Working to Put More Teeth in that Marine Corps Mouth...

Yup, spending my time building software systems for the Corps.
Always with the goal to put more POGs to the front.

In actuality, the optimization in rear guard support staff was the only positive from the Clinton Legacy Era. The Marine Corps did get leaner - and thanks to General Krulak meaner and better. The Corps is more in-sync with the military and political and social realities of the world than it was in 1992. This occurred because of strong Marine Corps leadership.

I offer no props to the Clinton Legacy Minders. I lived that dream and I aint talkin' it up as some Diamond Dude in front of some ignorant throng of Libs (Thong, or whatever they wear under their burlap sacks). The props go to the Corps and their ability to survive the Clinton Legacy. Imagine a Corps of the mid-90's with a Shenseki as Commandant.

As proof, note the Army of 2001.
They were not ready to fight.
45% Reservist, 55% Acitve
Sorry, but true.

Now, however, the Army is ready and does fight!!!

Go Rumsfeld.
Go Shoomaker

As an aside to the depressed out there. Remember one thing. While you might dwell on the problems you know - or think you know - the other side of the battlefield has problems of their own. And, personally, I would not want to be in their shoes. While I am not overly positive on Israel's Clintonesque action in Lebanon remember that for Iran and Syria and Hezbollah to succeed they will have to be viewed as the benefactors of the rebuilding process. This will draw increasing resources from each point in this terror triangle. It will not be good enough for Hezbollah (and, thus, Iran and Syria) to wander around the neighborhood spreading petrol dollars. They are going to have to provide labor, organization, and competence toward a rapid rebuild of damage incurred during fighting for their cause. Every misstep will aggravate the populace.

Hezbollah, enjoy your very own Katrina affect!!!

How much heavy machinery does Hezbollah have on site???

American Political Trends - Where are we going...

Re(1): 'National Journal's 2005 Congressional Vote Ratings', National Journal
Re(2): 'American Conservative Union Ratings of Congress', American Conservative Union

Howling from the left, howling from the right. The Republicans are going to lose seats. They will lose control of the House and Senate. There will be investigations of a President during wartime. The end is near.

The Eye of Sauron gazes upon us!!!

Get that damn ring off and have a beer or two. Mellow out dude. Its August...

Think of it this way:

When you are on the basketball court and the other team has to change its lineup and game plan who do you think is winning. The radio announcers may claim to respect the coaches ability to change up and adjust, but who is winning the game

In the context of this report, what are the long term political trends, and what does it mean to us?

I reviewed Senatorial voting patterns using two fact sets. First, the lifetime voting rating provided by the American Conservative Union. Then the 2005 voting rating provided by the National Journal. The obvious weakness in this review is the fact that I am using National Journal numbers for one year - not a lifetime rating. That said, the numbers from National Journal gel with those of the ACU. Additionally, I don't even play a statistician on the radio - so any advice is well appreciated.

Republican Senators by Initial Election Year:

Election Year	ACU	NJ Economics	NJ Social	NJ Foreign	NJ Conservative%
1968-76	69.00	65.50	57.50	74.00	70.60
1976-80	82.75	69.50	62.00	65.50	70.15
1980-92	81.78	74.89	66.11	62.67	72.27
1992-00	83.73	72.50	63.45	61.77	70.16
2000-06	90.83	69.06	70.33	68.61	75.53
Average	84.77	71.49	65.47	64.64	72.03

Democrat Senators by Initial Election Year:

Election Year	ACU	NJ Economics	NJ Social	NJ Foreign	NJ Conservative%
1968-76	5.00	17.50	13.50	14.00	16.90
1976-80	7.00	21.33	22.67	15.00	25.33
1980-92	12.17	19.00	19.83	23.35	22.43
1992-00	12.43	21.14	19.57	17.00	21.09
2000-06	19.73	25.91	20.45	29.36	27.12
Average	11.26	20.98	19.20	19.74	22.57

The simple implication is that the newest Democratic Senators are - in a significant way - transitioning conservative from their long term mean. New Democratic Senators are:

• 8.5 points higher on the American Conservative Unions lifetime voting record
• And, a whopping 14.26 points higher than the Liberal Ancient Regime!

