Subsidize Me

Check out this post on Greg Mankiew's Blog. I thought it was funny!

http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2009/03/youngest-member-of-pigou-club.html

Who's Reading Vote NoMalley?

Apparently, Saqib Ali, that's who. Who's that? He's a member of the Maryland House of Delegates and represents liberal District 39 in Montgomery County.

Why would he be reading this blog? Well, I've tagged in a couple of times. And like a modern educated politician, which is the total antithesis of most of the delegates from Baltimore City, Ali probably Googled himself and found his name. Delegate Ali appears to be well-educated. He has a bachelor's and master's degree in computer science from the University of Maryland (yeah -Terps!). Sound like my kind of guy.

I'm fairly certain that he wrote his own bio on Wikipedia. I only write bios for Republicans and his is written like a political campaign pamphlet - not that there's anything wrong with that. I applaud him for being proactive and utilizing all of the means available to him to promote himself....unlike Republican Delegate LeRoy Myers who totally snubbed me. I bet he Twitters and wouldn't be surprised if he's on Facebook. Perhaps I'll try to add him as a friend when I get home.

So how do I know that Delegate Ali reads (or has read) my blog? Because he left this comment:

Saqib Ali said... Interesting Blog.Would love to explain to you sometime why my bills are not stupid. I'm *sure* I could convince you ;)

Thank you, Delegate Ali, for reading my blog. And I appreciate your comment, though I did find it interesting that you left the comment on the post about how hot Valerie Bertinelli is. :-)

I hope by "interesting" he means that this is the best f-in' blog he's ever read and he set it as his homepage when he opens his web browser in the morning. I mean, where else are you going to find top-notch political banter along with hot pictures of Reese Witherspoon and news on Van Halen? Only on VoteNoMalley!!!

So my message to Delegate Ali - I would love for you to explain to me why your bills are not stupid. And I don't think I called your bills "stupid". I did give you a Bonehead Award for wasting time and money in the General Assembly, but that was one of about 80 awards that were given.

[Correction] - I found that I did say "Stupid Bills" in my Top 10 List on the side bar. In fairness, I reworded this to be "unneeded". My apologies to Delegate Ali.

One particular item that I know I will NOT agree with Delegate Ali is his sponsorship of HB6 (2007). This bill was to allow for in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. Seriously? You wanted to use MY tax money to give in-state tuition to people who are illegally in this state??? How about you sponsor a bill to tax illegal immigrants and give me the money to help me steal cars? I mean, I gotta make a living doing something, right? I'm not getting rich by blogging.

Coincidentally, another bill is before the House of Delegates (HB 387 2009). On the surface, this bill looks like it makes sense. However, once you factor in all the amendments that the hard left-wing liberal extremists have added, you now have a bill that will allow for a 2-tiered drivers license system - one for illegal immigrants and one for Marylanders. I cannot seem to find how Delegate Ali voted, though I do not see his name as one of the sponsors of the bill, so based on his previous support of illegal immigrant activity, I'll assume that he supports drivers licenses for illegal immigrants until I see otherwise. Why will I assume that? Because this is my blog and I can do whatever I want.

Furthermore, WBAL Channel 11's question of the day was something to the effect of, "Do you support drivers licenses for illegal immigrants?" My answer (as always) is 'I support deportation of illegal immigrants, so they don't really need a drivers license now, do they???'

The illogical argument that illegal immigrants perform the jobs that Americans won't do does not hold water when unemployment is rising rapidly and our taxes are going up along with it. If I'm unemployed and have been for a while, you better believe I'll clean toilets or cut grass.

So, Delegate Ali - I'm listening!

Separated at Birth, Joined By My Lust

Is it just me, or do Reese Witherspoon and Megan Joy from American Idol look like could be separated at birth? Everyone who knows me knows that I have a slight thing for Reese, so the idea of 2 of them is more than doubly-exciting. Pass me a stick of Double-Mint gum!!!

