5th Amendment Update

A few days ago I posted about what I see as an egregious perversion of justice: the obama administration's announced policy of targeting for death U.S. citizens that it deems "an imminent threat." Said targeting and execution to occur without any sort of legal due process, and in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

In a just universe, here's what would actually happen under that policy.

Sunday Funnies 2012.03.18

It's a St. Patrick's Day weekend. Need I say more?

St. Patrick's Day -- when everybody gets together and pretends they're Irish. Except the Irish -- they pretend they're sober.

I'm glad St. Patrick was Irish instead of Scottish. I don't think I could stomach plaid beer.

An Irishman by the name of O'Malley proposed to his girl on St. Patrick's Day. He gave her a ring with a synthetic diamond. The excited young lass showed it to her father, a jeweler. He took one look at it and saw it wasn't real.

The young lass, on learning it wasn't real, returned to her future husband. She protested vehemently about his cheapness.

"It was in honor of St. Patrick's Day," he protested.

"I gave you a sham rock."

Flynn staggered home very late after a St. Patrick's Day spent at the local pub. He took off his shoes to avoid waking his wife.

He tiptoed as quietly as he could toward the stairs leading to their upstairs bedroom, but misjudged the bottom step. As he caught himself by grabbing the banister, his body swung around and he landed heavily on his rump. A whiskey bottle in his back pocket broke and made the landing especially painful.

Managing not to yell, Flynn sprung up, pulled down his pants, and looked in the hall mirror to see that his butt cheeks were cut and bleeding. He managed to find a full box of Band-Aids and began quietly putting a Band-Aid as best he could on each place he saw blood.

He then hid the now almost empty Band-Aid box and shuffled and stumbled his way to bed.

In the morning, Flynn woke up with searing pain in both his head and butt and his wife staring at him from across the room.

She said, "You were drunk again last night weren't you?"

Flynn said, "Why would ye say such a mean thing?"

"Well," she said, "it could be the open front door, it could be the broken glass at the bottom of the stairs, it could be the drops of blood trailing through the house, it could be your bloodshot eyes, but mostly . . . it's all those Band-Aids stuck on the hall mirror."

Happy O'Green Day

From the state that gave us a parade of drunken womanizing Kennedy's, Romneycare, Bwarney Fwank, and countless other affronts to decency and common sense, we have this latest bit of lunacy.

At the Soule Road School in Wilbraham (MA), St. Patrick‘s Day has been replaced as the name for the school’s celebration surrounding the popular holiday. It’s been replaced with the generic “O’Green Day.”

The school’s principal, Lisa Curtin, is apparently looking to become more inclusive. So, rather than tout St. Patrick’s Day, she has purportedly come up with a way to circumvent the faith-related nature of the holiday. The school apparently did something similar for St. Valentine’s Day, which, in some classrooms, was referred to as “Caring and Kind Day.”

On this day, students are apparently being encouraged to wear green and they will be treated to special, green colored vegetables in the cafeteria.

 I can't stand anymore of this political correctness nonsense. I'm off in search of O'Green Beer...

Friday Follies Happy Hour 2012.03.16

Luciano Pavarotti and B.B, King – who woulda thunk?

But they make it work…

Say Hi To The New Guy

A person with the rare combination of intelligence and good sense has seen fit to add Bergheim Follies to his blogroll. I am pleased to reciprocate.

Say hello to SRG, and check out his blog.

(Kerrcarto, his most recent post should be of special interest to you, given that you're both a Santorum supporter and a porn aficionado. Charlie Delta, there's something there for you as well.)

Teachers Get A Failing Grade

Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal has proposed a wide-ranging plan for reforming the state's public schools. Lawmakers are holding hearings on the plan, which, among other things, expands a voucher program for parents to send their children to private rather than public schools, and seeks to hold teachers responsible for student performance.

In response, Louisiana teachers have closed down schools and swarmed the capital in protest.

Louisiana Teachers Cancel Class to Protest Education Reform Bill

Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal is moving ahead with education reform--but it isn't without controversy.

Later this week, on Wednesday and Thursday, education committees in both houses of the state legislature will be considering the governor's proposed package. The reforms include moving toward a voucher program, eliminating teacher tenure programs, and changes in teachers' pay.

And so, in response to these reforms even being considered, "at least three school districts are canceling classes and telling children to stay home to allow school employees the chance to lobby the legislature," according to Aaron Baer, the governor's deputy communications director.

