Author Archives: Big Lizards

On Saturday, March 20th of this year, Tea Partiers rallied just off the Capitol steps against ObamaCare, which was being debated and voted in the House of Representatives. In an effort to provoke some sort of ugly response, a “YouTube…

When the Swiss denied the extradition request for child-rapist Roman Polanski, they explicitly gave as their primary reason the refusal of the Department of Justice to release a transcript of several days of “secret testimony” by one of the prosecutors,…

The Obamunists in Congress and in the administration are still on track to effectively ban all incandescent light bulbs by 2014, in yet another self-congratulatory scheme to stave off global warming. Think I’m joshing? Press coverage has described federal law…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC — “Prevention” is evidently an afterthought) released a study today announcing the horrible truth: nearly 70% of Americans eat more salt than the CDC recommends: Health officials currently say no adult…

In the end, it appears that the wounded vanity of the notoriously thin-skinned Barack H. Obama won out over continuity and steadfastness in wartime: Obama sacked Gen. Stanley McChrystal over snarky remarks the latter and his aides made to a…

Paul Mirengoff at Power Line notes the “arms-length disdain” exhibited by President Barack H. Obama towards America-loving soon-to-be-former President Álvaro Uribe of Colombia; my friend predicts that Obama will be just as frigid towards Uribe’s America-loving successor, Juan Manuel Santos….

(Update: See below.) Lèse majesté, pardon my French, is “an offense against the dignity of a reigning sovereign.” In the Obamacle’s case, one supposes the more appropriate crime would be lèse déité, or “insulting the local demigod.” Today’s example (subscription…

The brazenness of Democrats is sometimes breathtaking: Defense contractors who openly discussed a suspected pay-to-play scheme in e-mails released by congressional ethics investigators had ties to a powerful lobbying firm and won millions of dollars in federal earmarks after contributing…

Today, John Roberts and the Supremes upheld a Bush-era, post-9/11 law prohibiting aiding terrorist groups with any kind of “material support” — including training and even purely verbal “expert advice or assistance”: Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for…

Egypt has allowed a mini-fleet of twelve warships — eleven American and one Israeli — to pass south through the Suez Canal, transitioning from the U.S. Navy’s Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. The fleet includes…

Egypt has allowed a mini-fleet of twelve warships — eleven American and one Israeli — to pass south through the Suez Canal, transitioning from the U.S. Navy’s Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. The fleet includes…

Even as a teenager, I spent too much of time trying to understand why I despise and hate liberals — though I share some of their beliefs and reject some beliefs of conservatives (which is why I’m not a conservative)….

…for having 12 players on the field? I refer of course to the eleven Slovenian members — plus the Malian referee, Koman Coulibaly, who called back America’s third (and winning) goal on an imaginary foul….

It’s hard to imagine any federal action in the Gulf that more stupidly self-destructive than what just happened off Louisiana, according to this ABC news story: BP Oil Spill: Against Gov. Jindal’s Wishes, Crude-Sucking Barges Stopped by Coast Guard Eight…

A funny thing happened on the way to the newsstand: The New York Times — a.k.a., “America’s newpaper of wreckage,” whose slogan is, “All the news we see fit to print!” — published a news article about closing arguments in…

I must admit, this creative solution to an electoral dilemma in Port Chester, NY, strikes me as quite intriguing. Ordinarily, I don’t like voting gimmicks; they’re generally just special pleading accompanied by “affirmative action” under another name. But this system…

I’ve always considered a presidential administration’s commitment to manned space exploration an excellent barometer of its belief in the grandeur of Western civilization; its belief in America’s future and exceptional greatness; and its understanding of what Konstantin Tsiolkovsky meant when…

According to AP, Abby Sunderland, the sixteen year old girl who was bidding to become the youngest person ever to circumnavigate the globe in a sailboat, has been spotted and contacted by an Airbus A330. They spoke to her via…

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates issued an announcement yesterday: Public support for the war in Afghanistan will evaporate unless the nations leading the fight against insurgents can show by the end of this year that the eight-year war is not…