Eddie Van Halen's Ex-Wife's New Hot Bod

Did you catch the latest issue of People? Neither did I, but I saw this picture. Hokey Smoke, Bullwinkle!!! She's smoking hot! I bet Eddie Van Halen wishes he could jump into his way-back machine and fix that error (and maybe not smoke 8 packs of cigarettes per day and drink 3 bottles of Jack Daniels). And to think this woman has a 16 year old son that's as big as a moose. If I was in her class, I'd be Hot For Teacher.

Obama's Kool-Aid

We all know that the media and the liberals (one and the same?) are turning a blind eye and deaf ears to Obama's recovery plan, which is to spend trillions of dollars to generate millions of dollars for the economy. If you're not aware, "drinking the Kool-Aid" refers to the mass-suicide of 913 followers of the Reverend Jim Jones, leader of the Peoples Temple in Guyana. He ordered his followers, mostly Americans to drink the cianide laced grape Kool-Aid, people who blindly followed him and obeyed his commands.

Now the White House is requesting your help. They you to select your favorite Obama Kool-Aid logo. I am giving you the opportunity to make your selection here. Make your pick!!!

Join the NRA! (For FREE)

As you know, the right to defend yourself is a very important right. Unfortunately, liberals have been working hard for years to take that right away from you saying that the police are there to protect you. With all due respect to the police, they are not in my house to stop intruders. They usually show up after the crime has been committed and conduct an investigation.

Though not a gun owner myself, I fully support the right to bear arms. If you also support this right, then join the NRA for a 1 year FREE membership.

Go here:

http://www.nrahq.org/nrabonus/

My favorite gun control argument? I know I've said this before. I was arguing with a coworker here at American Amalgamated Corrugated Conglomerates against gun control. She "felt" like guns are the problem and should be illegal. We went back and forth and she was getting madder than bald man at a toupee convention during a wind storm. She finally huffed, "Guns should be illegal because guns are a problem and cause a lot of crime." I retorted, "Okay, then drugs should also be illegal because they are a problem and cause a lot of crime." "But drugs ARE illegal!!!" she boasts. Then it sank in and she stormed away.

As they say, 'you take away the guns from the innocent people and the only people that will have guns are the criminals.' Now - does that make any sense???

Maryland Busy Wasting More Money

As the Maryland General Assembly winds down their session, we are getting a sampling of more bills that were tossed around the crack pipe for consideration. Consider the following:

Frank Conaway (D) House, Northwest Baltimore City - (HB 1009) Designate the shillelagh (a wooden club associated with Irish folklore) as "The State Walking Stick of Statesmen and Gentlemen." This law is definitely needed because we don't have an official state walking stick. Consider these other "official" state symbols and the importance of each:

Cat Calico
Dinosaur Astrodon johnstoni
Drink Milk
Exercise Walking
Folk Dance Square Dance
Gem Patuxent River Stone
Insect Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly

Frank Conaway receives this week's Bonehead Award for wasting tax-payer money.

Saqib Ali (D) Montgomery County - (HB115) Proclaim April 13 as "Punjabi Cultural Awareness Day." Punjab is a region in northwestern India and eastern Pakistan.

What is the purpose of this bill? Self-promotion? If you haven't guessed, Ali, the liberal extremist who voted in favor of providing in-state tuition to illegal immigrants, is Islamic with ancestral roots to India and Pakistan. Ali receives the Assistant Bonehead of the Week Award.

HB131 - Proclaim March 31 as Cesar Chavez Day. Chavez was a union organizer for migrant farm workers. This is to honor the work that he did in Arizona and California. Wha??? It's fine to teach about his impact on history, but to declare an official day for him? And to waste tax-payers dollars to write a bill and debate it? What a horrible waste of money. Who are the boneheads that jumped on board this one? Unfortunately there are a bunch. Unfortunately, the boat with them on it didn't tip over.

