He LIES: Obama’s Extortion of America!

I’m BEYOND tired of the political blackmail that goes on. This is seen throughout the body politic, whether it's local government and schools are clamoring for more tax dollars, or now, as the President out and out lies about the sequestration and what the deadline means.

1)   Sequestration was proposed and supported by Obama. Congress did not dream this up and, in fact, was told that the president would veto any attempt to get rid of the automatic cuts.

2)    Sequestration does NOT cut the budget, it merely slows the rate of growth and spending! All the Chicken Little doom and gloom is a big fat LIE.

So why are the president and his minions screaming about all the services that will be cut? It is the EXTORTION of America! It’s the Chicago Way—you hurt my business, I hurt you back. Never mind that, even if there were actual cuts, there’s plenty of pork and redundancy that can be reduced. But no, they are threatening longer times in airport security, cuts in education and cutbacks in border patrol agents. Their threats are to whatever they can find to cause the most outcry from the public. As an opening salvo against the American people, the administration is releasing hundreds of illegal alien detainees. Never mind that these are FUTURE reductions in spending that haven't occurred yet.

“The last thing you would do to meet a budget cut of this size would be to voluntarily undertake actions that undermine the rule of law and endanger the public safety,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama.

But when you’re facing budget reductions, just open the prisons and then complain you don’t have enough money for police protection—it’s the Chicago Way!

Is Obama’s Skeet Shooting Photo All Smoke?

Update: Did you say we the people can't "manipulate the photo in any way"? We the people say FU! Twitchy captures the very funny results! Best tweeted caption: "A lame duck shooting a clay pigeon." Also POTUS is now known as "President Mom Jeans".

The White House has released a photo which claims to be POTUS skeet shooting. However, I’m calling BS on this as nothing more than a staged, and perhaps partially photoshopped, print.

The photo shows the president holding a shotgun (at first mislabeled by the liberal press as a rifle). Blue smoke is seen shooting out the barrel and vent. But did the president actually fire the gun, or was the smoke added later to a staged shot?

Skeet are clay disks called “pigeons” that are usually flung by a trap, meant to represent a bird in flight. The point is, when the pigeon is flung, the shooter must move the gun to try and “lead” the pigeon so the shot will reach the moving target as the paths intersect. Furthermore, the skeet is usually flung up in the air, so someone firing at one would have their gun pointed up, not straight like target shooting.

Yet Obama has almost no movement at all when allegedly firing the weapon, even in high resolution. Whatever the level the skeet was at, he should have been moving left to right while firing. So unless he shoots skeet in a “caged hunt,” this is simply another staged WH photo.

Furthermore, the gun looks to be held (mounted) incorrectly, which could result in a substantial “kick” a shotgun produces.

In the AP article, Michael Hampton, executive director of the San Antonio-based association, tactfully suggest the president obviously didn’t go “skeet shooting all the time.”

“This isn't something he's done very often because of how he's standing, how he has the gun mounted,” he said.

If you want to see a slow motion of what skeet shooting looks like, here’s a good example:

One former senior advisor, David Plouffe, tweeted the challenge, “Make our day — let the photoshop conspiracies begin!” He does have a point. Hopefully, this doesn’t become the latest “bait” set out to distract conservatives from a president trying to take away gun rights.

The user is also warned that, “The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.”

Really? I’d bet the courts might have something to say about that as it’s taken by the White House photographer. It’s not a private photo. And I’m so looking forward to the motivational posters.

Tina Turner Latest to Renounce US Citizenship

The famous threatened to leave when Bush was president, but apparently some actually are leaving the country—even renouncing their citizenship—while Obama’s in charge.

Tina Turner is the latest to return her U.S. passport. She will become citizen of Switzerland where she’s been living since 1995. It should be noted that the United States and Switzerland do allow dual citizenship.

Last year, Eduardo Saverin, a co-founder of Facebook, renounced his U.S. Citizenship, prior to the initial public offering of Facebook, to reduce his tax liability. He had moved to Singapore in 2011, where there is no capital gains tax.

According to a Bloomberg article on Severin’s move, “A record 1,780 gave up their U.S. passports last year (2011) compared with 235 in 2008, according to government records.”

During the reelection campaign of President George W. Bush in 2004, Alec Baldwin, director Robert Altman, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, among others, threatened to leave the USA if President George Bush was elected. None of them acted on it, however, and some backpedaled to "clarify" their position after Bush was reelected.

The United States is not the only country where the wealthy are leaving their homeland to avoid oppressive government taxation. After the Socialist French government went to raise the their top tax rate from 41 percent to 75 percent for top earners, film star Gerard Depardieu threatened to renounce his French citizenship and planned to move to Belgium. He ended up being granted Russian citizenship by a special decree from Russian President Vladimir Putin, bypassing the usual citizenship process because of his "outstanding services to cinematography." Russia has a flat income-tax rate of 13 percent. The French plan has been struck down by France's highest court for now, but lawmakers are working on a way to reinstate it.

Ann Coulter's Short-Sighted Vision

The only small mind in Ann Coulter's world is her own.

In her column last Wednesday, she blamed everyone in the conservative wing of the Republican Party for Romney's loss. One person she didn't blame was Romney.