Two recent killings of Mexicans by American Border-Patrol agents have roiled the relationship between Mexico and the United States. The first occurred on May 28th, when illegal immigrant Anastasio Hernandez began fighting with U.S. Border Patrol agents; one of the…

President Barack H. Obama has discovered yet another way to vote “present.” Speaking to wimpy Palestinian loser Mahmoud Abbas at the White House — Yassir Arafat being unavailable due to continuing death — Obama addressed the “raid” on the Turkish…

My favorite blogger on my favorite blog posted a short squib about a bizarre threat from Iran against Israel, emanating from the penumbra of the New York Times: Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards are ready to provide a military escort to…

No, this is not a rib. (Why do I keep feeling the need to reassure readers that this isn’t a late April Fool’s Day joke?) According to the New York Post, for what it’s worth, the ObaMachine appears to have…

No, this is not a rib. It appears that the Mexican government opened a storefront in the resort island of Catalina — as in “twenty-six miles across the sea, Santa Catalina is a-waitin’ for me” — where they have been…

No, this is not a rib. It appears that the Mexican government opened a storefront in the resort island of Catalina — as in “twenty-six miles across the sea, Santa Catalina is a-waitin’ for me” — where they have been…

…Yet America is still held hostage by the wicked tyrant; the unreconstructed, right-wing oppressor; the election-stealing, egg-sucking, blood-for-oiler. All badness in the United States can still be laid at the feet of this evil-doer: The failing economy The flailing presidency…

AP just can’t bring itself to refer to either Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad as a terrorist organization. It’s an open question, mustn’t prejudge! The strongest that the Associated Press can muster is to refer to Hamas “militants” and “fighters”…

Would President Barack H. Obama be moving more swiftly to put the full weight of the federal emergency system behind stopping and cleaning up the Gulf oil spill — if the region affected comprised liberal Democratic states? Could the president…

Would President Barack H. Obama be moving more swiftly to put the full weight of the federal emergency system behind stopping and cleaning up the Gulf oil spill — if the region affected comprised liberal Democratic states? Could the president…

In yet another in a long string of bestial attacks in India, “Maoists” derailed a passenger train in West Bengal, headed for Bombay (I refuse to call it “Mombai”), and sent it hurling into a head-on collision with a freight…

Michael Barone just published a fascinating column; he argues that something is happening that has never happened before in Western civ. For the very first time, a populist, small-c conservative uprising is focused not on taxes (that’s fairly common), but…

Ever since I was about seventeen years old, I have believed that property ownership — or monopoly control of land, for the purists who insist land, being non-anthropogenic, cannot be “owned” — is the most fundamental civil right we have….

Ever since I was about seventeen years old, I have believed that property ownership — or monopoly control of land, for the purists who insist land, being non-anthropogenic, cannot be “owned” — is the most fundamental civil right we have….

From Charles Krauthammer’s WaPo column today, discussing the new alliance of Turkey and Brazil — once our allies — with Iran (hat tip to Scott “Big Johnson” Trunk at Power Line): Given Obama’s policies and principles, Turkey and Brazil are…

Examples of President Barack H. Obama’s brilliant, inspired foreign policy just keep a-comin’… A draft U.N. resolution that would impose sanctions on Iran, including limits on global arms transfers, will not block the controversial transfer of Russian S-300 missiles to…

Before diving into the substance of Dr. Rand Paul’s remarks on the 1964 Civil Rights Act, let’s get one thing straight: Paul was a fool for blundering into that tar pit — or allowing MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow to lure him…

Ahem. Obamunism on a nutshell: He says… President Barack Obama stepped up his criticism of Arizona’s controversial immigration law Wednesday, calling it “misdirected” and warning that it has the potential to be applied in a discriminatory fashion. Speaking at a…

Quoth Sen. Arlen Specter (?-PA, unrated because nobody wants to claim him), after conceding the Democratic primary for his own reelection to his opponent, Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA, 95%):   “It is vital that we keep this seatin the Democratic…

Quoth Sen. Arlen Specter (?-PA, unrated because nobody wants to claim him), after conceding the Democratic primary for his own reelection to his opponent, Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA, 95%):   “It is vital that we keep this seatin the Democratic…