And, in 2005 Democratic Senators elected from 2000 onward were:

• 4.93% more conservative on Economic votes than previous classes
• 1.25% more liberal on Social votes
• 9.62% more conservative on Foreign Affairs votes
• 4.53% more conservative overall.
• and, a whopping 15% more conservative on Foreign Affairs votes than the Ancients

In the meantime, the Republicans seem more at ease with their deals. Republican Senators elected for the first time in 2000 or later are:

• 6 points higher on the American Conservative Unions lifetime voting record

And, in 2005 Republican Senators elected from 2000 onward were:

• 2.43% less conservative on Economic votes than previous classes
• 4.86% more conservative on Social votes
• 3.97% more conservative on Foreign Affairs votes
• and, 3.50% more conservative overall.

Folks, for all the hue and cry, it is not the growing Republican majority that is changing its principles and game plan - it is the Democrats. We are about to see that Party fragment. The younger, more conservative studs will want - ney, need - to take control of that Party. Listen to the screaming about voting Pelosi out if she doesn't gain a majority. Reid will be gone. The American public - taken as a whole - does not respond well electorally to someone that has a single digit ACU rating. They are unelectable - and getting more so. These bubbas can be elected locally, but who wants them running a national effort. By their very nature they are out of the mainstream.

This recent conservative shift started in 2000 and will continue through at least 2012. It will take years for the Democrats to sort themselves out - and the little Lamont temper tantrum ain't helping things. Right now, the only folks who could save the Democratic Party (Bill Nelson, Ben Nelson, Mark Pryor, and Ken Salazar) will not clear the Idiotarian Party primaries. There is nobody in the wings palatable to the general public.

Finally, I think this explains the consternation regarding President Bush. If I were to put him on the ACU scale (by twitching my nose somewhat scientifically) he would be right around Senator Norm Coleman of Minisota. The American public is now demanding someone in the Frist to Allen range. It is not President Bush that is changing, it is us...

That is a very good thing...

Democrats Voting Power over Principle!

Re(1): ‘Connecticut Feels Strain of a Rematch at the Polls’, NYT, Nicholas Confessore
Re(2): www.ElectionProjection.com

Can anything express the values difference between Conservative thought and Liberal thought than this graph from the NYT:

Peter Gray wrestled long and hard over how to vote in Tuesday’s Democratic
primary in Connecticut before deciding to go with Senator Joseph I. Lieberman over his challenger, Ned Lamont. And he is not exactly looking forward to doing it all over again.

“I’m very conflicted,” said Mr. Gray, 32, of Stamford. “I feel like he turned his back on the party, but I don’t like a brand-new senator who doesn’t have power.”

But like most of the Lieberman supporters interviewed during the past two days, Mr. Gray said he would probably stick with Mr. Lieberman in the general election on Nov. 7, when the senator will be on his own ballot line as he tries to keep his seat.
“Joe’s still the man for the job,” Mr. Gray said. “He’s used his power to do a lot of positive things.”

A thought: Where does that desire for naked political power find itself within the conservative election time thought process?

It is there – but is it job 1 for Conservatives.

It appears so for Liberals.


Some Stats on the US Senate:

Both Parties now are actually about as radical:

• The average rating for a Democratic Senator is 14.
• The average rating for a Republican Senator 85
  
  That is, both Parties average scores are centered 15 points off their extremes

There is very little difference in average age of Senators by Party.

