Glitches

We are told by the White House spin machine, and by the Dinosaur, Sycophantic, Dead-Tree Media, that the myriad Titanic problems being experienced with the roll out of the new Obamacare website is due to "glitches."

Now I don't know about you, but I'm guessing one of the hundreds of trolls who inhabit the bowels of the WH got a free two-for-one coupon to Burger King for coming up with that adjective.  Glitches.  And doesn't it make you wonder how many other adjectives they tried and rejected before landing upon glitches?  How about, oh, say, "issues?"  Or maybe "roadblocks?"  Or "speed bumps?"  Or "red flags? " Or how about "warning signs?"  Or even good old "problems?"  You get the idea.  

Think about it; three and one-half years to put it together, over $600,000,000 to develop it, more than 5,000,000 lines of code, in excess of 55 firms on the Government payroll to make it happen, all associated with those who've donated millions to Oblamo and his goons, by the way, and it crashes and burns when a few people actually try to use it to sign up.  Hello!  Wasn't it the good ol' Republicans who lobbied hard, as in shutting down the Gummint, to put this sucker on hold because it wasn't ready for the Center Ring?  Ummm, yes I do believe it was. 

That price, by the way, was more than all the money spent to develop Apple, Google, EBay, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon and Bing, together (and probably McDonalds, Budweiser, Cheerios and Preparation H).  And yet, any one of them can process more than a billion hits a day without crashing!

And the result?  We don't know.  The White House won't tell us.  Oh, they say that "hundreds of thousands have visited it," and "thousands have signed up."  But they won't tell us exactly how many.  Could that be because they're embarrassed at how few, or because they simply don't know, because the system may not be capable of telling them?  And I don't know about you, but, even though they're both bad, I'm thinking the latter is worse, by far.

So, you've got to buy insurance from this program by early next year, or you'll be fined.  Fined by one of the 16,000 new agents hired by the IRS to enforce this behemoth, no less.  This is the very first time in the history of America when you're told - forced - to buy something from a third-party or pay a fine.  And yet, it's plagued with "glitches."  Glitches!  If the core problems with this turkey is due to glitches, then I have a few other examples from history that could be the result of glitches as well...

-  Other than that glitch in Pearl Harbor, Mr. Roosevelt, how was your Christmas?

-  With exception of your husband's trip to the Little Big Horn, Mrs. Custer, would you describe that glitch in your relationship with Native Americans to be serious?

- Except for that storm glitch thing, Mr. Lagassi, how do you like living in New Orleans?

-  Other than that iceberg fender-bender glitch, Ms. Molly Brown, how did you enjoy your cruise across the ocean?

-  With exception of that 1906 glitch while you were in high school, Ms. Pelosi, how do you like living in San Francisco?

And finally,

-  Other than that little glitch, Mrs. Lincoln, how  did you like the play?

If Obamacare is a glitch, then the foregoing natural - and man-made - disasters are glitches also.  They weren't fixed with time.  I'm guessing this one won't be either...

A well-regulated militia...

The Chuckmeister was taken to task by a small number of sycophantic weenies in response to my September 14th essay, "Background checks, and why not." 

Yes, my friends, these fine, misguided citizens attempted to take me to the figurative woodshed over the fact I didn't start my quote of the 2nd Amendment with, "A well-regulated militia, being necessary for the security of a free state," before starting with, "...the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

Apparently these otherwise intelligent folks seem to think I left this "signing statement" out because it disembowels my argument that every American has the right to buy, own, polish, admire, carry, keep, display, and when necessary, use, a gun.

What's a "signing statement," you  may ask?  Well my Constitutionally-ignorant acquaintances, let me take you back in time to the late 1700s.  Back then, there was no TV, no Internet, no radio, no telegraph, no Facebook, no Instagram and no major region wide or nationwide newspapers.  So, it could take weeks, even months, to get news from the centers of power (NYC and Philly) to the people in the hinterlands.  So, once the Framers conjured up the Bill of Rights, they prefaced each of the ten with a so-called "signing statement."  This was to be, in essence, the "reason for" the Right.  They wanted you to know why they considered each of the original Rights to be a necessity.  So they told you why in the comment just prior to the comma, in each.   Thus, in the case of the 2nd, it went, blah, blah, blah, "...the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

If you have doubts, read the entire Bill of Rights.  You'll discover a "signing statement" prior to each Right.  So there.

I hear you saying, yes Mr. Chuckmeister, but they were still saying that only members of an organized militia had that Right. Wrongo, you misinformed leftist gun-haters, you!  I hereby offer up a few direct and exact quotes from some of the more important folks from that exalted and revered era.  Read, and learn...

