Posse Incitatus

Gov. Snyder Disappoints Once Again

I have made it clear there's a lot I don't like about Michigan's Gov. Rick Snyder. With that being said, he's still a much better governor than his inept, leftist predecessor, Jennifer Granholm. Gov. Tinkerbelle had about as much substance as cotton candy, but got the kid-gloves treatment from an adoring press.

Still, Snyder has never struck me as a man who realizes how badly millions of Michigan residents are struggling. While some of his policies (right to work and business tax cuts, for example) will help the average Joe by stimulating job creation, others are harmful (e.g., a cap on the homestead property tax credit) or betray a shocking disconnect from reality.

A few days ago, Snyder pardoned a politically connected lawyer who was convicted of driving while under the influence of liquor. You'd be hard-pressed to come up with a better parody of self-serving, good-old-boy-network political hackery.

Russ Marlan, a deputy director for the Department of Corrections, was quoted as saying Snyder is interested in "potential pardons where the conviction was inhibiting them from advancing economically or was preventing them from getting a job or was preventing them from financial freedom — from moving past some obstacle in their life." Marlan also said he "didn't know" that the attorney in question, Alan Gocha Jr., was politically connected.

Um, Russ, Mr. Gocha is about as politically connected as a tree trunk to its roots and branches. If the White House has an opening for press secretary or State Department spokesman, Marlan really ought to apply! 

SPARTANS WILL -- This year's Michigan State Spartans basketball team may be the least talented that Coach Tom Izzo has ever taken to the Elite Eight. There are perhaps two players who have a shot at NBA careers: Senior guard/forward Branden Dawson, because of his athleticism and defensive prowess, and junior Denzel Valentine, a versatile guard with a nice outside shot and the ability to take it to the rack. 

But according to Izzo, this is one of his closest and most tight-knit teams. Excellent team chemistry, in conjunction with the ability and willingness to play tough, lock-down defense and a stellar track record for minimizing turnovers, are what give this squad a chance to compete in the Final Four. On the same token, abysmal free throw shooting (330th in the nation) threatens to cut short their run this afternoon. Here's my prediction for today's tilt with the Louisville Cardinals (2:20 p.m. EST): Spartans prevail in overtime 71-68.

SS DEPART FOR $$ -- Two big-time pro sports figures (Scherzer & Suh) have departed the Detroit scene for greener pastures and larger paychecks. Former Detroit Tigers starting pitcher extraordinaire Max Scherzer and former Detroit Lions All-Pro defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh said sayonara to the Motor City a few weeks ago. Scherzer signed a 7-year, $210 million contract with the Washington Nationals; Suh inked a 6-year, $114 million deal with the Miami Dolphins.

While many fans are wailing and gnashing their teeth, I actually think both teams will be better off in the long run. Often, players who land huge contracts don't live up to expectations. Both of these teams have enough talent on their rosters to be competitive, and freeing up all that cash enables management to allocate it more prudently, signing or trading for other talented players to flesh out the roster.

I have always said it's a horrible idea to hamstring your entire roster just to coddle one prima donna. (One gargantuan salary can also cause jealousy and resentment among other players.) Even if that one superstar does play remarkably well, his performance isn't worth breaking the bank and hampering overall progress.

Hasta la vista, gentlemen.

 

Will Spartans Parallel Connecticut?

In the 2014 NCAA Tournament, the Connecticut Huskies came out of nowhere to win the national championship. Connecticut finished the regular season 26-8 and earned a No. 7 seed in the tournament. They went on to defeat favored Michigan State in the Elite Eight and Kentucky in the championship game to win the school's third national title. This after spending much of the regular season unranked.

Is it possible this year's Michigan State Spartans (now 25-11) could pull off a similar feat? If the Spartans beat Oklahoma tonight and Louisville on Sunday (the latter of the two appears to be the more daunting task), they will make it to their seventh Final Four in the past 16 years and have a shot at achieving a similar remarkable turnaround. MSU also was unranked for stretches of the regular season, but has played much better in recent weeks.

The only problem is, this year's undisputed king of the hill is undefeated Kentucky, 37-0 and looking invincible with a roster full of future NBA players. So even if MSU managed to make it to the Final Four and defeat likely opponent Duke, it would face a monumental task in winning it all.

But let's see how it all plays out. The journey is often as enjoyable as the destination.

Twilight of the Protestants

The Posse hopes you have been enjoying Lent.  Last week I made my traditional blood donation.  I do it throughout the year, of course, but the Lenten observance – combined with a meatless dinner afterwards – feels particularly appropriate.

I was interested to see the liberal Protestant denominations are continuing to demolish anything that might possibly link them with Christian teaching or morality.

