Gang of Fourteen Breaking Down

Senator DeWine had this to say about filibusters on Hugh Hewitt's show today.

Oh, I absolutely do. I mean, this is not under what our definition of extraordinary circumstances is. This is a nomination that's clearly within the mainstream of conservative judges. This is someone who has a long, distinguished record, someone who I would classify as kind of a classic conservative justice, who believes you should decide each case one at a time, you should not be a judicial activist, you should not be intrusive, that a judge should kind of sit back, wait for that case to come, and then make a decision on the case, but not be really a legislator. And really, that's what this judge's record would, at least seem to me, to show.

RadioBlogger has the transcript.
With Senator Graham on record as well, Democrat ability to filibuster is fading fast.

Charmaine agrees.

Oil Shale to the Rescue

Michael Fumento says even though oil cost 50% more in 1989 than today, we are starting to see increased production of oil from oil shale. Current estimates suggest that known deposits will last 500 years at current activity. More at TCS.

Talk about a windfall.

With all the talk about oil company profits, maybe its time to see who else profits.
TaxProf Blog has the answer.

With BP, Exxon-Mobil, and Shell reporting record profits, the Tax Foundation reminds us in its latest Fiscal Fact that the biggest beneficiaries of gasoline sales are federal and state governments, not the oil industry.

HT Instapundit.

McMartin Preschool Revelations

Betsy's Page highlights a LAT article from one of the grown children supposedly molested in the famous trial from the 80's. I remember the case because we had lived in Manhattan Beach before moving to a bigger house after our son was born. Our kids were in preschool (not McMartin) at the time. We could not imagine from visiting our preschool how any of the activities claimed could have happened in secret given the overlapping activites of the various age groups and employees.
Reading about one grown child's experience and manipulation during the trial is sickening. It will never be possible to restore the dignity, property and loss of freedom to the McMartin family.

What Housing Bubble?

Wired magazine (no online link to this article) for November looks at 55 years of housing information and says,

Sure, buying a two-bedroom house in a city like Boston can cost you a million clams. But concerns that the US housing market is too hot - and the bubble is ready to burst- are what's really inflated. While average home prices have more than doubled since 1950, so have average home sizes. In today's dollars, that means Americans are paying less per square foot now than they did then. Plus, thanks to better financing options and smaller family sizes, a year's salary buys way more house than it used to, and everyon inside it gets more space. That McMansion you.ve been eyeing isn't so overprices after all.

In 55 years:
Housing prices are up 133%
Square footage is up 137%
Household income is up 113%
Heating costs are down 23%

And what energy crisis?

My Last Post on Miers

My take on the Conservative Borking of Ms. Miers is this.
I thought there was a conservative team that was fighting upstream for 25 years to turn this country around. I thought we were making good progress but have a long way to go and that we are a long way from governing from strength and conviction since we don't have a conservative majority in the Senate despite having a small Republican majority. I thought our President was a proven master at moving his agenda forward and that he deserved our support with the Miers nomination and the basis of his record on judicial appointments.

Well I know now that I was wrong. There is a team but I am not on it. I am a mere dolt with not enough wisdom or judgment to know how dumb the President is. My judgement (and incidentally, the President's) is worth nothing to what AJSTRATA calls the pureblood conservatives.

Fine. I know better now. It's just like getting picked for a team on the school playground. I'm not good enough.

Well, it works both ways. I thought there was some value in having the 'purebloods' on my team. I thought they were good sources of information and informed judgement about things political

Now I know that they are not. I don't need to listen to them or buy their publications and I certainly know that, not breathing the rarefied air at the higher levels where they operate their insights and judgements are worthless to me.

World Record in LA

Saturday, the Petersen Automotive Museum will sponsor over 100 hearses in a parade around the museum on Wilshire Boulevard.

There will be Wintons and Packards, Pontiacs and Cadillacs, Buicks and Oldsmobiles, not only in black, gray and white, but in red, blue and even pink. While many of the cars are from the '60s and '70s, some of the cars date as far back as 1916.It isn't just the blanked-out rear windows and curtains but the craftsmanship that distinguishes a funeral car from an average, everyday station wagon. The small, if steady, demand for hearses makes their mass production inefficient, so the coaches are always assembled and finished by hand.

Just one more reason for a weekend in LA.

Wake Up America

The noted pundit Frank J says it is time.

Every so often in our nation's history we adopt a policy of strict isolationism due to our fear and ignorance.

It is once again time for such fear and ignorance

My opinion is only worth $15 per month but I say, Read on.

I'm keeping my day job.

My blog is worth $5,080.86.
How much is your blog worth?

