The Victorious Opposition

In last week’s discussion of the Obama administration and military tribunals, Thrill mentioned this new piece of legislation, S.3081, introduced by John McCain, with Joe Leiberman and others as co-sponsors - but tellingly, Linsdsey Graham, one of McCain’s co-authors on the Military Commissions Act, expressed reservations:

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., expressed reservations about the bill, saying he “understands what John and Joe are trying to do.” But the former military lawyer added, “I just don’t feel comfortable with it. There is a role for the civilian courts to play.”

The bill’s text still isn’t available via GovTrack or Thomas (which is a bit unusual), but I found a copy of the draft (12 page PDF file) from another source. You folk know where I stand on these issues, so I hope you’ll agree that I’m not some reactionary on these issues, and when I say that this is a bad piece of legislation that needs a ton of changes if it’s to be passed, you’ll give that due consideration.

This bill is clearly a political reaction to the crotch bomber. Without an iota of explanation of why crotch-bomber is different from shoe-bomber, we’re going to pass an egregious piece of legislation to solve a problem that isn’t even a problem. “Egregious” is a strong word; it fits, though. Let’s look at some of what’s in this bill:

I must say, this really surprised me. I knew very little about Switzerland (nice skiing, great tasting chocolate) and always assumed that their fighting instinct was one notch above the French.

Although the fact that they invented fondue should be reason alone for total invasion and annihilation, the ubiquity of all those Sig 550’s within grabbing distance of your average Swiss citizen, and the mandatory basic military training for all its male citizens provides the world with a nation that can easily defend itself at the drop of a hat.

Switzerland is a country in many respects like the U.S.

There are three main governing bodies on the federal level:[33] the bicameral parliament (legislative), the Federal Council (executive) and the Federal Court (judicial).

And, instead of a country made up of individual states:

The Swiss Confederation consists of 26 cantons

It seems that the term “A well regulated militia” takes on a whole in meaning there.

The Swiss army has long been a militia trained and structured to rapidly respond against foreign aggression. Swiss males grow up expecting to undergo basic military training, usually at age 20 in the Rekrutenschule (German for “recruit school”), the initial boot camp, after which Swiss men remain part of the “militia” in reserve capacity until age 30 (age 34 for officers). Each such individual is required to keep his army-issued personal weapon (the 5.56x45mm Sig 550 rifle for enlisted personnel or the SIG 510 rifle and/or the 9mm SIG-Sauer P220 semi-automatic pistol for officers, medical and postal personnel) at home with a specified personal retention quantity of government-issued personal ammunition (50 rounds 5.56 mm / 48 rounds 9mm), which is sealed and inspected regularly to ensure that no unauthorized use takes place.

When their period of service has ended, militiamen have the choice of keeping their personal weapon and other selected items of their equipment. In this case of retention, the rifle is sent to the weapons factory where the fully automatic function is removed; the rifle is then returned to the discharged owner. The rifle is then a semi-automatic or self-loading rifle.

At an effective range of 400 meters, auto/semi-auto, it makes little difference, and no assault weapons ban for them.

This whole concept makes a lot of sense, on a number of levels. First off, the population as a whole learns a healthy respect and a working education for firearms, their limitations and safety procedures. The basic principle of survival, the protection of one’s self and family, and the preservation of one’s property ( a man’s home really is his castle) is codified and sanctioned. The crime rate (property crimes-burglary, robbery, home invasions) are reduced improving not only the quality of life but the reliance of a police force that may not be there when you need them. And, a healthy nationalistic pride in one’s country is fostered, with an understanding that each citizen is the protector and defender of mother country.

“The key to freedom is the ability to defend yourself”, yep, and there is no greater despair than knowing that your life is not within your control.

His “Holocaust” analogy was also apt. To resist, to struggle, to at least put up a fight is seminal in our basic instincts.

A short story, my first year on the job working West Hollywood, I get called to an apartment to take a stolen auto report. This old couple greets me at the door and welcomes me in. The living room is adorned in old style European architecture. As they tell me the story of their recalcitrant son, hooked on drugs, out of control, and just drove off with their only car without permission, I notice a series of numbers tattooed on the inside forearms of the couple. With Jewish accoutrement adorning the room, it took about 2 seconds to figure out what those tattoos signified. I will never forget that night.

