Oh! The Places You'll Go... (I Hope)

Via Lex: Iraq: A Place of Ambivalence. Forget, for a moment, that the HuffPo is one of the watering holes for liberals (with a token conservative or two to satisfy the Diversity Mandate) and chase this link. Ms. Durkin has written one of the best pieces on the war in a long, long time, perhaps ever. And it’s sort of non-partisan in that she takes both the Right and the Left to task. But especially the Left. I don’t think you’ll read anything better today…

Dead Man Walking: Boris Berezovsky. Given the unseemly habit Putin’s opponents have of dropping dead lately, one can only surmise Mr. Berezovsky has risen to the top of Tsar Vlad’s hit list. Coz of stuff like this:

The Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky has told the Guardian he is plotting the violent overthrow of President Putin from his base in Britain after forging close contacts with members of Russia's ruling elite.

In comments which appear calculated to enrage the Kremlin, and which will further inflame relations between London and Moscow, the multimillionaire claimed he was already bankrolling people close to the president who are conspiring to mount a palace coup.

"We need to use force to change this regime," he said. "It isn't possible to change this regime through democratic means. There can be no change without force, pressure." Asked if he was effectively fomenting a revolution, he said: "You are absolutely correct."

Yow. If nothing else, Mr. Berezovsky has a pair. A BIG brass pair. Let’s hope he survives. Not all that sure about the violent revolution angle Mr. B is talking about, but it's obvious (to me) that ol' Vlad is out of control. And that's not good for anyone, especially the Russians. Change is needed.

I’ve not written about L’Affaire Imus, considering it to be a tempest in a teapot and a rather minor one, at that. Personally, I think the guy’s a senile old idiot, but that’s just me and my opinion. As it’s said…we all have ‘em. Opinions… and other things, too. None the less, I’m OK with Imus losing his job…purely on “employment at will ” grounds. NBC and CBS may do what they will; it’s the way things work in America.

What I’m not OK with is this: the Usual Suspects smelling blood in the water and advocating action that is beyond the pale.

But as Media Matters for America has extensively documented, bigotry and hate speech targeting, among other characteristics, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and ethnicity continue to permeate the airwaves through personalities such as Glenn Beck, Neal Boortz, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage, Michael Smerconish, and John Gibson.

Smerconish and Savage, perhaps, those guys are borderline (and sometimes over it) objectionable. But the others? That’s a frickin’ bridge too far. But then again, I suppose the First Amendment only applies to those folks with the proper credentials. If you happen to be conservative, or controversial, you should be silenced…but I digress. There’s a reason conservatives sometimes refer to those on The Left as “The Perpetually Offended.” Case in point…Media Matters takes offense at this:

Substituting for host Bill O'Reilly on the April 4, 2006, broadcast of Westwood One's The Radio Factor, nationally syndicated radio host Michael Smerconish repeatedly discussed "the sissification of America," claiming that political correctness has made the United States "a nation of sissies." Smerconish also claimed, several times, that this "sissification" and "limp-wristedness" is "compromising our ability to win the war on terror."

Well, Hell! A spade’s a spade, like it or not. I agree with Mr. Smerconish on this point. Political Correctness is the bane of our existence. Literally.

I recommend going to Media Matters just to see the PC mindset at work. “Know Your Enemy Opposition” and all that.

An anonymous commenter suggested (I think) names for the new bike yesterday… “Blue Wasp? Chrome(less) Strom? Cobalt Cheval?” And they’re all pretty good, doncha think? But let me say this about that…

I’m not normally in the habit of naming my vehicles. No other vehicle in my past has had a name, other than the Miata. As a matter of fact, the Green Hornet was named by a close friend of mine and it just sorta stuck. Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with giving your ride a name…not at all. It’s just that I never was given to it. Well, except for that frickin’ SAAB I owned, and the assigned names (many and varied) for that vehicle aren’t printable in a PG-rated blog. I hated that frickin’ car…

Speaking of things automotive I hate… I just glanced out the window at the bike and was immediately offended…to the max…by the existence of not one, not two, not three, but FIVE of those damned legal-department mandated “warning” stickers on the bike. Two on the fairing. One on the tank. One on a frame member. One on the swing arm. And that’s just the left side and top of the bike, Lord knows there’s probably three more on the right side. They are all white with a large orange band at the top that sez “WARNING!” I’m not gonna go outside and get the actual verbiage because (a) it’s cold outside and (b) I’d have to get dressed. It ain’t that important. Suffice it to say they warn me of sh!t I already KNOW, as should any human being with at least a fifth grade education.

My bottom line is those offensive stickies thoroughly detract from the bike’s otherwise clean appearance, like canker sores on a beautiful woman. And it pisses me right OFF. “First we kill all the lawyers…” Overdue, that. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

I’m (sorta) glad I’m older. It’s 47 degrees outside (with a wind chill of 40) as I write. A mere ten or 15 years ago I’d more than likely suit up after posting this and go for a ride, cold be damned. Ah, but nowadays the need to be comfortable exceeds the desire to go out and put the new scoot through its paces. Which is a good thing, in more ways than one. First and foremost, a cold rider is a distracted rider, a distracted rider doesn’t pay attention, and a lack of paying attention whilst riding can get one seriously dead.

Wisdom. Where have you been all my life?

Today’s Pic: She looks just a little bit evil here, doesn’t she? I know it’s the angle of the headlights in the fairing, and that said, I think I’d have preferred the traditional round openings. These look a bit like an anime illustrator had a hand in the design. Not all that pleasing, but I suppose I’ll get used to the thought of it, given it’s a view I’ll rarely see. As for the subject matter of Today’s Pic…Well, what did you expect?