Episode 2 Recap of the Real Housewives of DC!Birthday Parties & Fireworks Aplenty!

(If you're not familiar with this series, try this primer: http://independentrage.blogspot.com/2010/08/episode-1-recap-of-real-housewives-of.html)

Episode Synopsis: Conflicts between the Sassy Brit, Cat, and the American ladies are highly accentuated in tonight's new episode! And nobody likes Michaele, that much is clear! Plus the ladies' men have a Penis Conference!

Segment 1: It’s Michaele’s birthday! “People think I’m in my 30’s, but I’m old. I’m really old – I’m 44,” says Michaele. Funny, I would have thought older, actually! Maybe Stevie Wonder mistakes her for being in her 30’s, but unfortunately for her, I can see!

Her hubbie Tareq Salahi has a few birthday surprises for Michaele. First, she gets to choose from among various purses, shoes and jewelry that Tareq has had brought into their mansion. She is only supposed to pick out just a few items, but ends up choosing a whole couch full of stuff. “You just can’t so no to her,” says Tareq. Second, Tareq takes her out on the grounds and gives her a riding horse. Michaele claims she hasn’t ridden since she was a little girl, but she’s happy with the gift. She names the horse Sparkle.

Then we switch to Lynda’s apartment, where Lynda’s with KC, who’s an assistant to Lynda and also a girlfriend to Lynda’s son. Lynda says off camera that you have to be a “mad person” to be her assistant and says that KC really isn’t that person. They are looking at house listings since Lynda wants to buy a house and get out the apartment (which she says isn’t big enough for her family and all their friends).

In the suburb of McLean, we’re next at Mary’s house. Rosa, Mary’s housekeeper, has a hospital mask on and is cleaning up dog poop from the yard. Next Rosa’s inside vacuuming up a ton of dog hair from the stairway’s tile landing area. I’m no expert on dog breeds, but Mary’s dog looks some kind of part St. Bernard mutt. The dog certainly sheds & $hits a lot. Mary speaks Spanish to Rosa (saying that Rosa doesn’t understand English very well) and tells Rosa that it’s very difficult around this joint when Rosa isn’t around to clean up.

Then Mary starts dictating a laundry list of tasks for Rosa to complete, including shampoo the rugs, work on the dog pee stains (that mutt’s not fully house trained?!), and clean the walls. Mary says that the dog is actually daughter Lolly’s (age 23, who just moved back home) and is a bernese mountain dog (so it appears it’s not a mutt after all). The dog is called Kona (sp) and is female. Lolly says off camera that the dog has added a lot of stress to the household. Adding to things is that the dog does not seem well-trained. In addition to the housetraining issue, it won’t come when called and instead just starts barking.

Next we’re at the house of Cat (the sassy Brit), where she’s in the kitchen talking to daughters Jade (age 11) and Ruby (age 9). Cat tells them about her resolution last week to go horse riding with Michaele, and the girls say they just can’t picture mama on a horse. Cat is clearly irritated that Michaele made Cat do a “pinky swear” to follow through on the excursion. Next Cat gets together with Mary for lunch and starts in complaining about the “pinky swear” vow again. Cat wants Mary to go along on the horse ride, but Mary changes the subject. When Cat won’t let her off the hook so easy, Mary reluctantly says, “count me in.”

Mary’s daughter Lolly is then shown waitressing at this same restaurant. Mary explains to Cat that Lolly had been living on her own for a year with a boyfriend, but that it didn’t work out. Mary confides to Cat that she (Mary) is pretty stressed out about Lolly’s dog. Cat oddly comments, “I’m just looking forward to when my daughters leave home.” Cat says she won’t allow her daughters to live at home at age 23 – a claim that Mary views with pessimism.

Then Lolly comes by their table and Cat starts bustin’ Lolly’s balls about the dog hair issue! Lolly is a good sport, but off camera is none too happy (and Mary has a disgusted look on her face as well). Then Cat starts breakin’ Mary’s balls about allowing Lolly to live at home, about the dog, and about the large tip that Mary’s leaving for Lolly. A Real Charmer, this Cat!! Mary is very clearly pissed, but Cat seems oblivious!

Segment 2: Michaele is talking about her birthday presents with friend Paul Wharton, the celebrity stylist. Paul says he “loves” the horse’s name, Sparkle. Michaele is also helping Paul plan his birthday party, and they mull over the guest list. Likely foreshadowing later events, Michaele says that Paul can count on her to plan a great party with “no drama.”

Now we’re in the kitchen with Stacie and hubbie Jason. Stacie says she wants to invite some people to dinner at “Our Francis’” house, which is implied to be the home of one or both of Stacie’s parents. Jason is taken aback at the suggestion, as apparently whatever “Our Francis’” means, it’s going to be a real trip for the guests. Stacie says she’s thinking of inviting Mary, Lynda, Cat. At the suggestion of Cat, Jason says, “Oh Lord have Mercy.” Flashback to last week, when Cat offended Stacie by dissing Barack Obama for not RSVP’ing to her wedding invite and by saying that she holds George W. Bush in higher regard since at least he RSVP’d.

Stacie says that the guests “are going to see a down home, black family, Sunday style dinner.” (Jason, BTW, in this segment reinforced my initial impression of him from Episode 1: A very nice, easygoing dude.) Stacie then leaves a voice mail for Cat inviting her to the dinner. It seems clear that Stacie most definitely wants to expose Cat to whatever “Our Francis’” means, as she remarks that “they” (again, implying her parents or some other family member) won’t take any of Cat’s sassy British guff.

The Big Horse Ride: Mary is driving (with Cat) through an office park area that Mary calls (or at least it sounds like) “Tyson’s corner,” and Mary comments that her granddaddy had an option to buy all of this land but passed it up because he didn’t want to be so close to DC. Bad decision, it’s made clear. Anyway, Mary and Cat are on their way to take up Michaele on her offer to ride horses. Mary reveals that she first met Michaele when Michaele was a makeup artist at Nordstrom’s. “Oh yes, Michaele has definitely changed her station in life,” Mary rather nastily remarks.

At Michaele’s estate, Michaele and Tareq are oddly sitting on director’s chairs on a mini red carpet in the middle of a field. Mary remarks off camera that she thought this was going to be an informal event, but the Salahis are clearly looking to put on “a show.” Mary seems a bit pissed because Michaele had told them to wear jeans, and yet Michaele’s wearing formal riding pants. (BTW, I had previously had very little attraction to Cat UNTIL I saw her in a tight jeans and tight T at the Salahi estate!)

Tareq (a devoted polo player) says he’s going to give the ladies a little riding & polo lesson. Cat is riding a horse called Uncle Buck, and she’s having difficulty picking up on the whole polo “whack the ball with the zany-looking mallet” thing. But Michaele has similar problems. Mary, who has more of a past riding background than the other two ladies, is obviously more comfortable on her horse and picks up the whole polo thing a lot better. At the end of their riding, Cat says off camera that she was actually surprised how much fun she had.

The riding being over, Tareq breaks out the “wine” for the ladies. But it’s actually beer in wine glasses! Cat and Mary seem visibly offended by the fact that the Salahis own a vineyard, but yet served the ladies beer. Michaele off camera explains, nonsensically, that the horse barn doesn’t “hold much wine,” and that they would have needed to drive up the road in order to get some wine (like I said, non-sensical: The barn holds beer, but can’t "hold" wine?!). (Note: I would have been more appreciative than the ladies, however. Give me a beer any time over a glass of wine. But then again, I’m much more the earth-like sort.)

Segment 3: Planning for Paul's Birthday Bash -- Michaele is heading to The Park at Fourteenth, a restaurant/lounge/club in DC. She’s meeting there with Sherwin (the manager of the joint) and other friends of Paul Wharton (including Charlotte, his publicist) concerning the planning of his birthday party there. It’s revealed that Michaele also planned Paul’s 30th birthday party, which received great compliments, but which also disappointed Paul because the venue would only allow 25 attendees. Michaele is relieved to learn from Sherwin that many more than 25 can be invited this time around.

Dinner at Frances'! Finally we learn whom the hell Francis (actually it’s spelled “Frances”) is!!! Stacie calls her “aunt Frances,” and Stacie explains that Frances was Stacie’s mom’s best friend and Stacie’s Godmother. Stacie further explains that her mom died when Stacie was 13, and that every week Frances would prepare a Sunday dinner for Stacie and Stacie’s dad. Stacie also indicates that Frances is quite the cook/chef. Stacie and others are starting to arrive at Frances’ house for the big Sunday dinner.

