28 June 2012, St. Irenaeus of Lyons

Big News Day. See below for some SCOTUS and Colorado Fire coverage.

Let’s get to the rest:

The House votes 255-67 to hold Eric Holder in contempt. Ace writes that since 17 Dems voted for contempt, that means it’s a bipartisan move. And:“The Democrats staged a walk out. From WI and IN to the House of Representatives, when Democrats don’t get their way they walk away like spoiled little brats.”

UPDATE: Missed this earlier– Fulton Sheen declared “Venerable”. Heck to the yeah, man! Next step, Beatification!

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Initial Fast And Furious Roundup

Okay, it’s late, but I was trying to get this out before I went to bed tonight. Remember, this is the “program” that is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent Mexicans, and Americans, including Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. In a more honest world, it would have been considered an act of war, and Holder would have been on trial at least a year ago. Myself, I’d even have tossed treason charges in as well. This thing was an abomination, they knew it, and with the help of the corrupted media, they have been covering it up as much as they could.Anyway, on with the linkage, starting with some “older” stuff for some context. . .

DOJ fails to turn over documents promised to Issa’s Committee.

Holder Asks for Executive Privilege on Docs, Gets It even though Obama was against it just a few years ago.

Heritage Foundation on Executive Privilege

Ed Morrissey wonders if the EP claim will work for Obama. He doesn’t think so. I hope Ed is right.

Another Interesting Story–F&F, Chicago, Mexican Drug Cartels

From Greta Van Susteren:

• SOMETHING IS REALLY REALLY REALLY FISHY WITH THIS ! This story has everything! MEXICO, OBAMA, CALDERONE, politics, violence and 1998 QUASHED INDICTMENT? WEIRD . . .
• Feb 7 2012 – 3:24 PM ET

Ave Caesar!

I’m a bit at a loss for words, so I’ll let IAmDagny (a commenter at Honeytrail) speak

It is common knowledge that once the new congress is seated in January, they will move to hamstring the Obama regime by defunding various scourges such as the out-of-control EPA, ACORN and, of course, ObamaCare. Knowing this, the regime is now moving, with the help of the lame duck congress, to grant itself unconstitutional budgetary powers, namely this: As it stands now, the Congress sets the budget, with each department or program getting a specific amount of money as laid out in writing in the budget. The Obama regime is going to give itself the power to TRANSFER MONEY BETWEEN PROGRAMS at its sole discretion. So if the congress defunds ObamaCare or the EPA, Obama will now be able to simply move money from the defense budget, or the USDA, or anything else, back into the accounts of these evil, unconstitutional programs.

What this means is that the congress will now set ONLY A GROSS DOLLAR FIGURE for the budget, and Obama will have total carte blanche to allocate that money AT HIS SOLE DISCRETION.

Citation Here: http://hotair.com/archives/2010/12/03/wh-wants-transfer-authority-on-appropriations/

This is an abomination. This guts the essence of the House of Representatives, and therefore robs the entire Legislative Branch of their power– giving it directly to the Executive. When Glenn Beck was talking the other day about the transition of the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire, I thought he was using it as good illustration, a historical metaphor, if you will. Little did I think, it would be the actual playbook!

Listen to us, little prince! We are Americans. We have no King — save for the Maker of the Cosmos Himself– and we need no King! No King, no Emperor, no little Caesar to dictate what happens where and how!

Make no mistake, dear friends, the power of the purse is the key of all the power in DC. Laws and regulations are meaningless without the funding to enforce them. This is why the House — the body with the most members, and most likely to fight each other in the streets, dignity be damned– has this power. It is the balance again Executive demands– the Commander in Chief can order jets to bomb Yemen, but if Congress stops the funding for the bombs, very few will fall.

But, if the Single Executive has the power of the Gun and the Purse, what does he not have? If conservatives vex him, he can gut Defense spending to pay for unemployment. He can do anything he wants, at all. Did he not take an Oath, before God and the Nations, to uphold and defend The Constitution? If he has deliberately violated his Oath, what does that mean?

And at this point, people, I think we truly no longer have a Republic. Not if this happens. No Republic, no freedom, no America.

