{"id":28822,"date":"2015-01-04T19:58:30","date_gmt":"2015-01-05T00:58:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=28822"},"modified":"2015-01-04T19:58:38","modified_gmt":"2015-01-05T00:58:38","slug":"the-daily-gouge-archive-wednesday-december-31st-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=28822","title":{"rendered":"The Daily Gouge Archive, Wednesday, December 31st, 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>It&#8217;s Wednesday, December 31st&#8230;and here&#8217;s The Gouge!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>First up on the last edition of 2014, courtesy of <em>Mauldin Economics<\/em> and G. Trevor, Lord High King of All Vietors, Tony Sagami offers the facts behind the fiscal fiction:<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a title=\"Q3 GDP Jumps 5%; Ha! The Crap Behind the Numbers\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mauldineconomics.com\/connecting-the-dots\/q3-gdp-jumps-5-ha-the-crap-behind-the-numbers\" class=\"broken_link\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #003300; text-decoration: underline;\">Q3 GDP Jumps 5%; Ha! The Crap Behind the Numbers<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/dilbert_made_up_numbers.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28763\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/dilbert_made_up_numbers.gif\" alt=\"dilbert_made_up_numbers\" width=\"495\" height=\"151\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;I was raised on a farm and I\u2019ve shoveled more than my share of manure. <span style=\"color: #003300;\"><strong>I didn\u2019t like manure back then, and I like the brand of manure that comes out of Washington, DC, and Wall Street even less.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>A stinky pile of economic manure came out of Washington, DC, last week <em>and instead of the economic nirvana that it was <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">touted<\/span> to be, i<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">t was a smokescreen of half-truths and financial prestidigitation<\/span><\/em>.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0According to the newest version of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the US economy is smoking hot. The BEA reported that GDP grew at an astonishing 5.0% annualized rate in the third quarter.\u00a0<span style=\"color: #003300;\"><strong><em>5%<\/em> is <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>BIG<\/em><\/span> number.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>The New York Times <\/em>couldn\u2019t gush enough, given a rare chance to give President Obama an economic pat on the back. \u201cThe American economy grew last quarter at its fastest rate in over a decade, providing the strongest evidence to date that the recovery is finally gaining sustained power more than five years after it began.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/d21uq3hx4esec9.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/newsletters\/Image_1_20141230_CTD.gif\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>Moreover, this is the <em>second<\/em> revision to the third quarter GDP\u20141.1 percentage points higher than the first revision\u2014and the strongest rate since the third quarter of 2003.\u00a0<span style=\"color: #003300;\">However, <em>that 5% growth rate <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">isn\u2019t as impressive if you peek below the headline number<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/strong><span style=\"color: #003300;\">&#8230;&#8221;<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>We wouldn&#8217;t trust anyone even <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>remotely<\/em><\/span> connected with this Administration to tell us the time of day, let alone provide accurate statistics for any meaningful indicator, economic or otherwise.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Then again, these phony financial figures are simply a reflection of The Dear Misleader&#8217;s true character. \u00a0Think about it: dating back to his youth, Obama&#8217;s schooling, career, &#8220;achievements&#8221;, indeed his entire life is built on an endless stream of deception, obfuscation and outright prevarication.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>But as Kurt Schlichter writes at\u00a0<em>Townhall.com<\/em>, the end may well be in sight:<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a title=\"2014: The Year The Liberal Lies Died\" href=\"http:\/\/townhall.com\/columnists\/kurtschlichter\/2014\/12\/29\/2014-the-year-the-liberal-lies-died-n1936031\/page\/full\" class=\"broken_link\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000; text-decoration: underline;\">2014: The Year The Liberal Lies Died<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/cant-spell-liberals-lies-liberals-potayto-potahto-etc-political-poster-1293794662.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28736\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/cant-spell-liberals-lies-liberals-potayto-potahto-etc-political-poster-1293794662.jpg\" alt=\"cant-spell-liberals-lies-liberals-potayto-potahto-etc-political-poster-1293794662\" width=\"375\" height=\"314\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/cant-spell-liberals-lies-liberals-potayto-potahto-etc-political-poster-1293794662.jpg 375w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/cant-spell-liberals-lies-liberals-potayto-potahto-etc-political-poster-1293794662-300x251.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 375px) 100vw, 375px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Every single thing liberals say is a lie<\/em><\/span>. <span style=\"color: #333399;\"><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">No<\/span> exceptions<\/em>.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">We conservatives always knew it, but 2014 was the year when the rest of America began to understand. And 2014 was the year that Americans had to choose sides \u2013 would they stand with the liberal liars or with us conservatives? Last November, they chose us conservatives, and maybe the truth will be enough to stop Hillary Clinton and save our country in 2016.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>The truth is poison to liberalism, so no wonder liberals hate the idea of a free press<\/strong><\/span> \u2013 after all, they are the ones who argued to the Supreme Court in the <i>Citizens United<\/i> case that the government has the right to ban books. Conservative magazines like <i>National Review<\/i> long fought the fight alone. <span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong>But it is only recently that we saw the rise of a truly free press as technology put a camera in everyone\u2019s cellphone and conservative new media (including social media) created a path around the gates that the liberal mainstream media kept.