Why Not The Donald?

While on a pizza run last night, I was scanning the radio for the Grizzlies game and happened across an unknown conservative talk show.  The host cited Donald Trump's dropping F bombs at a Las Vegas rally as a primary reason for not taking him seriously as a presidential candidate.  Indeed, both print and electronic media are awash with reasons we shouldn't take The Donald seriously.  The more I read and hear the more I ask myself, "Except for the hair, why not?"

The Baltimore Sun recently published an article entitled, Donald Trump Will Never be President, that sums up various complaints about Trump rather well.  Conservatives could point to his animus regarding Reagan and Bush, contributions to Rahm Emanuel (shudder) and other lefties, a call for Canadian style health care, and flip flopping on pro-choice. Trump is also a triple divorcee, had more than one business enter bankruptcy, is a shameless self-promoter, and is a "born-again billionaire birther". On top of all that we find out that The Donald cusses like a sailor.

It is the hypocrisy in all this that causes me to ask the question. Consider:

• It is anathema for conservatives to criticize Reagan and less so for Bush (Newt Gingrich), but the fact remains that federal deficit spending increased during both presidencies.
• Trump is apparently an equal opportunity contributor, which may have more to do with the cost of doing business that anything.
• Romney and Gingrich have both supported public health care.
• Giuliani was formerly pro-choice.
• McCain, Giuliani, and Gingrich are divorcees.
• Shameless self promotion?  The names Clinton, Gore and Gingrich come to mind.

In case you were wondering, this is not an I support The Donald piece. Rather, this is an I support The Donald's right to be considered for the office he may choose to seek. Trump is an unconventional candidate in many ways, and both major parties and the media dislike the distraction of unconventional candidates except for entertainment value. Accepting this status quo is the greatest hypocrisy of all.

I'm not sold on The Donald, but he does have one point on which we both agree and which we as voters should continue to trumpet. "Our leaders are stupid, they are stupid people", quoth The Donald. Ask yourself, who else but a stupid person would continue to perpetrate and protect business as usual within the Beltway? Yet the majority of politicians on both sides of the aisle seem content to do just that. The bright spots are by and large congressmen that rode in on the wave of voter dissatisfaction that marked the 2010 election.

Why consider presidential candidates outside the conventional mainstream like Michelle Bachman, Herman Cain, John Bolton, or Donald Trump? Why not?   

Homeland Dairy Security

The Homeland Dairy Security threat level is at what these days? Orange? Red, perhaps?
Now many of you may believe that some of the biggest threats to our national security might include our unsecured border, radical Islam, and other such dastardly issues that threaten us from without. But what if the real answered lied within? What if the real threat was....inside your fridge!

Yes, ladies and bros, the Feds have our best interests at heart and know that the American people must be protected from those dastardly Amish and their unpasteurized milk.

Despite numerous happy customers throughout the District of Columbia and Maryland, and not a single consumer complaint, the Feds have chosen to enforce laws that forbid the consumption of raw milk. The Washington Post notes that this same Obama administration has openly stated they will take a "hands-off" approach and not enforce law violations regarding medical marijuana use and illegal immigrant students and youth.

Raw milk peddlers with funny haircuts, however, must be stopped.

Should these crime lords have to register as Milk Offenders?

 It's heartwarming to know that we have great freedoms here in America, including the freedom to purchase our family any food that the government says we can. It is also good to know that our safety is being looked after. I myself have always looked askance at a man who chooses a full beard but no mustache. What makes his top lip so special?

In summation, as "Brad N" put it in his comment on the Washington Post article:

"The Amish: they don't just block traffic anymore."

Start The Music

"Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music." - Ronald Reagan

Obama was serenaded Thursday by a group of "friends" in San Francisco. The crooners also reportedly waved signs in support of freeing Bradley Manning, the Army PFC being held in military prison for providing confidential material to Wikileaks. It was hardly Marilyn Monroe singing to JFK though.



