Feeling Mugged Just Right About Now

by Smitty

Either HR2454 or the heavy food from the bar last night has the tummy a bit out of sorts at the moment. Yet the Full Metal Jacket Reach Around must go on. Pardon the slight tardiness: unlike Congress, I'm willing to admit that dropping ~300 pages at 0300 on top of another ~900 pages is a recipe for disaster. Madame Speaker: if James Madison, or any of the other founding fathers were alive to witness your depredations, I daresay they'd be calling you everything but an American citizen, or worse.
On to the FMJRA therapy.

Economic Wrecking Ball:

• Actually, Carolyn Tacket used the phrase 'economy wrecking bill' to introduce her Friday night roundup. I guess Congress has to destroy and economy to save it, for certain values of "save" where the letter "l" creeps into the second position.
• Mike at the Conservative Political Report included us in his roundup. He notes that Representative Boehner was to have read the entire bill on the House floor. Oh, really?
• Our Ohio U. correspondent Jesse finds some humor in this: "Cap'n Trade isn't the name of a crappy seafood restaurant, it's a House bill that's going to the Senate. Elections have consequences, folks."
• Paleo Pat at Political Byline picked us up, as well: "instead of sitting and writing about crap I know zero about, I will quote people that do know about it." The fact that you admit knowing zero about it, Pat, puts you on the same level as the pack of clowns that voted in favor of it, albeit in the more honest section.
• The BlogProf seems rather exercised on the topic. From his title, "...The Total Cost Is Still Unknown To Many Americans. Or That It Is A Proven Failure In Europe!" See, now, this is America. Yes we can re-invent the wheel, and indeed make it rounder. It's all about good engineering, no? The jobs? Outsourced to Zambiniland, of course.
• The Pirate's Cove post includes the famous Los Angeles roadmapwiring diagram (emphasis mine)

  The chart highlights the slew of new government programs Democrats will create in order to take and redistribute trillions of dollars from family budgets and workers payrolls in the form of allowances – all overseen by a confusing web of government agencies.

  See? New government Programs? As long as some jobs are created, it's OK. That more jobs are destroyed in the creation of those zero-economic benefit government jobs is merely a ploy to ferret out the conservative rubes who are not "on board".
• The Rhetorican linked the 'No Transparency' post.
• Pat in Shreveport has a great roundup, and points out that we all owe debt of gratitude to Stacy for pounding the pavement on the story. I sit and crank out this post here at Porch Manqué Central and ponder how hard it would be to divert time from my job to do this kind of watch-dogging. So thank you, Stacy. [Tip Jar moment goes here].
• Drive Time Happy hour summarizes the legislation: "about as transparent as cotton candy".
• Knappster: "Smoot-Hawley redux"
• Dave at Fish Fear Me: "You're the Sucker". It's a logical consequence of having swallowed a line of nonsense hook, link, sinker, and half the pier.
• Left Coast Rebel has some good thoughts, as well as the Warren Buffet clip lamenting the plight of the poor people. a) Why support the Democrats at all, and b) note that the FTP spirit of the 111th Congress, which shall live in infamy, is not new: [NSFW]

• Beyond the HR2454 economic Pearl Harbor strike just conducted by the Wicked Witch of the West, Donald Douglas also linked us on the general lack of confidence in the stimulus package. I'm no' so sure they lack understanding of the unworkability of these ideas. I grow uneasy that they may in fact have a higher level of understanding of the situation, which they are not quite sharing.
• Punch line: the bill does not exist in any final form.

I'm renaming it POTUS Inspector General-Gate.:
The PIG-gate spigot rhymes with frigate. Probably too weird, but we'll see if it catches, as it continues to pump effluent into the news plumbing.

• Blog buddy Dan Riehl links us both at length and briefly.
• Lead and Gold is also intrigued by the Acheson question. Also: Man on Fire. Unlike the liars, who merely have smoldering britches.
• Moe Lane at Red State summarized one chunk of the CHT: "Fred Weiderhold quit rather than tell Congress he was under Biden’s thumb."
• The Daily Danet (ah, Clark Kent sketch, rhymes with 'planet') also linked us briefly. Thanks!
• Perennial ToM favorite Carol offered a concise summary with a graphic of Senator Grassley (R-IA).
• In a brazen attempt at a metaphoric coup, Obi's Sister thinks aloud that PIG-gate is like an Onion. Hmmm. I suppose, with the accounting angle, you could bring in [NSFW] Herbert Kornfeld, from back in the edgier days... You really have to know where to look for that content. They had that character die right around the time the last presidential campaign was revving up. Coincidence?
• Riehl posted concerning the Rick Moran Blog Talk Radio show about PIG-gate. The remarks about the POTUS's character and managerial style are interesting speculation.
• When Instapundit asks: "Is there some kind of pattern here?" he means: even Ray Charles, both dead and blind, can see it! OK, I made that up. Insty may not have meant that exactly.
• Moe Lane linked us here.
• Also, a link roundup from the Rhetorican.
• Jimmie Bise served up some PIG-gate at the Sundries Shack.