Now let me be clear: This election was rife with fraud. The corrupt Chicago machine was at it again. There were enough statistics in key states pointing to voter fraud, either by human surrogates, machine tampering, or both. So much that there should have been a demand for a recount in some of the swing states. But of course there wasn't – the GOP is a squishy bunch – like Romney, they don't want controversy. And race was involved: They weren’t about to go against a black man and Obama knew it. Not a problem for the other side: It was all over the Twitter-verse before the election that there would be riots and violence should Romney win. And, anecdotally, since Romney and Ryan were playing to packed houses, while Obama was speaking to half-empty venues, it's highly suspicious regarding the numbers Obama pulled out of key states.

But Ann doesn't mention this either. No, she puts blame on exactly where it doesn't belong: the tea party and other conservatives who weren’t all-in with her political paramour.

Conservatives used to think Ann was conservative, but obviously she’s been drinking the water too long up in New York. (Remember when Arianna Huffington was a conservative?) Of course being a conservative can be lonely in places like New York and California. It will probably be just be a matter of time before she’s also a bitter, old former conservative writing a liberal blog. Unfortunately, we saw the beginning earlier this year. Not only was she head-over-heels for the moderate Gov. Romney, she campaigned to get the verbose, pro-gun control Gov. Christie for his running mate. She made vicious attacks on real conservative, Newt Gingrich, like a jealous ex-wife. Newt may not have been in a position to win and certainly had baggage, but no one could deny that he would have kicked the pants off Obama in the debates!

Romney is a nice man—I think most can at least concede that. He’d make a great neighbor. We know he was apparently a shrewd businessman. He is a hard-core moderate: Even after knowing the majority of people were against Obamacare and states were in rebellion, he promised to repeal and replace Obamacare. (No one said they wanted a replacement—just to get rid of the damn thing.) He wouldn't challenge the president enough, even on the campaign trail. There were a laundry list of topics he could have used to attack this administration that were left untouched. After a slam-dunk first debate, he turned into Mr. Nice Guy again, instead of pressing his advantage. He tried to moderate to fit his audience and that is a mistake—no one can trust you when they don’t know where you really stand. Not sure if that’s because he had bad advice or if he was just not up to laying waste to the unprepared president. We need a candidate that can overcome the fraud as well as the democrat candidate. In at least one way, Romney is exactly like McCain and Dole: He is a loser.

A Country Divided?

We are no longer a country who can "agree to disagree"—we are now at each other’s throats. We snipe at each other on Facebook and Twitter. We try to hold our tongue at the office or seek out allies we can voice our opinions to safely. If you go back over to the Real Clear Politics map and look back through past elections you can see how we've become more and more fundamentally divided just in the past 30 years. Instead of being rational, some people make excuses for their politicians like it's their hometown football team who got caught in a foul. They ignore and excuse them like a mother screaming at the police for arresting her “innocent” child for the 50th time.

The press has largely gone from the investigation arm, to the propaganda arm. You can find more objective reporting in blogs and by independents these days—which not surprisingly, are hated by both the politicians and the so-called “real journalists.” Politicians on both sides want to keep us divided so we go after each other, instead of calling them out for the sneaky business they're up to. Journalists no longer just report the news, they openly seek to influence it. They both look down on the majority of the populace as too stupid and uneducated and who must be spoon-fed and taken care of by an overprotective Big Brother. Bills are no longer written by the elected, but by the special interests. It's no wonder politicians can't tell us what's in them until after they made into law—they're spending more time raising campaign funds and running for office instead of actually writing the thousands of pages of laws they pass every year.

The more people who get what they didn’t earn, the angrier they are when someone tries to take it away. Give a child a bunch of toys and then tell them they aren’t going to get any more and watch them throw a fit.

I blame them and I blame the press. But I also blame the lazy public who refuse to lift a finger to educate themselves about what's going on. As long as your politician throws some money you're way, you remain coddled and asleep while the country goes down. And who's fault will that be if the country implodes financially? People will point the finger to Washington. But don't blame the politicians or the press—look in the mirror. Because it's you. You who couldn’t be bothered to look at what a politician does, not just what s/he says at election time. You who’d rather sit down than stand up. You who can’t be bothered to make an informed vote. Yes, you who watch The Colbert Report and The Daily Show with John Stewart instead of searching out the truth. It’s not always easy to find, but it’s out there. You who refuse to look at the overall well-being of your country and the massive spending going on and only care that your state gets a piece of the pie.

Because we are closer to Greece than you think, my friends. We are at the tipping point. But in our case I fear we could easily turn into a second civil war. The more people who get what they didn’t earn, the angrier they are when someone tries to take it away. Give a child a bunch of toys and then tell them they aren’t going to get any more and watch them throw a fit. But allow a child to work and earn what they can and buy their own toys and you have a more responsible child who is more secure because they are dependent on themselves, not others.

The generation that came out of the Great Depression and WWII were called the Greatest Generation. Unfortunately, they did not all pass these lessons on to their children and grandchildren. Within a few short years we went from a generation of self-sufficient and independent to the Me Generation fighting over our toys and expecting them to be provided to us. We went from the people who pursued happiness to those who demand it. Nearly fifty percent of the population now pays NO federal income taxes. Eventually someone is going to have to tell a number of them that there will be no more free toys.

Obama Plays Race Card in Martin / Zimmerman Case

Obama inserted himself into another highly confrontational case this week. This one involving a 17 year-old black teen and an adult white/Hispanic male. Unlike many in the news media, however, this piece will not pass judgment on the guilt or innocence of either Mr. Zimmerman or Mr. Martin.

