The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

For some reason, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has been rising in the polls of possible GOP presidential candidates for the 2016 election. However, one has to wonder if that momentum will swing in the other direction after a comment he made at the Conservative Political Action Conference yesterday. When being asked about how he'd handle the terrorist group ISIS, Walker responded with this: "If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the globe." Yes, taking on 100,000 peaceful progressive protesters is the same thing as taking on the terrorist group ISIS... After receiving immediate backlash for his absurd comparison, Walker responded by saying this: "You all will misconstrue things the way you see fit, but I think it's pretty clear, that's the closest thing I have in terms of handling a difficult situation, not that there's any parallel between the two." Either Scott Walker is an idiot or he thinks the rest of us are ...

I'm amazed by what Vanderbilt head basketball coach Kevin Stallings yelled at one of his players following the team's 73-65 victory over Tennessee on Thursday night, but am even more amazed by the majority of people's reactions to the situation (commentators on websites anyhow). As Stallings was shaking hands with his opponent after the game, a Tennessee staff member informed the Vanderbilt head coach about one of his players, Wade Baldwin IV, clapping in the face of Tennessee forward Armani Moore after the Commodores sealed their victory. Kevin Stallings then went up to his player and angrily yelled, "I'm going to f**king kill you!" This occurred in front of most everybody holding a camera, so after the inevitable backlash, Stallings told ESPN the following: "I handled it completely inappropriately and I apologized to Wade -- and I need to apologize to our fans and the Vanderbilt administration. Having said that, and it may seem as though I'm...

After its first week, I gave The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore a B+ grade. While I didn't think the show appeared to be perfect by any stretch of the imagination, I also liked the Daily Show  meets Politically Incorrect vibe I got from it, and thought, with the proper adjustments, the show would indeed provide a great fill-in for The Colbert Report . In the show's succeeding weeks, however, I've been less impressed by it and think that if it doesn't make certain adjustments, it could be in jeopardy of losing many long-time viewers of the show's time slot. One major issue I think the show's had to this point is a lack of direction. It's been unable to decide whether it wants to be a comedy show with serious conversation sprinkled in or a serious show with comedy sprinkled in. It's almost as if the show's writers want to give The Nightly Show a Real Time with Bill Maher feel. The problem with that idea or format is the fact Real Time is an hour lon...

For whatever reason, whenever I hear the name Liam Neeson in a movie trailer, the name Leslie Nielsen springs to mind. This got me wondering how the two actors would have played some of the other's better known roles. Here are three possibilities: Airplane! Dr. Rumack (played by Liam Neeson): "Can you fly this plane, and land it?" Ted Striker: "Surely you can't be serious." Dr. Rumack: "I'm always serious... and what the hell did you just call me?" The Naked Gun Jane Spencer: "I've heard police work is dangerous." Lieutenant Frank Drebin (played by Liam Neeson): "It is. That's why I carry a big gun." Jane: "Aren't you afraid it might go off accidentally?" Frank: "I used to have that problem." Jane: "What did you do about it?" Frank: "Kicked the crap out of people, well, and Viagra" Taken Bryan Mills (played by Leslie Nielsen): "I don't k...

In a move that shocked conservatives all across the country, after attending a Bible reading which was made mandatory through legislation backed by the Republican majority in both the House and the Senate, the Republican Party has decided to renounce Jesus. Realizing the inevitable backlash from supporters that the party was going to receive, the Republican National Committee mailed a letter to every registered voter, which said this: "Dear patriot, As sad as we are to say this as Republicans, we can no longer call ourselves the party of God, faith, or religion. After attending a Bible reading, we realized Jesus' teachings and beliefs aren't in line with our own and have decided to renounce him. We just ask that you still trust us, give us money, vote for us, and regardless of how our actions may showcase otherwise, believe us when we declare to the world that we're Christians. God bless you all and God bless you the United States of America. Sincerely, RNC...

