Posse Incitatus

Spartans struggle in season opening victory

The Michigan State Spartans struggled mightily in their 2012 season opener, turning the ball over four times and getting called for numerous bone-headed penalties. But they still managed to win, 17-13 against the tough Boise State Broncos.

Junior running back Le'Veon Bell had an incredible night, bulldozing, twisting and stutter-stepping his way to two touchdowns, 210 yards rushing, plus 55 receiving yards. The Spartan defense did not give up a touchdown; Boise State scored its only TD on a returned interception.

Boise State, renowned for its blue field, has been a giant-killer in recent years, defeating heavy hitters Oregon, Georgia and Virginia Tech. This year's team isn't as potent as the 2010 and 2011 squads since the Broncos lost several high profile players to the NFL draft, including quarterback Kellen Moore, who is on the Detroit Lions' roster.

Spartan junior Quarterback Andrew Maxwell, getting his first start, threw four interceptions, but in fairness a couple of them were in and out of the hands of Spartan receivers. At times Maxwell has a tendency to drill the ball into the receiver's hands when a softer touch would suffice.

Bell probably saved the Spartans from having to punt from their own endzone in the third quarter when they were backed up on their own 5-yard line, third down and 16. He took a handoff, ran right and appeared to be  stopped for a loss, but squirmed out of the tackle and away from the defense to run 35 yards to mid-field. It was one of Bell's most impressive long runs.

Bell is big, strong and fast -- a lethal combination. His agility and ability to spin out of tackles or juke defenders is remarkable for such a mammoth running back. How this guy ever stayed under the radar during college recruiting is beyond me.

It was a long, tough week at work for me, and I even took a nap before the game. But it was well worth watching, and makes me even more enthusiastic about the Spartans' prospects this season. Only one drawback: It was a hot day in East Lansing today, with a high of about 95, and the temperature at game time was probably in the mid 80s. Way too hot for football, but we'll take it.

CLINT MADE MY DAY — Kudos to Clint Eastwood for his unorthodox ad-lib "speech" (really more of a standup routine) during the Republican National Convention. The Obama empty chair spoof has earned mixed reviews, with many of the dinosaur network hacks sounding cries of alarm about how it might backfire for the GOP and didn't send the right message. (As if they care!) Not a bad idea to have a legendary actor endorse your candidate and provide comic relief from the tightly scripted convention. 

Network commentators become more unhinged by the minute

A few years ago, it was "Bush is a Nazi"... or a war criminal, or Hitler... Then it was raging obsession with the Koch Brothers, wealthy contributors to conservative candidates and causes. After that, it was a trumped up "war on women" designed to appeal to the gullible and so lame only a moron would believe it.

Now the lefty media hacks are spouting off drivel about the Republican Party trying like the dickens to ensure its membership consists of 99 percent old white men. The GOP is anti-gay, anti-Muslim and anti-women, says former presidential candidate and occasional MSNBC contributor Howard Dean. And the MSNBC buffoon Chris Matthews is once again off on his race card rants. He got schooled pretty well by Newt Gingrich in this encounter.

The always snarky and smug Rachel Maddow stated Romney is "trying to win by deliberately running against minority voters." It must be either hallucinogenic drugs or too much time in the fever swamps, but boy is she dead wrong.

Last week, a full-of-himself African American commentator who goes by the name Touré came up with an inane term to describe Mitt Romney's treatment of President Obama with supposed code language. He referred to it as the "otherization" of Obama. Wow. Really deep. Where would we be without your colossal intellect, Sir Touré? My suspicions have been confirmed about narcissists who go by only one name -- musicians excepted, of course. Touré also accused Romney of the "niggerization" of Barack Obama. Oh, my. You can't make this stuff up.

George W. Bush's 2000 line about the "soft bigory of low expectations" referred to inner city black school children who are capable of learning and getting good grades but are left to fend for themselves in crime-ridden, gang-infested rundown schools, sacrificed on the teachers' union's alter of money (dues) that ends up in Democrat campaign coffers.

But the same bigotry of low expectations could easily apply to President Barack Obama. It goes without saying that if a white Republican were president and had presided over this much economic misery, the NAACP and Congressional Black Caucus would be marching and holding rallies in Washington, D.C. The MSNBC lefty loons would be frothing at the mouth.