... And they are going to the state capital with union support:

Leaders of the state’s two largest teacher unions, who oppose most of the governor’s plan, say they expect significant turnouts this week, primarily to protest the possibility of fast action on bills that they say are seriously flawed.

The teachers are canceling class under the pretense of "professional development" days...

Oh please. '"Professional development days" are shorthand for "teachers taking the day off with pay."

Without a doubt, Louisiana teachers need all the professional development they can get. Almost half (44%) of Louisiana’s public schools received a grade or D or F last year on a battery of state standardized exams. Here's a snapshot of how they are doing compared to the rest of the country.

4th Grade Reading - 47th
4th Grade Math - 48th

8th Grade Reading - 48th
8th Grade Math - 46th

And what is the teachers union's response? Here's the money quote:

President of the Red River United Federation of Teachers, Jackie Lansdale, was one of the teachers who testified during the House committee hearing. She thinks the plan to reward teachers based on student achievement and remove teachers who teach under-performing students is unfair.

In just about any other field, workers that are responsible for poor output are punished, not rewarded.

I get that teachers aren't solely responsible for the performance of their students. I am, after all, also a teacher. But when you get right down to it that's what we're being paid for. When a state consistently ranks in the bottom 10 percent in almost every measure, something definitely needs to be changed.

That should be obvious, even to teachers...

Extreme March Madness

Posted with minimal comment:

Spike in Vasectomies Tied to March Madness

Experts say the number of men getting vasectomies jumps by 50 percent this time of year and they admit it's all to enjoy the big NCAA games while they recover.

Dr. Stephen Jones, a urologist at the Cleveland Clinic, said he is very used to a full book during the (tournament).

In fact, he said he now plans more appointment openings around March Madness. That's because Dr. Jones sees more men this time of year who want to get a vasectomy, so they can recover while watching the games.

"At least half of the guys I have scheduled for later in the week acknowledge they are here specifically for that reason,” Jones said. “In fact, the guy this morning said that ‘Absolutely, that's why I'm on the schedule for Friday.’ This was my first consultation with him, but as soon as I asked him about it he was a little sheepish to recognize that's why he's off work that day."

"It's private and they also are a little bit nervous about the fact that either their wife or their boss knows that's why they chose that one day to be out of work," Jones said.

Okay, I can see keeping the fact that I'm getting my love wand short-circuited a secret from my boss, but hiding it from my wife?!?

That's just plain nuts crazy...

Stars And Stripes And Obama Forever

Federal law (the federal flag code - public law 344, section 4G) states, in part: "The flag should never have placed upon it or any part of it, any marks, insignia, letters, words, figures, designs, picture or drawings of any nature."

Evidently the democrat party in Florida thinks it is above the law.

President Obama's face in place of stars on an American flag flying at Lake County Democratic Headquarters in Tavares irked a group of veterans on Tuesday, who found themselves engaged in a verbal confrontation and the threat of police action when they requested the flag be taken down.

"We were given this as a gift," said Nancy Hurlbert, chairwoman of the Lake County Democratic Party. "We are proud of our president, we're proud of the United States, and we felt it was time to display that."

Leesburg veteran Jim Bradford recalled he did a double take when he saw the Obama flag with red and white stripes for the first time over the weekend.

"When I saw the picture on the flag, I thought this is wrong," he said. "I really hate seeing the flag not being respected, and to me this was not respectful."

Korean War veteran Don Van Beck of Tavares spearheaded the veterans' visit to the Lake County Democratic Headquarters, where he was joined by a dozen veterans and media on the front steps of the Main Street building.

"There are laws against desecrating the flag," Van Beck said, right before he read out loud the federal flag code, public law 344, section 4G to Hurlbert: "The flag should never have placed upon it or any part of it, any marks, insignia, letters, words, figures, designs, picture or drawings of any nature. We would like to ask you to take it down please."

Van Beck gave Hurlbert a POW-MIA flag to be installed in place of the Obama flag and offered for the veterans to put it up. Once again Hurlbert reminded Van Beck that he and the other veterans were on private property and if they touched the flag, she would call police.

"It would be nice if you showed respect for our flag," said veteran John Masterjohn, who voiced disapproval for Obama.

"God bless America and our president," Hurlbert said. "You guys have a wonderful day. Thank you very much."

The veterans debated their next move before Hurlbert and another volunteer resurfaced to the front yard and began taking down the Obama flag.

