Isn't it amazing to see the overnight pseudo-transformation of Obama? I mean about his recent announcements regarding cutting taxes, freezing spending and providing retirement savings options. What?!!! Sounds very Reagan-esque doesn't it?
His "finding religion" at this point just exposes a couple of truths about the man. First, that he is feeling genuine fear right now from the growing disdain of Americans for the lib agenda. Here are just a few of the events that have rocked his boat the last couple of weeks:
-"Teddy's Seat" in the senate...gone.
- The Supreme Court's decision on corporate campaign finance.
- Air America crashing with no survivors.
- Biden's kid too scared to attempt a campaign...even with daddy's help.
- Chris Dodd heading for the hills rather than face a voter firing squad in November.
- Pelosi failure to deliver "her house" on health care.
Second, that his convictions are paper-thin. Oh, make no mistake, the guy is a genuine socialist, but he apparently loves his situation much more and surely doesn't want to go crawling back to Chicago, unemployed, in 2012. So he becomes the chameleon extraordinaire.
It is definitely possible to dislike someone's politics and policies and still respect the person, but it's very difficult to have respect for the person who has no core convictions, no matter what they are, that he'll stand proudly behind when they come under serious fire. The "left" should be as disgusted with him as anyone.
Tonight is his State of the Union address and I guarantee you that he'll be playing to the everyday man as represented by the Tea Party groups appearing around the country. But it's all a show, and a desperate one at that.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Air America Crashes
Check out the article on the link below. A moment of silence for Air America please, and try not to grin.
Of course, since the column is brought to us by the granddaddy of all state run media, the AP, it blames the downfall on everything but the real reason: nobody listened to it. It was a failure from the beginning because of that simple reason, but they'll not acknowledge that.
My question is this: If it's so important to the left to have this liberal voice on the airwaves, then why don't some billionaire ultra-libs like George Soros, simply fund the broadcast? Could it be that they are actually closet capitalists that will let the greed of "return on investment" get in the way of such a worthwhile cause? For shame!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_air_america_bankruptcy
Of course, since the column is brought to us by the granddaddy of all state run media, the AP, it blames the downfall on everything but the real reason: nobody listened to it. It was a failure from the beginning because of that simple reason, but they'll not acknowledge that.
My question is this: If it's so important to the left to have this liberal voice on the airwaves, then why don't some billionaire ultra-libs like George Soros, simply fund the broadcast? Could it be that they are actually closet capitalists that will let the greed of "return on investment" get in the way of such a worthwhile cause? For shame!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_air_america_bankruptcy
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The Message
Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts last night was one for the People, with ripples that flow out across the entire political pool, like from crates of Tea hitting the water. For democrat Martha Coakley, check and mate, but really not aimed at her. It was that bigger, badder target standing behind her.
The message was very, very clear to politicians of any persuasion: if you ignore the voices of the People, and continue to push an agenda that a clear majority reject, the price will be high. That is America's nearly perfect democracy in action. God Bless it!
Already today, the effects are being felt. Most politicians are way too fond of their situations to continue to support Obama's radical ideas that have clearly fallen out of favor. If you were a dem facing an election next week, would you make the same mistake Coakley did and call him in to campaign for you? You'd be crazy.
It was a nice "correction" yesterday. Later this year, will see how many took a lesson from it. Can we say "Mandate"?
The message was very, very clear to politicians of any persuasion: if you ignore the voices of the People, and continue to push an agenda that a clear majority reject, the price will be high. That is America's nearly perfect democracy in action. God Bless it!
Already today, the effects are being felt. Most politicians are way too fond of their situations to continue to support Obama's radical ideas that have clearly fallen out of favor. If you were a dem facing an election next week, would you make the same mistake Coakley did and call him in to campaign for you? You'd be crazy.
It was a nice "correction" yesterday. Later this year, will see how many took a lesson from it. Can we say "Mandate"?
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
A Study in Contrasts
A lot of commentary today pounced on the scene of that big, beautiful cruise ship pulling into an idyllic lagoon just 45 miles from the death and destruction in Port Au Prince, Haiti. Everyone it seemed, wanted to swat that big softball of righteous indignation, served up in that blatant contrast of the haves and have nots, between the privileged and the deprived,...and in the west end of Haiti today, between living high and not living at all.
