the public demonstration zone outside the Democratic National Convention will be chicken wire or chain link, authorities revealed in U.S. District Court today.

That may allow protestors to be seen and heard by delegates going in and out of the Pepsi Center during the convention.

But the American Civil Liberties Union and several advocacy groups have filed an amended complaint to their lawsuit against the U.S. Secret Service and the city and county of Denver that says protestors and demonstrators may have their First Amendment rights violated by security restrictions.

The ACLU has said it wants to avoid the conditions that existed during the 2004 convention in Boston, where protesters were caged, infuriating First Amendment advocates.

You’ll note that the convention held in Boston in 2004 was also put on by the Democrats.

Funny how you don’t hear about protesters being put in cages at Republican conventions.

Here’s a fact the gun-control activists don’t often talk about:

ATLANTA - The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on gun ownership last week focused on citizens’ ability to defend themselves from intruders in their homes. But research shows that surprisingly often, gun owners use the weapons on themselves.

Suicides accounted for 55 percent of the nation’s nearly 31,000 firearm deaths in 2005, the most recent year for which statistics are available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There was nothing unique about that year — gun-related suicides have outnumbered firearm homicides and accidents for 20 of the last 25 years. In 2005, homicides accounted for 40 percent of gun deaths. Accidents accounted for 3 percent. The remaining 2 percent included legal killings, such as when police do the shooting, and cases that involve undetermined intent.

So if most gun deaths are people deliberately killing themselves, and if we can assume that most people who kill themselves would probably find another method of suicide if they couldn’t get their hands on a gun, doesn’t this mean that gun fatalities are much less of a public safety issue than gun control advocates tell us it is?

I mean, suicides aren’t a happy thing by any stretch of the imagination, but they aren’t the shooting-sprees the gun control nuts like to talk about either.

Of course, the gun control people would have you believe that people are committing suicide simply because they own guns:

Public-health researchers have concluded that in homes where guns are present, the likelihood that someone in the home will die from suicide or homicide is much greater.

Of course, it could just be that guns are the most popular method for suicide.  Which would mean that a lot of suicides would naturally have a gun in the house.

Statistics can be made to say anything sometimes.

Earlier today I blasted North Dakota Democrats for being a bit hypocritical about closed political events for Presidential candidates.  The Democrats criticized both President Bush in 2005 and then-Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani earlier this year for holding closed events in North Dakota.  Then Obama comes along and announces a closed event of his own.

Except, now according to an updated Fargo Forum article Obama’s event is “free and open to the public.” As long as you have a ticket, that is (I wonder if they executed a wording change because of my post earlier today?).

So it’s still closed, really.  The Democrats just changed the wording of their press release around a bit.  And, naturally, North Dakota’s reporters eat it right up.

Oh well.  I’ll bet North Dakota Democrats are just glad Obama actually knows which state they’re in again.

Sigh…

Democrats aren’t exactly catering to the brightest bulbs on the tree with this one.  They’re catering to the Jon Stewart, Daily Show crowd.  You know, the people who think sound political analysis consists of sarcastic generalities made while mugging for the camera.  The “Big Oil Energy Agenda.” Oh, har-de-har-har.  That’s so original.  Like we haven’t been reading that one on Berkeley protest signs for years.

If the Democrats think this ad is going to make up for their rather absurd solution for gas prices, which near as I can tell consists of taxing the hell out of the oil industry while blocking any attempt to actually increase our available domestic supply of petroleum, they’re kidding themselves.

Americans aren’t as dumb as the liberals think they are.

Discussion question: When are the Democrats going to wake up and realize that they aren’t campaigning against Bush this year?

You know what’s interesting?  Exxon CEO Lee Raymond gets brought up by Democrats all the time as an example of a nasty, rich white guy who makes too much money.  When gas prices are high liberals invoke Raymond’s yearly income.  When someone wants to kill the estate tax liberals say it’s a tax cut for Mr. Raymond.

But what about, say, Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo?  You know, the guy who we just learned has been giving politicians like Senators Kent Conrad and Chris Dodd “VIP loans?” According to Forbes he makes tens of millions of dollars more per year than Raymond.

So how come we never hear Mozilo’s name invoked in Democrat press releases?

I guess Mozlio is paying off the right people.

Pathetic, no?