At Lynda’s apartment, she’s very excited about eating a “soul food dinner” at Frances’ house (since Lynda is from south Georgia originally, she explains). Lynda is waiting for her boyfriend Ebong (half her age) to pick her up and, in the meantime, is barking orders at poor KC to do this and do that as Lynda tries to get ready.

Back at Frances’ house, the food honestly looks to die for! A huge platter of hot wings and a giant pan of peach cobbler are shown! Stacie’s hubbie Jason can’t wait to dig in. Ironically, Cat the Bush-lover (LOL) is the first of the ladies to show up at Frances’. Paul Wharton next shows up, meeting Aunt Frances for the first time (realize he’s more of a Lynda & Michaele friend). Frances tells Paul that she’s drinking Scotch, while Cat is off looking for something to drink herself. She’s given some wine that she doesn’t like the taste of. Cat complains to Stacie about this, and Stacie is clearly offended. Lynda shows up late, with BF Ebong in tow. Lynda immediately takes to Aunt Frances, commenting that Frances could “definitely be a kindred spirit for me.” Then Mary and hubbie Rich also show up late.

Penis Conference! Stacie’s hubbie Jason takes the other male significant others – Rich and Ebong – downstairs to talk. Jason says that he’s excited that he has a patent on technology that “uses volume to measure the size of different body parts.” It’s called the Penile Volumetric Measuring Device. This is not fully explained at this juncture, but obviously it’s a device that will give a dude a measurement on the precise size of his penis. [Gee, I always thought a wooden ruler would be fairly good for that task, but who am I to question?] Rich hilariously asks, “is this where the white guy leaves the conference?” He further quips, “I’m not going to hang around and be ridiculed by you two – I don’t want to be hung out to dry.” [All three of these dudes are obviously nice, cool guys – which kind of makes me feel sorry for them, at least in terms of Rich and Ebong.]

“I think I’ve got something that could be really, really huge,” remarks Rich next, obviously intending the double meaning. Ebong off camera comments that he’s just “a little uncomfortable to be hanging out with three men talking about penis.” And Rich clearly feels no different. Jason starts back in: “We all know that size really does matter, right?” Rich, again exhibiting his sense of humor, quips: “You see, big guys never say that, but white Irish Catholic guys say that.” [My comment here: I must beg to differ with Rich: I’m a white Irish Catholic guy, but I have NEVER said that! – go figure!].

Then Jason starts talking about how size of feet and hands are predictive of penis size. On that topic, I’ve always read and heard that those are predictors, but what if a dude has huge feet and small hands, like me? You can just keep guessing on that one, because I’ll never tell (at least not publicly)! As the dudes head back upstairs, they joke about broaching the whole penis topic with Paul Wharton (and I ain’t touchin’ that one with a ten foot pole (no pun intended)! – not that there’s anything wrong with that).

Upstairs, It’s Dinner Time at Aunt Frances’. Jason is sitting beside Cat and asks her if she’s ever had collard greens like those served tonight by Frances. Cat equivocates and won’t give a straight answer. Then she’s introduced to the fact that many cooks, like Lynda and Frances, recycle their lard and vegetable oil from one meal into future meals.

Cat appears Very Disgusted at this suggestion and at the fact that she might now be eating food made out of second generation oil! Lynda comments off-camera that Cat seemed to be the only one at this dinner who seemed uncomfortable with the whole event. [Comment: I for one would have loved to have been at this dinner: The food looks great!] While everyone else is just finishing up dinner, Cat is looking to make a beeline to the exit! “It really was not my kind of scene,” remarks Cat off camera.

And I’ll largely give her a pass on this one, because she’s not American. And make no mistake, Britain is a distinct culture from ours. If she was American, I would light into her for leaving early like that. But since she’s not, I’m not going to criticize too harshly. BUT she could learn a lesson from this: As the old cliché goes, When in Rome, Do As the Romans Do. If I was attending a dinner in Britain or Europe at which I did not feel entirely culturally comfortable, I would still stick it out until the end out of respect for the different culture and for the other attendees.

But apparently Cat does not have that ability within her character. And a further observation about Aunt Frances: From the tiny bit we see of her on this episode, I would feel so completely comfortable sitting down for a Sunday dinner at her abode. Probably too comfortable, in fact. I bet I’d eat so much that she wouldn’t be inviting me back anytime soon! [You folks out there who REALLY know me know that of which I speak! ;)] But I digress.

Stacie is very offended that Cat, in addition to breaking out very early, didn’t even say goodbye to Stacie before departing. Says Stacie (and I must agree): “What kind of home training do they teach folks in London!” Apparently about the same level housetraining that Kona The Dog received!

Next Stacie and several of the attendees head downstairs (the site of the prior Penis Conference) to vent about Cat’s awkward early exit. Stacie is fumin’! She says: “Cat is not used to being in an environment where it’s a majority black people.” Stacie further says that she really can’t sympathize with that since African-Americans all the time go to places where they are in the minority. Paul Wharton (African-American himself) speaks up for Cat and says that he’s a friend of hers, but he admits that she seems to lack the ability to connect with African-Americans.

Segment 4: Back to Mary's -- At Mary’s house, poor housekeeper Rosa is out there again wearing a surgeon’s mask cleaning up dog $hit. Rich is talking to Mary (whom, without makeup sitting there, frankly looks very bad – why would she allow herself to be shot in such a state for this reality series? No clue). Mary is telling Rich that she wants Rosa around more often (5 days a week) to clean up messes.

They also talk about how Lolly in her old place didn’t want to use the coin operated washing machine -- to which her Daddy Rich mocks her, “Yeah, Who Does Something Like That!” This shows that Rich (much to his credit) is at least somewhat in touch with the reality of ordinary people. And what does he get in response? Mary says: “If it came down to a choice between Rich [her husband] and Rosa [the housekeeper], it would be Rosa.” Very nice. Who needs enemies when we have spouses, right!? That was pathetic. Especially since Rich seems to be a very nice dude. [Although, I guess Rich never knew Arthur Godfrey or frolicked at the Kennedy compound! Oh, Rich is such a Plebiscite!].

Segment 5: Leading up to Paul's party -- Paul Wharton is worried about his birthday party. Michaele has apparently stood him up at a meeting and he’s concerned as he cannot reach her by phone.

At Lynda’s apartment, it seems that Lynda has ANOTHER assistant, named Robin (who’s all the way hot, with totally gorgeous blue eyes, amongst other features, BTW). Lynda comments for the first time that her “#1” modeling agency is going through tough times with the economy and all (truth be told, what sector of the private business world isn’t hurting these days?) Lynda is heard commenting on one model as being age 14, having a “football player neck” and having “a lot baby fat.” As Jackie Gleason might say – Very Nice Lady, this Lynda (NOT!).

Birthday Bash Time for Paul Wharton at The Park at Fourteenth! Cat shows up with bigtime photog hubbie and fellow Brit Charles (who has a great head of hair, BTW), followed by Mary & Rich, and then Ebong & Lynda. [OMG: Ebong’s like 2 feet taller than Lynda – he was described in Episode 1 as being 6’5, so does that make Lynda 4’5” and a dwarf? Not that there’s anything wrong with that.] Apparently the planner of this party, Michaele, is a no-show at the outset, which if very off-putting for Lynda (big surprise there!).

But then Michaele shows up in a limo (with police escort), all glitzy w/ hubbie Tareq in tow. Recall Episode 1 where Michaele bragged up that one of her favorite things to do is to “make an entrance” (frankly, I respect the hell out of that! – very cool). Lynda off camera takes offense to this entrance and accuses the Salahis of being deadbeats who don’t pay their bills (for the record, is there a worse thing in the world to be accused of? I don’t think so. I’d personally rather even be called a rat fink than a deadbeat, but again I digress). THEN Paul Wharton finally shows up for his own birthday party.

Cat says off camera that she does not like that she offended Stacie at the Frances dinner party. Cat expresses that she hopes that Stacie and her will get to know each other better in the future, because Cat thinks they could have a lot of fun. And you know what: I take Cat at her word on this one. As discussed previously, Cat IS from a completely different culture, and clearly has not been very exposed to the ins and outs of American culture to any great extent ever before. I definitely criticize a lot of her behavior this episode, but I’m NOT going to judge her.

Then Lynda starts grilling Cat’s British hubbie, Charles, about how he could work as a photographer for both the Bush and Obama administrations. His answer: “In simple terms, because I am not political.” Very cool Charles! Then they hilariously start a discussion about whether George W being an idiot (he was) – even though both Charles and Lynda seem to maintain that he wasn’t a complete idiot (Memo to Them: it’s OK to admit it!). It’s funny how Charles really wants to talk more about Bush, but Lynda seems more interested in eating.

