sisu

"There are a lot of scary parallels now"

 

Tiny occupies the landscape as she finds it. In this case it's our "mattresses" down Goomp's, folded over upon themselves early morning to make a cave.

“It’s a show for people who feel they belong to an embattled minority that is disenfranchised and cut off,” Northeast Corridor RINO David Frum pontificates to a New York Times reporter re Glenn Beck's hot, hot, hot new five o'clock blockbuster on Fox News. We may not happen to "cling to guns and religion" -- although some of our nearest and dearest do -- but the Tuckmeister and ourselves have become big fans of the late-afternoon entertainer the NYT headlines as "Fox News’s Mad, Apocalyptic, Tearful Rising Star." We don't have to agree with everything Glenn Beck says. As with Rush, we're just glad he's out there. As Dr. Helen wrote the other day, "Moms, Dads, business people and others are taking to the streets and forming connections with each other and learning to organize against the statists of the world." A few tasty excerpts from the mostly totally excellent NYT article:

With a mix of moral lessons, outrage and an apocalyptic view of the future, Mr. Beck, a longtime radio host who jumped to Fox from CNN’s Headline News channel this year, is capturing the feelings of an alienated class of Americans [Alienated? Not really. We just don't like the way President Obama & Company are trying to ram their socialist agenda down the nation's throat].

In an interview, Mr. Beck, who recently rewatched the 1976 film “Network,” said he identified with the character of Howard Beale, the unhinged TV news anchorman who declares on the air that he is “mad as hell.”

“I think that’s the way people feel,” Mr. Beck said. “That’s the way I feel.” In part because of Mr. Beck, Fox News — long identified as the favored channel for conservatives and Republican leaders [As opposed to what? The rest of the cables and mainstream TV networks "long identified as the favored channels for statists and Democrat leaders"?] — is enjoying a resurgence just two months into Mr. Obama’s term. While always top-rated among cable news channels, Fox’s ratings slipped during the long Democratic primary season last year. Now it is back on firm footing as the presumptive network of the opposition, with more than 1.2 million viewers watching at any given time, about twice as many as CNN or MSNBC.

A few more fun 'graphs from the article, and then go ahead and read the whole thing:

Mr. Beck says he believes every word he says on his TV show, and the radio show that he still hosts from 9 a.m. to noon each weekday [Whah? He believes every word he says? With that attitude, he'll never make it as a statist.]

He says that America is “on the road to socialism” and that “God and religion are under attack in the U.S.” [Doh.]

At the same time, though, he says he is an entertainer. “I’m a rodeo clown,” he said in an interview, adding with a coy smile, “It takes great skill.”

And like a rodeo clown, Mr. Beck incites critics to attack by dancing in front of them.

“There are absolutely historical precedents for what is happening with Beck,” said Tom Rosenstiel, the director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism. “There was a lot of radio evangelism during the Depression. People were frustrated and frightened. There are a lot of scary parallels now.” [Yah. Like Chris "thrill going up my leg "Matthews and the abominable Keith Olbermann.]

You go, Glenn!

Update: "Scary parallels?" asks Don Surber in give-me-a-break high dudgeon:

The only parallel to the 1930s that I fear is the government shutting up people like Beck.

It's only "fair."

Update: All things fair in tooth and claw at Modulator's Friday Ark #237.

We are all anti-statists now

 

"Feisty Anna is pretty outraged, and we've been following the growing tea party movement through blogs and Pajamas Media," reports Anna's mother, blogfriend Amy Kane of Atlantic Ave. Above, Anna and friends display the artful signage of Anna's younger sister at yesterday's Essex County Tea Party and Rally in front of Newburyport City Hall on Boston's north shore.

"We are already seeing people who have never been politically active taking part in tea parties across the nation," writes Dr. Helen, who's been reading Mark Levin, "a wake-up call to all of us who care about individual freedom and resisting the transition to statism." Goomp is gobbling up Levin's Liberty and Tyranny with gusto, as we knew he would. Dr. Helen:

You will often hear that these tea parties "don't matter," but in reality, the tea parties are a "mind hit." That is, they are not what people expect. Lefties form groups and rally -- building connections and networks of grassroots activists who can be called on when needed. Conservatives typically stay home. But not anymore. Moms, Dads, business people and others are taking to the streets and forming connections with each other and learning to organize against the statists of the world.

