Congressman John Murtha, R.I.P.....

Let's salute him for his service in the Marine Corps (that's "core", not "corpse", Mr. President!), if nothing else...

Military service was in Murtha's blood. He said his great-grandfather served in the Civil War, his father and three uncles in World War II, and his brothers in the Marine Corps.
He left Washington and Jefferson College in 1952 to join the Marines, where he rose through the ranks to become a drill instructor at Parris Island, S.C., and later served in the 2nd Marine Division.

Murtha moved back to Johnstown and remained with the Marine Reserves until he volunteered to go to Vietnam. He served as an intelligence officer there from 1966 to 1967 and received a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts.
....In 1990, he retired from the Marine Reserves as a colonel.

Of course, he turned against the Corps by using his high-profile bully pulpit to spread leftist disinformation about the Marines' work in Iraq:

Murtha's criticism of the Iraq war intensified in 2006, when he accused Marines of murdering Iraqi civilians "in cold blood" at Haditha, Iraq, after one Marine died and two were wounded by a roadside bomb.

Critics said Murtha unfairly held the Marines responsible before an investigation was concluded and fueled enemy retaliation. He said that the war couldn't be won militarily and that such incidents dimmed the prospect for a political solution.

"This is the kind of war you have to win the hearts and minds of the people," Murtha said. "And we're set back every time something like this happens."

The AP article doesn't admit to - and nor did Murtha, unless he did on his death bed - the fact that all charges against the Marines "involved" in the Haditha incident were dropped. Nor was there ever any admission of the fact - by Murtha or the AP - that there was a military solution to the Iraq war, and George W. Bush delivered it.

Unfortunately, despite his fine service to the nation, Congressman Murtha was a trend-setter as far as sacrificing truth, justice, and the safety of American soldiers engaged overseas in exchange for political expediency. Semper Fi for me and not for thee, I guess. Still, if his aim was to overthrow Bush and the Republicans, he succeeded, although at the current time his victory appears to have a quite limited lifespan.

And speaking of which -

Murtha's Pennsylvania 12th District is the only one in the country to have been won in 2004 by John Kerry and in 2008 by John McCain...

According to state law, the governor has ten days once the vacancy is officially declared to decide on the date for the special election, which can come no sooner than 60 days following that proclamation.
That likely means the special election will be held on May 18, which is the date already set for federal primaries around the state.

...Cook Political Reports now rates the race for Pennsylvania's 12th a toss-up....

So the residue of Mutha's final, ugly years will likely be a Republican takeover of his seat. Expect to see ex-serviceman Bill Russell win this seat; in 2008, Russell ran against Murtha and got 42 percent of the vote holding Murtha to 58 percent. That was the smallest percentage for Murtha since 1974.

Rest in peace, Congressman. And I will rest easier, knowing you will be doing no further harm to Americans in uniform, and that your pork-sucking liberalism will be (hopefully) replaced with some common-sense conservatism...

The Fruits of Obama's Foreign Policy...

....are beginning to fall from the tree, and it looks like an ugly, dangerous harvest that he has wrought. The Chinese, after a year, know exactly what they are dealing with, and are now quite aware that there is little to fear from aggression against the United States:

An independent survey of Chinese-language media for The Sunday Times has found army and navy officers predicting a military showdown and political leaders calling for China to sell more arms to America’s foes. The trigger for their fury was Obama’s decision to sell $6.4 billion (£4 billion) worth of weapons to Taiwan, the thriving democratic island that has ruled itself since 1949.

“We should retaliate with an eye for an eye and sell arms to Iran, North Korea, Syria, Cuba and Venezuela,” declared Liu Menxiong, a member of the Chinese people’s political consultative conference.

He added: “We have nothing to be afraid of. The North Koreans have stood up to America and has anything happened to them? No. Iran stands up to America and does disaster befall it? No.”

So prostrating ourselves before our enemies does not inspire them to love us, to be more like us, and to blindly follow our lead? Who would've thunk it? Besides everyone outside of Obama's inner circle, that is....

