Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is pleased that he provided some amusement to some of his readers last Saturday night. Upon reviewing the previous posts he can see that they are sort of funny. He was not particularly affected by his drinking the next day. His head was stuffed up (which might have just as much to do with seasonal alergies as anything else). He did have a headache. But the headache disappeared after a hot shower, some breakfast, and a particularly good sermon in church.

Today might be a light blogging day. Lots of stuff going on today. Your Maximum Leader hopes to blog some tonight before Monday Night Football.

Carry on.

greetings loyal minions. your maximum leadr is even more drunk than last time he types. i can’t hit the shift key and thr right letter at the same time. and i am typing really slowly. i see comments on the early on. i don’t tell stories or stuff on the blogs too often molly. it is not my style.

i am really pissed off at teh virginia tech hokies. looks like they are lose to the canes. bastards. it has upset the wife too. they play like shit. well played like shit for the first time this year. losers.

i didn’t play medival total war. i did play rome total war for a little bit. then it got too hard to consentrate on. that was when i started to watch the stupid football game.

i have thought of boobs more. boobs are good. well boobs on girls are good. boobs on guys are not good. sorta like rustys good gay vs bad gay from a while ago. i’d link if i could.

too ahrd to type. gonna sleep

carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader remembered that tonight was national drunk blogging night or some such beastie. So he got an early start on it. You know that in addition to it being national drunk bloging night it is also Guy Fawkes day. it also happens to be your Maximon Leader’s sainted fathers birthday. So we got the whole villainous family into the truck and went to have lunch with my dad.

That was where the drinking began. I had a beer with lunch. It was a stout. It was homebrewed at the place we ate. I think the place was called Sweet Water Inn or somthing. Your Maximum Leader’s father likes it a lot - hence why we went.

Anyhow. We treked home after lunch and your Maximum Leader waited a little bit before really pouring it on. According to his superlative swiss chronometr writswatch the time is now about 6:45. Your Maximum Leader has been drinking Knob Creek bourbon since about 3:30. That isn’t completely true. He did start off the night (or is it afternoon) with a shot of wild Turkey Rare Breed. That stuff is potent. Something like 110 proof or something.

So three hours later and your maximum Leader is still able to type reasonably well. He’s been pouring himself drinks in a large skull shaped plastic cup. ONe of the girls got it at the club halloween party last week. It sort of freaks her out to look at so I’ve approprated it for drinking tonight. The cup is about 7 inches high and must hold at least one can os soda in it. Well slightly more than one can of soda actually. I started with filling the cup from with bourbon just up to the level of the bottom row of teeth on the skull. That was the first drink. By about the thrid or fourth I think i’ve been filling the cup with bourbon to the bottom of the nos hole. AFter the bourbon has come the coke. Coca-cola taht is - not coccaine. Heh. (Taht will probably be a lot less funny tomorrow than it seems right now. Which I take as a sign that I must not be drunk enough.)

YOur Maximum Leader has forgotten how many drinks he’s actually had. But mywife is looking at me funny so I have to think that it has been a lot. I’ve now cloistered myself in my office with the computer. I also have my bottle of bourbon and a six pack of coke and a thing of ice. And my skull cup.

I supose the purpose of this is to write what migth be going through your mind. Frankly my mind is filled with all sorts of crap I’d like to blog about.

I’ll pour myself another and continue int he extended part. If you’ve had enough

CArry on.
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Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader figures you are probably sitting in front of your computer screen saying to yourself, “Self, I wonder what my Maximum Leader thinks of the hotly contested gubernatorial race in his great Commonwealth of Virginia?” Well that is an excellent question to ask.

Let your Maximum Leader state up front that neither candidate has gotten your Maximum Leader all worked up. Indeed, this is one of the few times in his memory that he wishes that a Governor could run for re-election. Most of the time your Maximum Leader is pleased as punch to get a new Governor every four years. But, quite honestly, your Maximum Leader would vote for Mark Warner (D-VA) for Governor again.

Let your Maximum Leader also state upfront that he is peeved at both Jerry Kilgore (former Atty General of Virginia - Republican) and Tim Kaine (current Lt. Governor of Virginia - Democrat). They both seem to be particularly adept at twisting the truth (or outright lying) during this election. In you Maximum Leader’s opinion, neither has used reasonable estimates of how much their proposed programs would cost (or save) as the case may be. Both verge on slander in discussing their rival.