But they don't DARE criticize The One. After all, he's oh, so erudite and so far above the rest of us, we aren't even on the same plane as he is. He's five steps ahead of us, or something like that. Heaven forbid that ANY of us, especially those who are caucasian, should DARE to criticize The One.

What's even more sad than the Democrat Party turning into a nutty freak show is the fact that about half the registered voters will support these loons. Let's hope that half of the population has a lower birth rate than the other half, or we're doomed for sure.

 

 

 

Whither higher interest rates? And how bad can deficits get?

You might call it the calm before the storm (if you can call our current economic malaise "calm"). The economic pain felt by your average Joe mainly consists of unemployment and little hope for significant improvement in the job market, as well as a moribund housing market that is dragging the whole economy down and looks to be many years away from recovery. 

But there are two things we have going for us now that were not present in 1980, the last time our nation faced an economic crisis of this magnitude: The rate of inflation is low, and interest rates are at record lows.

Many of us were appalled when we realized the Obama administration would run up more of a deficit in its first full fiscal year than George Bush, whom we castigated for excessive spending, ran up over 3 or 4 fiscal years. But then it continued for several years running. This is insane and unsustainable, and it can only get worse, much worse. Perhaps the statist collectivist at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. WANTS IT TO GET WORSE, so he can burden future generations with a weight so heavy, they will be hard-pressed to sustain American exceptionalism. That's the kind of extremist ideologue he is.

It doesn't take a genius to know that if you keep printing more and more dollars, and dumping them into the economy, the value of those dollars will decline. And if you keep spending far more than you take in each year, piling the mountain of debt ever higher, your ability to pay back that money is diminished as time goes on.

Inflation and interest rates feed off of each other. When lenders realize they will get paid back in currency less valuable than it was when they lent it, they will raise interest rates to ensure they get a return that is higher than just breaking even. Higher interest costs for borrowing are passed on to consumers in the private market, and taxpayers in the public sector as government seeks to extract more money from the taxpayers. 

Oil prices will rise as the dollar's value declines, further escalating inflation as production costs and costs of delivering services reliant upon transportation go up and are passed on to consumers.

Lawrence B. Lindsey, an economist who served in the George W. Bush administration, has spoken out about our current false paradigm and how just a slight increase in interest rates will spike annual deficits. He also notes that even if Obama got his higher tax rates on the wealthy that he's been begging and pleading for, the added revenue would be negligible -- not nearly enough to feed the voracious federal government. And need I say it: Higher annual deficits will decrease foreign investors' faith in America, thus increasing borrowing costs, and cause the Treasury to crank up the printing presses, thus depressing the dollar's value. It's a vicious cycle.

Sadly, even if the Romney-Ryan team wins, which I think they will, our economy is so badly mired in wrongheaded, destructive policies and their consequences, it will take years to crawl out of the swamp. And rest assured, the leftists will be spewing their vitriol and rage at Romney and Ryan from day one. But by now we've learned to tune out their infantile temper tantrums. At least we'll know the Supreme Court won't go to the dogs.

WALKING ON THE MOON — Wasn't it Neil Young who did that tune... No, wait a minute, that can't be, he's the guy who was the first man to walk on the moon. That's right... It was THE POLICE who sang that reggae tune back in 1979. 

Anywho, Mr. Young passed at the age of 82....WAIT A MINUTE, it was Lance ARMSTRONG who was the first guy to walk on the moon. I think he did steroids, too, and had to forfeit the claim to being the first humanoid to set foot on the lunar landscape. Oh, oh, OH, FORGET EVERYTHING I JUST SAID! I'm a stoner...been hitting the bong and sucking down cases of beer in my loft apartment. (Hey, hey, my my, Old Milwaukee hangovers never die...) Now that I've finally ingested my third cup of coffee, I realize my mistake. It was NEIL ARMSTRONG who uttered the legendary phrase: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Glad we cleared that up!

