Over at National Review Online, Matthew Shaffer details how New York’s Democrat party leadership is hiding behind vague and idiotic statements to avoid taking a stand.

If New York Democrats – who purportedly represent the interests of hard-working New Yorkers that were the target of the 9/11 attacks – can’t take a firm stand to a grand insult by a bunch of ignorant seventh-century camel-jockey assholes, then why should we?

Maybe we should just say fine, let those seventh-century asswipes build their mosque and so-called community center on the edge of Ground Zero.  Let them insult the memories of the 343 firefighters and police who died.  And the thousands of New Yorkers and Americans who died in the towers or on those planes. Let them insult the families of those who jumped from the towers to sure death instead of burning alive in a holocaust of jet fuel.

Democrats—The Party of No Spine.

Preacher in Chief, who can’t miss an opportunity to extract his head from his ass and put his foot in his mouth, is missing a couple of points in rambling adventure on the Ground Zero Mosque mess.

First, “freedom of religion” is NOT absolute in this country. 

The Church of Latter Day Saints of Jesus Christ was forced to outlaw polygamy before the territory of Utah would be granted statehood.

With the exception of 21 C.F.R. § 1307.31 (which allows the use peyote by the Native American Church in religious ceremonies), religious organizations and orders are not allowed to utilize Schedule 1 narcotics in religious ceremonies. 

Snake-charming Pentecostals are regularly arrested.

And there are hundreds of other laws – created by states AND Congress – that limit religious expression.

Second, few if any argue that the Muslims lack the legal right to build a Mosque at that sight. Although, there is a question of property rights, as they only own half the property.  What opponents question is whether government should be accommodating the construction of a Mosque on sacred ground – a place where landing gear from one of the planes landed—by allowing a non-conforming use according to New York City’s zoning laws.

Third, it is not courageous and it is certainly not “leadership” to stand in front of Muslims on Friday night and say what they want to hear, then turn around on Saturday – 1000 miles away – and say, “Wait, that’s not what I meant for you to hear me say!”

If you really want to get buggered by the Muslims, President Barry, it’d be much easier to just drop trou and bend over in front of one.  It’s painful watching you do it on TV.

For some reason this weekend, I came across "Ulysses" by Tennyson, which I probably had not read since my senior year in high school. And I remembered my great fondness for the last stanzas...

Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Tennyson was a craftsman and an artist, blending the influence of Keats and the other Romance poets with the emerging “stiff upper lip” focus on duty, honor, courage, and faith.  One sees in many works – dramatic, vocal, musical, and written – since his death the influence of Tennyson.

I loved reading Tennyson back in high school – I actually loved that entire year of British Lit at Parkside.  It’s fun to rediscover that old friend again.

Sometimes, objects in the rear view mirror, do appear closer than they are.

I have decided that Bob Ehrlich really is a complete dick.  Negotiating for debates before you win a contested primary?  How more goddamed arrogant can you be you helmet-headed asswipe?

No I hope you lose, and really bad.  Before I was indifferent.  I hope Brian Murphy wipes the floor with your ass.

And if you do win the primary, you will not get my vote in the General, either.   You might get a swift kick in your tiny gonads, but I will NEVER vote for you.  If the Democrats put up Joseph Stalin as your opponent, I would not vote for you.

Sadley, there isn't much I think we can do to really stop the Ground Zero Mosque.  Short of shaming the Muslims who want to build it there, we can't do much.  And how much shame can you pile on people who endorse clitorectomies, rape, misogyny, child marriage, sexual discrimination, honor killings, virulent and Himmler-like Antisemitism, and a whole host of barbaric sixth-century practices that would make a Klingon cringe.

I say let them build the frakking thing.  And then let's open up a pork store next store.  And two or three strip clubs down the street.  And a gay bar -- a really raunchy gay bar -- right across the street.  And don't forget your friendly neighborhood Jewish delicatessen.  And a Christian bookstore.  A Zoarastrian center of peace.  And a Christian Science Reading Room.

You get the picture.  Let's make that section of downtown Manhattan a veritable "Babylon 5" of offense and bad taste directed at the Mosque.

And if Imam Rauf and Barack Hussein Obama and that pansy-assed jack wagon of a mayor, Michael Bloomberg don't like it, well, screw them with a camel's dick.  That can be the next store on the block.

That quote from Lord  Robert Stevenson-Smyth Baden Powell of Gilwell, British war hero of Mafeking and founder of Scouting, is quite instructive as we watch the drama unfold over the vacation choices of the First Lady.  If you haven’t heard by now, First Lady Michelle Obama has been a rather regal vacation – costing over $375,000 (plus another $75,000 in taxpayer funds) – to spend a week with her daughter and forty of her closest friends in Spain.

What is she teaching us?

First, she is teaching us a little about Lord Acton’s quote that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Since that night in Grant Park where Americans were witness to and victims of a coronation, the Obamas have assumed power and the trappings of power with hubris and arrogance.  A $375,000 vacation is not the act of humble and gracious leaders setting an example for how we should comport ourselves during the worst recession this nation has seen in thirty years, with massively exploding deficits, a recorded 9.5% unemployment rate (compared to a project 17% actual unemployment rate), companies and individuals hording cash and state governments on the brink of fiscal collapse.

