Paul Ryan’s Racine Townhall

At the Douglas Park Cesar Chavez Community Center for Rep. Paul Ryan’s final town hall.

Even despite Ryan’s open request for civility and tolerance for differing points of view, idiot lefties and union thugs yelled out at him. The last incident drew a visit from one of Racine’s finest.

One lefty was ejected about 20 minutes in. Loud round of applause when the idiot was escorted from the premises by police. Elvis has left the building.

Ryan entered to a loud, lengthy standing ovation. For the most part, the crowd has been attentive and respectful. Clearly, they are interested in what he has to say.

I am live-blogging this through a combination of my laptop and WordPress for my droid. Interesting. I will have some more pictures from my digital camera, including some buffoons outside the Chavez Center. Morons. Shit-for-brains morons.

Ryan talked about taxes. Typically, idiot lefties on the “tax the rich” train jeered. Ryan patiently explained how tax reform broadens the tax base and increases revenue without raising taxes and that “soak the rich” won’t work.

The Idiot Left showed itself to be just what it is: the Idiot Left. Ryan is one of the national conservative figures who legitimately frighten the Left — Sarah Palin is another — because of the grasp of complex issues and the ability to explain them in terms Americans who aren’t policy wonks inside the Beltway can understand.

The reported unionista takeover didn’t happen, thanks in no small part to the Racine TEA Party’s word of mouth campaign to take over the front and floor seating.

‘Card Check” Declared To Be ‘Deemed And Passed’?

Apparently in the eyes of the National Labor Relations Board, the controversial Big Labor supported “card check” legislation is the law of the land simply because The Messiah so desires.

The NLRB is filing a federal lawsuit against South Dakota and Arizona over legislation passed by voters in both states on referendum prohibiting card check, a process by which a majority of a workplace can authorize a union to represent it through signed authorization without a secret ballot. The removal of the secret ballot requires opponents of the union to openly express their view and makes those opponents subject to typical union intimidation.

From al-New York Times (emphasis mine):

In a letter sent on Friday, the labor board told those states that it would invoke the United States Constitution’s supremacy clause in asserting that the state constitutional amendments conflict with federal laws and are pre-empted by those laws. One federal official said the lawsuits would be filed in the next few days.

The mindless state-run media hack (pictured, below) never even questions what the NLRB claims or even asks specifically which laws are in conflict with the referenda passed by voters in South Dakota and Arizona. Just mindlessly repeats whatever the Obama Regime tells it to repeat.

Federal legislation making card check a federal law never passed the 110th Congress. It died with significant public opposition to the strong-arm tactics of Big Labor. With the Republicans taking over the House of Representatives in January and the Democrats’ majority in the Senate reduced, it stands no chance of passing the 111th Congress.

Yet Barack Hussein Obama’s NLRB, which has been reduced to carrying water for Da Unions, is treating proposed legislation as existing law and filing a lawsuit claiming that something never passed is all of a sudden the law of the land.

Maybe Dingy Harry and Bela Pelosi deemed and passed this like they did with ObamaCare.

The Lonely Conservative expresses her shock — shock! — that the NLRB is just another thug-arm of the Obama Regime:

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has announced its intention to sue the states of Arizona and South Dakota over state laws passed which would preserve the secret ballot in union elections in those states. We can’t have that, now, can we. The unions want card check, and the NLRB is there to do the unions’ bidding.

Shocked, shocked! The Obama Regime doing what its Big Union puppetmasters want it to do.

Obama Calls On Immigration ‘Experts’

A collection of America’s best and brightest have been summoned to the White House by Our Lord and Savior Barack Hussein Obama to offer their input on forming a comprehensive immigration reform policy.

What’s that, you say? Best and brightest? Eva Longoria. America Ferrera. Rosario Dawson.

You guessed it. One of Obama’s core constituencies: Hollywood nitwits. Celebritards. The bubbleheaded, empty-headed, vacuous folks famous for being famous offering their insightful views on immigration reform extending amnesty to illegal aliens and opening our borders even more to get more Democrat votes for the 2012 election.

What Obama, His Hollywood pals and the illegal aliens are all saying to us in reality is:

Gas Price Up; So Is Theft

This should come as no surprise.

As gas prices, to use Dear Leader’s own words, “necessarily skyrocket,” the number of drive-off thefts has also increased.

Regular gasoline averages $3.88 a gallon, up $1.02 from a year ago and likely to climb higher. Increasingly, consumers are pumping gas and driving off without paying, stealing from other motorists and ripping off large quantities from municipalities and businesses.

Gasoline thefts cost convenience store operators, which sell about 80% of the fuel sold in the USA, more than $90 million in 2009. “No question that’s up,” says National Association of Convenience Stores spokesman Jeff Lenard. “Any business that still allows you to pump gas first and then pay can be taken advantage of.”