On a more serious note, R.I.P. to Neil Armstrong, a Korean War hero, an astronaut superstar, and a humble man from rural Ohio. I am proud that a fellow Midwesterner was the first guy to walk on the moon, and never was a braggart.  He's the antithesis of so many of today's celebrities, i.e., his accomplishments were tremendous, but he was humble and felt awkward talking about his achievements. So many of today's athletes, Hollywood elites and rock stars are full of themselves and boast about their endeavors as if they really mattered, utterly clueless about how ridiculous they sound.

Oh and, NBC News already was a joke. This latest fiasco just pounds another nail in the coffin. (Click on the "Mr. Young passed" link if you haven't already.)

 

Panic

I have been trying to pay as little attention to politics as possible - with three kids in school and football season starting next week, there are far more interesting things going on.

However, I cannot ignore the all-pervasive sense of panic that is engulfing Democrats.  Despite incumbency, despite a huge war chest, a fawning media and typical Republican bumbling, they are still losing ground to Romney.

I think it is helpful to remind people that the Obama campaign never was the all-powerful juggernaut of legend.

Barack Obama recieved the Dem nomination because he deftly manipulated the caucus system and (more importantly) the Democrat Party itself is anti-democratic:  "Superdelegates" hold the balance of power within the party structure.  These individuals were the ones who put Obama over the top.

The point is that even in the primaries, Obama was a poorly-organized and gaffe-prone candidate.

Once he secured the nomination, he continued to misspeak, but the press let it go.  By late September, McCain was ahead in the polls, bolstered by a strong convention and his choice of Sarah Palin as running mate.

McCain then proceeded to commit political suicide by:

1.  Suspending his campaign in a futile gesture to pass legislation,

2.  Allowing surrogates to bad-mouth his running mate, and

3.  Publicly announcing that he was abandoning key states - Michigan foremost among them.

Obama won by default.  The 2008 election was a contest of incompetents, a race of self-destruction to see who could implode first.

Students of military history will remark that the closest parallel would be that of Napoleon III and his Italian War of 1859.  The French triumphed, and the prestige of their arms (and their leadership) was greatly enhanced, but not through any virtue of their own.

The decisive factor was greater Austrian incompetence.  Prussia - a military machine of the highest caliber - subsequently crushed both nations in a decisive fashion.

This is what Mitt Romney is now doing to Obama.  His campaign is focused and disciplined, and his pick of Paul Ryan has reinforced the sense of professionalism and competence.

Obama now faces the powerful headwinds of a lousy economy, eroding voter trust and an opponent with more cash on hand.

Obama is also burdened with his own staff infighting.  This wastes energy and also cuts to the heart of the narrative of his own competence.

The GOP has made some key mistakes - the utterences of the dunce in Missouri being foremost among them - but one should never underestimate the ability of the Democrats to shoot themselves in the foot.

When Paul Wellstone died, they turned a wave of public sympathy into disgust through their macabre celebration of his funeral.

The sense of panic is unmistakeable.  The magic is gone.  Even the colleges aren't interested any more.

This is hardly surprising, given how the campaign continues to stiff communities for the security costs of its visits.  Could anything be more indicative of an organization in total disarray?

Now it appears they are going to spend four days shouting about how much they love to kill babies and are going to make all of us pay for it. 

FEARLESS PREDICTION:  Negative bounce from the Democrat convetion.

Belated Comments on Rep. Foot-in-Mouth

I know, you're sick and tired of hearing about Missouri U.S. Rep. Todd Akin and his asinine "legitimate rape" statement.

I am disgusted that once again, the Republicans have yanked defeat from the jaws of victory. Prior to Akin's slip-up this past weekend, he was leading the inept Sen. Claire McCaskill in the polls. She would have been easy to unseat. But now there's a good chance she could win because of Akin's incidence of foot-in-mouth. Losing to Claire McCaskill is almost as bad as losing to Harry Reid, another worthless hack that I felt certain the Republicans would defeat.

Losing to McCaskill could cost the Republicans control of the Senate, and even if the Romney-Ryan ticket wins, it will be near impossible to overturn Obamacare. Banishing this crushing albatross is key to reviving the economy and optimism in the business community. If allowed to continue, this budget-busting, healthcare degrading law will accelerate our nation's decline.