Then Tareq starts beating the wine glass with a spoon to get people’s attention so that he and his wife can make speeches! Mary comments off camera that Tareq and Michaele are trying to turn this into THEIR event. Then Tareq points a corked champagne bottle at Lynda’s table, and she’s about to Go Ballistic about this until BF Ebong restrains her! But then the cork flies, and it hits Lynda right in her ass, which REALLY pisses her off!

Finally, the party turns to the subject of Paul’s Birthday. He talks about how he didn’t have many friends back in the day because he was gay. He talks about how he decided that he was going to get strong in his life, and not care what people thought about his gay lifestyle, and just try to make a lot of friends like those gathered tonight. Good for him.

Segment 6: Tempers Are Runnin’ HOT Between Lynda & Michaele at Paul’s Party! The Episode 1 dispute between Lynda and Michaele about Michaele having a eating disorder rears its ugly head once again. Then things break down into Michaele and Lynda bickering like a bad episode of You’re Cut Off!!! Here’s what’s pretty clear to me: Michaele is real piece of work, out of touch with most of us normal Americans, but I have seen absolutely no evidence of an eating disorder. What also appears clear to me is that Lynda really has it out for Michaele, and is therefore pounding this whole eating disorder angle.

Final Thoughts: I'm certainly starting to develop some general impressions of the people on this show. I have nothing critical to say about the men. Mostly nice guys. But the ladies! I really don't like Lynda at all, and Mary's not much better. The jury is still out on Cat, who is certainly having problems adapting to American culture. Michaele is an airhead and completely out of touch, but she strikes me as fairly harmless. Stacie seems decently grounded and really hasn't done much for which I would be overly critical. Be sure to check back next Thursday night/Friday morning for my Episode 3 recap!

Democrat Expresses Death Wish for Sarah Palin and -- Levi Johnston?! I Get the Typical Loony Left Sarah-Hate, But Why Levi of All People?!

Today Politico.com reported that dem New Hampshire House candidate Keith Halloran (pictured at left) posted a message on Facebook this week that expressed his (Death) Wish that Sarah Palin and Levi Johnston had been on the Alaska plane that crashed and killed former Alaska GOP Senator, career politician and all-around political fatcat Ted Stevens (see first link at bottom).

Here's my take on this: That the loony American far-left that controls the democrat party would express a Death Wish for Sarah Palin comes as absolutely no surprise. If you have even an elementary understanding of how those people think and the hateful way in which they view this country and anyone that disagrees with them, then Halloran's statement -- while vile, putrid and absolutely slimeballesque -- comes as no real surprise or shock.

But what's with Halloran's inclusion of Levi Johnston (whom Halloran refers to as "Levy" in his Facebook message) in this Death Wish? Johnston is a lackey, a flunkie, a punk, and a 24-7 attention-whore and Z-list celebrity (at best). Who knows if that idiot is even a republican or if he even has any coherent political viewpoints (I suspect likely not).

Besides, I would think that loony left-wingers would love Levi since he's a walking, talking PR nightmare for Palin and her family. So I'm struggling to understand why they would wish him dead. I'm actually dumbfounded for once. The best I can come up with is that we don't call these people "loony" for nothing. They certifiably need some help. Across-the-board frontal lobotomies might be the best suggestion.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0810/NH_Dem_wishes_Palin_ill.html
http://www.dublinjaffreyrindgedemocrats.org/democratic_ticket-nh.html

Pulp Fiction or Novel? Levi Johnston to Follow in Sarah Palin's Shoes, Run for Office, & Plaster It All Over Reality TV.

Seriously -- Is there any aspect of Sarah Palin's life or anything connected to her that isn't a three-ring circus and/or train wreck? And so it is today that Levi Johnston -- the on-again, off-again former fiancée of Palin's daughter Bristol -- announces that he's going to run for mayor of the small town of Wasilla, Alaska (I would presume as a republican, but who the hell knows -- link to full story at bottom).

Of course, Sarah Palin formerly held that same office, leading to the infamous line from the Obama campaign in 2008 upon Palin being announced as John McCain's VP choice: "Senator McCain has seen fit today to nominate a former mayor of a town of 9,000 as his vice presidential running mate." Many of us here in "flyover territory" took a fair share of offense to that statement and won't soon forget it, but I digress.

Well, ol' Levi is apparently determined not to run some boring, garden variety local mayoral campaign. That's why he's going to base a new reality series around his candidacy. "Loving Levi: The Road to the Mayor's Office," the show is to be called. The show is described as featuring "the trials and tribulations of America's most famous teen dad as he enters the world of politics while continuing to dabble in Hollywood." BTW, precisely what does it mean for one to merely "dabble" in Hollywood? It seems to me that you're either "in" Hollywood or you're not, and Levi certainly is not.

Regardless, Levi does seem quite full of himself as you might expect, spouting: "It's hard to figure me out. You've got to follow me around. I'm very different. I lead a crazy life. But [Loving Levi] will basically be both [my] worlds, my life life in Hollywood and back home, the real country boy that I am." But alas, since the Wasilla mayor's post isn't up again for election until 2012, Levi says that he may just have to tide himself over in the meantime by sitting on the town's city council (he's quite the presumptuous sort, no?).

One final line from the linked story also caught my eye: "Johnston also told Variety that he hopes the show exposes his true character." That one immediately reminded me of a line from Harvey Keitel's classic Winston Wolf character (as pictured above) in the motion picture Pulp Fiction: "Just because you are a character doesn't mean that you have character."

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/10/johnston-running-for-palins-ex-job-in-reality-show/

Hope He Gets the Full Tilt-A-Whirl Treatment Back in the Joint: Scuzwad Sex Offender Carnie Arrested on the Loose in Joplin, Missouri.

The slimeball at issue is 33-year-old carnie (errrr, carnival worker) William Cooldridge Oser, Jr. -- a twice convicted sex offender who's finally been arrested in Joplin, Missouri (link to two stories at bottom, neither of which has a picture of this creep). Check out the little House of Horrors that this sleazebait has perpetrated over the years, which is just as much of a grave indictment upon the grotesquely lenient and underfunded criminal justice system that has permitted this turdbucket to run around free in society:

In 1997, Oser pleaded guilty in Louisiana to aggravated rape and two counts of aggravated oral sexual battery involving relatives of his who were 9 years old and 11 years old. He was very lightly sentenced to a mere 10 years for such monstrous conduct, but even then only served four years before being paroled in 2001! Then Louisiana's lax monitoring of this scum allowed him to flee from the conditions of his parole to Florida to pick right back up where he left off. The State of Louisiana ought to be thoroughly ashamed of itself.

In Florida in 2009, Oser pleaded guilty to lewd and lascivious battery (i.e. having sex) in a carnival trailer with a 14-year-old runaway girl. Florida should be even more ashamed of itself. In Florida, Oser received five years probation for that statutory rape and no prison time. Instead on incarcerating him, Florida shipped back off to Louisiana, which likewise let him roam around free again under the same "monitoring" program from which he had simply walked away previously.

And I'm sure you guessed it: He walked away again and joined back up with a traveling carnival (which I'm sure exposed him to a whole new crop of potential underage victims) until his very fortunate arrest in Missouri. He's charged in Missouri with failing to register as a sex offender (since apparently there are no further child rapes that can be pinned upon him at this time).

I'm going to follow this story closely going forward, and I'm going to raise hell if Missouri ships this slimeball off to Louisiana again. Missouri needs to throw the book at this scumjob and give him the maximum sentence for failing to register so that at least one state will actually get this jackwagon off the street and into the can where he belongs. I'm watching, Missouri. Please Show-Me something.

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/08/09/2138941/traveling-carnival-worker-charged.html
http://www.news-leader.com/article/20100807/NEWS01/8070334/1007/Carnival-worker-arrested-in-Joplin--accused-of-failing-to-register-as-sex-offender

Holiday Road! Her Majesty Lives It Up on European Vacation Last Weekend. Hope Michelle Amused Herself, Because NoOne Else Is.

Just more proof positive that this administration and everyone connected to it could not be more out of touch with the problems and concerns of the American people during these very dire social and economic times. Now, if you've read this space from time to time, you'll know that I'm not much on criticizing the First Lady or ever even mentioning the first family (except, of course, for the head honcho himself). So instead of going on one of my typical rants, I thought I'd link you (at bottom) to a particularly well-written and rather scathing indictment of Michelle Obama's European Vacation from Britain's Telegraph. Here's a little taste to wet your beak:

"The timing of this lavish European vacation could not have come at a worse moment, when unemployment in America stands at 10 percent, and large numbers of Americans are fighting to survive financially in the wake of the global economic downturn. It sends a message of indifference, even contempt, for the millions of Americans who are struggling just to feed their families on a daily basis and pay the mortgage, while the size of the national debt balloons to Greek-style proportions.