And just imagine what it will be like when the price at the pump hits $6 a gallon, predicted as early as this summer.

Sad to say, but the days of being able to fill your car then go in and pay the attendant are over. All stations need to install pay-at-the-pump features or require pre-pay.

Why? Go read the comments section of the USA Today article. Soak in the class envy/class warfare rhetoric which stems from Our Lord and Savior Himself about eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil oil companies and the eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil rich who somehow have this coming.

It’s because of a delberately dumbed-down populace, thanks to gummint-run ejookayshun and a willingly misleading media completely in the tank for the class warriors and entertainment culture that routinely portrays anyone in business or anyone with money as evil that class envy and class warfare logic succeeds to the extent that it does. Anyone who falls for the mean-spirited, divisive class envy/class warfare rhetoric from the Left is as likely to fall for the wide assortment of tinfoil-hat conspiracy theories, like 9/11 Troofers and the nutjobs that somehow believe the moon landing was faked.

Just because a product is expensive does not give anyone the right to steal it.

Sticker Threats From Da Union Goons

The unionistas are still at it, throwing their Terrible Twos temper tantrums and are now threatening to commit vandalism inside supermarkets on May 1 against products representing businesses whose individual employees donated to or support Gov. Scott Walker.

According to the WITI-TV (Channel 6) report, union thugs are planning on placing anti-Walker stickers on packages of Johnsonville brats, Coors beer and Angel Soft toilet paper.

Wisconsin grocery stores are bracing for a big protest against the Governor, but protesters won’t be outside stores with pickets. Protesters are planning to place anti-Walker stickers on products made by businesses they believe support Governor Scott Walker. These illegal actions have grocery store owners worried.

The Wisconsin Grocery Association is warning stores of a May 1st plan to put stickers on three types of products found in most grocery stores. Johnsonville Brats, Coors Beer, and Angel Soft Toilet Paper.

This effort is being pushed by the same pro-union people who boycotted banks, and stores who’s management gave the Governor Scott Walker’s campaign.

May 1. Hmmmm. Now what would be the significance of that date? Oh yeah, that’s right. May 1 is International Workers Day, a major Communist holiday. Imagine that. Unionistas committing criminal acts of violence on a Communist holiday.

Who’d a-thunk it?

Japan’s Cat Island

The last few days have been just horrible with the death and destruction brought upon parts of the United States courtesy of Mother Nature. And we all know how cruel she was to the people of Japan with an earthquake and a tsunami, which also resulted in a nuclear plant disaster.

Here’s a feel-good story from Japan, on a place referred to as Cat Island. Check out the pictures and video of our feline friends who survived the earthquake and tsunami and are being cared for along with other survivors.

50 Real Reasons To Criticize Obama

Now that the birth certificate issue has properly been laid to rest — apart from the tinfoil hat-wearing conspiracy crowd who’ll no doubt claim that the birth certificate released by the White House today was a Photoshop — Jeff Dunetz from Yid With Lid has 50 legitimate reasons to criticize Our Lord and Savior Barack Hussein Obama.

1. Obamacare
2. Drill Here Drill Now
3. High Taxes
4. High Deficit
5. Gun Control
6. Unemployment
7. China our arses
8. Oil Prices are too high
9. Lousy Relationship With Europe
10. Appeasing Terrorists
11. Protecting the Borders
12. Enforcing the Law the same way for Caucasians and members of the New Black Panther party.
13. Enforcing the Law against ACORN
14. Enforcing the Law against CAIR
15. The Pigford Scandal
16. Favoring Muslims Over Christians and Jews
17. The Stupid War in Libya
18. Leading From the Back
19. Energy Taxes
20. Giving Money To Brazil To Drill For Oil
21. Treating Our Ally Israel Like a Rogue Nation
22. Federal Funding For Abortion
23. Ending Subsidies for Big Oil
24. Not Ending Subsidies For Electric Cars
25. Not Ending Subsidies For Farmers Who Don’t Farm
26. Not Ending Subsidies For Ethanol
27. The Wasteful Stimulus Bill
28. Cap and Trade
29. The EPA’s Regulation of Exhaling (CO2)
30. The FCC’s Attempt to Take Over The Internet
31. Favoring Unions over The General Public
32. Getting Involved With Local (Wisconsin) Issues
33. Telling a Guy With 10 Kids To Buy a New Fuel Efficient Car And Then Using Air Force One to Fly to Chicago (on our dime) Simply to Appear on Oprah
34. Forcing All Stimulus Construction Contracts to be Granted to Union Shops or to Shops That Raise Their Wages/Benefits to a Union Level Even Though Only 14% of Construction Companies Are Union–Causing a 20% Increase In The Cost To The American Public
35. Being the Most Divisive “Unifying” President in the HistoryT of America
36. Lying About His Health Plan Not Forcing People To Change Insurance Providers
37. Lying About His Promise For A Transparent Presidency
38. Having Different Rules for Syria and Libya
39. Announcing The War On Libya and Instead of Staying In Washington to Show Support for the Troops in Harm’s Way, running off to Brazil With Your Family Before The Ink Was Dry on The Orders
40. QE 1
41. QE 2
42. The Auto Bailout
43. Your Half of the Banking Bailout
44. Ignoring the BP Disaster for the First Two Months
45. Refusing The Offers of Allies to Help With The BP Disaster Until The Public Complained
46. Going Against Honduras When They Tossed Their President, Even Though Honduras was Following Their Constitution.
47. John Holdren, Science Czar
48. Cash For Clunkers
49. Trying to Intimidate Insurance Companies When They Told The Truth About Obamacare
50. Bashing The Chamber of Commerce For Exercising Their Right to Free Speech While Being Silent About Government Unions Spending As Much or More on Campaign Donations as the Chamber