Most religious-minded folks have of course heard by now that the Presbyterians have decided to endorse “gay marriage,” which will doubtless cause their thinning ranks to thin further.

Of course revealed religion in not a popularity contest.  One of the reasons I am Catholic is that the Church has for the most part resisted the siren calls of people urging to it “get with times” and do what all the cool people think.

Here we see a Protestant denomination that is utterly, and completely progressive in any way, and yet its membership continues to fall.  How can this be?  One is tempted to throw up one’s hands and declare it to be a mystery, but I have a theory I will share in a moment.

Meanwhile, another scandal has hit the Anglican Communion – this time due to the vehicular homicide caused by a drunk Episcopal bishop who was ordained despite a known history of alcohol abuse.

The Federalist has a nice summary of the incident, but what I find fascinating is how she apparently has a male concubine. 

As Spock would say:  Fascinating.

One thread unites both these organizations and it isn’t a nominal devotion to Christ, it is a determination to claim that everything is okay.

It is one thing to hate the sin but love the sinner; it is another to deny the existence of sin at all.

Too many Protestant churches have done the latter, arguing that there really aren’t any temptations of the flesh and that it is worse to be “exclusionary” and “judgmental” than actually call out and condemn evil.

The problem inherent in this is that if God loves us all no matter what we do, why bother going to church at all?  Why sacrifice time and treasure to seek salvation if it’s already a done deal?

One of the recurring slurs thrown against Catholics is that they are a bunch of guilt-ridden masochists.  Indeed, I think there’s an unwritten rule of British cinema that all historic depictions of Catholics must involve a self-flagellation.  Were I more skilled, I’d put together a supercut of these, which often have no bearing at all on the plot.  It’s almost like British shorthand for showing that someone is a Catholic.   Old prejudices die hard, I suppose, but hateful stereotypes often have a grain of truth to them and in this case that grain is this:  Worship and piety isn’t always comfortable.

Of course one need not lash oneself with a whip to practice self-denial and penitence.   Fasting and abstaining from meat do quite well, actually.  Over the years I’ve come to notice that liberal Protestants have reduced their sacrifices to showing up and loudly supporting trendy causes.   Clearly even that is now proving too much for many adherents.

This brings us to my earlier point about losing worshipers.  Faith is actually strengthened by hardship and discipline.  The early Christians faced certain death, and yet they remained steadfast.  In fact, despite the certain knowledge of horrific punishment, the faith continued to spread throughout the world.

The advent of comfort and the theology of “if it feels good, do it” is far more destructive to a congregation than rigid and unfeeling dogma.

One of the few positive signs in society I’ve observed over the past few years is that it is getting more difficult to find an empty seat in church.  The pews are usually packed and even the vestibule is filling up.  I take that as a sign that while the culture may be faltering, young people are perhaps aware that there is something missing in their world of ipads and easy pleasure.

Maybe someone should point this out to liberal Protestants.

Bergdahl faces justice

Well, color me surprised.  The Army has decided to charge Bowe Bergdahl with desertion after all.

Clearly the Army leadership agreed with me:

The administration is walking on very thin ice here.  The political leadership may well force DoD to cover everything up, but desertion in a combat zone is a (literally) a capital offense.  Even the most dedicated brown-nosing senior officers will hesitate here.  There are thousands of troops still in Afghanistan and their morale is likely in a critical state.  America's volunteer armed forces are too professional to mutiny, but low morale has other effects - missions become less thorough, commanders cease showing initiative, and so on.  It will be interesting to see how they move forward on this.

When I originally wrote that, it seemed that the DoD was squarely under the Administration's thumb.  Since then, the White House has done nothing but undermine its influence with the career officers.  The departure of Hagel (who proved surprisingly resistant) has only strengthened the hand of those who are more concerned with the long-term health of the force than political expediency.

To put it another way, doing the right thing no longer carries serious career risk.

As to the outcome of the investigation, I do not doubt that it will be thorough, though I also expect the penalty to be less than the maximum.  I'd even be inclined to accept a dishonorable discharge (equivalent to a felony with loss of all pay and benefits) and leave it at that.  At least it would spare us the kind of spectacle of ex-PFC Manning's drama where the government has to pay for his sex change while he's incarcerated.

Meanwhile the NYT has beclowned itself yet again on the matter.  Twitchy has the details.

I know there is a tendency on the right to assume everyone knows why the NYT take is stupid, but I will spell it out:  A criminal conviction in a court martial carries with it a less than honorable discharge by definition.

Sort of like a court convicting someone of a felony but declining to create a record of it:  Can't happen.  If you get convicted of a felony, you are a felon.  QED.