The few defenders of the odd scene, tried to make the case that the ship could have easily cruised on to the next island stop, which would have only deprived the Haitian locals there of making their normal sales of food and drink, and all of the trinkets that tourists always spend money on. Money that Haiti desperately needs, whenever and wherever it can get it, and that the loss of that would only punish them more.
It is a fact today that a portion of mankind is very fortunate, and that a larger percentage is much less so. Moving that ship to another port, if only for a few weeks, would not have changed that fact one iota. So what would be the point? To make the fortunate of the world feel a little less guilty? Yeah, maybe. And exactly how would that have helped the people of Haiti? Not at all.
I would therefore like to suggest that maybe it's not a bad thing at all to show the stark contrast of that pristine ship against the backdrop of Haitian suffering. Perhaps it has caused more than a few to rethink the scene, the symbolism of it, and our priorities. "In your face" is sometimes the only message that works.
The few defenders of the odd scene, tried to make the case that the ship could have easily cruised on to the next island stop, which would have only deprived the Haitian locals there of making their normal sales of food and drink, and all of the trinkets that tourists always spend money on. Money that Haiti desperately needs, whenever and wherever it can get it, and that the loss of that would only punish them more.
It is a fact today that a portion of mankind is very fortunate, and that a larger percentage is much less so. Moving that ship to another port, if only for a few weeks, would not have changed that fact one iota. So what would be the point? To make the fortunate of the world feel a little less guilty? Yeah, maybe. And exactly how would that have helped the people of Haiti? Not at all.
I would therefore like to suggest that maybe it's not a bad thing at all to show the stark contrast of that pristine ship against the backdrop of Haitian suffering. Perhaps it has caused more than a few to rethink the scene, the symbolism of it, and our priorities. "In your face" is sometimes the only message that works.
Hey Barack...Reform This!
Forget health care reform. Follow the link below for one sickening example that personifies the incredible need for education reform in this country. From California of course!
I would highlight the fact that this dude has been paid full salary and benefits since his "firing" in 2003! Anyone who backs this kind of tolerance in the system....teachers, review boards, unions and politicians (or can we just say democrats)....cannot tell me that they care about kids or their education. They're self-serving liars when they do.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-teacher18-2010jan18,0,3686125.story
I would highlight the fact that this dude has been paid full salary and benefits since his "firing" in 2003! Anyone who backs this kind of tolerance in the system....teachers, review boards, unions and politicians (or can we just say democrats)....cannot tell me that they care about kids or their education. They're self-serving liars when they do.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-teacher18-2010jan18,0,3686125.story
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Many Moons
New Year's Eve was quite boisterous around this part of Chicagoland. Apparently, amateur pyrotechnics is the new thing for ringing in the new year. I recall some of it happening last year, but not nearly as intense. Perhaps it's going to replace firing a shotgun into the air, but I'm not sure that it's going to reduce any ER visits! I used to like these things, and fired off plenty of them as a teen, but I eventually grew up. (Some folks never do.) Now they just annoy me and unnerve my dog!
There was something else in the sky that night. Was it clear enough where you were? Yup...a "blue moon". The second full moon in December, and it was crystal clear here and gorgeous. I love a big full moon on a clear night and it made me stop and think.
The fact is, I love the full moon enough to know that in 2009 I had seen at least nine of them in a row, ending with that one on the last day of the year. How do I remember? Well, here's the deal: When we're up at the northern compound in Michigan, I keep a daily journal, and since I'm a night-sky geek, I always made note of the fantastic full moon nights we had over the lake. Sometime towards the end of the season up there, I think it was the September moon, I made a note about it and thought that I'd noted this several times over the spring and summer. When I checked back through the journal, sure enough, there had been a clear night on every full moon since our first visit in May! That's definitely an oddity in a state where clouds always outnumber clear skies, and that little oddity stuck with me through the remainder of the year. The November and both December moons were all seen in Illinois, but the unbroken string of clear nights continued even here, and thus my nine straight!
So on New Years Eve, I look up to see fireworks from my dopey neighbors exploding right next to nature's own beautiful show with that big blue moon. And on the last day of the year, when the mind inevitably drifts back over the year gone by, I'm looking up and thinking how I had that same view way back on the Fourth of July, on a beach in Northport, Michigan, with our good friends from camp (and The Study), watching fireworks explode over the full moon. I would call that serendipitous. Nine moons (blue and otherwise), holidays, and fireworks, all culminating on the last day of the year. Maybe 2009 wasn't so forgettable after all, and maybe there's a good omen hidden in that cold, white sphere, and it's string of visits.
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