Scenes from the Tea Party Patriots 5th Anniversary

Tea Party Patriot President Jenny Beth Martin at 5th Anniversary event [photo: BD Matt]

Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN 6th) thanks Tea Party Patriots at 5th Anniversary event

True the Vote' Founder Catherine Engelbrecht tells the Tea Party Patriots how her  good governance efforts 
to better ensure non fraudulent voting resulted into government harassment [photo credit: BD Matt]

             Talk Radio host and author Mark Levin  inspires the Tea Party Patriots with stories about the
Founding Fathers and Ronald Reagan at the TPP 5th Anniversary event [photo: BD Matt]

Rep. Steve King (R-IA 4th) lets loose against alleged Obama Administration abuses at the Tea Party

Patriots 5th Anniversary event  [photo: BD Matt]

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) shows  his Senate photo ID at the TPP 5th Anniversary  [photo:  BD Matt]

Rep Louie Gohmert (R-TX 1st) speaks at the Tea Party Patriots 5th Anniversary event [photo: BD Matt]

                 Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) recounts egregious examples of government waste  at the Tea Party

                 Patriots 5th Anniversary event [photo: BD Matt]

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) energizes the Tea Party Patriots 5th Anniversary event [photo: BD Matt]

Thomas Watson on Computers

Zig Ziglar on Temperament

Biden Blusters for Black History Month

As part of the Obama Administration marking Black History Month, Vice President Joe Biden told a crowd of his hoops prowess and how he could give a good game against his boss. 

Perhaps Biden was trying to be intentionally funny, as he was on a charm offensive as he also appeared on  "The View" and "Late Night with Seth Myers".

Yet after Biden being Biden, the Vice President went on to question states passing Voter ID laws, which he linked to the battles during the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s. It seems incredible that Biden can keep uttering these questionable quips without controversy from the Lamestream Media.  Yet by virtue of the office, Biden can claim that fighting voter fraud is akin to Jim Crow laws and afterwards are covered straight by a sympathetic media.

At least Biden was not so wrapped into pandering so as to repeat the "They'll put y'all back in chains" remark from during the 2012 Presidential campaign.

h/t: Washington Free Beacon

      Eric Allie

Booker T. Washington on Happiness

Margaret Thatcher on Temperament

Walter E. Williams on Social Justice

Howard Stern on Democrats

Michelle Obama on Knuckleheads

New Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon obsequiously interviewed First Lady Michelle Obama, to talk up her pet project "Let's Move" as well as to nudge Americans on Obamacare.

Michelle Obama endeared herself to the youths of America by calling them "knuckleheads".

This is a different marketing strategy than the Obama Administration employed over Christmastide with Pajama-Boy hectoring his family to talk about health care while drinking cocoa around the Christmas Tree. 

Even said in jest, calling 26 year old "kids" knuckleheads is not a way to get them to spend their dwindling pay checks for income redistribution for older Americans. 

Andy Warhol on Art

Garry Kasparov Checks Western Fecklessness on Ukraine

Garry Kasparov has evolved from a youthful Soviet Chess Grandmaster and a prospective Russian Presidential candidate in 2008 to an outspoken critic of the Putin regime.  Kasparov has not held his rhetorical fire against the unrest in Ukraine.

Previously peaceful  Euromaidan protesters were attacked by forces supporting of Ukrainian President  Victor Yanukovych.  Kasparov foresees an eventual Aunshlauss of Ukraine with the Russian Federation.  Or at the very least the Crimea and other areas with large ethnic Russian populations in Ukraine being "protected" by Mother Russia.  Kasparov intimates that the attacks in Ukraine were coordinated with Putin to occur during the Sochi Winter Olympics to act as a distraction.  The Kremlin has amassed 50,000 man force to secure the Olympics and Kerch,  Crimea  is only 274 miles away, separated only by narrow strait (alas the 2.8 mile bridge which Yanukovych agreed to in 2010 has yet to be built).

With Kasparov's involvement with the Human Rights Foundation, he is attempting to sound the klaxon to preserve freedom in Ukraine.  Unfortunately, based upon his Twitter feed, Garry Kasparov does not seem optimistic about Western "leaders"  rising to the crisis to preserve freedom in Ukraine.

President Obama made public pronouncements about unrest in Ukraine, which tried to blame both sides but also warned the Ukrainian government not to "cross the line."  