Last time this president involved himself in a police matter, he accused a white policeman, Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley, of racism when he detained Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. who was entering his own house, after a neighbor reported a possible burglary in progress. Instead of simply showing his ID, the professor became confrontational and was arrested for disorderly conduct. That charge was later dropped, but ignited a discussion on whether police were racial profiling. Obama criticized the arrest and arresting officer. The neighbor, Lucia Whalen, who had called 911, was also tagged as a racist, even though it was later shown she never mentioned the men as being black when calling 911. Obama had a beer summit--although he never apologized directly to Sgt Crowley for his remarks. He said he hoped it would be a “teachable moment.” (Lucia wasn’t invited.)

Now Obama has jumped in the middle of a fatal shooting. Trayvon Martin, 17, was shot and killed by George Zimmerman. That is not in dispute. What is disputed is if this was a case of self-defensed, as claimed by Zimmerman, against an allegedly unarmed teen. The media immediately portrayed George Zimmerman as the racist killer of a black teenager, who was merely walking home with a bag of Skittles and a soda. The media emphasized Zimmerman was white, even though his family said he is Hispanic. The police report also described Mr. Zimmerman as white; the media was either ignorant or chose to ignore the fact that often Hispanic people are labeled as white if they have a “white” surname. They didn’t let the fact that Mr. Zimmerman and his family identify with their Hispanic heritage get in the way of stirring the pot, claiming he was a racist, white man from a rich neighborhood who shot an innocent black boy.

Now, one day after President Obama inserts himself into the case by saying that if he, "had a son, he would have looked like Trayvon,” it’s reported police have a witness who backs up Zimmerman’s self-defense story. This, as yet unnamed, witness collaborates Zimmerman, who said he was attacked first by Martin.

In a partial release of a 911 tape, you can hear the operator tell Zimmerman, affiliated with the neighborhood watch, not to follow the suspicious person (Martin) he’s reporting. Later in the tape (not released), screams are heard. Although law enforcement believe the screams came from Zimmerman, it becomes a subject for debate on many TV shows whether it’s actually Zimmerman screaming or Martin. The witness claims that the screams did come from Zimmerman and that he was on the ground, being beaten by Martin.

The only thing that’s certain is no one fully knows what happened except Mr. Zimmerman and now, possibly, a witness. The media, who is fond of reminding us how we shouldn’t rush to judgment, certainly didn’t follow their own advice. If this had been the wild West, they would’ve been the gang of vigilantes out in front with the rope to hang Mr. Zimmerman from the nearest tree. They are the true racists, both for ignoring Zimmerman’s family and continuing to label him as white, assuming he must have been the aggressor and that the young, black teenager was a victim of “walking while black.”

President Obama is having another "teachable moment"--he's again teaching us he likes to play the race card. What he is teaching is to remind, in particular, the black minority of racial tensions, even manufactured ones. Like the case with Fluke, he's also using it as a distraction from his abysmal record: the economy, the failure in the war on terrorism and the Supreme Court about to weigh in on Obamacare.

The media also does not want the public to think of Zimmerman as anything but white; it makes the story more controversial if Zimmerman is portrayed as a non-minority. It would make things more difficult for Obama when he goes to court the Latino vote if he’s seen as pitting the Hispanic community against the black community. No doubt we’ll see Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and the other media hogs racing to Florida to stand with the family in front of the TV cameras. George Zimmerman is in hiding, reportedly because of death threats. Rallies and prayer vigils are being held for Trayvon Martin and his family. Pressure to try Zimmerman already being expressed and could ignite communities if he is no-billed. But no one, except the families involved or the community, cares about future repercussions, not the President, the outsiders taking advantage of a charged situation and certainly not the media.

'Misinformed' Public Just Needs 'Reeducation' Regarding Obamacare, says Sebelius

Most polls have shown a steady decline in support for Obamacare since it was passed. According to Pollster.com's running average, those opposing Obama's health care plan are at 47.6% to 42.3%. In the typical, unashamed arrogance of this administration, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius blamed "misinformation" and said the administration had a lot of "reeducation" to do.



Sebelius claimed the ongoing opposition to the administration's healthcare plan was due to "misinformation given on a 24/7 basis.”

“So, we have a lot of reeducation to do,” Sebelius said. Nice...I'll bet they'd like to have some happy camps to reeducate those poor, misguided souls.

On Megan Kelly's show on FOX, the she asked two guests the obvious, "Was the statement by Sebelius insulting?"

Leslie Marshall, FOX guest pundit, said it wasn't insulting to the America! Not at ALL....

Then she turned around and compared the opposition to flat-earthers. "It's like people saying the earth is flat, and Columbus is saying, 'No it's round, let me show you.'"

Well of course it's not insulting to you Leslie. Because you've managed to be even MORE condescending. People like you and your little pinhead friends think the rest of America are just a bunch of dumb schmucks that need to have things explained as if they're children.

People just need to be reeducated more.

Or maybe, unlike congress, they just read the bill.

BP: Or How Obama Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Big Oil

The news media, who have largely given this president a pass when it comes to policy decisions, have finally found their voice. Predictably, they picked the wrong thing to criticize, although Obama has no one but himself to blame. But it's beginning to feel a bit like the tag line for Dr. Strangelove.