The Chinese, when faced with an Insane Cowboy President armed to the teeth and itchin' for a brawl, seemed to be quite interested in detente. Now, when across the table sits a naive peacenik, one whose primary concern is to stay out of a fight at whatever cost, their attitude has become a bit more...aggressive towards the United States:

“This time China must punish the US,” said Major-General Yang Yi, a naval officer. “We must make them hurt.” ...And a PLA strategist, Colonel Meng Xianging, said China would “qualitatively upgrade” its military over the next 10 years to force a showdown “when we’re strong enough for a hand-to-hand fight with the US”.

And why not? A huge Communist nation finally has a chance - perhaps a once-in-history opportunity - to knock down and possibly eliminate their largest market and military competitor. Why should we think they won't? It's the Marxist dream of a lifetime...

And the bumbling continues from the Obama administration:

As a crescendo of strident nationalistic rhetoric swirls through the Chinese media and blogosphere, American officials seem baffled by what has gone wrong and how fast it has happened....

“The truth was that the atmosphere was cold and intransigent when the president went to Beijing yet his China team went on pretending that everything was fine,” the diplomat said.

Diplomats say they have been told that there was “frigid” personal chemistry between Obama and the Chinese president, with none of the superficial friendship struck up by previous leaders of the two nations.

Yet after their meeting Obama’s China adviser, Jeff Bader, said: “It’s been highly successful in setting out and accomplishing the objectives we set ourselves.”

Ideologues usually have trouble seeing the failures of their policies, although this case is particularly appalling...American strength was literally being sapped away before the eyes of the Obama team and they either choose not to see it, or choose to lie to the American people about it.

Either way, something wicked this way comes. The fields of foreign policy have been ill-tended by Barack Obama, and foul and fetid things are growing out of what was once magnificent soil. Will the strike come from Iran? China? Russia? Or someplace that we are not even expecting, as happened on an autumn day in a September back some years ago?

Abroad, we are beyond hope. All we have left is prayer...

Sarah Palin's Act of Rebellion

Why do I have a special place in my heart for Serendipitous Sarah? Check out this photo of her from her speech last night at the Tea Party convention:

I'm not too hot with the photo software, so I'll let this bit from the WaPo explain what made me swoon:

In her lapel, a small pin with two flags -- for Israel and the United States.

At a time in the world where anti-Semitism has brazenly returned to heights not seen since the 1930's, where an American president routinely equalizes Israel's actions of self-defense with the nonstop offensives launched by her enemies, and where the United Nations - emboldened by Barack Obama - goes further and further in its attempt to de-legitimize and destroy the Jewish homeland, Palin's simple act of support for Israel is a rebel stand.

It's a poke in the eye of the Left, whose feckless fear of a fight leads them to demand that Israel roll over and die so that they might not have to witness the bloodshed of a nation trying to survive, and so that they might not be need forced to take a moral stand that would concede that some things - including one's life - are worth fighting for. It's also a slap in the face to Barack Obama- while he declares "daylight" must be forced between the United States and Israel, Sarah intertwines our fates together, and wears it on her lapel.

She's right, as usual. If Israel falls, it will not be the end of a war, but merely the beginning of a radical Islamist uprising that will engulf the world in a maelstrom. Who could believe that the mullahs of Iran and the foul Orcs of Hamas and Hezbollah would stop their aggression against the West once they have won such a magnificent victory, and are armed to the teeth with nuclear weapons? Well, besides Barack Obama, the New York Times editorial staff, and most of the elected Democrats in Congress?

Sarah's pin creates another type of daylight, one that shines a bright light on the contrast between herself and the president: One is willing to take a stand for what is right and good, and realizes that there may be a price for such moral clarity, while the other will do anything to avoid passing such a judgement, even with the risk that the evil he leaves unchecked will eventually come to devour him and all he is sworn to protect.

Which of these two carries the banner of American morality? Check the lapels...