I am not sure how this value is calculated but I might be looking at $15.00 per month gross assuming that there is someone that recognizes this much value in my blog and has the money to prove it.

I support the President and Harriet Miers

George Bush is not my prefect president. He is, however, a better man than this nation deserves. One area where he has stood firm is with his judicial appointments. Without firm support from a limp wristed Senate, he has managed to get some outstanding new judges on the federal bench and a home run new Chief Justice. Now he has nominated Harriet Miers for a position on the Supreme Court and both he and his nominee get crucified, not by the ACLU or liberal Democrats but by Republican politicians and conservative pundits.
I am fed up with this backbiting by people who want to be thought important and don't care about the impact of what they are doing.
I would not have a clue about selecting a Supreme Court Justice. Thankfully, I do not have to because we have a President who has demonstrated that he does have a clue.
I want everybody to shut up and let the Senate hearings proceed.
Lowell at HedgeHog Blog is a lawyer and has some good observations about the critics of this nominee. Like this..

Wow. If you support the president on the Miers nomination you're blind; if you oppose him, you're still loyal to the president, but you can see - better than the president himself can. The anti-Miers people are the ones truly loyal to GWB. They're just trying to save him from himself.

Read the rest.

Given today's news that Ms. Miers has withdrawn, I thank her for being a good soldier and wish her well.

Looking for an honest politician?

Maybe General Zod is your man.

When I first came to your planet and demanded your homes, property and very lives, I didn't know you were already doing so, willingly, with your own government. I can win no tribute from a bankrupted nation populated by feeble flag-waving plebians. In 2008 I shall restore your dignity and make you servants worthy of my rule. This new government shall become a tool of my oppression. Instead of hidden agendas and waffling policies, I offer you direct candor and brutal certainty. I only ask for your tribute, your lives, and your vote.

Zod's Campaign Platform
* I do not take orders. I give them. Congress shall no longer have the ability to impeach me or override my decisions, and the Supreme Court shall not meddle in government affairs.
* Your freedom will be expanded. You will be even more free to give your money and lives to me, and to be my eternal subjects.

More here.

Halloween in LA

Halloween and Day of the Dead celebrations will be provided at 'Not a Cornfield', a 32 acre plot of reclaimed industrial land near downtown LA which is destined to become an historical park later on. Agriculture is pretty remote for most southern Californians and corn represents many things to all American cultures.

Muslim Pledge

BIAE - The Bureau of Islamic and Arabic Education is a website offering help with Islamic education for American muslims. This is their pledge.

Porkbusters Progess

Congressional support for Porkbusters is beginning to firm. Here are some responses reported to TTLB. Pelosi is for $70 million. No other Californian is on record.

Regulated Tyranny

Several northern California communities are attempted to escape the regulatory hell that produces sky-high prices and impersonal service from the state's Investor-owned utilities. Sacramento News & Review has discovered the utility's playbook and tell us what to expect as the process continues. Follow the money.

The Vote is Being Counted

Another big day for Iraq. Voting on the new constitution is over. Terrorists attacked the power grid in Baghdad but the vote continued. Itaq the Model has observation,voting statistics and some pictures.
More links and comments from Shrinkwrapped.

Sometimes Only a Texan

Can tell it like it needs to be told.

The Fat Guy says. 'Kill Me Soon'.

But Californians aren't far behind.
From Laer, "Shut up and let the woman speak!"

Apoplectic no longer.

I have been driven nearly mad by the discordant rants from conservatives asserting the disaster to come from Harriet Miers becoming a Supreme. Why are so many of the conservative elite so strident in their condemnation of Mier’s qualifications and the Presidents judgment? Surely they understand the damage to the President and his ability to implement his programs. Surely they will accept his nomination.
But no, they continue and become ever more shrill.

First, I denounced them all. A pox on all their houses. Who needs them? Get lost! Shove off! Where were you when Ginsberg was nominated?

But, then the light bulb lit,………….
Karl Rove.

I thought he was so occupied with the Plame affair that his talons were sheathed. ….

But maybe that is what we are supposed to think.

What better cover could there be? Surely only Rove could have coordinated such a masterful rebellion against the President involving nearly the whole panoply of conservative talking heads viciously attacking the President’s choice and dividing the GOP. No wonder the White House doesn’t defend the nomination.

What genius! What brilliance! What teamwork!

When conservatives attack the Miers nomination, the poor Democrats have no choice. They must support.

Cozy Tea Drinking out in Holland

Rita Verdank, the Integration Minister for the Netherlands, is ready for tough action against religious garb for muslims on the grounds of public safety. HT LGF

Another Perspective on the Supreme Court

Frank thinks that we are making the SCOTUS nomination too difficult. Heck, the constitution is only four pages.

