Amateurs and other Democratic Problems

The Speech Obama Hasn't Given

It all seems rather mad, doesn't it? The decision to become involved militarily in the Libyan civil war couldn't take place within a less hospitable context. The U.S. is reeling from spending and deficits, we're already in two wars, our military has been stretched to the limit, we're restive at home, AND NO ONE, REALLY, SEES PRESIDENT OBAMA AS THE KIND OF LEADER YOU'D FOLLOW OVER THE TOP. "THIS WAY, MEN!" "NO, I THINK I'LL STAY IN MY TRENCH." People didn't hire him to start battles but to end them. They didn't expect him to open new fronts. Did he not know this?

He has no happy experience as a rallier of public opinion and a leader of great endeavors; the central initiative of his presidency, the one that gave shape to his leadership, health care, is still unpopular and the cause of continued agitation. When he devoted his entire first year to it, he seemed off point and out of touch. This was followed by the BP oil spill, which made him look snakebit. NOW HE SEEMS INCOMPETENT AND OUT OF HIS DEPTH IN FOREIGN AND MILITARY AFFAIRS. He is more observed than followed, or perhaps I should say you follow him with your eyes and not your heart. So it's funny he'd feel free to launch and lead a war, which is what this confused and uncertain military action may become.

WHAT WAS HE THINKING? WHAT IS HE THINKING?

Which gets me to Mr. Obama's speech, the one he hasn't given. I cannot for the life of me see how an American president can launch a serious military action without a full and formal national address in which HE EXPLAINS TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WHY HE IS DOING WHAT HE IS DOING, WHY IT IS RIGHT, AND WHY IT IS VERY MUCH IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST.....

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704604704576221142167651286.html

Peggy Noonan always a good read hits the nail on the head here. The more we know about Obama, the more nervous we all get.



GE: Obama’s favorite and a zero tax payer

The company reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and said $5.1 billion of the total came from its operations in the United States.

ITS AMERICAN TAX BILL? NONE. IN FACT, G.E. CLAIMED A TAX BENEFIT OF $3.2 BILLION…..

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/business/economy/25tax.html?_r=3&partner=rss&emc=rss

In case you wondered what crony capitalism was all about.



Obama's Achilles' Heel?

There are THREE SIGNIFICANT ISSUES OR FACTORS THAT WILL KEEP PRESIDENT OBAMA FROM FORGING A COALITION OF ALMOST-EVERYBODY, à la Reagan in 1984 or Johnson in 1964, in the 2012 election. THE FIRST IS THE CONTINUING WEAKNESS OF THE ECONOMY. Obviously, jobs remain a problem – and this weakness is also manifested in the rising cost of gasoline and food. The second is the president's health care bill. And the third is the budget deficit.

For a while, I had thought that the economy would be the president’s biggest problem, followed by health care and the deficit. But while the economy will still to be a drag on Obama (Wells Fargo predicts 8.2 percent unemployment by the end of 2012 while the consensus of Wall Street Journal economists puts it at 7.7 percent on Election Day – both estimates are higher than anything we've seen in a postwar election), I AM INCREASINGLY OF THE OPINION THAT THE BUDGET DEFICIT MIGHT BE THE NUMBER ONE PROBLEM FOR THIS PRESIDENT IN HIS REELECTION BID.

This runs contrary to many statistical models of presidential elections, which will tell you that the structural forces that shape outcomes are the number of terms of his party in office, casualties in foreign wars, and the performance of the economy. However, I generally have a low opinion of these models, and I think they are quite poorly suited for dealing with the politics of deficits. Here are two reasons why:….

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/morning-jay-obamas-achilles-heel_555476.html
For you political junkies who are glued to what will happen in the 2012 election, this is a good read.



Critics: Iowa terror drill portrays immigration foes as killers

Foes of illegal immigration are up in arms over plans for a weekend disaster exercise in western Iowa with A FICTITIOUS SCENARIO IN WHICH YOUNG WHITE SUPREMACISTS SHOOT DOZENS OF PEOPLE AMID RISING TENSIONS INVOLVING RACIAL MINORITIES AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS.


The exercise is planned for Saturday at Treynor High School in Pottawattamie County and will involve more than 300 people, confirmed Doug Reed, the lead exercise planner for the county's emergency management agency. Some 30 to 40 "victims" will be transported to area hospitals. HE SAID A TERRORISM SCENARIO IS REQUIRED BY FEDERAL OFFICIALS FOR THE EXERCISE TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR FUNDING.


The exercise scenario describes shootings occurring after rising tensions in the community because of an influx of minorities, Reed said. The newcomers, some who are American citizens and some who are illegal immigrants, were to have moved into a rural area from urban areas in search of more-affordable living. The newcomers are not welcomed by racial extremists, and controversy sweeps the community, he said.....

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20110324/NEWS/110324009/Critics-Iowa-terror-drill-portrays-immigration-foes-as-killers?odyssey=tab

Once again liberals don’t seem to want to acknowledge the 800 pound gorilla in the room.



