Monthly Archives: March 2011

Economy, Politics

Who’s Driving This Car Anyway?

January of 2009. Hope was in the air, but more importantly, gas was under two dollars a gallon. Since then gas prices, have gone up 67 percent and it’s an ominously upward trend. Interestingly enough, the Heritage Foundation also took a look at the first 26 months of Bush’s presidency — gas only rose 7 percent during that time frame.

Of course, there’s more to the story. Available HERE. As for who is driving this car? His name is Hope.

Link: Hope and Change: Gas Prices Have Gone Up 67 Percent Since Obama Became President

Politics

Palin, Conservatism’s New World Order

It is beginning to look like the old conservative movement is feeling challenged by the new one. From here though, the only difference is that the ones criticizing Sarah Palin and the ‘Tea Party’ are old, where she, by comparison, is not.

It’s not the difference between ‘old school’ conservatism and modern because conservatism is timeless. There is no difference.

When Sarah Palin started in politics, she broke the mold of how things got done and she was good at it. She saw the opportunity to spread the conservative message more than she could have done behind a governor’s desk in Alaska, so she did it.

Sarah Palin is nothing like what has been all too common for those ‘old’ conservatives. Their inability or unwillingness, maybe both, to stand up to unfair criticism, to stand up to media bashing, and to not lose focus on the conservative message. All of which Bush, McCain and the so-called blue blood or establishment republicans are guilty of. They feel threatened.

George Will exemplifies that in this statement . . .

“This is a problem for the movement,” said Will about what Palin represents. “For conservatism, because it is a creedal movement, this is a disease to which it is susceptible.”

Matt Labash, a longtime writer for the Weekly Standard, said that because of Palin’s frequent appeals to victimhood and group grievance, “She’s becoming Al Sharpton, Alaska edition.”

Again, look how standing up for principles and conservative values are interpreted.  As ‘frequent appeals to victimhood and group grievance.’ It is not her fault that the media and the Left frequently single her out. Well, in a sense it is her fault. They single her out because she is so effective. And because she is so effective, they consider her to be the biggest threat to their liberal agenda.

Sarah Palin needn’t change one thing. Those old fogies who cannot adapt to the new ‘new world order’ in American politics are more a strain on the conservative movement than anyone out there. And that includes democrats.

Links:  The Right-Wing War Against Sarah Palin |  ‘She’s becoming Al Sharpton, Alaska edition’

 

Politics, Race Relations

D.O. Black J.

In the ‘it depends on what the meaning of justice is’ department, Attorney General Eric Holder’s justice department is telling Dayton’s police department to lower its testing standards because not enough of his people are passing the tests.

Dayton is in desperate need of officers to replace dozens of retirees. The hiring process was postponed for months because the D.O.J. rejected the original scores provided by the Dayton Civil Service Board, which administers the test.

Under the previous requirements, candidates had to get a 66% on part one of the exam and a 72% on part two.

The D.O.J. approved new scoring policy only requires potential police officers to get a 58% and a 63%. That’s the equivalent of an ‘F’ and a ‘D’.

The local office of the NAACP comes down on the side of safety over skin color.

“The NAACP does not support individuals failing a test and then having the opportunity to be gainfully employed,” agreed Dayton NAACP President Derrick Foward.

Where is that ‘post-racial‘ America anyway? Eric Holder’s conduct as Attorney General is, or should be, an embarrassment to the country and needs to go.

Link:  Dayton’s News Source :: Top Stories – Civil Service Board Announces Police Recruit Scores.

Uncategorized

aSide Order

A brief movie matinee.

  1. A John Boy and Billy video. If animals could talk.
  2. Here’s a ‘striptease’ video. You’ll have to keep hitting the ‘play’ button to finish it. Really. But I’d rate it PG.
  3. And a little Red State Update.  There’s a couple F-bombs in this one. You’ve been warned. Jackie and Dunlap on the crisis in Japan, the NPR footage, and, what the hell, a little Charlie Sheen.

endofstory

HERE’S THE PLAN

A. . Back off and let those men who want to marry men, marry men.

B. . Allow those women who want to marry women, marry women.

C. . Allow those folks who want to abort their babies, abort their babies.

D. . In three generations, there will be no Democrats!…

Man – I love it when a plan comes together!

Obama joke of the Year.

One day in the future, Barack Obama has a heart-attack and dies.

He immediately goes to hell, where the devil is waiting for him.

“I don’t know what to do here,” says the devil. “You are on my list, but I have no room for you. You definitely have to stay here, so I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I’ve got a couple of folks here who weren’t quite as bad as you. I’ll let one of them go, but you have to take their place. I’ll even let YOU decide who leaves.”

Obama thought that sounded pretty good, so the devil opened the door to the first room.