While the liberal-dominated US mainstream media have largely ignored the story, it is all over the blogosphere and talk radio, and will undoubtedly add to the President’s free falling poll ratings. As much as the media establishment turn a blind eye to stories like this, which are major news in the international media, the American public is increasingly turning to alternative news sources, including the British press, which has a far less deferential approach towards the White House.

The First Lady’s ill-conceived trip to Marbella and the complete disregard for public opinion and concerns over excessive government spending is symbolic of a far wider problem with the Obama presidency – the overarching disdain for the principles of limited government, individual liberty and free enterprise that have built the United States over the course of nearly two and a half centuries into the most powerful and free nation on earth."

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100050002/the-obama-presidency-increasingly-resembles-a-modern-day-ancien-regime-extravagant-and-out-of-touch-with-ordinary-people/

Sad Days for Independents & America: As Dems Push Even More Far Left, GOP Trends Even More Far Right, Talking Up a 14th Am. Citizenship Clause Repeal.

The latest republican noise on this front came today on Sunday morning TV from House minority leader John Boehner -- fresh out the tanning salon (he's the George Hamilton clone in the center of the above pic) -- who said that a repeal of the Fourteenth Amendment's Citizenship Clause is "worth considering." That Clause provides that anyone born in the United States is a United States citizen, regardless of whether the person's parents are also citizens. Boehner isn't the first, as plenty of GOP talking heads (including John McCain) have been making similar suggestions in recent weeks.

I call it both ways, folks. Over the past 19 months, I have frequently pointed out just how radical far leftist the DC dem powerbrokers are. And I view the apparent "repeal the Citizenship Clause" movement from the GOP to be similarly radical far right. I look at the Fourteenth Amendment's Citizenship Clause as being every bit as "Ma and Apple Pie," and at the core of what makes us a great nation, as even my beloved First Amendment, and most certainly the Second Amendment, as well as the other fundamental substantive rights extended to us throughout the Bill of Rights.

The Fourteenth Amendment and its Citizenship Clause date back to 1868 and the Reconstruction Era. The Clause effectively overruled the notorious Dred Scott decision of 1857, which had found that African Americans could not be citizens of the United States. And now the GOP is talking of repealing such an importantly historical piece of law? Whom do the republicans think they are? When the radical leftists of the democrat party spew their constant drumbeat rhetoric of GOP standing for such things as Grumpy Old white Persons, methinks even they do at times have a very valid point.

Now, all the GOP talk about repealing the Citizenship Clause appears grounded in the argument that it could help discourage illegal immigration from Mexico. Which is Right-Wing BS! The way we stem the flow of illegal immigration over the porous southern border (which I have little doubt has allowed dozens if not more Al Qaeda operatives into our country over the last several years) is very simple: Secure the damn border! But the GOP has little interest in doing that since it is bankrolled by powerful interest groups supportive of the cheap labor force that an open border brings.

So what do we get from the GOP? A bunch of lip service about securing the border (just like we get from the democrat party), couple with a real and bona fide focus on the largely anti-American measure of repealing the Citizenship Clause. Yes, I just accused the GOP of acting anti-American, but you'll find that's just sort of the way I roll.

As usual, the real losers in this whole equation are my fellow Independents -- that 40% of the country which is not very comfortable with either of these two extremist parties but yet incessantly much try, come election time, to choose between the lesser of two absolute evils. I started this post with a two-word phrase, and I shall end it the same way: Sad Days.

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/08/john_boehner_repeal_of_14th_am.html

Five Finger Death Punch's "Bad Company": That'll Work!

(Link to song and video at bottom of post). This song was released as a single in late May, but I just heard it for the first time in the past week. The song, "Bad Company," is probably my favorite song from the classic rock band Bad Company -- one of Bad Company's earlier songs from the mid-1970's.

Five Finger Death Punch (a very cool band name inspired by the old martial arts film genre) actually HIT the Billboard Top 20 with this song (an impressive feat for a metal band). I like their version of the song and its sound, and I look forward soon to listening to more of their material. Truth be told, I don't much care for the title of their current album, "War Is The Answer" -- a rather simple-minded juxtaposition of a lyric from the Great Marvin Gaye's absolutely gorgeous & brilliant song, "What's Going On".

But at the same time, MUCH RESPECT to Five Finger Death Punch for their trip to Iraq this past March to play 10 shows for our troops -- footage from which is very prominently included in the linked "Bad Company" video. Bottom line: War is only extremely rarely the answer (and we had no business ever invading Iraq), but supporting our wonderful troops is always the only way to be. And for their outstanding effort in that regard (not to mention a nice rendition of "Bad Company"), a big Rager Salute goes out to Five Finger Death Punch tonight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_VsvZmIWxY

"Castro Warns of Impending Nuclear Holocaust": More Drudge Drudgery.

That's the headline this Saturday night on the DrudgeReport.com (link to "story" at bottom). Before I get to my point, a bit of background:

I find DrudgeReport.com to be an invaluable resource as a news aggregator that groups in one place a whole host of stories to which the so-called "mainstream" (i.e. left-slanted) media is not likely to pay any attention. But make no mistake: Matt Drudge (who runs the website; the one pictured above without the beard) is your garden variety version of what I refer to as the "deranged right-winger" (never to be confused with the "loony left-winger").

Therefore, he himself largely ignores most stories that are damaging to republicans and to fellow right-wingers. Moreover, he links to stories with right-slanted little headlines which I often find (after reading the linked story) to be highly misleading. And as a take-off on one of my favorite lines -- Kids: Never use tobacco or drink whiskey, AND never fail to take the Drudge Report without a grain of salt. It's a good resource to informing your mind, but if it's your only resource on the Net, then Lord help ya! OK then -- I digress.

To my point: Why in the hell would Drudge lead tonight with Castro proclaiming an "impending nuclear holocaust"? Castro is infirm. He's 84 years old. He no longer runs Cuba (rather his brother does). Cuba doesn't even have a single nuclear warhead (thanks in no small part to the last great American president, JFK). Put another way, Castro is irrelevant. No one pays any attention to him anymore. But yet his over-the-top rhetoric lands high atop the Drudge Report tonight.

Why? Well, I think that's pretty obvious. I have to credit a certain genius to Drudge. Just look what the dude's accomplished, building one of the most visited and lucrative websites out there. He's often described by media experts as "knowing his audience," and he sure as hell does. Sure, plenty of non-partisan Independents like me regularly view his site. But we're not his base audience. Rather, his audience is predominantly the folks who make Rush Slimebaugh the most listened to radio host in the country: Yes, the deranged right-wingers, as I call them.

Drudge knows that amongst that particular audience, stories aimed at drumming up foreign policy fear and also pointing to potential "socialist" threats close to home SELL! Which is fine. I respect very much what Drudge has built in terms of his incredibly high traffic page view website. My bottom line, I guess, would be just to point out to all of my fellow non-partisan Independents out there: Drudge Report is a nice resource, but always realize the slant from which it comes, and never allow it to dominate the news and political sites that you visit in your drive to always be informed as you can.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/07/1766036/fidel-castro-at-cuban-parliament.html

Episode 1 Recap of Real Housewives of DC!Check Out This Opus!

Episode 1 Synopsis: In the debut episode this week of this hot new Bravo series, the very unique and contrasting personalities and background of the 5 Ladies are revealed, along with plenty of friction and conflict! (What else, right!!!).

Segment 1: The show starts by introducing its 5 lady stars one by one:

Mary Amons: Mary is driving her son Ryan in an SUV. They live in McLean VA, and are surrounded by the CIA. Dick Cheney and Colin Powell are neighbors. She’s lived in this area her whole life. Her family is going to its yearly photo shoot to have a holiday card taken. “DC is a political city and it never hurts to stay connected,” says Mary (insinuating that such is the main motivation for shooting the holiday card).

Mary has been married to husband Rich for 24 years and they have 5 kids (3 daughters and 2 sons ranging in age from 11 to 23). They’ve brought wine for the older ones to drink so that they don’t get too stressed out during the shoot (apparently based on past experience, they say). Mary's family goes way back in DC, she says. Her grandfather was legendary radio and TV personality Arthur Godfrey, who was very good friends with LBJ (as Mary notes). Mary's old man was a DC lobbyist and became friends with Ethel Kennedy, and as a girl they’d get invited for pool parties over at the Kennedy’s, which is a very fond memory for Mary.

