Thomas Sowell thinks that the, um. . . HITLER!!!

He's at it again!

Hmmm, look how pensive I can Be. You know, I think. . . HITLER!!! Stalin!!!

Is U.S. Now On Slippery Slope To Tyranny?

By THOMAS SOWELL

Well, I guess the short answer would be "no." The long answer would be "hell no, what are you, fucking insane?"

When Adolf Hitler was building up the Nazi movement in the 1920s. . . .

Stop! Okay, just stop there. There's no good way out of this. You can't begin with a Hitler analogy and end up anywhere other than crazyville. Cut your losses and stop now!

When Adolf Hitler was building up the Nazi movement in the 1920s, leading up to his taking power in the 1930s, he deliberately sought to activate people who did not normally pay much attention to politics.

So anyone who seeks to get people interested in politics is, um, wait. . .I know this one, Hitler? No, wait Stalin! No, Hitler. Final answer.

Rock the Vote: Hitler. League of Women Voters: Hitler. Got it!

"Useful idiots" was the term supposedly coined by V.I. Lenin to describe similarly unthinking supporters of his dictatorship in the Soviet Union.

Ooh, the daily double! I'll take Pol Pot for the win!

In our times, American democracy is being dismantled, piece by piece, before our very eyes by the current administration in Washington, and few people seem to be concerned about it.

Yes, why aren't more people concerned with imaginary, made-up threats to the nation? I for one am losing a lot of sleep over the army of Yetis amassing at the Canadian border, but no one else seems too concerned.

The president's poll numbers are going down because increasing numbers of people disagree with particular policies of his, but the damage being done to the fundamental structure of this nation goes far beyond particular counterproductive policies.

Really? Fundamental damage? Like when President Obama decided that he could wiretap Americans without a warrant, make habeus corpus optional and expose an undercover CIA agent out of spite. . .Oh, wait! That wasn't him. That was the last guy, so those changes are not bad in any significant way. It's a good thing ya done that, George, a real good thing!

Just where in the Constitution of the United States does it say that a president has the authority to extract vast sums of money from a private enterprise and distribute it as he sees fit to whomever he deems worthy of compensation?

The same place it says that a citizen can be declared an "enemy combatant" and held indefinitely without charges?

And yet that is precisely what is happening with a $20 billion fund to be provided by BP to compensate people harmed by their oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Sure, if by "precisely" you mean "not really."

But our government is supposed to be "a government of laws and not of men."

If our laws and our institutions determine that BP ought to pay $20 billion — or $50 billion or $100 billion — then so be it.

But the Constitution says that private property is not to be confiscated by the government without "due process of law."

Of course, nothing was "confiscated," but I'm going to go ahead and just assume that that won't be a relevant distinction.

Technically, it has not been confiscated by Barack Obama, but that is a distinction without a difference.

No it isn't! You can't just say "oh, well there's no difference," as if saying makes it so! You can't complain about property being confiscated and then say that the fact that it has not been confiscated is not relevant.

Hello, police? I'd like to report my car stolen. Well, technically, I traded it in on a newer model, but that hardly seems germane to the matter at hand!

A Giant Middle Finger

A couple days ago, this story showed up buried on page 5 or 6 or something in the Atl. Journal-Constitution:

Jerusalem revives plan to raze homes

A Jerusalem planning body this week approved a plan to raze 22 Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem

Oh, bulldozing more Palestinian homes? Well, it must be a matter of vital national security, maybe rooting out terrorists, or I don't know, something super important. They wouldn't just destroy peoples' homes without a damn good reason, right?

A Jerusalem planning body this week approved a plan to raze 22 Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem to make room for a tourist center

I'm sorry, what?

The plan calls for the construction of shops, restaurants, art galleries and a large community center on the site where some say the biblical King David wrote his psalms. The 22 displaced families would be allowed to build homes elsewhere in the neighborhood, though it is not clear who would pay for them.

So this is just bulldozing homes because, fuck you, we'll do what we want? And you're going to allow these people to build new homes and maybe even pay for them, but probably not? Really? And you wonder why these people resort to terrorist tactics aginst you?

Back in March, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had pressured Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat to hold up the plan so authorities could consult with Palestinians losing their homes — a delay that appeared to be aimed at fending off U.S. criticism.

Right, because if you're going to destroy peoples' homes for the most frivolous of reasons, you have to worry that the US may possibly criticize you!
And how exactly do you consult with someone whose house is facing the wrecking ball that you sent to knock it down? What the hell is there to discuss?

This is just a giant middle finger from Israel to the rest of the world.

Least Surprising headline of the Week

Sarah Palin Defense Fund Was
Created Illegally,
According To Ethics Probe
RACHEL D'ORO | 06/24/10 08:47 PM |


Sarah Palin did something dishonest? You don't say!

Sometimes TIVO Tapes The Wrong Channel

Which is why I now know what an odious bit of offal is the show "Cougartown."

Cougartown is an alleged comedy which feels like it was created by comittee or focus group. It's like they had Courtney Cox and couldn't think of what to do with her, so they went to the "Trending Now" section of the Yahoo front page nad said "what are people talking about at this second in history? What subject is the most 'now'?" And someone saw "Cougars" and said "Eureka! Cougars are the hot new trend! Let's base a show on that!"

What is supposed to be so fascinating about the "cougars" is the shocking thought that women who are over 40 might still have an interest in the old bow-chicka-bow-wow, if you know what I mean. And who's over 40? Why, Courtney Cox is, My God! It's all coming together.

So the main point of the show seems to be that Cox is in remarkable physical condition and is therefore able to attract virile young men.

Sound intriguing? No, of course it doesn't.

(And the above picture pretty much sums up the ham-fisted approach to, well, everything in this show.)

So Courtney Cox is the lead actress, and she may be the most utterly charmless actress ever to grace the small screen. Altogether devoid of charm, charisma or likability, she mugs and flounces and generally overacts her way through the entire 5 or 6 minutes I was able to sit through. Really, just an awful, embarrassing performance.

Christa Miller, so good in SCRUBS, and Ian Gomez are thoroughly wasted in the supporting roles of a husband and wife who, get this, the husband, okay, he wants to have sex with his wife more often than she wants to have sex with him! Isn't that hilarious?
No, of course it isn't. But that's what they are reduced to.

And they were both funny on the Drew Carey Show.

Not that the Drew Carey Show is exactly a huge gold star on the old resume' but, Lord, it was better than "Friends."

Two Awesome Kids

While riding down Peachtree Battle Street in Atlanta, Mrs. Chaos and I happened across two young kids with a lemonade stand.
That's not them. These kids were a bit older.

So we stopped to buy lemonade, thinking we were helping out young entrepeneurs, when we discovered that the purpose of the stand was to raise money not for themselves, but for oil-spill relief! I know! When I was that age, it never would have occurred to me to work for money to give to someone else.

Mrs. Chaos asked the little girl if they had a charity lined up to give the money to, and she said "last night on CNN, they had a number to call, and they gave us a place to send it to." (or words to that effect.

"You watch CNN?!?" I asked the girl.

"Well, my brother was watching."



So, I'm already in awe of these kids, neither of whom could be much more than ten, when their mother came out of the house to tell them to start packing it in. She said that the had brought in around $80 that day, and that a few weeks ago, they had done the same to raise money for Haiti.

I know!

So, if you are near the North side of Atlanta, come down to Peachtree Battle Street, between Moore's Mill Rd and Howell Mill St.* and buy some lemonade. They also have iced tea, and they said they'd have smoothies tomorrow. You'll be glad you did, and you'll meet a couple of awesome kids.

*I know, we have funny street names in Atlanta.