"I ask sir, what is the militia?  It is the whole people.  To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave the population."  George Mason, speech, Virginia Ratification Convention, 1788 (and founder of George Mason University). 

"A well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained in arms, is the best and most natural defense of a free country."  James Madison.

"A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves...and include all men capable of bearing arms.  Richard Henry Lee, initiator of the Declaration of Independence.

"Every citizen must be a soldier.  This was the case of the Greeks and the Romans, and must be that of every free state."  Thomas Jefferson

"The strongest reason for people to retain the right to keep and bear arms, as a last resort, is to protect themselves against tyranny in Government."  Thomas Jefferson

And lastly, one of my all-time favorites:

"A system of licensing and registration is the perfect device to deny gun ownership to the bourgeoisie (middle class)."  Vladimir Ilyavich Lenin (you may recall him as the dictator who disarmed Russians and killed millions of them).

By the way, I have only provided a bare few of the hundreds of quotes from our Founding Fathers defining a militia as free, armed citizens, ready and willing to take up arms in defense of themselves, their neighbors and their country (Google it if you doubt me).  It was that way when George Washington decided it was a good idea to form an army and throw off the chains imposed on our country by King George.  He called upon our citizenry to bring with them their own arms and answer the call to form a militia. 

They did it then.  We could do it now.  And the fact we can, is why the gun-grabbers want to disarm us.  Imagine, if you dare, what leftist governance would look like if they didn't fear, deep-down, what we Americans would do if they unleashed an unbridled assault on our core freedoms, in an effort to complete the task Oblamo took upon himself when he decided to "fundamentally transform America."  And then recall what's happened in North Korea, China, Cuba, Venezuela and a bunch more countries after successfully legislating the elimination of guns.  

Like a Congressman we all know well told me recently, "It's a good idea to stock up on canned goods and ammunition."  

I am...   

Inflicting Maximum Pain

I'm sure by now that everyone, with the possible exception of those who get their news from the corrupt, dinosaur Alphabet Media, know that the Government is shut down.  Or, rather 17% of the Government is shut down.  The other 83% is clicking along as always, overstaffed, under qualified, overpaid and predictably Liberal. 

And in their zeal to prove to the American public that closing even 17% of Government activity is wrong, hurtful, unnecessary and just plain mean spirited, Obamazombies have been instructed by their Lord and Master to inflict maximum pain on us, the taxpaying public, to force us to contact our elected representatives and implore them to immediately restore funding so that the 800,000 of the 2,100,000 Federal employees who have been sent home can go back to doing whatever they were doing before. 

Probably nothing.

But so those who have no idea just how fanatical and spiteful the Obamabots are in their zealous attempt to punish us, I've laboriously scoured the news to gather a semi-complete listing of the places and activities the Feds have decided to shut down to cause us maximum pain.  Prepare yourselves for justifiable outrage:

Treatments for children suffering from cancer:  Although Republicans have agreed to compromise by passing legislation to fund the National Institutes of Health, which offers last-chance experimental treatment for kids with cancer, Obama has threatened to veto the funding.

The World War Two Memorial:  This memorial to our Greatest Generation is an unstaffed outdoor, open 24/7 mall approachable via sidewalks from every perspective.  90 year-old vets on long ago-booked Honor Flights coming to visit their memorial have been locked out.  Park Rangers found enough funding from somewhere to barricade the place.  And our aging vets have pushed aside the "barrycades" in defiance of this ridiculous effort to cause pain.  Republicans have offered to pass legislation to provide necessary funding to open this shrine.  Obama has threatened to veto the bill.

Furloughed military chaplains not permitted to work for free:  Obama's storm troopers have ordered chaplains not to perform marriages or baptisms or conduct masses or church services while on furlough, even if on their own time and for free.  They've been told they will be arrested and court martialed if they violate this order.  Spiteful?  Pitiful?  Shameful?  Yes. 

Business stops in the Florida Keys:  Although Republicans have agreed to fund a compromise on legislation and provide funding to open the parks, Obama has threatened to veto that legislation.  As a result, Obamabots have closed Federal parks on both sides of the Keys highways.  Travelers gain access to restaurants, businesses and fishing venues via these parks.  They are now virtually out of business due to this pettiness.

Obama blocks out sports and entertainment programing to overseas troops:  The Armed Forces Network, which broadcasts news and entertainment to our forces overseas, and the way I stayed informed while serving in that capacity, has been ordered to send along only news.  All the sports and fun entertainment stuff has been blocked at absolutely no savings whatsoever.  For what reason?  I think you know.

