{"id":28960,"date":"2015-01-11T20:48:27","date_gmt":"2015-01-12T01:48:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=28960"},"modified":"2015-01-11T20:48:35","modified_gmt":"2015-01-12T01:48:35","slug":"the-daily-gouge-archive-friday-january-9th-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=28960","title":{"rendered":"The Daily Gouge Archive, Friday, January 9th, 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>It&#8217;s Friday, January 9th, 2015&#8230;but before we begin, an incredibly powerful, must-see video forwarded by one of our favorite 2nd Amendment stalwarts, Bill Meisen, detailing the education and conversion of a man who&#8217;s finally seen the light:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yfi3Ndh3n-g\" width=\"420\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><b>If only two <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>other<\/em><\/span> &#8220;Reverends&#8221; we know&#8230;and a number of <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>other<\/em><\/span> race-baiters we can think of&#8230;<\/b><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Obama-holder-de-blasio-sharpton-jackson-a.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28919\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Obama-holder-de-blasio-sharpton-jackson-a.png\" alt=\"Obama holder de blasio sharpton jackson a\" width=\"400\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Obama-holder-de-blasio-sharpton-jackson-a.png 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Obama-holder-de-blasio-sharpton-jackson-a-300x270.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>&#8230;were as interested in the truth, let alone honesty.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><strong>Now, here&#8217;s The Gouge!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>First up, the <em>WSJ<\/em>&#8216;s\u00a0Dan Henninger\u00a0details the way in which, thanks to the moral and spiritual blindness championed by present-day Progressives&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"wsj-article-headline\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a title=\"Terror Comes and Goes, Again\" href=\"http:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/dan-henninger-terror-comes-and-goes-again-1420675137\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #008000; text-decoration: underline;\">Terror Comes and Goes, Again<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<h3 class=\"sub-head\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" title=\"Terror Comes and Goes, Again\" href=\"http:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/dan-henninger-terror-comes-and-goes-again-1420675137\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">It is hard not to be cynical about what will come after the Charlie Hebdo massacre<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2012-09-29.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28908\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2012-09-29.jpg\" alt=\"2012-09-29\" width=\"400\" height=\"247\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2012-09-29.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2012-09-29-300x185.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;&#8230;<span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>As a kind of footnote to the Charlie Hebdo massacre Wednesday, an al Qaeda suicide-bomber at about the same hour in Sana, Yemen, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>blew up 37 people<\/em><\/span>. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">It will pass virtually without notice.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>After each major terrorist act that catches the world\u2019s attention<\/strong><\/span>\u2014the four-day attack in 2008 in Mumbai by the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba; the 2013 assault on a Nairobi shopping center by al-Shabaab; the eruption of the Islamic State beheaders in Iraq this year\u2014<span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong><em>one <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">thinks<\/span><\/em> that this will be the event that causes the West\u2019s political leadership to get serious about the global threat of Islamic fundamentalism, whose primary political instrument is homicide.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">But it\u2019s hard to focus. Terrorist bombs set off in crowded places obliterate not only what were once people but obliterate awareness of what has occurred. One way or another, it\u2019s mostly blood-soaked debris.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The Peshawar massacre in December was different and more difficult to let drop from memory. One can imagine seven adult men walking from one classroom to another, methodically executing boys and girls in white shirts and blouses at their desks.\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #008000;\">Rather than the act of a random insane person, Peshawar, <em>in the minds of the Taliban, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">was a rational, well-planned military atrocity<\/span><\/em>.<\/span> <em>A <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">success<\/span><\/em>. <span style=\"color: #008000;\">Just like every other terrorist act dating back to 9\/11 and before.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Past some point, it is feckless to call these events \u201cincidents.\u201d <span style=\"color: #008000;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>They are acts in a war<\/em><\/span>.<\/span> <em>The people <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">committing<\/span> them think so and they <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">say<\/span> so<\/em>. <span style=\"color: #008000;\"><em>Why don\u2019t <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">we<\/span><\/em>?<\/span><\/strong><\/span>&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Why don&#8217;t we?&#8221; \u00a0Well, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>one<\/em><\/span> reason&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28918\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/RAMclr-010915-silencer-IBD-COLOR-FINAL.gif\" alt=\"RAMclr-010915-silencer-IBD-COLOR-FINAL\" width=\"450\" height=\"327\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8230;and <em>one<\/em> <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>particular<\/em><\/span> political persuasion&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/As65VN_PUn0\" width=\"420\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8230;immediately come to mind!