I just entered a bar by the name of WTF last night when Brian Williams and Bill O'Reilly were about to leave, but were accused by the bartender of not paying their tabs, and the following discussion ensued: Bartender Don Juantopissmeoff: "WTF?" Bill O'Reilly: "You gotta problem, putz?" Brian Williams: "Were you talking to us?" Juantopissmeoff: "Yeah! You guys didn't pay your tabs! WTF?" Williams: "Really? I must've forgot. I'm terribly sorry. Here you are, and please, keep the change. I promise to not come back in here for six months." O'Reilly (to Williams): "Pansy!" Juantopissmeoff: "Okay, he's taken care of. Now what about you? Where's my money?" O'Reilly: "You wanna go?!? You wanna piece of this?!? I'll take you down like I took all those others down, with my two fists I call 'MC' and 'Hammer'!" Juantopissmeoff: "Seriously? W...

After seeing the results from a recent Public Policy Polling (PPP) poll of Republican primary voters, I have to now beg the question, "What exactly does the Constitution mean to many self-described 'Constitutional' conservatives?" According to this national poll, 57% of these voters support "establishing Christianity as the national religion," even though the First Amendment of the Constitution plainly states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." How does that work exactly? Coyote Blitzer: "So, how would you describe yourself politically? Would you say you're a conservative, a liberal, a moderate?" Anthony Baloney: "I'm a Constitutional conservative through and through, like most of my GOP and Tea Party brethren." Blitzer: "But it says here that you would support a measure making Christianity the national religion of this country; is that true?" Baloney: "Ye...

For his fifth installment in the Killing... series, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly will follow up Killing Lincoln , Killing Kennedy , Killing Jesus , and Killing Patton  with an autobiography entitled, Killing Journalism . When asked to comment about his soon-to-be-released book, O'Reilly said, "Look, if anybody's going to be fair and balanced about all the lies they've told the American public while being trusted as an on-air news personality and journalist or whatever, that person's going to be me. You gotta problem with that?" Fortunately, we were afforded a sneak peak of Killing Journalism . Here is a list of our favorite quotes from the inevitable best-seller (whether they're actually true or not is anyone's guess): - "Witnesses?!? Why do I need any fricking witnesses?!? I saw what happened and that's all that matters, so shut up already, son!" - "Sources?!? You want sources?!? Here, I've got a source for yo...

Like a lot of male Republican politicians, Idaho State Representative Vito Barbieri appears to be quite confused about the female body. With regard to a state bill which would ban doctors from providing abortion-inducing medication through telemedicine, the House State Affairs Committee heard three hours of testimony on Monday, which is when Representative Barbieri would soon make it known to the world that he knows as much about a woman's body as a fetus knows about the "Internets" (thanks, Dubya). Here's basically how the back-and-forth between Representative Barbieri and Dr. Julie Madsen, who opposes the bill, went: Dr. Madsen: "...Some colonoscopy patients may swallow a small device to give doctors a closer look at parts of their colon." Rep. Barbieri: "Can this same procedure then be done in a pregnancy? Swallowing a camera and helping the doctor determine what the situation is?" Dr. Madsen: "That would be impossible because swa...

CNN contributor Tara Setmayer introduced herself to me last night courtesy of The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, and even though I haven't researched the matter, I have a feeling her middle name might be WTF. Setmayer is a Republican commentator, an African-American, and yes, a woman. That information will be relevant later in this post. For those whom haven't tuned in yet to The Nightly Show , host Larry Wilmore starts each show much like The Daily Show 's Jon Stewart, as he pokes fun at politicians to induce laughter. This is Comedy Central after all. However, unlike Stewart, Wilmore's show tends to focus on one central topic each and every episode, and following Wilmore's 5-10 minute opening monologue and a commercial break, he's joined by four guests at a round table where they all discuss that very topic. After a second commercial break, Wilmore then asks each guest a rather awkward-and-difficult-to-answer question in a segment called "Keep It 100...

