Can They Turn the Tide?

Power Line - Kill the Bill

I never expected  BO and the Democrats to give the Republicans an opportunity to hand them a major defeat this early, but certainly have. BO let Pelosi run wild in the House, and she served up the biggest glob of partisan pork fat in world history. The House Republicans wisely all voted against it.

Now, enough of the stench has leaked out of the bill to drop public opinion solidly against and BO is in a panic trying to get bipartisan cover for the stench. If this thing could be defeated, it would be the first actual ray of hope for a recovery in a very long time.

Can the weak kneed Republican party that couldn't keep a lid on spending on their own watch now FINALLY stand up to now gigantic threat of a level of big government that would have been unthinkable even 6 months ago? One can hope, even if the odds are against it.

A Leadership Mistake

White House Memo - The Pros and Cons of Admitting a Presidential Error - NYTimes.com

Since BO has never held a leadership position, he doesn't know much about being a leader and admitting mistakes. Some things that would be immediately asked of a leader in business, or in a country with an adversarial press for Democrats:

1. What was the mistake? He has appointed 4 people with problems, Richards also withdrew, Geithner made it but has tax problems. Why was Daschle worthy of being admitted as a personal presidential error, but the others were not? Why admit this "mistake" now?
   
2. How does he intend to FIX things so the "mistake" doesn't happen again? Is it a "process issue"? Did he just learn that most Americans actually pay their taxes? Has he just learned that he can't get by with a different standard for his people than for the common people? What?
3. Is it REALLY "his mistake", or is it a symptom of the selection pool? Is there a problem that MANY Democrats don't follow the rules, so it is really hard for a Democrat President to find qualified people that can both do the job and have a reasonable history relative to personal life, paying taxes, hiring illegal aliens, etc? It kind of seems that way, it seems very unlikely that BOTH the Clinton and BO administrations could have had and be having as many problems as they are when the supposedly completely incompetent Bush administration had no problems with appointees having to drop out due to legal / personal sorts of issues.
   
4. Why THIS mistake? Any leader of any reasonable sized task knows that "mistakes are made" every day by both the leader and the people they are leading. When a leader admits a mistake, they reflect on the people that hired them (or elected them), the people they lead, themselves, and the processes / procedures / organization that they lead. So, this is a well that BO can't go to very often, or there is going to be a lot of "buyers remorse" going around.
   

It seems that BO maybe ought to check out a book or two on leadership for the weekend. He has never held a leadership position, so some book learning might be able to shorten the on the job training by a bit.

Government Self Abuse

RealClearPolitics - Articles - What Is Congress Stimulating?

This is very well written, basically just read it. The "stimulus" is purely an attempt by the Democrats to increase the size of the Federal government by an instant 1/3 (about $3 Trillion now, just add a Trillion). The only jobs it stimulates are government jobs!

I especially liked this analysis -- there is no doubt that leadership is an "exposing activity". Even with all the attempted MSM cover, the Democrats can't help show their true stripes when they are in the leadership role.

Then after Tim Geithner scampered through the tax minefield and into
a Cabinet seat, the Daschle tax bomb went off, laying open for public
view the world of Washington's pay-for-favors that makes the average
Wall Street banker look like Little Bo-Peep. 

Conventional wisdom holds that the Republican refuseniks shot
themselves in the foot by staying off the House stimulus package. Real
wisdom holds that congressional Republicans should consider putting
distance between themselves and anything Democratic just now. The
party's crypts are opening. 

Poor Daschle, Evil Republicans

Let's see, Daschle leverages his old Senate connections to make millions of dollars but that DOESN'T make him a "lobbyist". We know those are bad, because BO told us so and passed an executive order saying "he won't hire them" -- so far he has personally written 17 exceptions to that order, so it must be an important one.

Who is at fault here? Well, according to the MSM, THE REPUBLICANS! Obvious!

Dreams from My Father

http://www.amazon.com/Dreams-My-Father-Story-Inheritance/dp/1400082773

I made it through the subject book, by (unbelieveably), our president, Barack Hussien Obama -- but generally known as "Barry Obama" in the book. As I went through the book I thought how different the treatment of BO than of W. For W, the issue of if he did or did not fly a jet during some period in the National Guard in the early '70s was worth using documents that turned out to clumsily forged in an hour long special and a ton of other media coverage to try to discredit him even when running for his SECOND term.

For BO, most people don't realize that he was known as "Barry" up until college and that he seems very much to be largely a black racist, even though he is half white. The degree to which he idolized his absent black father, who turned out to have anything but a model life is utterly amazing. If he has any god at all, it is the "false god" of his vision of that father. His poor Grandparents, who actually made all the sacrifices to raise him get very little credit, and his white mother gets the shortest shrift of all.