Not ready for prime time. That's my impression of Akin. Any Republican, from the city council all the way up to the presidency, should realize that the "gotcha" media will try to trip him or her up on issues like abortion and rape. Akin could have easily deflected the question by stating something like, "I don't believe two wrongs make a right. Commission of a criminal act does not mean an innocent fetus must have its life snuffed out." He also should have emphasized he wants to focus on jobs and economic issues and not get distracted with side issues.

But instead, Akin got tied up in knots with his bizarre, convoluted answer. I don't doubt that Rep. Akin recognizes the horror and evil of rape, and has compassion for rape victims. I simply question the man's level of intelligence and mental capacity to serve as a senator when he 1) allowed himself to get tripped up by this basic "Gotcha 101" question he should have been prepared for; and 2) used the words "legitimate rape." Huh? Isn't that sort of like a compassionate Nazi? Or a sweet, mild-mannered ax murderer? Some words you just don't use together in the same sentence, let alone the same paragraph. Akin just might not be the sharpest tool in the shed.

Unfortunately, Missouri is one of those states with open primaries where registered voters from any political party can vote for candidates from any political party. So the Show-Me State's nefarious Democrats turned out en masse to vote for Akin in the GOP primary, considering him the easiest for McCaskill to defeat. Boy, were they right!

Apparently Akin insists on sticking it out; he's ignoring demands from most leading Republicans that he step down. Maybe this will blow over and he will still be able to defeat McCaskill. Let's hope so. It would be horrible if the Democrats retain a 51-49 Senate margin despite a Romney-Ryan victory. Our nation just cannot afford four more years of train wreck policies such as Obamacare and Dodd-Frank.

A Midwesterner Defends the South

Your humble blogger "T-Mo" is a born-n-bred Michigander, but I did live for two years in New Jersey and nearly nine years in Atlanta.

I have experienced first-hand Southern culture and hospitality (not to mention excellent food), and believe the much-maligned South has a lot of redeeming qualities. (Full Disclosure: I hate the heat and humidity, and that, as much as horrendous traffic, is what drove me out of Atlanta.)

For many years, I have tried to explain to friends and acquaintances from the South that if they have a disdain or dislike of "Yankees," they ought to qualify that sentiment. There is a world of difference between we Midwesterners and northerners from the Northeast, who often tend to be more liberal, secular, elitist, anti-gun and full of unbridled faith in big government. (Speaking in generalizations, of course. There are always exceptions.)

Matter of fact, I dare say many of us in the Midwest dislike New Yorkers as much as Southerners do. You know, those folks with their brash demeanor and annoying accents ("New Yawk...Don't tawwk like ya haven't had yer cawfee...").  Those who often have the mentality of the famous cover of The New Yorker depicting everything west of the Hudson River as rubesville and cow pastures. I can't tell you how ecstatic I was when my Detroit Tigers defeated the New York Yankees in the playoffs in 2006 and 2011!

Here's what Midwesterners have in common with Southerners: They tend to be people of faith, family oriented, down-to-earth, supporters of the Second Amendment and enthusiastic about hunting and fishing. Seymour, Ind., native John Mellencamp is a sort of Midwestern troubadour. He sums up the Midwestern mindset of loyalty to one's roots with the 1985 hit "Small Town."

While it is true that several Midwestern states have often gone blue in presidential elections, and have repeatedly elected Democrat U.S. senators (e.g., Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and sometimes Ohio), this is primarily due to a high concentration of African-Americans and/or union members in large urban areas. Truth be told, were it not for the large urban areas, most of these states would be reliably red.

What inspired me to blog on this subject was a recent book review in the Wall Street Journal (sorry, can't link to it because one must be a subscriber to see it online -- it was in weekend WSJ of Aug. 11-12, 2012). Chuck Thompson, liberal travel writer from the Pacific Northwest, wrote a snide book called "Better Off Without "Em: A Northern Case for Southern Succession."

As you'd expect, Thompson is condescending and mocking in his tone, if the reviewer is to be believed, and apparently approached this book with preconceived notions and just went out to find the types of characters and places that would confirm his prejudices.

