Sometimes I wonder if people are just walking around in a soma-induced haze.  Walking comas, more like.  Obama's administration is mired in three - THREE - scandals right now.  We're talking Nixonian criminality, but you'd never know it.

Consider, if you will: 

1.  Benghazi.  Most people don't even know where Benghazi is, let alone that anything happened here.  In a nutshell, it is a city in Libya where the US State Department had an diplomatic mission, manned by Ambassador Chris Stevens.  On September 11 (spark any memories?), 2012, the mission was attacked.  This lightly guarded outpost was attacked for hours - HOURS - and four Americans, including the Ambassador, died.  Our esteemed leader sent out his talking heads to insist that this was a spontaneous occurrence related to some trailer to some movie that had sparked some pockets of outrage in the Muslim world.  But...and it is a big BUT, in actuality, the White House, CIA and State Department knew that the attack had nothing to do with some silly movie, that it was a premeditated attack by Al Qaeda-linked militants.  Move along here, nothing to see.  But the criminality comes in the absolute fraud.  You see, there was an election on, and it would have been politically perilous for Obama to admit a new attack by Al Qaeda, considering he'd been doing the victory lap on bin Laden's death since May 2011.  He can't campaign as the ender of wars, the one who brought bin Laden to justice and win the election if there is inconvenient facts like a terrorist attack on US soil in the news.  So...spin, spin, spin.  The truth of what was known about the attack was redacted and edited out of the talking points.  The attack continued to be blamed on that stupid movie.  Here's what we know now:  a) it was a planned terrorist attack, b) the CIA had warned that the area was becoming unstable with AQ-linked baddies in the vicinity, c) the anniversary of 9/11 was coming up, d) Stevens had made multiple requests for increased security in Benghazi that were denied by the administration, e) even after the attack had begun, no relief or aid was sent to the mission from nearby resources - in fact, personnel were geared-up and ready to go and then told to stand down.  In the aftermath, Hillary Clinton asked what the big deal was.  What's the big f-ing deal?  FOUR AMERICANS ARE DEAD.  President Obama's idiot mouthpiece, Jay Carney, says the scandal is ginned-up, a product of GOP desires to smear the administration.  Only in Washington, DC will politicians and wonks say "so what?" to the death of Americans by terrorists.  People should be outraged that our government knew or suspected, and did nothing.  People should be outraged that the administration then tried to lie about it long enough to get past election day.  PEOPLE SHOULD BE DEMANDING THAT HEADS ROLL OVER THE DEATHS OF FOUR AMERICAN PATRIOTS.

Take another dose of soma, then read on.

2. DOJ Goes Investigating Associated Press Reporters - The Department of Justice, headed by Eric Holder (the guy who wouldn't prosecute the New Black Panthers for intimidating voters and who stands at the center of the Fast and Furious debacle), decided to investigate a leak.  Obama's administration leaks like a collander, donchaknow.  Anyway, a terrorist plot was foiled and the AP got the news before the Obama Administration was ready to do the victory lap.  So, the DOJ started investigating the leak.  In so doing, they got the phone records of at least 20 AP staffers - without a subpoena or search warrant.  And, those staffers were given no notice.  So, essentially, the Obama Administration is investigating our free press in violation of the First Amendment and infringing the privacy of said reporters in violation of the Fourth Amendment.  Talk about having a chilling effect on Democracy!  But, here's the thing, the press is just taking it in stride.  They don't care, whatever they need to do to carry water for Obama, consider it done.  They are a bunch of weak-kneed cheerleaders, willing to bend over anytime the quarterback needs cheering up.  Consider the difference between this and Valerie Plame - the press went bonkers and Judith Miller went to jail to protect her source (Scooter Libby was the leak), but these AP Reporters seem to say, "nothing to see here, move along."  Had a Republican administration pulled this, there would be no other news.  California could fall into the ocean and nobody would know for the cries of the press about the Republican villainy.  But this is Obama, so they ignore the inconvenient truth.  Divert, Distort, Deny.  This is the change half of the electorate voted for.  So, if you are checking your scorecards, the Obama Administration has attacked at least the First, Second and Fourth Amendments in this year alone.

