NOAA: National Hurricane Center

Hurricane Gustav is bearing down on the Gulf Coast. Watches extend from Galveston Bay to Alabama. Winds are 140 MPH.

The Superdome is closed and so is the Astrodome. Ray Nagin is under close psychiatric supervision. Bobby Jindal has the Louisiana National Guard ready to roll.

Hacienda de Bramanti is stocked up on steaks, gasoline, scotch and ammunition.

Y’all ready?

Who is ‘he’? Why, Barack Obama, that’s who! This is one of the funniest of the videos surrounding the enlightened one I’ve seen. Have better? Share them with us in the comments.

 

(h/t to Wagonburner, LST reader extraordinaire)

We’ve all seen the Chuck Norris facts. Now it’s time for some Little-Known Facts About Sarah Palin:

• Sarah Palin became governor because five children left her with too much spare energy.
• Sarah Palin will send Biden a pre-debate cheat sheet. The sheet will have tips on defending against Kung Fu Death Grip.
• Global Warming doesn’t kill polar bears. Sarah Palin does - usually with her bare hands.
• The Northern Lights are really just the reflection from Sarah Palin’s eyes.

There are lots more on Twitter.

At this point, it looks like Hurricane Gustav will strike the Louisiana coast, destroying property and likely killing some people.

But hey, it’s not all bad news. Death and devastation are good insofar as they can embarrass Republicans, according to Michael Moore:

“I was just thinking, this Gustav is proof that there is a God in heaven,” Moore said, laughing.

What a scumbag.

Win or lose, this is a lady that I could support.

Strangely enough, it was a New Yorker that introduced me to some of the great Texas singer/songwriters back in the early ’70s. Here he is from 1978 on the Dinah Shore show, introduced by Don Meredith (whatever happened to Dandy Don?), and playing a Guy Clark song.

It’s biker/fisherman/hunter, Pro-Life, ethics-reforming, Drill, Drill, Drill, Pro Death Penalty Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

During one debate before the primary, Palin said she was in favor of capital punishment in especially heinous cases such as the murder of a child. “My goodness, hang ‘em up, yeah,” she said. Palin opposes abortion rights.

Today’s installment of Gov’t Gone Wild features the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The City of Milwaukee is digging in its heels in its attempt to foreclose on the home of a man who failed to pay a fine for parking an unlicensed van in his parents’ driveway.

The city filed a response Thursday asking the judge to deny the request from Peter Tubic and his attorney to set aside the foreclosure or reduce his fine to the original $50.

“Giving special treatment out of sympathy to one property owner or waiving the statutory requirements of one property owner because his case was reported by the media, when there are dozens of others whose homes may have been foreclosed upon after personal difficulties, would destroy the integrity” of the foreclosure process, attorneys for the city wrote in their motion.

That’s right, boys and girls. Keep a junker in the driveway, lose your house.

I’ve seen worse junkers in front of better homes. This guy thinks I’m all wet for thinking that a city shouldn’t foreclose on people’s homes over a junker in the driveway.

In reality, this was a story about a man with a transparent excuse for not paying his fine. And now he’s been turned into a martyr.

No, he isn’t being turned into a martyr, Mr. Murphy. He’s just another in a long line of citizens that are being abused by overzealous bureaucrats. Check this out:

He could have paid the $50 fine, but didn’t. From then on a city inspector would come to the house and check on whether the vehicle had been taken care of and issue another warning, with interest added and a higher fee charged. Each letter told the amount owed, the amount it would rise to after the next visit from the inspector, and a warning that the home could eventually be foreclosed. All intended to send the message to pay the fine. The city sent such warning letters at least 15 times.

Sure, he could have paid the fine and removed the van. And he should have. But let me ask you this: Is there a better use of taxpayer money than sending a city employee around to look at this junker at least 15 times?

It’s about priorities, Mr. Murphy. Somehow, I think that the City of Milwaukee would be better served if they focused on stopping this stuff?