The reviewer, Barton Swaim, makes note of Thompson's apparently lazy scholarship. Thompson cites many "sources" that are simply Internet web pages, and misinterprets certain celebrated authors about Southern history and culture, including James Cobb, Edmund Wilson and C. Vann Woodward. Swaim writes that Thompson "quotes from these in ways that make you wonder if he has read or understood them."

Swaim also wryly notes that Thompson discovered, to his chagrin, that he couldn't always get what he was looking for as he poked around the South: "Mr. Thompson spends most of the book looking for easy targets and finding them. He faces more difficulty when he seeks out Mr. Cobb, a professor at the University of Georgia, and sits in on a class on Southern history. What if the South seceded? Well for starters, says Mr. Cobb, 'You guys might be putting up a Berlin Wall because you're losing so many people.'"

True, that. In recent decades, millions of Northerners have moved to the South, for a better job market, lower taxes and cost of living, and warmer weather, among other things. African Americans from northern cities are increasingly relocating in the South, where most of them have extended families and perhaps believe is a region where they will feel more welcome. Many southern states, after all, have much higher black populations than do northern states. And let me just say it right here: The notion that race relations are hunky dory up North, and better than in the South, is far from true. Detroit is one of the most segregated cities in the nation, and many northern cities have distinctly separate black and white sections.

The root of all this, most likely, is that Thompson is a typical smug liberal, and he wants to look down his nose at those who live their lives differently. Whether it's praying, reading scripture and attending church several times a week, being passionate about college football, avidly following NASCAR, bellying up to the Shoney's breakfast bar, or whatever other southern stereotype he can find, Thompson doesn't like southern customs.

The reviewer Swaim notes that southerners serve disproportionately in the U.S. military, defending our freedom. But don't expect a leftist like Thompson to ever acknowledge or appreciate that fact.

The fact is, you could go anywhere in the country and find yahoos, rubes, uneducated people, examples of bigotry and lifestyles that you didn't agree with. If Lewis Grizzard were still alive, he could have a field day writing about the Sodom and Gomorrah in San Francisco and its train wreck culture.

I don't agree with everything that goes on in the South. I think perhaps the obsession with college football can go to extremes (e.g., people shelling out hundreds of dollars to subscribe to recruiting services, and pressuring college administrations to ease up on the academics to allow certain players to qualify). I don't like the heat and humidity; I don't like several things about the South.

But I respect it and recognize it for its contributions to our great nation. I would much rather spend a day or evening in the company of "good ol' boys" watching football, swigging beers, chowing some barbecue and wearing casual clothes, than to be with pretentious people attending a play or the opera. (Generalizations on both sides, but you get my drift.)

Strictly from a literary and artistic standpoint, the South is loaded. We've got William Faulkner and Harper Lee ("To Kill a Mockingbird") plus a gifted writer of more recent years, Cormac McCarthy. The late great Civil War historian and writer Shelby Foote, like Faulkner, was a native of Mississippi.

Musically, R.E.M. is from Athens, Ga. That's a band I consider one of the greatest of all time. The legendary Johnny Cash was from Arkansas; prolific Tom Petty is from Florida. Many gifted black singers have come from the South, including James Brown, Little Richard, Gladys Knight, Percy Sledge, and Ray Charles.

I think Thompson is just upset that millions of people don't see things the way he does. Like liberals everywhere, he wishes he could change their thinking and way of life, and "enlighten" them with his worldview. But since he knows he can't, he defaults to condescension, derision and scorn.

Let me just say this: As long as we have the South, misguided elitists like Thompson will NEVER take complete control of our nation. Bank on it.

 

 

 

 

Similarities to 1980: economy in toilet, Dem in White House, trouble in Iran

The pundits and pollsters have often spoken of this year's election being similar to that of 1980.

A Democrat incumbent has prevailed over a miserable economy, has sagging poll numbers and has proven himself to be in over his head, out of his depth.

Only this time, instead of the media directing its vitriol and derision at the GOP presidential candidate (as with Reagan 32 years ago), it is targeting VP candidate Paul Ryan, whom Democrats and the Hollywood Left regard as being to the right of Attila the Hun. But tens of millions of Americans didn't think Reagan was too extreme to vote for him, and the same will happen for the Romney-Ryan ticket.