Here's the URL to my Facebook business page. I update it fairly regularly, but still haven't put forth a great deal of effort yet in researching matters and attempting to make the most out of it. In any case, it can be perused here: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorCraigRozniecki?ref=hl Up next is my Twitter page. I'm still not 100% certain what I'm doing on there yet, but feel I'm gradually getting the hang of it and am up to 17,376 followers. I update it daily with many of my own tweets, but also by retweeting some others'. It can be found here: https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki Lastly, here's my Tumblr page, which I've neglected quite a bit recently, but if you're at all curious, you can find it at the following link: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/rozzy81

For new readers (and regular ones, I suppose), here's some information pertaining to my books. All twelve of my books can be purchased in paperback form at the following site (and others): http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?type=&keyWords=craig+rozniecki&x=7&y=5&sitesearch=lulu.com&q= The ten books I've written and released in the past 4 years (yes, I've been on a roll) can be purchased for much cheaper in Kindle form at the following link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_22?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=craig%20rozniecki%20kindle&sprefix=craig+rozniecki+kindle%2Caps%2C228&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acraig%20rozniecki%20kindle

Following former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani's controversial comments with regard to President Obama not loving America, America has officially responded by writing this op-ed in the USA Today : "Dear Rudy, I'm not going to beat around the bush here (no, not even Jeb); I think we should break up. I just don't love you anymore and I now have to wonder if I was ever really that into you in the first place. It's not me; it's you. Sure, we had our good moments. I'll never forget the time when we played strip poker with your cousin, I mean ex-wife. Then there was that other time we tried to make up diseases which rhymed with Giuliani. 'Tooliani' is still probably my favorite. Oh, and do you remember when you bet me that you could utter '9/11' at least once in every answer you gave the media during a press conference, and this was 7 years after the attack? Yes, you may have won the bet that day, but you lost me in the long run. It's ...

It's sad to think that a growing number of Americans can't seem to engage in civilized discourse with people of differing opinions. There are several reasons for this growing problem.  1) Talk radio - This medium is mostly dominated by the far-right end of the political spectrum and tends to be filled with more opinions, fallacies, and false information than facts. Die-hard listeners, however, tend to take this false or misleading information as factual, which makes it difficult to debate them on the matter, even when sourcing fact-checking sites or the like. 2) Cable news - Of the three major cable news networks, CNN tends to be the most "fair and balanced" (sorry, Fox), yet it's often times the least viewed of the three networks. MSNBC leans to the left and Fox News leans to the right. So if liberals want to hear that their opinions are right, they can tune into MSNBC and conservatives can do likewise and tune into Fox News.  3) Partisan written and o...

In a surprise move, potential 2016 Republican presidential candidates decided to gather together and hold a "We Love America" rally, and in so doing, defend former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani's statement that President Obama "doesn't love America." The rally, which appeared to be a spur of the moment event, was aired on Fox News, where several aspiring leaders of the Republican Party made it known just how the president is supposed to illustrate his love for the United States of America. Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush started the rally off by saying, "You know how you show you love America, Mr. President? You show you love America by lying about the pretenses of a war and getting thousands of our soldiers killed all because of oil and wanting to show your daddy up! I'd sure as hell do that, and do you know why? Because I love America, dammit!" Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal followed Bush, saying, "If the president really loved...

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani made a startling statement in an interview with TMZ  this week, when he said, "I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I seriously believe that most wives don't love their husbands." Giuliani, whom has himself been married three times, once to a second cousin, went on to state, "Very rarely do I hear wives tell their husbands things like, 'You're the most exceptional husband in the world,' and instead they will often times criticize their husbands. I'm sorry, but if a wife doesn't love all of her husband - every single thing about him - and doesn't think he's the greatest man in the world, then she can't truly love him." The former New York City mayor wasn't done there, as he added, "Look, if our wives truly love us - their husbands - we have to hear about this love all the time. Instead of saying things like: 'Why didn't you take the garbage out this morning?' ...

This country was not founded on "Christian" principles. When people say this, they're talking about Anglo-Americans that took this country by storm, the Founding Fathers, and the like. However, this country was "founded" when Anglos took the land from the Natives, which is in direct conflict with one of the Ten Commandments, "Thou shalt not steal." Constitutional Christian conservatives: "This country was founded on Christian principles!" Historian: "How was this country 'founded' again?" CCC: "Well, the Natives were here and we kind of took it away from them, I guess, but whatever, you know?" Historian: "Isn't one of the Ten Commandments, 'Thou shalt not steal'?" CCC: "Well, yeah... So what?" Historian: "So, this country was founded on Christian principles, yet it was founded by you stealing the land from others, which contradicts one of the ten most cherished Chris...

