What a Crying Shame That Such Historical Democrats as the First Female Speaker of the House Have Turned Out To Be So Utterly Pathetic, Out of Touch...

...and extremist. Fittingly, Creature of the House Nancy Pelosi in recent days officially topped off her historically notorious speakership with an extra heapin' helping of tone deafness. Pelosi shacked up for a cool $10,000 a night on the taxpayers' dime -- in the middle of one of the worst recessions in American history -- in a luxury suite at the aristocratic Four Seasons Resort Hualalai in Hawaii. Just for good measure, Pelosi chartered a private jet to travel to the Aloha state in the first place.

Good riddance to the outgoing Creature of the House. She had a chance to be historical. A female Tip O'Neill. A person of respect. Instead she turned out to more like a sorry cross between Eugene Debs and Mrs. Drysdale from old Beverly Hillbillies TV series: One of the most far leftist political figures in American history, but yet not even one of any real convictions in my estimation given the huge tabs she always went around running up during terrible economic times.

Fittingly, her final approval ratings amongst my fellow Independents hovered between 6 and 8 percent. I’m not completely sure whom those 6-8 percent of Independents are, but it just goes to show: Even the most noble of groups always has its tiny little minority of idiots and simpleminded folk. Too bad that the area that Pelosi has always inhabited isn’t such a small minority within the 20-percenter democrat party. Instead, and disastrously, it’s the rather pathetic norm.

http://www.hawaiireporter.com/pelosi-obama-hawaiian-vacations-come-to-an-end-but-taxpayers-left-with-the-bill

Party Time! The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same in DC: GOP House Freshmen Set to Party It Up at Lavish Gala at DC's W Hotel!

The GOP has shown itself to be little different from the democrat party when it comes to paying scant attention to 2010 midterm election results and the messages that were sent that day by American voters (most prominently, by Independents, who control your election outcomes). Proof positive comes from this week's news that republican House freshmen and other members plan a Big To-Do fundraiser tonight at DC's swanky W Hotel (three pictures above). Today's Politico.com put it this way:

"With Republican leaders anxious to set an austere tone for their ascendance into the House majority this week, the lavish fundraiser scheduled for Tuesday night at a trendy Washington hotel to benefit a dozen GOP freshmen is not exactly the populist image leaders are anxious to project."

And "lavish" is certainly the right word. Representing business-as-usual in DC, the big event is designed to connect House GOP members with special interests, lobbyists and political action committee members -- all of whom must buck up $2,500 just to get their foot in the door. And if any of them are ready to cough up a cool $50,000, then they get the special treatment from the GOP in the W Hotel's "VIP Suite." They're even bringing in country music star LeAnn Rimes to croon for all of the special interests' entertainment.

Having called Barack Obama a "chickenshit" in recent days (which he is), please allow me to take today's opportunity to also label as a chickenshit new House Speaker John "Party Time" Boehner and new House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (first picture above). Despite his name being featured on the invitation for tonight's huge event, Boehner now (in the face of bad pub) is weaseling out of attending. Similarly, Cantor won't say if he's attending, choosing instead to hedge his bets and to gauge what kind of press this event receives today.

The (lack of) brains behind this plush event appears to rest with incoming House member Jeff Denham of California (the rather slimy-looking dude in the second picture above). He has a growing reputation as a big rainmaker, and his camp is trying to justify tonight's event as just another necessary fundraising event. My foot.

Instead, it appears to me that this event has little to do with raising money, and has everything to do with (1) schmoozing with special interests and (2) just having a Big Party, damn it! As one political consultant told Politico, the amount of money this ritzy event will raise is highly questionable given the high overhead of throwing the event in the first place:

"Another fundraising consultant called [tonight's] event 'a nightmare' and said 'with the high overhead associated with putting on the event and the amount of money it could raise, we just didn’t think it was worth it.' "

So much for fiscal responsibility. So much for an end to tone deafness. So much for eschewing the beltway disconnect. It looks like a lot of these GOP freshmen have been indoctrinated into "business as usual" in DC even before taking their new seats in the House!

But that's OK. We Independents in recent years have grown very used to having to kick a bunch of sorry politicians' asses to the curb come election time, regardless of party. I don't see 2012 being any different.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/46999.html

In Arkansas, 1000s of Dead Birds Fall From the Sky & 100,000 Dead Fish Wash Ashore During New Year's Week: Signs of the Apocalypse?

Short answer: Of course not. That would be pure Hollywood silliness.

