* The Obama administration has announced they’re going to stop deporting illegal immigrants unless they commit a crime. Isn’t staying staying in the country illegally a crime, hence the term “illegal”? I don’t know.

I wish the pro-illegal immigration crowd would be honest and just argue for open borders with no checks on anyone instead of this “we’ll keep saying its a crime and never enforce it” position. And that’s the main thing about the pro-illegal immigration people: Dishonesty. The way they’re always trying to conflate illegal immigration with legal immigration shows they know they have an untenable position and want to do anything they can to avoid dealing with it head on. That’s why we have to keep the pressure on. We can’t give up America’s sovereignty just because some people think they have a great position to win votes.

* With the economy in shambles and high unemployment, what’s the big issue right now? Evolution! You can see a video here of a mentally disturbed mom trying to push her kid into asking Rick Perry about it, and Jon Huntsman for some reason thought it was a good idea in the Republican primary to loudly profess his belief in it along with global warming — ’cause he’s smart.

I hate the belief in evolution. I don’t have any particular problem with the science of it, but I hate the belief in it. We sure spend a lot of time arguing about evolution considering that 99% of people could never have heard of evolution and it wouldn’t have caused a single change in their lives. It’s only has actual practical use to a few scientists, but it’s super important everyone believe in it for some reason. You could hear in that deranged mother’s voice how important she thought it was to press Perry on that issue, when I think I can go out on a limb and guess she’s a scientific illiterate who doesn’t even understand evolution (same for Huntsman). Science is something that’s supposed to be different from religion, but it seems like few people can hold on to that distinction in their minds. Instead it’s always reduced to people having to loudly profess certain beliefs whether they understand them or not because it just feels super important everyone believe them. That fact is, most people could live their lives thinking the sun revolves around the earth and it wouldn’t adversely affect them at all, but if just feels almost offensive to let people think that wrong way. That’s because we don’t let science be what it is and make it a worldview. A religion. Poor little science isn’t up to that.

* Word is coming from people close to the Obama campaign that they’d rather face Rick Perry than Mitt Romney because he’s easier to beat. Consider the strength of Obama right now, isn’t that like Obama saying he’d rather fight the Hulk in a cage match rather than Superman because he thinks the Hulk is easier to beat. Maybe true, but either way he’s getting pounded into a fine paste. That’s why there’s so much talk about other people getting in the race, because if you’re a Republican who wants to be president, now is probably one of the best opportunities you’ll have to run against a weak Democrat. And if you’re going by the William F. Buckley rule — “Nominate the most conservative candidate who is electable.” — the most conservative person electable is going to be a lot more conservative than in other years.

Hopefully we can find that conservative. But if we can’t, Romney’s willing and ready and Obama’s scared of him!

* Those serious liberals at Think Progress have identified what’s the problem in our failing economy: We don’t all get guaranteed paid vacations! How has America survived like this? I don’t know! Let’s pay more people not to work; I’m sure that will get things moving in this economy. Especially if it’s Obama and Congress.

And if you didn’t get enough liberal seriousness, here’s a new one on the super-serious issue of global warming: If we don’t stop it, aliens may invade us and kill us all. Yes, NASA scientists are actually arguing that. I guess they’ve given up arguing on any direct effect from global warming, so now they have to add an alien invasion to make it a threat. One supposition is that green aliens may see the harm we’re causing and wipe us out. That’s been the plot of a few scifi movies and it’s supposed to make us think, but have you ever thought of it the other way? Like if humans went to Pandora and found that the blue people were horrible polluters and we decided to mass slaughter them to save the planet, would we in any way be good guys? And if we’re wiping out all intelligent life, who exactly are we saving the planet for? If there are really aliens out there that think that way, we need to hunt down and exterminate those arrogant, murderous sociopaths before they kill more civilizations.

* Wisdom of the Day: Here’s Andy Levy delivering a righteous beatdown to Chris Brown:

* I haven’t posted pictures of Buttercup in a while, so here you go:

"You are sentenced to ten minutes in the bucket of reading!"

Buttercup

More pictures here of the cutest baby ever.

