Arlen Specter is a Dem

This is news? When WASN'T he a dem? As I noted in my previous post, I'm fine with him going - he voted with them more often than not (most especially when it counted). I just wish they'd take with him Olympia Snow and Ron Paul.

We should focus on the why of this - political expediency. Arlen was going to lose in a big way had he stayed a Republican. Why? Because he didn't act like a Republican. Let this be a lesson to those who think we ought to be more "moderate" (Meghan McCain? Looking at you again). We want people who support our core values - fiscal responsibility and upholding the Constitution as it's written. This mean no White Supremacists (I'm now looking at Ron Paul, but I must avert my eyes quickly). It also means no anti-Semites (Pat Buchanan? You). Let the Libertarians vote libertarian - we need our party back now more than ever.

JWF Agrees with Chuckie Schumer - and our President is a Dumb A**

JammieWearingFool has a great post on the plane debacle. I'm still struggling with the amount of stupidity it must have taken to get to the point where top government officials thought this was a good idea.

They are running the country. Egads.

PS -In case you are reading this, President Obama - I'd like to point something out on another subject related only by stupidity quotient: changing the name of something doesn't make the problem go away. If it were true, I'd be calling you Ed.

PPS - Congrats on your acquisition of Arlen. Would you take Ron Paul, too?

Let's file this under "What the hell?"

OBAMA PLANE PHOTO OP STARTLES NEW YORKERS

No one is this stupid naturally.

Tea Parties - Let's get it together

As you may have noticed by the absence of information on the "Tea Parties", I wasn't a big fan. I was very intrigued by the premise of this. I remain intrigued by the premise and more than ever feel like this is an opportunity for the RNC to redeem themselves, if handled correctly.

I am a great supporter of free speech. I supported Cindy Sheehan's right to be bark at the moon raving mad. Free speech doesn't mean what is said suddenly becomes free from criticism. Far from it - if you put it out there, it's fair game. In this case, we had a bunch of fringe lunatics (I will not call them right or left wing - they are their own crazy wing) who suddenly became the voice of conservatives. Ron Paul took credit for organizing this stuff, for Pete's sake!

Republicans, we were handed the last election on a silver platter, yet managed what only Republicans are capable of - screwing up when the stars are perfectly aligned. We were all right - President Obama is a world class buffoon making 2010 a golden opportunity, again, if handled correctly. Let's start with shunning those who are racists and anti-Semites. Take a hard look at the players - some big names need to get off the train (Pat Robertson, anyone?). They can say what they want, but they can't say it on behalf of the Republican party.

Ron Paul, our own version of Dennis Kucinich, needs to exit stage left as well. He needs to take Huckabee with him. This can't happen soon enough.

Let's engage the rage of the true conservatives who took part in the tea parties and open the door to those of us who didn't want our names associated with White Supremacists. We need to get together to show the Country what we really are made of: courage, integrity, morality and full support of the Constitution.

Seriously - I'm going to get better!

Dear fans (hi Dad!),

I really thought living without mi familia in Richmond would offer ample time to blog with profundity like never seen before - but by the time I get home, work out, and catch up with the peeps at LGF, i'ts midnight!

So today I make a resolution to y'all. I blog again - starting tonight. Let me go see what's up with our world, I mean besides Obama doing dumb things, and I'll blog. I am thinking I'll start a series on what's wrong with the RNC in hopes that someone (Michael, I'm looking at you) reads this and begins to make real *ahem* change.

Stay tuned!

A sign of an amatuer...or worse?

The President has a penchant for displaying his ignorance of the stature and class required of a head of state. I'm not convinced this one should be classified as one of those "gaffes":





I'm equally not convinced it is a sign of impending Muslim rule in the U.S. as I've heard on a few local talk radio stations (seriously, WBAL, you've had some issues with crossing the line into tinfoil had territory as of late). What I think is President Obama has done what we all do - reverted to the culture he was brought up in, and he is clearly schooled in how to respect leaders from the Muslim community.

Regardless of whether the reason is pure ignorance, or incredible familiarity with customs, it should never have happened. This was not mutual respect; this was bowing down to a leader of another country - a country that treats it's citizens horrifically. And yes, I know President Bush held this guy's hand. That upset me, too. Holding hands, however, does not indicate subservience as this display did. This sent a loud message to the Muslim world - intentionally or not.

Nothing says classy like an iPod as a gift to Royalty

An iPod. What could possibly be a WORSE gift for the Queen? The only thing I can come up with is an iPod with Obama speeches on it. What's that? The iPod DID have Obama's teleprompter induced speeches on it? Good grief.

GM CEO to step down 'cause Obama said so

Holy cow. This is just WRONG. Does this have a "Big Brother" tone or what? The only thing that would make this worse is if President Obama has a Loser In Waiting to take the reins. How about the UAW? Are they being asked to "step down"? If we are dictating here, how about they both go together and we let Toyota take over?

Still Reloing - taking up lot's of time...BUT Specter feels the heat!

Uh oh! Seems that if you act like a Dem, quack like a Dem but want to run as an elephant, you may not be received with open arms! So what is a RINO to do? Change the way people in PA vote, of course!

In recent days, Specter has quietly lobbied Republicans who control the state Senate to support a proposal that would allow independents to vote in the Republican or Democratic primary. He has called individual senators and spoke before the entire caucus - on that and other subjects - earlier this week.

One senator who attended the caucus said it was tough sell.