Carter's economy featured hideous 21 percent interest rates, 13 percent inflation and unemployment in the 7-8 percent range. But at least his budget deficits were reasonable, and he didn't have as many hard left loons in his cabinet as does our current president.

Obama's centrally-planned economy features fearsome deficits, years of above 8 percent unemployment, 46 million people on food stamps, smothering regulations, and the very real threat of 2013 tax increases hanging over the heads of business entrepreneurs, corporate CEOs and individual consumers from coast to coast.

The arrogant overreach of Obamacare promises to exacerbate deficits, raise healthcare costs and degrade our healthcare system in part by worsening what is already a serious shortage of physicians. The EPA, Department of Justice and Department of Health and Human Services, among other agencies, are led by leftist ideologues whose designs on America and the American economy are frightening.

But beyond the economic malaise and incompetency in the Oval Office, the nation of Iran is a common denominator. On election day 1980, our 53 hostages languished in Iran one year after they were captured when the American Embassy was overrun by Islamist radicals. There was talk of an "October Surprise" that might boost Carter sufficiently enough to ensure his reelection. Perhaps a bold rescue, but more likely a negotiated settlement allowing both nations to save face. (The rescue option was highly doubtful, let's not forget, because an attempted rescue mission had failed in April 1980, resulting in eight American deaths).

There were also charges several years after the election that Reagan's VP running mate, George H.W. Bush, had secretly negotiated an agreement with Iran's mullahs to hold onto the hostages until after Reagan took office, then release them. Congressional investigations during the 1980s proved this conspiracy theory to be without merit. (Shocking!)

These days, Iran is getting close to developing nuclear weapons. Many analysts believe Israel might attack Iran's nuclear reactors to disrupt development of these weapons. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spouted off today about how the "tumor" of Israel will soon be wiped out. Some here in the United States have predicted Obama may strike Iran prior to the election to garner "rally-round-the-flag" support to push him over the top in the election. But that sounds far-fetched to me, as it could easily backfire on him and things in the Middle East could turn catastrophic in a hurry, causing gasoline prices to skyrocket.

Another theory has Obama negotiating a deal with Israel: Hold off on attacking Iran until after the election, and we promise to provide all of the military support you need. This also sounds unrealistic.

Obama and the western nations waited far too long to impose strict sanctions on Iran, and Obama's decision to try negotiating with Iran and respecting its disgraceful government proved to be incredibly naive and ridiculous.

The two huge differences between now and 1980 are:

1) Technology and a more balanced marketplace of ideas (talk radio, conservative blogs, Fox News, etc. counteract the liberal/insular media elites) and

2) Changed demographics, with a much higher percentage of Hispanics in the total population.

Both of these will affect the outcome; it's not unreasonable to suggest that No. 1 will help counteract No. 2, as Hispanics tend to vote Democrat and this large a Hispanic population in 1980 may well have given us two terms of the peanut farmer. Think about it: No talk radio, no Internet blogs, ABC/NBC/CBS/NPR/NY Times/WaPost et al providing their biased coverage as lapdogs for the Democrats and shoveling bunk about Reagan being a neanderthal, reactionary racist. Thank goodness the conservatives can counter the typically left-wing journalists these days, or we wouldn't be on our way to being Greece, we would be Greece.

My best guess: The economy and genuine alarm with Obama's true colors are much more likely to decide this year's election than developments in the Middle East.

 

The dog days of August

I’ve been on a much-needed vacation for a few days and have taken a break from the grind of national politics.

Having brought myself up to speed, I think there are three dynamics now at work:

1.  The Ryan VP pick was brilliant.  In one move Romney solidified his base, drew a strong policy contrast and also highlighted the crazy and erratic behavior of Joe Biden.  Paul Ryan is many things, but even his enemies admit him to be smart and serious.  No one takes Biden seriously.

What is more, Ryan puts Wisconsin in play, forcing Obama to play defense here as well as in Michigan.  While the conventional wisdom is that Florida is at risk, Ryan’s mother lives there and older voters are likely to be far more sympathetic to his reasoned, number-laden arguments than the blow-dried airheads of the media.  All of which is to say:  He’s got a powerful argument to make and his audience is receptive to it.