Obama closes D-Day Memorial:  Although Republicans have offered to restore funding to the 24 military cemeteries world-wide, Obama has responded by closing off access to the Normandy graveyard where 9,300 of our bravest soldiers are interred.  Our vets who traveled from far away responded by walking to the beach they once stormed, and then up to the graveyard they somehow avoided.  Take that, Oblamo.

Obama tries to close privately-funded Mount Vernon:  Despite the fact that Mount Vernon is privately-owned and -operated, the Obama Administration has tried to block access to those attempting to visit.  Apparently, the Feds maintain the parking lot.  And God knows we can't allow anybody to park in George Washington's front yard now that Obama has shut down a piece of the Gummint.  The outrage from the New Media caused such a firestorm that the Park Service was forced to back down on this one.

Obama closes over 100 privately-funded parks that cost no money to operate:  Despite the fact that we make money from the entry fees paid by visitors to these parks, and despite the fact that thousands of our citizens are employed - at no cost to the Government - at these parks, the Obamanazis have closed them down tight.  There are stories of visitors held hostage by armed Park Rangers in some of these venues.  And, once again, Obama has threatened to veto any legislation that attempts to open them.

Obama closes self-sustaining farm we haven't funded since 1980:  The Claude Moore Living History Farm in McLean, Virginia has been closed down by the NPS, despite the fact that we don't own it, or control it, or provide funding for it.  How, you might ask?  And why?  Welcome to the New America.

Obama tries to close state-run parks in Wisconsin:  Governor Walker tells the Feds to stuff it in response to their efforts.  More of our governors should do the very same thing.

Obama closes privately-owned hotel, police block parking lot:  The operator of a privately-owned 51-room inn located on Government-owned land in North Carolina has been ordered closed.  October is this hotel's prime visitor season.  The GOP has offered legislation to correct this problem.  Obama has threatened to veto such legislation.

Park Service Ranger:  "We've been told to make life as difficult for people as we can,"  "It's a cheap way to deal with the situation," an angry Park Service ranger in Washington said of the harassment.  We've been told to make life as difficult as we can.  It's disgusting."

Obama forces residents out of private homes:  The Government shutdown has been causing problems close to home for some Americans.  They say they've been forced out of private homes in the Lake Mead-area because they sit on Federal land.  An 80-year old couple who own a small business a few miles away from their Lake Mead home are now camping out in their store, as they can no longer go home.  Thank you, Park Service and Obama.

Historic restaurant open during last shutdown closed during this one:  A fully-booked, iconic Philadelphia restaurant which stayed open 17 years ago during that shutdown has been ordered closed.  It sits on Federal land in the Park system, which the Republicans have agreed to fund.  Obama says no.  Its employees are now sitting home, unpaid...and pissed.

Obama shuts down a road that goes through a Colorado park:  This is the height of the colorful leaf-changing season.  And inns and businesses on the Pitkin County road are now sending their employees home, since the Park Service has blockaded access to visitors.  How much will this cost tax-paying businesses and their workers?  Ask Obama.  He must know.

Residents plan peaceful protest of Cape Hatteras closing:  Businesses and residents on the Outer Banks are complaining loudly because beaches on the Cape during the last opportunity for end-of-season business are now closed tight.  Yes, the Government owns the beaches.  Unfortunately.

Obama blocks people from LOOKING at Mount Rushmore:  Blocking access to trails and programs at South Dakota's most popular visitor site was one thing.  Blocking access to  highway lookouts on roads surrounding the monument so that travelers can't stop and take pictures is another thing entirely.  Petulance?  You bet.

Crucial USDA websites taken down during shutdown:  The U.S. Department of Agriculture has taken down its website in response to the Government shutdown, leaving farmers, reporters and others with no way to gain access to any of the Agency's information on line.  It has been suggested that it cost more to remove it than it would have to leave it up.  Of course.

St. Louis Arch closed to the public:   The House of Representatives has offered to fund this and other Federal sites.  Obama has threatened a veto.

Park shutdown bounces rowers from Potomac:  Multiple high schools rent space at the Thompson Boat Center in Georgetown.  But like other places in the Park Service, it closed last Tuesday morning.  The GOP has offered compromise funding.  Obama has refused.

Obama closes military commissary:  Military members and their families which shop at tax-free commissaries (grocery stores) in the D.C.-area awakened to find that their store had been shuttered.  The commissary had never closed during previous shutdowns.  Of course, discount stores in the Capitol remained open for the members of Congress and their staffs.  Of course.  

