MY KERMIT MOMENT

[YouTube direct link]

Pay special attention to Kermit's 15-second look of droopy-jawed dawning realization that his dream has just come true. [starts at 2:01]

About a year ago, a guy who works for the Fred Thompson Radio Show asked Frank J. of IMAO (where I co-blog on occasion) if he'd like to write some stuff for the show. You know, little one-liners that Fred could work in here & there. No money right now, but maybe someday.

Frank emailed me and asked if I wanted to get in on the fun. I said "sure". So I pitched in and we all had a good time.

Meanwhile, I looked at the show's website - especially the blog - and thought, "Wow... that's... not very good". Then I sent a list of suggestions on how they could improve it, and had several conversations with Jeri Thompson on the topic.

At some point, Westwood One (the company that produces the show) decided - in their slow, ponderous, corporate way - "Wow... the show's website... isn't very good. Maybe we should hire someone to make it better."

Fred & Jeri said - "We know just the guy".

Well, I had a couple phone calls with very nice gentlemen whose job titles are specifically designed to strike fear into the hearts of applicants. They briefly glanced at the metric ton of pixels I've generated on the interwebs since June of 2003, and decided that I was just the guy to make the show's site better.

As of March 29th, I am the Digital Content Manager for FredThompsonShow.com

Not bad for a guy, who, back in 2003, was just another frog playing a banjo in a swamp.

COURTESY LINK

John Hawkins of Right Wing News surveyed a bunch of Conservative bloggers (including me), and I gave my opinions on some people.

Mostly unqualified opinions, since I didn't recognize half these names.

And the only 4 options were:

Strongly like
Like
Dislike
Strongly dislike

So, in order to have consistent answers, the question I asked in my head was "How would I like it if this person were President?"

Michele Bachmann - Like - every time I hear her name it's because some liberal is taking a piss on her for something she said at a Tea Party.

Glenn Beck - Like - Bravo because libs hate him, but the times I watched him, I didn't come away feeling particulary entertained or informed.

John Boehner - Dislike - Just another squishy RINO, as far as I know. And I barely know him, so I figure he can't be very hardcore.

David Brooks - Dislike - Don't think I've heard of him, so how good can he be?

Scott Brown - Dislike - Another useless, unprincipled RINO.

Pat Buchanan - Dislike - Too preachy.

George W. Bush - Like - Great Commander in Chief, mediocre domestically.

Dick Cheney - Like - he pisses off liberals and shoots lawyers. I'm a little down on him since he didn't run for President in 2008, though.

Ann Coulter - Like - REALLY pisses off liberals, but she talks too much, and her Adam's apple freaks me out a little.

John Cornyn - Dislike - Don't really know him. How good can he be?

Jim DeMint - Dislike - See above.

Erick Erickson - Dislike - See above above.

Joseph Farah - Dislike - See above above above.

David Frum - Dislike - See... well... you know.

Newt Gingrich - Like - I'm pissed off that he blinked in the showdown over the shutdown in 95, but every time I hear him talk, I want to stand up and cheer. He articulates the principles of Liberty well, even if he doesn't always walk the walk.

Lindsey Graham - Dislike - Grahamnesty. Nuff said.

Sean Hannity - Like - Good, common-sense coservative, but he lacks fire.

Mark Levin - Dislike - I've heard OF him, but I don't think I'm familiar with anything he's said, and for the purposes of this survey, I gave no benefits of the doubt.

Rush Limbaugh - Like - and upon reflection, I should've answered Strongly Like. There's not much I disagree with him on, and he's a brilliant extemporaneous speaker.

Michelle Malkin - Like - Good principles, yet she seems to spend most of her time defending them instead of asserting them. I like my women a little stronger.

John McCain - Strongly Dislike - Kudos for defending our country, but I will NEVER forgive him for McCain-Feingold. NEVER.

Meghan McCain - Dislike - Sorry, she's just not on my radar.

Mitch McConnell - Dislike - ditto.

Allah (Hot Air) - Like - Hot Air makes me happy every time I visit it.

Bill O'Reilly - Dislike - Too snooty & condescending. Doesn't explain. Just asserts.

Sarah Palin - Strongly Like - One of the few people who - when she says the words "free market" - makes me feel like she really believes it's a GOOD THING, instead of just something she'd grudgingly permit (which is the impression I get when I listen to most Republicans).

Kathleen Parker - Dislike - Yet another "huh? who?".

Ron Paul - I hate that he's a libertarian that doesn't want to send our troops overseas to kill terrorists. On the other hand, he's a libertarian who would let us carry guns on airplanes so we could shoot them ourselves. Honestly, I think I'm ready to try the "more liberty and less national defense" option. I'd like to find out whether it works better or worse than the reverse strategy this country's been mired in for decades.