* Obama wants to assure us that we’re not in danger of another recession… but if things do stall, it’s because people disagreed with him and didn’t do what he told them. Other presidents — also known as better presidents — somehow dealt with congresses that disagreed with them and got things done. Obama had huge majorities in the Senate and the House and somehow still struggled at everything, and now that he’s lost that his only idea to try and make things happen is constant whining. How do you make an argument that this guy is not a horrible leader? Does the first step involve drilling a hole in your own head?

* Apparently, Obama has been avoiding black communities on his bus tour. Why would he need to talk to black people and assure them everything will be all right? They only have like twice the unemployment of everyone else.

Of course, it’s obvious why he isn’t visiting black people. This tour is to convince people to vote for Obama in 2012, but he doesn’t need to do that for blacks. They have to vote for Obama because they’re black. They have no choice in the matter. If you’re black, you vote for the Democrat. So Obama can just ignore them his whole presidency and then come election time have some advocacy group claim the Republican is going to burn crosses to scare them into voting as they’re supposed to. Is this news to black people? Hasn’t this agreement been going on for decades?

* Obama has reached a new low on his handling the economy — only 26% approve. And you gotta kinda wonder what in the world it is those 26% are approving of. Maybe some people don’t like economies and want them destroyed.

But don’t worry: Obama has a new jobs plan. Aren’t we excited. All his other plans were complete and utter failures, but this time he’s sure to get it right! Apparently, we won’t get the plan until he comes back from his next vacation. Which leads to my job plan: Obama does nothing but vacation for the rest of his presidency. By now, it’s pretty obvious that most useful thing he’s capable of doing is staying out of the way.

Actually, he hasn’t proved he’s capable of that.

* I’ve never watched Stephen Colbert’s show; I’ve seen glimpses of his shtick, but I’ve never understood if he’s supposed to be a parody of a conservative or a parody of what liberals who know FOX News is evil but never watched it think a conservative is like. Whatever he is, he’s a thief:

You’re watching Stephen wants to ‘nuke the moon’ on ‘The Colbert Report’ 08/16/11 – TV Replay. See the Web’s top videos on AOL Video

* I always thought the illusion with the cylinder casting a shadow on a checkerboard was the best I’ve ever seen. Usually when I’m told what the illusion is in an image, I can squint and see the trick. Not with this one; I need to actually manipulate it in photoshop to actually see that the two squares are the same color. Anyway, here’s the same illusion in video form. It looks like a special effect but it isn’t:

See, basically your brain automatically compensates for the shadow so you can perceive the checker pattern (because if you perceived the two squares as the same color you wouldn’t see a check board and miss the pattern). Your brain is doing all this background processing all the time to help you understand what your’re seeing, but it never gets any credit or even a thank you. It just gets yelled at when it gets tricked by an artificial illusion. Poor brain.

* Wisdom of the Day: “For fans of The Notebook, ‘Hobo with a Shotgun’ is now on Netflix Instant.” –Michael Deppisch

* I like this: A California college student is asking liberal students in favor of wealth redistribution whether they would favor having their GPA redistributed to the less fortunate. One even responded, “If I do give GPA points to students that don’t deserve it, it isn’t fair, I work for what I have.” See, the conservative instinct is in everyone. You just have to figure the right way to wake it.

* On Obama’s bus tour, he told a crowd that, “I make no apologies for being reasonable.” That’s like how I make no apologies for being Latino. For one thing, being Latino is nothing anyone should apologize for. But, more importantly, I’m not Latino so the apology would make absolutely no sense. So, in that sense, I fully support Obama not apologizing for being reasonable.

* Here’s another gem from Obama from his bus ride:

“We had reversed the recession, avoided a depression, gotten the economy moving again, but over the last six months we’ve had a run of bad luck.”

So Obama was totally fixing the economy and we were about to rocket to prosperity, but then Obama accidentally ran over a leprechaun — which we all know gives you bad luck. I mean, we were about to have a true recovery, but then Obama hooked a swing on a golf course, went to chase down the ball, and accidentally stumbled into a mummy’s tomb and got cursed.