“It was apparent that he wanted the support” of the caucus, said Sen. John H. Eichelberger, R-Blair, who supports Toomey. “I could tell from the looks in the room and the comments that were made that there wasn’t much support for it.”

via Hot Air

Gaffe number....oh heck, I've lost count

Just a few short 5o something days ago, the Left was rejoicing in Crawford being reunited with their idiot. We were being blessed with the most eloquent of speakers and a true intellectual. That Man of Genius just insulted disabled people noting his poor bowling game was akin to "Special Olympics".

Thank goodness we don't have that Cowboy in office any more saying all those embarrassing things.

The Teleprompter of the United States has a blog!

Whoever is behind this, my hat is off to you!

Barack Obama's Teleprompter's Blog

Reflections from the hard drive of the machine that enables the voice of the Leader of the Free World

Obama considering plan for Vets to pay for health care with private insurance

Seriously? Jimmy Carter, please take off your "Asshat in Chief" crown and hand it over to President Obama. He has now proven worthy of wearing it. Far more worthy than Carter ever was.

The leader of the nation’s largest veterans organization says he is “deeply disappointed and concerned” after a meeting with President Obama today to discuss a proposal to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries. The Obama administration recently revealed a plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in such cases.

“It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan,” said Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion. “He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it.”

We have an obligation to our wounded warriors. Just because President Obama doesn't contain the wherewithal to have served in the military himself, does not mean he gets to outsource their care like they are some sort of after thought. Oh wait. They are some sort of after thought to this President and the party that he leads. We can only hope the country is tiring of this man's stupidity which is trumped only by his arrogance.

Transition continues down it's interesting path

Another one bites the dust.

Stephanopolous also reports that the White House has begun swinging back at critics who point out the serial failures to properly staff senior positions, especially at Treasury, where Obama has focused his policy efforts. The administration believes they haven’t received credit for all of the directions they’ve pushed in such a short period of time. Well, boo hoo. All we heard during the campaign was that Obama would bring competence to the White House, and since November 5th have talked endlessly about how great their transition has been. The media has, at least until now, merrily run with the nonsense about the Greatest Transition In Human History, all while the evidence screams otherwise: three Cabinet appointment failures, and staffing and vetting collapses by the day.

It’s the American Idol White House, only with nothing but William Hungs as far as the eye can see.

Forgive my lack of posting, and my lack of typically brilliant (hehe) commentary. I'm being relocated and trying to pull all that together and it's been daunting thus far!

Obama too tired for foreign policy?

Mr. Obama flubbed the first diplomatic visit in a big way. Gordon Brown's visit should have been a cake walk for The One who claimed he could cure all the ills the world with "diplomacy". However, President Obama was "tired" and didn't get it right.

Tired? He has been in office a whole 2 months and he is so tired he can't think about foreign policy. It begs the question, did Barry not understand being the President involves actual work?

Team Obama has run out of excuses, to include blaming President Bush, for all the ails him. The economy is now his. It is HIS policies and crazy ideas that are scaring the markets. The man is woefully ill prepared for the job of President and is proving it day in and day out.

Is Everyone Happy Now?

We all joked about worse than Carter. It's really not funny any more! President Obama's craptastic leadership abilities are bringing this economy to a screeching halt and he has no one to blame but himself. And perhaps Rahm Emanuel. From the Wall Street Journal:

As 2009 opened, three weeks before Barack Obama took office, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 9034 on January 2, its highest level since the autumn panic. Yesterday the Dow fell another 4.24% to 6763, for an overall decline of 25% in two months and to its lowest level since 1997. The dismaying message here is that President Obama's policies have become part of the economy's problem.

Americans have welcomed the Obama era in the same spirit of hope the President campaigned on. But after five weeks in office, it's become clear that Mr. Obama's policies are slowing, if not stopping, what would otherwise be the normal process of economic recovery. From punishing business to squandering scarce national public resources, Team Obama is creating more uncertainty and less confidence -- and thus a longer period of recession or subpar growth.

The Democrats who now run Washington don't want to hear this, because they benefit from blaming all bad economic news on President Bush. And Mr. Obama has inherited an unusual recession deepened by credit problems, both of which will take time to climb out of. But it's also true that the economy has fallen far enough, and long enough, that much of the excess that led to recession is being worked off. Already 15 months old, the current recession will soon match the average length -- and average job loss -- of the last three postwar downturns. What goes down will come up -- unless destructive policies interfere with the sources of potential recovery.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Obama is concerned with Rush Limbaugh being mean to him. Oh, and all that schtick about President Obama making the rest of the world love us again due to his beyond words amazing ability to use "diplomacy"? Russia just gave us the middle finger. I think they may have taped a "kick me" sign on us, too.

Wake up and smell reality, Libs. This guy doesn't know his head from a hole in the ground.

Obama: You Know What The US Really Needs? A Market Intervention That Spectacularly Collapsed In Europe Last Week

From Mere Rhetoric:

These tools have been resentfully stewing for the last eight years, dreaming of the time when they'd get to correct all of the Bush administration's oh-so-ideological missteps. Their understanding of history begins in 2001. Their understanding of sophistication is "whatever's popular in Europe." And now that they're in power, the fact that they were always a little bit pathetic and silly about the whole thing is beside the point.

Seriously: how inadequate is your understanding of political economy when Vladamir Putin has to explain the dangers of statist centralization to you?

Go read the whole thing here.

Obama's lack of military understanding

There are many things that bother me about the way the left regards those who serve in the Military. Of late, I am most troubled by the view that those who have served in Iraq are victims. In fact, President Obama's speech at Camp Lejeune, where he announced our exodus from Iraq, was riddled with Victimized Soldier references:

You make up a fraction of the American population, but in an age when so many people and institutions have acted irresponsibly, you did the opposite – you volunteered to bear the heaviest burden. And for you and for your families, the war does not end when you come home. It lives on in memories of your fellow soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who gave their lives. It endures in the wound that is slow to heal, the disability that isn’t going away, the dream that wakes you at night, or the stiffening in your spine when a car backfires down the street.