But it wouldn't surprise me if the explanation of these events might just be grounded in some sort of Hollywood explanation. For example, inspired by The Godfather, these events could be some type of slimy underworld "Sicilian message" signifying that some bad person "sleeps with the fishes" or (alternatively) "flies with the birds."

Or, maybe the two evil forest hillbillies from Deliverance and/or Bill Clinton got loose last week in the Arkansas wilderness. Lord only knows the havoc that any of those dudes might be capable of wreaking.

Or, coming out of a 2010 that saw more lame Hollywood remakes of old movies than perhaps any year in cinema history, maybe some fool is shooting some uninvited remake of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds or the cult classic Piranha.

Point being: There are a million possible natural explanations for these events. We should take a good look at those before conjuring up the supernatural. For example, if any of these blackbirds or drum fish happened to catch a few quarters of the Kansas City Chiefs' performance against Oakland yesterday, then you probably have your explanation right there.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/03/national/main7208349.shtml?tag=cbsnewsLeadStoriesAreaMain;cbsnewsLeadStoriesHeadlines
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seventh_Sign

2011 Shockers: Canadian Soothsayer Says New Year Will See Sarah Palin Divorced, Michelle Obama Knocked Up, Midget Born & Playboy Mansion Destroyed!

Before you laugh, please note that this same fortune teller (Nikki, pictured on left) last year predicted Tiger Woods' divorce and the Chilean mine disaster. Perhaps Nikki's leading prediction for 2011 foresees Splitsville for Sarah Palin and husband Todd. Man! And not even a year after Palin's (alleged) boob job? Well, she is high maintenance.

But to me the most fascinating of Nikki's prophecies sees Michelle Obama with a new bun in the oven -- or two, as Nikki says twins are more likely than a single child. Fascinating, I say, because of two of Nikki's other predictions and the fun it is to speculate as to whether those two predictions might somehow be connected to the Obama pregnancy prediction:

First, Nikki predicts that "there will be a big scandal involving a Washington politician—and cheating will be involved." Make no mistake, Michelle "Your Kids Are Too Fat" Obama ain't just some garden variety First Lady. She's been very much the politician during the entire Obama presidency, pushing 20-percenter policy and legislation at every turn.

Any given Nikki's prediction, is there any chance someone other than Barack could be Michelle's baby daddy? Barack likes to keep a close eye on political rival Hillary Clinton, but methinks he better instead keep a closer eye on notorious lady-lover Bill Clinton in 2011.

Second, Nikki foresees that a famous starlet will give birth to a midget. I think that Michelle, who frequently carries herself like the Queen of America, is very accurately described as a starlet. Good Grief -- talk about a big Trifecta of Trouble: Michelle giving birth to a couple of midgets with huge Bubba grins all over their faces! But somehow I just don't quite see that happening, do you?

After all, many of Nikki's predictions are simply outlandish or highly improbable. In addition to the Playboy mansion burning to the ground, another such prediction says that a "giant spider" and spider nest will be found in South America. "Chalk it up to global warming," spouts the linked story. Of course. What else? Other wild predictions from Nikki center upon such things as a 500-pound Salmon in Canada and a "horseshoe-shaped UFO" in New Mexico.

Also somewhat undermining Nikki's credibility is the fact that many of her predictions are completely obvious -- a huge "No $hit, Sherlock," you might say. For example, the aforementioned "prediction" about a Washington cheating scandal. Wow, don't go out there on such a limb, Nikki!

Other examples of "seeing" the obvious include (1) Hillary Clinton winning the Nobel Prize (gee, we could never see that coming, could we?!) and (2) Lady Gaga trying out acting (I wouldn't have foreseen that one in a million years!).

So we have a huge swath of predictions, most of which will never come true, while others are so vague, generalized and obvious that they probably can't help but come true. I mean, Nikki also has Jessica Simpson giving birth this year. Maybe she'll be the starlet who mothers the midgets?
http://www.torontosun.com/life/holidays/features/2010/12/23/16657291.html

As the New Year Begins, I Reflect Upon the Last One, Which Was the Deadliest Year Yet in the 10-Year-Old Afghanistan War…

There were 498 American troop deaths in Afghanistan in 2010 – which is over one-third of all the American deaths for the entire 10-year duration of our involvement in that complete hellhole (second link at bottom). Have you heard that fact reported by a heavily left-leaning American mainstream media which is highly sympathetic to any endeavor supported by Obama? Bet you haven’t.

Matter of fact, you probably hear or see little about the Afghanistan war in your daily lives. Chalk that up to a disgracefully complicit mainstream media and the slimeball agendas of our two illustrious political parties. A new CNN poll (first link at bottom) finds that republicans support the war 52% to 44%. Thus, you never hear your Rush Slimebaughs or Sean Hannitys of the world saying word one about Afghanistan.