One reason I’ve never been able to warm up to Stratfor is the persistent gloominess and despondency it exudes. George Friedman and his mopy men must have published an optimistic analysis of some world event somewhere, somewhen; but danged if…

On Tuesday, Sen. Arlen Specter (D R D-PA, unrated in current incarnation) scuffles to the polls, like an errant schoolboy expecting the master to hand him a right caning. As indeed is pretty likely to happen. Specter turned his coat…

On Tuesday, Sen. Arlen Specter (D R D-PA, unrated in current incarnation) scuffles to the polls, like an errant schoolboy expecting the master to hand him a right caning. As indeed is pretty likely to happen. Specter turned his coat…

On Tuesday, Sen. Arlen Specter (D R D-PA, unrated in current incarnation) scuffles to the polls, like an errant schoolboy expecting the master to hand him a right caning. As indeed is pretty likely to happen. Specter turned his coat…

On Tuesday, Sen. Arlen Specter (D R D-PA, unrated in current incarnation) scuffles to the polls, like an errant schoolboy expecting the master to hand him a right caning. As indeed is pretty likely to happen. Specter turned his coat…

In a stealth shift of the rules of engagement (ROEs) in Afghanistan last July, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the senior NATO commander in Afghanistan, severely restricted the use of close-air support in our operations there. Today, our soldiers and combat pilots…

In a stealth shift of the rules of engagement (ROEs) in Afghanistan last July, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the senior NATO commander in Afghanistan, severely restricted the use of close-air support in our operations there. Today, our soldiers and combat pilots…

In a stealth shift of the rules of engagement (ROEs) in Afghanistan last July, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the senior NATO commander in Afghanistan, severely restricted the use of close-air support in our operations there. Today, our soldiers and combat pilots…

Ahem. To be filed in the “I warned you” file under C for chutzpah: The Obama administration threatened to veto parts of its own health care bill after budget scorekeepers found that the package would add at least $115 billion…

Does it matter that, if Elena Kagen is confirmed, the U.S. Supreme Court would, for the first time in history, have not a single Protestant justice? Were she confirmed, the Court would comprise six Roman Catholics and three Jews. Does…

So sayeth Brad Thor at Big Government… Through key intelligence sources in Afghanistan and Pakistan, I have just learned that reclusive Taliban leader and top Osama bin Laden ally, Mullah Omar has been taken into custody [by Pakistan authorities]. Amusingly…

Over on my favorite blog, Paul Mirengoff comes down strongly against Republicans mounting a filibuster of the nomination of Elena Kagen, barring the discovery of what Paul calls “extraordinary circumstances.” On this here blog here, brilliant trial lawyer and all-around…

I just couldn’t resist this quick hit: Economy Gains Impetus as U.S. Employers Add 290,000 Jobs The American economy continued to add jobs in April in a further sign that an economic recovery was on track. Payrolls surged with an…

I’m a little tired of seeing everything and everybody blamed for the failed intelligence, failed security, and failed prevention of the ultimately failed bombing that Faisal Shahzad failed to perpetrate… that is, blaming everybody except Barack H. Obama, of course….

Yesterday was May 5th, which in Spanish is Cinco de Mayo… which Mexicans do not celebrate as their Independence Day (that would be September 16th, 1810), but which Mexican Americans (Chicanos) celebrate all across the American Southwest and probably elsewhere…

In 2008, we elected the least accomplished or experienced person in American history to be President of the United States. Before being elected to the highest office in the land, Barack H. Obama had essentially done nothing but be a…

With doddering, 162 year old Justice John Paul Stevens shuffling off into the sunset at the end of this Court term, striking about him with his cane and raving about the “good old days” of President Johnson (Andrew, not Lyndon),…

The New York Times seems a bit confusticated to report that a record number of black Republicans are running for House seats this year: The House has not had a black Republican since 2003, when J. C. Watts of Oklahoma…

Mark Steyn has penned — phosphored another jeremiad against illegal immigration. I do agree with many of his points; but he misses the most glaringly obvious reason why immigration, and yes, even illegal immigration, can benefit our country. The first…

