Posse Incitatus

Spartans throw Cardinals down well

Ah, the sweet afterglow of victory.

Louisville (pronounced Lou-UH-ville) had already made their hotel reservations for the Final Four in Detroit, and certainly the national press figured today's game would be little more than a speed bump on their glorious path to the national title.

And then the Spartans got to play with them.  I'm not an expert on basketball, what with being new to the sport and all, but this game was amazingly lop-sided.  I could feel the dominance of MSU radiating from my television, and the frustration of Rick Pitino's squad was almost tangible.  Memo to the Big East - this is what defense looks like.

Anyhow, hopefully my beloved Spartans will have plenty left over for UCONN next week.  Coach Tom Izzo has now achieved both of his goals for this year:  the Big Ten championship and a Final Four appearance.  Sure would be nice to win the whole thing, though.

GO STATE!

Obama's War commences

On the drive home today I heard a sound byte from the president calling for more effort in Afghanistan.  Of course, he couldn't just say we need to try harder and do better.

No, it had to be a "for six years we allowed ourselves to get distracted by Iraq" formulation, i.e. Bush screwed up this war and I'm going to fix it.

There are two problems with this.  The first is that blaming George W. Bush for everything is petty and (at this point) pathetic.  At some point, the "it's not my fault" litany of excuses is going to really start to grate on people.  It's already doing that on the economy.

The second and larger problem is that it unrealistically raises expectations that the Obama administration will immediately fix things - the boys will be home by Christmas.  Sorry, ain't gonna happen.

Afghanistan is going to take years and years to stabilize.  There isn't going to be any equivalent to the success of the Surge in Iraq.  Once again, we have government (and apparently military strategy) by sound byte (I blame the Teleprompter).  The next few months are going to be very interesting from an information operations perspective.  Will the mainstream press dutifully begin trying to rally support for the flagging war effort?  Will the defeatists peace activists rouse themselves to demonstrate against the Good War?  How will it be covered?  And, when the struggle continues without decisive result, will the White House try to declare victory and pull out regardless of facts on the ground?

As I said, it's going to be very interesting to watch.  Essentially, we are about to learn if the Democrats are capable of using military force in a sustained manner - if they post-Vietnam party can fight a war.

Fearless prediction - RichRod out in December

First off, congrats the Women of Sparta.  Missed the game, love the irony.  Let's hope the men prove themselves worthy of comparison with similar upsets.

In other Spartan news, the Green and White game is April 25.  The Posse plans to be there.

Meanwhile, the defections from RichRod's squad continue.  While I was dropping that link in, I saw that Nick Sheridan - the closest thing the Skunk Bears have to a veteran QB, just messed up his leg.

The hits keep coming, don't they?

I think we have an interesting contrast here with RichRod vs. Mark Dantonio and MSU.  The Spartans had every reason to defect in droves after the Bobby Williams fiasco and then the John L. Buffoon era.  Maybe I'm wearing rose-tinted glasses here, but while a few kids turned pro early, I recall nothing like the ship-jumping that has gone on in Ann Arbor.

And recall the Meeechigan was in far better shape, both in terms of reputation and recruiting.  Now we're into the second year of the new regime and people are still bailing out.

So here's my fearless prediction:  U-M will go 5-7 next fall and RichRod will be canned after OSU obliterates them.  The relative success of U-M's basketball team has got the Walmart Wolverines hoping for a similar turnaround and when it doesn't happen, they will be pissed.

RichRod has zero class - his entire appeal for them was his win/loss record.  Even the most blinkered fanboy in blue has to wonder why a team that the year before was considered a shoo-in for Big Ten champ had to lose its first-ever game to a MAC team under RichRod.

No, the knives will come out.  Bank on it.

AR-15 accessories

In the comments to a truly ancient gun review, one of our readers asks:

I purchased a bushmaster AR15. It is a flat top with no front or rear sights or handle. Are there any suggestions on what I should install? handle,sight scope?

It is an excellent question.  My Bushmaster was as mil-spec as the laws would then allow (that is, post-ban), so it had a carrying handle and peep sights.  Any readers with flat top recommendations are encouraged to respond via the comments.

These are the smart guys?

This topic may be wearying for some, but the sheer number of gaffes over the past few weeks is really getting to me.

Actually, that’s not true. What’s getting to me is how the press is covering them up.

So let’s try a thought experiment. Let’s just swap some names here and imagine what world reaction would be to the following items:

1. On his first visit with U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, George W. Bush receives a variety of historic and deeply symbolic gifts. In return, he presents our closes ally with 25 DVDs that are coded for North American machines - they will not play on a British player.

2. During a St. Patrick’s Day ceremony at the White House, George W. Bush accidentally reads his own remarks and thanks himself.

3. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice presents a “reset” button to the Russian Foreign Minister – which says “overcharge” in Russian rather than “reset.” When the mistake is pointed out, she tries to joke about “overcharging,” saying “Oh, we won’t let you do that!”

4. With wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and terrorist attacks a very real danger, George W. Bush suggests making disabled veterans pay for their own health care.

5. The U.S. offers to dismantle missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic – both staunch allies – if Russia will agree to put pressure on Iran to stop its nuclear program. Russia publicly declines our offer to sell out our allies.

The list goes on (tax cheats, AIG, etc.) but I’m content with these five.

Again, contemplate the reaction that would ensue had George W. Bush’s administration been involved in any of these things.

Anyone remember the pretzel? George W. Bush choked on a pretzel. Oh the laughs that ensued. Oh the number of people who chuckled that he was too stupid to even eat properly.