Just what our little contingent did for the first time at yesterday's Essex County Tea Party and Rally, blogged here and here and here. "There are lots of us," writes blogpal Amy Kane, who was there with daughter Anna, "but we are not accustomed to demonstrating, protesting, or even politely begging to differ in mixed political company":

About 100 or so people showed up with signs and flags and kids and dogs. They arrived singly, or in pairs or families, but quickly got to talking with each other . . .

I heard about it through a blogger friend, Sissy Willis . . . It was wonderful to meet her in person -- she is warm, vivacious and articulate, as you would expect from reading her blog sisu [Wow. The importance of being noticed and all that. Right back at you, Amy.]

It was almost on a whim that we attended. I'm in a funk about Washington, feisty Anna is pretty outraged, and we've been following the growing tea party movement through blogs and Pajamas Media . . .

Exercising our right to Freedom of Assembly was pretty new to us. I can't say I'm totally comfortable holding a sign myself. But I did want to do my part by documenting with photos and words . . .

I was in the balcony with Anna, who was filming a few clips now and then and hoping her battery wouldn't run out. I believe this quick photo was just at the moment when he accidentally called on one of the tea party people. He quickly learned not to do that again.

We love that Amy, like ourselves, chose the mighty bless Liberty Dog for her opening shot. Click on over there for lots of sensible thoughts, good pics and fun pull-out quotations from the totally terrific sign slogans of our fellow freedom fighters. See you at the State House on Tax Day, April 15th. We're all anti-statists now.

Update: Professor Reynolds links the beautiful people: "IF ONLY: 'We are all anti-statists now.' But give it time!"

Update II: "Sounds like a good tactic," writes the Professor, quoting from a Newburyport Daily News report:

By organizing across the street from where Congressman John Tierney was holding a public meeting with constituents of his 6th District, the group drew plenty of attention, and that’s just what they wanted [Kudos to event organizer Paul Breau!].

Update III: Amy garners TWO Insta-lanches and in updates to her original post delivers a withering critique of the local reporter's misreading of the psychological dynamics inside Newburyport City Hall Saturday as "Representative" Tierney, once he became aware there were dissenters in the room, studiously avoided calling on any of us unwashed types standing with our signs at the back of the hall:

Later the article describes it as a "feisty political debate." This is the sound of one hand clapping.

As we wrote in Amy's comments, "The author is clueless. But, then, they don't teach civics in the public schools anymore." We were there, and there was no debate. It was all talking points all the time.

Update IV: Jules Crittenden links.

Update V: "Just 15 days until the Tax Day Tea Party protest! 300 cities and counting," writes Michelle Malkin, who links.

"It looked like the politician had figured out pretty quickly which raised hands to call on"

 

The country is going to the dogs. If only.

This wicked precious greyhound was one of 100-plus peaceful protesters who gathered outside Newburyport City Hall for the Essex County Tea Party and Rally this afternoon to just say no to creeping/leaping statism. Some, including ourselves, tried going inside to test the waters, but few of our tribe stayed long in there, quickly realizing that "Representative" John F. Tierney wasn't going to call on any of the raised hands among us sign-toting dissenters at the back of the room. Worst of all was the reflexive cheering of audience members at every shopworn Democrat talking point trotted out by "the people's" rep.

 

Amy Kane of Atlantic Ave and darling elder daughter [Ain't she beautiful?] were there, Amy shmoozing and taking notes for her blog and such and offspring covering the event with her video cam.

"We were inside city hall briefly and saw you there too. It looked like the politician had figured out pretty quickly which raised hands to call on," emails Amy Kane, catching the conscience of the king -- Democrat party-line talking-points king Essex County Rep John F. Tierney -- at this afternoon's question-and-answer session at Newburyport City Hall:

I guess I haven't been paying really good attention, but how did we get to this point where people think govt should, and can, fix their problems? "I want money for my wind turbine." "I want govt-funded dental insurance." etc etc.

I was glad we went, though. Good to see other people who feel the same way we do. I'll be blogging some photos later tonight or tomorrow.

Tuck and Susie just say no to creeping/leaping statism as they proudly unfurl Old Glory across the street from Newburyport City Hall.

Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and conspiracy theories were in the air.

Besides Rush and Glenn, fear societies heavy and lite were in the air. Newburyport, like Taxachusetts itself, is midnight blue. Red staters like ourselves and the good folk who turned out today to show their colors come out of the closet at risk of being ostracized from the tribe.