These troubadours were not well received by Obama, who reportedly turned to Nancy Pelosi and according to The Wire, "inquired whether she was responsible for 'Nancy, did you do this?' he reportedly asked. Her look said she did not..." I'm guessing it looked something like this.

The group apparently paid $5,000 to attend the event, but the song appears to be the brainchild of The Fresh Juice Party. According to The Atlantic Wire, "Fresh Juice appears to be linked to Courage to Resist, an activist group that supports members of the military who go against U.S. war efforts." Fresh Juice offers $50 to people willing to sing their composition in public. This is hardly a recipe for economic success, but that really isn't a surprise given the source.

I can't imagine that any conservative in his or her right mind could stomach singing those lyrics, even to take a dig at Obama. This seems like another indication to me that candidate for re-election Obama and his zealot base are unraveling.

Nancy Pelosi was reportedly not at all happy with Obama about the budget cut compromise. Remember, this is the same Pelosi that rammed through socialized medicine (aka Obama's health care bill). I seem to recall a more cordial Obama/Pelosi relationship back then. Pelosi still commands a great deal of power in certain progressive circles, so alienating her doesn't seem like a great idea for candidate Obama. Not that I'm not complaining, but that seems like the course on which they are headed.

Pelosi is just one indicator that Obama's base is eroding.  The same folks that heckled George W  Bush about Guantanamo and waterboarding are now doing the same thing to Obama for his perceived failure to adequately represent their interests. In an interesting plot twist, perhaps the friend of my enemy is my friend? Obama may be thinking, who needs enemies with friends like these? 

Little things like Obama's open mike slips and his apparent chiding of Pelosi seem to confirm his thin skin.  As Obama continues to get more pressure from without and within, he seems to handle it with less and less grace. It must be tough being smarter than everyone else when everyone else can't seem to see that.

So as much as I hate the kind of crap that these Juicers were singing, I also like it more and more. Regular Bros, keep up the pressure.  Maestro, start the music.

The Social Network

"You know, you really don't need a forensics team to get to the bottom of this. If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you'd have invented Facebook."

- Mark Zuckerberg, The Social Network

The Social Network was alright, but this particular snippet of dialogue struck me. It strikes a certain conservative chord - the separation between those that do and those that think about doing...but don't.

Bro Breitbart Part II

Remember yesterday's post about Martin Bashir doing his liberal-best to peg Andrew Breitbart a racist, conservatie hate monger? Well Bro Breitbart has decided to take it up a notch and put is money where his mouth is, though it's doubtful Bashit would have the guts to comply.

Breitbart is now issuing Bashir a $10,000 challenge to prove his "righteous indignation."

I think the most ludicrous thing about the interview with Bashir, which you almost have to see to believe, is near the end when Bashir presents - pretty much out of the blue - a photo that has apparently circulated online of some chimps with Barack Obama's face photoshopped on one of the heads.

Wait a minute - what? How did that have even the remotest relevancy to his interview with Breitbart?

More broadly, what kind of a world do we live in when you can not be critical of an African-American President without being labelled a racist? Like Dennis Miller said recently: I'm not concerned about the color of his skin, I'm concerned with how thin it seems to be.

The Wisdom of Strawberry Shortcake

Amongst many other characters - Minnie Mouse, Shaun the Sheep, the Muppets - my almost 2 year old daughter loves Strawberry Shortcake.

"Watch Strawbee," she'll ask.

"You wanna watch Strawberry Shortcake," I'll respond.

"Ok," she says, smiling as she takes off running for the living room.

In one particular Strawbee flick, Strawberry Shortcake: The Berryfest Princess, Strawberry is in the midst of a campaign for the Princess crown. She is running against one of her friends and is strongly considering withdrawing from the campaign because of the divisions it is causing within her group of friends.

She winds up having a talk with elder gentleman in town who tells her that voting is all about having choices. He tells her that a vote for someone should not indicate personal like or dislike, but an affirmation of the candidate who presents the best choice.

Somehow in this glitterly, creampuff of a kids movie, I found this great piece of wisdom. Voting should be about the choice that a candidate offers, not an affirmation of who they are personally.

