Sarge

Get Back to Basics

This world has gone slap out of its damned mind. Or at least it seems so.

Turning the coat

One of our greatest heroes during the Revolutionary War was a guy named Benedict Arnold. To paraphrase John Kerry: “Arnold was a hero until he wasn’t!” Arnold was an entrepreneur and businessman in Boston and when the Revolution broke out became a prime mover in the conduct of war against England. He was at the Battle of Fort Ticonderoga and was wounded severely during the Battle of Saratoga. In effect he was judged a hero by his peers for his combat actions and valor in the face of enemy fire.

Stripping the orchard

ac·a·dem·ic adj. 1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a school, especially one of higher learning. 2. Relating to studies that are liberal or classical rather than technical or vocational. 3. Scholarly to the point of being unaware of the outside world: pedantic 4. Formalistic or conventional. 5. Theoretical or speculative without a practical purpose or intention: theoretical. 6. Having no practical purpose or use. n. 1. A member of an institution of higher learning. 2. One who has an academic viewpoint or a scholarly background.

The Lowest Common Denominator

In 1966 two socialist professors and political activists espoused and started a movement designed to overload the American welfare system. It called for the government to establish a guaranteed income for the poor and disestablish the welfare system in force at the time.

Running His Head

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. Macbeth Act 5, Scene five Chris Wallace and John Kerry squared off on Fox News on Sunday July 20. Wallace was asking about the extension being given to Iran concerning Iran’s progress in de-militarizing and turning over their stockpiles of enriched Uranium to avoid further economic sanctions. Wallace pestered Kerry and as Kerry was trying to give his answer Wallace employed a tactic Fox News interviewers are noted for using: he interrupted Kerry as he continued a long and what I’m sure he believed was an appropriate answer.

Constipated Underachievers

Where do I begin? Do I start with my utter disdain for the present “liberal” (defined as a pro-Socialist ideologue and his Duma leading us to a Marxist Nirvana). Or, do I start with my overwhelming ambivalence toward the old guard “conservative” (defines as impotent to efficiently project at least an image of involvement in our government) as reflected in the likes of party “Leadership” such as McCain, Graham, Boehner, McConnell and such as wee in their drawers at the thought they might have to do more than complain about government as they helped create it?

The Lion That Roared

Now that Russian elements have shot down a Malaysian Airliner and the Malaysians actually KNOW where the wreckage is, the obvious comparisons between Obama’s and Reagan’s reactions to the crime have come to the fore. This is a regular activity for pundits and just plain dumb-spits to allow them to gain time to develop a real argument as to how Obama should act under fire. Problem is Obama has never seen a problem couldn’t be handled on the 19th Tee.

Sheltering the chrysaIis

I looked up the word idiot in a children’s illustrated dictionary and a picture of Harry Reid appeared.

Maybe on Tranquility Base

Josh Earnest (Jay Carney’s replacement) is a bigger “knob” than Carney; and it only took a couple of weeks for him to prove it. Earnest said: “I think that there have been a number of situations in which you’ve seen this administration intervene in a meaningful way, that has substantially furthered American interests and substantially improved the, uh, you know, the – the tranquility of the global community.”

The season bores on

Our political season drags on. The candidates have crawled from the protective harbors of self-respect their mothers deposited them in as eggs. Like little turtles and tortoises blinking reflexively into the sunlight they wander toward the surf trying to become influential in an ocean far larger than they imagined. They’ve all of the appearances of their mothers and fathers: a shell appearing similar to mom and dad’s, an ability to retract their arms, legs and heads into the shell for protection and the natural coloration could serve them in good stead while swimming about in search of sustenance.

An unattractive “but”

Rasmussen says Landrieu leads Cassidy by three points. While this is within the normal range of +/- variances expressed as a “margin of error”, liberal elements could latch onto this like a balloon caught in a vortex expecting it to lift Landrieu above the gates Cassidy is erecting to prevent her re-entry to the Senate.

To hallow the day

For those who gave all; not for those wanting it.

Practicality lost

Yesterday I alluded to the chair George Washington sat in for nearly three months of the Federal Convention in 1787. The chair is constructed of mahogany by John Folwell circa 1779. It is of sturdy construction showing the particular utility of its purpose and the time it was constructed in. While ornate in some decorative sense it’s known specifically for the metaphor developed from Madison and Franklin’s appreciation for the symbolism they attached to it.

The Sun Also Rises

"Whilst the last members were signing [the Constitution], Doctor Franklin, looking towards the Presidents chair, at the back of which a rising sun happened to be painted, observed to a few members near him, that painters had found it difficult to distinguish in their art, a rising, from a setting, sun. I have, said he, often and often, in the course of the session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that behind the President, without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting; but now at length, I have the happiness to know, that it is a rising, and not a setting sun. Franklin, Benjamin" (Source: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, debates in the Constitutional Convention, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 17, 1787.James Madison, Journal of the Federal Convention, ed. E. H. Scott, p. 763) My buddy Bill sent me a photo proving indistinguishable from a setting or rising sun and the above quote sprang to mind. I thank you Bill for doing so as sunrise was becoming evident here in Louisiana. Bill lives in Florida as I once did. So, in this sense he gets the fresh breath of God’s light a wee bit sooner than I.

Etiquette doesn’t trump truth

Etiquette: the customary code of polite behavior in society or among members of a particular profession or group. Truth: noun, 1. the actual state of a matter 2. Conformity with fact or reality; verity 3. Le fact, proposition, principle or the like 4. The state or character of being factual, 5. Actuality or actual existence “Liberte’, Egalite’, Fraternite’”, they screamed as the rebels attacked the Bastille. It was a point of contention never before seen in France. The masses arose in unity and removed the heads of those who’d oppressed them with egregious acts relegating the people to the point not of feudal dominance but abject slavery. The act finally ground to a halt with the loss of some of the greatest minds and scholars to the guillotine.

Minding my own paper

Unfettered dogma is what’s wrong with America today; Mississippi’s Thad Cochran

Of egotists and megalomaniacs

John Boehner may have actually awakened from his scotch and cigarette-induced coma and come up with a good idea. He may sue Obama for his over-reach and more than over-used Executive Orders mandating and violating the system of “checks and balances” American government is noted for internationally.

Beware the Goatherd

Following Louisiana politics is similar to herding snakes from the International Space Station. Any effectiveness is hindered by being removed from the field and the damned snakes don’t listen anyway. Such is the case when party hierarchies start flexing their muscles and tell constituents what they need to think so as to assure the hierarchy gains, or remains, in power. Both political parties are guilty of this.

Taking cruel medicine

Jeff Crouere, the editor and brains behind the Bayou Buzz enterprise, can start a train of thought most normally indicating my pending derailment from sanity. But, I do truly appreciate his ability at expressing a thought. You should check it out. He recently posted an article titled: “Louisiana GOP smoke-filled room is no Tea Party”

Iraq Today!

Living in Louisiana is an adventure. I remember just how powerful a monsoon can be when weather shifts take place in the Deep South. I was forced to shut down computer operations rather than toast a CPU from random power surges. So, I had a little time to consider what needed to be spoken about to capture your imagination and hopefully lead you to see how absurd politicians can be.