The guilty are: Jeff Walderstreicher (D) Montgomery County, Victor Ramirez (D) Prince George's County, Tom Hucker (D) Montgomery County, Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D) Prince George's & Anne Arundel County, Ben Barnes (D) Anne Arundel & Prince George's County, Joanne C. Benson (D) Prince George's County, Aisha N. Braveboy (D) Prince George's County, Emmett C. Burns, Jr. (D) Baltimore County, Alfred C. Carr, Jr. (D) Montgomery County, Kathleen M. Dumais (D) Montgomery County, James Gilchrest (D) Montgomery County, Ana Sol Gutierrez (D) Mongtomery County, Guy Guzzone (D) Howard County, Jolene Ivey (D) Montgomery County, Susan C. Lee (D) Montgomery County, Roger Manno (D) Montgomery County, Heather Mizeur (D) Prince George's County, Karen S. Montgomery (D) Montgomery County, Nathaniel T. Oaks (D) Baltimore City, Justin Ross (D) Prince George's County, Todd Schuler (D) Baltimore County, Luiz R. S. Simmons (D) Montgomery County, Shawn Z. Tarrant (D) Baltimore City, Herman L. Taylor, Jr. (D) Montgomery County, Veronica L. Turner (D) Prince George's County, Kris Valderrama (D) Prince George's County, and Jewell Jay Walker (D) Prince George's County.

Do you see anything that these people have in common? Yes, they are all Democrats. And most of them are from Montgomery and Prince George's Counties. Areas rich in farmland that would have benefited by the work of César Chávez (not really). Waste-waste-waste!

On a funny note, Maryland Republican Pat McDonough commented that the Democrats are so in toe with whatever the governor wants that if O'Malley wanted to close all of the public schools in Maryland, the Democrats in the General Assembly probably would approve it. Nice one, Pat!

Obama Thinks the Special Olympics Are Funny?

As part of Obama's popularity contest yesterday he made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Apparently he had nothing better to do last night, so it's not that big of a deal.

I mean, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are doing okay. The economy is fine. Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner isn't causing any problems and totally knows what he's doing. Unemployment is in check. He already said he doesn't care about the stock market, which implies that he doesn't care about American's retirement plans, which mostly invest in stocks and mutual funds.

So as part of his dialog with Leno, Obama mentioned that he bowled a 129 or something like that and equated his score with that of someone in the Special Olympics. Apparently the bowling abilities of mentally retarded children are funny in Obama's eyes. And the sad part is it generated laughs from the apostles in the audience.

I heard a rumor that Obama will make an appearance on the Daily Show and poke fun at homeless children, then on to The View where he will get laughs discussing the domestic violence.

And we thought Bush was an idiot? Is this any better? This is embarrassing.

Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer

Whenever I get a chance to buy a book and meet the author I jump all over it. Actually, I just attend the event. I don't want to damage my book.

Anyway, the Carroll County Public Library system hosted an Abraham Lincoln series of events a while ago. One of the events was to have the author of Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer come and speak to the patrons about his book and his personal journey to write the book.

The book was written by James L. Swanson, a man probably in his late 30's, early 40's (hopefully I'm giving him the benefit of being on the favorable side of my estimate). He is an attorney by trade, but an enthusiastic speaker and writer, impassionate about Abraham Lincoln, who shares his date of birth and home state. And I still can't believe that I didn't think about bringing my camera. I called my wife to tell her I forgot my camera. She laughed and hung up the phone. Arg.

Furthermore, I arrived at the library only 15 minutes before the speech began and he was swamped with patrons wanting him to sign their book. There was no way I'd be able to purchase my copy and get an autograph before he began his speech. So I purchased my soft-back cover copy (all of the hard-copies were gone) and sat down.

The lady selling the books asked what I wanted him to write. I hadn't thought that far ahead. What should he write? How about something enthusiastic? Powerful? Meaningful? Something that my children will appreciate! Their children! Something that would be relevant to my own pursuit of history. I stammered, "How about 'Enjoy'". What an idiot I am!