The same poll also finds that 75% of democrats oppose the war (BTW, more than 6 in 10 Independents oppose it as well, according to CNN). So where’s the democrat party outrage over Afghanistan? You could hear a damn pin drop.

Most of the democrat party ran for the hills on this issue just as soon as a democrat party member was elected president. The new motto of the democrat party should be, “Make Love Not War Except When a Democrat is President,” since democrats only make noise and organize war protests when a republican’s in the White House. Hypocrites.

Overall, the CNN poll has opposition to the war among the American public, in general, at 56%. What we have in Afghanistan is basically a bloody relic of Bush-era neoconservatism and attempted “nation building.” I supported our initial involvement in Afghanistan when a primary mission was to get Bin Laden and his highest Al Qaeda underlings. But that was 10 years ago. We did what we could in that regard, and now it’s time (long overdue) to bring the boys home.

And frankly I couldn’t care less if that means the Taliban comes back into power in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda has had little trouble finding pockets for safe havens in various places around the globe. Are we really going to sacrifice hundreds or thousands of additional American lives just so that we can say that we’ve kept Al Qaeda out of one of its multiple safe havens?

Are we really that stubborn? And if the answer is “yes,” I want to know who, precisely, is going to deliver that message to the little kid in Springfield, Illinois (or pick the town) who just found out that Daddy ain’t coming home.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/30/cnn-poll-opposition-to-afghanistan-war-remains-high/
http://icasualties.org/oef/

It Was 40 Years Ago Today…

...when Paul McCartney filed a lawsuit in England to officially dissolve The Beatles' legal partnership. And in the immortal words of legendary classic rock DJ Dick Bartley – The Party Was Over…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVc6agFI0gA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970

Obama The Chickenshit.

The most chickenshit president of my lifetime:

(1) Incessant recess appointments to bypass Senate confirmation (link below);

(2) Also avoiding the confirmation process by appointing myriad "Czars" to federal positions of power, most of whom inhabit the most extremist wing of the 20-percenter contingent;

(3) Overbearing use of federal regulatory power and new rulemaking when he's unable to foist some element of his 20-percenter agenda through the Congress;

(4) Ram-rodding widely unpopular and massive pieces of legislation through the Congress on Christmas Eve, Sundays, etc., when no one's paying attention;

(5) Ignoring election results and continuing to jam his 20-percenter agenda through the Congress in a lameduck session;

(6) For the first time in American history, ramming a Treaty into ratification during a lameduck session while America focuses on Christmas shopping during the days before Christmas (am I still allowed to use the word "Christmas," BTW?).

Of course, the typical third-grade "Two Wrongs Make a Right" retort of the 20-percenters: "Yeah, but you republicans have done that stuff too." Well leftists, in case you haven't noticed, I ain't no damn republican. They can kiss my ass, same as you.

And as a matter of fact, no republican or democrat party president in my lifetime has ever utilized all of these various chickenshit techniques and, even when they've used some of them, it's been only a fraction as much as His Majesty Obama has used them.

Sorry if I refuse to tote the politically correct line. If I did that, I would say: "I disagree with Obama on policy, but I think he's a nice person and I like him personally." Well, I don't like him. Not at all. He's an arrogant, condescending, thin-skinned, out-of-touch far leftist elitist -- the worst of the worst that the 20-percenters have to offer. And I can only sit here blogging about dumb crimes and Brett Favre's dong for so long before I feel compelled to express myself. I don't call this thing The Independent Rage for nothing.

And my questions at the end of this year remain the same: What did this great country ever do to deserve 12 years of the likes of W Bush and Obama? To deserve the current corrupt and extreme-controlled incarnations of the republican and democrat party? I guess maybe it's our punishment for making one too many reality series.

http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=201497

HUNG VERDICT!

In perhaps the very final installment of the Brett Favre/Jenn Sterger Sexting/Donging Scandal, NFL Don Roger Goodell decrees from on high that (1) while Favre will be fined $50,000 for failing to fully cooperate with the NFL’s investigation into allegations that Favre sexted/donged photos of his junk to football reporter/eye candy babe Jenn Sterger, (2) the NFL has basically reached a hung verdict on the issue of whether Favre actually committed the dirty deed.

Put another way, and to quote NFL replay nomenclature, the evidence was too “inconclusive” to support a finding that Favre donged a pic of his package to Sterger’s cellphone. More specifically, Godfather Goodell says that he “could not conclude” that Favre committed that act since “forensic analysis” failed to “establish” conclusively that Favre donged the X-rated snapshots of Mr. Johnson to Ms. Sterger.