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>The mainstream media <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>used<\/em><\/span> to get to decide what was and was not the truth.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>(See Uncle Walter, Tet Offensive, 1968!)<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0But the truth has been set free, and the mainstream media has been revealed as the guardian of the lies that the liberal establishment needs to fool normal Americans just enough to secure their votes. <span style=\"color: #333399;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>That\u2019s why we should laugh and cheer at the mainstream media\u2019s agonized death throes<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Let\u2019s look at a few of the lies we saw collapse in 2014. <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em><span style=\"color: #333399; text-decoration: underline;\">Not one would have been revealed if the mainstream media was still in control<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/span>&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><b>Schlichter&#8217;s facts are not only <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>right<\/em><\/span>, they&#8217;re dead-on balls&#8230;<\/b><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/snl-stefon-accurate.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28773\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/snl-stefon-accurate.gif\" alt=\"snl-stefon-accurate\" width=\"350\" height=\"209\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>In a related item, Thomas Sowell wonders whether the desperation of Progressives has rendered truth in its entirety a thing of the past:<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a title=\"Are Facts Obsolete?\" href=\"http:\/\/townhall.com\/columnists\/thomassowell\/2014\/12\/30\/are-facts-obsolete-n1936708\/page\/full\" class=\"broken_link\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600; text-decoration: underline;\">Are Facts Obsolete?<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/tumblr_n9eq6e0c2r1ryqszpo1_500.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-28762\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/tumblr_n9eq6e0c2r1ryqszpo1_500-300x223.jpg\" alt=\"tumblr_n9eq6e0c2r1ryqszpo1_500\" width=\"300\" height=\"223\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/tumblr_n9eq6e0c2r1ryqszpo1_500-300x223.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/tumblr_n9eq6e0c2r1ryqszpo1_500.jpg 494w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;&#8230;If you are killed by an unarmed man, you are just as dead as if you had been annihilated by a nuclear bomb. But you don&#8217;t even know who is armed or unarmed until after it is all over, and you can search him.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Incidentally, did you know that, during this same period when riots, looting and arson have been raging, a black policeman in Alabama shot and killed an unarmed white teenager &#8212; and was cleared by a grand jury? <span style=\"color: #800080;\"><em>Probably <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">not<\/span>, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">if you depend on the mainstream media for your news<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>The media do not merely <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>ignore<\/em><\/span> facts, <em>they <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">suppress<\/span> facts<\/em>.<\/strong> <strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Millions of people saw the videotape of the beating of Rodney King.<\/span> <em>But they saw only a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">fraction<\/span> of that tape <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">because the media left out the rest<\/span><\/em>, which showed Rodney King &#8212; <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>another huge man<\/em><\/span> &#8212; <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>resisting arrest and refusing to be handcuffed, so that he could be searched<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/span>&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>You know, like the MSM&#8217;s representations of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/george-zimmerman-trayvon-martin-media-bias-cnn-113840572031.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28774\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/george-zimmerman-trayvon-martin-media-bias-cnn-113840572031.jpeg\" alt=\"george-zimmerman-trayvon-martin-media-bias-cnn-113840572031\" width=\"400\" height=\"182\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/george-zimmerman-trayvon-martin-media-bias-cnn-113840572031.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/george-zimmerman-trayvon-martin-media-bias-cnn-113840572031-300x137.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/trayvonzimmerman.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28775\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/trayvonzimmerman.jpg\" alt=\"trayvonzimmerman\" width=\"400\" height=\"467\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/trayvonzimmerman.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/trayvonzimmerman-257x300.jpg 257w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>MSM bias&#8230;<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>WHAT<\/em><\/span> bias?!?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Next, in a rare moment of candor&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"hd-font entry-title color3\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a title=\"NBC's Chuck Todd explains why journalists so rarely 'bark' at politicians\" href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/article\/2557930\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #800080; text-decoration: underline;\">NBC&#8217;s Chuck Todd explains why journalists so rarely &#8216;bark&#8217; at politicians<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/mcx-obama-hillary-0113.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28738\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/mcx-obama-hillary-0113.jpg\" alt=\"mcx-obama-hillary-0113\" width=\"400\" height=\"222\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/mcx-obama-hillary-0113.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/mcx-obama-hillary-0113-300x167.