An administrator for the library informed the crowd that Mr. Swanson would continue to sign copies after his speech. I was thrilled, not to the point where my shiny purple and pink shirt glistened with excitement, but thrilled as much as a conservative soft-spoken married guy who doesn't really own a shiny purple and pink shirt could be.

I found his speech to be really interesting. I think he was equally excited to be in Maryland, the birth place of John Wilkes Booth, who incidentally attended the same high school as me (Bel Air High School, though obviously not the same building, but the same educational institute that has survived through the years).

Additionally, after carrying out his assassination attempt, Booth fled out of Washington, D.C. and into Maryland, then south through Prince George's and Charles County.

The speech was nearing completion and I begin to scout out where the signing would be. There were numerous empty tables in this area of the library. I moved to the front of one of the tables just as the previously mentioned librarian walked by. I asked her confidentally, "This is where he's going to sign the books, right?" She paused, looked around, and said, "Yeah, I guess so. Let me go get a chair for him." Score one for being assertive! I'm the first in line!

Mr. Swanson sits down in the chair in front of me, pulls out his quill, opens my book and says, "You want me to write 'enjoy'? How boring is that?" I told him that I couldn't think of anything more inspiring at the moment. "Leave it up to me then", he declared.

He signs my book, then hands it to me. We part on friendly words and I walk out. I open my book and what has he written?

For Eludius,
Fellow traveler in pursuit of John Wilkes Booth.
Best Wishes
James Swanson

Now surely this must be a joke. Perhaps a funny one. Anyone interested in history, or even an educated person, knows that a fellow traveler was an underground term for a communist. Did he just call me a communist? Maybe this was his way of comically telling me, "This will teach you to have an author write something stupid in your copy of the book." I took no offense. In fact, I now think it's great!

As for the book, it's a great chronicle of the events leading up to and following Lincoln's assassination. It contradicted many of the stories that I have heard over the years, such as the innocence of Dr. Samuel Mudd. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and highly recommend that you read it.

The book can be purchased at Mr. Swanson's website or on Amazon.com.

Follow-Up to Transgender Law

Since I wrote that post about liberals in the Maryland House of Delegates and the Maryland State Senate wanting to impose the rights of transgenders into the restrooms and locker rooms in schools, fitness, centers, and churches throughout the state, I have learned that this law is ALREADY in effect in Montgomery County, thanks to the hard work of Duchy Trachenberg.

Fortunately for the non-radical-liberals in Montgomery County, the County Council did back off on allowing transgendered men from entering women's restrooms. However, the current law written for the state, as I understand it, has no exceptions.

In addition to what I've mentioned before, there is no way to determine if someone is suffering from gender identity, or just some raving lunatic trying to get more media for his voyeurism website, a child molester, or a rapist. These people can now claim gender identity protection under Montgomery County law, provided they are not caught committing another crime. But with the law, this gives them free access to protected places, such as bathrooms and locker rooms.

This issue was also brought to the attention of Mike Adams of >"Townhall.com.

New Maryland Law - Co-ed Showers

Maryland's hard-left wing liberal extremists who dominate both the State Senate and State House are hard at work wasting our money and time again. No, they're not working on ways to stimulate the economy, or help people get jobs. Nope. Health care? Nada. Solving Maryland's inadequate transportation problems? Nein. Instead they're busy pushing some really loony ideas. Here's one that was passed along to me in Delegate Susan Kreb's newsletter:

HB 474 and SB 566 - The Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity - Antidiscrimination Bill.

This bill will broadly define the protection awarded to people suffering from gender identity problems and casual cross-dressers. This means that men who dress as the opposite sex will be allowed (by law) to shower and undress in women's locker rooms.

How does this law protect women and children from sexual predators who want to take advantage of the law? It DOESN'T!!!!

Additionally, there will be no exceptions for dating services (if someone wants to pose as a woman and date men, the man on the other end has no right to know that the other person is a dude). Schools and daycares will not be exempt. These facilities for children must allow for gender benders to use the gender-specific bathroom and changing rooms of their choice. Finally, this bill also does not allow for exceptions for establishments for orthodox Jews, Muslim, or Christians.