"We didn't know it was in violation and so now we are taking it down," Hurlbert said. "If somebody had just called ahead of time, we could have avoided all of this."

While ignorance on the part of democrats is understandable -- it is, after all, their natural state -- as a number of police officers have reminded me over the years, "Ignorance of the law is no excuse."

Van Beck said he did try to phone to Democratic Headquarters on Monday and also Tuesday morning, but did not make contact with anyone.

Yet, he was pleased with the outcome.

"I'm very happy," Van Beck said. "I'm sorry it had to come to this ... You don't desecrate the flag, especially for the veterans who fought the wars and died for it. In dictatorships, they have a picture of their dictator on some of the flags, but we haven't arrived at having a dictator, yet."

Notice the qualifier "yet" in the above statement. It's disturbing that more and more people are voicing that sentiment. It's even more disturbing that the actions of the current administration are causing people to think that way. 

More:

Hurlbert said Tuesday's incident was the first time anyone had complained about the flag, which she received as a gift two months ago.

"It leads me to believe that it's not about the flag," she told FoxNews.com. "Certain elements cannot accept Barack Obama as president."

Yeah - like veterans, conservatives, and other people who care about the future of this country.

Or could the chairwoman of the Lake County Democratic Party be playing the race card to cast aspersions on opponents of the failure-in-chief?

Naw, liberals wouldn't stoop that low ... would they?

The final insult to veterans? The flag is made in China.

(H/T BMEWS for the links)

March Madness

Candidate for Most Ironic Statement by a Foreign Dignitary:

President Barack Obama welcomed David Cameron to the US by taking him out for a night out watching his favourite sport, basketball.

The two world leaders spent the first evening of Mr Cameron's three-day visit watching the opening game in the March Madness tournament in Dayton, Ohio.

The Prime Minister said he was enjoying his first time at a basketball game, but admitted trouble understanding parts of the sport. Mr Cameron told Kellogg: "I'm enjoying it ... it's pretty fast and furious. It's hard to follow sometimes exactly who's done what wrong."

What a delightful bit of irony, although I wonder ... it's so spot on that it seems as if the PM might be tweaking obama a bit, what with the "fast and furious" wording.

As for "who's done what wrong," here's a hint, Mr. Prime Minister.

He's America's first affirmative action Attorney General who, among other things, has stopped a voter intimidation case against the New Black Panthers, blocked Arizona's implementation of a law designed to reduce trafficking of drugs and illegal immigrants from Mexico into the U.S. (while admitting he had not read the law in question), intimidated hosting services of blogs questioning climate change, staffed the Department of Justice with like-minded ideologues, ignored Congressional subpoenas, blocked voter ID laws, and accused his opponents of being racists.

Not to mention approving the targeting of U.S. citizens for assassination without regard for due process of law. 

Yes, it's the one and only Eric "Gunrunner" Holder...

Gimme Gimme Gimme

Gun Porn courtesy of iOwnTheWorld:

... commonly referred to as the AF2011-AF Double Barrel Pistol or "Twenty Eleven" or "Second Century," the gun is special because it's the first semi-automatic pistol that fires two bullets at once. Its body is intrinsically that of a Colt 1911-A1 with twin .45 caliber barrels that can carry eight bullets in each.

Made in Italy, Arsenal Firearms' new weapon of zombie destruction is said to be "very accurate and great fun" and even features interchangeable parts with legacy Colt 1911 parts.

As if all of that wasn't enough, the Second Century gun can also be ordered with either two independent triggers or two permanently joined ones — both tempting options.

I am a big fan of the .45 ACP round. It's been around long enough to stand the test of time, and like other classics ('57 Chevy, Marilyn Monroe, hickory baseball bats, Lucy and Desi...) should not be tinkered with.

The marriage of a .45 ACP Colt 1911 with a Purdy shotgun is divinely inspired.

From the manufacturer's website: (it's an Italian company, so the translation leaves a little to be desired in some spots).

The gun can be handled by any shooter able to shoot with a .45 ACP and it is not only very pleasing, but very accurate and great fun. The AF2011-A1 holds amazing and surprising target performance for the shooter: in fact, it will group all the 8 double .45 caliber rounds (16 bullets) held in the duplex, single columns magazines, in a target of the size of an orange at 15 yards and of a water melon at 25.

The stopping power of the AF2011-A1 is tremendous: 2 bullets for a total of 460 Grains weight impacting at 1 to 2 inches apart (depending on the distance of the target) will knock down a bull, while the whole 18 bullets, for a payload exceeding 4000 Grains, can be delivered to the target in about 3 seconds.