2.  The Obama campaign is in total disarray.  The media are pulling for him as never before, but they no longer have the influence to control the campaign, they only diminish their own importance.  From the “dump Biden” rumors of the past week to the “you didn’t build that” debacle, they are stumbling from one self-inflicted disaster to another.

The economy is in crisis, gas is through the roof and the president wants to talk about Seamus the Dog?  Seriously?

3.  It is now Romney’s race to lose.  None of the polls show Obama above 50 percent and many show his approval and likeability steadily falling.  A preference cascade is building against him and the more he tries to be hip and cool, the more trivial a figure he appears.

Tying it all together is the fact that in politics as in sports and war, momentum is the key. Right now Romney has it and Obama doesn't. Moreover, the underlying factors – the economy, unemployment, the growth of our national debt – all favor Romney. For the first time in his career, Obama must face a hostile electorate.

Actually, that's not strictly true – he faced one in 2010 (albeit not directly) – and he did not do well.

Bashar deserves the noose

The brutality in Syria just keeps getting worse.

Bashar al-Assad, Syria's vicious dictator, has proven he is a ruthless killer and doesn't bat an eyelash about butchering innocent women and children as he desperately clings to power.

Those aligned against him are a mixed bag -- some former Syrian Army soldiers, some ethnic Kurds, others outside terror groups such as al Qaeda, and still others run-of-the-mill civilians fed up with a calloused, cruel and repressive government that has ground them down under its boot for decades. 

Of the multiple atrocities that have taken place in the 18-month civil war in Syria, an attack today in the town of Azaz on the border with Turkey is particularly disturbing. A jet fighter laid rubble to residential neigbhorhoods in this quiet enclave. Houses with innocent families, senior citizens and children were pulverized, as was a hospital. This is fast becoming genocide. And to make matters worse, the pariah Iran supports Assad, as does Russia.

I suspect the thug of Damascus, whose glamorous wife Asma al-Assad was written up in a sickening puff piece in Vogue magazine two years ago, may well meet the same fate as other monster strongmen such as Saddam Hussein and Moammar Gadhafi. It can't come soon enough.

KIND, GENTLE AND UNASSUMING - That's the way Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) activist David Mariner described Floyd Lee Cordins of Herndon, Va., who was arrested after attempting to shoot up an office of the conservative Family Research Council today in Washington, D.C. A security guard was shot in the arm by Cordins but still managed to wrestle him to the ground and take his gun away. Cordins reportedly made a statement about how angry he was bout the Family Research Council and what it stands for. Somehow I doubt the news media will make a big deal out of this since Cordins is obviously a leftist. Now, if a conservative, Bible-thumping NRA member and/or Tea Party enthusiast had gone into the Capital offices of the Progressive Policy Institute and tried to shoot up the place, why.... I dare say the NBC/ABC/CBS/CNN/MSNBC/NPR/New York Times/Washington Post elitists would be in high gear 24/7 for days. The networks might not even break for commercials.

But NOOOOO-00-000-0--0000000.. as Belushi used to say on "Saturday Night Live." Turns out, it was a left-wing kook with a gun. "DARN IT!" they're probably all saying to themselves as I type.

Paul Ryan: The Right Prescription

No doubt the demagogues of the left are licking their chops dreaming and scheming of the over-the-top ads and slogans they can create to demonize U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney's choice for V.P. running mate. 

Ryan pushing an elderly woman in a wheelchair over the cliff might seem tame in comparison to what's to come. Prepare for vitriol and vicious rage directed at Ryan on the left-wing-kook blog sites. But the great thing is, Ryan is a happy warrior with a thick skin, strong resolve and steadfast determination. He knows how dire our situation is and what we must do to extricate ourselves from this fiscal quicksand that threatens to destroy our nation. He's not afraid to tell the unvarnished truth.

The old establishment "country club Republicans" and GOP elitists who wanted a bland go-along-to-get-along type like Jeb Bush or Rob Portman to be the catcher's Mitt's running mate are dead wrong, and I commend Mitt for not listening to them. He probably recognized that he needed a serious hard-liner like Ryan to retain support among the often distrustful Tea Party contingent, many of whom regard Romney as a blue blood RINO.