You and your families have done your duty – now a grateful nation must do ours. That is why I am increasing the number of soldiers and Marines, so that we lessen the burden on those who are serving. And that is why I have committed to expanding our system of veterans health care to serve more patients, and to provide better care in more places. We will continue building new wounded warrior facilities across America, and invest in new ways of identifying and treating the signature wounds of this war: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury, as well as other combat injuries.

We also know that service does not end with the person wearing the uniform. In her visits with military families across the country, my wife Michelle has learned firsthand about the unique burden that your families endure every day. I want you to know this: military families are a top priority for Michelle and me, and they will be a top priority for my administration. We’ll raise military pay, and continue providing quality child-care, job-training for spouses, and expanded counseling and outreach to families that have known the separation and stress of war. We will also heed the lesson of history – that those who fight in battle can form the backbone of our middle class – by implementing a 21st century GI Bill to help our veterans live their dreams.

A big mistake made by those on the left is assuming Soldiers think like civilians. They don't, and they won't. A Soldier sacrifices for a cause greater than themselves, and they do so willingly. It would be disingenuous to state Soldiers don't suffer. They do - mentally and physically. They miss their spouses, their children just like anyone. What they don't want is sympathy for this, they don't need sympathy. The appropriate response to what a Soldier does is to honor their service, honor their sacrifices.

Military members through the ages have been affected by war. For most, a victory celebration from their home country is what offers comfort. The best counseling comes in the form of conversations with other Soldiers, because other Soldiers get it. Soldiers speak in terms of Duty, Honor and Country, not "poor you, poor me".

Soldiers will honor the Commander in Chief out of unquestionable obligation. In return, the President has an obligation to understand he is addressing warriors, and as such, he must speak their language. The President must triumphantly praise the job our Military has done, and he must honor the sacrifices of those who serve. There is no place for sanctimonious pity when you are leading Soldiers.

Back from Vermont - MSM sees the future

Wow. This is impressive journalism. A whole piece on President Obama's address to the congress set to air...tonight. That's right, folks. The piece talks about a speech hours before it airs, to include describing the entire scene. Did they get an advance copy or something? Has Dear Leader managed to invent a time machine in his wondrous first month in office?

This is really over the top - even for the MSM. Pravda has nothing on us.

h/t LGF

Gregg withdraws name

Sen. Gregg stated, “I want to thank the President for nominating me to serve in his Cabinet as Secretary of Commerce. This was a great honor, and I had felt that I could bring some views and ideas that would assist him in governing during this difficult time. I especially admire his willingness to reach across the aisle.

“However, it has become apparent during this process that this will not work for me as I have found that on issues such as the stimulus package and the Census there are irresolvable conflicts for me. Prior to accepting this post, we had discussed these and other potential differences, but unfortunately we did not adequately focus on these concerns. We are functioning from a different set of views on many critical items of policy"

The question now is just how bad will this get

Damn. The Senate passed the largest spending bill in history. The Dow dropped 8,0000 points.

The vote was 61-37, with the Turn Coat Republicans *spit* voting for this piece of garbage. Nothing good will come of this. Nothing.

The Press Conference that Refused to End

Tonight we were blessed with the complex oratory skills of our President. I watched the whole thing, beginning to end, and feel that I am deserving of some type of award for valor. I'm sure the rest of you who did the same feel the same.

The President has mastered the art of "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with BS" communication methods. Funny thing is, I think Obama was just as baffled with his answers as the rest of us. In the few coherent and understandable sentences spoken, Obama called out his dissenters and does all he can to shut them down a la Chicago politics. He tries to convince us FDR's policies were just groovy, historians got it all wrong, you see. He noted "people need to break out of their ideological rigidity". He means me, to which I say MY ideological rigidity will go with me to my grave, thank you kindly.

In one of his ramblings, he made overtures about Pakistan. Hold on to your hats, folks, that will be a ride like we've not seen with this guy at the helm.

Then there were the questions - Andrea Mitchell, professional reporter, asks the President's opinion on A-Rod's drug use. This is useful? Another professional journalist from CNN wanted to know when he could take pictures of Soldier's coffins. HuffPo (!) wants to know when we are going to throw the book at President Bush. Obama says no one is above the law, unless and of course you are a tax evading member of his cabinet.

I am stunned at how much this man doesn't know, doesn't get, and beyond that, how often he rambled on and on and on saying absolutely nothing. He contradicted himself repeatedly and displayed his incredible narcissism. That coupled with his complete lack of qualifications for the position he holds is a sight to behold. He blamed Bush as often as possible (but then blamed Fannie and Freddie, he forgot that was a Dem thing?). It was a pathetic display that ended quite bizarrely and abruptly - maybe he didn't want to miss 24, but he should still work on that a bit.

Obama: Mad Dash to the Bottom

I've been working on my Obama screw up list, but every time I get ready to post, a whole new debacle raises it's hand! So, I've been toying with some other ideas to track the list. While I sort through that, I'd like to offer a round up of headlines summarizing President Obama's less than stellar start.

From the New York Times (yes, I'm serious!): Slumdogs Unite!

From the NY Daily News: Stumbling out the gate: Barack Obama flubs his first big test

From The Boston Globe: Three weeks in, and no one has Obama's back

From the Washington Times - CBO: Obama stimulus harmful over the long haul

Change!

Proud to be an unpatriot...

From Michelle Malkin.