Colin Powell - Strongly Dislike - Thank you for winning the Gulf War. Screw you for being a racist who endorsed Obama only because he was black.

Mitt Romney - Strongly Dislike - Great hair. Too bad he's a socialist weasel.

Marco Rubio - Dislike - Another who dat.

Paul Ryan - Not much good ever comes out of Wisconsin, but I watched him shove a stick up Obama's ass during the Republican health care summit. I'm gonna keep an eye on that boy. (Seems I'm not alone - I couldn't believe how popular he was in the results at RWN)

Thomas Sowell - Strongly Like - I've read some of his writings, and they always make me want to stand and applaud. (Again, I'm not alone - guess who took home the top prizes in both passion and popularity?)

Michael Steele - Strongly Dislike - It's nice that he wants to put some color into the RNC, but he just keeps saying stupid shit. He's like a Republican Howard Dean.

Arnold Schwarzenegger - Dislike - It's nice that he wants to put an Austrian accent into the party, but he just keeps saying stupid shit. He's like a Republican John McCain.

Yeah. Not a typo.

HANDY TIP

Ladies, THIS is how to buy flowers for a man:

The Bacon Bouquet

[from This Is Why You're Fat]

ESCAPE HATCH

Bloggranddaughter VW Bug of One Happy Dog Speaks says:

I’m going to research two things. What I can do to help our country get back on track and which is the best country to move to after this one.

I don't blame her.

The thing that pisses me off the most about the ObamaCare debacle is that these punch-bowl-turd liberals keep screwing up my free country. Which is really... just not fair.

I mean, if you like rectal-thermometer-wielding nanny-states with semi-civilized standards of living - hey, all of Europe awaits you. Hell, you can even try Canada if you bring your snow shovel. The point is, there are DOZENS of countries where you can live without having to do your own life-planning.

But me... I *like* planning my own life. I *enjoy* making my own decisions. And I can do that in America more so than anywhere else.

It sucks, though. Because while liberals can always find a less-free country to escape to if America ever becomes too liberty-oriented for them, I can NEVER find a more-free country to escape to if this one slides too far down the slippery slope of government control.

Alec Baldwin can slip across the border to Canada. I can't slip across the border to Freedonia.

So, yeah, I've spent my share of time thinking about "escape hatch" countries.

Personally, I keep one eye on Hong Kong and one eye on Singapore. They're both highly-advanced civilizations with long histories of being free trade ports. I've been to both and the vibe was rich and prosperous.

Neither is particularly keen on free political speech, but if you keep your yap shut, you can pretty much do what you want if it's not hurting anybody.

Let me be clear, though - right now I don't want to run away. I want to stand and fight for liberty.

But... some day... I may decide I'd rather live like a free man than die like one.

I HEARD IT WAS ABOUT 60 TAKES

Best in the Goldbergian genre since Honda's "Cog":

[YouTube direct link]

[Hat tip: Shamus of Twenty Sided]

CURVY - UPDATED 3-19-10

I've said it before, and I'm saying it again. Women look better meaty than twiggy.

And you comfy-looking ladies keep arguing with me.

Fine.

So take your squabbles up with Vogue magazine, who is plugging a more palatable moniker for the plus-sized pretties:

Curvy

Yeah, they're a little late to the party, but I'm not holding it against them. At least they finally figured it out.

UPDATE 3-19-10: Also, here's some British sciencey thing that proves I'm right:

For millions of women fretting about their weight the news will be a huge relief, men prefer a curvier figure.

Not only that, the effect on the male brain of a shapely woman is, apparently, comparable with that of beer and brandy.

According to research, figures such as Beyonce's also light up the male brain in the same way as illegal drugs.

COURTESY LINK

John Hawkins of Right Wing News posted Conservative Bloggers Choose Their Favorite Movies Of All-Time. Here were the 10 I submitted:

Cyrano de Bergerac - 1950 version with Jose Ferrar. They just don't write dialogue like that any more.

Gone in 60 Seconds - 2000 version with Nicholas Cage. It's not about theft, it's about the joy of driving. What's not to love?

* The Terminator - A pop culture reference icon, which, except for the cheesy 80's synthesizer music, holds up pretty well over time.

Aliens - Very quotable, plus watching Paul Reiser in a "serious" role never fails to amuse me.

* The Shawshank Redemption - Stephen King writes great stories that - almost without exception - make atrocious movies. This is one of those exceptions.

* The Princess Bride - Most. Quotable. Movie. Ever. Added bonus: great swordfighting choreography.

Unbreakable - There's a lot of rich little nuanced details that make this slow-moving plodfest intriguing to watch repeatedly. Plus, I'm a fan of the comic-book hero mythos. The world could use more heroes.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day - One of the few sequels ever made that improves on the original.

The Green Mile - The other Stephen King movie exception.