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>In a related item, writing at\u00a0<em>Commentary Magazine<\/em>, Jonathan Tobin states what&#8217;s obvious to anyone with half a clue:<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"post-title\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commentarymagazine.com\/2015\/01\/08\/fears-of-a-backlash-doesnt-make-islam-the-victim-of-charlie-hedbo-backlash-attack-france-terrorism\/\" rel=\"bookmark\" class=\"broken_link\">Fear of a Backlash Doesn\u2019t Make Islam the Victim of Charlie Hebdo Attack<\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/muslim-beheading-backlash.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28917\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/muslim-beheading-backlash.jpg\" alt=\"muslim-beheading-backlash\" width=\"400\" height=\"212\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/muslim-beheading-backlash.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/muslim-beheading-backlash-300x159.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;The blood of the victims of the\u00a0<em>Charlie Hebdo<\/em> terror attack in Paris yesterday hadn\u2019t yet been washed away from the floor of the newsroom before a persistent meme started working its way into the coverage of this atrocity. <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Even as people around the world reacted with shock and horror to the murder of 10 journalists and two police officers by Islamist terrorists, some in the media began speaking of a possible backlash against Muslims as the most important consequence of the crime.\u00a0<span style=\"color: #008000;\">While such fears are not entirely unreasonable, it is important to understand that much of the discussion about a backlash has less to do with the actual plight of Muslims in the West as it does with an effort to reshape the narrative of this event to one in which political Islam is taken off the hook for what it has wrought.<\/span> As much as we ought to condemn any actions that seek to target innocent Muslims, the impulse to treat Islamist beliefs as the victim rather than part of the problem is a terrible mistake.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Talk about a backlash should have a ring of inauthenticity to Americans. <span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>Many here rightly understand that the notion of a post-9\/11 backlash <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">is largely a myth<\/span> that has been <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">promoted by those who wish to change the subject from that\u00a0of the very real threat from Islamism to a non-existent threat to U.S. Muslims from their fellow citizens<\/span><\/em>.<\/strong><\/span> <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>There is no statistical proof of a surge in attacks on Muslims after 9\/11<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span> If anything, both the country\u2019s political leadership and those who guide popular culture have gone overboard in their attempts to disassociate Islam from those who kill in its name&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Or for that matter, any <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>other<\/em><\/span> kind of proof&#8230;not to mention even the slightest scintilla of a hint. \u00a0But when has The Left let <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>facts<\/em><\/span> get in the way of what their <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>feelings<\/em><\/span> tell them to be true?!?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Since we&#8217;re on the subject of Liberal hypocrisy and double-dealing, as Guy Benson notes at <em>Townhall.com<\/em>&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a title=\"AP on Mohammad Cartoons: We Won't Use 'Deliberately Provocative' Images\" href=\"http:\/\/townhall.com\/tipsheet\/guybenson\/2015\/01\/07\/associated-press-we-wont-show-deliberately-provocative-images-n1939875\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #800080; text-decoration: underline;\">AP on Mohammad Cartoons: We Won&#8217;t Use &#8216;Deliberately Provocative&#8217; Images<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/B6xADW3CQAAzVyr.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28920\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/B6xADW3CQAAzVyr.png\" alt=\"B6xADW3CQAAzVyr\" width=\"575\" height=\"88\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/B6xADW3CQAAzVyr.png 575w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/B6xADW3CQAAzVyr-300x46.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Sure&#8230;unless the image in question is of the Christian Messiah&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/B6xZpglCEAER0vi.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28921\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/B6xZpglCEAER0vi.png\" alt=\"B6xZpglCEAER0vi\" width=\"525\" height=\"386\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/B6xZpglCEAER0vi.png 525w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/B6xZpglCEAER0vi-300x221.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8230;and the <em>AP<\/em> can realize a <em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">profit<\/span><\/em> from <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>promoting<\/em><\/span> it&#8230;and not get <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>shot<\/em><\/span> in the process!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Which brings us, appropriately enough, to today&#8217;s edition of the &#8220;Sh*t You Just Can&#8217;t Make Up&#8221; segment, in which\u00a0<em>The Washington Times<\/em> tells us&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"page-headline\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #008000; text-decoration: underline;\">Mexican president <span style=\"color: #ff0000; text-decoration: underline;\">offers Obama help<\/span> with amnesty documents<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/CartoonRamirezAmnestyInLights.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28881\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/CartoonRamirezAmnestyInLights.png\" alt=\"CartoonRamirezAmnestyInLights\" width=\"400\" height=\"247\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/CartoonRamirezAmnestyInLights.png 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/CartoonRamirezAmnestyInLights-300x185.