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;An open secret in Washington, D.C., journalism was unexpectedly shared with frustrated voters across the country on Sunday&#8217;s edition of NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Meet the Press.&#8221;\u00a0Anyone who&#8217;s ever watched an elected official from either major political party be interviewed by a serious journalist has probably angrily asked aloud, &#8220;Why don&#8217;t they ask him about XYZ?!&#8221; Or, &#8220;Why did they let him get away with that answer?!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8230;<span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>&#8220;We all sit there because we all know the first time we bark, it&#8217;s the last time they do the show,&#8221; said Todd. <span style=\"color: #ff00ff;\">&#8220;There&#8217;s something where &#8230; it&#8217;s the last time.<\/span> Nobody will ever come on your show. <span style=\"color: #ff00ff;\">There is that balance sometimes.&#8221;<\/span><\/strong><\/span>&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Remember; this is the same &#8220;balance&#8221; that led <em>CNN<\/em> to censor their own coverage of Saddam Hussein&#8230;so he&#8217;d continue to talk to them. \u00a0All of which is why Progressive print media (like there&#8217;s any other kind!)&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/CollapseofJournalism051713.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28740\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/CollapseofJournalism051713.jpeg\" alt=\"CollapseofJournalism051713\" width=\"400\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/CollapseofJournalism051713.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/CollapseofJournalism051713-300x180.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8230;is for all purposes dead, and Liberal television and radio&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/bubbles.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28741\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/bubbles.jpg\" alt=\"bubbles\" width=\"400\" height=\"303\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/bubbles.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/bubbles-300x227.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/RAMclr-062914-press-IBD-COLOR-FINAL.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28742\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/RAMclr-062914-press-IBD-COLOR-FINAL.gif\" alt=\"RAMclr-062914-press-IBD-COLOR-FINAL\" width=\"400\" height=\"287\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8230;is not far behind.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Which brings us to the latest from David Goetsch, writing at <em>Patriot Update<\/em>, who provides the answer to the question inquiring minds <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>really<\/em><\/span> want to know:<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a title=\"Can Liberals Really Be this Stupid? Apparently they Can\" href=\"http:\/\/patriotupdate.com\/articles\/can-liberals-really-stupid-apparently-can\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #ff0000;\">Can Liberals Really Be this Stupid? Apparently they Can<\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/stupid-liberals-111816949022.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-28776\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/stupid-liberals-111816949022-300x300.jpeg\" alt=\"stupid-liberals-111816949022\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/stupid-liberals-111816949022-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/stupid-liberals-111816949022-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/stupid-liberals-111816949022.jpeg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;I have grown accustomed to the fact that liberals believe they can somehow change human nature and create a utopian world or, at least, a world that fits their definition of utopia. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Although I still find it disturbing, I no longer find it surprising that liberals base their opinions and actions on emotionalism rather than logic or reason. <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">A steadfast refusal to let facts get in the way of their presuppositions seems to be in the DNA of liberals, yet they think they are brighter than anyone else.<\/span><\/strong><\/span> For example, recall when Jonathan Gruber, the puffed up academic from MIT, talked condescendingly about the stupidity of the America public. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Frankly, if he had limited his denunciation to just liberals, I might have agreed with him.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Before going any farther down this road, a caveat is in order. <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>If you are put off by my use of the word \u201cstupid\u201d in the title of this column, understand that I spent a good deal of time trying to come up with a <em>softer<\/em> descriptor.<\/strong><\/span> For example, I tried the word \u201cignorant,\u201d but it did not work because ignorance is just a lack of knowledge that can be cured through reading, listening to those who are more informed on the subject in question, discussing, debating, and keeping an open mind. Since liberals are steadfastly opposed to reading, listening, discussing, and debating with an open mind, \u201cignorance\u201d failed the test of applicability. So did \u201cillogical,\u201d \u201cunreasonable,\u201d \u201cfact-averse,\u201d and \u201cuninformed.\u201d <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Finally, I settled on the word \u201cstupid\u201d because it conveys just the right meaning: a determination to continue doing the wrong things even when you know they are wrong simply because you want them to be right.<\/span> <em>Now <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">that<\/span> is <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">stupid<\/span>.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">All of this is to say I am rarely shocked or even surprised when a prominent liberal says or does something that is just plain stupid. At least I shouldn\u2019t be surprised, but then liberals have a way of outdoing themselves in the dumb and dumber department. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Consequently, even though I am inured to the illogic, lack of reason, and aversion to facts that so often characterize liberal thinking, there are still occasions when I find myself asking, \u201c<em>Can liberals <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">really<\/span> be <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">this<\/span> stupid<\/em>?\u201d<\/strong><\/span>&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Well&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/images-11.