BP now stands for [taking a] Big Piss. They have an abysmal safety record: In 2005, a fire at their Texas City refinery killed 15 workers and injured 180. They were also responsible for an Alaskan pipeline spill in 2006. According to Center for Public Integrity, two BP refineries (Texas City and Toledo, Ohio) in the US accounted for "97 percent of all flagrant safety violations found in the refining industry by government inspectors over the past three years." Most their over 800 citations were classified as "egregious willful" or "willful" by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), according to the report.

There is also mounting evidence that federal employees of the Louisiana branch of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) office, part of the Department of Interior, were looking the other way and/or accepting bribes and gifts from oil companies, as well as accusations of drug use. The report by the Acting Inspector General, Mary L. Kendal to Secretary Salazar quickly points out, "At the outset, I want to note that all of the conduct chronicled in this report occurred prior to 2007, and pre-dating your tenure as Secretary and your January, 2009 Ethics Guide."

Read into this: It's all Bush's fault; your superb leadership and ethics guide completely cleaned up the graft; kiss-kiss, may I please become the Inspector General now?

Anyone in Gulf Coast area knows this corruption is the "New Orleans way" similar to, oh...the "Chicago way" of doing things. Federal regulations already prohibited employees from accepting gifts of more than $20. (Note: In the case of a politician, a gift over $20 is referred to as a campaign contribution and a trip is a fact-finding tour.) Would a less corrupt federal staff have stopped the blowout? Doubtful, considering the number of incidents that were previously caught and for which BP was cited.

After the explosion, Open Secrets reported that BP spent it's highest amount ever in lobbying in 2009: $16 million in 2009 and $3.53 million in the first quarter overall. BP came in second to Conoco-Phillips for total lobbying dollars spent, money flowing to both sides of the aisle.

Despite the attempt by this administration to AGAIN blame the Bush administration, the increasing environmental disaster has become President "Government is the Answer" Obama's. However, this problem is way out of the government's league and the idea that any president can just snap his fingers and send out the military or any other force to fix it is ludicrous. It's a problem best solved by private industry with BP being held for the expense.

But as slick as he is, Obama is not going to be able to shake this. He and his liberal cohorts have been telling us that a powerful government will fix the world's ills. His environmental backers are angry that he wanted to allow offshore drilling and are furious the anointed one hasn't come up with a solution.

George Will stated on ABC's This Week that this may not be his "Katrina," as many others have compared it to, but his "Iran Hostage Crisis." This refers to President Jimmy Carter's disaster when 53 Americans were held for 444 days by Iranian militants and which cost him a second term. Carter's pacifist leanings made him weak and vulnerable in the eyes of terrorists.

However, I disagree with Will, in that the Iran affair was something a president could have done something about. Stopping an oil rig blowout is beyond that scope. What the president can do is provide resources to affected states. Unfortunately, a bad company has just now screwed any chance of offshore drilling for the foreseeable future by any company and keep us on the road to Arab oil dependence. Politicians will grandstand and create new laws instead of enforcing the ones they already have. With few exceptions we have become a nation that stands back and waits for the government to do something, whether the disaster is man-made or natural.

I'm not really sure when it came to pass that we expected a president to emote all over the place. Perhaps it was with Clintion's "I feel your pain" speech. Times have changed when we looked at ourselves for leadership or at best a local government. Now we expect the de facto leader of the free world to cry over dead seagulls and if he doesn't show he cares enough, we turn on him. Frankly I'd rather the president be more concerned with things, like the actions of the North Koreans and China in the wake of the torpedoing of a South Korean naval ship, something barely mentioned by the mainstream media. The oil mess in the Gulf may soon be the least of our worries!

Teaparty vs. Attempted New York City Car Bomber

Let's play: Spot the terrorist!

IS IT: A) A man who leaves a Nissan Pathfinder in New York's Times Square with stolen plates and filled with "explosives, gasoline, propane and burned wires," according to a NYFD officer. When firefighters arrived on the scene, there was smoke and a flash from inside.

Not actual terrorist vehicle!

OR B) Little old ladies at a Tea Party Rally.

Not actual terrorists--unless you're a liberal democrat!

Well if you guessed "A" you were wrong. Even though the vehicle was carrying explosive devices that, only by the grace of God, failed to explode, the Feds are saying they DO NOT consider this to be a terrorist threat!

"The officer said that the police were treating the vehicle as a “failed device.” The police were searching for a suspect.

A federal official said that it was not considered a terrorist threat and that the New York Police Department had told the Department of Homeland Security to stand down."

No...if you're a liberal democrat, you send out the jack-booted thugs--in this case the local SWAT team in full riot gear--to make sure some seniors holding a Tea Party protest in Quincy, IL don't get rowdy. Especially when they're doing acts that rouse suspicion like singing "God Bless America"! Maybe they're suspected of being secret Ninjas that use throwing (knitting) needles. Did they think a quilting bee might break out?



God help us!

Smitty, This One's For You!

In DC's Thelma & Louise, this duo
drives our Constitution over the cliff!

This one is for Smitty at The Other McCain. He thought my last blog on the healthcare bill takeover was missing something as I didn't add the referenced video clip of the final scene from Thelma & Louise. At that time, I had hoped the car would stop just in time before heading over the cliff, with our economy and the Constitution in the back seat!

Now that we see who was behind the wheel, we know why. But he did have a question, "Which is Nancy, and which the nancy?"