Who are the nuts that support this bill?

Joseline Pena-Melnyk, Saquib Ali, Curt Anderson, Charles E. Barkley, Ben Barnes, Kumar (pass me another drink) Barve, Pamela Beidle, Joanne C. Benson, Elizabeth Bobo (Howard County), Talmadge Branch, Alfred C. Carr, Jill Carter, Virginia Clagett, Frank Conaway, Anne Marie Doory, Kathleen Dumais, Brian Feldman, William Frick, Barbara Frush, Tawanna Gaines, James Gilchrest, Cheryl Glenn, Ana Sol Gutierrez, Guy Guzzone (Howard County), Peter Hammen, Hattie Harrison, Anne Healey, Sue Hecht, Sheila Hixson, Marvin Holmes, James Hubbard, Tom Hucker, Jolene Ivey, Adrienne Jones, Anne Kaiser, Ruth Kirk, Carolyn Krysiak, Stephen Lafferty, Susan Lee, Mary Ann Love (Anne Arundel), Roger Manno, Brian McHale, Maggie McIntosh, Heather Mizeur, Karen Montgomery, Shirley Nathan-Pulliam, Doyle Niemann, Nathaniel T. Oaks, Victor Ramirez, Kirill Reznik, Craig Rice, Daniel Riley, Barbara Robinson, Samuel Rosenburg, Justin Ross, Todd Schuler (Baltimore County), Melvin Stukes, Shawn Tarrant, Frank Turner, Veronica Turner, Kris Valderrama, Joseph Vallario, Michael Vaughn, Jeff Waldstreicher, Jewell Jay Walker.

Not surprising is that most of these hard-left wingers are from Baltimore City, Prince George's County, or Montgomery County. And the openly homosexual delegates, obviously, support it.

However, there were a couple delegates from Anne Arundel County, one from Frederick County, and a couple from Howard County that also supported it. Fortunately for Michael Busch, he kept his name off of this toxic bill.

The Senate version of the same bill was sponsored by the following state senators:

Richard Madalone, Joan Carter Conway, Jennie Forehand, Rob Garagiola, Lisa Gladden, Harrington, Verna Jones, Nancy King, Mike Lenett, Nathaniel McFadden, Paul Pinsky, Catherine Pugh, Jamie Raskin, and Jim Rosapepe.

Again - no surprises in the sponsors. Did you see all of the Republicans who sponsored this ridiculous bill? That's right. None.

Contact your state legislators and tell them that you do not want to give another tool to sexual predators.

Do it now!

Another Tuition Freeze

So Obama is gracing our country with a big fat stimulus package, also known as the Porkulus. The intent of this stimulus package is to jump-start the economy and get people back to work.

As you can probably deduce, most of the people losing their jobs are being laid off from the private sector (for those of you in government, this means companies whose intent is to make money). What better way to stimulate the economy than to dump hundreds of billions of dollars into Federal and State pork projects? Even better - let's give a bunch of the money to the states so that they can determine how best to spend the money (within some guidelines, of course). I'm not against empowering states to use money as they see fit. People in Mississippi have needs that are different than those living in Alaska, right?

Our humble governor Martin O'Malley estimated that Maryland would get $3.9 Billion from the Obamassiah and the compassionate band of lunatics in Congress. Unfortunately, when O'Malley got the message that said, "use this money to stimulate the economy and create jobs" he misread it to say, "use this money to fund personal initiatives that will help you get reelected."

His first big initiative with all this cash will be to freeze tuition. Again. How, you ask, will artificially freezing tuition create jobs and stimulate the economy? Well, it's easy. First…..it's like…..but……uhhh.....wait. I have no flippin' idea. Perhaps if you work in a room full of magical stardust like O'Malley, your wildest dreams can come true, too. He can't be doing this for personal gain, could he? Hmmm...