Barack Obama: "Tune Out Everybody...Except Me"

From the president's little give-and-take with the Democratic Senators the other day:

"You know what I think would actually make a difference, Michael? I think if everybody here -- excuse all the members of the press who are here -- if everybody here turned off your CNN, your Fox, your blogs," Obama said, before being interrupted by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-CA, who piped up, "And MSNBC!"

Obama, appropriately reminded of the network with shows more friendly to liberals, continued, "Just turn off the TV -- MSNBC, blogs -- and just go talk to folks out there, instead of being in this echo chamber where the topic is constantly politics...."

In other words - stop listening to, and responding to, the feedback of the American people, and go forth with a strong hand and spread my gospel; get out of the echo chamber of politics and stay within the echo chamber of my words, my agenda, and my goals. Scorn the unbelievers and seek out the enlightened who understand you, believe in you, and are fit to breathe the same ratified air we breath...

Gee, if I didn't know better, I'd say the president fancies himself as the messiah of some twisted religious movement...

Barack Obama Burial Shrouds Now Available !

The president, finally, embraces the messianic status that his followers have anointed him with, and crows about how his devotees will be taking his likeness to the grave with them.

Last night, at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Washington, Barack Obama choose to tell the following story:

I got a letter -- I got a note today from one of my staff -- they forwarded it to me -- from a woman in St. Louis who had been part of our campaign, very active, who had passed away from breast cancer. She didn't have insurance. She couldn't afford it, so she had put off having the kind of exams that she needed. And she had fought a tough battle for four years. All through the campaign she was fighting it, but finally she succumbed to it. And she insisted she's going to be buried in an Obama t-shirt...

He then goes on to demagogue about health care, of course, which is either dead or not dead, depending on which side of his mouth the president is speaking from. And as usual, the whole story is not being told here, only the part which suits the president's agenda. The Aggressive Progressive, while lionizing the Left's first "martyr for Obama", says more than he should about his hero's dubious decision-making:

Melanie had health insurance coverage. Sort of. Back in 2005 she was an entrepreneur struggling to grow her small business. She could only afford a catastrophic health insurance policy with co-pays and deductibles nearing $10,000.

So when the lump came, denial seemed the most pragmatic option...

Ah...denial is never a good option, especially when, as Gateway Pundit points out, there were local hospitals in her metropolitan areas that provide free services for women just like her. Almost as if the free market had figured out a way to help the uninsured without government help! But we can't have that, oh no, and most martyrs will blow themselves up no matter how easily they can take a different path to a desired end (because the battle is often more about the path than the end result)...

Nice of Obama to exploit her, though, for his own ends, whether they be socialized medicine or self-aggrandization. Does Obama believe that the desire of one woman to use his visage as a burial shroud (she was cremated, actually ) will make the rest of us succumb to his cult status and finally - finally - stop questioning his radical restructuring of American society and allow him to destroy this nation in peace?

Unlikely. Instead, I think he is making more and more people very...nervous. About his abilities, about his goals, and about his sanity...

The Last Gasp of The Kennedys

First it was Teddy Kennedy, the liberal lion of the Senate, slipping away into the Great Beyond just before his dream of socializing the nation's medical system could come to fruition. Then it was Caroline Kennedy, the darling of the New York elite, who either was spurned by Governor David Patterson in her attempt to be appointed to Senator Clinton's former seat, or who scatted away in fear at the last moment (depending on whose story you wish to believe).

And then it was Massachusetts 2010, and an election that by all rights should have been nothing more than a formality instead turned into something quite different. Despite Vicki Kennedy's heartfelt attempts on behalf of the heir apparent, the "Kennedy Seat" was given by the people of the state to a truck-driving Republican, as opposed to the candidate who swore to carry on Teddy's liberal legacy.