Smitty, I hope this clears things up! ;-)

No Sheeples Here: Billboard Feevah

No Sheeples Here found another article about yet another anti-Obama billboard--this time in Oshkosh, (by gosh) Wisconsin.

The billboard was paid for through June, 2010 by an anonymous business that reads, "Impeach Obama: America's small businesses are failing; help us spread the message."

Representative of the business, attorney Tom Wroblewski, says the message the lessor wants to send is that Washington politics are bad for small businesses and is not suggesting Obama's actually committed an impeachable offense. Come on--that never stopped the impeach Bush crowd. Leave it to a lawyer to take all the fun out of protests!

Bush 'Miss Me Yet' Billboard Drew Questions, Libral Ire

The hunt was on for the sponsor

There's nothing like watching liberals getting their collective panties in a wad over nothing. And these days, it usually only takes a mention of Bush's name to do it. After all, he is the liberal democrat's version of the devil. Perhaps no president has been more vilified after leaving office.

So when a billboard popped up in rural Minnesota the hunt was on--first to verify that it wasn't a Photoshopped hoax (it wasn't) and to find out the sponsor's name(s). The advertisers turned out to be a group of business owners and individuals who aren't feeling support coming out of the capitol. Comments ran from the amused to the acid.

One blog stated, "Anyone who thinks that a president who has barely been in office 12 months is a worse administrator than Bush should go out and get an MRI."

Hmmm...to paraphrase Sarah Palin: "How's that Hopey Changey thing working?"

Now Don’t Get All ‘Wee-wee’d’ Up on the Press!

Obama told Senate Democrats that the people don’t care about the political process and told them stop watching the news:

“[I]f everybody turned off your CNN, your Fox, just turn off the TV, MSNBC, blogs, and just go talk to folks out there, instead of being in this echo chamber where the topic is constantly politics. The topic is politics.”

[Not to mention it's depressing watching your poll numbers going down!]

Obama added, that dastardly political news made it "difficult to focus" on helping people rather than, "how is this going to help or hurt somebody politically—and that’s part of what the American people are getting sick of. 

Cause they don’t care…process this and that. They just want to know: Are you delivering for me.”

Oh really? Maybe we all just need some PIE:

Obama and Rahm Emanuel Attend Joe Biden School of Public Speaking

Viva Las Vegas: “Oops I did it again,” as the Britney Spears’ song goes. Obama stepped off into it, talking trash about Las Vegas…again. Mayor Oscar Goodman is fighting mad…again.

President Obama speaking before a New Hampshire town hall said, “When times are tough, you tighten your belts. You don't go buying a boat when you're trying to pay your mortgage. You don't blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you're trying to save on college. You prioritize, you make tough choices.”

Said Mayor Goodman, “I assure you, when he comes, I’ll do everything I can to give him the boot back to Washington to visit his failures back there.”

“This president is a real slow learner,” he added.



Previously, Obama got Oscar Goodman heated up when, commenting about business fat cats spending habits, said at another town hall, “You are not going to be able to give out these big bonuses until you pay taxpayers back. You can't get corporate jets. You can't go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers' dime.”

After this latest gaff, Obama sent a letter to the embattled Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid saying, “I hope you know that during my town hall today, I wasn't saying anything negative about Las Vegas.” Yeah, right....


Maybe Rahm Emanuel needs to direct any future R-comments to his boss…or the mirror.

Rahm-bo finally comes out of hiding only to skitter back down his hole faster than Punxsutawney Phil on a sunny day. Emanuel was reported as privately calling some liberal activists "f****ing retarded" because they were running ads attacking certain  Democrats.

Emanuel apologized to Timothy P. Shriver CEO and Chairman of the Special Olympics. Their “Spread the Word to End the Word” campaign is coming up on March 3rd.

Former Governor and Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who has a developmentally disabled child, jumped in the fray on her Facebook page, she posted:

“As my friend in North Andover says, ‘This isn’t about politics; it’s about decency.’ I am not speaking as a political figure but as a parent and as an everyday American wanting my child to grow up in a country free from mindless prejudice and discrimination, free from gratuitous insults of people who are ostensibly smart enough to know better... Have you no sense of decency, sir?

Mr. President, you can do better, and our country deserves better.”

I can certainly see her and others’ anger at Emanuel’s crass statement, but I hope this doesn’t get drug out. Rahm “never let a crisis go to waste” Emanuel should be let go, but there are other, more important reasons for doing so.

Emanuel and Obama have been apparently attending the Joe Biden School of Public Speaking and Emanuel is quickly turning into a neutered pit bull, no longer the front man, speaking for the administration. It’s not the first time he’s “gone dark” and dropped out of site with this White House. Last time was when it hit the fan over the alleged selling of Obama’s senate seat.

When an enemy is harming himself, you just step back and let him. Republicans and conservatives are being drawn into too many battles over what someone is saying rather than what they are doing.

I Agree with Obama: I’d Rather Him Be a One-Term President Too! (Part 2)

Missed Part 1? Shame on you! Get caught up here.

On energy, Obama made some surprising statements about building more nuclear plants, opening offshore for oil and gas development and even investing in biofuel and clean coal development. But then he adds:

“And yes, it means passing a comprehensive energy and climate bill with incentives that will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy in America.”

By making every other kind of energy hellishly expensive. He’s talking about the cap and trade bill. With all the recent talk of health care reform juggernaut, most citizens can be forgiven if they forgot about this one. It’s baaaack!