H/T: iowntheworld

I thought today felt different, here’s why

This man has been kicking people square in the head for 70 years ... to the day.

That’s right, Carlos Ray “Chuck” Norris woke up this morning (actually Chuck Norris doesn’t sleep, he waits) at the ripe old age of three score and 10. And there’s no question that he could still kick your organs inside-out just for breathing the same air as he does.

We should keep in mind that 70 Chuck Norris years is like 27 average human years.

For those not fully versed in the history of the man that counted to infinity, twice, this might help.

More important facts that will cost you your life if ignored.

Chuck Norris does not hunt because the word hunting implies the probability of failure. Chuck Norris goes killing.

When Chuck Norris makes love to a man, it’s not that he is gay, he just ran out of women, and his kids can go to any school He wants.

At age 70, not only could he kick your ass, but he’s probably a lot cooler than you too

No doubt,and to show his magnanimous side, he let a little Chinese guy win this fight, or at least that is what we were told, I know better:

Happy Birthday Chuck, here is to 70 more years of putting the hurt on bad guys.

Take a gander at this story:

When you gotta grill, you gotta grill, and Sgt. BBQ was not going let a little thing like a war stop him from enjoying that most primal of cooking experiences.

Sgt. BBQ is not his real name, of course. Because the U.S. Army does not always have a sense of humor about these sorts of things, that’s what I’ll call him. He’s a soldier who was on his third deployment to Afghanistan last year when he decided to take on the challenge of grilling in a war zone. For help with that, he turned to Ben Eisendrath.

Ben lives in Adams Morgan. He used to be an executive at AOL. Ben knows his bits from his bytes, but when he was growing up in Michigan, he acquired another skill: building barbecue grills.

...

In 1999, Charles decided he’d had enough of the BBQ biz and shut down the company. In 2007, Ben left AOL and started Grillworks back up again. He runs it from his Adams Morgan rowhouse.

...

In a world of Hyundais, these are Cadillacs. The most popular model retails for $4,400.

Sgt. BBQ was flipping through a magazine in eastern Afghanistan when he came across a photo of Ben’s grill. He knew it would be superior to the jury-rigged equipment that he’d been trying to grill on. He found Grillworks online and wrote Ben an e-mail: “My interpreter and I talked with several Afghan blacksmiths about the grate top that I am trying to build but the parts about ‘V-grates and 4 degree angles’ just don’t cross over effectively from English to Pashtu or Dari.”

Sgt. BBQ wondered whether Ben might have some old cooking surfaces or factory seconds lying around the workshop.

“He asked if I had any spare parts,” Ben told me. “Me sort of having a patriotic streak, I just called the shop and said, ‘Let’s make up some surfaces and send them to Afghanistan.’ We sent four of them, which is not an easy thing to do.”

...

Sgt. BBQ is back Stateside now. He left two of Ben’s grill surfaces in Afghanistan for his replacement unit and took two home to take back to Afghanistan with him in case he’s deployed again. He doesn’t know if he will be.

One thing he does know: When he retires—he’s eligible in a year—Sgt. BBQ is opening a barbecue restaurant in Mississippi. He’s already placed an order with Ben.

I worked with Ben for several years in the middle of the past decade, first in parallel on separate teams, and then as part of the same team. Some of the really high-end (for the time) digital media things I worked on that I’ve written about were projects that we were involved with together. We’ve stayed in touch off and on since we each left AOL, and it was cool when Ben took his career in a totally different direction. He’s been encouraging me as I’ve been working on doing the same.

Good guy. Good business. Good story.

This controversy has been bubbling for the last week or so:

A Catholic school in Colorado is drawing criticism for its refusal to readmit the young children of a lesbian couple.

The school of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Boulder has informed the couple that the older of the two children may attend kindergarten next year, but may not advance to the first grade; the younger child may complete preschool, but may not advance to kindergarten.

News of the exclusions drew some two dozen protesters outside Mass on Sunday, Denver station KMGH-TV reports.

I was working on a post when I first read about this, but killed it because I was quite conflicted on this. I’m still conflicted, but I thought I’d write a post anyhow and express some of those thoughts, and see if it generates some discussion.