3. IRS Targeting Obama Enemies List - Put this one in the list of news held until after the election...A culture of corruption reminiscent of Soviet Russia has taken hold at Obama's IRS.  The IRS now admits that conservative groups were unfairly targeted in seeking tax-exempt status.  Tea Party groups who believe in small government, groups wanting to hold government accountable, Pro-Life groups were singled out for investigation, buried in paperwork, queried on the intimate details of their members lives in an egregious and offensive manner that sought to stifle these groups.  And you know what, it worked.  Of course, the Administration would have you believe that this was the work of two rogue IRS workers.  But, I've seen government workers, and if two people managed to hold up at least 500 different applications - well, let's just say that is a level of government employee productivity that I would categorize as SciFi/Fantasy.  Ain't no way, folks.  And, there is also no way that the higher ups didn't know exactly what was going on.  Bureaucracy is bureacracy, folks.  It isn't known for productivity or encouraging freedom of thought or action.  These actions were directed, intended to menace.  How high up does it go?  Time will tell, but lest you think this is a new thing, or a one-off, let me remind you that the same treatment has been given to outspoken Obama Administration detractors and - to go back to the election - to a simple man with a simple question, Joe the Plumber.  Outraged yet?  By rights, you ought to be!  Consider next that the same IRS that has been targeting political undesirables will soon also have access to your health records and even more information about your personal life.

Change We Can Believe In?  Sure, if your idea of losing freedom and living in a country where it is dangerous to speak your mind, with government workers free to menace private citizens, where you have no right to protect your own life (if they get their way), where there is no more due process...go back to sleep, take some more soma.  You know, add in a wood chipper and some secret prisons and you've got Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

I'm incensed, both at the Administration and Congress and at the rest of the public which seems to be happy to ignore what's going on.

Since becoming a mother and since my career kicked into hyper-speed I've not had much time to blog. That doesn't mean I haven't needed to vent my spleen - it isn't like I had a personality transplant - just that I've been using other outlets than the ol' Villains Vanquished soapbox.

I encountered a prime example of the sort of dragon I used to slay regularly in this space over the weekend, however. And, sword arm needing a workout, I feel the need to vent.

Now, I am generally polite to a fault. I'm the sort that still holds doors open for people - anybody really - say please and thank you, and generally grease the civic wheels with kindness. Yeah, so 1950's of me, but that's how I was raised. I preface with this introduction so you will appreciate the extremity of my dissatisfaction and the great control I exercised in suppressing my desire to put the Entitled Woman at the Circus out of her misery - with both barrels.

Here's the story:

My little family and I were headed to the Zor Circus in Madison on Saturday. We arrived early and easily found our premium "Reserve" seats which were five rows from the floor - three situated at the end of the row. We had time to kill, so we looked around and visited the concessions, you know the drill.

After a while, the show finally started, much to the delight of all. The first two acts come on and off, then finally the much-awaited Tigers rolled out onto the floor. This was the expected highlight of the show for my daughter who LOVES cats and routinely begs for one of her very own (the domesticated version, not the Seigfried and Roy kind). However, not 30 seconds into the tiger show, a line of people arrives and intends to come into the row we are sitting in and fill the seven vacant seats in the middle of the row. It is dark, so we can't see how many people are coming.... Each one files into the row, obstructing our view of the Big Cats, and before long it is clear that they've attempted to put 50 pounds of crap in a 20 lb sack - no way are 11 people going to fit in 7 seats. So, they start filing out of the row, again obstructing our view.

Once they start amassing at the end of our row again, a loud discussion ensues over who is going to sit where and with what child...finally culminating in their reentry to the row again, again obstructing our view. Those that had entered finally are seated and we get to finally sit and watch the show...until two minutes later when the lady-in-charge of these shenanigans decides to get out of her seat again and make her way back out of the row.

I admit it: I gave her the look. You know the one - the one reserved for misbehaving children, drunken husbands and mouthy teenagers. "You've got to be kidding," I said. "I'll be back" she sing-songed back at me.

So, she leaves the row again to discuss god-knows-what with the people that didn't fit in the row, then two minutes later interrupts us again so that she can go back to her seat - which is now filled by one of those kids that was on a lap. She arrives mid-row to find "her" seat occupied and turns to me to ask if I'll give up the seat where our coats and my purse are piled (since my daughter was on my lap so she could see over the tall adult in front of us).