Stacie Turner: She says there’s a big difference between living in the city of DC itself (as she does) and living outside the city and/or in the suburbs (as the other 4 starring ladies on the show do). You’re only a real Washingtonian if you live in the city, she says. She’s the only African-American amongst the 5 ladies on the show. She went to Harvard business school and says she met Barack Obama (herein referenced as "Obama") years ago. She's a real estate agent working for a realtor who specializes in high-end homes, at least $1 million, but also handles homes up to $150 million. “You’ve got the have the money to live in DC – It’s not cheap,” she says. Stacie says that on average, she does about $25-30 million in sales per year. “I’m very good at what I do.” She’s married to Jason and has been for 12 years. Jason seems like a happy-go-lucky, rather jovial type. They have an energetic young son and daughter.

Lynda Erkiletian: She claims to run the top modeling agency in DC (and that it’s been that way for 25 years) – T.H.E. Artist Agency. She's divorced twice and has four kids (two of whom are 16 and 24). Lynda says she’s not interested in getting married again. She has a much younger (half her age) 6’5” muscle-bound boyfriend named Ebong. BTW, the media and plenty of viewers have already noticed Lynda’s seemingly uncanny resemblance to Danielle Staub of Real Housewives of New Jersey.

Michaele Salahi (pronounced “Mi-CAL-uh” by Cat and “Mi-CAY-luh” by Mary and Lynda): Of course, Michaele became (in)famous when she and her husband Tareq crashed a state dinner at the White House in November 2009 and had their picture taken with Obama. Right off the bat, she’s shown having a professional do her makeup for her and says that clothing and fashion are extremely important in DC: “I spend a lot of time just trying to look good. I love just to make an entrance!” [But don't we all?!?]

Next Michaele's getting her hair done and brags about meeting Obama at a “Rock the Vote” event. “He really loves people,” she tells those around her. “When people first meet me, they think I have no substance . . . but then they see that there’s a whole lot of substance here,” she says. She’s then heard referring to the Oval Office in the White House as the “oval room.” She then talks about husband Tareq (which she pronounces, “Tark”). She brags about how he’ll sometimes fly her over off to Paris just for dinner. She says he makes her feel like Cinderella, and that he’s her “fantasy prince.” It’s clear that Michaele just loves to receive expensive jewelry from him! OOOOW!

At first blush, frankly, Michaele reminds me of Sharon Stone’s “Ginger” character from the movie Casino, except likely not nearly as intelligent. She explains that she and Tareq live in Virginia wine country, own a vineyard and winery called Oasis, and (for good measure) Tareq is captain of the United States horse polo team. She says they travel into DC every day and spend a lot of time in hotels in the city. “We spend a fortune in hotels.”

Catherine (“Cat”): She grew up in Great Britain in the London area and moved to the States in the past few years. She has 2 young daughters, and they are rather hilarious in that one seems to speak with a distinctly British accent while the other with more of an American accent. She moved to DC to join up with and marry her childhood sweetheart Charles (also British), who’s been a White House photographer for 12 years (including working closely with both the Bush and Obama families). Cat has a book coming out later this year called “Inbox Full,” which details her life experiences and travels. OFF THE RECORD (not discussed on the show): Cat once allegedly (despite being like 25 years older than him) MADE OUT with Prince Harry of Britain! It Was Quite the Scandal for the Ole Brits!

Segment 2: There’s an event going on near the DC monuments called America’s Polo Cup – an event founded by Michaele and husband Tareq. The event draws a lot of DC political and diplomatic types. Polo players on their horses are then shown (including Tareq) galloping around one of the large fields around the Washington monument (Doesn't that really tear up the grass on that public park field?). Michaele explains that her role at the event is to work the crowd, and she goes around hugging people and telling them she loves them. She says that if more of us would just go around hugging people, it would “save the world.”

Off camera, Lynda explains that she’s worked with this event in the past, but that no one would ever get paid, which was bad for her business. So she no longer sponsors the event, and Michaele explains that Lynda therefore has not been invited (the two do claim to be friends, however). Lynda: “I have no desire to go back or ever be associated again with that little goat rodeo.” But Cat does show up at the event, along with her friend Andrea. Predictably, it takes Michaele about 2 seconds before she’s up huggin’ on Cat. [You know, I should have crashed this event like Michaele crashed the White House, because I guarantee you that Michaele would have given me a big hug!] Cat and Michaele resolve to go horse riding together sometime.

Then in the polo match, Tareq scores a goal, prompting Michaele to start braggin’ that fact up to everyone around her! Cat: “Michaele is 5000 miles an hour, the attention span of a gnat, she’s pretty crazy.” Edwina Rogers, described as a prominent republican lobbyist, then shows up. And Michaele is over hugging her just as fast as she can, but then quickly running off and leaving Edwina alone. So Edwina introduces herself to Cat. They seem to hit it off decently. Off camera, Cat says she was expecting something bigger of this event and says she “wasn’t very impressed.”

Meantime, Mary is looking fine in a red dress and is strutting into The Madison, where she meets up for drinks with Lynda and her boyfriend Ebong. It’s revealed that Mary is about to have a birthday and has a party planned the next night. Lynda and Ebong apparently helped plan the event. Cat is invited, and Mary and Lynda say they are excited at the prospect of Cat possibly joining their “little circle” if things work out well. Stacie is also coming, but Michaele is not coming. Mary explains that she and Michaele go way back, but Mary thinks it would just be too strange to have her at the party (although no explanation is given).

However, Mary says that Tareq (Michaele’s husband) wants Mary and Lynda to come to the winery to help stomp grapes. Lynda: “Only the white grapes, I’m not about the dark grapes.” This line catches Ebong’s attention (he’s African-American), but it’s pretty clear to me (and to him) that whatever Lynda meant, it had nothing to with racial issues. Ebong quips, “I’m not a grape, I’m a prune.”

Segment 3: It’s revealed that Mary has a biometric lock on her wardrobe at home that can only be opened with her fingerprint. Apparently this is to keep her daughters out of her clothes. Mainly, she seems to fear oldest daughter Lolly (23), who is the same dress size as Mary and who recently moved back home after “going broke.” Mary reveals to Lolly that Mary is thinking maybe she should invite Michaele to the birthday party. Mary then calls Michaele, tells her the whole party is very last minute, and invites her. Michaele says she’ll be there.

The party then goes down at Todd Gray’s Equinox. When Michaele shows up, Lynda divulges that she believes the Salahis are on the “second tier level” as compared with the other stars of the show, which she explains seems so “unnatural” in terms of having the Salahis attend a party with the rest of them. Of course, Michaele has hugs aplenty for all of the attendees!

Off camera, Lynda says that she met Michaele 15 years ago before Michaele met Tareq. Lynda says Michaele has changed a lot over the years. Lynda notes that Michaele just seems to keep getting thinner and thinner (truth be told, Michaele is skin and bones, although is Lynda just covering up since Lynda is rail-thin as well?).

Meantime, birthday girl Mary is SAUCED! She starts spewing some drivel to Stacie and a prominent local celebrity hair stylist named Ted Gibson (who happens to be African-American) about how “salons need to integrate” and she says, “we have different hair and different needs, but why do we need to be in a different salon?” She continues: “The wave has arrived here with our new administration, and the beautiful couple that we have leading our country.” Stacie and Ted seem somewhat (to say the least) taken aback by Mary’s rant. Off camera, Stacie sums up Mary’s little speech as “Ridiculous!”, but Stacie also realizes that Mary’s fairly drunk at this point.

Next day at Stacie’s house: Erika (a friend of Mary and Stacie) arrives. They’re planning a little cooking get together at Stacie’s house, and Mary, Cat and Michaele are all to be invited. Stacie calls Cat and says that Cheo, Janet Jackson’s chef, is going to head up this get together, giving a cooking class to the ladies. Cat says she’ll come, noting that her husband will be shooting photos of VP Joe Biden all that day (leaving Cat free to attend).

At Cat’s house: Charles and the two daughters are there with Cat. Charles tells the girls how he just had to drive back from North Carolina and that he swears he could constantly saw someone “playing a banjo” every time he looked in the rear-view mirror. The ladies then break into the banjo theme from the movie Deliverance. Charles remarks, “It was just like Deliverance.”

Personal Point: Geez Brits!: Got a few hangups over there!? Maybe I could drive through the British countryside and claim to have flashbacks to the Revolutionary War!? Jeezal Peezal! But I digress.

So then Cat starts talking about the other ladies to her husband, and generally gives them good reviews, but says that the “jury’s still out on Michaele.”