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;Mexico\u2019s president told President Obama Tuesday that his government will supply the <span id=\"itxthook0p\" class=\"itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap\"><span id=\"itxthook0w\" class=\"itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap itxtnewhookspan\">documents<\/span><\/span>\u00a0necessary for millions of illegal Mexican immigrants to prove they\u2019ve been living in the U.S. prior to 2010, a move that will help them qualify for Mr. Obama\u2019s recently announced deportation amnesty.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>In an Oval Office meeting, <em>President Enrique Pena Nieto praised Mr. Obama\u2019s executive <span id=\"itxthook1p\" class=\"itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap\"><span id=\"itxthook1w\" class=\"itxtrst itxtrstspan itxtnowrap itxtnewhookspan\">action<\/span><\/span>\u00a0on amnesty as<\/em> \u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>very intelligent<\/em><\/span> and audacious,\u201d<\/strong><\/span> <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>and said his government will do everything in its power to ensure that Mexicans who want to stay in the U.S. can do so<\/strong><\/span>&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gee&#8230;what nominal leader of a kleptocratic oligarchy like Mexico <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>wouldn&#8217;t<\/em><\/span> want to help a neighbor willing to take tens of millions of uneducated, unemployable, potentially-revolutionary peons off his hands?!? \u00a0Well, at least <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Tom Coburn<\/em><\/span> agrees with Pena&#8217;s opinion of our President&#8217;s prodigious perspicacity!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Moving on, the\u00a0<em>WSJ<\/em>&#8216;s\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Holman Jenkins reports on&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"wsj-article-headline\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a title=\"Google and the Self-Driving Delusion\" href=\"http:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/holman-jenkins-google-and-the-self-driving-delusion-1420589644\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff; text-decoration: underline;\">G<\/span><span style=\"color: #ff0000; text-decoration: underline;\">o<\/span><span style=\"color: #ff9900; text-decoration: underline;\">o<\/span><span style=\"color: #3366ff; text-decoration: underline;\">g<\/span><span style=\"color: #008000; text-decoration: underline;\">l<\/span><span style=\"color: #ff0000; text-decoration: underline;\">e<\/span> <span style=\"color: #800080; text-decoration: underline;\">and the Self-Driving Delusion<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<h3 class=\"sub-head\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a title=\"Google and the Self-Driving Delusion\" href=\"http:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/holman-jenkins-google-and-the-self-driving-delusion-1420589644\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ff;\">Who wants to be on the road with the guy whose car is screaming at him to wake up and take control?<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/DistractedDriver.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28886\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/DistractedDriver.jpg\" alt=\"DistractedDriver\" width=\"350\" height=\"233\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/DistractedDriver.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/DistractedDriver-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;&#8230;The system being demonstrated on the road to Vegas, Audi says, is simply a natural extension of existing safety technology designed to relieve drivers of tedious or burdensome tasks. <span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>Its journalist test drivers, who underwent special certification, were supposed to be able to hand control over to a computer when creeping along in stop-and-go traffic or when droning down the superslab. <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">To maintain a fixed freeway speed, the computer was even supposed to be able to cope with slow traffic by changing lanes and passing without assistance from the driver.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">But <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>here\u2019s<\/em><\/span> a question: <em>Why would a driver activate such a system <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">except to turn his attention elsewhere<\/span><\/em>?<\/span> <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Yet Audi\u2019s piloted-driving system expects the driver to remain alert enough to respond within a few seconds if the computer decides to hand back control to him<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span> If the driver isn\u2019t ready, reportedly the car will turn on its flashers and find a way quickly to bring itself to a stop.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Is this not crazy, the equivalent of an airplane computer dumping the job of flying back in the pilot\u2019s lap just at the moment when 10 things are going wrong at once?<\/strong><\/span> When I was growing up, a friend\u2019s mother was known for driving around town with a book propped open on her steering wheel. Nobody should be psyched by the prospect of roads filling up with drivers like my friend\u2019s mom&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Yeah; can you say&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lWkFYT8EGUs\" width=\"420\" height=\"235\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8230;Asiana Flight 214? \u00a0We <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>KNEW<\/em><\/span> you could!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Speaking of delusions, courtesy of The Boss and <em>The Fresno Bee<\/em>&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a title=\"Gov. Brown, officials gather in Fresno to launch high-speed rail construction  Read more here: http:\/\/www.fresnobee.com\/2015\/01\/06\/4316901_ground-officially-broken-in-fresno.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy\" href=\"http:\/\/www.fresnobee.com\/2015\/01\/06\/4316901_ground-officially-broken-in-fresno.html?rh=1\" class=\"broken_link\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600; text-decoration: underline;\">Gov. Brown, officials gather in Fresno to launch high-speed rail construction<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/taoUi.AuSt_.8.