(Upside: Now we can crack corny jokes about “Back, in the Glorious Days of the Republic!” . . . no, that’s not much of an upside, is it?)

America Rising

Back to writing

My apologies. I’ve been ill, and in a generally unfit state to string words together.

 So, belated congrats to Scott Brown. My advice to him: Great job, kid. Don’t get cocky. Remember who elected you, and why (It wasn’t the centerfold, despite our doe-eyed sighs). We can remove you if you forget, and we will. We will continue to elect and remove people until we get people who keep their head. This is not about party. It never was. It’s about America, and the sweet dream that defines our people. Remember that, or be replaced.

To Glenn Beck: We here at SASs like you, but sometimes you annoy the hell out of us. You said that no one in America wants to see a guy as a centerfold, all nekkid and . . . well, hawt. You apparently forgot about all the red-blooded straight women in America, as well as the red-blooded gay men. I’d estimate about half the country. And really, considering your own well-admitted mistakes and problems, who are you to say anything?

In addition, the crack about his daughters being availible? Srsly, chill out. He was being a dad, teasing his girls. Embarassing? Yes.  Earning a chewing-out from the wife? Prolly. Creepy? Not so much. Lay off. Go after Brown once he’s screwed up– he’s a mortal, so he’ll screw up, no matter how pure intentioned he is.

Until then, take a clue from the SASs: Wait and See. Otherwise, you come across as an arrogant snot full of jealousy and pride. As Slytherins, and myself, a Malfoy, we know a lot about these things. Look what happened to Cousin Draco. . . In the end, Glenn, you’re not a Slytherin. You’re a Hufflepuff with the spine of a Gryffindor. This is a good thing, in general. [Remember Cedric? He was that Total Hottie with a spine of steel . . . too bad about his premature demise. . . Perhaps you would prefer to remember Neville Longbottom?]

Just. . . don’t get ahead of yourself. We like you, we don’t don’t want to see you get into more trouble than necessary.

Congresscritters: Repent, ye, for the End is Nigh.

Hillboyz on a roll!

Go over to Hillbuzz, now. scroll down and read everything with today’s date on it. Just do it. I can’t use any better words than they have. Go. Shoo!

Also, From StellaPundit: Do it For the Children

And from the folks who brought you the America Rising video, an new taste of TEH AWESOME

Taxachusetts Dems must be real anxious about Scott Brown (aka, Hottie McAwesome) actually winning the upcoming special election (Jan 19). They’re already talking about how they plan to stall his swearing in until after the healthcarevotes and the SOTU speech. What amazing loosers. Look, if your team looses, buck up and take it like grown men and women. Retards.

Anyhow, the Hillboyz have written a list of ideas if Brown does win, and the Demtards try to pull shenanigans. You’ll want to read the whole thing. I really like the idea of setting up an outdoor office so he can get right to work. . . lol. . . great stuff!

Stealing from the Poor: A Fable

Gather ’round, Slytherins, for a tale about disgrace. . .

Sheila Dixon was, until yesterday, the Mayor of Balitmore. She had to resign after a three year corrpution investigation that resulted in her being found guilty of embezzlement. (I hadn’t even known about the perjury issue). Seems that in the trial she didn’t even show up for, jurors found her guilty of stealing gift cards intended for the poor, about $500 worth. Yesterday, at her presser announcing the plea deal and her resignation, she got weepy, declaring that she was sad “not for the decision she’d made” — this was the only way to keep her pension –“but because she loves her staff, they’re such good people, blah blah blah. . .”

Look, it’s clear as day that isn’t why she’s weepy. She’s weepy because she got caught, because she threw away a position of responsibility and power for a petty trifle, and now has lost the respect of every Marylander with even the slightest sense of morality. If she loved her staff half as much as she says she does, she wouldn’t have done what she did. If she loved the city, she wouldn’t have stolen from her poor.

It’s true that $500 isn’t alot in these days of trillion dollar government  fleecing, but I suppose that in some ways, that’s the most pathetic part of this story. If you’re going to  steal, well by Prometheus, make it worthwhile. Hell, go for the whole Jayne Cobb and steal from someone oppressive, so the mudders can write songs about you, and build crappy statues in you honor. It’s still theft, still wrong, but at least somebody approves.