Don’t forget, after campaigning in coal states and talking about clean coal during the campaign, this statement, made to the San Francisco Chronicle (a quote they didn’t include in their article, but were outed about later), he said, “So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted.”

He also said that, “Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket."



So which to believe, the campaign Obama or the President Obama. Being that he’s still after “Cap and Tax” legislation, I don’t think we’ll see a jump in any solution that will be taxed out of business. So he can talk all about allowing offshore drilling and clean coal while making it too expensive to do either.

When it comes to healthcare, Obama thinks he just hasn’t explained it well enough. “Still, this is a complex issue, and the longer it was debated, the more skeptical people became. I take my share of the blame for not explaining it more clearly to the American people.” No, the problem is YOU don’t listen—the people have told you they REJECT your plan.

Inserts mine:

“It would reduce costs and premiums for millions of families and businesses. And…[after skewing the numbers so that you’re taxed for years before coverage phases in] our approach would bring down the deficit by as much as $1 trillion over the next two decades.”

Do you really think this will be a money-making deal for the government that will bring down the deficit? If that were the case, Medicare would be rolling in dough!

“But if anyone from either party has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors, and stop insurance company abuses, let me know.”

Republicans have been TRYING to let you know. It’s a bit hard when they are shut out of meetings. Of course, we don’t see that, (or the backroom deals with labor unions and holdout representatives and senators) since the health care reform has not been televised on C-Span as promised.

“Here's what I ask of Congress, though: Do not walk away from reform. Not now. Not when we are so close. Let us find a way to come together and finish the job for the American people.” [Even though the American people have rejected your plan!]

But then those in the White House don’t even think the Massachusetts populace voted for Scott Brown because he pledged to stop health care. On Fox News Sunday, Robert Gibbs, the administration’s press secretary claimed that the voter’s anger was similar to the anger that put Obama at office, not anger at Obama’s policies. Brown campaigned against the current health care plan, not trying terrorists in civilian courts and lowering taxes. In response Gibbs said, “That may be what he campaigned on, but that's not why the voters of Massachusetts sent him to Washington.”

But to people in the Obama administration, we’re just dull children who don’t understand that our wise father, Obama, just wants what’s best for us. Rubbish!

In the same interview, when asked about the latest Bin Laden tape, Gibbs called Bin Laden, “nothing but a cowardly, murderous thug and terrorist that will someday, hopefully soon, be brought to justice.”

And no doubt, if Obama has his way, it will be in a civilian court.

I Agree with Obama: I’d Rather Him Be a One-Term President Too! (Part 1)

I pledge a spirit of cooperation and bi-
partisanship, to reach across the aisle and
work with those despicable republicans who
are to blame for all the problems!

Prior to the State of the Union speech, Obama was interviewed by Diane Sawyer, (who had put her big girl panties on and was trying to sound like a tough reporter).

At one point Obama said, “The one thing I'm clear about is that I'd rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president.”

Are you kidding me? He thinks that pissing off the public to the extent that he ends up a one-term president equals success? Maybe he should talk to Jimmy Carter on how that feels in between their discussions on their respective Nobel Peace Prizes and how much they hate anyone named Bush. However, I do agree that I would prefer Obama be a one-term president!

When Sawyer asked if he would still be able to hold to his promise about not raising taxes on anyone making over $250K, he neatly sidestepped the question by saying, "I can guarantee that the worst thing we could do would be to raise taxes when the economy is still this weak." Sawyer, of course, didn’t bother to challenge Obama about his non-answer.

It was the State of the Union address that was, “about as popular as a root canal.” Over seventy minutes long, Obama’s speech meandered through the blame Bush rhetoric to his plan to save taxpayer money by spending even more taxpayer monies.

Look, I know he’s not stupid, but he is arrogant. And arrogance can sometimes stand in for stupidity.

During the State of the Union, Obama demanded a spending freeze, but then said it wouldn’t take place until 2011. “That’s the way budgets work,” he ad-libbed after some rather loud laughter erupted from the gallery. (They weren’t laughing with him either.) But then he turned around and went through a laundry list of bills (and taxes) he wanted passed, including healthcare.

Only a week ago, most democrats were administering last rites to their health care bill after the election of Scott Brown as #41, giving republicans a crucial edge to stopping the Obama taxation express and striking true fear in the hearts of democrats up for election in November. After the Massachusetts election, most presidents would have stuck a conciliatory tone. Not this president—he continued to drive in the wedge and push his unpopular agenda. 

He was a cheerleader for “changing the tone in Washington.” The problem is the tone he changed it to was (still!) whining about the Bush administration!

“So let me start the discussion of government spending by setting the record straight. At the beginning of the last decade, America had a budget surplus of over $200 billion. By the time I took office, we had a one year deficit of over $1 trillion and projected deficits of $8 trillion over the next decade. Most of this was the result of not paying for two wars, two tax cuts, and an expensive prescription drug program. On top of that, the effects of the recession put a $3 trillion hole in our budget. That was before I walked in the door.

I know that some in my own party will argue that we cannot address the deficit or freeze government spending when so many are still hurting. I agree, which is why this freeze will not take effect until next year, when the economy is stronger.”