Now this was not always the case. Early on in the electin cycle both Kilgore and Kaine were pretty much issues men. They didn’t go out for attacks on the other guy. They both stayed “on message.” All in all it was pretty pleasant.

Then they started to read polling data in August. The polls showed a dead heat. Well… Depending on how you did your poll and who did your poll it would show a slight advantage to one candidate or the other. If you looked at all polls in the aggregate it was a dead heat.

As you all surely know, when you are in a dead heat with your opponent and Election Day looms you’ve got to mix things up a little. By “mix things up a little” we really mean “go negative.”

Now your Maximum Leader doesn’t recall exactly who went negative first. Frankly it doesn’t make any difference. One goes negative to get a jump in the polls. If you can’t boost your own positives you can boost the other guy’s negatives. In a way, going negative can actually improve your positives because it shows you really want the job enough to go the extra mile to make the other guy look particularly distasteful.

Having said he didn’t remember who went negative first, your Maximum Leader does clearly remember the first negative ad that made an impression on him. It was the Kilgore Ad called “Kelly.” (If you have a high speed connection you can click here to watch it.) In the ad you have an attractive blonde widow telling the viewer how Tim Kaine doesn’t want to execute cop-killing drug dealers. It is pretty powerful stuff. Of course what makes it more powerful is that Tim Kaine has been very clear that he does support a moratorium on the death penalty so that all the people on Death Row in Virginia can have their cases reviewed. Tim Kaine furthermore has gone on the record saying that his Roman Catholic faith informs his strongly held moral conviction that the death penalty is wrong.

So. You have the law-and-order Republican painting the Democrat as not wanting to support the death penalty. The death penalty which, your Maximum Leader adds, is quite popular in Virginia. (We’re number two behind Texas. Watch out Lone Star staters! We’re on your heels on this one!) Your Maximum Leader, dear minions, is perfectly willing to let a man say that his faith has shaped his moral judgement on the death penalty. Indeed, for a candidate to high office to come out and say something that unpopular in Virginia shows that someone has got some big balls. Your Maximum Leader may disagree, but you’ll score some points.

Well, you’ll score some points until you go around saying that while your faith leads you to believe that the death penalty is wrong; your faith doesn’t inform your moral beliefs at all when it comes to abortion. Surely Tim Kaine is welcome to whatever religious beliefs he thinks are right for him. But what turns off your Maximum Leader is when you invoke your faith to score points in one area, and deny it in another. If you are going to do that, your Maximum Leader would honestly prefer you keep your faith to yourself.

We are all inconsistent in one way or another when our personal beliefs may differ from the doctrine of our chosen church. (Except for the Smallholder - who is Episcopalian. And as we all know, it’s all good when you’re an Episcopalian.) When those inconsistencies are personal it isn’t a problem. But when one touts one’s faith to gain political favour with one group, then reject your faith to curry favour with another group it is just… well… cheap. Instead just say you’re against the death penalty and for abortion; don’t bring faith into it.

The second attack ad run by the Kilgore campaign that seems to be working is one concerning illegal immigrants. Tim Kaine, the Democrat, has said that he favours extending state welfare services to illegal immigrants; and furthermore wants to give the children of illegal immigrants in-state tuition at Virginia’s public universities and colleges. With a stated position like Kaine’s it is easy for Mr. Kilgore t tauntingly add to the end of his ad “What part of illegal doesn’t Tim Kaine understand?” Frankly your Maximum Leader agrees. Why should the children of illegal immigrants get in-state tuition at Virginia schools when the children of US citizens who live in different states not get that benefit? That seems like a fair question to ask.

Of course, Tim Kaine has run his own negative ads against Jerry Kilgore. The one that resonates with your Maximum Leader is the ad that states that Kilgore wants to outlaw abortion. All abortions. Even in cases of rape or incest. Well, actually there is an out for rape and incest. Kilgore would allow the abortion in cases of rape or incest if the crime was reported to police within 7 days of the occurance. That is a pretty extreme position to take if you plan on running for Governor one day. Of course the lucky thing is that so long as the Supreme Court stands by Roe - there isn’t a chance of there being completely illegal abortions. (BTW, if you want to see some of Kaine’s ads - they are here. But the abortion one isn’t on that page, don’t know why.)

Tim Kaine also runs a pretty effective ad against Kilgore on taxes. It basically states that while Kilgore is talking the talk about cutting taxes and spending by the state government; he is all in favour of letting localities raise local taxes as high as they want. It is a catchy little ad.