And that brings us to Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy, perhaps the last scion of a once-elite political family. And like the last of many lines, his blood may still run liberal, but it is filled with gross impurities (as befits a Kennedy) - he's abused cocaine, alcohol, and Oxycotin, he was at the scene of the infamous William Kennedy Smith rape, he's abused women, wrecked yachts, taken and refused to return money from corrupt Democratic financiers such as Norman Hsu, he's been denied Holy Communion by his local Bishop, and of course crashed his 1997 Ford Mustang convertible into a barricade in Washington DC while under the influence of drugs (Kennedy's confession) or alcohol, as per witnesses. And, when asked, once brazenly spat out the following statement: "I have never worked a fucking day in my life".

The Last Scion, having seen the gates of Camelot fall and is watching with horror and disbelief as the castle is stormed by a peasantry ungrateful for all he and his family has done for it, thus turns to the last refuge of a man stripped of all pretense of honor or power: Hatred. And so Patrick Kennedy directs it today at Scott Brown, the man who dared to usurp the throne and claim the mantle in the name of the people:

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) castigated Brown for having pushed to be sworn in ahead of schedule to permanently fill the Senate seat left vacant by the congressman's father's death in August."Brown's whole candidacy was shown to be a joke today when he was sworn in early in order to cast his first vote as an objection to Obama's appointment to the NLRB," Kennedy said Thursday.

"Seven out of ten of Brown's voters were labor households and he stressed that he was independent and while he was originally scheduled to be sworn in next week, they moved it up to today so he could cast his first vote, the most anti-labor, the most anti-what his constituents thought they were voting for when they voted for him," Kennedy said.

Brown, for his part, has denied trying to move up his nomination to block Becker's nomination. "This is where he shows that when they need him, he's in the tank for the Republicans," Kennedy said.

We all have a lot to learn about Scott Brown, but Patrick Kennedy has decided, rather to wait and see, to launch a pre-emptive, partisan attack against the man by claiming to know his mind and motivations, and declaring them to be evil in intent.

It's over for the Kennedys, and based on his behavior, Patrick seems to be dimly aware of it. The castle is smoldering, the enemies are mounting a counterattack, the theology has lost its magic, and the peasants are searching out their next victim. With recent polling showing only 35% of voters in his district would vote to re-elect him, while while awarding him with a 56% unfavorable rating, it seems as if Patrick will be the next - and last - Kennedy to lose his head in the great 2010 Tea Party.

And he goes out not with class, but with rage and confusion at the sudden loss of the magic that his last name has always given him; and he spits bile and invective at the new order of things, as he prepares vainly for a final battle, ready to draw as much blood as he can on the way (back) down.

The last of the Kennedys. Thanks God...

UPDATE 2/6: For some, it will be a crusade...

Heads, The Goverment Takes Your Money. Tails...

...the government still takes your money. The New York Daily News:

CONSERVING WATER is typically a good thing - except when you're penalized for your frugality.
Elected officials are urging people to speak out against the Water Board's potential double-digit water rate hike at a public hearing in St. Albans on Feb. 16.

The rate hike is needed, officials have said, because people are using less water, which means less revenue.

The agency is holding public hearings in each borough to discuss water rates, which could climb as much as 14.3%, according to documents obtained by the Daily News. That's on top of the 12.9% increase in 2009 and 14.5% hike in 2008.

Learn this lesson well. The government taxes many personal items on the basis of, say, "sin", and makes plans to spend that money well into the future. When the inevitable decline in usage prompts the inevitable decline in revenues, the government must then choose between limiting its spending or creating more "sins" for them to tax. And we all know how this works out...

Of course, water usage is not a sin. But conservation of our natural resources is supposed to be a good deed, in fact a virtual moral imperative to those now in power. But the consequences of such a policy are declines in revenues from fees on resource usage, and that brings us back to the point made above: Cut back at the "water-board", or continue to "soak" the taxpayer. And we can see where this is heading as well...

Remember this, when Obama and the Democrats tell you that their taxes on the "sin usage" of income, carbon and health-care plans are going to easily cover their trillion-dollar expansion of government...

