1 Boring Old Man

It’s a gray, almost cold Fall day in the foothills to the Appalachians. It may spare us from yet another downpour, but the wet is in the air. The leaves are turning, but their beauty is masked by the weight of the wet, and the streams are still angry torrents from our nightly soakings. Not the kind that go pitter pat on the tin roof, the ones that sound like a roaring locomotive speeding to make up time. It’s a right day for a fire and a good British mystery novel. The fire’s ablaze, but unfortunately I’ve rsolved all the murders on the shelf. My newest Amazon delivery doesn’t feel right – David Cole’s The Torture Memos: Rationalizing the Unthinkable just seems a little too dark for today’s ambiance.

What’s an old man to do but surf around on the Internet. Rediscovering Andy McKee was fun, but that was yesterday afternoon. I ordered a small erector set for a kid I saw at the clinic where I volunteer. He needs something to help him feel less vulnerable – more permanent [He said "Leggos are fun, but you can knock them over"]. Erector sets have nuts and bolts. Then I wandered by Crooks and Liars and watched a video of Glenn Beck’s show yesterday [Another Glenn Beck weepfest, because Americans need to wake up to the evil Marxist radicals in the White House. Hooboy].

I haven’t actually seen much Glenn Beck. Our TV is on Fox News Restriction, so I never see them live. And I think I probably post every Glenn Beck video I’ve ever seen, because they are so amazing. This one’s based on White House Communication Director, Anita Dunn, speaking to a bunch of kids. She said that two of her favorite something or anothers were Mao Tse Tung and Mother Teresa [getting a laugh]. Beck takes that ball and runs with it. "How did we get here?" He shows the famous Joe Green "Thanks Kid" commercial. He works himself up into a frenzy with tears flowing down his face. Of course the point is that the White House is full of Communists, and we need to get back to Father Knows Best and Rawhide. I tuned out when he was exhorting parents to keep their kids away from pot and booze, even though it’s hard [if you watch it, let me know how it comes out].

Whatever that is about, it didn’t do much for the gray almost cold Fall day. Beck’s tearful anticommunist rant followed all the Limbaugh stuff. What the heck, I went to Limbaugh’s web site for today’s offering:

There it was – Anita Dunn’s praising Mao. [She gave her talk in May, so it took them a while to find it]. But there’s more, "Documented" – Obama was involved in smearing Rush. You see, "NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith served as counsel to Attorney General Eric Holder and was a member of Barack Obama’s transition team." Ergo "we know that a former Obama official and political ally – who was chosen by the NFLPA specifically for his political clout and connections to the highest rungs of power in government–directly attacked Limbaugh for the radio-talker’s political commentary. Historically politicians have been prone to vindictive and petty behavior, but never in American history has someone had so much power to pummel his political opponents as President Obama. With control over banks, insurance companies, car companies, media [sports media included] and unions [like the NFL players union], Obama tentacles seem to penetrate into nearly every corner of the nation." And further "The subject of race is being used as a sledgehammer to silence opposition to liberalism. It’s a cancer in our country, and it’s growing."