• The average date of birth for a Democratic Senator is 9/16/1943.
• The average date of birth for a Republican Senator 10/20/1944

Here is a more substantial difference:

• The average election year for a Democratic Senator is 1989.
• The average election year for a Republican Senator 1994

In contrast, here are juicy tidbits:

• Newer Senators in the Democratic Party are more conservative
• 58% of the Democratic Party is of the pre-Baby Boom generation
• There is a growing divide between the aging bulls and the new Senators
  
• Newer Senators in the Republican Party are a bit more conservative
• 51% of the Republican Party is of the pre-Baby Boom generation
• There is minimal cultural divide between the aging bulls and the new Senators
  
• Out of the septuagenarians in the Senate, two of the Democrats are leaving public service while a third wanted to. None of the Republicans of that age group elected to leave public service.
  
• Another interesting tidbit, Joseph Lieberman falls dead center with liberal rating of 17. The fact that he was deposed means that the Party activists are shifting hard to the left. With the above trends, this does not bode well in general elections – how could Lamont possibly move to the center of an ever more conservative Democratic Party. His survival requires Connecticut to be an island in a sea of change – and it might be, see the ElectionProjection web site.

So, where is the country headed?

Do you want to hitch your wagon to Lamont’s star?

What are the odds that we will have a more cohesive Senate soon?

The Sound and Fury of Idiots :-&

Re(1): ‘What Is Being Left - The Ugly Ass With Attitude...’, MySandmen, Mr. Atos

Mr. Atos, in the comments to his post ‘What Is Being Left - The Ugly Ass With Attitude...’, added within the comments section:

The Democrats have ensured themselves irrelevence. They are the Macbeth party.....

"that struts and frets [its] hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more: [Theirs] is a tale [now] told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

He links to the front page of the DailyKOS – confident in their continuing idiocy.

Get this, he links to the starting page of a daily blog.

So confident is he!!!

Little did Mr. Atos know, but the ‘idiots’ in question posted the following the very next day. On a day when the civilized world beat back terrorism. On a day when the very tools these idiots rail against on a daily basis played the major factor in denying Osama his joy.

Playing politics with terror
Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 05:23:16 PM PDT
This brilliant post culls unnamed anonymous sources from the world over to denigrate the President and to slight the take down of terror. Intercepting a terror plot is all about calling Democrats Ninnies or something. Well, that shoe looks like it might just fit - give it another try!

CT-Sen: Lieberman election-day traffic spike
Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 05:18:58 PM PDT
Wow, the DailyKOS had a traffic spike. Is it a slow news day?

First post-Tuesday congressional poll
Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 04:35:29 PM PDT
Wow, some poll in early August is showing gains for Libs. Is it a slow news day?

Terror Plot Thwarted By British
Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 02:18:40 PM PDT
We caught the Terror Turds before they crapped on the civilized world again, but Hunter has this to say:

At the same time, our human intelligence efforts are nearly nil, port security continues to be ignored, our military services are tossing out fluent Arabic translators for the transgression of being gay, and the funding of meaningful "homeland security" efforts is being treated like it was a carnival game by the Republican congress, which cannot fundamentally distinguish between security efforts and required "pork" patronage.

I don't feel safer, today. And I didn't need the color-coded Rainbow of Terror, which has been even further debased by being hauled out like the world's most transparent political fear-o-meter during every election season, to tell me that.

I think Hunter would be more comfortable with the 'Rainbow Coalition' fighting the good fight, eh...

Run from Bush, run far, far away!
Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 12:32:31 PM PDT
Obviously, a slow news day!

2006: Sabato's latest predictions
Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 12:32:31 PM PDT
So what, obviously, a slow news day!

That old GOP playbook ain't working no more
Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 11:47:40 AM PDT
Yup thats right, a culture of fear and corruption or something...

Republican Party puts Hitler mustache on Dean
Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 10:58:41 AM PDT
So subtle, I can’t even see the supposed mustache.

MO-Sen: Why is Talent (R) afraid to say he's a Republican?
Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 10:10:35 AM PDT
Yup, most certainly. Is there anything else to talk about.

CT-Sen: Joe's hometown paper wants him out
Thu Aug 10, 2006 at 10:06:41 AM PDT
Oooo, weee, the Tuckwilla Times want Lieberman to acquiesce to the NedRoots.