Like anyone, there are comments I receive on posts which can make me laugh and/or smile, others which leave me puzzled, and yet others which result in me reaching for some Aleve. For the first set of comments, I will typically leave a positive response in return. With regard to the second set of comments, I'll typically attempt to respond to the question(s) the best I can, to hopefully alleviate any confusion. Lastly, when it comes to the third set of comments, it all depends on the tone of the comment whether or not I respond. The third and final set of comments I've received can be broken down into two subsets: 1) Angry/insulting and 2) Condescending/know-it-all (but without factual support). Now, I'll admit, when I receive a quick, "You're a (bleeping) idiot! You don't know what the hell you're talking about" kind of comment, I will typically, rightly or wrongly, respond with a short, wiseass remark of my own. It's always been my philosoph...

At a private dinner at the upscale 21 Club in Manhattan on Wednesday night, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani said the following during a speech he made: "I do not believe -- and I know this is a horrible thing to say -- but I do not believe that the president loves America. He doesn't love you. And he doesn't love me. He wasn't brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through the love of this country." He also said that he would support a presidential candidate whom expressed that the United States is "the most exceptional country in the world," adding, "And if it's you Scott (Walker), I'll endorse you. And if it's somebody else, I'll support somebody else." After receiving some backlash for his remarks, Giuliani appeared on Fox News and attempted to clarify that he was "not questioning [Obama's] patriotism," adding: "He's a patriot, I'm sure. What I'm saying is, ...

It appears as though Sherwin-Williams employees have stormed out of theaters all across the country after discovering that the film Fifty Shades of Grey isn't a documentary about paint. When asked about this, Chairman and CEO of the company, Christopher M. Connor, said, "I saw part of the movie before I headed toward the exits. All I can say is that's one f**ked up shade of grey!" It has yet to be determined if the company will file lawsuits for false advertising, emotional stress, traumatic brain injury, and/or giving the color grey a bad name. If such lawsuits are filed, they'll likely request that the book and film be retitled as, Fifty Shades of F**ked Up .

It truly saddens me that red states are continuing to try and de-emphasize the importance of quality education. Instead of increasing taxes on the top 2% of earners, they feel it'd be better to strip funding from schools. Instead of lowering college tuition and interest rates in exchange for raising those before-mentioned taxes, let's continue to leave college-bound students (and their families) in large amounts of debt for several years. Not only that, but as Oklahoma lawmakers have recently suggested through the passing of a bill which would basically do away with AP U.S. history, instead of teaching students all that happened throughout history, both the good and the bad, let's just focus on teaching them what we want them to learn - you know, the good. As Republican State Representative Dan Fisher said, "In essence, we have a new emphasis on what is bad about America... (The new framework) trades an emphasis on America's founding principles of Constitutional ...

As often times seems to be the case, Fox News contributor and '70s porn star wannabe, Geraldo Rivera, appeared perplexed when he made a recent appearance on HuffPost Live  yesterday, where he said this: "Hip-hop has done more damage to black and brown people than racism in the last 10 years. [I challenge anyone to find] a youngster -- a Puerto Rican from the South Bronx or a black kid from Harlem who has succeeded in life other than being the one-tenth of one-tenth of one percent that make it in the music business -- that's been a success in life walking around with his pants around his ass and with visible tattoos..." He then added: "And I love Russell Simmons. He's a dear friend of mine. I admire his business acumen. At some point, those guys have to cop to the fact that by encouraging this distinctive culture that is removed from the mainstream, they have encouraged people to be so different from the mainstream that they can't participate other t...

Former Italy soccer coach Arrigo Sacchi has found himself in hot water due to some controversial comments he recently made while speaking at an awards ceremony, where he said following: "I'm certainly not racist and my history as a coach demonstrates that ... but look at the Viareggio [youth] tournament I would say that there are too many black players. Italy has no dignity, no pride. It should not be possible that our teams should have 15 foreign players in the squad." After facing the inevitable backlash from his comments, Sacchi attempted to clarify his remarks by speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport  and saying this: "I have been misrepresented, how could I be racist? I just said I saw a game featuring a team who fielded four coloured boys. My history speaks for itself, I always coached teams with different colours and I bought many, both at Milan and at Madrid. I just wanted to point out that we are losing our national pride and identity." I'm n...