Now, one intriguing thought is that Obama might pardon the fellow, but I find this highly doubtful for the simple reason that Obama doesn't give a damn about Bergdahl.  He's one of the little people this administration regularly grinds into powder.

What is more , he is a military veteran and those guys are absolutely the last group in the world this administration cares about.

 

Death to America!

Millions of rational and reasonable people have observed how President Barack Obama and his administration are downright Orwellian in nature. Not just in the spying, cynical "Big Brother" fashion -- NSA, IRS, et al -- but also in the type of doublespeak used in George Orwell's masterpiece book, "Nineteen Eighty-Four."

Up is down, black is white, bad is good, left is right...You get the picture.

In an era when video cameras and Internet archiving/downloading are ubiquitous, this president has the arrogance and gall to think he can get away with repeatedly telling preposterous, bald-faced lies to our face. The outrageousness of this administration's lies is bad enough, but the cavalier, devil-be-damned attitude, the absolute in-your-face flaunting of mendacity, is what's really shocking.

I've stated before that millions of Americans are apathetic, ignorant and/or doped up on SSRI drugs or marijuana. They just don't give a flying phuck! The same can be said for the majority of hacks working in the mainstream media. (Surprisingly, there are a few exceptions, and not just at Fox News or the Wall Street Journal. More on that in a future blog posting.)

The fairy tale about Benghazi and "If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor" are but two of the better known falsehoods spouted by the O-man and his sycophants. There aren't enough hours in the day for me to list them all.

But what I'm leading up to is the latest lie: That the United States, the Middle East and the rest of the world will benefit from a nuclear deal with Iran. And by extension, that Iran, whose bombs and bullets killed and maimed hundreds of U.S. soldiers in Iraq; a nation that regularly spews anti-Semitic venom about wishing to erase Israel from the map, and whose mullahs frequently chant (or Tweet) "DEATH TO AMERICA," is a partner to be trusted, an entity that is bargaining in good faith.

Additionally, according to the Orwell Administration's "logic," Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are the problem. You see, they're the real danger!

A couple weeks ago, the press was apoplectic about the letter from 47 Republican senators to the Iranian mullahs questioning the administration's planned nuclear agreement and cautioning that it is illegitimate without Senate concurrence. Then a few Democrat senators came out in support of that sentiment. And now, a whopping 367 House lawmakers, including dozens of Democrats, have signed a letter to the president expressing grave concern about his naive dealings with Iran.

Keep in mind: The House can torpedo any deal Obama reaches with the Islamofascists by simply refusing to remove economic sanctions against Iran, which surely would be part of the deal.

"Death to America" has been a favorite chant of lunatic Islamofascists for well over 30 years now. But sadly, it may also be an apt description for the consequences of Barack Obama's alarmingly misguided and wrongheaded policies regarding national defense, foreign policy, economics, jurisprudence, interpretations of the constitution, and the separation of powers.

The nation is circling the drain as we prepare to slog through 22 more months of the bull in a china shop. This criminally incompetent administration may not fully bring about "Death to America," but not for want of trying.

Spartans Roll On

Gotta admit: I predicted the Michigan State Spartans' NCAA Tournament run would come to an end today. After all, they were facing the No. 2-seeded Virginia Cavaliers, the same team MSU beat by just 2 points in last year's tournament, with Adreian Payne and Gary Harris, two former Spartans who are now in the NBA.

How could this year's less-talented Spartan team beat such a solid defensive squad? By playing even better defense than the defensive-minded Cavaliers, and also by coming through with hot shooting, including 50 percent from behind the arc. While Michigan State drained 6 of 12 3-point shots, Virginia hit an abysmal 2-of-17. The Spartans also took care of the ball, committing only 6 turnovers.

Hard to believe, but just 3 or 4 weeks ago, some were wondering whether Michigan State would even make the NCAA Tournament. This was following disappointing home losses to mediocre Illinois and Minnesota. Would this be the first Spartans squad since 1997 not to make the tournament? No. The Spartans got hot toward the end of the Big Ten season and made it to the conference tournament championship game before finally bowing to Big Ten champion Wisconsin in overtime a week ago today.

Make no mistake, there are some talented players on this year's team, especially seniors Travis Trice and Branden Dawson. But these three, plus other key contributors such as Denzel Valentine, Matt Costello, Bryn Forbes, Marvin Clark Jr. and Gavin Schilling, can be maddeningly inconsistent. Head Coach Tom Izzo is truly "Da Master," as he knows just how to push their buttons to get maximum effort, and just which player combinations will result in optimum performance against a given opponent.