 

Undercover agents Jill of The Business of Life and Jean of neo-neocon put in a veiled appearance, but the message was clear. As Jean said following our first sub rosa meet-up years ago, "Here I am, with my peeps at last."

 

Rep. John F. Tierney lying to a cat.

Motorists driving by honked in support, and we froze our little tootsies off for the cause. A snickering "gentleman" who looked askance at our sign as we entered City Hall asked from his morally high horse, "Just say no to what?" When we offered "Obamanomics" he dissovled into self-contratulatory gales of condescending laughter.

 

Cute kids who had somehow escaped the Gramscian indoctrination of the nation's public-school students stood shoulder to shoulder with their proud progenitors.

Event organizer Paul Breau, right, was meeting and greeting one and all with earnest indignation and "yes we can" [Pardon our French] verve. A man to watch. We'll be keeping in touch re the forthcoming Mother of All Tea Parties in Boston and other major cities across the nation on Tax Day, April 15.

 

We aint the activist type, but all three of us, Tuck, Sue and Sis, were glad we turned out. This could be the start of something big.

 

Back at Susie's for aprés ski cocktails, we caught a couple of decisive moments in the life of her gloriously soulful, sweet pussycat, Daisy.

 

Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer true.

"If you can keep it"

Tiny demonstrates how to get in the mood for tomorrow's Essex County Tea Party Rally at City Hall, Newburyport, MA noon to 2 p.m.

"What follows are my own opinions … about conservatism and, conversely, non-conservatism — that is, liberty and tyranny in modern America," deadpans Mark R. Levin in his instant Amazon #1 hit, On Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto, just out this week. We love "The Great One's" calling a spade a spade [Are you still allowed to say that in this "post-racial" error era?], naming non-conservatism the tyranny it is. As we were so disagreeably reminded the other day — when the Obama "I won" Administration recast terrorism as the morally ambiguous "man-caused disasters" and robbed the "War on Terror" of its poetic fire by dubbing it the bloodless "Overseas Contingency Operation" — words matter. Levin's book will be just the thing to read on our way to the Essex County Tea Party Rally at City Hall in Newburyport midday tomorrow.

Other action steps in preparation for shaking our fists "Just say no!" signs before the powers that be who would spread hard-working Americans' wealth around:

1. Spread the word:

Blog post linked by the estimable Maggie's Farm.

"Yes we can" RSVPs from friends, virtual and real-world, so far: Our sis (local resident who put us up to this), Amy Kane of Atlantic Ave, Miss Kelly, Neo-neocon, Jill of The Business of Life. An army of women?

Hats off to event organizer Paul Breau and Newburyport's Voice blogger Larry Giunta, who is Chairman of the Newburyport GOP, for their efforts. "The democrats in town started their own blog and have been reeling against the tea party," emails Larry, adding "This can only be a good thing."

Update: Notified local media kahunas Jules Crittenden, Boston Herald editor and columnist, and Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe columnist. Kind of short notice, but who knows? Maybe it's a slow news day.

2. Prepare signs:

Good buddy Carol Ward had emailed with "two things": 1. Will I be seeing you and Tuck at the Tax Day Boston Tea Party? [Yes] 2. I have been racking my brain over something clever for a sign, but everything I come up with is waaaaaay too long — more like an essay than a pithy headline.  Oh mistress of pithy headlines, got any other ideas?

As we blogged a couple of years back regarding "Don't mess with my Dick," linked by Instapundit at the time, "Well, I always try to be provocative with my headlines."  We suggested for Carol the slogan we're using for our own signs, "Just say no," plus another one that's sort of like Newt Gingrich's slogan. Ours is "Tea'd off." Newt's version, a little too wordy for our taste, goes "Americans are TEA'd," where TEA is an acronym for "Taxed Enough Already."

Then we remembered "Spread opportunity, not other people's wealth" from the primary days of yore. Too bad we never ordered one of our own T shirts.

In the works for the Boston Tea Party, a shortened version of Benjamin Franklin's timeless "A republic, if you can keep it." "If you can keep it." Sounds like a keeper

Update II:  Amy Kane can't make up her mind between Benjamin Franklin's "He that goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing" and her own "More govt = Less freedom." We like 'em both and suggest she carry one and ask the dog to wear the other. Check out her excellent related post with more quotable quotes pulled out of "The American Form of Government" YouTube video (See #3 below) and other good stuff.

 

It's a sign. Three, actually. The prototype right, and the new, improved model with Tuck's wooden handles left. As we've said early and often, he's a keeper.