At Mary’s house: Husband Rich has received an e-mail from Washingtonian Magazine saying that he’s one of their Style Setters for the year. So Rich starts modeling some of his clothes for wifey Mary. [Not unnoticed by me: It’s the middle of the day, and Mary is boozin’ again. The booze seem to flow like the Missouri River in 1993 around Mary’s Abode!] It’s strongly insinuated that this award has come Rich’s way only because Mary knows the publisher of the magazine very well. And Rich is clearly suspicious. BTW, Rich is fairly entertaining. He has this whole “OOOOH-Kayyyyyy” sort of delivery to everything he says, kind of like the Boss Bill Lumbergh (Gary Cole) character in Office Space, only that Rich isn’t a jerkwad like Lumbergh was.

At The Liaison: It’s the Washingtonian Magazine Style Setter Party. Rich is announced for his award, but they mispronounce his last name, as Mary notes! Lynda is there to receive a Style Setter award of her own. She hobnobs with Paul Wharton, celebrity stylist. Lynda starts running down Michaele to Paul, including more blasts about Michaele being too skinny. “I can count her bones – She’s losing weight to a degree that she needs to be spoken to – She’s a zero, she’s in a danger zone,” says Lynda.

Segment 4: It just so happens, Michaele is meeting up with Paul Wharton in the next segment! Darn the luck! Paul shows Michaele several gowns and dresses that she might consider wearing. They then take a break, and Paul tells Michaele that Lynda is very concerned about Michaele’s weight. Michaele is very taken aback that Lynda is talking about her behind her back.

At Stacie’s House for the big cooking get together with Cheo! Mary arrives. Then Cat. Cat shows off some of Charles’ pics from that day of Joe Biden (on Cat’s cell phone). Stacie is impressed. The ladies ask Cat about her back story with her husband Charles. She says they met at age 18, and then saw each other again in the past few years (talk about a “Yadda, Yadda, Yadda” Seinfeld-type blow off!).

Then Cat and Stacie have a SLIGHT disagreement over Tyra Banks. Cat doesn’t like her (“she’s hideous”), but Stacie does (“she’s beautiful”). Then Cat tries to do a Tyra impersonation, and Stacie is obviously offended (and likely for good reason) by a Brit trying to pull off an impersonation of an angered African-American lady. The coolest person in this whole equation is Cheo, who has consistently laughed off all the sheer bull$hit being blasted by all these ladies around him! I like that dude!

Then all Hell breaks loose! Cat indicates that she didn’t receive an RSVP from Obama with respect to her wedding to White House photographer Charles, but DID apparently receive an RSVP from George W Bush! Stacie is ALL THE WAY OFFENDED by the insinuation that W is somehow superior to Obama!

Two points here: First, it’s clear that Cat is not any type of partisan – she’s just a socialite. This wasn’t anything partisan with her, but just what she perceived (for right or wrong) as a social slight. Second, and this is direct to Stacie: Obama and W are complete equals, and neither is above or below the other: Equal in the sense of being the two worst presidents of my almost 40-year lifetime, but I digress yet again.

Segment 5: The ladies continue to bicker about George W Bush. And I will give one of Stacie’s observations some credit: She noted how the 2 people that Cat went off on the most were Obama and Tyra Banks. I thought the Obama blast was mostly based on socialite silliness, but I’m onboard with seeing the offense in the Banks impersonation. I do suspect Cat has some racial issues, but I’m also hopeful that Stacie can remain above the fray and try to help Cat work through those. I really do. But AGAIN I digress (which I what I do when cover these long-ass hour-long reality series!).

Upcoming Episodes: Bravo ran like 2-3 minutes of highlights from upcoming episodes. Suffice it to say, this is going to be a wild-ass series with plenty of fireworks!

Final Comments: I love the political angle and connection of this series. I've previously covered What Chilli Wants and You're Cut Off, but this series has a bit more intriguing to me, because it revolves around ladies with connections in the powerful and slimey world of DC politics. So be sure to check back each and every Thursday night/Friday morning for my weekly Episode Recaps of this fascinating new series!

Target Apologizes for Contributing to Group That Supports Anti Gay Marriage Candidate: Now Will Companies Like Target Also Stop Contibuting to Obama?

Answer: Of course they won't! Because while Obama is very clearly on record as being an opponent of gay marriage, he gets a complete free pass on that issue from the American left, which will rant and rave and protest until the cows come home over this issue except as it pertains to their darling little Obama and just so long as it's a republican candidate who's involved (as was the case in the Target story -- link to full story at bottom).

As always, my suggestion to the far left and far right in this country is very, very simple: You cannot have it both ways on an issue and hope to maintain any credibility whatsoever with me or most Independents. Either go ape-$hit, as you like to do, over everyone who opposes gay marriage or shut the hell up on the issue. Until you start acting consistently and stop acting like hypocrites, I and many Independents will give your viewpoint absolutely no respect and will just laugh in your face.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/05/target-sorry-after-donating-to-group-that-backs-anti-same-sex-marriage-candidate/

Missouri to Obama & The Dems: Take Your Health Care Mandate and Shove It!

As a lifelong Missourian (now forced to live in the damn jayhawker state), I'm quite proud today of my Missouri brethren for overwelmingly approving Missouri Proposition C yesterday. The measure prohibits the federal government from mandating that citizens have health care insurance and punishing them if they don't have it. And it passed with a whopping 71% of the vote.

Even before their inevitable legal challenges to Proposition C, we already, of course, have the left in high spin mode today. First, they say this wasn't a rejection of Obama & The Dems' entire health care reform law, rather only the insurance mandate component. Purely laughable. Are they really claiming with a straight face that this result would have been any different if the entire law had been in front of voters? Puh-lease. Not to mention, the insurance mandate is a huge component of the law in and of itself!

Second, the left-wing spin points out that there was a higher republican than democrat party turnout in Missouri yesterday for what was mostly primary voting. This spin is particularly disingenuous since Missouri Senate dems threatened to filibuster this measure as a November general election constitutional amendment, and repubs avoided the filibuster by putting it on the August primary ballot as simply a law.

Put another way, dems knew that November passage of the measure would have more political clout and wanted this measure on the August ballot so that they could engage in the very spin in which they are now engaging. And is there really any doubt that this measure would have passed just as easily in November!?

Plain and simple: Regardless of whether Proposition C is ultimately able to stand up in court, what we're left with at the end of the day is Missouri sending a resounding message of disapproval from middle America to Obama & The Dems concerning the health care monstrosity that they ram-rodded down the throats of the American people on Sunday Bloody Sunday.

Now, do Obama & The Dems really care? I seriously doubt it. I don't think they give one rat's ass what any of us in this part of the country think about much of anything. Which is why Independents are going to kick plenty of their leftist hides to the curb come November.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100804/D9HCF3I80.html

Your Money Hard at Work! Check Out Some of These Dogs From Obama & The Dems' Earmark-Laiden Stimulus Bill.

Very much in the news this week has been the compilation put together by republican Senators John McCain and Tom Coburn detailing 100 awful examples of wasteful expenditures under Obama & The Dems' huge stimulus bill from last year (link to the full compilation at bottom). Figuring the media and most folks will naturally focus more on the items appearing closer to the top of the McCain/Coburn list, I went straight to the bottom, focusing on Item Nos. 79-100.

And sure enough, it didn't take me too long to come up with this list of 10 apparently needless, mindless and completely wasteful expenditures of your money during a time period when the federal government is threatening to spend the country right into bankruptcy (these items appear in no particular order):

1. Let's Go Tailgating! (#97): $400,000 to help a private bus company in Pennsylvania buy a $500,000 luxury bus, with all the amenities, to add the company's fleet of buses, which is used for luxury tours and fan trips to college football games, such as Penn State games.

2. I Smell a Rat? (#95): Actually, I think that stench may be republican Sen. Kit "Porky" Bond, who never met a wasteful earmark he didn't like. $180,935 goes to my alma mater (the University of Missouri-Columbia) to fulfill what the school calls an "urgent need," i.e. to find improved ways of freezing rat sperm for "optimal sperm handling" in the ol' science lab!

3. They Should Fire the P.R. Manager (#93): $363,760 in stimulus spending in Maryland for the express purpose of promoting and providing public relations for other stimulus spending. Pssst: Whatever P.R. gimmicks this money was spent on, it hasn't worked!

4. Feed the Starving Artists! (#98): $184,650 spent in Connecticut for the National Park Service to turn an old garage into an art studio for the "personal and professional work" of "artists" involved in an "Artist-in-Residence program." Hey, I'm a Starving Blogger. Does that mean I can have $200K to build my own little place where I can blog, hang out, sleep, furnish with a new computer and other conveniences, and maybe even hire a couple of paid staffers? I'm an Artist! I deserve it, Damn It!