Mr. Atos, The Prognosticator

Such Talent

Then, again, maybe he could count on the DailyKOS. They are idiots after all...

Are there any 9/11 Republicans out there...

Re(1): 'Time for a Divorce', The Irish Trojan Blog, Brandon Loy
Re(2): 'My Mom is Quitting the Democratic Party Too', The Irish Trojan Blog, Brandon Loy
Re(3): 'Let's See if I got this Right', InstaLawyer, Douglas C. Weinstein

HT: InstaPundit, Glenn Reynolds

UPDATED 2006/08/1921

Pink Floyd:

Is there anybody out there?
Is there anybody out there?
Is there anybody out there? Anybody at all…

For the six folks who read my blog, I want to admit something...

I voted for Jesse Jackson in 1992. I don't even want to tell you who I voted for in 1988. That tells you something, eh… Hint, I voted for the person in the last political ad I watched – and he was in the slam. It wasn’t till 1996 that I voted for a Republican as President. Reading this site – who would have known. But, that should tell the Democratic Party something. Folks like me have only switched over the last ten years – and millions more switched on a certain Tuesday on a certain September day on a certain day this millennium.

However, I am asking the question: Are there any 9/11 Republicans out there…

I just found a couple more 9/11 Democrats:

1. Brandon Loy – All excited about getting InstaLaunched…
2. Brandon Loy's Mom - She is liberal, but not a nut single issue nut...
3. Douglas Weinstein – the InstaLawyer… He just got Instalaunched – and his server is still up…

I can’t say it isn’t a bit exciting getting launched. Michelle Malkin found a post on my site and launched hundreds of readers to view my pap. Louri Byrd (then of PoliPundit) launched hundreds more on two different entries.

It is a bit exciting.

Personally, it is the Belmont Club, MySandmen, SecurityWatchTower, CouterTerrorismBlog, and LGF readers that seem to motor over after I comment that excite me. It is neat to have a few readers here and there to get a bit disappointed when I don’t create daily entries.

Kinda ramblin’… But, what can you expect when I am partaking in Adult Libations (very sorry, note the plural) – in this case Samuel Smith’s Imperial Stout. A very invigorating libation for we NeoCons, eh…

Oh, well… Does this count as a post… I know it isn’t one of my best… I also know it will probably go into as special link list of its own. Is it really a flameout? Nope. But, it is a drunken sot of a post.

So, to my friends out there…

Sod Off Swampy

UPDATE (2006/08/1921):
I think Jeff Goldstein has been imbibing on a few himself, eh:

“TOCK, baby! The new word is TOCK! ‘Tic’ is through. ‘Tic’ represents capitulation to the Man’s predominant narrative. Whereas TOCK is the advent, brothers and sisters —the dawning of a new age of progressive political and social awakening that begins and ends with the power of the people powered people’s peopling and as such cannot be contained, constrained, or compartmentalized. It just is. Yes, TOCK is here to stay! And those who refuse to heed TOCK will soon be relegated to the ash heap of --”

I think I understand this passage!!!

Questions to the Media...

Re(1): 'Know Thy Enemy', Me
Re(2): 'A still small voice', Belmont Club, Wretchard T.C.

Why should we trust you?

What have you done that warrants such trust?

Here is an earlier compilation against trusting you and/or your editorial judgment.

Now,

Listen...

Listen...

Listen...

After the earthquake a fire passed; but Yahweh was not in the fire: and after
the fire a still small voice. It was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped
his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave.
Behold, a voice came to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

That still small voice is asking an important question:

Untrusted, who will act as the distributors of information - the fundamental of truth?

Untrusted, are we a step closer to accepting despotism?

If you are not able to hear the still small voice through the Sturm und Drang of conflict and war and dissention, than hear this clear and loud voice carrying through fire and earthquakes:

Earn your damn trust back!

Score Another Run for Charles Johnson...