First point - this is, as far as I am able to ascertain, a fully private school. They have a non-discrimination policy for admissions. But, unless they are taking government funding, I don’t believe there are any laws that require them to even have such a policy. Title VII applies to hiring, but even there, religious schools have a codified, if qualified, exemption. So this is clearly something that is allowable in the free market for private schools, and people can vote with their dollars. It’s fine to protest (peacefully), boycott, etc. But at the end of the day - the market is the market, and as long as the school is operating privately, the state really shouldn’t have a say.

Second point - I wonder if this school refuses to admit children of divorced parents, children born out of wedlock, children of inter-faith marriages, etc, etc. While what they’re doing is certainly their right, I’m willing to bet that they are being exceptionally hypocritical in this context. When the Bishop writes:

But what the Church does teach is that sexual intimacy by anyone outside marriage is wrong; that marriage is a sacramental covenant; and that marriage can only occur between a man and a woman. These beliefs are central to a Catholic understanding of human nature, family and happiness, and the organization of society. The Church cannot change these teachings because, in the faith of Catholics, they are the teachings of Jesus Christ.

but then turns around and excludes only the children of a homosexual couple, that’s utter hypocrisy. I’ll retract this assertion if evidence arises that they are, in fact, consistent on this issue. However, I doubt such evidence will arise. If they had such a policy, they would have responded to the initial furor with something like “our policy is to only accept children of marriages recognized by the Church”, or something to that effect. For now, I’m sticking with “this is more anti-gay hypocrisy”.

Third point - why would these parents want to send their child to a school whose curriculum will explicitly teach that they are sinners, their relationship is invalid, and that they are damned? Are there no other private alternatives in Boulder? Why expose your kids to this kind of environment? And why are you putting your kids in the middle of this media circus? To be honest, at its most charitable, this is a foolish situation that never needed to exist. There’s a market out there for a reason. It’s one thing if you want to make political/social statements for yourselves, as informed, consenting adults. But now you’re screwing up your kids. Let it go. Move on.

This is one of these great internal conflicts. I hate these sorts of religious hypocrites, and I love the opportunity to call them out. At the same time, I’ve repeatedly opposed the use of the government and/or courts to address LGBT-rights issues that are properly settled in the market, as this one should be. And this one is made more gratuitous by putting the kids in the middle.

Hopefully this one will just blow over - no lawsuits, no courts. No one wins in this one, at all. There are points to be made, but at what cost? Fight the fights that warrant fighting, not the stupid ones.

I gotta get in an NBA post, because this year is pretty exciting. We’re seeing the playing field really level right now, and it’s not short on suspense. I wanted to call out ow I see the East and the West shaping up:

The West: West coast basketball is in serious question this year, not because of lack of talent (I think they have most of it), but because of discipline. To many people here’s surprise, I’m not going to lump the Lakers into this scenario. The Lakers are really the only team I see to come out of the west. All of the other teams that get buzz simply don’t have the discipline to handle beating the Lakers in the playoffs, IMO. As much as I can’t stand Kobe, in his golden days I will give him that he’s the premier clutch payer, and his team can hang onto even the most desperate games and win in the clutch. A Denver v. Lakers series would definitely come down to the clutch, and looking at Denver’s record, they seriously lack discipline. They show up for “some” big games, and then totally get whooped on games they don’t care about.

As for some of these upstart teams that appear to be emerging, I agree with a Holinger post a little while ago that that is directly related to how healthy they’ve been throughout the year. I’d actually call it a stroke of luck that they can maintain that type of health, and if/when it fails, they are out of the running.

The East:When I look at the record of the Cavs, and see how they’re lining up, I see a team that is of pretty good talent pitted against mostly bad teams. The records aren’t at all shocking and the playoffs are probably going to come down to a Cleveland-Orlando match up. Boston is looking defanged by the day, and christ, losing to New Jersey at home? Shocka. I think Orlando’s success or failure will come down to the match up at the center position, of which is contestable. Howard’s no Superman, in fact I don’t think he’s really Superboy until he can add some offensive game to his defense. I think Van Gundy’s rotation with Gortat makes that point clear, and the onus is on Howard to get another shot other than the dunk to stay in contention.

This year, to me, will come down to the clutch, and Kobe’s shown he’s ready for the task. He’s missed a couple here and there, but he’s also made many more than he’s missed, and that should count for something. For anyone to compete in this arena it will take these nerves, and I don’t know if Lebron can deliver on that. I know I will be hotly contested for saying this, but this season comes down to Shaq again. He’s the only player that intimately knows Kobe, intimately knows the triangle, and has the ability to match up to Howard and Gasol. The Cavs need him in all of the most key games.