So, you know, bad luck. Other than that, Obama has been doing awesome.

* So what do you think of Obama’s bus tour to get to know America better? I fully expect at the end for him to remark, “Wow, I wasn’t really liking the people I was meeting, but these last few stops have been much more supportive and really more my type of people.” And then he finds out he spent the last week of his trip driving through Canada.

* For some reason, people got all upset when Rick Perry said that if Ben Bernanke were to print more money, it would be “almost treasonous.” He said “almost.” He didn’t say that, after due process, Bernanke should by hung by the neck until dead. He said that should almost happen. Come on; stop being a bunch of sissies.

* And polls already have Perry has the front runner, so you should expect attacks in full force on him. One thing the left is concentrating on is dismissing the jobs created in Texas since about 40% to 48% of jobs created during the recession were made in that state. I mean the absolutely last thing they want is this to be a race against a guy who knows how to spur job creation versus a flailing dunce who only knows how to flush our nation’s money down the toilet — objective comparison’s like that just aren’t going to work for Obama.

And you know it’s inevitable they’ll start saying George W. Bush was smarter and more reasonable than Rick Perry. Sure, the left was screaming “Hitler!” at Bush not that long ago, but pretty much 95% of that hatred was just partisan nonsense and not based on any coherent ideological objections, so that hate fades almost instantly when Bush is no longer a political threat. And if you think about it, George W. was born in New England and went to an Ivy League college — he’s the liberal’s kind of Texan. But Perry is fifth generation Texan and went to Texas A&M — he’s just a dumb hick.

* BTW, I don’t really like Perry. I fully expect him to be a RINO in hiding, but I keep finding myself having to defend him because of absolutely moronic arguments against him. I mean I expect that from liberals (“HE SED ‘BLACK CLOUD’!!1!!! HE IS TEH RACIST!!1!!1!”), but it really infuriates me to see it from so-called conservatives (“HE SUPPORTED GORE IN ’88!!1! HE IS TEH LIBRUL!!11!!!”). Twenty-three years ago, Perry was a Democrat. Fourteen years before Reagan became president, Reagan was a Democrat. Lots of conservatives used to be Democrats or liberals. It’s sort of the logical progression; you start out with the simpler liberal values and then later add on to them the more complex conservative values later in life. It means nothing to point out that someone was once a Democrat or a liberal unless you can also point to something he’s doing today that makes you think he still is one. Otherwise, you’re just making a silly child argument where you’re flailing around looking for something negative to grasp to not caring about the logic of it. I expect that from the left, but not from someone who claims to be a conservative. So go ahead and point out bad stuff about Perry now — like I hear he’s not so great on immigration — but don’t make moron child arguments. Leave that for the other side.

* Also, I do think it’s neat that Rick Perry has actually exercised his gun rights. Slate has a nice little article on advice for conceal carry while jogging. I also liked how the last two paragraphs are about why it’s a smart idea to carry while jogging. Lots of people think those who carry guns are paranoid, but it seems more like the people who don’t even think about carrying are willfully naive. I dream of one day where not having a gun on you is looked upon the same way as not wearing a seat belt.

* Wow; how many Perry items was that in a row? Now I’m already sick of him. Still some talk about Paul Ryan and Chris Christie getting in the race, though. If you want to president, now’s kind of the time with how vulnerable Obama is looking. I like Paul Ryan and his big ideas, but I’m always wary of a legislator becoming president. There really isn’t much accountability as a Representative or a Senator — you just have to vote ways people like — to really prove someone is a good leader. As for Chris Christie, he’s very fat. He may do lots of budget cuts, but he’ll probably waste all the savings on bacon. If he does run and someone asks him what president he would model himself after, I dare him to say “Taft”.

* Would you like to live on an oil rig run by Ron Paul? Of course, we all do. Anyway, I guess some libertarians are trying to come up with ways to make their own countries, and I support that. We need more country competition. If you want to live in a socialist country or a silly dictatorship, you have lots of choices. You want a free country, you only have America really. With no competition, America gets lazy. So some libertarian countries to compete with would be nice. And since we can’t have them on the moon like Heinlein envisioned, I guess an oil rig will do. So what will they do for industry? Oh yeah; drill for oil.