Barack Obama Imagines There's No Religion...Except His

...because as any liberal sophisticate will tell you, it's only those backwoods rubes who cling to God...

The Washington Post tries to make ex uses for Obama's utter lack of interest in his (or any) religious faith:

Every morning, sometimes as early as 5:30 a.m., a short religious passage comes across President Obama's BlackBerry, sent by one of his aides....

Yeah, and I have followers on Twitter that send them too. I'm unimpressed.

At other moments, Obama prays privately, his advisers said.

So do we all. I'm unimpressed

More than a year into his presidency, Obama has not chosen a church in Washington, and has attended services just four times...

...Asked why the public did not hear much about his faith during his first year in office, she [Valerie Jarret] nodded and said, "He's had a lot on his plate."

Too busy for a little bit of God?

Look - plenty of folks don't have religion, the national average is about 15% with the progressive Northeast standing tall with a 33% rejection of God. So while Obama's disdain of the church is well within the norm of his selected peer group (godless liberals), he is well outside the norm of everyday Americans, the ones who, ironically, have been deserting him in ever-increasing numbers.

For the average American, religion plays a greater role in their lives than four "major-holiday" visits to church a year. It informs their decisions (to a certain degree), it gives them guidance on the dark and winding path that is daily life, and it infuses the "everyday routine" with more meaning and emotion than it might have in a world where chaos rules our lives, where morality is fleeting, and our bodies are mere soulless sacks of flesh.

Is this another reason why Obama cannot connect with his nation anymore? Because while the people commune with their souls and their God on weekends, their president meditates on furthering his left-wing agenda, as much an article of faith to him as the bible is to others?

His lack of religion - and respect for it - was on display today at the National Payer Breakfast this morning in Washington:

The president pushed immigration, Obamacare, gay marriage, cap and trade, etc...




To the president, political liberalism is a religion. Unfortunately, it is one that is rejected by at least 2/3rds of all Americans.

And maybe this is the key to the big "falling out" we are seeing between the president and the American people. In a free country, nobody wants religion pushed down their throats, especially one which insists that the High Priests - the federal government - receive a larger and larger share of your paycheck, in return for which they will involve themselves in every aspect of your life - dictating behavior, commodity usage, and access to health care. All for the common good, of course.

And perhaps Obama sees himself as nothing more than the leader of this new religion, and thus troubles himself with little more than being a charismatic, leaving the details of control to his minions.

If this is the key to the developing rift between The Party and the people, the differences may be irreconcilable. Obama appears to be clutching tightly to the tenets of liberalism, while the rest of us cling on to...well, you know the rest...

John Edwards: Cheater, Wife Beater?

How does a liberal prove his manhood? By cheating on his cancer-stricken wife, denying the affair and paternity of his bastard child (fortunately, Edwards has the cash to cover the psychiatric bills), and then beating aforementioned wife for daring to complain about it:

Disgraced former presidential candidate John Edwards reportedly beat his cancer-stricken wife during a horrific marriage-ending fight.

"John lost his temper big time," a close friend of Elizabeth's revealed to the National Enquirer. "She has the divorce papers drawn up, but she can amend them to charge John with domestic violence."

The couple's furious confrontation was the "final straw" in Elizabeth's decision to end their 32-year marriage after it was revealed that he had fathered a child out of wedlock with his ex-mistress Rielle Hunter, the newspaper revealed today in a bombshell report on its Web site.

Well, it's the New York Post channelling the National Enquirer, so...I believe it. Hey, they were right about Edwards all along. Now if it were a story from the New York Times - like their front-pager on John McCain's non-existent affair with a staffer - then I wouldn't have shamed myself by posting on it....

And John doesn't have much to worry about, really. If he wants to run for office, NOW and Emily's List will still support him...after all, what's the alternative? Supporting a Republican? They would sooner submit to genital mutilation....

