Why, thank you very much!!  Very good advice indeed.  Last year, at about this time actually, I was recovering from a kidney stone surgery at the hospital when a dear elderly lady came into the room one evening to ask if I was smoker.  I told her I enjoy a pipe every now and then and she allowed as how, "You're a smoker then."  She asked if I thought of the patch, and came this far from complaining that they won't stay lit in my pipe!  And last night I had a pleasant meeting with Jack Daniels at the hotel bar, so I'm doing what I can to take Twain's advice.  

Brother can you spare a 10 cents?  

In 1994, I visited Pearl Harbor and toured the Arizona Memorial.  The ship is visible beneath the water.  The walls of the headquarters building at Hickam Air Force Base remain pock-marked to this day from enemy strafing runs.  The American Flag that flew on post that day, tattered from battle, remains on display.  The blood runs cold at the thought of that day's events.   I met a gentleman who was on duty during the attack, and was struck by how calmly he could speak of unspeakable barbarity.  We can never forget.  

Thanks, Doc, for helping us remember.  

Which, I suspect, is why the President confined his remarks "large scale" attacks, ignoring the enemy's ability to adapt his tactics and hit our weak points just the same,...the weakest point being the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.   What he has failed to do,  is to exploit intelligence opportunities that could prevent the increased attacks that we are experiencing, because he views making a terrorist uncomfortable as synonymous with torture. 

I'm celebrating a day early, by spending the evening with as many of you as can be at our meet up in Seattle!

David, I think they reserve the seats and things to protect the general public. It has a marvelous quarantine effect.

Christie, your memory is entirely too good, young lady.

So, if I understand this correctly, the Obama Administration's view of Constitutional governance is to shred the 1st Amendment, disembowel the 2nd Amendment, ignore the 4th and 10th Amendments, and then take refuge behind the 5th.  That about right?  

I hate to post, comment, and run,...but I'm trying desperately to get to the next Ricochet meet-up in Seattle on the 23d.  I need to make it to western Nebraska today.  I'll check in later, but in the meantime, please feel free to mingle....

Oh heavens no!  I'm a retired NCO, and an American trucker from the bayous of Louisiana, who has been privileged to breathe deeply the sweet air of freedom and recognizes that it doesn't come cheap.  

Hence, the observation of Benjamin Franklin, among others, that the American system of government would be unsuitable to any but a virtuous people.  

Excellent distillation of events and the people behind them.  I'll be sending this post far and wide.  Thanks!  

There ya go!!  

Crow's Nest: Hrm. What are we to make of this, then? · 18 minutes ago

Well, one is propaganda.  And the other....

(Sorry,...couldn't resist..)

Outstanding post! Unfortunately, the only person standing in the way of a special committee on Benghazi, for example, is the Speaker of the House. We've got to stay on these people with regard to the IRS, the press intrusion, Bemghazi, the EPA's political and selective Freedom of Information Act responses, and the desperate need to defund and defang Obamacare before this same IRS implements it.

What a pretentious ass...