I love the world of arts and entertainment. I'm kind of a film and music buff, enjoy classic sitcoms (and a few current ones), love to sit down and enjoy a good book, and will even go to a comedy club, play, or art museum on occasion. Outside of college football, the band Muse, and Indian food, laughter and thought-provocation are two of my favorite things. Some may think of me as snobbish when it comes to my tastes, but I tend to disagree, for I don't know too many artsy fartsy "snobs" whom are uncoy about listening to and knowing all the words to several one-hit wonders from the '80s. Having said all that, though, I honestly don't understand the Fifty Shades Of Grey  hype and am quite troubled by it. As I anticipated, the film has received poor ratings (just 26% of critics have given it positive ratings to this point according to RottenTomatoes.com), but sadly, as I also anticipated, it's done very well at the box office, even going so far as to break ...

Valentine's Day was a tad surreal for me this year - even more so than usual. My last remaining grandparent passed away three weeks ago, and after he was cremated, the rest of the family and I were able to schedule a memorial service in his honor this past Saturday, Valentine's Day. For as sad as it was to lose my grandfather, the man had been struggling for quite some time, so his passing wasn't nearly as shocking as it could have been, and in an odd way, I was happy to see him no longer have to endure such great pain, anguish, and frustration, and to finally rest and be at peace from all of his hardships. What saddened me most at the funeral wasn't the realization that my 83-year-old grandfather had passed, which while quite sad, wasn't greatly shocking. No, what saddened me most was seeing how broken apart the family was and wondering if we'd ever be able to truly come together again like we had prior to my grandmother's passing ten years ago. One of my...

Here's the URL to my Facebook business page. I update it fairly regularly, but still haven't put forth a great deal of effort yet in researching matters and attempting to make the most out of it. In any case, it can be perused here: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorCraigRozniecki?ref=hl Up next is my Twitter page. I'm still not 100% certain what I'm doing on there yet, but feel I'm gradually getting the hang of it and am up to 16,999 followers. I update it daily with many of my own tweets, but also by retweeting some others'. It can be found here: https://twitter.com/CraigRozniecki Lastly, here's my Tumblr page, which I've neglected quite a bit recently, but if you're at all curious, you can find it at the following link: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/rozzy81

For new readers (and regular ones, I suppose), here's some information pertaining to my books. All twelve of my books can be purchased in paperback form at the following site (and others): http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?type=&keyWords=craig+rozniecki&x=7&y=5&sitesearch=lulu.com&q= The ten books I've written and released in the past 3 years (yes, I've been on a roll) can be purchased for much cheaper in Kindle form at the following link: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_22?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=craig%20rozniecki%20kindle&sprefix=craig+rozniecki+kindle%2Caps%2C228&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acraig%20rozniecki%20kindle

I've never been big into Valentine's Day. Whether I was single or dating someone, February 14th was never a day I circled on my calendar. Yeah, some may call me a bad boyfriend due to that, but in my defense, if a man or a couple relies on a single overly-commercialized day every year as a make-it-or-break-it day for them, then chances are they're not very happy with things as they are, and regardless of how well Valentine's Day goes, the odds are that the relationship won't last much longer. I guess I go by the philosophy that it's better and feels more genuine to celebrate the concept of Valentine's Day regularly, yet randomly throughout the course of the year, rather than on a single designated day. Given that, this year's Valentine's Day will be an especially surreal one for me, and coincidentally enough, it directly follows Friday the 13th. Unfortunately, after a long struggle, my last grandparent - my grandfather on my mother's side - pas...

As long-time readers likely know by now, I'm not a fan of the Fifty Shades of Grey series. Not only do I find the quality of writing to be at about a high school of a C-student (that may be too generous), but the actual content of the writing I feel is degrading to women on multiple fronts. As studies have shown, the Fifty Shades of Grey series does a very poor job of depicting a consensual BDSM relationship. What it does do is depict an abusive relationship. Yes, there is a stark difference between the two and as many consenting BDSM partners have adamantly declared, it's appeared as though author E.L. James is unaware of that very difference. Given all this, it seems pretty safe to say I was thrilled to hear that the series was going to be hitting the big-screen, the first of which will be opening this Valentine's Day weekend! I know, what spells romance more than an abusive and controlling man? If I were a woman, I'd, as E.L. James may put it, bite my lip, raise my...