The other thing that hits me is "this is what you get when you remove God from the life of a person". What does BO really think? One can read through 457 pages and suspect very strongly that he has no idea other than it is somehow "shared, better, different" than anything humans have thought before. Why? Well, because BO is special, and even though a lot of folks try to tell him "it's not all about him", the subtext is that he really doesn't buy that, it **IS** all about BO!

A lot of what he says, he puts in someone elses mouth, but since he claims to have written the book, that isn't really much of a dodge -- why put something in their mouths if you think it is not worth people hearing said?

p 258. "The first thing you have to realize ... is that the public school is not about educating black children. Never has been. Inner-city schools are about social control. Period. They're operated as holding pens, miniature jails, really."

Later -- "Just think about what a real education for these children would involve. It would start by giving a child and understanding of himself, his world, his culture, his community. That's the starting point of any educational process." (his italics)

There you have it -- US culture is NOT black culture. A bit later yet, "I teach them that Africans are a communal people". This guys name is Asante, and BO never has a negative comment on the views from him that he includes, and he later invokes him as one of his key friends.

p406. "What Granny had told us scrambled that image completely [black supremacist muslim] causing ugly words to flash across my mind. Uncle Tom. Collaborator. House Nigger." Being a black supremacist, not wanting any intermarriage with whites -- that is a GOOD image. Working for white folks in Africa? Well, the "N word" isn't all that positive."

p 438. "All to rarely do I hear people asking just what it is we've done to make so many children's hearts so hard, or what collectively we might do to right their moral compass -- what values we must live by. Instead I see us doing what we've always done--pretending that these children are somehow not our own".

Well, we USED to be a Christian nation -- there are a known set of values there. "Love your Neighbor", "Do unto others", "First cast the log in your own eye...", etc. Knowledge that man is fallen, and it isn't WE that turn human hearts hard; human hearts ARE hard until they are redeemed by Jesus, and even then, constant attachment with word and sacrament is required. "Obamanation"  (abomination) is what happens when sovereign God is converted to a relativistic hodge-podge of tribalism, pop psychology, new age gibberish and polytheistic meanderings. BOs religion is BO -- at one time it was his "false father", but when he found the truth of that mirage, he left it behind.

p 87, "Gotta have them ribs .... And pussy too. Don't Malcom talk about no pussy? Now you know that ain't going to work."

Nice quote for a president to be writing in a book, huh? Suppose if he had an "R" next to his name, a few of those might have gotten a little more play?

His favorite quote from Reverend Wright, based on the play it gets is from his "Audacity of Hope" sermon, the only one that we really know that BO attended and actually listened to.

p293. "...where white man's greed runs a world in need". For me, that sums up the "BO experience" -- we have a President that is a black supremacist.

Unfortunately, after reading this book, it is very clear that we have much more to fear than "fear itself". I didn't cover the Kenya part of the book, but suffice it to say, "He is Luo" -- that is his tribe. I'm not sure there is any point that he says, "I am an American" -- at one point I think he said he was "a citizen of the world". It appears to me that to the extent he has any grounding at all, it is African tribalism. How well does that work for a country of 300 million? Well, I guess we get to find out now!

Change As Ice Cream

The following little anology showed up in the e-mail:

Who worries about "the cow" when it is all about the "Ice Cream?

The most eye-opening civics lesson I ever had was while teaching third grade this year. The presidential election was heating up and some of the children showed an interest. I decided we would have an election for a class president.

We would choose our nominees. They would make a campaign speech and the class would vote. To simplify the process, candidates were nominated by other class members. We discussed what kinds of characteristics these students should have. We got many nominations and from those, Jamie and Olivia were picked to run for the top spot. The class had done a great job in their selections.

Both candidates were good kids. I thought Jamie might have an advantage because he got lots of parental support. I had never seen Olivia's mother.

The day arrived when they were to make their speeches Jamie went first. He had specific ideas about how to make our class a better place. He ended by promising to do his very best.

Everyone applauded. He sat down and Olivia came to the podium. Her speech was concise. She said, "If you will vote for me, I will give you ice cream." She sat down.

The class went wild. "Yes! Yes! We want ice cream." She surely could say more. She did not have to.

A discussion followed. How did she plan to pay for the ice cream? She wasn't sure. Would her parents buy it or would the class pay for it? She didn't know. The class really didn't care. All they were thinking about was ice cream.

Jamie was forgotten.