See, in the progressive mindset, spending our tax dollars helps not hurts (unless it’s being spent on the military or other conservative ideas.) It’s counter to what logic dictates: in a down economy, you STOP spending, not spend even more. That is because in their mind, government is the solver of problems, not the free market. We’re just imbeciles who would be sitting in a corner, sucking our thumb if the government wasn’t here to help. Meanwhile, we are hemorrhaging money in amounts that will keep generations in debt.

The first thing Obama suggested, was taxing banks.

“To recover the rest, I have proposed a fee on the biggest banks. I know Wall Street isn't keen on this idea, but if these firms can afford to hand out big bonuses again, they can afford a modest fee to pay back the taxpayers who rescued them in their time of need.”

Which they will pass on to us, the consumer, in the form of increased fees. I hated the Wall Street bonuses as much as anyone, but the banks shouldn’t have gotten our tax monies in the first place. It certainly didn’t stop a lot of smaller banks from going out of business (and the mega banks from snapping them up.) Now he wants to charge them a “fee” (read: tax). Businesses don’t pay tax. We pay the tax—when the cost of business goes up, they pass on the costs to all of us.

Inserts mine:

“To make college more affordable, this bill will finally end the unwarranted taxpayer-subsidies that go to banks for student loans. [Which will cause banks to cut back on making student loans.] Instead, let's take that money and give families a $10,000 tax credit for four years of college and increase Pell Grants. And let's tell another one million students that when they graduate, they will be required to pay only ten percent of their income on student loans, and all of their debt will be forgiven after twenty years—and forgiven after ten years if they choose a career in public service. [Who’ll be paying those loans back…why WE will.] Because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college. And it's time for colleges and universities to get serious about cutting their own costs because they too have a responsibility to help solve this problem.”

Well, let’s just give everyone FREE tuition and be done with it. Unfortunately, students (and their parents) sometimes make bad choices. It does not make sense to take out massive loans if you’re not going into a career where you can make enough to pay them back! If you’re going to become an English, journalist (heh), social worker or basket weaving major, go to a smaller, public university and work your way through or plan to get a major scholarship.

“And we haven't raised income taxes by a single dime on a single person. Not a single dime.” No, you just snuck it into the withholding tables. Did you notice the take-home amount in your paycheck went down from last year? That’s because congress lowered the threshold, raising taxes on wages across the board. So we’re back to playing word games again—it depends on what the meaning of ‘raising income taxes’ is.

(Part 2 Tuesday: Energy, Heath Care (again!) and Why was Scott Brown elected? Hint: They know the reason better than the electorate!)

They’re Just Wild About Harry (Reid)

Turning on the TV or radio earlier this week, prior to the tragic earthquake in Haiti, only one topic took center stage. Not that a republican is poised to take a senate seat in a liberal democrat stronghold, or that Congress is trying to hurry up and finish shoving health care reform down our throats.

No…everyone only wanted to talk about Democrat darling, Sen. Harry Reid and his gaffe regarding Obama. Liberal democrats were trying to convince us that Reid was actually complimenting Obama. Even members of the alleged black leadership were tripping over themselves to accept Reid’s apology. On the other side, republicans complained that democrats were hypocrites for previously damning Trent Lott, while Reid gets a pass by democrats and the media. And that they were going to hold their breath until they turned blue! Okay I made the last up...but it got close to that!

My first thought was: So, what did you expect? My second thought was how it was republicans who ultimately gave the senate leader the heave-ho, not the democrats. Not that democrats didn't complain--oh, they complained loudly. The decried how Lott's toast to Strom Thurmond on his 100th birthday, was a sign the Mississippi Senator was essentially sympathetic to the equivalent of American apartheid. They conveniently forgot that in the early days when Strom made a pro-segregationist presidential run, Strom was a democrat. Just as Robert Byrd was once a member of the KKK. Democrats always conveniently forget which side their party was on when it came to slavery and later, "separate but equal" laws. After the 1948 election, Strom remained a democrat senator for 14 more years until switching to the Republican party in 1964.

But it was republicans who ousted Lott from his leadership position. They could have stood by him--just as democrats are supporting Reid, but they didn't. I have a strong hunch that most just didn't really care for Lott or had their own eyes on moving up the food chain to the speaker's seat.

Both Reid’s and Lotts’ statements were stupid and obviously not thought out. One could argue which statement was more damning: a toast made at a century-old senator's private birthday party or a comment made about then-candidate Obama on his electability based on his skin color and his dialect. Even worse Reid added he (Obama) could turn his dialect on and off to sound more or less black.

But my message to the republicans and conservatives is: Get over it. Let Reid's constituents decide in 2010. There are a LOT bigger fish to fry such as health care reform and cleaning both houses in 2010 and 2012. And don't forget we have cap and trade and immigration reform looming.

To the liberals and democrats who are trying to excuse Reid's remarks: Yeah, you're a bunch of hypocrites and you're not getting away with it as you have in the past. How any so-called member of the black leadership can say with a straight face that it's okay, because Reid was supporting Obama, or worse, that he was actually complimenting Obama--it's ludicrous. I suspect members of their respective communities are not quite so forgiving.

Pelosi: There were a NUMBER of Things (Obama) was for on the Campaign Trail!