5. These Traffic Lights Are Killing Me! (#89): It seems they have a little problem in Sebring, Florida. Their traffic light system has this pesky tendency to catch residents in too damn many red lights! So it's the federal government to the rescue! $1.1 million to install a new system to "better coordinate" the city traffic signals.

6. To Retire or Not Retire, That Is the Question (#87): This'll get the old economy hummin'! $174,661 to study whether retiring earlier leads to happier married couples in retirement. Talk about your cutting edge research!

7. Polka Party!!! (#85): While I was sure an item like this would have come out of a Nebraska wedding reception or barnyard dance, it's actually out of San Antonio: $25,000 to fund a big polka dance and accordion festival.

8. My Mutt's Ancestors Ran with the Roman Legions! (#84): If you've ever wanted to piece together your dog's family tree, the stimulus bill is helping out! $296,385 to research the genetic missing links in the evolution of wild wolves into domesticated dogs!

9. The Convention Hall for No One (#80): North Dakota's Audubon National Wildlife Refuge is 15,000 acres and receives fewer than 80 visitors a day. Therefore, a $6.1 million brand-spanking new administration and visitor center was a must! It includes a 1,038 square foot multipurpose room, and an 884 square foot exhibit hall. What are those for, you ask? I have no earthly idea. Maybe to serve as a garage for the RV's of the park's scant number of visitors.

10. When Demand's Low, Increase the Supply! (#79): Buffalo, New York's downtown hotel industry is really struggling these days. The obvious solution? Build another hotel down there on the federal government's dime ($6 million), of course. And make sure it's a high-end boutique hotel while you're at it!

Man. And I didn't even read the first 78 items on the McCain/Coburn compilation! And thanks again, Obama & The Dems, for my daily reminder of why I'm so excited about November. Just three months and counting now!

http://coburn.senate.gov/public//index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=e1e0624e-d02a-42d4-9dbb-f5b9f21b3572

Dr. "Frankenstein"? I Just Hope Heidi Montag Isn't Visiting This "Butcher"!

You know things are only going to turn out ugly when the first three words of the story read, "His mutilated patients...." And so it is today in The New York Post, which has an account as to one Dr. Joshua Rubinstein (pictured at left), a "boob-job and tummy-tuck specialist" whose "mutilated patients" have taken to calling him "The 'Butcher' of The Bronx" (link to full story at bottom).

According to The Post, Rubinstein's been sued at least 9 times in 14 years for botched procedures that have allegedly left his patients "looking like Frankenstein." Said one former patient of Dr. Frankenstein: "He's a butcher! I don't want to see him ever again!" (What, no second chance?)

In one of the lawsuits, Dr. Frankenstein is even accused of killing a woman through his botched handiwork. While The Post reports that Dr. Frankenstein has denied those wrongful death allegations in court papers, he sure as heck ain't talkin' to the media. When a Post reporter visited his office to try to get a comment, Dr. Frankenstein reportedly scurried out the back door to get away (apparently he's able to move a little faster than the actual Frankenstein monster).

Final comment: I just hope that Dr. Frankenstein isn't one of the many plastic surgeons that Heidi Montag has utilized over the past few years. And for that matter, if this dude has so many lawsuits flying around in public, while in the hell do people keep going back to him for surgery? Was Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre all booked up?

http://www.newyorkpost.com/p/news/local/bronx/patients_sue_bx_butcher_aNpeNCxlJIFFMeJHUiuH0N

No "Cojones"?

Over the weekend, Sarah Palin suggested on Fox News that Obama lacks the "cojones" to take on illegal immigration (first link below). First of all, she's wrong on the substance: It's not a lack of "cojones" on Obama's part but rather a lack of any political will -- much like George W. Bush -- the do anything about our porous border with Mexico, while meantime it's doubtless that dozens or perhaps even hundreds of Al Qaeda operatives have already poured over that very border in recent years.

Let's talk turkey without any bull$hit or sugercoating (since I've grown rather sick of playing nice with these two awful parties and the idiot ideologues who support and apologize for them): Obama wants the border wide-open because the democrat party loves the idea of even more potential democrat party voters flooding into the US. Meanwhile, jerkwad republicans like Bush don't give a rat's behind about the border (instead only lip service) because of powerful business interests who want the cheap illegal immigrant labor. So the border remains dangerously unsecure, and few in these two parties really care.

But I digress, since that's not even my main point today. The use of a term like "cojones" by a top political figure, and in particular accusing another political figure of "lacking cojones," has absolutely no place in any manner of civil political discourse amongst mature human beings. But alas, we have very view civil or mature human beings in either of these two parties. Recall, by way of just one of probably hundreds of examples, the report of Obama's use of the vile term "teabaggers" last May (second link below). I might typically be inclined to laugh off some of this kind of foolishness from these politicians, but I'm not in much of a joking mood these days -- not while I continue to watch these two parties flush this wonderful country down the toilet on a daily basis.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/08/palin-obama-lacks-the-cojones.html

http://independentrage.blogspot.com/2010/05/tea-baggers-you-say-class-act-mr.html

The Difference Between a Great American President and Awful Ones: It’s All in the Leadership and Non-Extremism.

This weekend, I re-watched the motion picture Thirteen Days, which depicts the leadership of John F. Kennedy – in my opinion, the last great American president – through the grave Cuban Missile Crisis of the early 1960’s. The film, and the facts, concerning that dire crisis got me thinking about Kennedy in comparison to the two individuals whom I believe are the worst presidents of my lifetime (worse even than the hapless presidency of Jimmy Carter and the very dangerous one of Richard Nixon) – Barack Obama and George W. Bush.

I believe it probable that Obama would have mishandled the Cuban Missile Crisis by pushing the diplomacy route to death and ultimately backing down and permitting the Soviet nuclear missiles to simply stay in Cuba (at huge national security risk to the United States). I could be wrong about that, but I think that’s probably how it would have turned out.

The path Bush would have pursued is even more certain: He would have taken the reckless advice that the military brass was giving Kennedy and would have invaded Cuba. Can there be any question about that? Kennedy knew where that would ultimately likely lead and wanted to avoid that option at all costs. And he was damn right, because the chances are likely higher than 90% (and I’ll spare you all of the little facts and details as to why) that such a course of action would have ultimately resulted in World War III – a full-scale nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union, and the effective end of the world, at least for the American and Russian nations.

Kennedy’s leadership was grounded in conviction and beliefs, not narrow and extreme world views and ideologies like those so dangerously and destructively pursued by Obama and Bush. Through the utterly terrible “leadership” of those two individuals (which is about the nicest word I can manage to refer to the two of them), the United States currently teeters on the brink of an economic and social collapse into chaos. These are Very Scary Days, and great men and leaders such as Jack Kennedy, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln must be not only rolling over, but also weeping, in their graves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis

2012 Yawner!!! GOP Could REALLY Use an Injection of New Blood.

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich is likely to run for president in 2012, and this week he gave CNN his thoughts on whom the other GOP candidates will be that run. Gingrich ticked off the following laundry list: Sarah Palin; Mitt Romney; Mike Huckabee; Mitch Daniels; Haley Barbour; and Tim Pawlenty. Talk about a boring list of has-beens, also-rans and never-was white (and nearly exclusively male) conservatives.

I've said often, and as recently as a few days ago, that I intend to break my normal practice (of voting for third-party candidates) this fall and to vote for the republican candidate in my U.S. Senate and U.S. House races -- regardless of even how deranged the repub candidate is. I view this to be necessary given the reckless way that Obama & The Dems have run amok since seizing complete control of DC at the start of 2009.

However, my pledge for November most certainly does not translate to the 2012 presidential election. I will not be voting for Obama in 2012, but I have serious doubts that I could bring myself to vote for any of the motley crew listed above. Sorry, but I refuse to choose between the lesser of two evils, and I therefore haven't voted for a dem or a repub since around the mid-1990s.

If you're going to get my vote as a member of one of these two awful parties, either (1) you had better excite me (and very few politicians do) or (2) convince me it's necessary to vote for you in order to effect a needed change in the system (i.e. precisely why I'll be voting repub this fall in the federal congressional races). And I don't know about you, but I'm feeling no excitement whatsoever from that recycled collection of white male retreads that includes Gingrich and his list of other candidates.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/30/gingrich-expect-sarah-palin-for-president-in-2012/?fbid=8h4Jhzp0wET

Obama Caught in Apparent Lie About, Of All Things, Snooki?! If He'd Lie About That, What Else Would He Lie About?