Olivia won by a landslide.

Every time Barack Obama opened his mouth he offered ice cream and fifty-two percent of the people reacted like nine year olds. They want ice cream.

The other forty-eight percent of us know we're going to have to feed the cow and clean up the mess.

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not

President Reading to School Kids Good Again

CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - President reads moon book to star-struck schoolkids « - Blogs from CNN.com

So will we get a bunch of media jokes now about "Moon Over Star" as we got about "My Pet Goat" when the press was forced to cover what Bush was doing when he heard the news about 9-11? Late night media folks saying "I didn't know he could read"?

I bet not. Another good question to ask would be "Which public school do your girls go to President Obama?"

Public schools are apparently good enough for other peoples kids -- just not his.

Poor Daschle

George's Bottom Line

If the President had an "R" next to his name, this story would be very simple and the hammers would be hammering away like the following:

1). Daschle looks criminal. If a regular American had half as much of a tax problem, they would be in the pokey.
2). If Daschle isn't criminal, then he has to be so incompetent that he defies description -- how could such a person get such huge money as a lobbiest without engaging in the worst possible kinds of influence peddling?
3). Most likely he is to some degree BOTH criminal and corrupt. How could the President pick such a man? Why would the President stand by him? How could the folks in his own party be willing to defend him? The whole Republican party must be horribly corrupt and this President must be BOTH corrupt and incompetent as well. We are in terrible trouble as a nation.

BUT, BO is a Democrat as is Daschle -- so the MSM wrings their hands that such a "good man" was brought down by a "simple tax mistake", and isn't he great and good for bowing out? Oh, and BO, well HE is great because he has "admitted a mistake"! Gee, isn't that special -- were he a Republican, after Richardson, Geitner, Daschle and Nancy Killefer (his "Chief Performance Officer" all had to withdraw, he would at a minimum be branded as "incompetent". How can anyone that is that poor a judge of character expect to run a country? Good for BO that he is a Democrat, when the mistakes start on the oath of office, a Republican would nearly be toast already.

I hear the BO revenue strategy is to just keep appointing Democrats and he will be able to pay off the debt in just Democrat back taxes -- then he even screws that up by appointing Judd Gregg (a Republican)!

Nice Home Theatre

Home Theater Design: The Greatest Show on Earth!


$6 million for a home theater seems a bit high, but it really looks like nice stuff!

What You Don't Report

Power Line - Obama: "Let Them Eat Steak"

The MSM controls thought more often by what they DON'T report than by what they do. Hear any complaints abut the FEMA response to the ice storm in Kentucky? Guess what, you aren't likely to either -- because the idea is to impress you with BO, not have you look at him critically.

How about BO's use of energy, what he serves for dinner at the WH, etc? I'm not saying that they OUGHT to be issues, I'm just saying that when the MSM is trying to make a President unpopular, there is NO LIMIT on the crap that is used to make him look as bad as they possibly can.

It is going to be very hard for BO to do wrong from the MSM POV for a good long while.

Snowy Boiled Frog

Heaviest UK snow in 18 years hits international flights - CNN.com

Global Warming is now Climate Change and ANY "changing weather" is due to human input of carbon into the atmosphere. Pay no attention to reports of record cold, snow and such other than the realize that for the "sophisticated media consumer" (those that stick with "the name brands") -- what we need to focus on is the reduction of carbon. We have already established the fact of "climate change".

Oh -- campaign finance reform in the US? Not an issue -- we don't care how much is spent on an election as long as "the right side" wins!

Deficits? Did anyone ever complain about those? "Bigger is better"!

Just follow the random thought walk, consistency is NOT an issue!

If you have wandered into this Blog and are a happy consumer of only MSM views, shut your eyes and get out now. Return to the warm and comfortable "climate controlled" environs of the MSM pot!

Even $18 Billion Has "Another Side"

'Idiots' Indeed - WSJ.com

BO, the Democrats, and the MSM seem in a huge hurry to demonize Wall Street on their "bonuses". It SEEMS like "free theater" -- hammer away at the street that has lost so much money in '08 and "show them a lesson". Actually, it is amazing what quick studies folks in the business world actually are, they already HAVE the "lesson". Business is the current whipping boy and Washington is going to throw pork around to whomever they think will net them the most votes -- so, they are not lending, buying stocks, investing in new products, nor moving forward with production, because everyone with half a brain looks at everything being done and says "there is no way this can work, we are in for a long term horrible economy". BUT, BO, the Dems, and the MSM still don't get that -- they think these actions are "good for business", so they are basically declaring war on business.