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28778\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/images-11.jpeg\" alt=\"images (1)\" width=\"259\" height=\"194\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Case in point:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/4bQBjC8.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28777\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/4bQBjC8.jpg\" alt=\"4bQBjC8\" width=\"350\" height=\"245\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/4bQBjC8.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/4bQBjC8-300x210.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaking of Liberal stupidity in practice, it&#8217;s the subject of a recent edition of Jim Geraghty&#8217;s\u00a0<\/strong><strong><em>Morning Jolt<\/em>, as Jim inquires&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"p1\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"s1\" style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><b>Just What <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Is<\/em><\/span> the \u2018Appropriate\u2019 Way for Police to React to Mayor de Blasio?<\/b><\/span><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/d6035bdd-4617-4427-b28c-07a8b835137c-620x372.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28779\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/d6035bdd-4617-4427-b28c-07a8b835137c-620x372.jpeg\" alt=\"d6035bdd-4617-4427-b28c-07a8b835137c-620x372\" width=\"400\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/d6035bdd-4617-4427-b28c-07a8b835137c-620x372.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/d6035bdd-4617-4427-b28c-07a8b835137c-620x372-300x180.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"td1\" valign=\"top\">\n<p class=\"p2\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"s2\">NYPD Commissioner William Bratton, Sunday<\/span><span class=\"s3\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"padding-left: 60px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><em><span class=\"s1\">NYPD Commissioner William Bratton said it was \u201cvery inappropriate\u201d for police officers to turn their backs to video screens showing Mayor Bill de Blasio speaking at an officer\u2019s funeral Saturday.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"s2\">Rudy Giuliani, Sunday:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"padding-left: 60px;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><em><span class=\"s1\">\u201cThe mayor is not in any way to be treated with people turning their backs. It doesn\u2019t matter whether you like the mayor or you don\u2019t like the mayor, you have to respect the mayor\u2019s position.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"s1\">Yes, the NYPD officers acted in a disrespectful manner when they turned their backs to the mayor. <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>It\u2019s disrespectful because a lot of men and women on the police force <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><i>do not respect the mayor<\/i><\/span> &#8212; <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>right now, and sadly, for the foreseeable future<\/em><\/span>. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">This was not an accidental faux pas; this was the clearest way to send the signal, \u201cDespite the fact that you are in the city\u2019s highest elected office, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>we don\u2019t respect you<\/em><\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Let\u2019s begin by saying that any NYPD officer reacting to the news that two of his brother officers were gunned down in cold blood deserves a wide berth in processing all of the emotions from that horrific event. There\u2019s a lot of anger in the force, and they\u2019ve got good reasons to be angry. A symbolic gesture like this might be a particularly powerful and not destructive way of channeling that anger.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">\u201cRespect the office, not the man.\u201d <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Boy<\/em><\/span>, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>some<\/em><\/span> elected officials make this simple request <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>difficult<\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/whitehouse_r620x349.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28780\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/whitehouse_r620x349.jpg\" alt=\"whitehouse_r620x349\" width=\"400\" height=\"229\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/whitehouse_r620x349.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/whitehouse_r620x349-300x172.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"s1\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Just how contemptuous of others can an elected official <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>be<\/em><\/span> <em>before he\u2019s no longer automatically entitled to \u201crespect\u201d<\/em>?<\/strong> <\/span>Can we all agree that an elected official can do something or say something that creates a circumstance where having a title in front of your name just isn\u2019t enough to require that respect? I\u2019m sure we can all think of particularly vivid examples . . .<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/NhAs1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28733\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/NhAs1.jpg\" alt=\"NhAs1\" width=\"350\" height=\"256\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/NhAs1.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/NhAs1-300x219.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><i>\u201cMeow!\u201d<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Why are we asked to \u201crespect the office\u201d of mayor, president, or other elected official? Do custom and tradition and civic life really ask us to greet every action of every elected official with \u201crespect\u201d?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">Our system allows for the impeachment of presidents and other elected officials. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Is that really \u201crespectful\u201d?<\/span> Or is an impeachment an act of respect for the <i>office<\/i>, to decide that a particular individual, through criminal or other supremely unethical behavior, must be removed, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>because letting him stay will damage that office and the public\u2019s respect for it<\/em><\/span>?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"s1\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>If <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>that\u2019s<\/em><\/span> the case, respect for the individual occupying high office isn\u2019t automatic, compulsory, or reflexive.