Hugh Hewitt was incredulous that Mr. Obama opted to use the idiom "step over the line", especially after the Red Line he painted in Syria in 2012, and then denied that Mr. Obama ever set a red line  in 2013 as the US was preparing to get involved in the Syrian Civil War.   Kasparov picked up on President Obama's pusillanimous tact about acting on "red lines".

The credibility of the European Union and the Obama presidency are on the line in protecting the liberty of the Ukrainian people and freedom.  If this situation goes unchecked, it will be an invitation for forcing a de jure Russian empire.

h/t: Garry Kasparov
     Chip Bok
     Graeme MacKay

Charlie Daniels on the FCC

Lemony Snicket on Time

Tagore on Life

Thowing Cold Water on Athletes' Alarmist Climate Change Sochi Manifesto

American Cross Country Skier Andrew Newell along with  104 other  Sochi Winter Olympians endorsed a statement decrying climate change.  The Protect Our Winters manifesto urged world leaders to take action on climate change and prepare to commit to a UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to be held in Paris in 2015.  These environmental activist athletes came from  the U.S., Canada,  Switzerland, Norway,Sweden, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy and  Australia.

To bolster his support of the POW Manifesto, Newell pointed to a study from the University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada) which worries about the future of Winter Olympics in a warmer world.  The Waterloo  researchers claim that six of the last nineteen Winter Olympics host cities will be cold enough to host the games as you can't ski safely or successfully in slush.

This Protect Our Winters message seems to resonate through the warm weather conditions in Sochi, Russia for the XXII Olympiad to reinforce the message about global warming (although this snow job is somewhat diminished when digging out of the snowy Nor'easter on the Eastern Seaboard).   Low information voters who only pay rapt attention when it is a Presidential election, or during the Olympics when Curling and the Luge dominate the airwaves, may unquestioningly buy this progressive propaganda.

Global warming has now been rebranded climate change, since there was not global warming for 16 years (between 1997 and 2012).  Progressive apologists hotly dispute this challenge purporting that climate change "deniers" do not look to the right sources and are all funded by fossel fuel think tanks.  Ironic, isn't it that the unproven theory which has driven much of the global warming debate originated from the East Anglia University hockey stick model, in which data was intentionally manipulated and there was a cover up lest their research funding be imperiled. 

There is some question as to whether the climate change is anthropogenic (man made). The data that global warming was arrested for 16 years, without significant attainment of the ambitious Kyoto Protocol goals, gives cause for pause.  But even if , for the sake of argument, there is a question as to what difference would it make.  Danish Environmentalist Bjorn Lomborg, author of The Skeptical Environmentalist (1998), points out that even if European Union implemented Carbon Tax to achieve the 20-20 goal, it would cost $7 trillion over the course of the century achieving a miniscule 0.05^oC reduction in temperature and lower the sea   levels by a trivial nine millimeters.    This does not account for third world nations (including Russia, India and China) which were exempt in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and would not seriously implement costly environmental curtailment, especially if it sacrificed national economic growth.  Then there is the inconvenient truth that implementing environmental abatement in the wrong way can be counterproductive. 

It is worth recognizing linkage of the warm Sochi weather with an environmentally endangered Winter Olympics as a false flag down the slippery slope of big science.   Ed Morrissey wrote in a Hot Air a piece which debunks warm Winter Olympic weather worriers.  Morrissey points out that Sochi is on the Southern-most part of the Russian Federation and was a controversial choice by the IOC in 2007

Arguably, Sarajavo (1984) and Innsbruck (1964, 1976) are not that much further North than Sochi.  But Innsbruck is located in the Austrian Alps and has an elevation of 1886' and Sarajevo is in the Dinaric Alps with an elevation of 1699'.  The problem is that Sochi is at sea level  and temperate weather can impact the Caucus mountain sites. Typically, Sochi has an February average of 42.8 degrees, with a high of 49 degrees and a low of 37.   That's a rather poor choice for a Winter Olympic locale.  But it probably was a political move at the behest of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.  

Between the questionable science on man-made climate change and the poor choice of Olympic host cities, it is sad that activists athletes are given a platform to pontificate such poppycock.  As   Robert Heinlein lamented: “The United States has become a place in which professional athletes and entertainers are mistaken for people of significance.” 