Oh, but remember, he's doing this to invest in our future. We're all in this together. He had to make a lot of tough decisions (thank goodness he's there for that). This is for the children. All of the hardships that we are experiencing are Bob Ehrlich's fault. With this tuition freeze, the state can start to move forward again. If moving forward brings us closer to the edge of the cliff, so be it. If he does nothing, we risk an economic rebound that cannot be attributed to government intervention, and we can't have that!

Wikipedia Snub

One of my nerdy hobbies is/was to create the biographies of elected Republicans. I completed all of the current Republicans from Maryland (there aren't that many) and I did as many former Republicans as I could find.

Some of the delegates and state senators do not have a lot of information online. For some of these I have been contacting them directly. Most have been very helpful. To name a few - Delegate Susan Krebs, Delegate Jeannie Haddaway, Delegate Andrew Serafini. All responded promptly and provided the information I requested and were grateful for the work that I was doing.

My latest inquiry was to Delegate LeRoy Myers, District 1C in Allegany and Washington Counties. Now, I do not know him personally, and you certainly cannot (should not) read intent into the email. All I asked him was:

Delegate Myers,
I was going to update your wikipedia profile to include more information. The Maryland Archives indicates that you attended Hagerstown Community College. Did you graduate or just attend? And what high school did you graduate from? Is there any other information you would like to have included?
Sincerely
Eludius

Today I got his response:

Eludius,
Thank you for contacting me however I am not interesting in updating a Wikipedia Profile which I didn’t create. Thanks but no thank you.

Delegate LeRoy Myers

In Delegate Myers' defense, he is a hard-working politician. He is the one who submitted legislation trying to ban the use of fake bull balls that hang from the bumpers of many pick-up trucks in Western Maryland and in Dundalk. He tried very hard to prevent these people from looking like a bunch of clowns.

So I guess I'll move onto the next politician who's missing key information. Oh, well.

"Did I Do That?"

Since I do not have time to post anything intelligent, please enjoy this doctored picture.

America's Divorce Terms

I received this in an email today.

Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists, Obama supporters, et al:

We have stuck together since the late 1950s, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has run its course. Our two ideological sides of America cannot, and will not, ever agree on what is right. So let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile, chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way.

Here is a model separation agreement:
Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass, each taking a portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that it should be relatively easy. Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes.

We don't like redistributive taxes, so you can keep them. You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU. Since you hate guns and war, we'll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military. You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore and Rosie O'Donnell. (You are, however, responsible for finding a biodiesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them.)

We'll keep the capitalism, corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart and Wall Street. You can have your beloved homeless, homeboys, hippies and illegal aliens. We'll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, CEOs and rednecks. We'll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood. You can make nice with Iran and Palestine, and we'll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us. You can have the peaceniks and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we'll help provide them security.

We'll keep our Judeo-Christian values. You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, humanism and Shirley McClain. You can also have the U.N. But we will no longer be paying the bill. We'll keep the SUVs, pickup trucks and luxury cars. You can take every Subaru station wagon you can find.

You can give everyone free health care if you can find any practicing doctors. We'll continue to believe health care is a privilege and not a right.

We'll keep the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and the National Anthem. I'm sure you'll be happy to substitute "Imagine," "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing," "Kum Ba Ya," or "We Are the World."

We'll practice trickle-down economics, and you can give trickle-up poverty your best shot.
And since it often offends you we'll also keep our history, our name, and our flag.

Would you agree to this? In the spirit of friendly parting, I'll bet you ANWAR which one of us will need help in 15 years.

Sincerely,

The Right.

The President's Drunk Vacation

I have a handful of loyal readers. Some of them even leave comments. I have one loyal reader who I would describe as a well-informed reader who can argue a good point. This person has even called me out a couple of times. However, yesterday this person questioned something that makes we want to respond.