Mark Steyn - Right again!

Maybe it's time for President Obama to come out and give one of his big hopey-changey speeches. It's been a few weeks now, and I kinda miss them. You know – "We are the change we've been waiting for." "We have nothing to hope for but hope itself." "Ask not what your hope can change for you, ask what you can hope for your change." Etc.

But I wonder if the old songs from last month's hit parade would play as well today. On Wednesday, Salon headlined a story on Obama: "The New Great Communicator … Isn't." Oh, dear. It's early days yet, but the gulf between the rhetoric and the reality, between the audacity of hope and the reality of pork, yawns ever wider. Right now, it's the Obama mythology that urgently needs some stimulus. Some of us never expected him to walk on water. But we didn't think he'd be all at sea taking on quite so much of it after a mere two weeks.

Read the whole thing, excerpts don't do it justice.

Hopefully everyone is contacting their Senators telling them a yes vote on this spending bill will not be met with a raucous applause, and no, I don't care that The One is screaming at the top of his lungs pass this NOW or WE ARE ALL GONNA DIE!!!! Republicans for reals, and Republican Lites - it's time for the big F word - filibuster! Democrats, you are so welcome in our tent of saying not only no, but heck no!

Stay tuned, I'm compiling a list of broken promises, mistakes, SNAFUs and other examples of how this administration is proving they are not up for the job later today.

Charges dropped against USS Cole bombing suspect

a consequence of The One's executive order. We'll be needing white flags instead of unicorns in short order.

2 Weeks and he's tired of being in the White House

Two weeks. TWO WEEKS!

With little notice, the president and first lady Michelle Obama bolted the gated compound of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in their tank of a limousine on Tuesday. They ended up at a Washington public school, greeted by children who could not care less about the collapse of a Cabinet secretary nomination.

"We were just tired of being in the White House," the president candidly told the gleeful second-graders at Capital City Public Charter School.

Frankly, we are tired of you being in the White House, too. This has been a mad dash to the bottom, what with the tax evading cabinet members and "Unclench your fist" being the sum total of our foreign policy. We don't even have to touch the "stimulus package" that is heading us right to Smoot-Hawley part deux. For the love of Pete, India told President Obama to pound sand!

Though part of me would love to acknowledge this as President Obama's two week notice, that leaves us with Biden in Charge. After that? Pelosi. After her? An ex-klan member. Good job, Dems, good job. This whole thing is FUBAR.

Change!

Communism - Coming to a house near you!

I am dumbfounded. President Obama sends out his first political email and guess what it's for? Organizing "House Meetings" to discuss the Porkapalooza plan. He isn't even TRYING to hide the communist overtures with this one!

For those that don't know, a "House Meeting" is a term used to describe organizational meetings and was the building block for the farmworker movement (UFW). They used house meetings to strong arm the union in, at to organize boycotts. This is a socialist term at the least, and to be honest, it's heavy on the communist innuendo.

Next up will be block captains. This is how governments get undermined - "grassroots" is one thing, having citizens rise up and declare policy over the elected officials is another.

I wish I had some quip comment to make here, but I just don't. I'm gobsmacked. We should not take this lightly, folks. Happy Monday.

Obama has been in discussions with Iran for MONTHS?

Months? WTF? It makes me angry to think he would allow his narcissism to put us in danger like this. More importantly, his narcissism coupled with his stupidity is going to end in a lot of people getting hurt.

Obama and FEMA - Let 42 People Die in KY

From our friend, JammieWearingFool! Where is the outrage?

Can you imagine the media reaction if this were George W. Bush? Heck, we're still hearing about Hurricane Katrina nearly four years later.

Is Obama even aware what's going on in Kentucky? I know he's very busy between trashing Wall Street and Rush Limbaugh, but could he at least acknowledge these poor folks and get them some help?

A trillion to spend on STD prevention and what have you, but Pentagon must cut budget

The Obama administration has asked the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff to cut the Pentagon's budget request for the fiscal year 2010 by more than 10 percent -- about $55 billion -- a senior U.S. defense official tells FOX News.

It starts. Let's review the Porkulus Bill, shall we? (From Doug Ross)

• $83 billion in welfare payments (the earned income credit for people who don't pay income tax)
• $81 billion for Medicaid
• $66 billion on "education", more than the entire Department of Education required just ten years ago
• $36 billion for expanded unemployment benefits
• $20 billion for food stamps
• $8 billion on "renewable energy" projects, which have a low or negative return
• $7 billion for "modernizing federal buildings and facilities"
• $6 billion on urban transit systems, dominated by unions and which, almost universally, lose money
• $2.4 billion for "carbon-capture demonstration projects"
• $2 billion for child-care subsidies
• $1 billion for Amtrak, the federal railroad that's run in the red for 40 years
• $650 million for "digital TV conversion coupons" (on top of billions already spent)
• $600 million on new cars for government (added to the $3 billion already spent each year)
• $400 million for "global-warming research"
• $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts

But the Pentagon must lead the charge in showing fiscal constraint. Is this because we won't need as big a defense as Obama's conversational skills will turn our enemies to friends? Newsflash - the call to unclench their fists didn't work out so well!

Obama also cried that now is not the time to profit (he was angered by CEOs getting bonuses, and buy a Jet?!? Whoa, now. That can't happen despite it putting money into the market, employing the one who built the jet, employing the one who has to fly the jet, the person who makes the jet fuel itself, and so on and so forth),however, each congress-critter was just given an additional $93,000 in petty cash. Hypocrisy, thy name is government.

Iran says Obama's offer to talk shows US failure

US President Barack Obama's offer to talk to Iran shows that America's policy of "domination" has failed, the government spokesman said on Saturday.