<\/strong> <strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">It is <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>conditional<\/em><\/span> &#8212; given in broad conditions, encompassing mere political disagreement or personality conflicts.<\/span> <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">But that respect can be revoked, given sufficient provocation<\/span>.\u00a0<\/em><span style=\"color: #008000;\">(More important, it&#8217;s <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>MUTUAL<\/em><\/span>!!!)<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/obama_flipping_the_bird-1508x706_c.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28781\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/obama_flipping_the_bird-1508x706_c.jpg\" alt=\"obama_flipping_the_bird-1508x706_c\" width=\"400\" height=\"187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/obama_flipping_the_bird-1508x706_c.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/obama_flipping_the_bird-1508x706_c-300x140.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p7\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"s3\">Let\u2019s go back to <span class=\"s5\">what de Blasio said after the grand-jury decision in the Eric Garner case<\/span>:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\" style=\"padding-left: 60px;\"><em><span class=\"s1\">I was at the White House the other day, and the President of the United States turned to me, and he met Dante a few months ago, and he said that Dante reminded him of what he looked like as a teenager. And he said, I know you see this crisis through a very personal lens. I said to him I did. Because Chirlane and I have had to talk to Dante for years, about the dangers he may face. <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>A good young man, a law-abiding young man, who would never think to do anything wrong, and yet, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">because of a history that still hangs over us<\/span>, the dangers he may face &#8212; <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">we\u2019ve had to literally train him, as families have all over this city for decades, in how to take special care in any encounter he has with the police officers who are there to protect him<\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\" style=\"padding-left: 60px;\"><em><span class=\"s1\">And that painful sense of contradiction that our young people see first &#8212; that our police are here to protect us, and we honor that, and at the same time, there\u2019s a history we have to overcome, because for so many of our young people, there\u2019s a fear. And for so many of our families, there\u2019s a fear. <b><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">So I\u2019ve had to worry, over the years, Chirlane\u2019s had to worry &#8212; was Dante safe each night?<\/span> <\/b><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>There are so many families in this city who feel that each and every night &#8212; is my child safe? <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">And not just from some of the painful realities &#8212; crime and violence in some of our neighborhoods &#8212; but are they safe from the very people they want to have faith in as their protectors<\/span>?<\/span> <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">That\u2019s the reality<\/span>. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">And it conforms to something bigger that you\u2019ve heard come out in the protests in Ferguson, and all over the country.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/em><span class=\"s1\" style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>(These people are either <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>especially<\/em><\/span> stupid, or on&#8230;<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Obama-Smoking-Pot-504.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28782\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Obama-Smoking-Pot-504.jpeg\" alt=\"Obama Smoking Pot 504\" width=\"400\" height=\"264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Obama-Smoking-Pot-504.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Obama-Smoking-Pot-504-300x198.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"s1\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>That\u2019s an explicit statement that he fears what the NYPD would do to his son<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span> That\u2019s a pretty hefty accusation and one that he exacerbates moments later by contending that the police force he oversees makes its decisions based upon racism:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\" style=\"padding-left: 60px;\"><em><span class=\"s1\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">This is now a national moment of grief, a national moment of pain, and searching for a solution, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">and you\u2019ve heard in so many places, people of all backgrounds, utter the same basic phrase<\/span>.<\/span> They\u2019ve said \u201cBlack Lives Matter.\u201d <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">And they said it because it had to be said<\/span>.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/em><span class=\"s1\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\"><strong><span style=\"color: #008000;\">(Only if your goal is to keep Progressives in power!)<\/span><\/strong><\/span><em><span class=\"s1\">\u00a0It\u2019s a phrase that should never have to be said &#8212; it should be self-evident. But our history, sadly, requires us to say that Black Lives Matter. <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Because, as I said the other day, we\u2019re not just dealing with a problem in 2014, we\u2019re not dealing with years of racism leading up to it, or decades of racism &#8212; <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">we are dealing with centuries of racism that have brought us to this day<\/span>.<\/strong><\/span> That is how profound the crisis is. And that is how fundamental the task at hand is, to turn from that history and to make a change that is profound and lasting.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"s1\">If you doubt that section of de Blasio\u2019s speech was directed at the NYPD, then ask yourself this: when the mayor says, \u201cBlack Lives Matter,\u201d who is he saying it to? <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Who does he think <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><i>doesn\u2019t<\/i><\/span> think that black lives matter?