It's easy to say that other head coaches are more accomplished than Izzo, simply because they've won more national championships. But it's apples to oranges. If Izzo had the talent of Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina the past 15-20 years, he'd probably have 5 or 6 national championships under his belt, not one.

For longtime Spartan fans such as yours truly who suffered through many, many seasons of not making the NCAA Tournament, this is as good as it gets. Since 1999, we have won one national championship and seven Big Ten championships, been to six Final Fours and eight Elite Eights.

Moreover, Izzo has one of the best records in the business as far as players earning their degrees. He won't compromise on academics, nor will he stoop to the sleazy levels of many of his colleagues at numerous high profile programs, who often are in bed with unsavory boosters and alumni and have no qualms about lowering recruiting standards.

As I have stated in the past, I do not wish to see my alma mater win any national championships in basketball or football if it means breaking the rules. As long as Izzo is head coach, we won't have to worry about that.

MSU will go on to face Oklahoma in the Sweet Sixteen on Friday night. It is not out of the question that the Spartans could be headed to the Final Four once again. Amidst the dire news swirling all around us, this is an excellent diversion for fans of the Green and White.

 

Media Jackals WRONG AGAIN!

Many things disgust me about the American news media. 

Two of the plethora of media shortcomings manifested themselves this week:

1) The cluelessness and dead-wrong predictions regarding Israel's elections that look laughable in retrospect; and

2) The "run-with-the-pack" or group-think mentality that invariably grips the media. The inability of major news organizations to exercise critical thinking and take an independent tack on any given issue makes it appear as if these scribes are hypnotized robots.

We'll start with the election in Israel, then transition to the GOP senators' correspondence to Iran's leadership regarding President Obama's proposed nuclear weapons agreement (I won't call it a treaty).

For several days leading up to Tuesday's Israeli election, the media were reporting how it was too close to call, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in grave danger of being ousted by challenger Isaac Herzog. The media apparently felt that Herzog having Obama operatives on his side would be enough for him to pull off the upset. This in conjunction with many Israeli citizens' concerns about the high cost of living.

This reminds me of 2012, when the media stated the recall election against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was too close to call. In fact, Walker won handily. The media dupes would have felt some shame and embarrassment, IF they had a conscience.

After Netanyahu won Tuesday's election decisively, the old media resorted to the usual name calling and cheap accusations about Bibi running a hateful, bigoted campaign against Arabs. Very few of the news media hacks realized that the reason for Netanyahu's victory was because Israelis feel secure under his firm leadership during these dangerous and perilous times in the Middle East. You see, they tend to abide by reality, not fantasy and idealism like so many progressives in the West.

The media also jumped on the bandwagon to attack Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and his 46 colleagues who signed the letter sent to Iran's mullahs. All the senators did was remind the Iranian leaders that any agreement with Obama isn't solid without Senate concurrence. To hear the news media report it, you'd think the senators were guilty of a terrible breach of protocol, and an outrageous example of disrespect.

Far from it. President Obama has shown repeatedly that he doesn't respect the constitution, Congress or the separation of powers. If he's offended by the House inviting Netanyahu to speak without letting him know, or the senators sending a letter to Iran behind his back, tough shit. Turnabout is fair play.

But the plot thickens. Democrat Senators Chuck Schumer, Steny Hoyer and Eliot Engel have spoken out against the deal, stating we cannot trust Iran. Reality and obvious circumstances can and do shatter partisanship. Bank on it.

It would be nice if the media hacks would be held accountable for their ineptitude. But sadly, widespread ignorance and apathy allow them to continue on with their incompetence.

Is it ignorance or apathy? Hey, I don't know and I don't care.

 

 

 

Harmless as an enemy, useless as an ally

One of the recurring stereotypes of a domestic abuser is the little man who is a failure at his job who then works out his frustration by bullying his wife and children.

Unable to stand up to his peers, his beats the hell out of those who he has the power to control.

Which brings us to the Obama administration.

At this point, the best thing to be from a global strategic position is one of this administration’s enemies.  Everywhere you look , they are flourishing.

ISIL has gone from being the j.v. squad to owning much of Iraq and Syria.  Iran now controls four capitals and Russia continues to defy the White House at every turn.

Even domestically, the GOP is stronger than it has been since before FDR.

Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu is now benefitting from this happy circumstance.  The Obama administration’s Chicago machine went after the Likud Party with everything they had – including a likely illegal use of State Department funds.

The result?  Likud gained seats.

Yep, unless you are Joe Citizen, being on Obama’s enemies list is the ticket to victory.