Or so it appears, if this story from the Daily Telegraph is accurate. Ministers in Jolly Olde E. are being arrested under the Public Order Act of 1986 — for saying out loud that Christianity dubs gay sex a sin:…

In an earlier post — The Religion of Fear Itself, or Why I Despise Modern Liberals (reason 334) — I proposed that modern, “New Left” liberalism has become utterly dependent upon inducing terror of the future and the unknown in…

First, the Left filed hundreds of lawsuits against the Boy Scouts of America demanding that they be forced to allow gay scouts and gay scoutmasters into the organization. That tactic failed when the Supreme Court found that the Boy Scouts…

Rarely do I get such an opportunity to opine on my two favorite topics, politics and science fiction, simultaneously! Physics idol Stephen Hawking is quite convinced that life — and intelligent life — exist elsewhere in our galaxy: The suggestions…

The kettle comes to a boil for Republican Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida, as he decides whether to switch to Independent in order to run a three-way race for the Florida U.S. Senate seat recently vacated by Mel Martinez. If…

The mullocracy of Iran has made brutally clear that they will not be satisfied with anything less than a full-scale, intercontinental war against the West, which means (certainly to them) against the United States of America. And in the process…

The mullocracy of Iran has made brutally clear that they will not be satisfied with anything less than a full-scale, intercontinental war against the West, which means (certainly to them) against the United States of America. And in the process…

The mullocracy of Iran has made brutally clear that they will not be satisfied with anything less than a full-scale, intercontinental war against the West, which means (certainly to them) against the United States of America. And in the process…

The Supreme Court of the United States just issued a rare (these days) 8-1 ruling; even more interesting, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion — and the lone dissenter was Justice Samuel Alito. The facts are interesting but ultimately…

Over on my favorite blog, Power Line, Scott “Big Johnson” Trunk has a series of posts called something like “emptying my spindle.” The phrase, for those of you younger than Scott (i.e., born after 1907), a spindle is a vicious…

On Thursday, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed the education reforms passed by the Republican state legislature; the bill would have eliminated grade-school teacher tenure and instituted merit-based pay in its place: The veto puts Mr. Crist, a moderate Republican, at…

At first crack, this may appear to be a meaningless cavil on my part. But I think it cuts to the very heart of the leftstream news media’s coverage of the “Progressive” — that is, national socialist — policies of…

As you’ve probably surmised, everything anent translocation is taking much longer than we expected; as we must vacate the old reptillian presence by Thursday (that’s today!), you can likely imagine the — er, Upper Iguanan fire drill, trundling back and…

A quick note to declare we survived translocation relatively intact. I have restored (some) online connection; haven’t rebuilt the entire LAN here, but at least I connected a laptop… I’ll just pretend I’m on holiday in a foreign land, where…

My word, but one never realizes just how many barnacles one has collected until one attempts to move. We have already carted out about forty banker’s boxes, mostly filled with books; yet we still haven’t completely cleared the decks for…

During the tenure of President George W. Bush, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, though sometimes prickly, continued to work with the United States and other members of the “Coalition of the Willing” to defeat the Taliban and take back the country….

Note the new category of this post; we’ll be using it frequently as we keep you in the loop (thus making us all loopy). ~ For the first time since the inception of the Big Lizards blogsite in 1931, we…

One of the hallmarks of Obamunism is that “due process” becomes irrelevant: Whatever the great man decides the people “need,” whatever he decrees, shall become law, by hook or by crook (mostly the latter). Thus, when Congress fails to enact…

One of the hallmarks of Obamunism is that “due process” becomes irrelevant: Whatever the great man decides the people “need,” whatever he decrees, shall become law, by hook or by crook (mostly the latter). Thus, when Congress fails to enact…

As part of its ongoing project to taint and corrupt every element of federal policy, the administration of President Barack H. Obama has started gaming school funding… literally: It initiated a “contest,” called Race to the Top, that states could…

I sincerely believe Gen. David Petraeus is sincere: He really, really, really doesn’t want to run for president. But that’s not the point, is it? Who but a dyed in the rib politician would eagerly seek a job that requires…