I want one!!!

Prices aren't listed on the manufacturer's website, but I'm sure it's affordable...

Be Afraid - Be Very, Very Afraid

Let me state right up front that I have no use for home-grown terrorists. Any U.S. citizen who turns against his or her country deserves to die. But...

One of the many things that makes this country great is the rule of law. It may have been perverted in a few times and places, but generally speaking the government must follow due process when depriving citizens of life, liberty, or property.

Which is what makes this so frightening.

Attorney General Eric Holder said Monday that the Constitution does not protect U.S. suspects plotting to kill other Americans

Holder said in a speech at the Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago that the government is within its rights to kill citizens who are senior leaders in al-Qaeda or affiliate groups who pose an "imminent threat" of attack against the USA and whose capture is "not feasible".

The attorney general's remarks come as civil rights advocates have condemned such killings, including the fatal military drone strike in September against Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born leader of al-Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen.

Last month, the American Civil Liberties Union sued to obtain Justice Department memos authorizing the action and detailing how the government places Americans on "kill lists."

I don't find myself siding with the ACLU very often, but in this case we're on the same page.

Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU's National Security Project, said that although Holder's speech represented "a gesture towards additional transparency, it is ultimately a defense of the government's chillingly broad claimed authority to conduct targeted killings of civilians, including American citizens."

"Few things are as dangerous to American liberty as the proposition that the government should be able to kill citizens anywhere in the world on the basis of legal standards and evidence that are never submitted to a court, either before or after the fact," Shamsi said.

What are the criteria for determining if someone poses an imminent threat to the U.S? Who makes that decision? Are you comfortable with allowing some nameless, faceless government functionary to make life-or-death decisions with no transparency or accountability?

I damn sure aren't. Remember, this is the same government that lost money when it had a monopoly on delivering mail.

Holder said opponents of the government's position cling to legal interpretations that are "simply not accurate."

It seems to me that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America is pretty straightforward. It doesn't require a whole lot of interpretation.

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Where's the indictment? Where's the Grand Jury? Where's the due process of law?

Again, I'm not defending U.S. citizens who are plotting to kill other U.S. citizens. Loathsome though they may be, however, they are protected by the same framework of rights and laws as the rest of us. To allow the government to arbitrarily designate certain individuals for death is too terrifying to contemplate.
 
After all, according to many liberals and government officials -- including Vice President Joe Biden -- Tea Party members are terrorists.

The Empire Strikes Back

President Obama Strikes Back At GOP Critics On Gas Prices

President Barack Obama is hitting back at Republican criticism of his energy policies and his role in controlling gasoline prices.

"I’m going to keep doing everything I can to help you save money on gas, both right now and in the future,” Obama said...

How he can utter such a bald-faced lie with a straight face is beyond me.

“We can’t just drill our way to lower gas prices..."

According to the law of supply and demand, which most of us learn in Economics 101, when the supply of a product is increased, the price of that product typically drops. I guess that concept is too advanced for obama to grasp.

He did get one thing right, though. Simply drilling for more oil won't lower prices if the oil can't get transported from the production fields to the refineries. Right now the U.S. oil transportation infrastructure capacity is lagging behind production Which brings us to the Keystone XL Pipeline project.

Obama addressed the pipeline issue in his weekly radio address last Saturday, saying he blocked the project because there wasn’t enough time to properly study it.

Wasn't enough time? The initial application was filed in September 2008. That's 3 1/2 years ago. I know the government is inefficient and slow-moving, but come on, people ... three and one-half friggin' years?!?

They could have built the damn thing in 3 1/2 years...

FOD - Jay Leno Version

A few quick hits from The Chin:

In a speech on Wall Street the other day, President Obama compared himself to Gandhi. Well, that makes sense. He’s created a lot of jobs in India. -- Jay Leno

In a recent interview, President Obama said when he plays golf, he doesn’t want or expect people to give him a pass on any shots. He just hopes people will give him a mulligan in November. -- Jay Leno

Due to the rising price of oil and gas, the Obama administration announced today they are considering dipping into our national strategic re-election reserves. I mean, I’m sorry – strategic oil reserves. -- Jay Leno

FOD 2012.03.12

I few days ago I commented on the absurdity of the obama administration's plan to save the spotted owl by killing off the barred owl, a related species that competes for the same habitat. At the time I thought that was the height of this administration's folly.