As hyped by such websites as Gawker.com over the past day (link at bottom), Obama's appearance on The View yesterday included his claim of ignorance as to Jersey Shore star Snooki. "I don't know who that is," crowed his majesty. The only problem:

Two months ago at the White House Hollywood (errrr, "Press Correspondents") Dinner, Obama showed off that wonderfully wry wit of his, quipping: "It [the provision] reads, 'The following individuals shall be excluded from indoor tanning tax within this bill: Snooki, JWOWW, The Situation and House minority leader John Boehner." Obama's words, not mine.

Now, I'm sure many of you would say, "politicians tell fibs and lies all the time -- that's just what they do." And that would be correct. But excuse me for holding the President of the United States to just a little higher standard than your typical politician. That's the reason that during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, I could have gotten past the fact that Clinton cheated on his wife while in the White House if only he had told us the truth about the affair instead of looking us in the eye and lying about it. It was the lie, not the affair, that always bugged me.

And another thing: If Obama would apparently lie about something so trivial as whether he's ever heard of a D-list (if she's even that high), barely-a-celebrity-if-that, reality star -- then what else would he lie to us about? Memo to Obama: If you truly believe in all the far leftist crap you push, then knock yourself out with it -- you were elected in 2008, and we'll simply vote you out in 2012. But don't lie to us, man. Because to many of us, that's not forgivable of an American president.

http://gawker.com/5599717/obama-flip+flops-does-he-know-who-snooki-is-or-not?skyline=true&s=i

Major League Monstrosity: Ma'am, How About Some Nice Cockroach Bits and Rat Droppings With Your Hot Dog and Frozen Margarita?

ESPN has gathered together public health code violation reports for professional sports stadiums and arenas across the country, and the results are frightening. Taking a look at a few of the worst violators, I think it safe to say that you don't want to be attending too many games in Washington DC, Miami or Tampa Bay anytime soon.

One of the worst venues was Sun-Life Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins and Florida Marlins. In addition to 93% of that stadium's vendors having "critical" health code violations, there was also an anonymous employee report that they were blending insects into the frozen alcoholic beverages. What, were they thinking fans would get so buzzed off the alcohol that the insect content would be overlooked?

As it turns out, when inspectors went to check out the implicated drink machine, they didn't find any insects inside per se, but instead found some unspecified form of "slime." You know, I think I'd prefer the insects because at least they're a known commodity.

Even worse offending venues came in the form of Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay Rays) and Verizon Center (Washington Wizards & Capitals). At those joints, a whopping 100% of the food vendors had "critical" health code violations. And just for good measure, DC's Verizon Center had appetizing mouse droppings found at at least ten vendors.

Gosh. Nothing like dropping 20 bucks on a tiny hot dog and a little drink, only to have the screw-job ratcheted up even higher through insect additives, rat $hit and grossly unsanitary food preparation conditions. Those franchises (and/or whomever the hell owns those stadiums and arenas) should absolutely be ashamed of themselves. And I think I'm going to be stickin' with bottled water and bottled soda -- and no food -- at just about any sporting event that I attend in the foreseeable future. Nasty, nasty stuff right there.

http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-204_162-10004319.html?tag=page

Must Suck to Be a Dem or Repub Politician. Always Having to Go Around Trying to Prove You're a "True" Progressive or Conservative.

There's a lot of this sort of thing going on right now in my Missouri/Kansas neck of the woods, such as the story in today's Politico.com that Missouri tea partiers are all up in arms about republican Roy Blunt and his U.S. Senate campaign for the seat being vacated by fellow repub Kit "Porky" Bond (link to full story at bottom).

Now, are the tea partiers opposed to Blunt for all the right reasons, such as the fact that he's a career politician, political fatcat and basically just a younger version of Bond whom the voters should send back to Springfield, Missouri for a not so well-earned retirement? Of course not! Instead, they're all over Blunt's a$$ with cries that he's not a "true conservative" and that it's an "abomination" (don't they mean to say Obamanation?) for non-Missouri tea partiers like Michele Bachmann to endorse Blunt.

And in the jayhawker state where I currently live, we have the GOP primary race for the U.S. Senate between Jerry Moran and Todd Tiahrt -- two obviously staunch, bona fide conservatives (which is not a positive) who are largely indistinguishable. Moran and Tiahrt have been going around for weeks now bombarding the airwaves with mean-spirited, mindless ads claiming that each is "more conservative" than the other. And I have to vote for one of these idiots! (Since Independents are forced this fall to return a balance of power to DC amongst these two awful parties).

Of course, the democrat party is no different, with its far leftist powerbrokers and money constantly working to undermine and defeat any dem politician not viewed as being sufficiently liberal or progressive. I actually at times almost feel sorry for some of these politicians in these two parties whom I know are not liberal or conservative ideologues, and I frankly don't know how they do it -- how they can go around during primary races (perhaps necessarily but certainly disingenuously) trying to appeal to the ol' party "base." It's one of the most scuzball sights and components of what is already a broken, sleazewad American political system.

But at the end of the day, I don't feel sorry for these non-ideologue politicians. If they had the conviction to ever just stand up for themselves and what they truly believe, regardless of the consequences, the same political system would be much better off for it. But we never get that. We just get deranged right-wingers and loony left-wingers, plus mealy mouthed "moderates" who are too afraid to ever fight or stand up for their beliefs.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/40345.html

SCANDAL: Michigan GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Mike Cox Allegedly Received a Lap Dance From an Exotic Dancer at Wild-A$$ Mansion Party!

It's called the Manoogian Mansion (pictured above). It's the official residence of the mayor of Detroit, including during the tenure of notorious former Detroit mayor and democrat Kwame Kilpatrick (who's current serving time in the joint). The longstanding rumor in Michigan political circles is that Kilpatrick threw one or more wild parties at the mansion in 2002, and that at least one of those was attended by republican Mike Cox (pictured immediately above left) -- the Michigan attorney general and a candidate for governor this year. Now just one week before the GOP gubernatorial primary (a very tight race), a new (and sworn) allegation that Cox carried on with an exotic dancer at the party has only added fuel to the old rumors (links at bottom).

This crazy saga begins with one Tamara "Strawberry" Greene of Detroit, who is reportedly "rumored" to have been one of multiple exotic dancers at the party. Greene was murdered in a drive-by shooting in 2003 at the age of 27, and her family has filed a lawsuit alleging that the cops intentionally botched the investigation of the crime. In connection with the lawsuit, Detroit resident Wilson Kay, Jr., 35, has signed a sworn affidavit that includes the allegation that, "I saw Mike Cox getting a lap dance from one of the female exotic dancers while he was present at the party." Kay alleges that he worked security at the party.

First of all: Why in the world is Kay talking about Cox's behavior at the 2002 party when that would appear to have absolutely nothing to do with the 2003 crime or the current lawsuit? There's no connection made evident from the online accounts I've read, which makes this whole thing very politically fishy. The only common thing between the party and the crime is apparently Tamara Greene's presence, and it's not even being alleged that Greene is the exotic dancer who gave Cox the alleged lap dance. In short, something's rotten in Denmark.

Leaving that aside, Cox has come out today with guns a blazin'. He calls Kay's allegation "absolutely ridiculous" and says that his attendance at the rumored party is just an "urban legend." For good measure, he's even released Kay's criminal rap sheet today, which includes convictions for breaking and entering, carrying a concealed weapon, arson and pot possession. Now while those things do make Kay one bad dude, I'm not noticing anything on his rap sheet relating to fraud or to making false statements. The newspaper accounts describe Kay as a "motorcycle club member" who owned six motorcycles. I was personally wondering whether he might be a "one percenter" -- meaning a member of a bona fide "outlaw" biker club -- but there's no discussion of that topic in the linked articles.

Finally, the kicker (at least for me): Who the hell cares if Cox got a lap dance from an exotic dancer at some private party?! I don't. Good for him if he did. Only in the deranged world of the republican party would such a thing be considered as potentially derailing an entire candidacy. You can just imagine the mindless TV attack ads from his GOP opponents this week: "Not only has Cox sided with illegal aliens and had his picture taken with Barack Obama -- he also once got a lap dance from an exotic dancer! Chose traditional, conservative values on August 3! Choose John Q. Candidate!" Yep, just my daily affirmation of why I'm an Independent.

http://www.freep.com/article/20100727/NEWS01/100727029/1319/Mike-Cox-issues-statement-on-man-who-claims-the-rumored-Manoogian-party
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/07/mike-cox-denies-partying-in-ma.html
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0710/Sentences_that_are_never_helpful_for_candidates.html?showall
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2010/07/mike_cox_denies_attending_rumo.html