I gave her the look again. I couldn't help it. Who did this woman think she was? Empress of the Circus? All I can say is, she gave off the impression that she was entitled to the seat that I had paid for and her fanny was so much more important than our coats and my purse. My temperment at that moment..., well let's just say we disagreed. I gave her the look again and said, "Yeah, NO." In that firm unyielding tone reserved for children threatening to finger paint the walls.

Unequivocal. No room for argument. Just Hell to the NO.

Unsurprisingly, this failed to satisfy the Queen of Sheba. So, she rallies her group and they interrupt us again by exiting the row yet again. This time, all of them left. Good Riddance!

Not only were they incredibly rude to us, but to all of the people sitting in the dozen rows behind us.

And, lest I be painted an uncooperative harridan, let me assure you we were in our assigned seats. And, she never contested that our seats were ours. I believe that they had seats elsewhere and waited for the show to start so that they could move down lower to the show. I guess they were special and somehow I failed to get the memo. No ushers were brought in to sort out the seating matter, leading me to believe Cleopatra knew she was playing a weak hand.

What is wrong with people these days? Assholes rallying in Madison because they don't want anyone to water down the sweet deal they've been getting where the rest of us pay for their seats in addition to our own and assholes at the circus expecting me to give up a seat I paid for so she could claim seats that weren't hers. Entitlement.

This is what is wrong with this country. Not enough people saying Hell to the No to the assholes.

Not me. Not anymore.


HELL TO THE NO!!!!!

/Rant

Yeah, I'm channeling Alanis.

This ditty goes out to Obama and all of his fainting O-bots (and those who lack the intelligence to think for themselves) note the emphasis on key passages which are mine:

"Ironic"

...

It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures

Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything's okay and everything's going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out when
You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up
In your face

...

I find it poignantly ironic that when Obama went into office he was all arm-twisting backroom deals and "I won", leaving alternate viewpoints out in the cold. And, not just in the cold, but in the cold and objects of his own derision.

Even confronted with poll after poll pointing to the unpopularity of Obamacare, he pressed forward anyway. They didn't care what the vast majority of Americans wanted. They knew better. Obama knew better. And, then, even when pre-election polls and the surging Tea Party movement indicated that they had gone far far far too far, they double-down. He calls his political opponents "enemies." Says we'll be "seated in the back of the bus" (pointing out that this jackass is far more racist than anybody I know).

Well, now that the writing is on the electoral map, he still insists that this wasn't about him. No?

Wanna bet???

Now he calls for common ground??? Where was the common ground on Obamacare? Where was the common ground on the Stimulus from Hell?

Dear Mr. President, you deserve to get back some of what you've been dishing out so freely.

That would be delicious. Do you know what would be the topping on that sundae? The repeal of the monstrosity and generational theft known a Obamacare and somebody else in residence at 1400 Pennsylvania Ave. come January 2013.

BTW, Obama - you can SUCK IT!!!!

Barack H. Obama, that's who.

And the people of California.

And the nutty Obamabots who shout at people in the streets and get up in people's faces.

You know who won?

Our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren.

Fuck Obama and the white glowing unicorn he rode in on.

The Fence

Which side of the fence?If you ever wondered which side of the fence you sit on, this is a great test!

If a Republican doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one.
If a Democrat doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.

If a Republican is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat.
If a Democrat is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.

If a Republican is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.
If a Democrat is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.

If a Republican is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.
A Democrat wonders who is going to take care of him.

If a Republican doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.
Democrats demand that those they don't like be shut down.

If a Republican is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.
A Democrat non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced.

If a Republican decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it.
A Democrat demands that the rest of us pay for his.

If a Republican reads this, he'll forward it so his friends know how to vote in November!
A Democrat will be "offended".

Oh, how I love you! Now, would you mind terribly coming to Wisconsin and replacing/cleaning the monitor? There is a disgusting bit of fiber one bar mixed with spittle all over it, severely impeding progress. And that's a problem because I only have four screens, I can't be down one!

Still, I needed the laugh.