\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span><strong><span class=\"s1\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">If you\u2019re a mayor and you accuse your police force of racism, <em>can you <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">really<\/span> be surprised to see your police force <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">behaving in a disrespectful manner<\/span><\/em>?<\/span> <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><em>And can you <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">legitimately<\/span> expect them to <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">continue<\/span> to respect you<\/em>?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"s1\">With all of that in mind, I wonder how many Americans agree with the president in this cheery self-assessment?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\" style=\"padding-left: 60px;\"><em><span class=\"s1\">President Barack Obama says the U.S. is less racially divided than it was when he took office, despite recent protests over police treatment of black people.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong><em><span class=\"s1\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Obama says mistrust between police and minorities isn\u2019t new.<\/span> He says it\u2019s being talked about more because the proliferation of smartphones allows more interactions to be recorded.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\" style=\"padding-left: 60px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><em><span class=\"s1\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The president says he thinks the issue of race has surfaced in a healthy way<\/span>.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/killing-by-police-growing-painsjpeg-01154_c0-386-4489-3002_s561x327.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28783\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/killing-by-police-growing-painsjpeg-01154_c0-386-4489-3002_s561x327.jpg\" alt=\"killing-by-police-growing-painsjpeg-01154_c0-386-4489-3002_s561x327\" width=\"400\" height=\"233\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/killing-by-police-growing-painsjpeg-01154_c0-386-4489-3002_s561x327.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/killing-by-police-growing-painsjpeg-01154_c0-386-4489-3002_s561x327-300x175.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\" style=\"padding-left: 60px;\"><em><span class=\"s1\">Obama spoke to NPR News before leaving for his winter vacation in Hawaii.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\" style=\"padding-left: 60px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><em><span class=\"s1\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">He says it\u2019s understandable that many people feel race relations have worsened, pointing to extensive media coverage of protests in Ferguson, Missouri, and in New York.<\/span> But he says minorities who have dealt with discrimination all their lives know things have improved.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p7\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/237BD50F00000578-2844491-image-14_1416906839501.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28784\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/237BD50F00000578-2844491-image-14_1416906839501.jpg\" alt=\"237BD50F00000578-2844491-image-14_1416906839501\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/237BD50F00000578-2844491-image-14_1416906839501.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/237BD50F00000578-2844491-image-14_1416906839501-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p7\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><em><strong>Maybe if Obama stopped watching ESPN every morning and tuned into FOX&#8230;?!?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p7\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"s3\">Gallup\u2019s <span class=\"s5\">long-term polling points to consistent, generally positive assessment of race relations<\/span>, <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>and then there\u2019s this recent poll<\/strong><\/span>:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\" style=\"padding-left: 60px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><em><span class=\"s1\">A majority of Americans now say that race relations in the United States are bad, according to <span class=\"s4\">the latest NBC News\/Wall Street Journal poll<\/span>, which showed the most pessimistic assessment of racial issues in almost two decades.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\" style=\"padding-left: 60px;\"><em><span class=\"s1\">In the wake of protests over the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police, just four in ten Americans told pollsters that they believe race relations in the United States are \u201cgood,\u201d while 57 percent disagreed. And nearly a quarter &#8212; 23 percent &#8212; classified the current state of the country\u2019s racial issues as \u201cvery bad.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\" style=\"padding-left: 60px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong><em><span class=\"s1\">The data showed a dramatic slide from just 18 months ago, when a July 2013 poll indicated that a majority &#8212; 52 percent &#8212; offered an optimistic view of race relations.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Like we said earlier, w<strong>e wouldn&#8217;t trust anyone even <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>remotely<\/em><\/span> connected with this Administration to tell us the time of day&#8230;and we wouldn&#8217;t trust Obama, Tom Coburn&#8217;s inexplicable feelings of friendship notwithstanding, to let our <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>dogs<\/em><\/span> out&#8230;<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/puppies.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28785\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/puppies.png\" alt=\"puppies\" width=\"400\" height=\"195\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/puppies.png 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/puppies-300x146.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8230;while we&#8217;re away!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>On the Lighter Side&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/sk123014dAPR20141230114517.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28772\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/sk123014dAPR20141230114517.jpg\" alt=\"sk123014dAPR20141230114517\" width=\"462\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/sk123014dAPR20141230114517.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/sk123014dAPR20141230114517-300x227.