Monthly Archives: May 2011

Obama Don't Need No Steenkin' Badges

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The silence of the left, while cowardly, is nonetheless refreshing.

White House on War Powers Deadline: ‘Limited’ US Role in Libya Means No Need to Get Congressional Authorization – Political Punch.  via Drudge

This is an awfully convenient way of looking at things.  It does not happen to be correct.  The reason that only Congress can declare war is to make sure that the American people run foreign policy.  The Executive branch is there to execute the will of the American people as expressed in the laws passed by Congress.  There is no requirement for the words “We Declare War”, but Congress must pass a resolution authorizing these actions.

But ah,  do you hear that shrieking?  Neither do I.

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Very Strange Ubuntu Issues

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I’m running Ubuntu 11.04 “Natty Narwhal” on a custom box, and have been plaqued with sound issues.  Well, one sound issue, and it’s the one you are expecting if you came here by search: Pulseaudio crackles in every application.  Whether speakers or headphones, audio out the front or off the card in the back; it’s bad.  Although in the Prefs panel for sound, the test tone does not crackle.  Key troubleshooting point there–I believe from the reading that that sound test does not go through Pulse.

So I wanted to whack pulse.  Did some reading.  Saw (going from memory here)

killall pulseaudio
apt-get remove pulseaudio
apt-get install esound

And restart. So I did apt-get -s [commands etc], which is the “do-nothing” dry run, just-checking option. Looked good. Then … Continue reading →

Tea Party Dilemma

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The Tea Party constellation of groups and individuals is in a state of flux.  Central to the change is the strategy to take in 2012; pragmatism or dogmatism, and frankly, it will require both.

I suppose this vexes every political movement, but the pragma/dogma dilemma is particularly striking the Tea Party groups.  On one hand, the Tea Party is largely a subset of traditionally Republican voters, with a healthy dose of libertarians and Constitutional fundamentalists thrown in.  These are the people who found the Republican party too passive and pliable in years past.  This makes them a naturally ideological movement, prone to reject a reasonable candidate with a decent shot at winning because he or she fails one or more hot-button tests.

[pullquote]they were still furious at Republicans, … Continue reading →

Newt Gingrich Unhorsed

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Newt Gingrich was an overpowering force on the Op-Ed pages, and could have provided crucial support over the next two years.  He was always an establishment man, but his personal baggage meant that he could not return to the front.  He cast away an important back-bench responsibility in pursuit of a post more glorious but impossible to attain, and is now hopelessly on the defensive.   Newt is already defeated, because he should not have run.

For some reason, he chose to denigrate a damned good plan and along the way, to wound a man who is under a sustained personal attack from the other side, even from the President himself.  Gingrich now says that he supports “improving the plan”, but for a man who has had twenty … Continue reading →

Disappointed in Newt Gingrich

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I have always liked Newt Gingrich.  He gave an address in 2002 at some dinner somewhere, and this was the first “Podcast” I ever heard.  This was perhaps the height of his oratory, in the days when “federal chipmunk” featured in many of his speeches.  I have long been impressed with his ideas and his presentation.

I saw him as a magnificent piece of field artillery, able to deliver withering fire in support of any truly conservative position from behind the lines, perched on the editorial pages with a commanding view of the valley below.  Military minds know not to scoff at the big guns in the rear of the battle area just because they are in the rear:  the ability to bombard the enemy at a time … Continue reading →