In it was Ted Kennedy and a large pool of water. Ted kept diving in, and surfacing, empty handed. Over, and over, and over he dived in and surfaced with nothing. Such was his fate in hell.

“No,” Obama said. “I don’t think so. I’m not a good swimmer, and I don’t think I could do that all day long.”

The devil led him to the door of the next room.

In it was Al Gore with a sledgehammer and a room full of rocks. All he did was swing that hammer, time after time after time.

“No, this is no good; I’ve got this problem with my shoulder. I would be in constant agony if all I could do was break rocks all day,” commented Obama.

The devil opened a third door. Through it, Obama saw Bill Clinton, lying on the bed, his arms tied over his head, and his legs restrained in a spread-eagle pose. Bent over him was Monica Lewinsky, doing what she does best.

Obama looked at this in shocked disbelief, and finally said, “Yeah man, I can handle this.”

The devil smiled and said …..

 

 

 

(This is priceless…)

 

 

 

“OK, Monica, you’re free to go.”

 

Media, Organized Labor, Politics

Obama’s New Low Profile

President Obama, never one to duck an issue, is appearing to take on a more adult posture at problem solving. From not being the first to the microphone anymore to that of letting others deal with it. White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer calls it staying above the fray. The media calls it keeping a low profile. I call it ducking when it is politically expedient to duck.

Ever ready to jump in front of the news, as in the Cambridge, Mass incident between black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and white Cambridge, Mass. police Sgt. James Crowley, who “acted stupidly,” and inject himself into the business of the state of Wisconsin by saying it is “an assault on unions,” President Obama missed his golden opportunity at Friday’s news conference to make a statement about the goings on in the Wisconsin state house. After all, it consumed the news media all week/month long, culminating in the passage of the budget repair bill that state Democrats fled the state for. The protests were orchestrated in part by Obama’s Organizing for America and other union bullies. Bullying is OK when it works for BIG LABOR you know.

One take on why Obama failed to talk about it was that the polls suggest that the public does not support it or that he should not be involved in a state issue. Or both. To be sure, if he thought he could make hay out of it, he would have brought it up. If he thought it would hurt his chances of re-election, he might stay ‘above the fray.’ But what is the excuse of the press corps to not ask one question about it? To think that there was no collusion between the press corps and the administration requires a suspension of dis-belief. If not just good old-fashioned Chicago style threats to intimidate the press corps from asking about it. Fact is, no one did.

The Left can’t be too happy with Obama’s new low profile either. They expect him to be in Madison with the demonstrators. Like he said he would do when he was in campaign mode. Try this question that was not asked. Mr. President, critics in your own party are frustrated that another campaign promise seems to have gone by the wayside. What do you say to those who want you to go to Madison and show your solidarity with the labor union? (like you said you would do during your campaign?) The latter part is pure fantasy that he would ever be put on that spot. You know if he was an R, that’s the way the question would have been delivered. But I digress.

Here’s Rush Limbaugh’s take on it . . .

All right. It’s official. There were no questions on Wisconsin asked of the regime at the press conference today. Now, come on, folks, please. It’s only been the rallying cry of the Democrat Party. We’ve only had Obama joining the debate saying we shouldn’t vilify or denigrate public sector union people, they’re our neighbors and so forth. He got involved. It’s his website, Organizing for America, that organized all of the spittle-flecked protesters that were out there. Not one question. Not one statement made by Obama. Again, let me tell you what this means. I’ll explain it by doing it the opposite way. Had there been questions and had there been answers, had Obama made a statement, it would have meant that the polling data was clearly on his side, that the Republicans were really taking it in the shorts in the polls, and that it was a golden opportunity to hammer this whole business of destroying collective bargaining rights for unions.

If they had polling data that suggests that the Democrats won big in this thing that would have been 90% of the content of this presser. And it didn’t even come up.

The president and his handlers certainly have their hands full, both here and abroad. Makes me wonder who has the tougher job? Obama acting as President of the United States or his handlers trying to make an empty suit look as though there is something in it?

Link:  On high-profile issues, Obama keeps a low profile

 

Economy, Media, Politics

‘Two Americas’ And Oil

Remember those ‘two Americas’ that John (the Breck girl) Edwards was talking about in the 2004 presidential campaign? The rising prices of crude oil, now north of $104 per barrel, and gas at the pump north of $3.50 (and 9/10) a gallon, and rising by about a dime a week got the attention of the New York Times with this front page analysis.

The highlights . . .