Arizona offers to fund the Grand Canyon;  Obama says no way:  Citizens of Arizona have raised more than $400,000 in an effort to keep the Grand Canyon open during Obama's shutdown.  Obama has said no.  That means this isn't about saving money.  It's about causing businesses, their employees and the traveling public the most pain and torment possible.

Amber Alert taken down:  Michelle Obama's "keep moving and drink some more water" website remained up, while the Amber Alert website was taken offline.  The media actually responded to this one, causing the Feds to go "oops."  It came back up quickly.  Wouldn't it be nice if the media were to actually do their jobs like this more often?

Miramar Airshow cancelled with only one-day notice:  The proceeds from this famed airshow go to help charities throughout the San Diego area.  Not this year.  The petulant Obamabots ordered this year's show cancelled after nearly a year's worth of planning and investment.  The economic impact of this action will negatively effect the businesses around San Diego in the millions of dollars.

Although privately-funded, historic Ford's Theater closed:  This iconic part of American history is a 501c(3), privately-funded and -operated facility.  Nonetheless, it's been shuttered, costing an untold amount to its employees and disappointed theater-goers.  I wonder how Mr. Lincoln would view this action?

King Crab season threatened by shutdown:  The Alaskan King Crab season is set to start very soon.  But the NPS must sign off on it before it can commence.  Every day lost to crabbers will negatively-effect the economy of this area of Alaska in the tens of millions of  dollars.  Of course, the GOP  has offered funding, and Obama has said no.  I'm guessing the price of crab cakes will go way, way up.

Eleven hundred miles of Florida ocean closed:  Charter boat captains are no longer permitted to take their guests fishing in a vast swath of the ocean off Tampa.  Apparently, Government resources patrol it.  Closing the ocean.  Unprecedented. 

Columbia Island and Washington Sailing Marina closed:  Sailors have been notified that boat owners have been notified they may only visit their boats to remove personal items.  If they take their boats away from the slips they pay money to rent, they may not return to those slips until or unless the shutdown ends.  How about that?

Shutdown denies benefits to fallen soldiers:  Soldiers and sailors who die in the service of their country will not receive death benefits, nor will their families be provided with transportation to attend the return of their caskets to Dover, Delaware.  The $100,000 "death gratuity" is usually provided to survivors within 36 hours of the hero's demise.  No longer.  Has it come to this?

Visitors to the Capitol Mall, No; Pro-Illegal Immigrant Rally, Yes:  If you watched CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC or NPR, you likely didn't learn that tens of thousands clogged the Capitol Mall recently in their march for illegal immigrant amnesty.  They were treated to a rousing speech from San Fran Nan Pelosi and others of her Democrat illegal-loving congressweenies.  In fact, 8 of them were later arrested for failure to disperse. Park Services rangers were everywhere, on foot, horseback and in jeeps.  Funny.  The Capitol Mall is shut down and off limits to visitors.  How did this rally gain a permit to occur? 

I'm sure there's many, many more instances of Governmental-overreach during this artificial "crisis."  This is by no means a complete listing.  Please remember that none of this, NONE OF THIS, is necessary, nor even prudent.  If you learn of any additional outrages, write to me with them and I'll provide periodic updates.  In the meantime, consider what you've read here, and what you hear from the media, both the Old and the New, before you go to the polls next time.  It might cause you to change your vote...

Cars are Evil

Cars.  Cars are evil.  They kill people.  Wantonly.  Did you know that cars weigh, like, 4,000 pounds?  Even 5,000 pounds?  That's like three Clydesdales.  And cars have as much as 400, even 500 horsepower.  That's like a whole bunch of Clydesdales.  And only one Clydesdale is needed to pull a buggy.  And, like Robert Redford and Leo DiCaprio and Al (Lurch) Gore and the Sierra Club tell us, that's all we really need.  A horse and buggy. 

Did you know that horses run on hay?  They don't need no stinkin' oil and gas to run.  Just some of that stuff you grow on a farm.  Yes, they produce some (nasty) residue, but hey, you can use that to moisturize and energize the soil, and that makes things grow even better, right?  And they don't burn gas, these horses.  And that's great, because they don't cause Global Warming, or Climate Change, or whatever-the-Hell-they're-calling-this-thing-that-isn't-happening-and-hasn't-happened-for-quite-awhile-and-likely-won't-be-happening-ever-again these days.