3. Listen to "The American Form of Government," a quickie video Pierre Legrand of Pink Flamingo Bar calls "The Best Ten-Minute Lesson on Our Government I Have Seen." If only they were teaching such things to the kids ta-day.

Paw de deux

Tripping the light fantastic early morning …

Tiny performs a lovely paw de deux with the superball in the Dining Room Theater.

Following an impressively athletic battement …
 
She and her partner take a bow.

Update: Lots more impressively athetic battements and bow wow wows at Modulator's Friday Ark #236, now boarding.

Now I ask you very confidentially

Ain't she sweet?

Oh me oh my, ain't that perfection?

"Democrats in unsafe seats need to think maybe they should not support big government or they will be voted out"

We're photoshopping our signs and unfurling Old Glory for the Essex County Tea Party Rally to be held behind enemy lines in front of City Hall, Newburyport, Taxachusetts on Saturday afternoon from noon to 2.  (Linotype Balder™ Regular typeface)

Update Thursday morning: Welcome, Maggie's Farm readers! If you're in the lovely northshore area of Newburyport on Saturday, come on down! Questions? Answers? Email event organizer Paul Breau.

"I'm so excited that you will be joining us on Saturday. Do you have any friends that would be willing to make the drive up here with you?" emails Paul Breau, the man behind the plan to throw the first stop-the-power-grab "Grand Ole Tea Party" in our neck of the woods, Newburyport, MA, a small coastal community about 35 miles northeast of us here in Chelsea-by-the-Sea. Sponsored by the Newburyport Republican Committee, the Essex County Tea Party Rally will be held this Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. in Brown Square outside City Hall, Newburyport, just as Congressman John F. Tierney and local pols are meeting inside behind closed doors [?] to discuss divvying up the porkulus from Presiden't Obama's spendulus bill. Thanks to our sis, a local resident, for the heads up. "We want our elected officials to be aware there are voters in the area who are fed up with bailouts and money being wasted," Mr. Breau was quoted in an excellent write-up in the local rag:

Our goal is to get enough pressure going to stop President Obama's $3.6 trillion budget and give the Republicans some backbone. Democrats in unsafe seats need to think maybe they should not support big government or they will be voted out."

"That darn piece of artwork is annoying, but it does capture the essence of Obama," writes Laura Lee in the comments to our previous post re that ubiquitous in-your-face red, yellow and blue "Hope" poster — inspired by Soviet propaganda art — of Barack Obama. Fun fact: The artist behind the Constructivist Lite image that helped propel the Community-Organizer-in-Chief to the presidency, Shepard Fairey, has "sold out" to "capitalist luxury retailer" Saks. For visual relief, a fresh new image (above) of our sweet tiny girl recharging her batteries in the early morning light.

"The local Republican Committee is looking to reorganize after falling dormant in recent years," notes the Newburyport Daily News,putting Saturday's forthcoming event in context:

Similar tea parties around the country have been successful, according to Breau, with nearly 5,000 people turning out in a tea party held in Cincinnati, Ohio, last week. A similar party being held in Boston [and in cities across the nation on Tax Day] April 15, has already signed on 1,000 people to help.

"We are hoping for 50 to 75 people to turn out on Saturday," Breau said. "There is a lot of dismay on a lot of people's parts. They hoped the new president was who he said he was in the campaign — nonpartisan — but he has that never-let-a-crisis-go-to-waste attitude."

Fortunately, two can play at Rahm Emanuel's "never-let-a-crisis-go-to-waste" game. As we wrote in our post "Santelli reads the tea leaves" a couple of weeks back, "Thank you, Mr. President, for your assist in awakening the forgotten man."

 

Repub of image (above) and caption from our recent post "Part of my leftism was a sales pitch": "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste," Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel famously said, explaining "What I mean by that, it's an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do." Translation: Take the money and run when people are preoccupied, and you can get away with spending it in ways they would never agree to were they paying attention.

"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste … It's an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do." Case in point. Massachusetts Republicans — who knew there WERE such things? — like thousands of our fellow citizens across this land who still believe in the shining city upon a hill, are beginning to just say no to President Obama's reckless run of the ship of state onto the shoals of socialism.