* STRAW POLL!!! — two words that together mean excitement!

So Michelle Bachmann won the Iowa straw poll and spent her victory speech staring at everyone with her crazy eyes. And Ron Paul was a close second and stared at everyone with his even crazier eyes!

What is this stupid thing anyway? You have to pay to vote for your candidate or something? And it’s obviously barely any better than an internet poll if Ron Paul did really well in it.

Still, despite its apparent pointlessness, I guess it means something to some people because Tim Pawlenty came in third and has decided to drop out. That’s too bad, because he really was a serious candidate with a lot to… zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…

* Rick Perry jumped in the race Saturday. What we know about him is that Texas is leading in job growth, his state had a credit upgrade while he was governor, and while walking his dog he shot a coyote with a concealed handgun. Also, quite important for the primary, he’s not Romney. Being not Romney isn’t a deal breaker with Republicans, but it is helpful.

BTW, I really like Perry’s line: “I promise to make Washington inconsequential in your lives.” That’s about the best promise I’ve ever heard from a politician. He better not break it! ::shakes fist::

Intrade already has Perry as the front runner for the Republican primary, so you can expect the attacks from liberals to really begin in earnest against Perry. He has a Texan drawl, so they’ll probably call him stupid. And they’ll probably find some legislative idea that they can characterize as evil. So they’ll be screaming how he’s stupid and evil in no time. The only thing they won’t be able to do is make any sort of coherent argument against Perry being a much better president than Obama.

* Speaking of Obama, what’s that scamp up to? Oh he’s trying to create more jobs — this time for real! And he’s figured out what his problem is: He needed a new department. A Department of Jobs. What a genius! Why didn’t anyone else figure this out? All we needed to get jobs is some new government department. And the new department will totally depart stuff until there are jobs everywhere.

Here’s a good question for the next Obama press conference: “What’s a job?” I’m guessing Obama can’t even define the word.

* So are people impressed with Obama’s new flailing around to try and make jobs? No. His approval rating has now dropped below 40%. Who are the 39% who approve of Obama? Maybe they’re people who don’t like working. Or terrorists who want to see the country destroyed. Or they didn’t understand the question.

Anyway, apparently no president other than Harry Truman has had an approval rating this low this late in his presidency and been reelected. So the obvious next move for Obama: Nuke someone.

* Herman Cain has apparently been quoting the Pokemon movie in campaign speeches. Personally, I think that’s pretty cool. Maybe he should color more of his speeches with Pokemon quotes:

“Peace, liberty, justice… gotta catch ’em all!”

* So there is some sort of movement to get Bert and Ernie gay married. Anyone ever think about what this sort of stuff has done for homophobia? I mean, the message is that if you see any two men interact closely, then you’re supposed to assume they’re gay. Even if they’re puppets. And they want to throw kids in the middle of all this? I guess some will say they’re trying to prepare kids for the real world, but if that’s true, when does the Count get treated for OCD?

* Chicago is expanding a program to give people more places to dump their newborn babies without legal consequences. Well, it’s better than abortion, at least. Still, do these cities like Chicago ever wonder if their liberal ideas are somewhat to blame for the state they wind up in? I mean, they all have these big ideas to end poverty for good, but poverty only gets worse and we end up with, “So here’s where you can dump your baby.” So maybe liberal ideas are a bit to blame? No? Well, maybe you can admit they never give you the results you want? No? It’s because other people are to blame? Oh, it’s the Tea Party’s fault. That makes sense.

* Wisdom of the Day: “Hipsters prefer the ‘previously unreleased’ Kraken.” –Alex Baze

* Apparently Glenn Reynolds had his tenth blogiversary for Instapundit and I missed it. Well, a belated congratulations. I still remember his advice to me when I first asked about becoming a blogger. He said, “Just put the puppy inside, close the lid tight, hit ‘liquefy’, and then drink up the contents and the dark power of Satan will run through you, allowing you blogging success.” It was nice of him to give me advice when he was already so busy that day. The police never did find out what happened to those hobos.