"This request means Western ideology has become passive, that capitalist thought and the system of domination have failed," Gholam Hossein Elham was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency.

"Negotiation is secondary, the main issue is that there is no way but for (the United States) to change," he added.

After nearly three decades of severed ties, Obama said shortly after taking office this month that he is willing to extend a diplomatic hand to Tehran if the Islamic republic is ready to "unclench its fist".

Well that little bit of diplomacy was just as successful as we had predicted. What's next, Dear Leader? Send them our lunch money and see if they leave us alone?

All Republicans vote no on Porkapalooza

Wow! They all remembered they were Republicans! I'm proud of you!

PS - This is a stunning loss to the Dems, most especially when you consider Obama lost 11 of his own on this. So much for his incredible skills of bringing everything and everyone together!

Are you friggin' kidding me? Passenger contemplating suing US Airways!

On January 15th, we witnessed nothing short of a miracle. A pilot's skill, along with incredible work by the crew and rapid response of rescue teams resulted in all passengers surviving a crash into the Hudson River. Joe Hart, a salesman from Charlotte, doesn't think $5,000, reimbursement for the cost of his ticket and HIS LIFE is enough.

No, this moron is contemplating suing the Airlines. He wants to be "made whole for the incident". Bud, you are whole, as is evidenced by the fact you are being quoted in the news rather than a review of your life in an obituary.

In addition to recovering losses, Hart says he's concerned about having trouble flying. He's flown on six planes since the accident, and each flight has gotten "progressively more difficult."

He says he was tense, sweated and "felt every bit of turbulence" on a Los Angeles-to-Philadelphia flight last week, though it wasn't that turbulent a flight.

Hart says he has talked to a lawyer in North Carolina but hasn't decided whether to take any legal action.

"I want to see how things play out with US Airways," he says. "I'm hopeful US Airways understands the significance of the incident."

Big piles of money cure flying anxiety? Who knew!

For the lawyers who are reaching out to the passengers (Kreindler & Kreindler, a New York law firm), I must ask: on what basis will you file this suit? Negligence on the part of the airline for failing to navigate around a random flock of geese? Will there be a counter suit filed by the geese against those who stand to profit from the loss of their beloved gaggle-mates?

What Obama is Really Saying to the World

President Obama has granted his first televised interview as President to al-Arabiya, the strongly anti-Semitic Arab television station. Had the purpose of the interview been to send a strong, clear and convincing message to the Arab community that terrorism will not be tolerated, and that the United States continues to support our strongest ally, Israel, I could potentially forgive the choice. Instead, however, the interview proves Obama's ego is trumped only by his naivete:




Obama seems to think he can just whisk away 61 years of history (and if we want to be more exact, we should go back to 1922) by simply showing up and talking about feelings rather than policy. Perhaps if Obama had a stronger grasp on what really did happen in the past, he would understand the issue lies squarely with Hamas. In fact, Obama seems to have no earthly idea that this has nothing to do with a Palestinian state, but the hamasholes never ending desire to eradicate Jews. From this interview, it's apparent Obama is unaware that problems such as rockets being lobbed into Israel don't exist in the West Bank as they do in Gaza - where Jewish settlements have been dismantled for years!

Obama addresses the issues in Iran, noting their support of terrorism "in the past" wasn't "helpful". In the past? Not helpful? Does he believe the hype that terrorism ceased to exist January 21, 2009? I wonder if the Muslim leaders of the world are feeling badly that their behavior "isn't helpful". Moreover, Obama equated Islamic terrorism (also occurring in the past) with nebulous other acts of terrorism in the name of religion. What is he referencing here? Perhaps he means all those Amish drive-by shootings.

Troubling as well is Obama's desire to return to a "partnership" with the Muslim world as we had "20 or 30 years ago". I'd love to understand if President Obama was referencing Ronald Reagan's administration, or Jimmy Carter's. To that end, if Obama meant to reference Carter, one could surmise Obama isn't clear when the Carter Administration exactly happened. If we return to Carter's policies, does that really constitute change? I suppose it would, as normal "change" means Clinton policy.

Rush Responds To Obama

Obama announced that if the Republicans wanted to get along and get things done, they would stop listening to Rush, in what the press referred to as a "zing":

"You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done," he told top GOP leaders, whom he had invited to the White House to discuss his nearly $1 trillion stimulus package.

Are you kidding me? You are telling the opposition who they can and can't listen too? Is this the beginnings of your Fairness Doctrine Redux? Has anyone let President Obama know that Rush is an entertainment personality, not a representative of the GOP?

In any event, Rush responds at NRO:

Snip

There are two things going on here. One prong of the Great Unifier's plan is to isolate elected Republicans from their voters and supporters by making the argument about me and not about his plan. He is hoping that these Republicans will also publicly denounce me and thus marginalize me. And who knows? Are ideological and philosophical ties enough to keep the GOP loyal to their voters? Meanwhile, the effort to foist all blame for this mess on the private sector continues unabated when most of the blame for this current debacle can be laid at the feet of the Congress and a couple of former presidents. And there is a strategic reason for this.

Snip

One more thing, Byron. Your publication and website have documented Obama's ties to the teachings of Saul Alinksy while he was community organizing in Chicago. Here is Rule 13 of Alinksy's Rules for Radicals:

"Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it."

Snip.

That is a real zing, friends and neighbors.