 

  • Rising Gas Cost Finds the Nation Better Prepared.
  • The increase in energy prices is beginning to resemble the rise in 2008. But this time, the American economy may be better prepared for higher fuel costs.
  • While the latest surge in energy prices is likely to cause some pain and slow the recovery from the recession, economists say the spike is unlikely to derail the rebound unless prices rise a lot further.
  • One big reason is that consumers and businesses have learned lessons from the last oil shock. … Industries like airlines and trucking, which are most severely affected by fuel prices, have passed on their higher costs almost immediately instead of waiting for the price increases to hammer profits.
  • And much of the rest of the United States economy is far less dependent on oil than it used to be.

    A fascinating and in-depth analysis of the high gas prices that took the combined efforts of five reporters. So you know it must be complete and comprehensive.

    Harken back to the high gas prices under the Bush administration which, according to former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), was blamed on the Bush administration and the fact that there were ‘two oil men in The White House.’ Today, it is apparent from the New York Times that the cost of crude and gas have nothing whatsoever to do with Washington.

    There’s your ‘other’ America.

    Link: U.S. Economy Is Better Prepared for Rising Gas Costs | ‘Two oil men’ to blame for high gas prices, Pelosi says

    Egypt, Middle East, Religion

    No Women’s Day In Egypt

    I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that the second-class status of women extends beyond Egypt, to wherever fundamentalist Muslim people live. The United States being the possible exception.

    Women in Egypt, celebrating International Women’s Day, were met with angry mobs of men telling them to go back home where they belong.

    The N.O.W. gang has a new task ahead of them. Should they choose to accept it.

    Link: Egyptian Women’s Rights Protest Marred By Hecklers |  Female Genital Mutilation Creeping To America

    Economy, Politics

    Obamanomics Setting Records

    According to preliminary numbers from the Congressional Budget Office, the federal government posted its largest monthly deficit in history in February at $223 billion.

    Put into perspective, it is the 29th straight month the government has run in the red. A modern record. This one month federal deficit is nearly four times as large as the spending cuts House Republicans have passed in their spending bill, and is more than 30 times the size of Senate Democrats’ opening bid of $6 billion.

    And after hundreds of billions, trillions, of dollars of so-called stimulus spending, unemployment continues to worsen. Despite President Obama’s hooting the unemployment rate drop below 9 percent last week, the drop was not a result of more people getting jobs, which is what the community organizer would have you believe. No, the drop was a function of fewer people looking for work, a smaller pool of people looking for jobs that have given up looking for work is what made the unemployment rate drop.

    Analysts say an increase in the unemployment rate would indicate that the unemployed, those who have given up looking for work, would share the confidence in the economy that Obama says he has and are actively looking for work again. But that is not whats happening.

    Links:

    Economy, Organized Labor, Politics

    It’s Not A Story About Wisconsin

    Often the truth comes out when you think no one  else is listening. Take the Ring of Fire radio show for example. Last week host Mike Papantonio, still high on Koch (rhymes with coke), in a discussion with co-host Sam Seder about the Wisconsin Governor and government labor unions, Papantonio confirmed the symbiosis between Democrat leaders and Big Labor and exactly what the controversy for them is all about.

    Contrary to what they say in public, Progressives could care less about ‘the workers,’ or taxpayers for that matter.  ‘The workers’ are the tools for their political and ideological agenda.

    Making no distinction between private  and government unions, nor any legal or constitutional justification as to why, Sam Seder asserts ‘Unions do need government support.’

    Papantonio’s response . . .

    It’s not a story about just Wisconsin. It’s a story, look, here’s the chain.

    You take away collective bargaining. Once you take away collective bargaining, the union then, because they have no power, they’re not able to raise money. They’re not able to collect dues. If they’re not able to collect dues, if they don’t collect dues they can’t hire lobbys, they can’t do advertising. They can’t answer the Koch brothers on the television and the newspaper.

    Once you have that, you then have people just saying ‘Well just what does the union do? If they don’t do me any good why should I pay anything?’ Even though, if they really really analyze what the union does for them with collective bargaining, it’s huge.

    So, when that happens, what’s next thing that happens, the money for progressive ideas dries up. I mean the market of progressive ideas disappears. Because it is drowned out by the FOX News entity.

    Media, Organized Labor, Politics

    Tea Partier Makes Bomb Threat

    A person associated with the Tea Party was arrested today after calling in a bomb threat to a fundraiser for Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Miami Beach on Friday.

    No wait! Correction!

    There was a bomb threat, but it wasn’t at Wasserman Schultz’s fundraiser where President Obama was the ‘special guest.’ No, this bomb threat was made by far Left protester Patrick J. Knauf, 43, of Eau Claire. And he made it last Wednesday at an aviation business in Eau Claire just hours after Governor Scott Walker spoke there. According to police, he had been protesting Governor Scott Walker all week.

    What? You mean you hadn’t heard about it in the media? Wonder why?

    H/T Black & Right

    Link: BOMB THREAT at Scott Walker News Conference–Leftist Protester Arrested!