ACLU: The Real History

Indeed, few leftist organizations in existence today can compete with the ACLU in terms of DEMONSTRATED HOSTILITY TOWARD WHAT THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE DESCRIBES AS "CERTAIN UNALIENABLE RIGHTS" with which Americans are "endowed by their Creator."

Consider the doublespeak inherent throughout THE "PROGRESSIVE" GOLIATH'S FLOWERY SELF-REPRESENTATION:

The ACLU is our nation's guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.

NOW CONTRAST THAT DEPICTION WITH ACLU FOUNDER ROGER BALDWIN'S CANDID VISION:

I AM FOR SOCIALISM, DISARMAMENT, AND, ULTIMATELY, FOR ABOLISHING THE STATE ITSELF... I seek the social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class, and the sole control of those who produce wealth. COMMUNISM IS THE GOAL…..

http://townhall.com/columnists/mattbarber/2011/03/25/aclu_communism_is_the_goal/page/full/

If you thought the ACLU was a bunch of Communists, you may have been correct.

Chutzpah

Hope and Change Redux

According to the new Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor poll only 39% of voters would vote to reelect President Obama and 50% would vote for someone else. Of those numbers 25% said they would definitely vote for him, while 37% would definitely vote for someone else. Numbers like this tend to encourage challengers. I wonder if Hillary has seen this poll?

Of course to many on the left, this just means Americans are racists (or at least the 50% who wouldn't vote for Obama are).

You can seem more on this subject at:

http://reason.com/blog/2010/05/06/now-playing-at-reasontv-is-the

Unemployment up

After peaking at 10% the unemployment figures decreased to 9.7%. They now have increased to 9.9% which isn't good news for the Democrats or the Obama Administration. On the positive side, employers added 290,000 jobs in April. But the unemployment rate went up because the number of workers in the work force increased.

Perhaps now is the time for the Democrats to focus like a laser beam on jobs! Or perhaps they should have done that 16 months ago.

Oregon Media Teacher misreports on Times Square Bomber

Jason Levin, a media teacher at Conestoga Middle School in Beaverton, who is currently on paid leave of absence for his advocacy of discrediting the TEA Party movement, may have shown that he doesn't act as a very good role model when it comes to reporting on his blog. Talking about the Time Square Bombing attempt Levin speculated:

"UPDATE MAY 03 Suspect currently being questioned by law enforcement.

"Anonymous sources have reported that a suspect is currently being questioned in the Bridgeport / New Haven CT area. The suspect is a middle age white male, has a history of strong political views, and considers himself a Sarah Palin Tea Party express activist. An arrest is expected within days.

...Anonymous sources at the scene have reported that the terrorist attack is likely related to the Sarah Palin Tea Party movement. "Much like the 911 attackers, Sarah Palin's Tea Party movement also has shown a strong dislike of the United States government." one source reported. "

Later when it was confirmed the bomber was not a "middle age white male" who considered himself a Sarah Palin Tea Party express activist, but a naturalized Muslim man who hated George Bush, Levin became more sympathetic blogging:

"But he appears to have fallen victim to the Republican created recession. Court records seen by Associated Press appear to show that the property, owned by Shahzad and a woman named Huma Mian, was being foreclosed on by banks following default on a $200,000 mortgage. The family moved out in July last year after a series of garage sales to offload furniture and property."

Now Jason may be looking for a job with MSNBC, but his logic is absolute appalling. Doesn't it strike any of these "reporters" odd that Faisal Shahzad quit his job, got an $80,000 loan, went to Pakistan multiple times for multiple months and came back and tried to blow up a car in Times Square? Now if I had $80,000 I think I could make the house payments (he did buy an SUV with cash as well as a one way airline ticket to the Middle East) and if I really was looking for the American Dream, I probably wouldn't quit my job until I had another one. Far from falling victim to the "Republican created recession" Shahzad appears to be a cold calculating terrorist who didn't want his 72 virgins, but did want revenge for all the Obama ordered "drone" strikes to the Taliban. I think Levin is falling victime to TEA Party derangement syndrome.

Death throes for Anthropogenic Global Warming?

When I was a kid playing CYO football, one of the boys on the team wasn't doing well. The coach at the end of practice made him run 5 laps around the field. The next day he brought a note from his mother exempting her son from doing laps. Needless to say the young man did not stay on the team long after that.

Yesterday it was announced that a group of 255 scientists from the National Academy of Science had written a letter that attacks critics driven by "special interests or dogma" and "McCarthy-like" threats against researchers. This is one of those incidents which demonstrates what real chutzpah is. After years of their supporters attacking skeptics (who many of them referred to as denialists), here are just a few of the "McCarthy-like" threats the skeptics endured.

Talking Points Memo pondered the question ‘at what point do we jail or execute global warming deniers?’

Greenpeace uttered a threat to skeptics, ‘we know where you live.’

David Suzuki called for politicians who questioned global warming science to be jailed.

Joe Romm wanted to strangle skeptics in their beds.

NASA’s James Hansen suggested skeptics be tried for high crimes against humanity

As with my teammate who brought a note from his mother, the supporters of AGW are feeling the proverbial heat and they don't like it. But like the boy so many years ago, their time on the playing field is numbered.