Want to make a bet on how well that works? Look at where the Dow is, job losses, GDP, consumer outlook, housing starts, and a whole host of other stuff, and you can see how confident most people are (not).

A few quick facts about Wall Street bonuses. The pretext for the
political outrage was the New York comptroller's report this week on
the aggregate data for bonuses in 2008. That "irresponsible" bonus pool
of $18 billion was for every worker in the New York financial industry,
from top dogs to secretaries. This bonus pool fell 44% in 2008, the
largest percentage decline in 30 years. The average bonus was $112,000;
bonuses typically make up most of an employee's salary on Wall Street.
The comptroller estimates that this decline will cost New York State $1
billion in lost tax revenue and New York City $275 million. Both city
and state may have to announce layoffs.

What is more, the "Wall Street" of popular and fevered imagination
isn't coming back anytime soon, if ever. Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns
and Merrill Lynch are gone, kaput. Enough bankers have been ruined or
fired to sate class resentments for a lifetime. The remaining big two,
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, are no longer formally investment
banks but are now under the supervisory control of the Federal Reserve.
The Wall Street business model is broken, and not at a particularly
opportune moment for the economy.

Mr. Obama wanted to hit a populist nerve this week because he knows
he may have to ask Congress for another $1 trillion or more to revive
the banking system. He also knows that the core of the economic crisis
is a lending system that remains frozen in a vast lake of toxic,
mispriced securities. In short, the credit system is on strike (see
above).

The U.S. is a long way from getting out from under this burden. The
danger of targeting what capitalists we have left for abuse or
prosecution is that they will stay on strike, as they did in the 1930s.
It won't be pretty this time either.

Rush Hit's a Nerve?

Commentary: A history lesson for Rush Limbaugh - CNN.com

Gee, commander Q-Ball comes back to defend partisanship. So, on the Iraq war, the DEMOCRATS in the Senate were over 50% in favor of the war resolution.  The Democrats in the House of course new it was going to pass with 215 Republicans voting for it, but 82 of them still joined the Republicans. So, **IF** we followed the "proportional popular vote idea", we would have STILL gone to war!

How about "regulation"? Well, it was REPUBLICANS that wanted to increase regulation on Freddy and Fannie to head off the sub-prime crisis, and it was DEMOCRATS like Charlie Ranglel and Barney Frank that defened the program because it allowed poorer people to get homes.

Slick WIllie would have never had a surplus without the combination of the Republcian Congress and the Internet Bubble -- the "surplus" was a function of Republicans cutting the rate of growth in medicare (and taking a lot of heat for it) and taxes on captial gains taken during the bubble. As we see now, when Democrats control congress, they are good at MUCH larger deficits! 2x -- 3x ... I don't think we even know. It  is and was CONGRESS that sets the budget! The President just signs it.

So Carville needs a bit of history study before he does his responses.

Being Democrat Means Not Paying Taxes

Senators voice support for Daschle over tax records - CNN.com

Could it really be any more clear? Democrats are ALL for a bunch of high taxes -- and over and over and over again, they don't pay them. Franken, Daschle and Geitner being the latest, but it is basically a constant. Since the IRS is a bunch of mostly Union Democrats, is it just sort of an "inside joke" that the stupid Republicans can complain all they want, but the way it works is that they pay and the Democrats just walk away? Unless of course they have to go through confirmation hearings, and THEN , they just do what Democrats always do "they gave it back" -- or in this case "they pay them".

No need to prosecute, the only thing that a Democrat can EVER do is "make an honest mistake". How could it be anythng but? They don't purport to have any moral standard, so doesn't that simply make "getting caught" an "honest mistake"?

Sides of a Coin

Bush Hatred and Obama Euphoria Are Two Sides of the Same Coin - WSJ.com


This is very well written, the whole thing should be read. The highlight is:

In fact, Bush hatred and Obama euphoria -- which tend to reveal more about those who feel them than the men at which they are directed -- are opposite sides of the same coin. Both represent the triumph of passion over reason. Both are intolerant of dissent. Those wallowing in Bush hatred and those reveling in Obama euphoria frequently regard those who do not share their passion as contemptible and beyond the reach of civilized discussion. Bush hatred and Obama euphoria typically coexist in the same soul. And it is disproportionately members of the intellectual and political class in whose souls they flourish.

He is a good writer and he brings in the fact that when our people aren't schooled in a perspective of "transcendence" (although he doesn't call it that), then we are in grave peril. What is beyond our petty passions and peccadilloes? The sweep of human development? God? Philosophy? Love?

or nothing? so often today it is nothing.