"Competition among males in the animal kingdom is often expressed in the form of elaborate weapons made of bone, horn or chitin," reports the Science Times. "The weapons often start off small and then, under the pressure of competition, may evolve to attain gigantic proportions. Not unlike the evolution of political resistance movements from small bands of rebels into formidable armies. Horned Dung Beetle Onthophagus (Proagoderus) rangifer. (Olga Helmy and Douglas Emlen photo) See also our classic Feb 2005 post "Bloggers are 'cracking, popping, drilling and peeling their victims open,'" wherein we note that "field studies of animal evolution had led [blind paleontologist Geerat Vermeij] to very much the same place Thomas Sowell has come to in his studies of economics."

As President Reagan reminded philosophical descendents of the Founding Fathers in his First Inaugural Address January 20, 1981: "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem":

From time to time we've been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden. The solutions we seek must be equitable, with no one group singled out to pay a higher price.

"I hope this attracts not just republicans but also those of us that are unregistered and conservative democrats as well," writes kelly in the Daily News comments:

Also I hope the Teaparty event in Boston on Tax Day attracts thousands.

Let's show the Three Blind Mice (Obama, Patrick and Moak) impacting us in The Port that we can't absorb ANY additional taxes! They just don't get it at any level. We can't give you one more dime of our hard earned money so you can continue to avoid showing the leadership necessary to live within the budget we give you as a town, state and country!!!

Thanks for organizing, Paul. Let's be sure to attract all of us hard working American's who no longer will put up with the idea of working through June to pay our elected government ... NO MORE TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!!!

The last word goes to our sis, who quips "I feel a tingle up my leg."

For more information on the Grand Ole Party in Newburyport Saturday, contact Paul Breau.

"It costs when if you they"

 

Babbler-in-Chief Barack Obama in his own words (see below for details). Generate your own Barack Obama Poster here.

Captain Ed Morrissey launches a new series at Hot Air, "Obamateurism of the Day." In response to his invitation, we've sent along a link to our recent post "TOTUS talks back," with the following teaser, transcribed verbatim from a YouTube video of candidate Obama's disastrous "town hall event" on health care last September, when the teleprompter malfunctioned, leaving the "soaring rhetorician" and  "brilliant speaker" babbling incoherently:

It costs when if you they just gave you gave treatment early and they got some treatment … It would cost ab- It would cost about the same as what we would spend over the course of ten years it would cost us ... Hold on a second. I can't hear myself. But I'm glad you're fired up though. I'm glad. Heh, heh.

That's our president! Heh, heh.

This just in: "Thanks, Sissy!," Ed writes back:

I may use this on Tuesday or Wednesday. I'm already getting a backlog on this stuff!

Meanwhile, the mainstream media continues to look the other way. Heh, heh.

Update: "If you ever need proof that the media is giving him a free ride, you've got it," snorts a disgusted Tuck.

Update II: Professor Reynolds is not amused:

I think these kinds of features are silly, but there’s no reason why the silliness should be one-sided, I suppose.

Lighten up, sir! A little silliness judiciously applied is good for the soul.

Rush Limbaugh is channeling our blog

 

Repub of image and caption from our post "So much corruption, so little time" last fall: "But I think it's fair to say that the scandals that we've seen, both legal and illegal, under the current White House and Congress, are far worse than most of us could have imagined," Barack Obama told fellow Democrats with a straight face last winter at a gathering designed "to shine a spotlight on the Republican culture of corruption and highlight efforts to clean up Washington and get back to the people’s business." (Photo unattributed) As we blogged yesterday, "For them, political posturing is all."

"Hi, Doll. LOVE the latest post!" writes our imail correspondent:

She: I love how the SISU blog taps into all seven lively arts. I'm so proud of OUR SARAH!

We: Wicked. She's true blue (red, actually)!

She: Naturally, she makes herself grist for the Hypocritical Left. God love her fortitude. She is EXTREMELY powerful, in all the right ways, and that is why the left fears and reviles her. She is POWERFUL by sheer dint of her being true to herself. THAT's what they can't stand, since it is terra incognita for them

"Democratic state Rep. Les Gara says he is shocked the governor would turn away money. Mrs Palin says she is acting in Alaskans' best interests." according to the caption of this AP photo of the Divine Miss P in the [Singapore] Straits Times.

