Edwards loses his mind

I’ll be generous and assume that at one point, Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards had a mind and only recently lost it somewhere among the fluffy bunnies and rhododendrons. Whether its preexistence can be established or not, though, a weekend speech in New Hampshire made it clear it has indeed been misplaced. Perhaps permanently.

Fading to the middle of the Democratic field quickly and well behind Hillary, Barack and even Al Gore, who’s not running (yet), Edwards has adopted the political strategy that led Walter Mondale carry only his home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia against Ronald Reagan in 1984: Promise everything to everyone and screw even the first thought of how to pay for it. After all, the rich won’t be paying their fair share even after they’re all penniless and we’re all unemployed, right? It’s just and endless well of money from those types, right?

So let’s promise free health care, free college, free Internet… heck, let’s just give away a bunch of iPod Touch units and a free PlayStation 3 while we’re at it to every American. Oh, and no work requirement, either. Can’t have folks being productive on the government dole, can we? No siree.

Fortunately, I suspect that (just barely) most Americans have just enough IQ points to see past this one, even if the drive-by media doesn’t. (Including the Concord (NH) Monitor that ran the original piece on Edwards speech.) Of course, that’s to be expected from the zittohead crowd.

Edwards: Running like a loser

At the middle of the Democratic pack and fading fast, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has decided to take the Walter Mondale approach and promise everything to everyone, from free college for everyone to free health care to a new LCD TV in every living room.

OK, maybe not the free HDTV. But just about.

According to the Concord (NH) Monitor, Edwards is running in stark contrast to Bill Clinton’s “the era of big government is over” motto, proposing an expansion of government unlike anything since FDR.

His loser proposal includes proposals such as asking the Fed to underwrite universal pre-kindergarten, create matching savings accounts for low-income people, mandate a minimum wage of $9.50 and provide a million new Section 8 housing vouchers for the poor. He also pledged to start a government-funded public higher education program called “College for Everyone.”

Want to get the college vote, Johnny boy? Try offering a free PS3 for everyone who votes for you. Folks sell their vote pretty cheaply these days… never mind who pays for it.

Euro judge finds Inconvenient Truth full of errors

Although it is certain to be downplayed in the press and by Nobel winner Algore himself, the propaganda film An Inconvenient Truth, which claims humans are causing global warming and about to kill the entire planet with the next beer fart, has been officially cited with at least nine errors that must be pointed out to EuroTeens when schools screen the film to brainwash their kids throughout Europe.

According to the London Times Online:

Mr Justice Burton ruled that, although it was broadly correct, An Inconvenient Truth contained at least nine scientific errors and said ministers must send new guidance to teachers before it was screened. The judge said, for example, that Gore was wrong to suggest polar bears were already drowning due to ice melting when this was just a prediction.

Wonderful Pessimist will attempt to track down the list of nine errors the judge made official with his ruling. Of course, many other sites already have this list and several list many more errors the UK judge overlooked.

In the meantime, if anyone wants some clear-headed science on the environment, Great Britain’s Channel 4 documentary, The Great Global Warming Swindle, is still a top recommendation of this blog! In the meantime, invest in some Broward County real estate and watch it from the comfort of a Florida home; rising sea levels? Ha!

Pelosi Congress taking it easy…

When campaigning last fall for a shift of control to the Democrats in the U.S. Congress, Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi promised a Dem-controlled House would be, “a hard-working body putting in five-day weeks.” According to several Web site reports surfacing this weekend, even that simple campaign promise has been broken by the 11-percent-approval-rating Pelosi-led Congress.

An anonymous House of Representatives staffer recently revealed to NewsMax.com, among others:

“We sometimes have days with just one hour of votes from 3 to 4 p.m. on renaming post offices before calling it a day,” the staffer told NewsMax.

“No votes are scheduled on Fridays this month. And Pelosi hopes to close the House down for the year on Nov. 16.

“Pelosi made a big deal of saying she would make the House work five-day weeks. You can see how long that lasted.”

One has to wonder, with the Dems in control, how long it will be before the days of $6,000 cordless phone battery purchases return with a vengeance.

Despite Nobel, Gore considered "ridiculous" on atmosphere

Although his global warming propaganda film, An Inconvenient Truth, may have won former Vice President Algore an Oscar and a Nobel Peace Prize under highly politically charged circumstances, one of the top atmospheric scientists in the world warns that in a few years, we could look back and consider the global warming hysteria, “ridiculous.”

The Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald is reporting that Algore’s conclusions are fodder more suited for Ripley’s Believe It or Not than the Nobel Peace Prize committee.

As the Sydney Morning Herald reported:

“We’re brainwashing our children,” said Dr [William] Gray[, a pioneer in the science of seasonal hurricane forecasts,] 78, a long-time professor at Colorado State University. “They’re going to the Gore movie [An Inconvenient Truth] and being fed all this. It’s ridiculous.”