Report card time, time to grade the president

Now hit submit and check out how he is doing so far…............holy cow!!!

Ya know, I could see a foxnews poll with these kind of results, but CBS? They are right up there with CNN, NBC, and the NY Times as the preeminent water carriers for the Obama Administration, how could this happen?

I gave Obama a passing grade for both Afghanistan and Iraq (not great, but passing) and also for social issues (he is a socialist after all), these issues should be front and center with him. And if enthusiasm was a criterion, I would of passed him on health care as well (since this is all he talks about) but direction matters and the people have finally figured out that when he talks about government run health care, it has nothing to do with health care and everything do to with government power and influence.

No one considers polls like these scientific, or even reflective of voters as a whole, but you have to admit, a MSM poll that drastically tilts this unfavorably could be more revealing than we had imagined, and could go a long way in defining the real push behind reconciliation.

California state Senator Roy Ashburn was recently arrested for driving drunk, after leaving a gay bar. He’s finally come out of the closet:

“I am gay.  Those are the words that have been so difficult for me for so long.  It is something that is personal, and I don’t believe I felt with my heart that being gay would affect how I do my job,” Ashburn said.

Yeah. Uh huh. This is all MADD’s fault, isn’t it? I mean - if it weren’t for those pesky drunk driving laws, yunno?

Ashburn votes reflexively anti-gay:

Senator Ashburn has consistently received a zero percent on Equality California’s Legislative Scorecards since 2004, with the exception of 2007, when he scored 10 percent.

Ashburn argues that he’s just representing his constituents. Ignoring for the moment the fact that he’s been lying to his constituents, I’ll quote The Greatest Musical Ever[TM]:

Dr. Lyman Hall: I’m sorry if I startled you. I couldn’t sleep. In trying to resolve my dilemma I remembered something I’d once read - “that a representative owes the People not only his industry, but his judgment, and he betrays them if he sacrifices it to their opinion.” [He smiles.] It was written by Edmund Burke, a member of the British Parliament.

He walks to the tally board and moves the name of Georgia from the “Nay” to the “Yea” column.

(from the print version of the script - yes, I’m that much of a dork for this musical)

Add another to the Larry Craig fan club, I guess.

FWIW - I’m going to get to vote for an openly gay GOP candidate in the primary to unseat my my idiot congressman. No, I’m not voting for him because he’s gay. I’d never heard of him until he garnered two endorsements from authors at The Volokh Conspiracy. And when I check out his website, what I see is a lot of discussion of what he stands for and what he’d like to do, whereas for the other GOP primary candidates that have websites up, they pretty much just talk about what they’re against. In this part of Virginia, much of the conservatism is libertarian conservatism, so I’d think he stands a reasonable chance even being openly gay, which would be a deal-breaker in much of Virginia (especially given our new theocrats-in-residence administration, with a governor and AG actively rolling back LGBT policies).

New Yorkers, meet your new governor:

Well, in the running governor.

Not since porn star Cicciolina was elected to the Italian parliament has there been a sexier political candidate. The first thing you notice is her bust. Round, full, in the Dolly Parton/Jayne Mansfield sense, they are just too “perfect.” Then you notice her eyes: blue, piercing, determined.

Kristin Davis graduated from high school in central California at age 15. She earned a B.A. in business from St. Mary’s College while working in finance. The first hedge fund she worked for was bought by Fidelity, and she worked at hedge funds successfully for another 10 years. Then she became obsessed with the financial possibilities of sex.

Davis built the most successful escort service in world history. She had more than 100 girls and operated in 5 countries, with a call center in Uruguay. She could dispatch a $1,000-plus-an-hour call girl to a hotel or residence in Paris, Berlin, Gstaad, Rome, New York, L.A., Miami, Dubai, Montreal or elsewhere within minutes.

OK, I would not quibble with her business credentials, but the “sexier political candidate”  bromide is a bit of a stretch (at least for me). I find Yulia Tymoshenko (prime minister of the Ukraine) and Cristina Kirchner (Argentinian President) far sexier, but back to credentials. Not since Meg Whitman or even Mitt Romney have we seen a political candidate with this much business chops. And frankly, someone that understands budgets, the simple fact that monies coming in must exceed monies going out, and that spending that which you do not have is just plain bad business sense, this type of education is probably what is needed most, especially for those states (mine included) that is the most fiscally under water.