In the carefully worded language of Boss Goodell, neither Favre nor Sterger was exonerated nor convicted with respect to their stories. In short, Don Vito Goodell threw up his hands and screamed, “I’ve had enough ‘a this – whatsamatta wid you?” He then threw the case out of court, only slapping Favre on the wrist for his failure to cooperate with the investigation as much as the NFL might have liked.

So what’s the truth here? Who the hell knows. But it’s been a very funny (and page-view-friendly) story to follow. Methinks (and I am speculating) that Goodfella Goodell knows damn well what the truth is, but for whatever reasons is falling back to the ol’ “hung verdict” excuse. But hell, what do I really care? This is all total tabloid crap to begin with (and as stated, great for page views! Must it end?!?).

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-nfl-report-20101230,0,2986880.story

I Know the Feeling of Picking Up Merchandise Too Big For My Britches, But on a Burglary Heist? Dim-Witted Burglars Snatch TV Too Big For Getaway Car!

It was circa 1999 at d’Bronx pizza parlor in the Westport district of Kansas City, Missouri. Thinking I was merely ordering an extra-large (perhaps 16” or so) pizza, I made the mistake of ordering the joint’s “Party Size” pie (loaded with probably 8-10 toppings, since I’m not a single-topping sort of guy). Little did I know that such monster was a full 30-incher (pictured above) and quite voluminous to boot.

My first clue that trouble was in store was when another person had to help me haul the gigantic pizza out to my car. And that’s when the fun began, seeing as I then drove a white 1996 Ford Mustang GT convertible (I sure miss that car). No way was that pie going to fit into the little tiny trunk, and we also couldn’t figure out a way to squeeze it through the front seat and into the back seat.

Luckily it was a convertible, so as a last gasp effort I was able to take the top down and angle the giant box (nearly vertically) in that miniscule back seat. Needless to say, the pizza was thoroughly ruined because it all slid down to the bottom of the box, forming a rather sickening, gooey blob of toppings and dough in that part of the container.

That monster costs 75 bucks today, and was probably 55-60 smackers back in the day. What a waste – but at least I paid for it and wasn’t trying to knock over the pizzeria or anything.

In contrast, and speaking of wastes, that brings me to the curious case of some dumbass burglars in Sacramento. Not only were these dudes slimeballs, they were also particularly moronic sleazewads. Police say they tried to rip off a giant television from a local home, only to get the TV out to their Lexus and find that the TV wouldn’t fit in the car!

I guess they at least had the minimal level of intelligence necessary to ascertain that cutting the TV into pieces would serve no constructive re-sale burglarly purpose, since they just dumped the TV on the curb and hightailed it for the hills. (They could have at least had the courtesy to return the TV to the living room since they couldn't take it!).

A neighbor reportedly witnessed this sorry charade and called the cops, who have already made one arrest in the case and are looking for two additional suspects. They might want to check out the local kindergarten, funny farm or state capitol building since what the cops are looking for ain’t exactly the two sharpest knives in the proverbial kitchen drawer.

http://www.foxreno.com/news/26296010/detail.html

If Obama Has Time on His Hands to Contact NFL Teams About Personnel Decisions, Maybe He Can Next Contact the Kansas City Chiefs About Their Backup QB?

The news over the past day that Obama actually found time in his schedule to contact the Philadelphia Eagles and express his presidential approval for the Eagles allowing Michael Vick to play on their team (BTW, why didn't this occur 2 years ago when the Eagles first signed him?) really got me thinking:

Maybe next Obama can place a call to Kansas City Chiefs' General Manager Scott Pioli and advise Pioli to give Chiefs' backup quarterback Brodie Croyle his walking papers when the season is over? Here in KC, the local radio sports talk is constantly filled with incessant and frankly boring pissing matches between haters and lovers of the Chiefs' starting QB Matt Cassel, with precious little discussion of backup Croyle. Maybe Obama can set a new agenda and change all of that?

And I am being halfway serious. Croyle is 0-10 as an NFL starter and in his last start led the Chiefs to an embarrassing shutout performance at the hands of the Chargers -- both being (0-10 and an NFL shutout) very difficult achievements for a starting NFL QB to pull of. In my opinion, Croyle is simply not a competent NFL backup -- and at a position where having a competent backup is crucial. While having a gun for an arm, he apparently has little in the way of touch, accuracy or the ability to survive more than about one game without being sidelined by injury.