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28889\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/taoUi.AuSt_.8.jpeg\" alt=\"taoUi.AuSt.8\" width=\"400\" height=\"252\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/taoUi.AuSt_.8.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/taoUi.AuSt_.8-300x189.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Anyone else wondering who footed the bill for the EPA Administrator to attend this sorry soiree?!?<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;&#8230;In a shrewd bit of staging, the podium was arranged so that television cameras (and there were plenty from across the state) pointed away from the streets and the dozen or so protesters who lined the fence. Those with strong lungs focused on two key themes: <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>First, that high-speed rail makes no economic sense, that the price tag for something this complicated is beyond anyone\u2019s ability to accurately predict, and the burden of debt would crush future generations; <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">and second, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>if the government is going to print money like there\u2019s no tomorrow, why not spend the dough on something vital like water security<\/em><\/span>?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8230;<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Critics can\u2019t understand how their fellow Californians got everyone into what they see as a stunning mess.<\/span>\u00a0\u201cThis plan is not what we voted for,\u201d said Carole Jacoby of Fresno.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">In a news conference before the ceremony, Assembly Member Jim Patterson, a Republican and former Fresno mayor and high-speed rail opponent, said that while he supports progress, <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>\u201cwhat we cannot support is financial foolishness and government deceit, and that is what this high-speed rail project is all about. <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Nothing the government has promised the people, either at the ballot box or afterward, is coming true.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Patterson said he spoke on behalf of Republicans in the state Assembly and Senate in asserting that <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>the trains will not go as fast and will cost more than promised<\/em><\/span>, that prime agriculture land is being torn out, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>and no money has been identified to finish the project<\/em><\/span>. <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">\u201cWhat we are seeing here is basically a phony groundbreaking,\u201d he said.<\/span> \u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>This is a stunt, and it covers over the hard facts that this is a financially irresponsible plan<\/em><\/span>.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">As Mr. Meisen noted&#8230;<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em><strong><span class=\"s1\">The Big Dig in Boston was estimated to cost <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">$4 billion<\/span> at it&#8217;s inception. The actual cost\u00a0came in at <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">$14.6 billion<\/span>. It cost <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">3.65 times<\/span> the original budget. That&#8217;s not uncommon on government projects.<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><strong><span style=\"color: #008000;\">(Not uncommon? \u00a0It&#8217;s SOP!!!)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em><strong><span class=\"s1\">Therefore, you can expect the actual costs based on a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">$68 billion<\/span> budget to come in at about <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">$248 billion<\/span> or about <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">a quarter of a trillion dollars<\/span>. If you assume that a ticket to ride on this rail is <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">$50<\/span> bucks, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">a conservative estimate<\/span>, California would need to have <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">5 billion people<\/span> ride this train in order <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">to break even<\/span>. That would mean that <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">every man, woman and child in America would have to pay to ride on this train 17 times<\/span>. Does <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">anyone<\/span> in their <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">right mind<\/span> think that this is realistic. It will <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">never<\/span> pencil out. Also keep in mind<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"> the state will likely be paying interest on that $248 billion, so that cost will go much higher<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em><strong><span class=\"s1\">This is a project based on liberal, feel good emotion with nothing at all to do with financial acumen.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Welcome to the reality of modern Liberalism!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>But since reality works both ways, Kim Strassel offers a dose to those who think GOP control of the Senate equates to unfettered Republican control over Congress:<\/strong><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"wsj-article-headline\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a title=\"Closing Down the Harry Reid Circus\" href=\"http:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/kim-strassel-closing-down-the-harry-reid-circus-1420761850\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff; text-decoration: underline;\">Closing Down the Harry Reid Circus<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/h1>\n<h3 class=\"sub-head\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a title=\"Closing Down the Harry Reid Circus\" href=\"http:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/kim-strassel-closing-down-the-harry-reid-circus-1420761850\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Show that a GOP-controlled Senate can get things done, despite Democratic stonewalling<\/span><\/a><span style=\"color: #800080;\">.<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Harry-the-clown.