 In this case, maybe Newell should shut up and ski.  Newell failed to medal in the three disciplines he skied at Sochi, at best coming in 4th in the Mens' Cross Country Sprint

h/t:  HotAir.com 

Will Smith on Temperament

A Bit about Euromaidan -- You Say You Want a Revolution?

As the world watches the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russian Federation, there is unrest in Kjiv, Ukraine.  Nearly twenty years ago, Nike advertised the that Revolution would not be televised.  That proves untrue as Espreso TV was carrying it live as paramilitary attacked the peaceful protestors throughout the night of February 19th.   First news reports indicate that 22 fatalities with 1,000 people injured,  but  based on the constant pops in the night air and the burning pyres of the barricades  in the main square, this could be a low estimate. 

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The EuroMaidan protests began on November 21st, 2013 when protestors gathered at Independence Square in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine when President Yanukovych suddenly swayed away from an associate agreement with the European Union and chose to strengthen economic ties with Russia.  The protest snowballed on November 30th when a group of students were attacked by the police, and it became a national movement.  

 

Protestors have been gathering in Independence Square, in the bitter Ukranian cold day and night to protest.  But people do not get passionate about just trade agreements.  People are concerned about the rampant corruption in Ukraine. President Yanukovych’s aloofness and unresponsiveness to the will of the people engenders ire.  And of course, the heavy handed tactics, which killed five protestors in late January and the wider violence and bloodshed today. 

While Kjiv’s main square constantly has 20,000 protestors (and can swell up to 800,000), there are said to be mini Maidans throughout the country, but much more pronounced in Western Ukraine.    George Weigel characterized the Euromaidan protests as the rising up of a nation which is tired of being ruled by thieves and barbarians and stand against a thugocracy. 

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These Euromaidan protests have been going on for the last three months.  It is a region of the world that we are familiar with through the Cold War.  Now that we know the protesters goals and modus operandi, what is the Yanukovych Ukrainian government position, and how much which "friendly" neighbors help resolve the uprising?

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  Aside from geopolitical considerations, this is a people who wished to be freed from tyranny.  We ought not abandon such lovers of liberty as the Obama Administration did with the Green Revolution in Iran in 2009.   Then again, a God fearing people protesting against thievery and heavy handed tactics may not find much sympathy in today’s corridors of power of the District of Calamity. 

 SEE MORE at DCBarroco.com

Rosa Parks on Life

Impeaching Presidents’ Day

Washington National's Racing Presidents at Mount Rushmore

February is the shortest month of the year. It used to be even shorter for many government workers. Many state’s used to celebrate both Lincoln’s Birthday on February 12th and Washington’s birthday on February 22nd. The problems with such a festal federal arrangement was that it shut down not only the government, but banks, mail delivery and impacted the financial markets. The other trouble was that celebrating these Presidents’ on their actual birthdays did not ensure a three day weekend for federal workers.

 So in 1971, Congress passed and President Richard Nixon the Uniform Holidays Act which made observance of many Federal holidays (Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Columbus Day and originally Veterans Day) to be on set Mondays. While an early draft of the law referred to President’s Day, the legal name of the holiday has never been changed.

Perhaps it was years of silly commercials for White sales, appliances and new cars which paired Washington and Lincoln that people started calling it “Presidents' Day”. Or maybe it was a deliberate de-emphasis by the education system on the greatness of our first President because he owned slaves that it was called President’s Day. Nonetheless, that moniker seems stuck in the popular culture.

 This year Groupon was continuing the tradition of commercializing this federal free day off by promoting a sui generis deal:

 When it was politely pointed out that Alexander Hamilton was never an American President, their muddle headed marketing point person responded:

 It seems that the the folks at Groupon is that they seem to be educated by the concept of Dead Presidents being on paper money. While that is generally true, it ain’t necessarily so as demonstrated by Hamilton (the first Secretary of the Treasury). Benjamin Franklin on the hundred dollar bill was not President, even of the Continental Congress. While it is unlikely that Groupon will encounter a $500 bill, the 1918 edition of the Federal Reserve banknote had John Marshall on it (before being replaced by PRESIDENT William McKinley). Marshall sat in the Supreme Court’s chambers, not the White House.