Why the local fans and radio talking heads pay such scant attention to this obvious issue (and instead focus on Cassel 24-7), I have no clue. So Save Us, Obama! Send us down the right path, Oh Great One!!! Seriously: For once, we could actually use your help.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20101228_Obama_commends_Eagles_for_giving_Vick_second_chance.html

Palin Chainsaw Massacre: Just What I've Always Wanted to Do to Get Close to Nature -- Hack Down a Giant Tree with a Chainsaw!

That was Sarah Palin on this weekend's episode of her reality series, Sarah Palin's Alaska, as she tried to do her best logger impersonation by using a giant chainsaw to chop down a tree. Leatherface would be proud. For good measure, she also tried to operate some of the heavy machinery, using a hauler to move the giant trees around once they'd been cut.

Palin also used the occasion to get a blast in on environmentalists, whom she says are always sending her "nasty letters." She says that they're hypocrites because their letters use tree products -- pencil and paper. Really? Who the hell ever uses a pencil apart from a grade schooler or a sketch artist?

Regardless, there is apparently only one episode left of her reality show. Maybe she will try to extrapolate some of her newly found chainsaw skills into other areas. Working a guest shift in a slaughterhouse or butcher shop comes to mind. Or how about a shift cutting hair at the local beauty parlor?

Heck, she could even try to take things big time by answering a casting call when Hollywood invariably remakes the film Scarface. Although, when it comes to the prospect of seeing Sarah Palin in a shower scene, that's not quite what many of us previously had in mind.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/chainsaw-wielding-sarah-palin-complains-about-conservationists-with-their-pretty-little-pencils/
http://www.politico.com/click/stories/1012/palin_knocks_conservationists.html

Having Reportedly Given Up His Cancer Sticks For the Last Nine Months, Obama’s Now Taken Up Chewing?

Yes, I’m teasing rather inappropriately with that headline, as the “chewing” we’re talking about is Nicorette gum. But you know, if it did come to light that Obama takes a dip of chewing tobacco every now and then (“just a little pinch between the ol’ cheek and gum”), it might actually help him connect a tiny bit better with those of us here in middle America. That’s very “Average Joe” stuff, after all. And I wouldn’t even hold it against him, although I’d urge him to quit.

As for White House press secretary Robert Gibbs’ claim that Obama has quit smoking for nine months (which Gibbs says is the longest period during which Obama has gone without smoking in the eight years that Gibbs has known Obama): If that’s true (and I have no reason to question it), then I give Obama a lot of credit, even despite the fact that I am a very frequent critic of the president.

After all, quitting smoking (or any type of tobacco use) ain’t easy. It’s damn hard. But quitting is always the best thing for the smoker, his/her family, and anyone who cares about him/her. And Kids: In addition to never smoking cigarettes, never chew tobacco either.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/25/obama%e2%80%99s-smoking-announcement/#more-140957

Slimeball Christmas, Part 2: Have a Holly Nazi Christmas -- Newly Released Rare Photos Show Hitler & His Nazi Slugs Partying It Up on Christmas 1941.

Reportedly these photos were buried in a jar in the ground by the Nazi photographer and have only recently come to light. The linked story also explains that Hitler believed religion should have no part in his Nazi regime, and so:

"He replaced the Christian figure of Saint Nicholas with the Norse god Odin and urged Germans to celebrate the season as a holiday of the ‘winter solstice’, rather than Christmas. Out of sight at the top of the tree behind Hitler was a swastika instead of an angel, and many of the baubles carried runic symbols and iron cross motifs."

And given Hitler's desire to change the entire nature of Christmas, I can only imagine how the Christmas carols were altered in the Nazi reich -- what with such sleazewad propagandists as Josef Goebbels running around. I'm trying to picture the local Berlin soft-rock FM station and its wall-to-wall Christmas song December playlist. Its Top 10 in heavy rotation might have went something like this:

10. "I Saw Eva Kissing Der Fuhrer"
9. "Up on the Bunkertop"
8. "Yankee Got Run Over By a Panzer"
7. "The 12 Days of Blitzkrieg"
6. "Walking in a Winter Russian Hell"
5. "I'm Dreaming of a White Supremacy"
4. "The Little Hitler-Youth Boy"
3. "Adolph the Red-Hating Dictator"
2. "Martial Laws Is Coming to Town"
1. "Happy Xmas (War Is Just Gettin' Started)"

Honorable Mentions: "Go Tell It to the Gestapo"; "Jingle Bell Brownshirt".

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1341272/Hitlers-Christmas-party-Rare-photographs-capture-leading-Nazis-celebrating-1941.html