Had Rep. Joe Wilson been at Nancy Pelosi's press conference, yesterday, he might have been tempted to again yell, “You LIE!” Pelosi first joyfully proclaims that the health care bill will crush the [evil] insurance companies. “We will have what we need to hold the insurance companies accountable. I contend that whatever we have coming out of this bill will hold them accountable and they’ll be crying out for a public option one of these days!” Laughs,

Then a reporter asks her about the letter from C-Span's CEO, requesting to film the remainder of the health care hearings, which are being withheld from the public behind closed doors. The he mentions Obama’s (repeated) promise to hold health care negotiations in the open on C-Span. Watch Pelosi’s reaction to that, as well as the reaction of her fellow democrats in back:

The audacity Pelosi displays is staggering even to those of us jaded to political babble. She looks around almost as if she expected to find Candid Camera playing a prank. “Well, (laughs) there were a NUMBER of things he (Obama) was for on the campaign trail.” And everyone laughs. Silly reporter, that was during the CAMPAIGN—surely you didn’t expect him to keep a campaign promise! Then she has the gall to claim they have been the MOST transparent congress there has ever been. The only thing the democrats have been transparent about is their contempt for the American people.

Watching the health care debate at this point is a bit too little, too late—the deal is all but done. But kudos to the C-Span marketing department for getting some beneficial press. It is something that the politically active members of the public would watch. Unlike the congress, the US public has been reading the bill—so the senate made sure to lock their version up until after their vote.

Pelosi’s contempt is a shot across the bow of the White House and a sign of a rift in the democratic party. She seems to be saying, ‘Yeah he said a number of things to us during the campaign, too!’ It’s hard to believe, but there are several in Congress who think Obama isn’t liberal enough! A number are ANGRY with Obama because he can’t socialize the U.S. fast enough! There were compromises made to the health care plan, Gitmo hasn’t been closed yet, more soldiers are being sent to fight in Afghanistan instead of withdrawn. And now, darn it, another terrorist has popped up, which puts a crimp in the plan to send Yemen’s Gitmo detainees home to fight another day while trying 911 criminals in US domestic courts.

The idea that politicians of either party are going to hold open hearings on anything seems a distant pipe dream. It’s as big a dream as democrats in Congress are going to sock it to health insurance companies by...forcing everyone to buy health insurance!

New Airport Scanners Breach UK Child Pornography Laws

The UK's Guardian reported late Monday that the full body scanners being tested in the UK and like those planned for the US, are being challenged on the grounds that they breached UK laws against child pornography and cannot be used on those under 18. Under the Protection of Children Act 1978, it is "illegal to create an indecent image or a 'pseudo-image' of a child." I posed a question a few days ago: How many parents are going to want some stranger viewing virtually naked pictures of their child(ren) from these scanners? On the other hand, we know terrorist groups are more than willing to blow up their children as well as ours. And they quickly adapt their strategy...make them take of their shoes and they put the explosives down their pants....

While awaiting a ruling, "voluntary trials" started last month for those 18 and over. One wonders how many actual "volunteers" they could get unless they were offering a choice between a scan and a body cavity search. And the question of whether the machines would be used in a, "lawful and proportionate and sensitive manner based on rational criteria rather than racial or religious bias" has been broached,   thus setting up the protest which will certainly be used by any group or person attempting to smuggle such a weapon.

The expensive, doomed debacle that is the full body scanner slogs on. But there is a glimmer of hope...celebrities:

...concerns were echoed by Simon Davies of Privacy International who said he was sceptical of the privacy safeguards being used in the United States. Although the American system insists on the deletion of the images, he believed scans of celebrities or of people with unusual or freakish body profiles would prove an "irresistible pull" for some employees.

Maybe, just maybe...if those elite jet setters (and even better yet, some politicians) realize they and their families might be in for a little more publicity than they bargained, the idea will be quashed before too many tax dollars are paid out.

White House had October Briefing on Assassination Attempt Similar to Flight 253

Yesterday, I wrote how this administration seems to be more interested in trampling our last shred of dignity, by claiming scanners that show all our naughty bits would solve our security problems.

Now YID with LID publishes a report coming from Newsweek (hardly a conservative-leaning publication) that there was a White House briefing (no pun intended) in October on an attempted assassination. The target, Muhammad bin Nayef, Saudi's chief counterterrorism official, survived the attack. But it was believed this terrorist used the same underwear bombing technique as the attempt on Northwest Airlines flight 253.

What we have here is...failure to communicate:

In fact there were several briefings in those months, including a high-level briefing to Obama 3 days before the Christmas attempt. And, once again there was a breakdown in communication between the FBI and the CIA.

"When Abdulmutallab’s father visited the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria, in November to report his concerns that his son might have been involved with Islamic extremists in Yemen, the FBI had no representative at the meeting; the FBI maintains an attaché only in Lagos on the southern coast, not in Abuja, the capital. But the CIA, which did have an officer present who wrote up a report on the meeting, never told the FBI about Abdulmutallab."

Of course the President immediately flew back to DC after the attempt.... No...wait...he stayed in Hawaii, although CBS news reporters fretted that the president was having to spend the vacation working rather than "recharging his batteries." (Hat tip to News Busters)  

Can you imagine the media brouhaha had Bush stayed on Christmas vacation?? I tweeted recently about the media complained on how long Bush stayed at the school after the September 11 attacks. Even though it clearly made more sense to both wait for further information and keep from panicking a roomful of children. No matter how he reacted he couldn't win with the media. Obama finally holds a press conference in an unbuttoned shirt, no tie, looking more tourist than presidential.

Read the full story: YID With LID: New Obama Security Oversight: White House Received October Briefing About Underwear Bombings