I should have had more faith in obama and his goons. Now his administration is participating in a plan to pay wind farms in the Pacific Northwest to not produce electrical power.

Wind farms in the Pacific Northwest -- built with government subsidies and maintained with tax credits for every megawatt produced -- are now getting paid to shut down as the federal agency charged with managing the region's electricity grid says there's an oversupply of renewable power at certain times of the year.

The problem arose during the late spring and early summer last year. Rapid snow melt filled the Columbia River Basin. The water rushed through the 31 dams run by the Bonneville Power Administration, a federal agency based in Portland, Ore., allowing for peak hydropower generation. At the very same time, the wind howled, leading to maximum wind power production.

Demand could not keep up with supply, so BPA shut down the wind farms for nearly 200 hours over 38 days.

"Demand could not keep up with supply." There's an ironic twist for you. Hey, all you Oregon electric consumers - turn up the heat. Replace your CFLs with incandescent light bulbs. Get with it and do your part to increase demand to keep pace with supply. You slackers...

Now, Bonneville is offering to compensate wind companies for half their lost revenue. The bill could reach up to $50 million a year.

The extra payout means energy users will eventually have to pay more.

Think about the lesson being taught here. Reduce demand by making homes and businesses more energy efficient. Decrease consumption through conservation measures. Subsidize green, clean, and renewable energy sources. And what happens? Customers will end up paying more, not less. That's the perfect description of a government initiative if I ever heard one.

"We require taxpayers to subsidize the production of renewable energy, and now we want ratepayers to pay renewable energy companies when they lose money?" asked Todd Myers, director of the Center for the Environment of the Washington Policy Center and author of "Eco-Fads: How the Rise of Trendy Environmentalism is Harming the Environment."

"That's a ridiculous system that keeps piling more and more money into a system that's unsustainable," Myers said.

Even green energy advocates recognize the absurdity of the situation.

"It sends a very poor signal to the market about doing business in the Northwest," said Rachel Shimshak, executive director of the Renewable Northwest Project. "We want the Northwest to be a good place to do business."

BPA says its hands are tied by environmental regulations. Officials contend if they shut down hydropower generation instead of the wind farms, endangered salmon would be harmed.

There's always some species that's endangered in every scenario. It's interesting, though, how none of the government agencies or special interest groups are worried about that most endangered of all species - the American taxpayer.

Sunday Funnies 2012.03.11

Today's collection is kind of weak. After all, I'm on Spring Break...

Spring Break: when the nation's college kids demonstrate to the world how much they've learned.

Spring Break: when students take time off from football games, basketball games, dances, parties, and hanging out in bars, and go to the beach and relax.

Worst Spring Break pickup line ever: “My love for you is like diarrhea, I just can’t hold it in.”

The students get younger-looking every year.

And the faculty gets older-looking...

CBS Gets Something Right

A very nice video showing where military headstones come from.

Of course, you have to endure the pre-video commercial, but it's worth it. Well-done to CBS (and thanks to Bots for the link).

Three Amigos - Or Three Stooges?

Harper had a recent post about a flaw in the TSA's new body scanner technology. That highlights a disturbing downward trend in TSA's security effectiveness. (Another example: a screening area in New York's JFK airport was shut down for a couple of hours last week after "a Manhattan woman walked past JFK Airport scanners with a dagger in her bag ... this slip-up was just the latest in a string of embarrassing security mishaps — three in February — by the federal Transportation Security Administration.")

On the other hand, however, TSA continues to maintain high standards in their role as perverts.

This is beginning to get a little silly. If the lechers at the Transportation Security Administration are this eager to score a glimpse of a naked boob, they should just man up and order every female passenger to remove her top.

No more of this pussy-footing around, “accidentally” pulling a woman’s blouse off during a pat-down in public. No more pretending that a female with a “cute figure” needs to pass through the scanner a third time because not all the frat boys in the backroom got a good enough look.

Or in the most recent case, asking a MTLF (mother they’d like to frisk) at an airport security checkpoint to “prove” that her breast pump is real...

The mother was informed she couldn't take the pump on board the aircraft because the bottles in her carry-on were empty

WTF?!? She can't get on a plane with EMPTY bottles? But I can't get on with FULL ones? Who the hell's in charge of this circus?

Oh yeah - Janet Napolitano. The same ditz who claimed "The border is as secure now as it's ever been." That should come as welcome news to state and federal LEOs who have been dodging gunfire from Mexico lately.