I’ve been reading the wonderful Lee Smith book the Strong Horse: Power, Politics, and the Clash of Arab Civilizations; I just came across the following passage on pages 55-56: The United States is hated [in the Arab Moslem world] not…

In an event that has been widely reported by every member of the antique media — well, actually the only place that seems to care enough even to mention it is Newsmax.com — results from an online survey by ContractFromAmerica.com…

In an event that has been widely reported by every member of the antique media — well, actually the only place that seems to care enough even to mention it is Newsmax.com — results from an online survey by ContractFromAmerica.com…

C.K. MacLeod of Zombie Contentions posted a fascinating discussion of the larger context of the fight against ObamaCare; his point is that we cannot win the argument to repeal ObamaCare until and unless we are prepared to argue exactly what…

Virginia has passed a law exempting its citizens from the federal insurance mandate contained within the ObamaCare law as enacted; in addition, twelve other states, led by their attorneys general, have banded together to file a lawsuit, also seeking to…

Three days ago, we found occasion to praise an Obamic appointee — Army Major General Robert Harding (ret.), who Barack H. Obama had named to head the Transportation Security Agency (TSA). We praised him for one courageous (and vital) stand…

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The Obama administration plans to overhaul how it is tackling the foreclosure crisis, in part by requiring lenders to temporarily slash or eliminate monthly mortgage payments for many borrowers who are unemployed,…

In the midst of the eldritch, trancendental, Lovecraftian horror of ObamaCare being foisted upon us by a monomaniacal “Democratic” Congress, some pearls of great price have been unearthed as unearned grace. One such is the best column by Dennis Prager…

The Public Policy Institute of California periodically polls Californians on various hot-button issues. PPIC is vaguely left-of-center, but it has a fairly good reputation for accuracy, at least recently in this state. The poll released just yesterday should open a…

I see that the U.S. Postal Disservice plans to eliminate Saturday delivery; it seems they’re in the hole by $3.8 billion this year, headed for $7 billion next, and this is the only way to begin to close that gap:…

I admit to some prejudice — or postjudice, actually — against the administration of Barack H. Obama; though I plead that I have some just cause to be cynical. Still, I’m not so far gone that I fail to note…

Why don’t they just pull off the mask and “out” themselves? I suggest a new official motto for the Party:     “We are all Alinskyites on this bus.”     No matter what any Democrat says, it’s always all…

The post title says it all… but see previous post for how we may still have a good shot at reversing the vote. UPDATE: After all the Sturm und Drang, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI, 90%) settled for an executive order…

Bonus extra fold-out: How the Democrats hoisted themselves by their own petard Let us once more check the Hill’s newest whip count: 178 Republicans are firm Nays; even Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA, not yet rated), personally (and heavily) lobbied by…

Gen. David Petraeus is edging closer and closer to calling for the end of President William “Billery” Clinton’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy anent gays serving openly in military service. Gen. Petraeus has not yet announced his support for dropping…

I first heard about the infamous Coffee Party, supposedly a liberal alternative to the right leaning Tea Party movement, at Hot Air; I watched a couple of videos trying to understand what was its pont. After suffering through the rambling,…

In our last installment on Saturday, we were able to report the following: The Hill newspaper is published daily in the nation’s capital while Congress is in session, which is unfortunately true right now. They’ve been publishing a daily (or…

One fear that obsesses too many folks is that the People’s Republic of China, a.k.a. Red China, “owns” a scandalous chunk of our national debt in the form of U.S. Treasury bonds; and that they will somehow be able to…

The Hill newspaper is published daily in the nation’s capital while Congress is in session, which is unfortunately true right now. They’ve been publishing a daily (or so) whip-count; that is, the Democratic and Republican leaders tell the Hill how…

In 2006, incoming Squeaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Haight-Ashbury, 100%) infamously promised that the Democrats would run “the most honest, most open and most ethical Congress in history.” When President Barack H. Obama ran for president two years later,…

A little over a month ago, I noted the shift in our spacefaring strategy towards privatizing space exploration and exploitation, a strategy pushed, astonishingly enough, by President Barack H. Obama: I’m just now picking my jaw up from the floor:…