Re(1): 'Reutergate: "Picture kill", MichellMalkin.com, Michelle Malkin
Re(2): 'Corrupting our sight 2', Belmont Club, Wretchard T.C.
Re(3): 'Know Thy Enemy', Me

HT: The Drudge Report

While BDS inflicted investor Warren Buffet watches billions flow out the door - kinda like the vaunted government watchdogs we call the President, the Senate, and the House - the Anti-Idiotarian Charles Johnson is fitting his cap for another feather...

Here is the unadorned image from the camera REUTERS/Adnan Hajj:















And now, to symbolize the mass murdering, carpet bombing, war crimes committing, gas chamber lighting, Gestapo marching Jooos, we doctor the photo for distribution as such:


The black jackbooted plumes of Halliburton oil fires stream into the air from a mass area bombing.

Carpet Bombing.

Indiscriminate.

Devastation.




So, the sod REUTERS/Adnan Hajj gets 'suspended' from al-Reuters.

But...

He posts another photo with his last gasp of his judgement.

A photo of Halliburton oil fires streaming from an apartment building.

A photo the fine editors of al-Reuters decide to publish. The artistic balance. The news balance. The memories of Haifa Street in Baghdad!


Soon, we shall certainly be able to answer the following:

Where is the Green Helmet Man???

Where is White T-Shirt Man???

Who voted for Hezbollah???

This photo may or may not have been doctored.
However, even an undoctored and an unstaged photo can lie.

Score Another ‘Wolf’ for Warren Buffet!!!

Re(1): ‘Why I'm not buying the U.S. dollar’, Fortune, Warren Buffet, 2003/10/26
Re(2): ‘Giving more than Buffett and Gates combined’, MarketWatch, 2006/07/25
Re(3): ‘Berkshire Profit Rises 62%; Buffett Cuts Currency Bet’, Bloomberg, 2006/08/05

Oh, woest me…

The epitome of value investing loses a cool billion speculating in the currency markets!!!

I was waiting for this. I was flabbergasted in 2003 when I read Warren Buffet was going to short the dollar inside his Berkshire Hathaway investment fund. He was the stable voice in a market of bombastic Dot.Com morons throughout the late 90’s. But, his BDS got the best of him and the drool on his balance sheets smudged the vitality of the American economy. His smoke tarnished glasses glistened at the vigor of the French and German economies…

Let us look at his reasoning and prognostication - oh my, we have had quite a few brilliant psychic seers recently, haven’t we!.

Obviously, one has to simplify a vast, dynamic, and growing economy to really study it – so let us use the Communist zero sum macro-economics model:

A perpetuation of this transfer will lead to major trouble. To understand why, take a wildly fanciful trip with me to two isolated, side-by-side islands of equal size, Squanderville and Thriftville. Land is the only capital asset on these islands, and their communities are primitive, needing only food and producing only food. Working eight hours a day, in fact, each inhabitant can produce enough food to sustain himself or herself. And for a long time that's how things go along. On each island everybody works the prescribed eight hours a day, which means that each society is self-sufficient.

Ah, that simplifies the equation. There are no goods other than land and food. There are no requirements for services such as blacksmithing or oil exploration or software development. We can narrow a 13.5 Trillion dollar economy to land and food!

And, after Thriftville starts selling surplus food to the LOPs (Low Output People) in Squanderville an imbalance occurs – resulting in Thriftville citizens actually owning hard assets in Squanderville! And, now:

At that point, the Squanders are forced to deal with an ugly equation: They must now not only return to working eight hours a day in order to eat -- they have nothing left to trade -- but must also work additional hours to service their debt and pay Thriftville rent on the land so imprudently sold. In effect, Squanderville has been colonized by purchase rather than conquest.

In effect, Mr. Buffet invested in the Euro. He invested in the dynamic French and German economies. He invested billions and billions against America and against the Dollar just when his Value Investment strategy would have netted him billions. Just when the Evil BusHitler’s tax policies revitalized the concept of value investing (see tax treatment of dividends) the key proponent of value investing started dabbling in futures and options. Missed it by t-h-a-t much…

He was right about one thing though:

I will close by reminding you again that I cried wolf once before. In general, the batting average of doomsayers in the U.S. is terrible. Our country has consistently made fools of those who were skeptical about either our economic potential or our resiliency. Many pessimistic seers simply underestimated the dynamism that has allowed us to overcome problems that once seemed ominous. We still have a truly remarkable country and economy.