U.S. Border Patrol agents near Rio Grande City exchanged gunfire this week with men on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande during a $3 million marijuana seizure.

Wednesday's shooting was at least the third such incident reported during the past year...

The gunfight came as federal, state and local law enforcement are acknowledging an increasing threat directly across the narrow river...

And of course, we mustn't forget Janet's partner in crime (literally) Eric Holder, whose role in the administration is apparently to arm drug cartels and then lie to congress about it.

Attorney General Eric Holder suggested Thursday that weapons lost during the course of the failed "Fast and Furious" gunrunning operation will continue to show up at crime scenes in the U.S. and Mexico "for years to come."

But ... Holder denied department leaders played any role in the crafting of "Fast and Furious."

Apparently some low-level field agent just woke up one day and decided to smuggle guns across the border for Mexican gangs without telling anyone.

Yeah, sure...

I don't care if the republicans nominate Zippy the Chimp to run against obama. We simply have got to get that loser and his band of stooges out of office if this country has any hope of retaining even a shred of its former greatness.

Friday Follies Happy Hour 2012.03.09

Spring Break starts this weekend (actually, for me it started yesterday, because I don't teach on Fridays). Of course, today dawned rainy, windy, and cold. I hope it warms up for those poor kids on South Padre Island, because tequila makes their clothes fall off.

Time Marches On

My birthday was last week (and I'm milking it for all it's worth in these posts). Spring Break starts next week. Between the two I was torn between feeling old and grumpy, or being carefree and happy. Then the following happened and I decided to go with old and grumpy.

 * * * * * * * * * *

As I explained earlier, shortly after my birthday I went to a new doctor for a check-up. While I was waiting in the examination room I noticed the staff's diplomas and credentials framed and hanging on the wall. As I read them, my attention was drawn to one name. Suddenly I remembered a young, shapely, dark-haired girl with the same name that had been in my high school graduating class. Could this be the same girl I secretly had a crush on lo those many years ago?

Just then a nurse came into the room to check my pulse and take my blood pressure. The name on her ID badge matched the name on the diploma, but I quickly discarded any notion that she was the girl of my dreams from high school

This overweight gray-haired woman with the deeply lined face was way too old to have been my classmate.

Just to be sure, after she unwrapped the blood pressure cuff I asked her if she had gone to MacArthur High School.

She smiled and said,"Yes, yes I did."

"When did you graduate?" I asked.

She answered "In 1969. Why do you ask?"

Shocked, I replied "I was at MacArthur High that year as well."

She stared at me closely and I could see her straining her brain to remember me.

Then that ugly, wrinkle-faced, fat-assed, gray-haired, decrepit old bitch asked me:

"What did you teach?"

He Sees All, Knows All

If you're not a sports fan, there's been a recent explosion of interest in a heretofore unknown professional basketball player named Jeremy Lin. Lin's emergence as a phenom came as a total shock and surprise to everyone.

Everyone, that is, except the all-knowing, all-seeing barry the magnificent.

Obama: 'I've Been on the Jeremy Lin Bandwagon for a While'

President Obama says he was ahead of the curve when it comes to New York Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin.

"I've been on the Jeremy Lin bandwagon for a while," the president told ESPN's Bill Simmons Wednesday. "I knew about Jeremy before you did, before everybody else did."

I saw the video of that interview. obama comes across as such an pompous, arrogant, know-it-all asshole that I had to swallow back my breakfast more than once. Watch it at your own risk.

And speaking of Jeremy Lin and the Knicks, apparently obama is such a big fan that he kept Air Force One flying around in circles so he could finish watching the first half of a recent Knicks-Heat game.

President Obama flew to Florida this past week to explain high gas prices.  According to the Washington Post, on his way to Florida this past Thursday, reporters were "perplexed" at the President's 41 minute flight from Washington, DC to Orlando, Florida taking 1 hour and 15 minutes. The flight was in the air an extra 30 minutes, burning precious fossil fuels.

It does not seem a coincidence that the President landed right at half time of an NBA basketball game between the star studded Miami Heat and New York Knicks.  Some theorized that the President delayed his flight in the air to watch more of the basketball game.

Burning up an extra few thousand pounds of jet fuel on his way to lecture Republicans over high gas prices. Just one more in an ongoing series of incidents demonstrating that obama is a "do as I say, not as I do" type of guy.