Jeff’s right, too. There are probably 50 more reasons we can come up with to criticize and vote against Obama. It’s time to focus on some winning issues rather than waste time on issues that the Obama-loving state-run media can use to stereotype all of us who oppose The Christos as racists and members of the kook-fringe.

RIP Empire Carpet Man

The name Lynn Hauldren might not mean anything to you, but he’s easily been one of the most recognizable faces on TV in the Midwest for decades.

Hauldren, born Elmer Lynn Hauldren, was the face of Empire Carpets and the creator of its  earworm jingle, “5-8-8-2-3-Hundred, Empire,” has died at the age of 89.

Hauldren was the central character of Empire Today’s advertising since the 1970s, providing the voice for the famous character known as Empire’s mascot. He continued to work with the company until his death.

In the 1970s, Hauldren was one of the advertising forces behind the Empire brand. The company’s owner during the time requested that Hauldren, an ad copywriter at the time, serve as the on-air talent for the spots after unsuccessfully auditioning several other people, a release from Empire Today said.

That choice launched him into pop culture stardom, with his signature “588-2300” line becoming one of the nation’s most popular jingles.

“Lynn was truly passionate about the Empire brand,” said Steve Silvers, company CEO. “He has made an indelible mark on advertising history with his creativity and warmth. Lynn will always have a special place in the hearts of many.”

Hauldren was a decorated World War II veteran who continued to lend his voiceover talent to Empire’s commercials until his passing.

Yes, another member of the Greatest Generation has passed on. Hauldren provided voiceovers to the current Empire commercials, which feature an animated Hauldren pitching Empire’s carpets. He stopped making commercials several years ago due to his advancing age.

Here’s an Empire commercial from the 1970s:

Here’s one from the mid-1980s:

Lynn Hauldren was a cultural icon to those of us who grew up watching TV in southeastern Wisconsin. Hopefully Empire will continue to run the commercials with the animated Hauldren as a tribute to a great salesman.

Alabama Tornado

Update: At least 72 confirmed dead in Alabama and Georgia.

This is frightening video taken by a resident of the third floor of an apartment complex in Birmingham, Ala.

The tornado was reported to be a mile wide and ripped through Tuscaloosa and Birmingham.

Various reports from Twitter indicate there is massive damage to 15th Street and McFarland Boulevard. Sports writer Aaron Suttles reports via Twitter that the CVS at 15th Street and MacFarland has been destroyed, among many other businesses and apartment buildings.

Other reports state complete devastation along 15h Street heading to MacFarland.

Alabama Power reported at 6 p.m. there were 275,000 Alabama residents without power. In the city of Tuscaloosa, 50,295 customers are without power. In the western division of Alabama Power, there are 120,690 customers without power.

Phrases like “complete devastation” and buildings that are “completely missing” are being used to describe the damage.

Keep these people in your thoughts and prayers, as well as the other sections of the country being hit by severe weather.

Union Thug 101

From Publius at Andrew Breitbart’s Big Government comes the latest in a college ejookayshun, teaching students how to be union thugs:

The course is offered jointly at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Students can interact with each other and with each professor via videoconferencing.

The Professors are Judy Ancel, Director of Labor Studies at UMKC and  Don Giljum, business manager for the International Union of Operating Engineers at Ameren UE in St. Louis. (Bonus: he is a member of the Communist Party.)

In the class, the Professors not only advocate the occasional need for violence and industrial sabotage, they outline specific tactics that can be used.

Watch the whole thing. It’s disturbing on many levels, especially how matter-of-factly these two advocate criminal behavior to advance Marxism.

Remember, too, you paid for this. Yes, it’s financed by taxpayers.