NFL Not Letting Color Guard Stay - UPDATE, UPDATE AGAIN

What the heck, NFL? According to The Thunder Run, the NFL plans to escort the color guard off the field and out of the stadium before the game begins:

What has become a common yet gracious act of allowing a military color guard to stay and watch the game from the side lines, in honor of their service to our country, this time has them being treated as if they are the unwelcome guests, common servants to be whisked away as soon as their task is completed.

I will be sending an inquiry to the NFL (along with many others, I am sure) to find out what the heck happened in the decision making process. If the answer is not sufficient, meaning they don't say "oopsie, our bad. Of course those fine Marines can stay", I will begin counter measures. The Marine Moms are clearly upset. When you add an Army Wife to that mix, it can get down right brutal. Let that be a warning to ye, NFL decision makers.

UPDATE -
Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com has responded to this indicating "this is how it's always been done". Maybe so, but it doesn't make it acceptable. I find the response snotty at best, most especially when he says obviously Bruce Springsteen will get to stay to see the game, and surely the Marines can't seem to think they are as important as Bruce, now could they? Hey Mike! Last I checked it wasn't Bruce who protected your right to be such a buffoon. Mike feels that if the Marine's don't like it, there are plenty more that would trade places. Classy, that one.

Let's hope the NFL does the right thing. we are talking 12 people on the sidelines, here. This isn't rocket surgery.

Thunder Run has an excellent response and round up of who is following this debacle. Go read the whole thing.

UPDATE 2:
There are mixed feelings on this. The military shouldn't "expect" free anything. I understand this, and hope it wasn't set into motion by people who want to capitalize on their service. That would be disgraceful, most especially if you use the people who support you the most as tools. It looks selfish, and would certainly be in my eyes at least, conduct unbecoming. My opinion still stands, however, that the NFL should WANT to offer these Marines a chance to view the Super Bowl as they would not be able to afford tickets, and are more deserving than Bruce Springsteen who COULD buy tickets if he so chose. The NFL should not be strong armed into it, however.

Obama to close terrorist 'black sites'

Just great.

President Obama on Thursday will order the closure of so-called black sites, where CIA and European security services have interrogated terrorist suspects, under executive orders dismantling much of the Bush admistration's [sic] architecture for the war on terror, according to four individuals familiar with a draft executive order.

Mr. Obama will shutter "all permanant [sic] detention facilities overseas," the draft said, according to the individuals who asked not to be named because the orders have not yet been signed. There are at least eight such prisons, according to published reports. The Bush administration never revealed the number or location of the facilities, although several were said to be in Eastern Europe.

Way to go, Barry. This should help keep our country safe! For all those suggesting The One would govern from the center, I believe this says "I am lib, get over it". I really hope The One reads a book that he didn't write for a change so he begins to grasp these guys want us dead. DEAD. There are not enough rainbows to fix it.

Stay Classy, Barack

Well look what is on the whitehouse.gov site.

President Obama will keep the broken promises made by President Bush to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. He and Vice President Biden will take steps to ensure that the federal government will never again allow such catastrophic failures in emergency planning and response to occur.

President Obama swiftly responded to Hurricane Katrina. Citing the Bush Administration's "unconscionable ineptitude" in responding to Hurricane Katrina, then-Senator Obama introduced legislation requiring disaster planners to take into account the specific needs of low-income hurricane victims. Obama visited thousands of Hurricane survivors in the Houston Convention Center and later took three more trips to the region. He worked with members of the Congressional Black Caucus to introduce legislation to address the immediate income, employment, business, and housing needs of Gulf Coast communities.

Honeymoon is officially over, Barry. You can stick "we are one" up your unicorn.

The Children of Palestine

The MSM has been reporting feverishly on the conflict in Gaza these last 20 days. Missing from these reports is the shocking use of children by the Palestinians, both as shields and as disgusting displays of propaganda. Why is this vile, death loving culture so embraced by the left? Why is the MSM silent on the subject of the abuse of children in Palestine?

At great risk of having an fatwa issued on me, let me share a bit of what I am talking about. One of the Hamasshole's favorite tricks is to use children as human shields. For example, the Hamas leaders hid in hospitals to avoid martyrdom, whilst they expected the children to be both willing and unwilling martyrs. These brave leaders placed weapons caches in schools; they sent children out in the street to be spotters while the brave men hid under trees shooting straight up in the air. Don't believe me? Watch this and pay close attention around the 1:20 mark.



On top of using these innocents as shields, the Hamashole's have their video cams at the ready should one of these children get wounded or killed, because no one likes dead children. Except Hamas. Again I ask, where is the outrage?

Children are indoctrinated into this culture of hate at a very young age. The following is a video of a popular children's show in Palestine. It begins with a song about Qassam rockets sung by two little boys, followed up by Assud, the Jew Eating Bunny who is in the hospital. Assud is mortally wounded by none other than the IDF. Yes, they have the rabbit die for all the children to see while his friend Saraa cries about the Zionist attack on children. Nice, isn't it?

A translation of the clip has been provided by DanS of LGF:

Song:

launch, launch
fshhhhhhh (2 times)

Launch the qassam rocket
on the usurpers
Launch, 'cause our honor calls us
Shake our enemies' lights
Prepare the rockets, get em ready, it's time to retaliate
Get the rockets ready, get em ready

Lunch the qassam rocket
fshhhhhhh

Assud the Bunny: I ask you to watch over the 'Pioneers of Tomorrow' TV program, and to follow the path of Farfoor and Nakhool [a deranged mouse and the Jew-hating bee that are featured on this show]
And that you, too, will follow my path, the path of education, of loyalty. The path of resistance.
Teach our children that we have a land which we will return to:
Jaffa, Acre, Haifa, Tel Aviv. [pre-1967 Israel, shocker].