For the record:

Puppy pelts collected = 0
Wings successfully pulled from small flying insects = 0
Attempted de-wingings = wouldn't you like to know?!?
Gray hairs = oh, half a million at least

Here's the dealio: I'm trying to cut out soda and limit my sugar intake. Sometimes it is all I can do not to fling my body out the second story window and plummet the 12 feet to my... maiming. What can I say? Small town Wisconsin doesn't offer anything in the way of a plummet-to-your-death situation.

Thank you, my Maximum Leader, for brightening my day. I honestly didn't think anybody was still popping in to read this anymore.

Not happy this morning. Not happy at all.

Tired. Achy. Want to cry a little bit.

Mostly want to go back to bed.


Do I look like IT? Do I look like Tech Support? How the atch-eee-double-hockeysticks do I know where or under what name you saved the file???

Well, I haven't posted since January. I would have sworn it has been longer.

ARRRRRGh!

I am generally considered to be a reasonably accomplished woman. I sew, I embroider, I bake, I cook, I work, I write...

And yet, for some reason, fudge eludes me.

I've made fudge before, but I don't like my old recipe. It pale in comparison to the texture achieved by the fudge goddess (that's you, TP) and I aspire to do better.

I started by trying Alton Brown's fudge recipe because where I don't know fudge, I do know toffee and the key to toffee is process, process, process. So, I figured a guy who concentrated on the science and process would be the right place to start. Despite following the instruction very closely, my results were...not great. It resembled fudge in a general sense. The chocolate was in evidence, but the texture was both too grainy and too hard to be what I was aiming for. Oh, and did I mention it tasted burnt? Not good for the fudge lover.

So, I threw out that recipe and regrouped. I tried a two pounds of fudge recipe that featured marshallow cream, 5 cups of sugar, and a five minute boil. How could I go wrong?

The phone rang...and I forgot to let it boil. Natch. But, I figured, what the hell? I moved it back to the pan, warmed it back up, and boiled it until the time had run its course. Then, I poured into 2 prepared pans and let it cool down. When it was cool enough to move to the fridge, I did so.

It appears that last step may have been a HUMONGOUS mistake. Because, when I removed it from the fridge this morning to test my product...I couldn't slice through the stuff without considerable effort. What I have is more like tootsie roll than fudge. The flavor is better, but it clings to the teeth like you wouldn't believe. Basically, it isn't fudge.

I'm going to give it one more try tonight. This time, I'm going with the exact recipe on the back of the jar. And if I still fail?

I shall prostrate myself before the altar of the Fudge Goddess and beg her to take pity on me and give me lessons.

Nutty. Just nutty (though I prefer w/o nuts :) )

Ah, remember the good ol' days?

When our biggest concern was hunting down bin Laden so we could bring him so old fashioned American justice?

When Sandy Berger's stuffing of sensitive documents regarding national security seemed outrageous?

When the USA was about strength and standing up to evil, spreading democracy and being a beacon of liberty?

Ah, yes. Those were the days.

Now we have a President who views his job as one of Chief Apologist, who bows down to the unelected leaders of other countries. We have a President who can't stop campaigning long enough to lead...We have a President who believes his own press and thinks his shit don't stink. We have a President who, in the face of OVERWHELMING public disapproval has decided to push forward with the rape and enslavement of our children and grandchildren vis-a-vis Obamacare. We have a President who is so desperate for supporters at this point, he's using astroturf to make it seem like the hoi polloi still believe in him. We have a President who, when faced with other Democratic leaders who tell him that 2012 is going to be a massacre at the polls like 1994, says "the difference between 1994 and 2012 is that you have ME."

That's some chutzpah, right there.

Let's see what his recent track record is, shall we?

Obama campaigned for Corzine in New Jersey...Corzine Lost.
Obama campaigned for Creigh Deeds in Virginia...Deeds Lost.
Obama campaigned for Coakley in Massachusetts...Coakley Lost.

All of these were states that Obama carried in 2008, most by wide margins.

What do you know? It turns out Obama's shit does stink!

Yeah, I don't think those Blue Dog Dems will be eating it much longer, if at all, if they want to hold onto their posts.

Schadenfreude is soooo delicious in the morning!