Davis says here platform is clear: “P-squared” — legalize and tax prostitution and marijuana. Davis thinks that could bring $2.5 billion or more in new revenue to New York, allowing the state to cut the more regressive income and property taxes. Davis backs gay marriage but also opposes gun control as a consistent Libertarian. With New York politicians in particular disrepute, perhaps New Yorkers will find Davis’s plans compelling.

What’s not to like? and a small tax on breast implants, balanced budget here we come.

And I would not even place her in the “novelty candidates” category, not like one of our own:

Some would argue that the way the system works, Solomon could not sway the Democratic run legislatures (plaguing both California and NY) from their profligate spending ways, but, as the Tea Party’s have shown, the people can be stirred,  why not have someone with a nice rack do the stirring?

My mom is a California Republican, little-old-lady-in-tennis-shoes type. Loved Ronald Reagan. Never missed an election. She didn’t know what my business was when I got busted, but she’s never judged and now she’s excited that what happened to me became something positive. She will campaign with me in October.

Gee, I wonder if we are related?

New category alert!!!!!

For those that thirst for the latest and greatest, chalk up your stick with this baby:

I use to be a pretty fair pool shooter in my day and always planned for a “pool room” when just turned a member of the tax paying proletariat in the market for his first house, alas, it was not to be be (the wife had other ideas). Believe it or not, the ability to wield a mean stick was pretty handy in picking up women, back when I was doing those things.

I was hoping that this was a real item, not some made up CGI bullshit video so I went to their website and found this:

Fashion Week from Obscura Digital on Vimeo.

But this is more like a thin plasma screen where you can embed computer enhanced images remotely. The pool table appears to be made of some kind of touch screen material, hence the images that track the movements of the billiard balls. Of course, still images can also be embedded with that “Ipad” type remote he was using ( a SI swimsuit slide show would work just fine).

For now I will have to live vicariously through the lives of these two lucky bastards who took a big bite out of life, with the scotch flowing (and all women excluded) they have truly found inner peace.

I thought we could wheel and deal with this category:

For Santino- a new bike that comes with built in snow shoveler on the front wheel
For Kevin- a new 65 inch 240htz plasma TV with The Red Wings Prime Ticket package
For Thrill- a new wireless taser unit, effective range of 100’, that injects a double shot of estrogen, making said assailant docile and want to go shopping for new shoes.
For dwex- a preferred customer discount on ebay, where he can get that 8"x10” glossy of Susan Herman, replete with the lipstick kisses.
For MW- a new frequent flyer program where he could get mileage for all those charges to the RamRod Escort Service, that and the annual fees to the George Michael fan club.

The desire for invention and innovation is still strong, despite the best intentions of that guy in the WH.

I actually didn’t know this case was coming when I posted a couple of Phelps items last week.

Last fall the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals held that a $5M judgment against the Westboro Baptist Church for picketing a soldier’s funeral was an unconstitutional infringement of their First Amendment speech rights. They didn’t mind editorializing:

“Notwithstanding the distasteful and repugnant nature of the words being challenged in these proceedings, we are constrained to conclude that the defendants’ signs and [what it has on its Web sites] are constitutionally protected,” Circuit Court Judge Robert B. King wrote in the majority opinion.

Not surprisingly, the soldier’s family has appealed to the Supreme Court, which granted certiorari today. From the petition:

The Fourth Circuit reversed a jury determination in favor of Albert Snyder (“Snyder”) for the intentional harm perpetrated against him by Fred W. Phelps, Sr., Westboro Baptist Church, Incorporated, Rebekah A. Phelps-Davis and Shirley L. Phelps-Roper (collectively, “Phelps”). Snyder’s claim arose out of Phelps’ intentional acts at Snyder’s son’s funeral. Specifically the claims were: (1) intentional infliction of emotional distress, (2) invasion of privacy and (3) civil conspiracy. These claims were dismissed by the Fourth Circuit notwithstanding that (a) Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell does not apply to private versus private individuals; (b) Snyder was a “captive” audience; (c) Phelps specifically targeted Snyder and his family; (d) Snyder proved that he was intentionally harmed by clear and convincing evidence; and (e) Phelps disrupted Snyder’s mourning process. The Fourth Circuit’s decision gives no credence to Snyder’s personal stake in honoring and mourning his son and ignores Snyder’s right to bury his son with dignity and respect.

