Term limits, flat taxes, strong national and border defense, strong Second Amendment, and the vote only to people who pay taxes (though, contra Neal Boortz’s position quoted at that link, it should still be one person, one vote). And then if you want to let the government buy your vote (literally: pay you taxpayers’ money so that you then lose your vote), that’s your own funeral.

I used to be against that last, but if we’re really headed into a situation where ever-larger numbers of people will be on the government dole, let them choose between the taxpayers’ money and their ability to vote more of it to themselves. That’s fine.

And as for the name, it’s not much sillier than “whig.”

On second thought, if we allowed only taxpayers to vote, would we need term limits quite so much? If legislators had to run for re-election but didn’t have to bother promising taxpayer handouts to people who couldn’t vote, would we need to limit terms? Feel free to discuss, if anybody’s still reading here.

Pretty straightforward (both the show, and this review): He’s good, although so far the writers aren’t allowing him to show much real feeling, and she’s pretty bad. They’re both playing a bit over the top, but with him it seems like that’s the only way he thinks the character would go over, while with her it feels like it’s just the only way she knows how to play it. What her character needs: More Dani Reese. Stat. Play it down and actually have a hard shell, not just pretend to.

And while this article (via Whedonesque) goes on at length about their chemistry, so far I see no evidence of it. She’s about as attractive as a cast-iron icicle. He’s doing a little better, more like James Woods as Shark, but you can’t make a fire without friction.

Verdict: Will last longer than Drive, but that’s a pretty low bar. Put up something real pretty soon, guys.

Liberals who advocated unrestricted abortion in the name of government butting out of “reproductive freedom” and universal health care start demanding that the government dictate who may have babies and how many since, after all, with universal health care, we’re all paying for it.

That would be why the smarter among us keep howling NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO to universal health care. Duh.

Via Ace.

One hundred billion out of an eight- or nine-hundred-billion bill is not “moderate.” It is “turncoat.” If this passes and prolongs seven-percent unemployment, which it will, on your heads be it, Snowe, Collins, and Specter.

Instead of “I acted like a punk,” I think you were thinking of a different word that also begins with P.

(Picture swiped from Sippican. He won’t mind. The table in the picture is now in my bedroom. Writing style also more or less swiped from, or at least inspired by, Sippican. He’s good. Also more succinct than I.)

I write on the kitchen table. It’s the only place there’s enough room, but there’s really not enough room. Dad frowns and tells me to get that pile of scraps off the table before he plunks down his bowl of beans. Bean soup is the only thing he can make really well. And even if it’s not made really well, it’s really hot. We eat a lot of it.

Mama died a couple years ago, when I was ten. Dad still gets in the hay every year. That stuff makes him sneeze, but there’s a market for it. The Mennonite people around here still drive horses. I write about them sometimes. I wear their dresses most times. They have a lot of girls older than me, and the dresses are comfortable. Dad says they’re the right price.

Mostly I write about Mama. Mama died, but if I write about it enough, it will feel like it didn’t necessarily happen to me. (more…)

Little bitty **SPOILER** for last night’s episode of Chuck below. (more…)

Rules for Methodist hymnody.

IV. Sing lustily and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan.

Ever wondered about the difference between Methodists and Wesleyans, given that both follow the teachings of John “Songs of Satan” Wesley? So have I. Apparently the Wesleyans broke from the Methodists over slavery.

…Barack and Michelle are “the black Rob and Laura.”

Groan.

They all vote no on the $800-some-billion leftist slush fund.

Let’s see a repeat performance, Senators.

“…this is what you get, when you meeessss with uuuuuuusss…”

–Illegal Blowfish Testicles. Can I get a Barry ruling on that?

Via Dude.

Killing our own babies isn’t enough. We have to make sure that everybody else in the world has access to dead babies as well. Because that’s what it’s about: global fairness and domestic unity. I certainly feel less divided now, don’t you?

I guess now that he’s got the president’s salary and perks, this issue isn’t above his pay grade any more. Whew. Somebody tell Scarecrow the real way to get a brain.

Hey, how about less net spending, Mr. President? Maybe we could stop funding domestic abortions at a slightly higher than 1:1 ratio.

According to Patrick Goldstein at the L.A. Times, the reason Disney pulled out of the making of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was bad blood between them and Phil Anschutz of Walden Media:

According to multiple sources, the once-close relationship between Disney and Walden began to unravel when, after the first “Narnia” film cleaned up at the box office, Anschutz essentially put a gun to Disney’s head and demanded that the studio renegotiate its deal with Walden. Anschutz insisted that Disney either gave back a sizable chunk of the studio’s lucrative distribution fee or Anschutz would distribute the “Narnia” series on his own.

This is the part where I get Blogger’s Swelled Head and assume I could do a better job than this if I could get a call through to any of these people. Did Disney and Walden have a contract? If so, how could Anschutz unilaterally decide to “distribute [Narnia] on his own” without getting sued? And if not, how could it have taken “a gun to Disney’s head” to get them to negotiate non-contracted terms for the next film? “Oh, the film did well–what do you mean you want more favorable terms next time?” Does it sound like somebody at Disney needs to grow up?

Regardless, I hope if Walden’s at fault they’ve learned their lesson for making nice with the next prospective buyers. Because Voyage of the Dawn Treader will, as the Times’s Mary McNamara points out, make a good movie right out of the box, although Goldstein’s numbers worry me a bit–if Caspian cost $225M and Dawn Treader is just as rife with special-effects moments (Eustace and the dragon, the Monopods, the three sleepers, the sea serpent, Aslan’s Country), it’s difficult for this filmmaking ignoramus to see how feasible it is to bring the new one in at $140M. There will also be a new director (Michael Apted), and no screenwriters are attached per IMDb. I hope they keep the overall look, but the script would benefit from some punch. Edmund, in particular, could do with some lines after his morose turn in Caspian.