Sabotaging Hillary

The evidence seems to indicate that President Barack Obama's eternal sycophant and alter ego, Valerie Jarrett, was the person who tipped off the press about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's home-based server and email account used for official government business.

This should not come as a shock, as political observers have long known that there is plenty of mistrust and tension between the Obamas and the Clintons in their egotistical and power-hungry struggle for control of the Democrat Party.

Surprisingly, the news media has smelled blood in the water and seems to be in attack mode regarding Hillary's breach of standard operating procedure and her typical mendacity. Some speculate that the press doesn't think Hillary is far left enough, and would prefer a hard-left candidate such as Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Or perhaps the press, like the cheap date who feels used and abused the next morning, is fed up with toadying to manipulative liars.

Mark my words, the Obama loyalists will prod the press to look into Clinton's sketchy use of expense accounts at the State Department as well as shady dealings by the Clinton Foundation, which has accepted donations from numerous repugnant dictatorships and individuals.

I have heard the theory that Obama's administration doesn't want Hillary to become president because they believe she will unravel the vaunted upcoming agreement with Iran -- basically a sellout that would make Neville Chamberlain blush -- regarding development of nuclear weapons. (She actually may have more common sense on this issue than the hopelessly naive and idealistic ideologue from South Chicago).

And/or, Hillary might compromise with Republicans on ditching some of the many horrible aspects of the Obamacare albatross. Can't let anyone into the White House who might mess with the O-man's legacy now, can we?

At any rate, the Jarrett revelation comes as no surprise, as the dislike between the two camps has been palpable since Obama stole Hillary's expected coronation as the Democrat nominee in 2008. Who could forget Bill Clinton's derisive statement about Obama to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy: "A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee..."

The Clintons have always played hardball, but in the Obama cultists, they've indeed met their match. As I have stated before, animosities between members of the same political party can often be more bitter and malicious than those between members of opposing parties. The Clinton-Obama feud is no exception.

Chiseling Governments

Governments love to get into people’s pockets.

Our Founding Fathers knew that, and resented Great Britain’s heavy-handed Stamp Act of 1765, regarded by the colonists as a fast-and-dirty way to raise money without the approval of colonial legislatures.

Too, the Tea Act of 1773, implemented to boost the struggling East India Tea Company, imposed additional costs – import duties -- on American merchants. Again, it was an example of taxation without representation, and helped spur the American Revolution.

Government’s arrogance and sense of entitlement toward private citizens’ money continues unabated in 2015. But it’s not just Uncle Sam, as egregious as its violations have been. It is also state and local governments.

In Chicago, Redflex, which makes traffic light cameras, allegedly bribed corrupt local officials during the Richard Daley administration to get the Windy City’s contract. The firm received a cut of all revenues raised from tickets issued – until current Mayor Rahm Emanual ended the contract with Redflex. Compounding matters, the city shortened yellow light durations by about ¾ second to increase the number of violations and tickets issued.

The corruption has played out over several years with indiscretions, investigations and indictments. Chicago definitely rivals New Oreans as the nation's most corrupt city!

My town, East Lansing, Michigan, gouges the heck out of any homeowner who wishes to rent all or a portion of his home. By the time a homeowner pays fees for a rental license fee, housing commission hearing, and inspectors who visit the house, he’s out thousands of dollars. Granted, a college town has to keep a lid on rental housing or real estate values will tank and neighborhoods could deteriorate. But still, this seems like a cash cow for the city. 

And the state of Michigan has been a serial violator of what ought to be a commandment: Thou shalt not abuse government to chisel the people. The former governor, Jennifer Granholm, aka Tinkerbelle, initiated an infuriating policy called the driver responsibility fee, which nails drivers with two consecutive years of fines for offenses as minor as driving without proof of insurance and driving without a renewed registration. My wife and I both have fallen victim to this cash grab, due to not having certain paperwork in the glove compartment (proof of insurance or current registration). It was a brutal $150-a-pop. A two-fer up the wazoo!

The state of Michigan has also found other ways to extract cash from the people. As this piece attests, attests, Michigan government officials have repeatedly used the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to rake in the Benjamins.

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a conservative/libertarian think-tank based in Midland, Mich. (your humble blogger’s hometown), was absurdly charged $6.5 million for an FOIA request, according to one of its longtime employees, Michael LaFaive.

Jane Briggs-Bunting, president of the Michigan Coalition for Open Government, was quoted in The Detroit News as stating that in some instances, public bodies use FOIA requests a revenue stream. Gee, ya think so?

Voters need to wake up and put their proverbial foot down. It’s time to demand that those we elect to serve us provide the respect and restraint to which we  are entitled. We’ve about had it with corrupt, self-serving politicians!