* So, how about that Republican debate. If the point was to prove FOX News isn’t in the tank for Republicans, mission accomplished because that was bloody. Sample questions from the debate:

“Why do you suck so bad and are stupid and ugly?”

“So exactly how incompetent are you?”

“I hate you.”

And those were just the questions for Newt Gingrich. Tough but fair.

And they also got Tim Pawlenty energized for like the first time ever, but it was about attacking Michelle Bachmann. And they just went at each other while Romney stood off to the side smiling and fixing his hair.

And for some reason they spent a bunch of time rebutting Ron Paul’s “I have no problem with a nuclear Iran” nonsense; it was like they were arguing against a strawman Obama. We get it: Ron Paul is to the left of Democrats on foreign policy. That’s why it’s not really useful for anyone to debate the sideshow.

Anyway, winner was Romney who came out relatively unscathed and was the only one who came off as presidential. Runner up would be Herman Cain just because I like his non-politiciany-ness (loved his “America needs to learn to take a joke” line). Anyway, looking like starting this Saturday it’s going to be Romney vs. Perry race. Pick your side!

* I was noticing how liberals are in the vague hate mode with Rick Perry right now since they know he could be a threat to Obama which mean they must hate him, but they don’t have anything solid to cling to yet. I remember this same thing happening when Palin first emerged. For about a week or so, liberals were threatened by her and thus really hated her, but didn’t have any solid reasons to cling to until the disastrous Couric interview. It was really weird and creepy.

Anyway, it’s just useful to understand that liberal hate is pure partisan silliness and has nothing to do with any coherent ideology. All they have to do is know someone is on the “other side” and the hate starts and they’ll try and justify it with a reason later. That’s why I was wondering with all those polls they do of Obama versus a generic Republican if they then followed that up with a poll of liberals on whether they hate the generic Republican who will run against Obama and think he’s the worst person ever. My theory is most liberals will answer “Yes”.

* Quote Obama: “There are some in Congress right now who would rather see their opponents lose than see America win.” Well, he’s in full projection mode. Like about all of Obama’s policies lately have been his attempt at political gamesmanship to help him in 2012… it’s just he really sucks at it. I guess that give him cover to this charge. “If all about getting myself reelected, then how come I’ve been tanking myself in the polls?” The obvious answer is, of course, “Because you’re stupid.” You say it to his face, though, you’re going to get called racist.

* On the subject of Obama and his arrogance, Allahpundit linked this on teh Twitters: “Narcissists rise to the top because people mistake their confidence and authority for leadership qualities”. Yeah, can’t really sum up the 44th president’s rise to power better than that.

* We have an Amber Alert on a hypersonic jet. It was last seen at Vandenberg Air Force Base near Los Angeles. So if you see a jet looking lost and confused and moving faster than sound, please contact the Department of Defense.

* Illinois can no longer afford to bury dead poor people. They’ll just have to be left in the morgue now until they end up in Potter’s Field. If Chicago keeps treating the dead this way, they’re going to stop voting Democrat.

* New study says Earth may not need the moon. Well, if we don’t need it, I have an idea for it…

* While beating hookers to death with a bat in Grand Theft Auto, have you ever thought to yourself, “This would be a great way to explore the issues behind the Iranian hostage crisis.”? Well, a game developer is way ahead of you, as the director of the Grand Theft Auto series is working on a game called 1979. It will be cool if you can play some alternate scenarios — like what if Reagan was already president. And what if the person leading the rescue mission was General Patton. It would be the bloodiest game ever!

BTW, if you see FormerHostage in the game, don’t beat him to death with a bat like a common hooker.

* Today’s Word’s of Wisdom: “According to the imdb page on Twin Peaks, John Huntsman did not kill Laura Palmer.” –Greg Gutfeld

* New Crowder video:

While things have been bad in this country, it’s been relatively bad. Overall, we’re still quite blessed here. Certainly things aren’t bad enough to justify whining.

And man, the story at the center of that video hit a little too close to home as a new father; that’s about the worst fear I can think of. I used to be a rock and stories like that would just roll off my back, but having a daughter has made me a sissy.