Infected Toe

WMAL in DC has a morning show hosted by two moderates named Brian and conservative goddess Mary Katherine Ham. She wasn’t there this morning, so the moderates waxed moderately on the unelectability of Rick Santorum who, gosh darn it, just can’t beat Baracula.

Oy.

What the moderii and the rest of the talking heads in Fortress DC don’t get is this: we are not in the middle of an election, we are in the middle of a Civil War. Oh, not a violent one, no Sherman’s March or Gettysburg or anything like that (yet), but one, just the same. This is a fight to the death, NOT an interesting election highlighting subtle differences in policy and political theory.

They don’t know that because all those pundits and pollsters and editors only talk to each other. Just each other. They all go to the same parties, read the same papers, watch the same shows. They do not talk to us, the real people of America. No time for that, you see. Busy.

But Schlub does. Schlub winds his way up and down the byways and alleys and cities of America and engages his fellow citizenry in discussion, and has discovered something very very in'ressin': all those moderates and independents over whom the pundii tremble are going to vote ABO (Anybody But Obama) in November.

So, yes, Mitt Romney is electable, but so is Rick Santorum.

So is an infected toe.

Might as well be Gossip Girl

Schlub is a big fan of the PBS series Downton Abbey. Yeah, yeah, PBS, bastion of Marxist culture, living on government largesse because they eschew the vulgarity of, ewww! commercials (Viking River Cruises notwithstanding). But sometimes they latch onto a pretty good British series and the Schlub will watch. After all, I’m paying for it.

And since Schlub is enamored of All Things Modernist, especially the last gasp of Victorian aristocracy just before World War 1, Abbey quickly became a favorite. At least, the first season, which was masterful.

But I think the producers of American Idol have snuck in the back, gassed all the writers, and replaced them with the staff of Dallas. Because this season has turned into a prime time soap opera.

Plot points abound: Lord Grantham kissing Jane, which you could see coming a mile away; Matthew’s miraculous recovery; Sir Richard turning into Snidely Whiplash; Livinia’s very convenient death by Spanish Flu (which the doctor treated like some nuisance common cold); Bates’ arrest for murder, also available for viewing several miles away…oh brother. Makes Schlub want to walk over to some random corner and throw up.

No doubt the writers intended a single season. Their target audience was familiar with the events of the early 20^th and knew Downton was going the way of Tara, so pass gently into that good night.  But unexpected popularity and a frenzied demand for more and the writers are sitting around the table bewildered, going “What do we do?” At that point, some guy in a checkered suit and loud tie bursts in shouting “I’ll tell ya what we do!”…and here we are.

To quote Hobson, “How revolting.”

Perspective

Let’s say you’re involved in a pretty gruesome accident, losing your arms and legs and one eye. After three years, some doctor attaches a hook so you can pick up a pencil.

Are you getting better?

Think of that next time some paid shill for the Democrat Party gushes about the economy.

Beachhead

So, Newt took SC. Given his rather excellent debates, one is not surprised. Given that Romney is the choice of Democrats and the Republican Establishment (but I repeat myself), one is not surprised that he went down in flames. Neither Dems nor Redems seem to understand— we’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore.

Now, as I have previously stated, I am not a Newt fan. But I am less of an Obama fan, and solving a problem like Newt is akin to breaking through the hedgerow country after winning Normandy. Got to get on the beach first, then deal with the later issues.

So, yes, Schlub would vote for Newt, or any other infected toe, over Obama. Job 1 is send the Marxist and his useful idiots back to Chicago. Then we'll see about the hedgerows.

15 inches of global warming in the driveway

Hey, hippies of Oregon and Washington:

If you get a spare moment between bong tokes, please explain this.

Turned me into a Newt

The Schlub is not a big Newt Gingrich fan. Newt is a consummate DC insider, the kind of person Schlub believes needs a one-way ticket back home. Sure, yes, fine, the man did yeoman service in the 80’s and 90s, something Schlub remembers well and applauded him for, BUT… (and you knew that was coming)…

In all of that, a whiff of overweening pride could be detected.

Newt IS a conservative and a believer in the Constitution, but how much of that is vehicle to larger ambitions is a matter of drawing a random line, and it is these self-aggrandizing professional politicians who have gotten us into our current straits.

But, Schlub, wait a minute! Since when is ambition a poor character trait, and don’t we need overly confident conservatives to face the winds of leftist war? Why, yes, but motivation is key. And Newt loves government, instead of its purposes. What else explains his rather bizarre behavior since leaving Congress? The Nancy Pelosi ad, the attacking of Paul Ryan, the Bain capital stuff…methinks he self-promotes too much.

Oh, no doubt Newt would support governmental reductions and lowerings of taxes and raising of armies, all subjects near and dear to Schlub’s heart, but it is the method and process and functions of government itself which is dear to the Newt, not the ideas themselves. I can do without these people, no matter how much what they say rings a cordant note.

Having said all that, I gotta say, Newt’s handling of that snippy, perpetually whining professional race victim Juan Williams, was just masterful. And a pleasure to behold. And, yes, yes, if Newt becomes the nominee, Schlub will vote for him.

After all, I’d vote for an infected toe instead of Obama.

Puttin' You on Notice

You RINO’s, you RNC members, that is.

I’m sure you noted Rick Santorum’s rather close defeat in Iowa. Depending on which news source you consult, Romney beat him by 8, or 1, vote. That’s it. And what’s NOT being widely reported? Several “independents” (read “Democrats”) voted for Romney in the cauci (18% for Romney, 13% for Santorum, and a whole lotta’em for Paul. Go figure).

Okay, so?

Well, dudes, it means that Tea Party you so smugly have declared dead and over, ain’t. It also means there is a revolution going on, one you refuse to acknowledge. One that will no longer take your John McCain’s and Bob Dole’s, the “business-as-usual” candidates you seem to prefer.

You got rid of Cain, you have eliminated Bachman, and you have all but run Perry out of town. But Santorum remains. And got a helluva lot more votes than you expected.

You should think about that.