Pants On Fire Department

Mark Steyn on the reason the Weiner debacle matters:

[T]he malevolent toad Weiner has spent the last ten days lying to his constituents and to the American people on radio, TV, the Internet and in print, trashing anyone who got in his way, from ideological foes like Andrew Breitbart to those CNN producers and ABC reporters who couldn’t quite bring themselves to swallow his guff. Those who did, such as George Soros’ head stenographer Eric Boehlert and Salon’s Joan Walsh made fools of themselves. They’re at least private-sector rubes. But Weiner also deployed his vast retinue of taxpayer-funded staffers in service of his lie.

Whatever one feels about the pants on fire, the liar ought to be an issue. Why would any sentient being believe a word the right honorable Weiner says about anything ever again? The debt ceiling, Libya, Medicare, anything? Look at what this thuggish narcissist grotesque was prepared to do over the last week, and ask yourself. If Weiner is fit for “public life”, who isn’t?

Civil Discourse Department

This must be some of that newfangled “civil discourse” I keep hearing about.

It’s What’s For Breakfast Department

And in case you need some help translating, here are the Two Ronnies with a primer:

Tugging On Superman’s Cape Department

Some of you old-timers might remember the chorus from Jim Croce’s song “You don’t mess around with Jim:”

You don’t tug on Superman’s cape,
You don’t spit into the wind,
You don’t pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger,
And you don’t mess around with Jim.

I’m not sure exactly how he could have worked it in, but I think Croce could have added a line about pissing off a Gurkha carrying a khukuri.

A retired Indian Gorkha soldier recently revisited those glory days when he thwarted 40 robbers, killing three of them and injuring eight others, with his khukuri during a train journey. He is in line to receive three gallantry awards from the Indian government.

Slave girl Morgiana in the Arabian Nights used her cunning to finish off Ali Baba´s 40 thieves, but Bishnu Shrestha of Baidam, Pokhara-6 did not have time to plot against the 40 train robbers. He, however, made good use of his khukuri to save the chastity of a girl and hundreds of thousands in loot.

[...]

“They started snatching jewelry, cell phones, cash, laptops and other belongings from the passengers,” Shrestha recalled. The soldier had somehow remained a silent spectator amidst the melee, but not for long. He had had enough when the robbers stripped an 18-year-old girl sitting next to him and tried to rape her right in front of her parents. He then took out his khukuri and took on the robbers.

Let’s put it this way: It didn’t end well for the bandits.

Poetry in Motion in Chairs Department

Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor can make me feel like a complete klutz even when they’re sitting down.

Violent Rhetoric Department, Part 1

Remember how liberals complained about the violence in this gem?

Oh, wait. It was liberals who thought that creating this snuff film was a fine idea. Sorry, my bad.

(Hat tip to the PJ Tatler.)

Stupid Things Politicians Say Department

Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) offers a revealing comment:

“We’ve had some incidents where TSA authorities think that congresspeople should be treated like everybody else,” he said.

He’s right, you know. Congresscritters should not be treated like everybody else. Given they the way they’ve been behaving, they should be taken to a blackboard and made to write “I will not put on airs” 500 times.

(18 January 2011, 11:54 a.m.: Updated to correct a typo in the last sentence.)

First: Do you like it when someone ascribes words to you that you never said?
1. This post does not accuse anybody of violence; it does talk about a specific example of violent rhetoric. Strike one.
2. This post does not mention the American left specifically; it does talk about liberals in general. Strike two.
3. This post does not claim to prove anything, nor was it intended to prove anything; it is merely citing one case of violent rhetoric. Strike three.

Second: You never heard of this video, therefore . . . what? It doesn’t count?

Finally (and most importantly): This post was not intended to be a response to anyone’s demand for “proof” of anything whatsoever, much less yours specifically. I post things on “Dispatches from Outland” that interest, amuse, or irritate me. That’s all. (However, if I ever decide to start a blog called “Arguing with Teresa,” I’ll let you know.)