This stuff is much, much worse. And yet, the press is covering it up. I went looking for the tape of item 2. (the Irish Teleprompter Swap) but apparently the press has helpfully embargoed it. How nice.

You can watch item 3. on Youtube and I’ll tell you it is very painful. Regardless of what you think of her, Hillary Clinton is now our top diplomat. And whatever else she may be, she is not very diplomatic. Now I was profoundly disappointed with what Condoleeza Rice accomplished, but at least she didn’t do anything this goofy – no doubt because she actually spoke Russian and had a strong background in foreign affairs.

Remember the allegation that George W. Bush’s “cowboy diplomacy” had alienated us from Europe? I’m scratching my head, trying to think of a more studied insult than the ones we’ve just delivered (Items 1. and 5.).

And who can forget the “coffin controversy?” Remember how callous George W. Bush was supposedly being because he wouldn’t sit around and wait to pay his respects to each and every American killed in battle? Why it was outrageous! Cindy Sheehan (remember her?) got her 15 minutes over demanding a second meeting with him.

But the Bush administration would never dream of making disabled veterans pay for their own health care. Even suggesting it would have brought howls of outrage. But according to the press, Mrs. Obama is the first First Lady to really care about military families. Amazing.

I want to be clear: I’m genuinely worried about our country. This stuff is bigger than which party gets which trinkets. Mistakes like these have a way of piling up and the costs are not simply wiped away with the next election. The administration may have picked out Rush Limbaugh as Public Enemy Number One (again, can we imagine George W. Bush starting a public spat with, say, Bill Mahar? Ludicrous), but Rush is right in that one can be a patriotic American and still oppose the president’s policies.

I want America to succeed. I want our allies to trust us and our enemies to fear us.

Yet we’ve just kicked off a trade war with Mexico! Even the “Texas Village Idiot” didn’t manage that.

We’ve just got tariffs slapped on 92 exports because Congress and the administration are sucking up the Teamsters. I want that policy to fail, just as I wanted our attempted sell-out of the Czechs and Poles to fail, just as I want attempts to balance the budget on the backs of war-wounded veterans to fail.

Increasingly, my desire to see American succeed means that this president has to fail. And that’s what scares me.

Now that's some "Smart Power"

Sigh.  Those cheap DVDs we gave to the UK are of course not coded for UK machines.

A wave of ritual suicides by disgraced White House staff is sure to follow.

You do not f#@! with military veterans

That was quick.   The Obama administration has abandoned its plan to use disabled veterans as a revenue source.

This was perhaps the most idiotic proposal ever publicly suggested.   Morally, it was abhorrent and politically it was suicidal.

What was the Teleprompter thinking?

Obama to disabled vets: drop dead

A lot has been written about the Obama administration’s missteps. Whether putting tax cheats in charge of the Treasury, snubbing our closes ally or (now) courting a trade war with Mexico, these guys aren’t inspiring a lot of confidence.

Still, even I was surprised to learn of their latest “great idea” – sticking it to disabled veterans.

Yep. Hard to get colder than that, but the president actually wants to force military members who were disabled in the service of this great nation to pick up the tab for their treatment. Needless to say, the American Legion is pissed.

Rightly so, I might add.

The problem is that we are now governed by a group of people that doesn’t share the same sense of values – a guy who lost both legs in Vietnam but founded his own business and has done well enough to afford private health insurance is just another potential source of revenue for this crowd.

I won’t go and say the whole concept of “honor” is foreign to them (though it may be) but certainly the idea of a commitment is. They don’t see anything as being permanent – it’s all open to negotiation and change.

That’s the classic liberal mindset, though it isn’t really a question of ideology so much a mentality. It’s a very short-sighted and self-centered view of the world. The rules are made to be kept or changed as suits me. That’s pretty much how they think.

This is why candidate Obama can urge us to fully support and take care of veterans on the campaign trail but President Obama wants to squeeze them for $560,000,000,000.

Nice.

Let the madness begin

Well, congrats to the Spartans on their No. 2 seed. I didn’t see their meltdown against Ohio State, and I have to say I’m far from optimistic about their chances.

Does the team have talent? Sure. It’s loaded with talent, but it’s inconsistent. Even Coach Tom Izzo is at a loss in terms of where these guys are going from moment to moment.

Consider: They won the first outright Big Ten championship since 1999. They also have an outstanding record on the road.

Yet…their loss to UNC was the second worst of Izzo’s career…their losses to Penn State and Northwestern at home marked the first time either squad beat MSU in Breslin.

So are they historically good or historically bad? This team is essentially bipolar.

If they are motivated and firing on all cylinders, even Louisville has cause to be worried. But if they aren’t, they’ll be lucky to get past the second round.

Oh, and congrats as well to the Skunk Bears.  I thought Minnesota would be good for at least ONE win against 'em, but i was wrong.

Smart fellers

It is getting hard to keep up with all the mistakes that the allegedly brilliant, sophisticated and smart Obama administration is making.

Whether we are talking about the "reset button," the cheap gift of dvds, or the abortive attempt to sell out the Czechs and Poles, the magnitude of these errors is staggering.

Some folks think that it is all part of a cunning plan.  I wish.

Whether he's "tired" or not, he's making a hash out of things.

Now we've got the Chinese getting involved.

Blood is in the water, folks.  By pissing on our allies and sucking up to our enemies, we're openly advertising for more sharks to come by and try to take a bite.