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-28922\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Harry-the-clown-260x300.jpg\" alt=\"Harry-the-clown\" width=\"260\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Harry-the-clown-260x300.jpg 260w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Harry-the-clown.jpg 289w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 260px) 100vw, 260px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;Were anyone wondering how Sen. Harry Reid intended to manage life in the minority, it took one day of the 114th Congress to get the answer: Exactly as he did in the majority. <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Republicans would be wise to understand what he\u2019s up to.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The Senate these past four years has been a supermassive black hole\u2014a place where everything good went to die. The chamber was designed as a forum for debate, amendments, deliberation and coalition-building. Mr. Reid instead wielded it as a means of party protection\u2014using its many procedural tools to block every bill, and to shield his members and the Obama White House from tough issues.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>And while he isn\u2019t officially running the Senate anymore, he\u2019s still running on a Senate dysfunction agenda.<\/strong> <\/span><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>New Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed to restore the place to \u201cregular order,\u201d though he recently got a taste of how hard that might prove.<\/strong><\/span> Mr. Reid this week again accused the former Republican minority of \u201cgratuitous obstruction and wanton filibustering,\u201d and vowed such tactics would not \u201cbe a hallmark of a Democratic minority.\u201d <span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong>He then proceeded to unleash all the obstruction and filibustering in Christendom to slow Mr. McConnell \u2019s first priority: authorization of the Keystone XL pipeline<\/strong><\/span>&#8230;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Meanwhile, Mitch, like his House soulmate John Boner&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/010715.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28883\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/010715.jpg\" alt=\"lo\" width=\"500\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/010715.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/010715-300x119.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8230;continues to display all the realpolitik of a beached beluga whale.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>On the Lighter Side&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/bg010815dAPC20150108034516.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28899\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/bg010815dAPC20150108034516.jpg\" alt=\"bg010815dAPC20150108034516\" width=\"462\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/bg010815dAPC20150108034516.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/bg010815dAPC20150108034516-300x227.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/gmc12661920150108082900.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28900\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/gmc12661920150108082900.jpg\" alt=\"gmc12661920150108082900\" width=\"462\" height=\"379\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/gmc12661920150108082900.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/gmc12661920150108082900-300x246.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/mrz010815dAPC20150108124525.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28901\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/mrz010815dAPC20150108124525.jpg\" alt=\"mrz010815dAPC20150108124525\" width=\"462\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/mrz010815dAPC20150108124525.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/mrz010815dAPC20150108124525-300x227.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/mrz010715dAPC20150107124525.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28902\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/mrz010715dAPC20150107124525.jpg\" alt=\"mrz010715dAPC20150107124525\" width=\"462\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/mrz010715dAPC20150107124525.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/mrz010715dAPC20150107124525-300x227.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Finally, we wrap up the week with three keepers from Fielding Cocke:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/image.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28895\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/image.jpg\" alt=\"image\" width=\"462\" height=\"462\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/image.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/image-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/image-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/image1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28896\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/image1.jpg\" alt=\"image1\" width=\"462\" height=\"520\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/image1.jpg 462w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/image1-267x300.jpg 267w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/image2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-28897\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/image2.jpg\" alt=\"image2\" width=\"350\" height=\"673\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/image2.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/image2-156x300.jpg 156w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Magoo<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s Friday, January 9th, 2015&#8230;but before we begin, an incredibly powerful, must-see video forwarded by one of our favorite 2nd Amendment stalwarts, Bill Meisen, detailing the education and conversion of a man who&#8217;s finally seen the light: If only two other &#8220;Reverends&#8221; we know&#8230;and a number of other race-baiters we can think of&#8230; &#8230;were as [&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-28960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28960","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=28960"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28961,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28960\/revisions\/28961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}