Now, as you probably have guessed by now, this blog is mostly satire. Nearly everything I say is tongue-in-cheek. Obama is going to make the financial world collapse. (Tongue-in-cheek). Martin O'Malley is a self-indulgent arrogant jerk seeking higher political office with no regard for the middle class of people that he destroys. (NOT tongue-in-cheek).

So here is the comment that was left recently:

I prefer him being able to drink a beer to taking 250 days off in about the first year and a half of his Presidency.

Now, I honestly do not give a crap if the President is drinking a beer at the Wizards game. Good for him! It shows that he is more like the rest of us. He likes to relax and enjoy himself now and then rather than trying to appear all prim and proper and fake all the time, like the first 42 Presidents (yes - there have been 43 prior Presidents, but Grover Cleveland was 2 of them since he had non-consecutive terms!)

As far as Bush taking 250 days off in the first year and a half of his Presidency? Well, like me, this user MAY have been stating it tongue-in-cheek, but I don't know. But let's think about it.

Do you really think the President flew back to Crawford and spent half of his first term hanging out with Laura, watching the tube, drinking beers, goofing off on the Internet (if he even knows how), washing his truck, and mowing the lawn? I seriously doubt it. I have read 2 books by previous Press Secretaries (Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan) and both books say that every time the President went to Crawford for a "vacation", nearly the entire White House staff went along. Additionally, the days were filled with visits from dignitaries, special interests, Senators, Representatives, and perhaps a few space aliens (Oh, wait, that was during the Carter Administration!).

So, rather than thinking of this time as being a vacation, President Bush, like him or not, was more or less utilizing the flexible work schedules that many of us enjoy. You know, you get those emails from co-workers, "I'm working from home today". Why does the President need to be at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue when he can do the same work in Crawford, Texas?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not defending former President Bush. I don't expect President Obama to engage in alternative work scheduling and co-locating as he has young children living at the White House, but I do not think there is any overwhelming reason why the President cannot work from home. The End.

Obama Mortgage Rescue Plan

Brewed Stimulus

While most Americans are struggling to pay the bills and are worried about keeping their job, our President was caught at a Washington Wizards game boozing it up. Can you ever recall a time when our President was caught sloshing it up?



I mean, Obama seems like he's a cool guy, but can you image this, "Mr. President, the Chinese are attacking us!"

"Okay. Let me finish my beer."

I somehow don't think this is a good idea.

It's The Snow, Stupid

My daughter has once again proven why she is smarter than my wife and me. As you know, it snowed heavily on Sunday night. We got about 6 inches altogether. My children were delighted that school was closed was on Monday. They spent the entire day sledding and playing with friends.

Tuesday was not so great. They only got a 2-hour delay. My daughter was complaining to my wife that it's not fair. My wife told her to look at the bright side. Since they didn't have off of school, they would get out of school a day earlier in June and would get an extra day of swimming. My daughter's comeback: "We can go swimming anytime in the summer. You can't go sledding anytime in the winter."

Ahh! She got us again. She's so right! How many days in the year is there enough snow to go sledding? I'm mean, with global warming frying up the Earth at a dizzying pace, we're lucky that we even get snow, or the 7° days that we've had all week. Why can't we be as smart as our children?

The Woes Continue at The Sun

Everyone knows that The Baltimore Sun lays off 10% of it's workers ever week. It's really become evident in their print addition. Gone are the days of the multi-sectioned newspaper containing relevant articles written by Baltimore writers. Here today are is the 8-page paper written by out-of-town writers from the AP about events that you could care less about.

Now, it has become evident that not only has the print edition suffered, but now the online edition is suffering. I suspect they fired their layout editor. I mean, who needs to check the layout to make sure it's proper anyway? That's like keeping those pesky home inspectors on the government payroll.

So here is the layout from an article this morning. If you are really enthusiastic about the poll on the left side of the page, you get to answer it a second time on the right section a few inches down. Perhaps The Sun is just being generous. But I suspect they are continuing their stupidity. Or Martin O'Malley made them do it and we all know that when Marty says jump, editors at The Sun say, "How high?"