Neanderpundit

One of my very favorite authors, wrote about the insertion, by will of the people, of a total moron into the white house. Elisson reminds us of it here.

The left has been fond of using this comment to apply to W, and it shows the utter ignorance of the left when they do; W piloted, demonstrably, one of the most difficult planes in our air force, a feat that by itself is nearly impossible, but was also able to land one on a carrier AFTER he was president, long past his military days. W was notable for possibly the most dismal US presidency in republican history, but during his watch, there were no terrorist attacks on our soil after 9/11. He also took the war to the idiots instead of letting them take it to us, which was IMO the right move.

The Won probably can’t drive a car. He managed to get through school on a wave of affirmative action, and is now in the highest office in the land due to the action of- as Mencken so aptly puts it- the will of the people.

The people seem to be smartening up. I wonder if it’s in time? Pascal opines that the C02 bs- which is the way they will get Cap and Tax to pass, industries will prefer their odds under cap and tax to the whole C02 clusterfuck and thus it will pass- is the final straw. nah, it’s just another one. THis all started with the designation of secondhand smoke as a carcinogen. All of it is bone-numbing ignorance, but it is not the hill to die on.

It heartens me to see the sarcasm people are directing at Gloebull warmening and the sardonic way they are treating Algore- shit, even John Stewart is taking a swing.

Pascal (the original) made fun of the statist agenda and was able to make change. Everytime you stand in the parking lot at work while the snow pounds down and yell “Where’s my global warming, Algore?”, everytime the internet goes down and you say “Algore is gonna be pissed, you BROKE THE INTERNET!” every time you wait in line at the DMV and say “I cannot WAIT for healthcare to be JUST LIKE THIS!” you chip away at the cheap veneer of this administration, congress, and senate. Snark is a powerful tool, and the more we use it the better off we will be. Plus it’s fun!

An M1 Carbine which is a particular favorite of mine. I look forward to shooting it this upcoming summer, should I manage to get my hands on some FRIGGING AMMO. I just ran across a new place called Acme Ammo which sells 30 carbine, the quality looks good, I’m gonna get some and see.

I also just put my hands on a can of Minwax Antique Oil finish, which Firehand assures me is the Ne Plus Ultra of gunstock finishes- I had an M1 carbine stock I got for him which he did a bangup job on. I want mine to look that good.

This weekend I intend to try to clean the barrel of an old Enfield 17 I have. It’s a rugged old gun, but the iron is all intact, and it shoots like a dream. The bore just looks like ragged shit. Several folks are making new stocks for them, and if I can get the barrel cleaner looking I’ll restock it and Partner can hang it on his wall- or keep it over the fireplace, pointed at the street. Firehand again, gave me the recipe for the electric bore cleaner thing and I intend to do my level best to get that sucker clean as I can. Hope to be able to post before and after pictures of the stock.

Fodder has a post about Forensics in his vette, and I fully comprehend. The daughter- once she found out the school she wants has a Forensics program, was excited as hell. Then she stepped into the Forensics hall, and her face dropped. “I thought there would be dissection tables! Microscopes! Cadavers!”

Forensics, I explained to her, is the science of arguing. It’s the way people who are educated have a discussion. It’s the way you learn things that you didn’t know- for instance, I learned about the Civil War in my senior year in high school. I took the position that the Civil War was fought because of slavery, and I had my ass handed to me; the civil war, as we all know now, was about States Rights. I came away from that debate humbled, and smarter. And I have come away from many debates in my life humbled and smarter. Everyone enters a debate or a discussion with the intention of proving their point, and if they are capable of being honest with themself, they can learn from their opponent even if they are correct.

THis is how I know Islam is evil, and I can handily prove it. Nobody can come to that debate with me, bringing intellectual honesty, and defeat me; nobody. It has nothing to do with my feelings, those have no place in forensics. Forensics deals with facts, where debate is concerned. Forensics where other things are concerned also deals with facts; the fact that there’s a .357 caliber bullet in a corpse is only a fact, a datum. It is not possible to jump to the conclusion that the cause of death was the bullet wound, unless it can be proved that there was no other cause of death, for instance. Just as the forensic evidence that ‘I know nice muslims” cannot provide evidence that Islam is not evil, because Muslims are not Islam.

A lot of people(cough: Democrats) make the mistake of basing their worldview on their feelings. Nothing could be stupider, or more dangerous. What you want the world to be is not what the world is, period. What you think is wrong with the world, is probably not what is actually wrong with the world, especially if you think what is wrong with the world is based on what you feel about it.

It drives me batshit crazy to see people doing this sort of thing Frankly, this is the sort of bullshit that is beyond reason, these people are incapable of reason, and therefore, cannot participate in a proper forensic discussion because all they have is their feelings, they lack facts of any kind.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, on running into people like this, I would adjust their attitude. I learned attitude adjustment from Dad, who was the Zen Master of Attitude Adjustment. Once I had adjusted someones’ attitude, it remained adjusted. These days I try to debate people, and I’ve found that there are two types: Those who will learn, and those who will not. Of the type who will learn, some have become regular readers here. I respect them and like them a great deal. Of the type that will not, some storm off in disgust, and some get abused until they run away. But all I got is forensics; I will have a joust of reason with anyone, but I will no longer personally tune people up for being assholes or idiots. Those days are behind me, and what energy I have left for that activity will be reserved for my daughter’s suitors when that time arrives. I will not hesitate to tune up a teenaged boy if he lips off at me or mistreats the daughter, and I know the tricks. I may be a lazy, fat old man, but don’t fuck with me, I have no patience left.