As we wrote yesterday, "Democrats can't conceive of someone's acting upon principle. For them, political posturing is all." Rush was onto something similar in yesterday's broadcast [via egopnews.com] when he was talking about the difference between Governor Palin's brave, true-blue acknowledgement of the "hopes and dreams and concerns" she has for her own Down Syndrome child vs. the pale purple prose of President Obama's lame "apology" for making fun of Special Olympics participants on Jay Leno's "Tonight Show" Thursday. [We're no talk-radio fan but have been paying special attention to what Rush has to say in the wake of Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's anti-Limbaugh jihad.] Here's Rush:

I want to contrast two people for you. Do you remember during the presidential campaign how the media, the Democrats and the left, savaged Sarah Palin? It's expected. It's who they are. She was effective. She threatened them. She brought life and energy to the moribund McCain campaign. She had to be destroyed. That's the left's modus operandi.  We expect that. However, we have some people on our side who also think that they are part of the best and the brightest. [Cf. our mid-September post "If the shoe fits."]

They're smarter than everybody else, part of the New York-Washington media axis. They were referring to Barack Obama as elegant … People on our side said, "It's great to have somebody as smart as we are running for president. It's great to have somebody as well spoken as we are. It's great to have an academic, somebody from Harvard Law, somebody from the University of Chicago Law School. It's great to have one of us, a fellow egghead running for office," and these same people [Cf. our post "A little people, a silly people" on the cravenness of Northeast Corridor Conservatives,] said of Sarah Palin, "How vulgar! … How uncouth. How so … middle class. That accent! Oh! D'oh! I just can't stand her accent. She had the baby?" People on our side were saying, "She had the baby with Down Syndrome? No. Look at that! She's whipping these middle-American Republicans into a frenzy! This is bad. This is not how we're going to become a majority party. Sarah Palin? Oh, she's so vulgar." So, here's Barack Obama last night on The Tonight Show.

"Confident one moment, and then uncertain. I was excited, but then I was scared. Everyone worries about what the future holds for their newborn child," Sarah Palin told viewers in her March 7 address to the 2009 special Olympics. "I was shocked to learn of the comment made by President Obama about Special Olympics,” she said yesterday, adding “This was a degrading remark about our world’s most precious and unique people, coming from the most powerful position in the world."

They're still not getting behind Palin, but Peggy Noonan and other leading lights of the Northeast Corridor Conservative community are starting to have their doubts about the current occupant of the Oval Office:

These are the two great issues, the economic crisis and our safety. In the face of them, what strikes one is the weightlessness of the Obama administration, the jumping from issue to issue and venue to venue from day to day.

Are Noonan & Company onto something, or are they unwitting dupes of a deliberate "crisis strategy" masterminded by the Soros-seeded Obama Machine, a Cloward-Piven plot that "seeks to hasten the fall of capitalism by overloading the government bureaucracy with a flood of impossible demands, thus pushing society into crisis and economic collapse"? We wrote about Cloward-Piven in our post "So much disinformation, so little time" last fall. Now Steve Gilbert of Sweetness & Light provides a tutorial with Discover the Network links to source materials and some provocative postulations of his own. Could it happen here?

"We are not requesting funds intended to just grow government"

"To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak," Miklós Perényi and András Schiff play Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata, D. 821. How sweet it is.

We can't stand being lied to, and that's what the current Leader of the Free World has been doing to us from at least December of 2006, when his "soaring rhetoric" started to fool some of the people all of the time and let him get away with calling us a racist. Thomas Sowell pegged him early on as a fraud who "knows what con men have long known, that their job is not to convince skeptics but to enable the gullible to continue to believe what they want to believe," and our toes have been in permanent curl position ever since. President Obama's shock, shock at bonuses having been awarded executives who led bailout queen AIG down the beaten path during the last period of time are but the latest example of the big lie that is his modus operandi.

More music to soothe the savage breast from Nora the Piano Cat, brought to our attention by our nostalgic lifetime buddy NH illustrator extraordinaire M.L. Driscoll.

When it comes to soothing the savage breast, there's no one like Sarah Palin, who just said no to "stimulus" cash dangled before the state she leads:

The Alaska governor says she’s only going to take up to 69 percent of the $930 million her state could receive … Rather than focus on education, for which she could get $170 million, or other government operations, the governor’s looking at shovel-ready construction projects. "We are not requesting funds intended to just grow government," Palin said, adding that Alaskans shouldn’t want the feds to "engineer" their future for them. "To me it’s a bribe. It’s here, take these dollars. But you’ve got to grow your government."

On cue "Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse said Palin's decision 'appears to be nothing more than political posturing.'" But of course. Democrats can't conceive of someone's acting upon principle. For them, political posturing is all.