Back to cars.  Cars take people where they don't want to go.  Just a few days ago, a poor, unsuspecting woman of a race that cannot be discussed in polite company any more and her baby were taken on a hair-raising ride through Washington, D.C. by a car.  A black car, no less.  And as the Obama Administration and the Brady Campaign and Nanny Bloomberg, NYC's mayor, unfortunately, tell us, black is an evil color.  Those so-called "assault weapons" are black.  Evil!   Anything black, I would offer, is evil, except for people in general, of course, and our Insurance Salesman-in-Chief, in particular.  Black is okay in that case.  In fact, I'm sure they would tell you it's better than that other color, don't you know.

But cars, black cars, are evil.  They kill people.  Did you know that the car that took the poor, unsuspecting older gent on a ride through the open-air market near the pier in Santa Monica a couple of years back was black?  It killed 8 people and wounded a couple of dozen more.  Poor guy.  He was not at fault, people.  That car was! 

And how about the guy that shot up the Navy Yard in D.C. awhile back.  Not only was he also a member of that race that shall not be discussed, so was the rented Prius that he was driving. 

And how about the crazy loon that avoided three movie theaters that weren't "gun free zones" in an effort to find one that was so he could blast away and kill dozens and wound dozens more.  How did he get there?  A car, that's how.  If it wasn't for the car, he wouldn't have been able to hoof it across Denver with several guns and lots of ammo and a Seal Team camo getup, could he?   No, he couldn't.  It was the car.

Those cars are "weapons of mass destruction," I tell you.  They kill more than six times as many people every year as guns do.  Even black guns.  Tragic.  And when will the squishy, feel-good, do-something-even-if-it's-wrong, left-wing weirdos finally come to their senses and decide to focus their scorched-earth denigration campaign away from peace-loving guns and toward where it belongs; cars.

I say cars should be outlawed.  And anybody who drives one should be demonized.  Just like the lefties are trying to do to those who own, use and enjoy guns.  When, I ask you, rhetorically, will the latte-sipping, limo-riding lefties finally choose to point their finely-manicured fingers where the problem really exists?   Cars.

By the way, the poor woman who was taken on the ride through D.C. was delivered to her maker, and the danger to the citizens of that God-forsaken outpost of incivility finally resolved, by a cop with a gun.  Maybe that's why they call them The Great Equalizers...

It's October 1st...Time for Obamacare!

Thank the Lord!  It's October 1st and the long-awaited - and much-feared - Affordable Care Act kicks in today!

Yes, my friends, after waiting a long, long three years, we finally, finally, get to sign up for what's charitably come to be known as Obamacare. 

Today the exchanges crank up and we can simply go to the appropriate websites, answer a few questions, and VOILA!...we have health care!

Well, not exactly.  Actually, we can't go to the appropriate websites because they aren't up yet, or they've crashed and are unavailable.  But they'll likely be up by January 1st, we're told, when you absolutely, positively have to sign up or the Internal Revenue Service will send a posse out to round you up and fine you into the Stone Age.  But hey, that's then and this is now, and we can rejoice in the fact that we all now have health care!

Well, not exactly.  Actually, the ACA is not, NOT, I repeat, a health care program.  It is an insurance program.  And what you're signing up for is health insurance.  And far from being free, it charges you a premium, just like the one you pay for car insurance, unless, of course, you're an illegal alien, in which case you don't need no stinkin' car insurance.

And so, boys and girls, you signs up and you buys your health insurance.  And then what?  Likely what you'll discover is what the good residents of California discovered a few years ago when MediCal (our version of Medicaid) was expanded to cover just about every carbon-based life form in our once-Golden, but now severely-tarnished State. 

And under MediCal, doctors and hospitals receive a reimbursement of about 30% of what MediCare pays, which is just about 60% of what health insurance companies pay.  And, as Californians have unfortunately discovered, a growing number of doctors and hospitals politely refuse to serve those covered by MediCal.  When it costs more to deliver the service than the amount of reimbursement, the service is not delivered.  Except in Cuba, don't you know, where you don't have a choice (do you see a parallel here?).   

So you have health insurance, but you don't have health coverage.  And Obamacare is nothing but a vastly expanded form of Medicaid.  And that's not good news to anyone who, after being forced to buy this turkey, will likely discover they get nothing but partisan blather in return.

It's kind of like being forced to buy a ticket to a concert you don't want to attend, and then, upon arrival at the venue, find that the door is locked and you can't get in.  And they're not offering a refund, either.

Not good.

A recent survey among practicing physicians produced some amazing results.  An alarming 83% of these doctors stated they were planning to retire early.  And  that they were advising their friends and family to avoid medicine as a career.  And who will these doctors be replaced with?  Good question.

So this half-backed, liberal wet dream of a gargantuan entitlement results in almost everybody having health insurance and almost nobody getting health services.

Ready, fire, aim.  Courtesy of the Democratic Party...