Three questions are presented:

1. Does Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell apply to a private person versus another private person concerning a private matter?
2. Does the First Amendment’s freedom of speech tenet trump the First Amendment’s freedom of religion and peaceful assembly?
3. Does an individual attending a family member’s funeral constitute a captive audience who is entitled to state protection from unwanted communication?

This is exactly the sort of incredibly intriguing Constitutional issue that is going to make for an interesting result. I don’t think we’re going to see any strict left/right, liberal/conservative breakdown in the opinion. Repugnant as Phelps and crew are, though, I’m not sure how they lose this one. The First Amendment free-speech rationale is strong. Phelps & friends notified local authorities of the planned protest ahead of time, and adhered to all the local ordinances/restrictions (distance, etc). Since such restrictions must, as a matter of law, be content/viewpoint-neutral to survive First Amendment scrutiny, and these were held to be such at trial (I believe stipulated by Phelps) it’s hard to fathom under what grounds the Appellate decision is going to get overturned.

This is the type of case that really puts one’s faith in the Constitution to the test, isn’t it?

H/T: Religion Clause

I usually will try to work out for two hours on the weekends (as much as I can, meaning when the mood strikes me), so today I decided to do the cardio portion down on Venice Beach. I loaded up the environment destroying V8 Mustang (updated with aftermarket headers for optimized noise and environmental pollution) and she and I burbled with a growl down the 405 towards Santa Monica. Upon arriving at Venice, I noticed all of the out of state tags and thought to myself, “Wow, maybe some of the VOers would appreciate a little Manwhore nickel tour of Venice”. So, I grabbed my camera phone and was off.

The President and leading Democrats have raised the stakes in health care, apparently deciding to try to use the unconventional reconciliation process to pass a health care reform bill.  While the Democrats do have a viable path to pass the bill, the hurdles are many, not only from their political opposition, but members of their own party and the challenges of the process itself.  All the Sunday programs take on the health care issue, which, I’m sorry, is getting really stale for yours truly.  You’ll see a lot of the standard talking points that have been repeated ad nauseam the past year.  The rotating chair at ABC continues with a lackluster performance from Matthew Dowd.  Hire Tapper already, ABC!  Anyways, try to enjoy your Sunday Morning Roundup for March 7, 2010:

People are creeping in on Westboro Baptist Church’s territory. He really needs to diversify before these guys eat his lunch:

Shrimp, crab, lobster, clams, mussels, all these are an abomination before the Lord, just as gays are an abomination. Why stop at protesting gay marriage? Bring all of God’s law unto the heathens and the sodomites. We call upon all Christians to join the crusade against Long John Silver’s and Red Lobster. Yea, even Popeye’s shall be cleansed. The name of Bubba shall be anathema. We must stop the unbelievers from destroying the sanctity of our restaurants.

Ain’t this a real beeyotch.

SACRAMENTO - Consider it yet another victim of California’s ongoing fiscal mess: The state Senate has indefinitely postponed action on a do-gooder resolution that would encourage Californians to give up swearing temporarily.
The resolution, which establishes an annual statewide “Cuss Free Week,” passed the Assembly on Thursday. If the Senate had approved it, the measure would have taken effect this week.

Instead, the Senate rerouted the resolution to the Senate Rules Committee until lawmakers address the state’s $20 billion budget deficit.

This is a welcome development, I was really hoping that I could continue to express my f*cking feelings, and leave society to condemn my gutter mouth. It’s a real tea bag that things are in such a state of disarray, that feel good little initiatives like this are getting flushed down the toilet. This was an unnecessary piece of legislation to begin with, if society is doing its job and upholding civility of communications.

Hatch said he sees a link between foul-mouthed incivility and other forms of problem behavior, such as drug use and bullying.

This could be true, but I also see a link between well placed swearing and hilarity. I also see a link between anger at the budgetary crisis here in California, and swearing.

“This is a ceremonial resolution, and the spirit of it, I think, has taken hold,” he said Tuesday.

Well, thank you. Can you now get back to work fixing the budget, please?