Regardless, the pattern of recent liberal icons is pretty clear, even to the most dim-witted amongst the Left, and it goes like this:

John Edwards: Phony. Hillary Clinton: Phony. Barack Obama: Mega-phony.

What is it with these liberal icons? Is there an honest man (or women) among them? Besides Joe Lieberman, of course, who has been ostracised from the Democratic party for his honesty and independence.

And even worse...how sad is it that our self-appointed "intellectual elite" don't have the common sense to see through these self-centered charlatans, and keep falling in love with them every single time....?

Barbara Boxer, As In Dumber Than A Box Of...

This video below, taken today at the Obama/Democratic Caucus lovefest, has to be seen to be believed. Senator "don't call me ma'am" Boxer is seen to ask the president whether he can, by authoritative fiat, order banks to loan to small businesses. And if not, she wonders...can we?




Via Snark and Boobs, who invokes John Galt. And so will I. Galt's most important line in Atlas Shrugged is spoken to a TV audience who has just spent an unknown amount of time listening to how the government was coming up with a plan (allegedly in co-operation with Galt) that would solve all of their financial and social problems. When it is Galt's turn to speak (with a gun stuck in his ribs), he says simply and firmly:

"Get out of my way!"

And this is what the American public, and all small businesses, need right now. Not more government involvement, but less. Not higher taxes and fees, but lower, much lower, and no offers of "trade-offs" in the form of $5000 tax credits to add employees - which, incidentally, is an idea only a bureaucrat who has never operated a business or met a payroll could propose with a straight face. See Boxer, Barbara or Obama, Barack Hussein as examples.

Businesses do not hire based on a one-time savings of $5K, they hire based on expectations of future market conditions and government regulations. When markets are in upheaval, and the government is grabbing cash from its prospective customers as well as from its own coffers while proposing thousands of regulatory burdens, what businessman in his right mind would add salaries?

Well, if Boxer and Obama believe they can force banks to lend, maybe they can force businesses to hire as well. It wouldn't be democracy, it wouldn't be capitalism, but since when has the Senator and the Emperor cared much about either?

Incidentally, Ayn Rand, prophetic as always, predicted Barbara Boxer's intent in Atlas Shrugged, and made it the primary motive in the "strike" of two of the book's key characters, Midas Mulligan and Judge Narragansett. Read the analogy here...

Haiti's $8.3 Billion

I'm pulling that figure from USA Today, which gives an inadvertent lesson on how not to disburse foreign aid:

After receiving $8.3 billion in foreign aid since 1969, Haiti is 25% poorer than it was in 1945, according to statistics compiled by Nicholas Eberstadt, an economist with the American Enterprise Institute. Even before the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed at least 100,000 people, three-quarters of Haiti's 9 million people lived on less than $2 a day, the United Nations says.

Where did that money go? USA Today is not specific, but makes general noises about the corruption that permeates every level of officialdom in Haiti. Regardless, precious little of this fortune has made it thru to the Haitian people; and based on the devastation wrought by January's earthquake, it seems as if very little was invested in civilian infrastructure, medical facilities, and transportation routes.

It is heartbreaking what happened in Haiti, and it does point out the huge gulf between the rich and the poor: mainly, that rich nations survive such seismic events with minimal death and damage, while poorer nations can lose hundreds of thousands of lives and be set back decades in development.

But this is not an argument for wealth transfer; we've already moved over $8 billion from the rich (and not so rich) to Haiti, and it couldn't save them. What failed them was not the West, but their own corrupt government, who enriched themselves on the West's largess and left their countrymen to die in last month's rubble.

Any future aid to Haiti must be done around, not with, the Haitian government. In no uncertain terms, we must tell them that we will set up the necessary agencies, we will oversee the disbursement of aid, and we will demand accountability and results. No doubt it is an infringement upon the sovereignty of the Haitian government, but without the West (preferably the US and not the UN) stepping in and taking charge, we can expect that the next $8.3 billion will go where the first $8.3 billion went.