A few things to consider: A blue-blood RINO and country club Republican, even if he/she is not pro life and is squishy on gun control, is hugely preferential to a statist ideologue whose destructive policies are undermining the foundations of our nation, and whose upcoming Supreme Court appointments would pound the final nails into the coffin of the late, great U.S.A. I am not joking when I say the fate of our nation hangs in the balance this Nov. 6. Obama wins and I will give serious consideration to moving to Canada.

Second, Paul Ryan's selection is likely to ignite the loony left like tapping a raw nerve with a ball-peen hammer. Subtlety, nuance and reason are not strong points of the left. Rather, spontaneous, mindless, impulsive rage are their hallmarks. Count on the left to overplay their hand, and suffer a backlash of disgust and revulsion (a la Occupy Wall Street) by the tens of millions of decent Americans who don't dig their act.

Most important, I continue to point to Ryan's home state of Wisconsin as evidence that his sober assessment of our fiscal predicament and the urgent need to respond to it are just what this nation needs and will support. Gov. Scott Walker won his recall election comfortably, despite the left and unions spending millions and throwing everything but the kitchen sink at him.

Let me add Republican governors Mitch Daniels of Indiana and Chris Christie of deep blue New Jersey, and even Rhode Island Democrat Treasurer Gina Raimondo as prime examples of demonized public officials who have dared to take on the ugly union bullies.

The crybaby liberals, pompous progressives and union thugs talk a good game. They threaten and vilify, kick and scream and whine. They predict doom and gloom if they don't get their way. And invariably, they are wrong. We have seen increasing evidence that many Americans have way too much common sense to fall for this drama queen garbage.

Ryan won't be taking on unions, per se, like Christie, Daniels and other governors. But he will be taking on the left's fantasy belief that we can sustain the status quo if only we raise taxes on the rich and keep pissing away hundreds of billions in Keynesian stimulus money that they believe will revive the middle class. (There are also people who still believe the earth is flat, but I digress).

Ryan will give us the straight dope about the horrible fiscal condition of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and broadly, our entire federal fisc. There are leftists that will probably burst a blood vessel and go ballistic. Tough schmidt. It is what it is.

THE WEATHER DOES AN ABOUT-FACE - A few weeks ago, I was drenched in sweat as I cut up and hauled away logs and branches from a dead poplar I cut down in our back yard. We had 10-plus days of temperatures in the mid-90s to over 100. Then when temps moderated, we still were getting highs near 90 -- above the typical southern Michigan summertime high of 80 or 82. A lengthy drought has hurt farmers and left lawns in my neighborhood an ugly yellow and brown.

Suddenly a few days ago, the weather turned gray, rainy and cool. We had three days with temps in the 60s and steady drizzle. One morning when I walked the dog, I actually wore a brown jacket that's too thick to be a windbreaker, but not quite heavy enough for the dead of winter. But wearing a jacket in summer is strange. Saturday afternoon it gradually cleared, and temperatures were in the moderate 70s with low humidity. Today is gorgeous (mostly sunny, 75 degrees and low humidity as I type). My son is home from college for a few days, and I'll be heading out soon to play tennis with him. Hope he doesn't humiliate the old man too badly.

I have gone on record as saying that climate change, or even global warming, are possible, but the notion that humans are substantially responsible is ridiculous. Many natural factors such as solar flares, sun spots and oceanic volcanism affect our weather patterns. And we have had warm and cold cycles for millennia before the industrial revolution and internal combustion engine came along. No, I am not a scientist, but I can say for certain there are many respected meteorologists and scientists who do not agree with the concept of anthropogenic global warming. (And NO, liberals, they ARE NOT all in the oil industry's vest pocket. Please give that tired cliche a rest.)

At any rate, going forward we are certain to continue observing these two tendencies: When we get bitter cold and tons of snow in winter, global warming scoffers will be in their element, while Al Gore's legions will emphasize there's a big difference between weather (short-term) and climate (long-term). Conversely, when we have nasty hot summer weather and drought like this summer, Algore's true believers will tout the global warming line, while folks such as myself will note that it could be a short-term blip (i.e., weather) on the climate screen.