Is the guy that made that doughnut smiling now?

The Anointed One is speaking. I’ll break it down for you as the night drags on.

Did he really call Biden “one of the greatest statesmen of our time?” Really?

Obligatory Bush call-out. That got the biggest applause so far. Gosh, maybe we shouldn’t re-elect Dubya.

The crowd is now chanting “eight is enough.” They’ve convinced me. I’m definitely not voting for Bush again.

Obama’s now slamming Phil Gramm’s “nation of whiners” remarks. He’s doing so by listing a litany of problems. Yeah, Gramm was WAY off-base there, huh?

“We measure the strength of our economy, not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of Fortune 500 companies…” Really? I measure it by real GDP.

He just pledged to get us off Middle Eastern oil inside of 10 years. He called drilling a “stopgap measure” and then said we should use more natural gas. Hey Barry, natural gas comes out of holes.

On to terrorism. “You don’t protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington.” I have no idea what he’s talking about here, unless he means the talks should happen in Tehran instead of DC.

“I will also renew the tough diplomacy that will prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.”

“I’ve got news for you, John McCain…we all put our country first!” He said that with a tinge of aggression in his voice that, frankly, sounds silly coming out of this man’s mouth.

Moral issues — abortion, gay marriage. Skimmed over it pretty quick.

“What the naysayers don’t understand is that this election has never been about me — it’s about you.” He’s clearly trying to deflect criticism of his campaign’s narcissism. Too little, too late.

Obama is now invoking Martin Luther King and trying to say “inextricably.”

He just declared we have “So many farms to save.” Yeah, those poor corn farmers are really getting clobbered.

I trust those fireworks were sustainably manufactured from organically grown ingredients, right?

Ooh, now it’s time for a moonbat prayer! “I want this to be a participatory prayer…I would like all of us to close this prayer in the way your faith tradition would close your prayer.” Heh. God/Allah/Isis/Gaia forbid we shouldn’t be inclusive.

Pelosi looks like she’s been marinating her head in Botox for the last couple of days.

“Born in the USA (Not Kenya)” is on.

Okay, that’s enough hopey change for one night. As a closing thought, would it kill politicians to use music that doesn’t absolutely suck? I’d like to see Dick Cheney mount the stage to Metallica’s “Master of Puppets.”

It appears the Catholic Church is not about to let Nancy Pelosi have the last word on abortion.

As discussed here yesterday, high Church officials rebuked Pelosi for her erroneous statements about Catholic abortion doctrine on a Sunday news show; undeterred, Pelosi had a spokesman announce that she stood by her statements. 

Wednesday, the Church made it clear it was standing just as firm:

The latest came Wednesday from Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik, who said Pelosi, D-Calif., “stepped out of her political role and completely misrepresented the teaching of the Catholic Church in regard to abortion.”

Pretty strong stuff.

Furthermore, she has ruffled feathers to the point that the Archbishop of San Francisco, Pelosi’s hometown, will discuss this very issue in next week’s edition of the archdiocesan newspaper.

As the article points out, Pelosi had to do little more than consult the Catechism of the Catholic Church if she really wanted to accurately characterize Church teaching:

“This teaching has remained unchanged and remains unchangeable,” according to the Catechism. “Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law.” 

Not only have Church officials sought to correct the wayward Speaker of the House, but Catholic scholars have weighed in as well:

The Rev. Douglas Milewski, a Seton Hall University theologian who specializes in Augustine [who Pelosi cited as supposed support for her statements], said Pelosi seems to be confusing church teaching on abortion with the theological debate over when a fetus receives a soul.

“Saint Augustine wondered about the stages of human development before birth, how this related to the question of ensoulment and what it meant for life in the Kingdom of God,” Milewski said.

Questions about ensoulment related to determining penalties under church law for early and later abortions, not deciding whether the procedure is permissible, according to the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities.