 But a mere $500. . . from the poor? Who steals from the poor? If you’re mayor, and you’re stealing from the poor of your own city, the only thing that can be said is that the action reveals a heart of petty greed. Those who love other, who seek to help those in need of it, don’t even think about stealing the charitable donations of others. It doesn’t even enter their minds. If you approached them and said, “Take one for yourself”, they’d refuse.

She got caught, now she’s upset. But I’d wager, that at least at the time, she didn’t think she was doing anything wrong. After all, she might have thought, I deserve this. I work so hard for the people of this city, this won’t hurt anybody . . .

The problem with governments is this: everyone thinks this way.

Next job will be in Nevada

One day you’re filching gift cards, the next your openly taking bribes for votes. You think people get upset only because they didn’t get while the getting was good, while they’re really upset that you’re stealing from them.

Neither Shiela Dixon nor Ben Nelson have any love or respect for their consituents, and they show this by their actions. Of course, even the best of folks will make mistakes, will screw up, will do things they oughtn’t do. But most folk don’t cross the line into theft, or taking bribes in public. They get dazzled by the glamor and pretty girls/ boys in their lap, and loose their minds for 15 shameful minutes. Or they drink too much, or trip into the drug scene. People forget, and everyone makes mistakes.

But if you do love those you work for, that love minimizes these mistakes. The glamor shines, blinding you, and you reach for the shiney, only to have that love stop you. You love these people, you can’t steal from them! You serve them, you can’t sell them out! When politicians make mistakes like this, it is because, at best, they have fogotten that love. They have forgotten that they are supposed to serve, not be served.

This happens in government so much that it pretty much defines the life of elected officials. This is part of why government never works right, and is always over budget. They have no one to smack their hand out of the cookie jar, no competition to say “Hey, come use my product, I’m not a slimy shmuck like that guy!” Nope, Government is the only game in it’s town, has no diciplining influence, and so therefore almost has to be corrupt and worse than useless.

Public Schools, Public Housing, the Post Office, the DC Metro (reducing service after yet another rate hike). . . the story is always the same, and always will be. Where there is no competition, there is disgrace.

[Of course, we can’t really have competition for Goverment. We can, however, have better competition for the people who make up government. Term limits, actual transparency (not the opaque granite transparency of the current White House and Congress). . .In fact, I’d say the whole point of the Consitution of the US was to be that smacking hand! No! Bad Congress! No mandating to private citizens how to spend their earnings! No messing about with their speech! No usurping the rights of the States! Bad! Bad! No biscuit for you!]

[You know, it’s really bad when a Slytherin is lecturing people on morality. What a messed up world we live in. . .]

A Letter from 9 GOP Congresswomen

I dunno how I feel about this. One the one hand, I’m all for almost anything that stops Obamacare. On the other hand, the opening paragraphs make me queasy. Read it at PJ Media.

What gets me in these first paragraphs is this:

As we reflect on what the past year has meant for our families, it’s clear that President Obama’s policies are hitting women especially hard.

Since the president took office on January 20, about one million women have lost their jobs and today the unemployment rate among women is at the highest level in over 25 years. But perhaps most concerning of all, the president’s economic policies have severely harmed the small business community, which has traditionally been the part of our economy that propels us out of recession and is increasingly being used by women as a means of career advancement and financial independence.

. . . Um, they ain’t calling it a “Man-cession” for nothing, you know. . . As the comments below the post state: “World Ends, Women hit hardest“. Geez, can we ever get over the victim mentality? Especially when there are legitimate beefs to be had? Listen, when it comes to this recession, it’s quite clear that, in the most direct sense, Men are the hardest hit. And this disparity is disturbing, because there shouldn’t be such an obvious disparity that it’s named a Man-cession.

The letter goes on to state some legitimate concerns over the change in mammogram guidelines, and what this means for state-subsidized mammogram programs for struggling wome. This is a legitimate concern, as insurance companies often follow this same direction. If I were an insurance company, I probably would . . .

They should have brought the letter to me for editing, clearly. I would have cut the first two paragraphs,and re-worded a lot of the rest. I think I see what they’re trying to do, but the effort comes across as something I wrote in undergrad. *shrugs*. Who knows, though, whom it might influence. . .