Saraa (girl) Don't be sad, Assud. Victory is near. Inshalla.
Victory is near, inshalla. Victory is near.
Don't you see how the enemy, don't you see how the Zionists, fight our children?!

"[The Arabs] will stop fighting us when they love their children more than they hate [Jews]." - Golda Meir

Thank you LGF for supplying the video links.

We've lost a friend - Bill Faith

I am deeply saddened to hear that Bill Faith has passed away. Bill was a friend - he supported my initial blog efforts, and linked to this blog as well. More importantly, he faithfully sent emails to me during my husband's deployment to check on him, and check on me. He would talk horse with me. He loved his family, and oh how he loved those grandbabies. His spirit was one to emulate, as even when he didn't feel well, he had something positive to say.

Bill was a true hero, a defender of our country and it's ideals. Bill served in the Air Force, and was a Viet Nam vet. I was just thinking I hadn't sent a message to him in awhile, and should really send an email. I didn't get around to it and I will never have a chance again.

I feel like the wind has been knocked out of me.

Zombie Does It Again - The Globalization of Intifada

Zombie has an incredible roll call of the Anti-Israel protests all held January 10th across the globe. Was the fact they all occurred on this date sheer luck or determined coordination? As Zombie points out, we may never know. What we do know, however, is these protests are now violent and the police in different countries seem unwilling or unable to contain it. See for yourself:

January 10, 2009: The Intifada is globalized as the Gaza War becomes a global War.

Chuck Schumer Disrespects Honor of Military Award

Today we witnessed a miracle. US Airways Flight 1549 crashed into an icy Hudson River, and despite all odds, every passenger and crew member escaped alive. The emergency response is one for others to emulate. The pilot (a retired F4 pilot) handled the situation with aplomb and deserves to have his skill recognized and his actions honored. However, New York Senator Chuck Schumer (D-dingdong) committed an unacceptable and inexcusable error when calling for the Congressional Medal of Honor to be awarded to the pilot.

"The pilot deserves the Congressional Medal of Honor," said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY). "They did an amazing and miraculous job."

The Congressional Medal of Honor is the highest award bestowed on a member of the United States Armed Services for valor while engaged in battle with an enemy. Geese, last I heard, were not on the list of recognized terrorist organizations despite hailing from Canada.

When you are put in a position to govern this country, there are some things you should just know. This is one of them. The Medal of Honor possesses a history and symbolism like no other military award; the recipients are the best of the best in our military. Senator Schumer owes the Medal of Honor recipients a huge apology for this error, and instead of spending time figuring out how to put this country down the toilet, he should read up on military awards and their meanings.

He should also spend some time reading up on civilian awards. The appropriate medal for the incredible pilot is the Congressional Gold Medal.

The 22nd Amendment - Who Needs It?

Is THIS the change we've heard so much about? Rep. Jose Serrano (D-stupid) has introduced HJ Res 5 to appeal the 22nd amendment - the one that provides for term limits for the President.

The New York representative thought this would be a great idea once before - when Bill Clinton was in office. Oddly enough, the thought wasn't as enticing to Rep. Sorrano during the Bush administration. Which brings up a point: remember when the libs where all fashioning their tin foil hats because (OMG!) President Bush was going to declare Marshall Law during some Rovian constructed Natural Disaster, resulting in President Bush renaming himself Dictator Forevah Bush? The great Mechanism to End Democracy? A bit ironic, if you ask me.

Elections have consequences, people. The One promised change, and change we shall have.

h/t Ed Morrisey of Hot Air

CNN - Shamelessly Arrogant

I have been following the events surrounding the tape put forth by CNN supposedly depicting a 12 year old child dying as a result of an IDF rocket attack. Said child was playing on the roof, which in and of itself makes no sense at all, bearing in mind Gaza is a war zone.

There are multiple versions of the story line, depending on where you viewed the video. Charles Johnson of LGF has done a superb job rounding these up in one place for critical viewing here. What as a minimum should strike the viewer as questionable is the lack of damage to the roof that was supposedly hit by the IDF. There is some rubble, mind you, but the roof and building are still quite intact. An attack such as the one being claimed should have rendered this building a pile of stone.

The second issue is the medical procedure being performed on the child. This is supposed to be CPR. Chest compressions during CPR are quite violent in order to be effective. This is mere tapping - and the tapping is being done in the wrong location to boot (stomach rather than sternum). Moreover, they are not respirating the victim which makes CPR utterly useless.

I find it striking that a victim who reportedly had "shrapnel" all over his body and a severe head injury doesn't have much in the way of wounds, nor much in the way of bleeding. Blood should be everywhere, especially if CPR is being performed. The Doctors working on our patient are quite clean.

Speaking of Doctors, the European one (the one pandering to the camera) is Mads Gilbert. Strangely, no one in the MSM finds it necessary to let the world know Dr. Gilbert is a card carrying communist and Hamas sympathizer. Read more at the Swedish blog Pophoger. The humanitarian Doctor also supported the 9-11 attacks, this information is curiously absent from the pages of CNN (or any of the other outlets quoting this guy and there are plenty of them).

CNN has responded to the criticism of this video by saying it's genuine because, well the people who filmed it say it is so, therefore it must be!

"It's absolute nonsense," Paul Martin, co-owner of World News and Features, said of accusations leveled by bloggers at videographer Ashraf Mashharawi.

"He's a man of enormous integrity and would never get involved with any sort of manipulation of images, let alone when the person dying is his own brother," Martin said. "I know the whole family. I know them very well. ... [Mashharawi] is upset and angry that anyone would think of him having done anything like this. ... This is ridiculous. He's independent."