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/RAMclr-123014-pope-IBD-COLOR-FINAL.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28764\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/RAMclr-123014-pope-IBD-COLOR-FINAL.gif\" alt=\"RAMclr-123014-pope-IBD-COLOR-FINAL\" width=\"462\" height=\"340\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/RAMclr-123114-mission-IBD-COLOR-FINAL.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28765\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/RAMclr-123114-mission-IBD-COLOR-FINAL.gif\" alt=\"RAMclr-123114-mission-IBD-COLOR-FINAL\" width=\"462\" height=\"336\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/bg123013dAPR20131230024511.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28768\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/bg123013dAPR20131230024511.jpg\" alt=\"bg123013dAPR20131230024511\" width=\"462\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/bg123013dAPR20131230024511.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/bg123013dAPR20131230024511-300x227.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/cb123013dAPR20131230074508.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28769\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/cb123013dAPR20131230074508.jpg\" alt=\"cb123013dAPR20131230074508\" width=\"462\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/cb123013dAPR20131230074508.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/cb123013dAPR20131230074508-300x227.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/gmc12636820141230023600.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28770\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/gmc12636820141230023600.jpg\" alt=\"gmc12636820141230023600\" width=\"462\" height=\"368\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/gmc12636820141230023600.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/gmc12636820141230023600-300x239.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/cb123014dAPC20141230034559.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28771\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/cb123014dAPC20141230034559.jpg\" alt=\"cb123014dAPC20141230034559\" width=\"462\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/cb123014dAPC20141230034559.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/cb123014dAPC20141230034559-300x227.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Monkey-Golf-Sm.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28766\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Monkey-Golf-Sm.jpg\" alt=\"Monkey Golf Sm\" width=\"462\" height=\"356\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Monkey-Golf-Sm.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Monkey-Golf-Sm-300x231.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/c89f2087f0adcdba52c06f259407e934.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28731\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/c89f2087f0adcdba52c06f259407e934.jpg\" alt=\"c89f2087f0adcdba52c06f259407e934\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/c89f2087f0adcdba52c06f259407e934.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/c89f2087f0adcdba52c06f259407e934-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/c89f2087f0adcdba52c06f259407e934-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/blacks13.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28767\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/blacks13.jpg\" alt=\"blacks13\" width=\"462\" height=\"358\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/blacks13.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/blacks13-300x232.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/download6.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28730\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/download6.jpeg\" alt=\"download\" width=\"492\" height=\"488\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/download6.jpeg 492w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/download6-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/download6-300x298.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 492px) 100vw, 492px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Finally, we&#8217;ll call it a wrap for the year with the sage observations of Thomas Sowell&#8217;s&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene<\/span><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/hng96.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28786\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/hng96.jpg\" alt=\"hng96\" width=\"350\" height=\"178\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/hng96.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/hng96-300x153.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Now that Barack Obama is ruling by decree, he seems more like a king than a president. <span style=\"color: #008080;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Maybe it is time we change the way we address him.<\/span> &#8220;Your Majesty&#8221; may be a little too much, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>but perhaps &#8220;Your Royal Glibness&#8221; might be appropriate<\/em><\/span>.\u00a0<span style=\"color: #008000;\">(We prefer &#8220;Douches Maximus&#8221;!)<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">It tells us a lot about academia that the president of Smith College quickly apologized for saying, &#8220;All lives matter,&#8221; after being criticized by those who are pushing the slogan, &#8220;Black lives matter.&#8221; <span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>If science could cross breed a jellyfish with a parrot, it could create academic administrators.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Mitt Romney seems to be ready to try again to run for president in 2016. But most defeated presidential candidates who ran again lost again. There are much stronger Republican candidates available now than there were in 2012, including governors Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. <span style=\"color: #008080;\"><strong>At this crucial juncture in the nation&#8217;s history, why run a retreaded candidate?