In honor of Presidents’ Day, can YOU name all the presidents? In order?

This was written before Obama became President, but I don’t think he’d win anyway.

So let’s get it on: 43 men enter, one man leaves. No “over the top rope” battle royale, because Taft and Cleveland would have an unfair advantage. All men are at the physical peak of their presidency, because Wilson deserves a chance. No firearms.

We are sticking with the classics: 43 men on a remote island, forced to fight to the death in a series of individual battles with a soundtrack by Stan Bush. It will be called Beyond Capitoldome, and it will cost $49.95 on pay-per-view. Who wins?

This parody of Hitler’s anger never gets old…

Our beloved Mr. Mule rightly notes that The Great Equivocator, President Obama, commits a Freudian admission:

“We just had a very productive session about the final stages of health care reform in the Senate. And from the discussions we had, it’s clear that we are on the precipice of an achievement that’s eluded Congresses and presidents for generations, a achievement that will touch the lives of nearly every American.”

Oy. Precipices are cliffs and stuff; not good things, used metaphorically.

n., The brink of a dangerous or disastrous situation

Dangerous, indeed, this health insurance thing. Not a “reform,” because reform is improving what you’ve already got. This is something else altogether.

Barack Obama campaigned on “change,” and to his credit, he’s keeping his promise—change is a brand-new thing, transformative, not reform.

Reform is getting socks and underwear for Christmas, necessary renewal, but no fun. Tort reform, whatever. But Barack Obama is fun.

It’s an addiction with those on the left these days, it seems, that all solutions needn’t make hard choices between this-or-that—man’s cleverness is such fun, and can always devise a “win-win” cure to any conundrum.

Obama-Pelosi-Reidcare [the President likes to share the credit, and especially the accountability] is a win-win-win-win thing:

Better AND cheaper AND fairer AND more comprehensive AND more universal AND revenue-neutral AND will help the economy AND we’ll abort a few of the unneeded and reduce global warming.

[Well, I dunno about that last one; they tell us we'd be better off with fewer people breathing and expelling carbon dioxide, a known pollutant, and government-financed abortion will help with that, but extending lives with better health care increases mankind's carbon liability, so the math doesn't quite add up.]

Still, this is a helluva lot of free lunches: so really, what’s not to like?

An old Spanish proverb says: “Take What You Want and Pay For It, Says God.”

I don’t want to drag God into this, although USA Today did. I’m all for Christian charity, although I don’t think the Bible says anyone has a right to it. [That would sort of defeat the whole purpose of charity.]

Anyway, it just seems that Barack Obama, as the cutest and most appealing child, was given control of the family business, and wants all our assets to go into his invention of a perpetual motion machine.

Win-win-win-win-win, ad infinitum.

According to the polls, most of the family, who have a stake in the family business too, afterall, are going, whaaaaaaaaaa?

All I hope is that Pelosi and Reid drive President Obama’s perpetual motion machine off the bridge before it makes it to the other side. I don’t want to be there when it gives out, not to mention the rest of our family.

Today’s my 49th birthday. And sometimes I feel like this song:
http://www.dailymotion.com/videoxhyfn
The lyrics:
(more…)

I’m sure you have all seen the stories about the balloon boy.

Now you too can “Waste taxpayer money” in this game.

(h/t to LT)

Ahem. After William and Mary’s stunning, magnificent and triumphant upset of UVA last week in football, we all thought the Cavaliers would get their act together. Right now, we’d just settle for our younger, instate siblings to get out of the proverbial barn without a hitch:

BTW, Everyone knows Thomas Jefferson founded UVA. But do you know why? ‘Cause his kids got cut from William and Mary’s football team! Tribe Pride!!!!

You can see it here. The book, published by Harper Collins –Raising the Perfect Child Through Guilt and Manipulation–is out on October 6. And her blog at Psychology Today is here. My sister’s name is Elizabeth Beckwith.

(Originally posted on What’s Wrong With the World)

Brilliant!!!! NSFW!!! (slightly…)

Thanks Andrew!

As a birthday present to myself, I bought the latest Jars of Clay album yesterday. Over all, it’s pretty good, but I have to say this is one of my new favorite songs (titled “Heart”):

H/t: American Papist

H/t: Volokh

Absolutely hysterical “misheard lyrics” video set to Pearl Jam’s Yellow Ledbetter.

Heh. Potato Wave.

H/t: Scott Keith.

Michael Kinsley says it’s time to ditch the Star Spangled Banner as our National Anthem.  I would be okay with such a move only if we could switch it to the Battle Hymn of the Republic (ducks).  Since I don’t see that happening, I think we ought to stick with what we got.

Kinsley raises some reasonable objections, although his tsk tsking the bravado of “home of the brave” is a bit much to take.  But he also notes:

The melody is lifted from an old English drinking song.

Oh no!  A drinking song?  Surely nothing good has ever been inspired by a drinking song.

(Yeah, the translation is awful and the video and audio are not in sync, but it’s the frakkin’ 9th.  Enjoy.)

(Cross–posted at Crankycon)

He’s all, like, buff and digitized and stuff.  An affront to literature? Sure! Why not? I’m a bit distracted by the quality of the graphics.

“A man who fears no death in the 9 circles learns quickly to fear his sins.”

“Obama’s high court choice could be Hispanic, woman.”

Really? No kidding. I wonder whether the person writing this headline considered, if only for a second, how stupid that headline is. It conveys absolutely nothing; it merely states the obvious. Sure, Obama could appoint a woman or a Hispanic or (should the President desire to have his cake and eat it too) a Hispanic woman. Thanks for that bit of breaking news.

I suggest a better, more comprehensive headline: Obama’s high court choice might enjoy eating pizza, watching football, driving through the countryside, hunting (not likely), singing in the shower, painting, gardening, smoking, poetry, solitude, liberty, foreign law, penumbras, turbo tax…”

This is what joy really looks like:

…for Catholics!

Thoughts?

Prompted by Newsweek:
In 1997, I had every song on the country station memorized – Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, some Martina McBride.  I know they’re not REAL real country singers (not like Nelson), but they’re a heckuva lot more country than whatever passes today.   Not so long ago, it used to be twangified pop.  Now they just don’t even pretend.   Rascall Flatts I could concede, if you squint at them sideways and listen real hard for the twang.  But Taylor Swift?  Seriously?

What happened to the music that speaks to the inner homestyle redneck in all of us? Any thoughts?

about the final four:

• Louisville
• Memphis
• Pittsburgh
• UNC

I’ll take UNC v. Memphis for the title game, and UNC winning the whole enchilada.

Add yours if you wish.

Apparently, if you can recognize 25 of these famous people, you can consider  yourself well-educated.  Note: you can click on the pictures to enlarge them.

I am convinced #100 is John James Audubon.