Kipling bears repeating: the Gods of the Copybook Headings

The New Neo Posted on by

Rudyard Kipling is one of those poets known by people who don’t ordinarily read poetry. But what he’s known for differs from person to person.

Some are only familiar with his tribute to cool heads under fire, “If.” Others see him as an old-fashioned versifier of non-PC poems full of dialect, defender and promoter of the now-defunct British empire. Others know him primarily as the author of children’s books set in exotic places.

But the real Kipling was more complex, even in his attitude towards empire. Continue reading →

Obama’s campaign and the press: a long history of working hand in hand

The New Neo Posted on by

Some Obama defenders have pointed out that Joe the Plumber made himself fair game for the exposure of his personal information by insinuating himself into an election when he asked a question of candidate Obama. Others have said that Obama himself can’t be faulted for what happened to Joe; after all, it was the press digging into Joe’s past, not Obama. Some have even blamed McCain for using Joe’s exchange with Obama to make some points in his final debate against Obama.

The press is most definitely at fault here, first and foremost. In this election the MSM has almost entirely abdicated its responsibility to objectively inform the American people. Continue reading →

What recession?

The New Neo Posted on by

I don’t know about you, but when I went to a mall the other day the parking lot was absolutely jammed with cars and the stores were full of shoppers. Are people preparing for Christmas already? Are they merely window-shopping and amusing themselves? Or are they just so happy that the price of gas is down that they’re out for a jaunt, and the mall has become the go-to place?

As for me, I was there to return something.

Sarah Palin’s SNL stint

The New Neo Posted on by

I didn’t see it live; I chose instead to watch the last few innings of the Red Sox game and see them win it and force the series to a seventh.

I watched the videos here, however (thanks Ace!), and I think Palin did well enough considering what she had to listen to and what they gave her to work with. And by the way, I did watch some of the last twenty minutes or so of the show, the non-Palin parts, and what an unfunny business it has become.

They should have consulted me. This is what I was hoping for when I heard Palin was going to appear—some sort of clever reprise of the Marx Brothers mirror act, only this time with Palin and Fey. Even their eyeglasses would have worked with this (and note especially the brilliant twirling bit at 1:37):

It’s the free speech, stupid

The New Neo Posted on by

Like Iowahawk, I’m finding that the attacks on Joe the Plumber have made me angrier than almost anything else in this long and nasty campaign.

It seems to be the most naked example of the technique of crushing anyone or anything that might threaten Obama’s ascension to the Presidency. Never mind that Obama is winning in all the polls. Never mind that Democrats seem poised on the threshold of a sweep of all branches of government. This man must be destroyed because he had the audacity to speak in such a way as to elicit a response from Obama that made the candidate look bad. Continue reading →

Ignorance of government: the filibuster—who knew?

The New Neo Posted on by

When Republicans try to point out the efforts Bush, McCain, and other Republicans made to curb the excesses of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac back when it might have done some good, one of the responses Democrats offer is: “hey, Republicans were in charge of Congress until 2006, so if restraints on Fannie and Freddie didn’t get passed then it must have been the Republicans’ fault.”

This tells me that such commenters either are dissembling, or they are hugely ignorant about what used to be called “civics” back when I was in school.

Perhaps those Ayers & Company-engendered “reforms” about teaching “social justice” have persuaded schools to ditch the sort of courses that used to teach us how our government actually works. Or maybe the current ignorance of same has little to do with Ayers, or with schools at all. Maybe these things are taught but nobody’s listening and nobody’s remembering—after all, it’s dull and boring and has nothing to do with our daily lives, right?

Wrong. Continue reading →

How bout them Sox?

The New Neo Posted on by

The Red Sox just came back from a 7-0 deficit to tie it in the eighth and then win the game.

So the fat lady isn’t singing yet, and the Sox get another chance at the ALCS. It’s the second biggest comeback in playoff history.

The fans go wild.

Well, Joe may be a plumber, but at least he’s not a bitter clinger

The New Neo Posted on by

I don’t know what it will take to wake America up to Obama. It’s not as though ample evidence of his Leftist history, lying, close associations with shady/radical/hateful characters, arrogance, and elitism hasn’t been available for some time now. If the majority of people haven’t perceived him clearly by now, maybe nothing will cause them to do so by the time the election rolls around.

But if further demonstration of the last two characteristics in the list would help, I hereby offer up the following video of a sneering and condescending Obama, besotted with his own coolness:

[ADDENDUM: Revenge on Joe.]