Liberals will howl, but that's to be expected. Aid for them is about feeling good about themselves - "hey, we sent money, it's not our fault it didn't get into the right hands" - and not about results, and their squeamishness about reaching out to Haiti with an open but firm hand will be rejected in the name of their feelings.

The result of liberal aid? Projects such as:

....the five German-built windmills that overlook the bay of Port-de-Paix, says American anthropologist Timothy Schwartz, a fluent Creole-speaker who spent eight years living in rural Haiti. The windmills were never hooked up and quickly stripped for parts...

But they meant well. And still, they bury the dead in Haiti.

The United States is planning spending close to $400 million for Haitian relief - for openers.

Let's disperse it with kindness...and moral strength.

If an Eco-Nazi married a Health Czar....

...their baby would look something like this...from New York City, of course:

An environmental panel is telling the city to step it up by opening stairwells in all buildings, both public and private, to help New Yorkers stave off gaining a total of 550,000 pounds each year, according to a report released yesterday.

"At a broad level, 'green building' is about rethinking how buildings function. We don't want them to make us unhealthy," said Russell Unger, who chaired the task force.

"Buildings are actually very important to the amount of exercise we do, and over the past century, fossil fuels [and technology] have replaced human power. Where we once walked up stairs, we now take an elevator.

Yes, ingenuity and technological progress are really a curse, don't you know - fortunately, we have our liberal betters to explain that to us, and why we would be so much happier schlepping up a dozen flights of stairs to work every morning (and after lunch, and after each meeting...)

While stair climbing would combat obesity -- helping to prevent 18 percent of the city's average annual weight gain -- decreased elevator trips would also reduce electrical usage, the report says.

Can you see the Eco-Nazi and the Health Czar high-fiving each other with glee after releasing that statement? Seems as if the more these liberal control freaks fall out of favor, the more outlandish their schemes for "improving" our lives are...


We're living in an episode of the Simpsons, BTW -specifically, They Saved Lisa's Brain, in which Lisa bands together with Springfield's other Mensa members to try to turn the town into a utopia. But they discover that genius doesn't always know what it's doing....

Lindsey: For example, no one was showing up for jury duty, so we made the experience more exciting by synergizing it with his comic book collection.
[cut to Moe's tavern. Moe opens an envelope]
Moe: [reading] You have been chosen to join the Justice Squadron, 8 a.m. Monday at the Municipal Fortress of Vengeance. Oh, I am *so* there.

More of the same...is the DOT taking notes?

Frink: We studied the traffic patterns and found that drivers move the fastest through yellow lights. So now, we just have the red and yellow lights.

Barack Obama, Comic Book Guy, Professor Frink, and the Democratic party...all peas in a pod...

How Socialized Medicine Works...

...let's look at the "Canadian Model", one which supporters of health care reform have been raving about for years (even pre-Obama):

Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams is scheduled for heart surgery in the United States, a move that throws into question his province's and his nation's health-care system.

While some of his critics were tight-lipped Monday night, the online public questioned his exodus – why the care he needed was not available in Canada, or whether he preferred treatment in the U.S.
His departure for a U.S. hospital is being met with both sympathy and anger as few details have emerged.

...there could be good reason for Mr. Williams to have the operation in the United States if he has a complex heart condition that requires special expertise.
Rob Ritter, chief executive officer of the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association, was also conservative in his comments.
“I don't know if it's something that can be done in Newfoundland or can be done in Canada,” he said.

So one can only get "special expertise" in the wretched, miserable health-care system of the United States. Interesting. And when we quench that thirst for knowledge with the bureaucratic boot of health-care reform, wither will our socialists-lite go for treatment? Not to mention the average American...

From Instapundit:

The premier heading south is not new. The Canadian political elite has long headed to the US for medical services while – with straight faces – extolling the virtues of socialized medicine for everyone else. And US hospitals are always used to back up a system in Canada that can’t meet demand.
It prompts the question: If the US adopts Obamacare, how will the Canadian health care system survive?

Or the average American?