Saturday, December 28, 2013

Yet Another Obot

I BET HE TALKED HEALTH CARE AT CHRISTMAS

Why don't we meet at Cracker Barrel, Jessie?

My partner here noted early in the controversy that A&E needed the Robertson family much more than the family needed it. There are probably a dozen cable channels that that would be more than happy to sign them. It was predictable that the family would prevail and that A&E would publicly eat crow. C'est la vie. What amuses me are two bit players who were not involved in the fight yet jumped in and proceeded to embarrass themselves to the amusement of the news media and the general public.
Cracker Barrel, the restaurant chain, is much loved by my down home in-laws but is a total culinary disaster in my estimation. If you remember Cool hand Luke this is the sort of food that would have had George Kennedy and Paul Newman banging their tin cups on the table. You're better off eating twice at Fazoli's twice for the same money. In any event, for those who don't have a Cracker Barrel in their area about a third of the building is devoted to a sort of folksy general store type gift shop where they sell tacky what nots, country music cd's and the Duck Dynasty merchandise both offensive and inoffensive. Offensive merchandise, in Cracker Barrel's opinion, is DD merchandise with Phil Robertson's likeness on it and for a whole 24 hours it was verboten. Then, as the rage on Face Book built and I suspect the sale of Christmas season gift cards declined, management had an epiphany and said, in effect, that they would gladly sell merchandise even if they did think it was offensive because they listen to their customers. Exactly what that says about their assessment of their customers' character I'm not sure but they folded nonetheless. 
Enter Jesse Jackson the king of tolerance who was good enough to add "Hymietown" to the lexicon of racial tolerance. The reverend and Anheuser Busch distributorship owner demanded, yes demanded, a meeting with the managements of both A&E and Cracker Barrel. What's interesting here is that Jackson's demand was issued on December 23 with a request that the meeting take place within 72 hours.
And a Merry Christmas to you too, Jessie. Who wouldn't want to forgo Christmas with the family and catch a plane to Chicago during the holiday rush just to hear Jackson pontificate? Unless you know your way around Google better than I do there is no evidence that either of the two management teams even acknowledged the demand let alone met with Jackson. Who could blame the reverend if he never demanded another meeting again? Take a seat in Cracker Barrel, Jessie, and listen to the country laugh.

But Do You Have A Copy Of His Transcripts?

WHERE'S THE LARRY SINCLAIR SECTION?

Friday, December 27, 2013

Advent And Obama

Sorry to post this after Advent but one could say that we are in a second advent awaiting you know who's return from Hawaii. Let us prepare for his arrival.

DOCTRINAIRES WITHOUT BORDERS?

Succeeding Where The Chastity Belt Failed

Ain't enough alcohol in the world or enough darkness in the universe!

NO WE CAN'T!!!
 

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas: A Sad Poem From A Tortured Poet

I posted this before but I did it in a hurry and ran it all together. If you have the time, please read the poem slowly--as you should read all poetry--and absorb what is happening. 

The poet becomes an object of sympathy. This is dark and ugly and discomforting.  It is also insightful, I believe.

Pop

Sitting in his seat, a seat broad and broken
In, sprinkled with ashes,
Pop switches channels, takes another
Shot of Seagrams, neat, and asks
What to do with me, a green young man
Who fails to consider the
Flim and flam of the world, since
Things have been easy for me;
I stare hard at his face, a stare
That deflects off his brow;
I’m sure he’s unaware of his
Dark, watery eyes, that
Glance in different directions,
And his slow, unwelcome twitches,
Fail to pass.
I listen, nod,
Listen, open, till I cling to his pale,
Beige T-shirt, yelling,
Yelling in his ears, that hang
With heavy lobes, but he’s still telling
His joke, so I ask why
He’s so unhappy, to which he replies...
But I don’t care anymore, cause
He took too damn long, and from
Under my seat, I pull out the
Mirror I’ve been saving; I’m laughing,
Laughing loud, the blood rushing from his face
To mine, as he grows small,
A spot in my brain, something
That may be squeezed out, like a
Watermelon seed between
Two fingers.
Pop takes another shot, neat,
Points out the same amber
Stain on his shorts that I’ve got on mine, and
Makes me smell his smell, coming
From me; he switches channels, recites an old poem
He wrote before his mother died,
Stands, shouts, and asks
For a hug, as I shink, my
Arms barely reaching around
His thick, oily neck, and his broad back; ‘cause
I see my face, framed within
Pop’s black-framed glasses
And know he’s laughing too.

Monday, December 23, 2013

Phil Returns to Duck Dynasty. Happy, Happy, Happy but not GLAAD

Phil Robertson is the stud duck and now A&E knows it. When shooting resumes next year Phil will be there. TV Insider reports
A source close to the situation confirmed that when the network resumes airing new episodes of Duck Dynasty starting Jan. 15, footage featuring the Robertson patriarch will indeed remain intact. The network also hopes the media and fan furor will cool down over the holidays and that tensions over shooting future episodes can then be resolved.
“There’s no negotiation to have; we’re doing the show,” said an insider close to the situation. “We’ll figure out a solution. It’s just not going to happen overnight. Everybody will take a break for the holidays and regroup afterward. That’s probably the smartest thing for everyone to do. Time heals a lot of wounds.”
The Robertson family hasn’t sounded as optimistic, with a source close to the Louisiana duck call clan telling E!: “They’re an extremely tight-knit family and they’re not going to let this get in the way. [Phil] is the reason for their success—they’re not going to abandon him. They’re also not about to let anyone threaten their religious beliefs.” A representative for the family could not be reached for comment.
 Maybe next time GLAAD will pick on someone easy such as Chick-fil-A

About the "complicated nature" of Obama's personal information

As Time Magazine reported;
“Over the weekend and in advance of today’s deadline, the President enrolled in a health care plan made available by the Affordable Care Act on the DC marketplace,” the aide said. “As you all know, the President is one of the 85 percent of Americans who gets his health insurance through his employer and, like previous Presidents, is privileged to receive health care from the military.  The act of the President signing up for insurance coverage through the DC exchange is symbolic since the President’s health care will continue to be provided by the military.  But, he was pleased to participate in a plan as a show of support for these marketplaces which are providing quality, affordable health care options to more than a million people.  The President selected a bronze plan.”
The aide added that Obama only signed himself up, and not the rest of the First Family. Obama also did not enroll through the troubled Healthcare.gov or the D.C. exchange’s website. Aides signed him up in person over the weekend, due to the “complicated nature of the President’s case,” the White House aide said. Some of Obama’s personal information is not readily accessible on the government databases used by the website for identity verification.
Could we go into “complicated nature of the President’s case,” a bit further? Why is the President's personal information not in government databases? You mean to tell us he doesn't have a real birth certificate or a valid social security number? Just asking. Or is he just afraid to put his personal identification on the DC exchange where it might get hacked and then we could possibly have a non citizen in the White House signing bills and making political appointments?

Obamacare gets an extra shopping day

Luckily last minute shoppers have an extra day to enroll in Obamacare. The  Washington Post reports that the administration did so without any public announcement of the change:

Over the weekend, government officials and outside IT contractors working on the online marketplace’s computer system made a software change that automatically gives people a Jan. 1 start date for their new coverage as long as they enroll by 11:59 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
If you are keeping score at home this is change number 15 Obama has made to Obamacare without congressional input.