It was probably wise for him to donate much of his life savings to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation donor-advised charity fund. His remaining assets can thus be invested conservatively using value funds and bonds – and, thus, be saved from the grasping claws of a BDS infected currency speculator!!!

But, BDS strikes when he invests other people’s money… He is one citizen of Squanderville who is wisely purchasing assets in Thriftville:

Buffett, the company's 75-year-old chairman and the world's second-richest man after Microsoft Corp.'s Bill Gates, acquired his first company outside the U.S. in July with the $4 billion purchase of an 80 percent stake in Israel-based toolmaker Iscar Metalworking Cos. As Hezbollah fighters launch rockets within range of Iscar's plant in Tefen, Berkshire faces new risks.

"Berkshire is subject to increased risks from unstable political conditions and civil unrest in international markets,'' the company said in the filing. With the Middle East
in new turmoil, "business operations could be adversely affected directly through the loss of human resources and destruction of production facilities.''

At least he knows when to cut his losses:

Berkshire cut its currency contracts by $4.2 billion during the quarter to $1.2
billion even as the U.S. Dollar Index, used to measure its value against six
major currencies, fell the most in 18 months. Buffett, who had as much as $21.8
billion in contracts in 2005, told investors in March he would acquire interests
in companies outside the U.S. instead.

Mr. Buffet, if I may be of some assistance… I am not a doctor of finance but I play one at the workplace! Invest conservatively in value and safety. Stop seeking speculative returns. End your search for greener and safer pastures – cast your eyes instead upon the ground on which you stand. Take off those smokey glasses and mop the sweat off your brow. BusHitler will be gone in less than three years!!! Take the long view.

There is hope.
In the end, it was tidy of Mr. Buffet to cut his losses just before the Billion mark.
We will call that a moral victory of the sort being won by al-Qaeda and Hezbollah!!!

Yuk, yuk…

Schadenfreude…

Oh, how the mighty have fallen!

Now, can we have a peek inside George Sorros’ balance sheets?

Democrat Leadership in Kuwait

Re(1): 'Govt slammed for postponing acceptance of job applications; ‘Write off all consumer loans’ ', Arab Times, 2006/08/05
Re(2): 'Hezb caught in 'quagmire'', Arab Times, 2006/07/27

Yup, the Democratic Party is giving up on America and focusing like a laser beam on the bluest of the blues - Kuwait. Separate the 3rd World pap of MP Ali Al-Deqbasi from the 1st World pap of Senator Ted Kennedy if you can:

KUWAIT CITY (Agencies): “If the government cannot solve the unemployment crisis at a time when there is a huge budgetary surplus and extraordinary revenues, we don’t know when it can find job opportunities for citizens,” says MP Ali Al-Deqbasi. He criticized the government for postponing acceptance of employment applications from August to October 2006, saying: “we were optimistic when the government recently pledged to create new opportunities to lessen the unemployment problem. But after this decision we are very disappointed and wondering when the government can find jobs for citizens.”

Guess what Sherlock al-Deqbasi and Sherlock Kennedy, a real and vibrant economy is not saddled by expansive government jobs programs. Such programs may be necessary to get things done or to spark an economy in the short run - but they are drags on the economy in the long haul. How many government oil tick clerks does Kuwait really need. Open up the economy, free your citizens to think, dream, and confront you and your economy will roar. I know your advisors from the US Democratic Party are telling you otherwise - but please open your eyes (and don't read any more Paul Krugman articles).

By the way, I think many elements of the 'Right Wing Conspiracy' would be willing to hold a fundraiser to permanently station members of the Democratic Party as advisors to Kuwait - kinda like the start of the Vietnam War, eh...

What a quagmire!!!