Romney Cannot Defeat Obama

Not having among their 2012  presidential hopefuls a used-up, burnt-out, out-of-touch old politician such as Bob Dole or John McCain, the Republican establishment is stuck with one, and only one, sure-fire way of snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory: Nominate Mitt Romney. In the absence of a washed-up RINO, the RNC will have to make do with a shiny new RINO in the form of RINO.

Tea partiers and true conservatives, and perhaps the vast majority of Republicans and independents, will not, and should not, be excited about Romney as the nominee (God forbid that it should happen), which will leave a stunned Republican party asking itself how it was possible that Obama could get elected to a second term. Easy. The Republican establishment did not understand how to win the first time Obama ran. If Romney is the nominee, that alone is proof that they still don't get it. 

copyright 2010 by larrybradley.com

Farewell, Barnes and Noble Stores

Barnes and Noble just lost me as a customer. Removing all the chairs from their brick and mortar stores so as to force me to sit among teenie boppers and sip outrageously-priced coffee in the Starbucks area was the last straw. 

For fifteen years, I made a purchase virtually every time I walked into my neighborhood B&N, but usually only after thumbing through several books and magazines. Try doing that while sitting on one of those little foot-stool thingies. Never again. If I cannot have a satisfying in-store experience, my next choice is a satisfying on-line experience, and Amazon has B&N beat there. Farewell, my old B&N store - my old friend. Hello, Amazon.

copyright 2010 by larrybradley.com

Rick Perry, Are You Smarter Than A Journalist?

Governor Rick Perry and his supporters should seize the opportunity to reshape the current debate regarding whether he is smarter than Barack Obama (a given, when comparing their records of accomplishment). The question Perry and his supporters should start floating immediately: "Is Rick Perry smarter than a journalist?"

Here are some potential comebacks.

Journalist: "Governor Perry, are you dumb?"

Governor Rick: "You tell me. I was smart enough to not become a journalist."

Governor Rick: "Those who can, lead. Those who can't, become journalists."

Governor Rick: "I mastered the controls of a C150. You know how to operate a keyboard."

Governor Rick: "What did Obama say when you asked him if he is dumb?"

Governor Rick: "I have written two popular books, one on government and the other on the values of the Boy Scouts. I have been elected Governor of the most successful state in the union, not once, but three times. You have a blog and ask inane questions for a living. Which one of us is dumber?"

I could go on ad infinitum, but I promised myself I would do no more than devote a single short post to a topic that is too ridiculous to deserve any kind of response.


Copyright 2011 by larrybradley.com, All Rights Reserved

Obamacare in ANY Form? Health, No!

My thesaurus says "repeal" and "fix" are not the same thing. I did not vote a straight Republican ticket in anticipation that either those Republicans just elected or those who kept their seats would take part in "fixing" Obama-care. Federal healthcare in ANY form is a Constitutional aberration. GET THIS STRAIGHT: THE BIGGEST (AND MAYBE THE ONLY) PROBLEM WE HAVE WITH HEALTH CARE NOW IS GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT. Take the government out of healthcare completely, and there is rapid recovery. Costs go down. Quality of care goes up. Accessibility improves. People live longer and healthier.

We don't need government to "fix" health care. We need government to "get the health out!" of health-care. 

copyright 2010 by larrybradley.com

Bad-Hire Bob: Redux

If anything is going to prove this blog's contention that Bob McNair's, and thus the Houston Texans', greatest flaw is the inability to hire good people, say no more than "Wade Phillips." The only thing good about this hire is that Phillips might be better than Frank Bush. But, like Bush, Phillips likely won't make Gary Kubiak any smarter, so we probably won't see much improvement in the Texans' record unless Kubiak turns out to be good at learning from his mistakes.

copyright 2010 by larrybradley.com

Bad-Hire Bob: Why The Houston Texans Are Doomed To Failure

I am going to save Houston Texans fans from any further needless arguments over what is wrong with the team. The owner, the head coach, the defensive coordinator, the general manager and the hash-slinger at the hot-dog stand variously have been blamed for the Texans' continued dismal showing, yet there is only one among them who spans the entire life of the team, and that is the owner.  Hear me out.

Allow me to start with the obligatory "Bob McNair is a nice guy" statement. Now that we have that out of the way, I will explain why Bob McNair is the root of all Texans' evil.

It's as simple as this: Bob McNair does not know how to hire talent. Period. When you think about it, he has no record that says he ever knew how to hire top-notch talent, including his stint as owner of his own company, Cogen Technologies. I mean, how smart do you have to be to sell electricity in Houston? The Utilities industry is sort of like the Banking industry in that regard. You only have to be smart enough to get into the industry and make the right connections; strong management skills, including the ability to hire top-notch talent, aren't really a requirement.

When you have no particular skill set for hiring good people and you have the bad luck to hire bad employees, the problem simply perpetuates itself when those bad management hires are themselves making bad hiring decisions. Again, you have management people with no particular skill set for hiring and no track record of having done so successfully who are themselves hiring people. The problem simply multiplies with each bad managerial hire.

Case in point: Gary Kubiak. Was he a bad hire? Obviously. So, why did Bob McNair hire him? Well, not for the right reasons. Why do you think so many organizations passed on Kubiak before nice-guy Bob took the bait? Because really, really good organizations know how to assess talent. Kubiak  was not then, is not now, and never will be a great talent as a head coach. Savvy organizations did their homework and passed on Kubiak. Maybe McNair hired him on a "gut feeling," or because he is a nice guy, or because he felt sorry for him, or because he is an Aggie, or for any combination of those reasons, but he certainly did not hire him for his intelligence or his demonstrated potential to become a great head coach. Many of the organizations who said "no" to Kubiak have since moved on and made the play-offs while the Texans are left with a bad hire in Kubiak, the bad hires Kubiak has brought on board and the perpetual underachievers Kubiak and Rick Smith have managed to assemble and call a football team.

Unless he just gets lucky, McNair will never have a shot at hiring a great coach because hiring well requires the kind of hiring experience and ability that he lacks so  sorely. Oh, there are hiring mentors, seminars and books on hiring, but most people at McNairs stage in life will never admit they have a deficiency, much less ask for help. The other solution is simple. Bob McNair needs to hire someone with the right skill set and experience to hire a great head coach, someone who knows how to assess  executive talent. Until that happens, the hapless Texans will continue their long (but getting shorter) journey toward the NFL record of most consecutive seasons without a winning record or a play-off appearance.

copyright 2010, larrybradley.com

The Dirty Half-Dozen: RINOs Who Voted To Repeal Don't Ask/Don't Tell

• Susan Murkowski (R) - Alaska - You shudda' voted for Joe Miller, you frozen-brained Alaskans!
• Mark Kirk (R) Illinois - One of the Senate's newest RINOs shows his true colors.
• Olympia Snowe (R) Maine (Please, please, PLEASE switch to the Democrat party where you belong!
• Scott Brown (R) Massachusetts - Sarah Palin was right about this RINO; the Tea Party was wrong.
• John Ensign (R) Nevada - Well, he IS a RINO from Harry Reid's home state. What did you expect?
• George Voinovich (R) Ohio - Ah, the power to stay in power! Ohioan's who continue to whore out their votes to keep this pork-barrel politician in power have no shame.

And there you have it - The Dirty Half-Dozen. RINOs all. All must go in the next election.