Aside from mocking the invincible ignorance of the Groupon Twitter spokesman, for me it serves as an impeachment of President’s Day. One would be hard pressed to find someone who wanted to celebrate Millard Fillmore’s or William Henry Harrison’s accomplishments as President. Partisans today might chortle at celebrating George W. Bush or Barack Obama as the Commander-in-Chief. Not even a homage set to Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” should justify a Presidents’ Day Holiday.




By celebrating an office creates ambiguity among the citizenry. We ought to celebrate the leader who instituted the concept of citizen politicians and led by example. That Indispensable Man is George Washington.

 In the hopes of educating low information votes and those who have forgotten the past, I hereby resolve to refer to the the third Monday in February shall be referred to by it’s proper name “Washington’s Birthday (Observed)”. We need to all do this, lest next year Groupon is tempted to have another Presidents’ Day "duel deal" with  Aaron Burr.

h/t HotAir

George Washington on Liberty

Will Durant on Western Civilization

Tim Scott on Segregated Civics and Civility

The so called Reverend William Barber II, a member of the NAACP Board of Directors, recently ignited a firestorm when Barber recognized Martin Luther King Day by pronouncing Senator Tim Scott as a puppet of the Republican Party.  Barber's exact barb was:   “A ventriloquist can always find a good dummy."

The right Reverend feels wronged that the first black Senator since Reconstruction articulates a Tea Party agenda.    Perhaps Barber forgot about Senator Edward Brooke (R-MA), Senator Carol Mosely Braun (D-IL), Senator Roland Burris (D-IL), now Senator Mo Cowan (D-MA) and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ).  And of course there was Senator Barack Obama (D-IL).  But to be charitable, perhaps Rev. Barber was referring to the South.

None the less, it is fascinating that Barber has the expectation both of group think for Blacks.  Moreover, it shows the hypocrisy of the NAACP as a civil rights organization which it disses an African American who has achieved high office because he does not articulate liberal Democrat policy positions.

Furthermore, Barber uses insulting imagery to demean his bete noir.  No wonder Thomas Sowell quipped that he was so old that he remembers when most of the people promoting racial hatred were white.  When Barber rhetorically excoriated Senator Scott, Barber intimates that only Whites are part of the Tea Party and clearly he thinks ill of them.



When Rev. Barber was given a chance to walk back his tough talk on Senator Scott, he chose to play the prophet, for which he may profit in progressive political circles.  Wonder what happened to all of the Democrat's push for civility in public discourse.  That's right, it was a one way street.

While Barber may be a pastor at the Geenboro Christian Church Disciples of Christ Church, his uncharitable rhetoric and routed political thinking lends credence to having him lead the Church of the Poisoned Mind.  Of course, he would have to compete against the Jeremiah Wright, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.

Marilyn Monroe on Life

Thomas Sowell on Racism

With comments like Bryant Gumbel's quip about the paucity of pigmentation that the Winter Olympics, one can better understand Sowell's critique. 

Peter Ustinov on Love

Snapshots from the 2014 Blizzard Between the Beltways

The Nor'easter which hit the Eastern Seaboard dumped around 9 1/2 inches of snowfall overnight in the center of the District of Calamity (sic).  

2014 Beltway Blizzard informal snow measure

Weather reporters warn that an  afternoon snowfall may add several more inches of the fluffy white stuff.  But it may end up as freezing rain, which would strain above ground power lines and make driving even more hazardous.

2009 Snowsaumi satire 

This is the first major snowstorms in the Nation's Capital since the winter of 2009-2010 when the city was walloped with the Snowtsaumi of  16" (on a fall day no less),  Snowpocalypse in January with 28" and Snowmaggeddon of 20.5"  in February.  



So far, the 2014 snowstorm has not seemed as severe-- however this Beltway Blizzard has still claimed some casualties.  In trying to clear the wet heavy snow, two shovels snapped.  It is a good thing that there is still a spare.  

It may be impossible to buy, beg or steal another one in the near future. But then again there is so much to typical shovel in DC, what else is new?

The Federal and District governments were closed today.  If history holds any sway, the gears of government should be closed through Tuesday, including the observance of George Washington's Birthday (often mistakenly called "Presidents' Day"), though some may still supposedly "telecommute".  

One thing that is different from prior big snowstorms is that secondary streets were plowed half a day after the blizzard started.  Is it any coincidence that there is a Democrat Mayoral Primary in Washington D.C. on April 1st? 

Anne Rice on Writing