And How About Those Bruins

UCLA continues undefeated this season with a 47-40 win over Cal. Here is the recap. And some music to enjoy while reading.

Brain Dead Legislature

One of the reasons I read the Bee - selectively - is Dan Walters. True, you can read him in other papers, like the Daily Breeze but unfortunately, El Dorado Hills is outside the delivery area for the Breeze. Today, he decks the California Legislature which he describes as brain-dead for at least four years.
My opinion is that they are not so much brain-dead as out-of-control with their focus only on enlarging the public sector control of our lives and enabling all of the special interest groups in the process.
But not to quibble with Dan's point which is that Prop 77 will bring back a measure of accountability to the legislature which has been eliminated by the safe districts developed by both political parties when they last redistricted California.
Read his opinion piece and then vote yes on 77.

GOP Rank and File Support Miers

While the Conservative Elites rant,
the rank and file support Miers. HT Hugh.

Thomas Sowell on SCOTUS

If you don't like the Miers nomination, don't blame the President...

Blame the Senate.

And Still More Chillin'

Savage Republican can't hold his tongue any longer.
And Just a Woman is fed up with Feminist hypocracy.

And Now a Fitting Tribute to George Will

George Will has recently weighed in with his opinion on the Miers nomination for Supreme Court Justice. Instapun***K caught this image of the sage in the moment.

Heh from Glenn

As all aspiring bloggers know, a HEH from Glenn means check it out.

Sky Car - Better than a Bentley?

I had a chance to hear the Sky Car inventor a few weeks back. The former UC Davis professor has spent 20 years developing the concept of a vertical takeoff and landing craft to bypass the outdated and overcrowded highway system.

I want one.

More Chillin'

And more intelligent posts on the Miers nomination.

From Suebob we get a Texas perspective and
from Shrinkwrapped, the cool analysis of an expert in human behavior.
and go to Patrick Ruffini if you want to join the coalition. No forgiveness for the gang of 14 is part of this coalition just a willingness to let Bush be Bush.

If you're willin' to be chillin'

If you are fed up with conservative snivelers and are mature enough to let Bush be Bush, then here are some posts you need to read:

Moosemuss from Major Mike

Bangladore Torpedo Parts 1 and 2 from Mr. Atos

Chillin' on Miers

Living in California for 30 years and watching the state party self-destruct over that time, I am familiar with the rejection of the better in the elusive quest for the best. When I hear the Republican elites snivel and whine about Harriet Miers failing to meet their expectations, it makes me sick.

She didn't go to Harvard. She didn't clerk with the Supremes. She actually worked in the private sector. She might be a Souter. Heck, She might be a space alien too.

Stephen Bainbridge, the wine snob, was on the radio this afternoon attempting to explain why he could't support her and he sounded like a spoiled teenager who just got the car keys taken away, not a distinguished legal mind.

Well, I am not a distinguished legal mind but I sure am fed up with the decisions changing my world made by the elitist justices on the court now and I don't care a whit for the opinions of the politicians and reporters who want to be go to guys for the President but arn't.

If they can't appreciate the majority position that this President has given them and let him do the job we elected him to do, the least they can do is shut up and accept that the choice was not theirs but his. I didn't vote for any of them.

She may be the best nominee we could want. She may not. But we elected Bush to make these decisions not those whiners. The Democrats will attempt to create enough problems for this nomination. They don't need help. Republicans shut up!

PC hits hardest in the pocketbook.

Aside from the social problems which political correctness ignores, there are real costs that affect everyone where it hurts most - the pocketbook. The continued quest for perfection with no regard for the costs of achieving perfection have contributed to the high costs for energy now emerging. ShrinkWrapped explains.

Just what NASA needs!

NASA has been a disgrace since it abandoned space exploration for the ride to nowhere program of the space shuttle and the nowhere itself of the international space station. While we extracate ourselves from the current money pit, here is a great idea from Ken, a NASA garage sale.

Another Katrina Danger

Armed and dangerous dolphins claimed missing by 'respected sources'. These dolphins may target divers in wetsuits, mistaking them for terrorists. More here.

Hoo Rah for KTKZ

I knew about the FM connection for KTKZ but just never got around to trying it. Imagine my amazement coming back from the coast on Thursday and searching for some music hearing Hugh Hewitt. We hadn't even reached Yuba City. I wasn't quite ready for catching up with politics after four mindless days but listened anyway.
I am guessing that the FM source is north of Sacramento because reception in El Dorado Hills is not much better for FM than AM. I wonder how far south the FM station reaches.