Augustine was “quite clear on the immorality of abortion as evil violence, destructive of the very fabric of human bonds and society,” Milewski said.

Regarding individual decision-making, the church teaches that Catholics are obliged to use their conscience in considering moral issues. However, that doesn’t mean parishioners can pick and choose what to believe and still be in line with the church.

Lisa Sowle Cahill, a theologian at Boston College, said conscience must be formed by Catholic teaching and philosophical insights. “It’s not just a personal opinion that you came up with randomly,” she said

 (I could not help but think that this last comment all-too-accurately describes the moral relativism espoused by many liberals, as well as, sadly, many “cafeteria Catholics.”)

In fact, the article points out that the Catholic bishops have written that voting for a candidate specifically because that candidate supports an “evil” like abortion constitutes “formal cooperation in grave evil.”

It is hard to believe that Pelosi, a product of Catholic schools, could be so ignorant of Catholic doctrine.  Either she has allowed her zeal in support of abortion to overwhelm her faculty for reason, or her remarks are just cynical - and shameful - politics.  While it is true that indvididuals in society, including many Catholics (to their discredit), still argue for abortion as a political and social matter, there is no such debate doctrinally-speaking.

Catholic theologians today overwhelmingly consider debate over the morality of abortion settled. Thinkers and activists who attempt to challenge the theology are often considered on the fringes of church life.

Given our precious rights to speak our minds, Catholics like Pelosi are free to disagree and criticize the Church for its moral stance on abortion.  What she should not be free to do - and what it appears the Church will not let her do - is misrepresent that stance.

I am wondering if the day is coming when some bishops will have had enough, and actually take the fateful step, which has been threatened, of refusing communion to pro-abortion politicians.  The resulting firestorm would surely make this week’s events look like a love fest.

Classy; as mentioned by Dan Patrick.

Texas Railroad Commissioner Leads the Charge on the Energy Front; A Stealth Energy Secretary Audition?

The indomitable Michael Williams, Chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, appeared today in the RNC’s daily press conference along side national Republican luminaries cranking up the latest attack on the Democratic presidential ticket.

Viewable at Not Ready 08, the streaming video press conference with VP fave Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl, and former U.S. Treasurer Rosario Marin, developed the themes of experience, strength, courage, substance true bi-partisanship, and energy security.

On the last topic, Comm. Williams, the Texas version of the Secretary of Energy, brought into sharp relief the contrasts between Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain.

(more…)

This is absurd.

Two weeks ago, a columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram got into a rapidly escalating argument with his 11-year-old son in a McDonald’s.

The confrontation made for a poignant Aug. 15 column by Dave Lieber, who wrote about angrily jumping into his car after telling the boy to walk home, a distance of “a few blocks.” After cooling off, Lieber returned a short time later to find police officers interviewing his son.

Father and son apologized to each other and, after a stern lecture from a police officer, were allowed to drive home together.

But the story wasn’t over. After additional investigation by detectives in suburban Watauga, Lieber was arrested Tuesday on charges of child abandonment and endangerment — reigniting a debate over proper parenting and the role of police in family matters.

This is what happened in Mr. Lieber’s words:

We went out to breakfast the other morning at a restaurant. As soon as he had finished eating, he demanded that we leave. But I wasn’t done. I asked him to please be patient. He refused. I told him, not asked him, to wait. Same response from him. This went on and on and on.

I sent him to another table. I tried to ignore him. But my buttons were pushed. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I stormed out of the restaurant and told him to walk the few blocks home.

I got in the car and drove off.

I was gone for several minutes, long enough to calm down. I doubled back to the restaurant to pick him up. By then, two police cars and a small crowd were gathered outside.

A caring patron had called the police.

Two felony charges because you told your kid to walk home a few blocks from McDonald’s? Unbelievable.

More here:

S-T Watchdog columnist Dave Lieber arrested
Columnist Arrested for Briefly Leaving Son at McDonald’s After Argument

Oleg, have you been visting those sites again?

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