Hawaiian's Punch

When the Hope n' Change editorial board met to decide today's topic, it was to difficult to choose between the brutal "knockout game" in which young black punks attack innocent people for no reason, or the ongoing disaster of people losing their health insurance and access to doctors because of Obamacare. And then it dawned on us: except for a question of scale, it's the same story.

The perpetrators of the violent "knockout game" have apparently been doing it for a long time, but the mainstream media has been actively covering it up as long as they could because reporting any particular story accurately would mean making a black man look bad. Sound familiar?

And the only reason we're hearing about the "knockout game" now is because the sheer number of victims is getting too big to ignore - in much the same way that it's also increasingly hard for the mainstream media to bury reports that 50 to 100 million Americans are about to lose their health insurance. Talk about a knockout punch!

Boiled down to their essentials, both stories are about those who are innocent and vulnerable being deliberately attacked by coldblooded bullies, with potentially life-changing or life-ending consequences.

Obamacare has become the equivalent of a dark and threatening back alley in a very bad neighborhood. And to paraphrase Nancy Pelosi,  God help those who are forced to pass through it to see what's in it.

It's all about "re-branding."

Sick Simpering Tyrant

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, widely considered the greatest American speech ever given on the topic of freedom and government of the people, by the people, and for the people, Barack Hussein Obama did...well...absolutely nothing.

And why? Because he was allegedly busy working on "the whole website thing" for Obamacare, almost certainly the most massive and historic example of a program which is entirely of the government, by the government, and for the government, while feeding "We the people" into a woodchipper.

Moreover, what the heck could Barack Obama have to say in favor of a speech which was intended to unite a divided nation? This president's entire administration has been devoted to dividing our nation - a task at which, sadly, he's been uncharacteristically successful. Not since the days of the Blue and the Gray have we seen anger and enmity ramped up to the degree we currently see between the Blue states and Red states.

We are living in an era in which Lincoln's words are being gravely tested. And we now risk finding out that a nation conceived in Liberty really can not long endure when so many people in the topmost reaches of power - including those at a certain Pennsylvania Avenue address - are dedicated to bringing this country to its knees.

Okay, we know Barry bragged about enjoying cocaine
but don't know if it was ever in the form of crack. So sue us.

Bupkis

@Readers- I won't lie to you. There's really nothing here you need to see or read today. There was nothing wildly compelling in the news, I'm still missing my dog terribly, and I was distracted all day Sunday by the bad weather sweeping across the Midwest. 

You see, Mrs. Jarlsberg and I used to live in a trailer in Indiana, and one dark and stormy night we had to say goodbye to each other over the sounds of roaring wind and thunder while hiding UNDER the trailer with the dirt, spiders, and our terrified cat in a box.

Fortunately, the funnel missed us by a couple of miles - but when the tornado warnings go off in Indiana (where I still have friends and family) I just can't focus on much else. Here's hoping that by the time you read this, the danger will have passed.

But since you've taken the trouble to show up and read this far, I'm at least sharing this YouTube video which may not be the most inspiring version of "Stout-Hearted Men" I've ever heard, but is certainly the most hilarious (even though the scat-singing "artist" was entirely sincere when he made this recording).  Caution: it is an earworm and it will live in your noggin forever.

Sing along, everybody!