So who is this Paul Martin character? He is the co-owner of World News & Features. Much about this is posted on LGF here. Mr. Martin contacted Charles Johnson in order to defend this work - but chose instead to issue a prepared statement (comment 13) on the blog Augean Stables (in response to blog owner Richard Landes' analysis and excellent call for the rushes of the video). Mr. Martin's rejoinder falls flat. Instead of offering proof, he uses words to make the reader feel ashamed of themselves for even questioning the subject at hand. He also opens doors to more inquiries into the video rather than shutting the doors on the questions currently asked. It would seem to me, the prudent thing for CNN to do is remove the video citing "questionable" authenticity with the promise to repost should it be discovered, after painful investigation, that the situation was truth. But that is too much like right, so I am not holding my breath.

Ed Morrisey at Hotair is following this, as is Powerline. As we would expect, Charles (Head Honco) and the Lizard Army (Honco division) are all over this in ways that should make CNN hide their heads in shame for their lack of fact finding or even the barest minimums in fact checking.

Camp Obama To Talk To Hamas?

Looks like change we can't believe is gearing up for warp speed. Engage Hamas? What kind of idiot thinks this would be a good thing?

Oh. The idiot that will soon be called President.

Deported Hamas Terrorist Now Columnist at LA Times

Mousa Abu Marzook, a Hamas terrorist who was deported from the US in 1997 , has a column in the January 6, 2009 LA Times: Hamas Speaks.

A little background on this genocidal maniac: While in the US, Marzook supported Hamas terrorist activities by serving on the board of the Islamic Association for Palestine, founding the United Association for Studies and Research, and active involvement in the Holy Land Foundation . For his role in these groups, Marzook was found guilty of supporting terrorist organizations in November of 2008. It should also be noted that the LA Times' newest columnist was deported from Jordan in 1999 for his Hamas related terrorist activities.

This is the same LA Times that refused to release the tape of President Elect Obama toasting former PLO operative Rashid Khalidi. This is beyond the usual biased trash put forth by the MSM. This is morally repugnant.

Tell the LA Times how you feel about their support of what can only be described as evil: LA Times.

h/t LGF who fights this battle better than anyone.

2008 Best Blog Awards - Vote Now, Vote Often!

JammieWearingFool did the work so I don't have too! Please add "Millblogging" as a consideration for Best Military Blog as well as Chuck's blog From my position, On the way!. Go read it while you are at it, and let him know ArmyWife sent ya!

Honeymoon's Over!

From Powerline -

Many liberals have what strikes me as a touching faith that the election of Barack Obama will cause America to be better loved by people around the world, including those who are ideologically hostile to the United States. They take seriously the idea that the fact that George Bush is hated in some precincts, and his likeness is a staple of anti-American demonstrations, tells us something about Bush rather than about the people who dislike our country.

So I confess to some satisfaction in seeing Obama's likeness paraded at a hate rally in Jakarta, along with those of Maburak and Olmert. The protesters were blaming Obama for Israel's attack on Hamas, when he hasn't even been inaugurated yet!

Si se peude! - UPDATED

Updated below!

Or maybe not. Gov. Bill Richardson (D-idiot), has withdrawn his name as Secretary of Commerce in the Obama administration due to a pending investigation into a company that has done business with New Mexico. It is being reported this is an investigation into a "pay to play" scenario. Where have we heard this before?

"Let me say unequivocally that I and my Administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact," he said Sunday in a report by NBC News' Andrea Mitchell. "But I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process."

Gov. Richardson did state he has no plans on resigning from his post as Governor, because apparently being a corrupt Secretary of Commerce is bad, but being a corrupt Governor isn't such a big deal. Makes you wonder.

Another thing we should be wondering about is the incredible vetting process Camp Obama was bragging about. First we have Rahm Emanuel who may have something to do with the Blagojavitch scandal, now we have this scandal. Bets on who is next?

On the other hand, Governor Richardson may have found out about something (like the crazazy new deal part deux) and is backing out for political expediency. No matter what the reason, this just may be the most scandal ridden administration in our history - and that is saying something!

UPDATE:

The Obama Bus has been fired up again! Camp Obama say's Richardson lied to them - he was not, in fact, the Richardson they knew.

Sources tell ABC News that officials on the Obama Transition Team feel that before he was formally offered the job of commerce secretary, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was not forthcoming with them about the federal investigation that is looking into whether the governor steered a state contract towards a major financial contributor.

Once the investigation became more widely known through national media reports last month, sources tell ABC News, the Obama Transition Team realized the FBI would not be able to give Richardson a clean political bill of health before the new administration is ready to send his nomination up to the Senate for confirmation.

In a counterpoint:

The Richardson camp says the governor was forthcoming, with sources close to the governor noting that there had been reports about the controversy in local media such as the Albuquerque Journal as far back as August 2008. The governor discussed the investigation with the Obama team, they say, and believes that he and his administration have done nothing wrong.

Perhaps Richardson wasn't entirely forth coming in this ordeal, however, Team Obama was certainly aware that SOMETHING was up. Perhaps The One miscalculated the public's reaction to such shenanigans and Blagogate opened his eyes? Or, more likely, The One is a craptastic judge of people and this is one more indication of many, many things to come. POPCORN! MORE POPCORN OVER HERE!

These photos aren't staged, are they?

The MSM is totally outdoing themselves with this, aren't they? In this shot we see a hand picking up a photo of Santa amongst the rubble.

This is just horrible, isn't it? Those rascally Jews have ruined the Muslim's Christmas!

(Thank you, Killgore Trout, for the photo link)

Israellycool Live Blogging

Go here for up to date information on what is happening in Israel.