Second, she is teaching us a lot about putting our faith in men and women.  “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”, and while some felching liberal journalists would like to acclaim Barack H. Obama as the heralded second coming of Christ (or at least the equivalent), the fact is that even the President of the United States and his wife are imperfect and imbued with the stain of original sin.  Instead of affecting true change and leading, this most disgusting of couples have assumed a regal air, ignoring the needs, hopes, dreams and fears of the people that Barack H. Obama was elected to lead.

Third, she is teaching us about the hypocrisy so ever-present in the effect liberal elites of our day.  While her husband regularly takes the time to trot out the old Marxist tropes of class warfare – pitting the “poor” against the “rich”, she and her husband act as modern day Vanderbilts and Rockerfellers, choosing to “holiday” in the homes and dens of the uber-wealthy elites of American and Europe.  As he castigates and scolds businesses for their choices in compensation, benefits, and rewards for managers, the Obama family makes profligate use of government resources for their own personal wants and desires.  Somewhere in the White House, there is list of Obama Rules.  Rule #1, just like all good Alinskyites is “Do as I say, not as I do”.  Because some pigs are indeed, more equal than others.

What is she not teaching us?

She is failing to teach – in the most teachable of moments – how families can still afford enjoyable vacations and time together, even on a budget.

She is failing to teach us about all the great places that everyday working American families can and do enjoy (often on a budget).  Like our beautiful National Park system, from Assateague Island to Shenandoah National Forest to the Grand Tetons to Yosemite and beyond.   Or our gorgeous and  expertly-staffed National Battlefields like Gettysburg, Antietam, Bull Run, Appomattox, and more.  Or the eclectic and varying display of Americana found along of highways and bi-ways of the midwest and the plains states.  What a glorious opportunity is missed to set an example to teach your family of America’s history by vacationing in America!

She is failing to teach us how those of us who can afford to vacation can use our means to support the vast communities across this country that are struggling under the burden of massive debt, massive unemployment, massive tax revenue decreases and just … well, massive pain.  There are struggling small businesses all across America aching for the dollars from tourism, from the shops and museums in Strasburg and Lancaster, PA, to the stores and craft shops around Lake Wallenpaupack and the Finger Lakes.

And she is failing to teach the great lesson of family vacations: it’s not where you go, but who you go with that makes the memories that become the stories around the dinner table a generation hence.

But This President and His Wife are not about teaching.  They are about dictating.  They are about control.  Ultimately, they are about tyranny.  The tyranny of the effect liberal elitist, who won’t rub elbows or share a diner booth with great unwashed mass of Americans that pay taxes.  The same taxes that pay for the Special Missions Wing, for the fuel for the airplanes, for the butlers and chefs and Secret Service agents that staff the White House.

And thus, the example we get from this family is that America does not matter.  Its people do not matter. Its places do not matter.  Its values do not matter.  And when vast numbers of Americans are suffering and in pain from economic trial and misery brought about by massive governmental stupidity, Americans don’t matter much either.

I have never been a big fan of John McCain. I have always felt that he too squishy and too "big government".  The fact that he is a rabid fan of Teddy Roosevelt -- our first "Progressive" president -- says a lot. 

This ad by J. D. Hayworth against McCain is brilliant.  It takes a clip from an interview about why he defended the right of South Carolina to fly the Confederate Flag ("I Chose Lying") and highlights the fact that Senator McCain has been trying to re-write history duirng this primary campaign.

Our crack intelligence team in da Bury (which is different than our crack-smoking intelligence team in da Bury) has reported that Jihad Joe was in fact at Law Enforcement Appreciation Night in Downtown Salisbury tonight, but was wholly ignored by most everyone there.

Expect another post bashing the Brewington family, the Daily Times, or some other target of his "disdain" in the morning to drive his numbers up.

The problem with you average state employee in Maryland, is that they forget who their "customer" is.  They lose sight of who they are there to serve, and why their job exists in the first place.  This happens if your job is in HR, and your function is to support colleagues, or if your job is in the state police, and your function is to literally "protect and serve".  Our focus in our jobs should always be on "who is our customer" and "how do we give them the best service or the best product".

Too many forget that.

Full disclosure:  I am a contractual employee with the University of Maryland School Of Medicine.

From Captain Marty Lurz:

A juvenile has been arrested and charged with the recent mailbox destructions along Parsonage Road . These destructions were not caused by "soda bottle bombs", but rather by pyrotechnic destructive devices.

Due to his age, I cannot release the name of the juvenile. Our Hazardous Devices Team detectives charged him today with the destructions of property and several counts of reckless endangerment.

Thank you for your assistance.

Captain Martin Lurz 

Baltimore County Police Department Precinct 7

Here’s my suggestion:  release the parent’s names.  Let them take the beat down their kid so richly deserves.

Then put a bumper-sticker on their cars that said “I raised my kid to be a dumbass.  Your taxes pay for my stupidity.”