…

But Dr. Gray, whose annual forecasts of the number of tropical storms and hurricanes are widely publicized, said a natural cycle of ocean water temperatures – related to the amount of salt in ocean water – was responsible for the global warming that he acknowledges has taken place.

However, he said, that same cycle meant a period of cooling would begin soon and last for several years.

“We’ll look back on all of this in 10 or 15 years and realize how foolish it was,” Dr. Gray said.

It looks like Nobel-winner Gore will be more likely to win an endorsement from Titleist Golf than from Dr. Gray.

Clinton impatient when questioned by … the little guy

Democrats like U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham love to claim they’re “in it to fight for the little guy.” Until, that is, the little guy asks too many uncomfortable questions.

As a whistle-stop gathering in New Hampton, Iowa, an attendee who claimed to be a lifelong Democrat pressed Sen. Rodham on a recent vote in favor of calling the army of Iran a “terrorist organization.” The “little guy” and the presidential hopeful got into a verbal shoutdown in which Sen. Rodham did everything but answer the question put to her.

Like?

Well, she told the guy he was wrong, then accused him of being a plant from the GOP or a Democratic opponent, and then eventually closed off the altercation, which never went beyond the verbal, by again telling him she’d have her staff send him information that would prove she was right and he was wrong.

If anyone can prevent Hillary from taking the nomination after Obama’s Howard Dean moment this past weekend, it’s Hillary herself. Treating “little guys” like Iowa Democrat voter Randall Rolph like this could create huge backlash; voters have better recall than Dell memory for PCs for meltdown moments like this.

Obama down. Hillary down. Is there anyone left for the Dems who’s NOT an obvious whacko who could take over the frontrunner position for the Dem nod?

Uhh, put your hand DOWN, Sen. Edwards. You too, for that matter, Rep. Kucinich. That question was to the adults in the Democratic pack…

Obama’s Howard Dean moment?

Has Barack Hussein Obama become the next Howard Dean?

The freshman U.S. Senator from Illinois and presidential hopeful may have gone overboard in his enthusiasm while attending church and making a political statement from the pulpit of Redemption World Outreach Center in South Carolina this past weekend, as seen on TV.

Getting into the spirit of the moment, Obama became two parts politician, one part preacher as he effused from the front of the church, “”Sometimes this is a difficult road being in politics. Sometimes you can become fearful, sometimes you can become vain, sometimes you can seek power just for power’s sake instead of because you want to do service to God. I just want all of you to pray that I can be an instrument of God in the same way that Pastor Ron and all of you are instruments of God. We’re going to keep on praising together. I am confident that we can create a Kingdom right here on Earth.”

While fitting the moment, Clinton’s crew is hoping, and Obama’s camp is fearing, that the Senator’s effervescence may be read the wrong way outside of church doors, painting him as a religious loon, rather than a serious politician.

In 2004, Howard Dean had a similar “apparent meltdown moment” in front of an Iowa crowd that ultimately cost him a chance at the Democratic Party presidential nomination. Could history repeat itself and ensure a suddenly-struggling Hillary Clinton a clear and unobstructed path to the Dem nod?

Time will tell.

A "wonderful" but not pessimistic gift

I just received what has turned out to be a wonderful birthday gift for my three-year-old nephew. A company called Personalized Stories makes these books and music CDs that are completely personalized to each individual child for whom they are ordered.

All that’s required is a simple form that takes a couple minutes to fill out if you know the child and his family pretty well, and for usually under $20 on most products, you get personalized childrens books or music CDs that incorporates that child’s name and personal details (like names of friends, parents, etc.) into a wonderful storybook, or a music CD of songs that mention him by name.

Like many children’s products, the adult appeal of the product directly is limited to the thrill on your children’s faces as they are drawn in and feel personally involved in a story being read to them, or a music CD they are listening to.

Even at three years’ old, my nephew Colton, still easily distracted at times, perks up every time he hears “Colton” being sung on the music CD I selected for him, “Spider-Man and You.”

The songs are relatively harmless, if a bit overly-sweet, feel-good, up with people kids’ fare. For example, one song called “Show and Tell” tells the story of the personalized kid taking Spider-Man to school for Show and Tell, and how everyone with think Spider-Man is cool because he’s hanging out with Colton (in my example.)

The company has a wide selection of products that will appeal to most tastes. There are biblical stories and songs, Veggie Tales, Marvel and Disney products, and much more.

I was a huge Spider-Man fan growing up, and I’m 41 years old. This would have been a dream-come-true present for me back when I was Colton’s age, as I was just being exposed to superheroes and getting old enough to remember then through Saturday morning cartoon repeated exposure.

Of course, like a lot of stuff made for very young kids, they will probably reach an age when it embarrasses them and they no longer listen to it; but for a three-year-old like Colton, that’s several years off and the memories it creates for him in the meantime are irreplaceable.