• Robert Belvedere at The Camp of the Saints appears to be maintaining the definitive index of all things PIG-gate at the WWU-AM page at TCOS. Scroll down a bit and look at the middle column below "Unwelcome Distractions". This is an excellent resource. We thank you, sir.
• There was also linkage by Michelle Malkin, who has been working this story as hard as Stacy.
• We further caught the attention of the suave Mr. Paco.
• Fisherville Mike is also glued to the browser, awaiting updates.

Attack of the two-inch tall governor:
Without delving into a full autobiographical sketch, one thing dad taught me was: "One 'Oh, s**t' wipes out 1,000 atta-boys". Restated, a single failure obliterates a thousand good deeds.

• The Conservative Political Report mentioned us briefly in a roundup.
• The BlogProf's roundup mentions us positively, John Kerry's attempt to bring Governor Palin into the conversation, not so much.
• John Hawkins, writing for Pajamas Media offered a roundup from the right-o-sphere, quoting Stacy at length, as one does.
• The Moralia Blog linked my initial, cautious note.
• The Daley Gator appreciated the (mostly) humorous advice proffered by Stacy: Just shoot the SOB. He linked us more on this topic in a rather squirrely way.
• Jeffords turns the baleful eye and notes: "As the late, great Lewis Grizzard once noted, he needed killin' is a valid defense down South."
• Fisherville Mike appreciated the roundup effort.

But consider that there are still one or things that can still be with your record, Mr. Sanford:

Even an entire Rose Garden can't cover the stench of rotten policy:

• Obi's Sister delivered a thorough drubbing about the presidential response to Iran.
• Donald Douglas demonstrates determined diplomatic decolletage. A stunning display of Rule 5 intensity sure to leave the mullah's staggered.
• Jules Crittenden: "The Other McCain gushblogs it."
• Thanks also to Hyscience for the linkage.
• Bits of Brain had a thoughtful Domino Theory essay, and linked to the "Once Upon a Time..." post with the Gipper.
• Little Miss Attila refers to the POTUS as a "One Trick Pony". Now, would that trick have been campaigning? Why does LMA hate ponies?

Moving on from personal to policy failures:
Just because it got all the rave reviews of a George W. Bush speech doesn't render BHO's single payer scamplan harmless.

• The verbose William Teach: Fail. This looming disaster has been called more dangerous than HR2454.

Don't let the irritated pit-bull demeanor towards David Letterman distract you:
Cynthia Yockey is really a lovely lady.

• Chad at KURU lounge does his part:

  One reason that so many conservative political figures are destroyed is that they set standards for themselves and others. Unfortunately it isn't always possible to live up to the standards you set. Liberals understand this and so they pick and pick until they can find a defect then attack full force. Apologies or pledges to change behavior elicit no mercy and eventually the conservative is forced to remove himself from public life.

• Chris in New Jersy (not the sad little HR2454 sellout, neither of whom is me) pointed to a tangential benefit of supporting the Fire Letterman campaign:

  The Letterman boycott movement is still some mighty fine Google bait for me. And it really helps that the Big Kahuna himself, Promulgator of The Rules and Sensei of Blog-Fu, Robert Stacy McCain, inducted me into the "Don't F*** With Us" Coalition.

Special Rule 5 Note:
The winner of last week's "Find a Date for Conor" Rule 5 Challenge, namely, Deuce at The Skepticrats has weighed in. Tommorow's roundup will not include Maria Belen Chapur links. I'll add Jenny Sanford to the exclusion list. Not that we object to gratuitous overkill in the slightest, mind you. However, our cheerful appreciation of beauty as such is about positive admiration, and not to be confused with temptation to stray.

Miscellaneous Shout Outs (Shouts Out?):

• Dustbury enjoys the X could not be reached for comment pattern, and offers examples. Also, the three word commentary post rocks, although I was too lazy to search the HTML source to figure out where he linked us.


• Donald Douglas noted the plumbing in a Stacy's biographical essay. The sad news is that this seemingly historical piece was a stealth prophecy about what Cap'n Trade's going to do to us all.
• We made a small link roundup of Troglopundit's. However, it's his career counseling that really smacks of wisdom.
• The Mean ol' Meany delivered a jolly flogging to the left, and mentioned Stacy's economic reporting. For the record, I don't want to believe that New Yorkers are as stupid as the video clip at the bottom of the post implies.
• The Classical Liberal linked the "No Turning Left" post in an excellent meditation on the lunacy of the left. Of course, the leadership in the left are crazy like foxes.
• The Camp of the Saints concurred with the rejection of Affirmative Action.
• Dan Collins
• The Left Coast Rebel notes that obedience to shameless blogwhoring pays. Now, let's get you wired for Technorati.

Pardon the tardy FMJRA. We'll post about last night's DC gathering elsewhere. Please send updates and corrections to Smitty. Please contact your Congresscritter and offer the most polite variation on a primal scream that you can muster. And hit the tip jar.