Your Maximum Leader will say one thing for Tim Kaine, he is doing a very effective job of using incumbent Governor Warner (who by the way has a 70% - or higher - approval rating) in personal apperances and job ads. Kaine is doing everything he possibly can do to wrap himself in the mantle of Mark Warner. In those ads Warner goes on and on about how Kaine was a big help to the Governor during the very nasty budget battles of a few years ago. The funny thing is, your Maximum Leader never remembers hearing Kaine’s name mentioned during the budget battles. Indeed, he seems to remember Kaine sticking to the sidelines and laying low - fearing (one supposes) that the deal could go bad. He had to maintain his own electability after all.

Anyhoo…

You may be asking yourself, why is my Maximum Leader going on and on about negative ads, the death penalty, abortion, taxes, and in-state tuition for illegal immigrants? Aren’t there more important issues facing the Commonwealth of Virginia? Indeed there are. In fact most non-partisan polling information indicates that Education and Transportation are the number one and number two issues in the Commonwealth. A few months ago the death penalty, abortion, and illegal immigration weren’t even in the top 15 issues on the minds of voters. But thanks to the ads, those issues are moving up.

So what do we have here in Virginia? We have a state that is pretty well run. One might even say that (at least financially) Virginia is the best run state in the Union. (We are the only one with a AAA Bond rating afterall.) The state’s economy is growing. There is a budget surplus projected for quite a while. All in all things are good.

So when things are going well, what can two men who want to succeed a popular governor do? They can say they are for education and new roads. Of course they are. Who isn’t for smart kids and roads? Voters don’t want to be bothered by difficult things like reading position papers or plans. They like the short sweet who do you love issues. So, both candidates have determined to bring to the forefront issues that most voters wouldn’t think were important if someone weren’t talking about them so much.

One of these men will be elected governor next Tuesday. Who ever the winner is will likely have a negative ad to thank for a tiny margin of victory.

Not much else to say on this subject except to urge those of you who are registered to vote in Virginia that you do so next Tuesday.

Carry on.
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Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader read something in the Post that was interesting. Here is the link:

$75,000 in Bull Semen Stolen.

One should ask the Smallholder, “What were you doing and where were you Sunday night?”

Bonnie the Smallholder’s House Cow is “caught” but she’ll need to be “caught” again before too long.

Carry on.

People in Wisconsin want beer!

This can’t be true.

The Smallholder family orginates in Wisconsin and, as the other ministers will attest, my whole family is staunchly opposed to beer.

Mmmmmm… beer…

Our Constitution has a clear process for appointing judges.

Like it or not, the people of the United States have selected a Republican president and granted the Republicans a Senate majority.

This is how the game is played. By the rules.

Hell, they could appoint me to the Supreme Court if they wanted.

This is not to say that the voters shouldn’t register their approval or disapproval of Bush’s picks at the polls come Congressional election time.

I like to think that a Smallholder appointment would lock up the key “hot organic chick” voting bloc.

Super seekrit note to George: Just remember that ‘ol Marky is available and I am more qualified than Harriet Meirs was, having thought about and discussed Constitutional law at some point in my life. Added bonus: Clerk Presly!

He has a steady judicial philosophy.

His track record shows that he weighs each case and measures it against our Constitution.

He does not seem to be an outcome-oriented judge.

And whether or not you agree with his particular brand of interpretive thought, it is predictable and legislatures can tailor legislation accordingly. Outcome-focused folks often think that appointing a judge who will vote a certain way regardless of the facts or Constitution is a panacea. But whim-based, willy-nilly jurisprudence is bad for society. Gradual evolution is the way to go, if evolution is required.

I’d rather have a competent jurist with whom I might disagree (Alito) than an incomptent cipher (Meirs).

Actually, although it is the moonbats who are currently suffering seizures, I suspect the right may be less than fully satisfied with Alito’s constitutionally-based intepretation. As a fan of stare decisis, he’s unlikely to broadly overturn precedent. In fact, the abortion case that is making the left swoon should be giving palpitations to the pro-life crowd. Given a chance to argue against the constitutional reasoning of Roe v. Wade, he seems to have accepted the idea that abortion is a right, but the government can regulate some aspects as long as it doesn’t create an undue burden.

Winston Churchill once offered a woman a million pounds to sleep with him. She accepted. He then reduced his offer to one pound. “Winston!” She cried in dismay, “What kind of woman do you think I am?” “We have already established that. Now we are dickering over price.”