Do we really think through our votes anymore? Do we even think through our lives? Are we voting because we agree with a candidate's stance on issues and not because he seems nice or looks good in a suit or represents some type generic "change?"

And it's not just confined people - this happens in votes on issues, as well.

In this past November's election here in South Dakota, voters of what is typically seen as a primarily conservative state overwhelmingly voted in favor of a smoking ban on all restaurants and bars. How, exactly, does one coalesce conservative views with telling a privately owned establishment that they cannot allow their patrons to smoke? Last I checked, smoking was still legal.

Where do we draw the line? I may not be a smoker, but will the government one day decide I should not be allowed to have caffeine in my coffee, or fries with my burger? Will I even be able to have my burger?

I know people personally who decry attempts to prevent McDonald's and the like from offering toys and kids meals, who at the very same time are ecstatic that smoking is no longer allowed in their hometown restaurants.

What. Is. The. Difference.

Regular Bro, With a Bullet

Actually - Regular Bro without a bullet. We're racking up bros like crazy today, and this one definitely takes the cake.

Read about how this British soldier took down a Taliban bomb-making expert with his bare hands - literally.

Bro Breitbart

Not that we did not already know this, but Andrew Breitbart has just cemented his status as a true Regular Bro. Take that, Bashir.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Gaffe-itis

Raph's post about Obama's chiding of a reporter in Texas got me thinking, which always a dangerous proposition.  Really, two open mike gaffes in what... a week?  Assuming the first one wasn't staged, that has to be a record.  However, it may not be a presidential record (yet) as I recall that George W. Bush had some nice ones.

Time magazine has a nice little compilation of open mike gaffes entitled A Brief History of Microphone Gaffes. W was the only one to make the list twice, which is not surprising from an MSM staple.  The funny thing is the difference between the two presidents.

Here is political hack Obama on April 14:

Eliminating the health care bill would cost us $1 trillion dollars. It would add $1 trillion to the deficit. So when Paul Ryan says his priority is to make sure, he's just being America's accountant and trying to you know be responsible, this is the same guy that voted for two wars that were unpaid for, voted for the Bush tax cuts that were unpaid for, voted for the prescription drug bill that cost as much as my health care bill -- but wasn't paid for. So it's not on the level. And we’ve got to keep on you know, keep on shining a light on that.

Then we have PMS Obama on April 18:

Let me finish my answers the next time we do an interview, all right?

Compare that with W's hall of fame entries on Time's list:

Chatting over lunch at the G8 summit in 2006, President George W. Bush blamed Syria's support of Hezbollah for the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, telling British Prime Minister Tony Blair that Syria should "stop Hezbollah doing this s---" so the crisis could end.

During the 2000 election campaign, microphones caught George W. Bush and Dick Cheney trashing Adam Clymer, a reporter for the New York Times. In a hushed whisper, Bush described Clymer as a "major-league a--hole," to which Dick Cheney responded, "Yeah, big time." Later, Bush explained: "I said what I said. I'm a plainspoken fellow."

W's administration did a lot of things that stick in my craw, but given the choice between having a beer with W or the liberal elitist in chief, I'd have to go with the plainspoken fellow.  Obama, what a douche... hey, is that mike on?

Cling To Your Shotgun

Interesting piece over at The Blaze about how the ATF may slowly be taking steps to make your shotgun illegal. Stay informed, Bros.

Paparazzi photo of one of the most powerful anti-shotgun lobbyists.

Could this, perhaps, be the next victim of a Scary Looking Gun Ban?

Barack Corleone

Hilarious

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As a Man, This Offends Me

According to an article a the Wall Street Journal online, reaserchers found that when you compare "childless urban workers between the ages of 22 and 30," essentially making the two sexes equal in terms of their home life, "the research firm Reach Advisors found that women earned an average of 8% more than their male counterparts."

That's wage discrimination, folks, and the Regular Bros simply will not stand for it.

The wage gap is approximately the same size as the gap between Michael Strahan's front teeth.

Yes We Can!