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Explaining differences in achievements between groups often pits those who attribute these differences to ability against those who attribute differences to barriers. <span style=\"color: #008080;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Neither seems to pay much attention to differences in what people <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>want to do<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> Few guys from my old neighborhood were likely to end up as violinists or ballet dancers, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>simply because that was not what they were interested in<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">When Professor Jonathan Gruber of M.I.T. boasted of fooling the &#8220;stupid&#8221; American public, that was not just a personal quirk of his. It epitomized a smug and arrogant attitude that is widespread among academics at elite institutions. <span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>There should be an annual &#8220;Jonathan Gruber award&#8221; for the most smug and arrogant statement by an academic. <span style=\"color: #008080;\">There would be <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>thousands<\/em><\/span> eligible every year.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Every society has <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>some<\/em><\/span> people <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>who don&#8217;t respect the law<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> But, when it is the people in charge of the law &#8212; <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>like the President of the United States and his Attorney General<\/em><\/span> &#8212; who <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>don&#8217;t respect it<\/em><\/span>, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>that<\/em><\/span> is when we are in <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>big trouble<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/holder_obama_prison_butt_buddy_fudge_packers2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28787\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/holder_obama_prison_butt_buddy_fudge_packers2.jpg\" alt=\"holder_obama_prison_butt_buddy_fudge_packers\" width=\"400\" height=\"180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/holder_obama_prison_butt_buddy_fudge_packers2.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/holder_obama_prison_butt_buddy_fudge_packers2-300x135.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><em><strong>Sorry Trevor, but we wouldn&#8217;t give either of these fools a kidney if their life depended on it; we&#8217;d defer to Tom Coburn!<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>Has anyone asked the question, &#8220;How could so many people across the country spend so much time at night marching, rioting and looting, if they had to get up and go to work the next morning?&#8221;<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Hillary Clinton&#8217;s idea that we have to see the world from our adversaries&#8217; point of view &#8212; and even &#8220;empathize&#8221; with it &#8212; is not new. Back in 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain said, &#8220;I have realized vividly how Herr Hitler feels.&#8221; <span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #008080;\">Ronald Reagan, however, made sure our adversaries understood how we felt.<\/span> Reagan&#8217;s approach turned out a lot better than Chamberlain&#8217;s.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Our schools and colleges are laying a guilt trip on those young people whose parents are productive, and who are raising them to become productive. <span style=\"color: #008080;\"><strong>What is amazing is how easily this has been done, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>largely just by replacing the word &#8220;achievement&#8221; with the word &#8220;privilege<\/em><\/span>.&#8221;<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>There are few modest talents so richly rewarded &#8212; especially in politics and the media &#8212; as the ability to portray parasites as victims, and portray demands for preferential treatment as struggles for equal rights.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Republicans complain when Democrats call them racists. But when have you ever heard a Republican counterattack? <span style=\"color: #008080;\"><strong>You don&#8217;t win by protesting your innocence or whining about the unfairness of the charge. <span style=\"color: #800080;\">Yet when have you heard a Republican reply by saying, &#8220;You&#8217;re a lying demagogue without a speck of evidence.<\/span> <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Put up or shut up<\/em><\/span>!&#8221;<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">President Obama&#8217;s establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba was not due to what the American public wanted or even what his own party wanted. <span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>It was a decision in defiance of both, just as his decisions about military matters ignore what generals say and his decisions about medical matters ignore what doctors have said. <span style=\"color: #008080;\">Yet pundits continue to depict him as a helpless lame duck president.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>When the political left wants to help the black community, they usually want to help the worst elements in that community &#8212; <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>thugs they portray as martyrs, for example<\/em><\/span> &#8212; <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>without the slightest regard for the negative effect this can have on the lives of the majority of decent black people<\/em><\/span>.\u00a0<span style=\"color: #008000;\">(And the majority of Blacks <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>let them<\/em><\/span>!!!)<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #008080;\"><strong>If anyone in the mainstream media is at a loss for what New Year&#8217;s resolution to make, try this: Stop &#8220;spinning&#8221; or censoring stories about race, <em>and try telling the plain truth, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">if only for the novelty of it<\/span><\/em>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>To you, our loyal readers, we wish a safe and prosperous 2015. \u00a0Happy New Year!!!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><b>Magoo<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s Wednesday, December 31st&#8230;and here&#8217;s The Gouge! First up on the last edition of 2014, courtesy of Mauldin Economics and G. Trevor, Lord High King of All Vietors, Tony Sagami offers the facts behind the fiscal fiction: Q3 GDP Jumps 5%; Ha! The Crap Behind the Numbers &nbsp; &#8220;I was raised on a farm and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1988,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1988"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28822"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28823,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28822\/revisions\/28823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}