Alito apparantly accepts Roe v. Wade. He was just dickering over the definition of undue burden.

For the record, in Casey, I would have ruled the same way. If a married woman is aborting her child, the husband ought to be informed. He ought not to be able to stop her, but if he wants children, he ought to be able to make the decision about whether to stay in the marriage.

I haven’t read the machine gun case, but I understand Alito was against the regulation not because of some imagined 2nd Amendment right of individuals, but bcause the government doesn’t have an enumerated power and it wasn’t a necessary and proper law in the regulation of infrastate trade.

I’ve said before that ID is bad for Christians.

Not only does it ask us to give up the rational minds God gave us, it now also apparantly makes liars out of us:

Bad liars.

Stupid liars.

Drug-addled liars.

Funny little editorial here.

Found indirectly through Rite Wing TechnoPagan.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader, today, will bloviate on the chosen Men’s Club/Diva’s topic. That topic is: Who really has the upper hand in the different stages of a relationship? During dating is it typically men? Then after marriage is it typically women?

Well, your Maximum Leader turned this question over in his mind again and again. The more he thought about it, the clearer his views on this subject became. And as his thoughts became clearer he realized his post was becoming shorter and shorter.

Why you ask yourself? Because to put a really fine point on it, women always have “hand.” When you are dating there might be slight backs-and-forths in the “hand” department. But in the end the woman always has “hand.” Marriage is pretty much the same deal. From time to time a man might find himself in a position where he believes he has “hand” over a woman. But this perception is really an illusion.

Yes dear minions, if a man perceives that he has more “hand” than does a woman in whatever stage of their relationship he is deluding himself. Because the woman - and the woman alone - posesses the neutron bomb of “hand.” This is to say that she has a vagina. So long as this biological fact remains a fact a woman will always have the “upper hand” in a relationship.

You see, men, for all their bluster and machismo, are rather simple creatures. Provide a manwith food and shelter and the only other things he needs in life are sex and television. (NB: Television can be replaced with computer games/internet porn if you like.) The mind of a man is warped by sex and the pursuit of sex. When we aren’t consciously thinking about sex our unconscious libido is doing the thinking for us. This is why a man can - at any moment - have an erection. He might be in the middle of a business presentation, brain surgery, a NASCAR race, anything really; when suddenly his “little friend” suddenly becomes alert and ready for action.

Because of this simple fact a man is always willing to trade “hand” for sex. And if you are always willing to trade away any “hand” you may have earned - it can really be said that you possess no “hand” at all.

Here endeth the exposition.

Read more on these other quality sites! Phin, Jameseyboy, Stiggy, Teafizz, The Wizard, Sadie, Kathy, Silk, Paula, and Phoenix.

Carry on.

Scooter indicted
Rusty: Perjury not bad
Moinca’s man: Whew!

Oil companies gouge
Bad oil! What right do they have?
Um… supply/demand?

Denver has decided
MJ Legalization
Bigho books a flight

Pro-life hails Alito
Suckers! Reverence toward
Stare decisis

Dale Carpenter at Volokh Conspiracy has posted an essay on the slippery slope toward polygamy envisioned by anti-gay marriage activists.

Brian and and I have danced a bit over polygamy. Brian tagged me right smartly for switching arguments midstream, a crime which I will ackowledge.

Based on allowing people to express love, Brian is right that there is no distinction between ssm and polygamy. Carpenter makes a solid case to bar polygamy on other grounds.

The part about polygamy being bad for a democratic society is spot on. Think Bacon’s rebellion (where serial monogamy by plantation owners had the effect of increasing the skew of an already imbalanced sex ratio). The frontier farmers weren’t only rebelling on econoic and defense issues. They were pissed about dying virgins.

The Moral Animal, a book I’ve recommended before, has an excellent section explaining why polygamy is good for women and bad for men from an evolutionary standpoint. Whatever the selfish genes may say, polygamy is bad for democracy.

Which is why, in the Mike World Order’s faux democracy, the monogamy laws will only be set aside for Mike and his Ministers. (Dibs on Jaime!)

He has a new hobby.

Via Michael Yon.

Coldblooded hamster
Cruelly dueling to the death
Die, Fuzzy! Die! Die!

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader poses a question to you all to discuss.

Are movie scores a subgenre of “Classical” music or a genre all their own?

Discuss.

Carry on.
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