Maria Bartiromo conducted an amazing interview with Sarah Palin, the full context and transcript of which can be seen on the cnbc website. Forget the McChange hype, John McCain’s vice-presidential choice knows the score about America’s energy problems. In a fast paced interview, Sarah Palin put things in perspective.
The ANWR reserves are a postage stamp sized plot of land in a lunar landscape which can be drilled with almost zero impact on the environment. It represents about 2,000 acres in a land mass which consists of 20 million acres, the size of a miniature poodle’s poop in a surburban backyard.
Speaking of poodle poop, the Obama campaign routinely uses scare tactics to keep energy prices high and Americans dependent on foreign energy sources, even while billions of barrels of oil and natural gas sit within America’s borders and off its shores.
Palin and McCain aren’t opposed to renewables or alternative energy sources, but the Algorean assertion that America could be powered by wind, solar, hydrogen, electricity, etc within the ten year period is ridiculous and they know it. Dare to dream, they say, while flying around the country on private jets and expensive motorized sailboats. Well, their dream will be America’s nightmare if the needs and desires of the 70 percent of Americans who favor offshore drilling are ignored by the Democrats controlling Congress.
Joe Biden has no problem aligning himself with the McChange energy policy. Biden voted against the 1970s Alaskan pipeline which has already delivered billions of barrels of oil to the lower 48. Meanwhile, the caribou are thriving and, except for a long pipe going across the barren sweeps of land, there is hardly a blemish on the environment. Thanks to Palin, Alaska will be delivering huge volumes of natural gas through another pipeline she pushed the oil companies to build.
Biden and McChange represent a hidebound political establishment mired in Beltway and Slick-city muck. Sarah Palin gave up the state’s private jet and tools around her state in a Jetta or the government owned Suburban. Everything is known about McCain and Sarah Palin. Voters need to get their questions answered about candidate Obama, who has continuously and vigorously resisted reporter’s efforts at getting his many “lost” official records.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Nahdmi Auchi: Meet Another Rezko Friend
Is there a connection between Obama, Rezko, and Auchi? One witness claims he saw Obama toasting Auchi at a party at Rezko's house. Obama claims he doesn't know the man. But does he know the man's money? Perhaps. Perhaps not. But Obama should lay these questions to rest by freely providing the records reportersw are asking for.
Barack Obama: Ask Me No Questions, I'll Tell You No Lies
Barack Obama has become the candidate of vagueness. Gone are the issues, gone is the message of “change”, gone is anything that might ruffle the feathers of the mesmerized mob. There were few issues to begin with, at least not as issues are usually understood. The Obamanites were opposed to offshore drilling but now are “open” to the idea. We have a delirious, mainstream media to blame for that. Obama is a long-time gun control regulator who talks around the issue in such a way that one might think he’s a charter member of the NRA. Biden spent much of his time writing, speaking, and putting into legislation the gun control laws which were recently overturned by the Supreme Court.
The media-repressive tactics of the Obama campaign are also partly responsible. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Obama campaign has launched a full frontal attack on WGN-Radio, a subsidiary of the Chicago Tribune, for interviewing Stanley Kurtz. At the urging of a circulating Obama campaign email, the radio station has been bombarded with emails and phone calls from fanatic Obama supporters.
So who is Stanley Kurtz? Well, a conservative writer who filed a Freedom of Information Request against the University of Illinois to open their records of Barack Obama’s association with William Ayers, an unrepentant 70s terrorist who bombed police stations and public buildings. The Obama campaign continues to withhold information about a presidential candidate who has offered and advertised an inspiring public narrative but avoided important questions about his background.
Remember, it was the Chicago Tribune which finally prevailed against the Obama stone wall with regard to the Chicago mansion Obama bought at a reduced rate on the same day that Antoin Rezko’s wife bought the land next door at full price. The paper did coax Obama into a press conference to answer questions about his association with Rezko in March, but the candidate’s responses were vague and peripatetic. And who is Nahdmi Auchi, the Iraqi billionaire who is under investigation for corruption related to the U.N. Oil For Food scandal? Auchi is also the man who loaned Rezko $3.5 million a couple of days before the deal on Obama’s house and Rezko’s lot went to closing on June 2005. Though a witness claims to have seen Obama toasting Nahdmi Auchi at the Rezko residence, Obama claims not to know the man. Well, there is knowing and knowing. Or there is the mesmerized media, unknowing, and not wanting to know.
Certainly one kind of knowing is through the examination of paper records. While Obama provided 94 pages of documents regarding the purchase of his house in Chicago, conspicuously absent was the settlement sheet which shows where the money goes and where it came from. The paper trail that led to Rezko’s conviction on fraud indicated that the Rezkko’s wife got a half-million dollar loan requiring a $125,000 down payment indicated that the Rezko’s were near broke. Mrs. Rezko’s financial records showed savings of $35,000 and a salary of $37,000. What generous bank or banker supported that?
Eventually, Nahdmi Auchi had his visa revoked. But Rezko was able to get two Illinois state government officials to appeal to the state department to restore Auchi’s visa. When a Chicago newspaper asked Obama if anyone from Obama’s office had been involved in assisting Auchi, he responded again vaguely. Not that he knew of. Now there are Freedom of Information Requests to obtain documents related to that, but they, too, are stonewalled.
The candidate Barack Obama appeared unruffled at the ersatz Acropolis created at Invesco Field as he accepted the Democratic Party nomination. Without questions, without answers.
Sources: Wall Street Journal of August 30, 2008.
The media-repressive tactics of the Obama campaign are also partly responsible. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Obama campaign has launched a full frontal attack on WGN-Radio, a subsidiary of the Chicago Tribune, for interviewing Stanley Kurtz. At the urging of a circulating Obama campaign email, the radio station has been bombarded with emails and phone calls from fanatic Obama supporters.
So who is Stanley Kurtz? Well, a conservative writer who filed a Freedom of Information Request against the University of Illinois to open their records of Barack Obama’s association with William Ayers, an unrepentant 70s terrorist who bombed police stations and public buildings. The Obama campaign continues to withhold information about a presidential candidate who has offered and advertised an inspiring public narrative but avoided important questions about his background.
Remember, it was the Chicago Tribune which finally prevailed against the Obama stone wall with regard to the Chicago mansion Obama bought at a reduced rate on the same day that Antoin Rezko’s wife bought the land next door at full price. The paper did coax Obama into a press conference to answer questions about his association with Rezko in March, but the candidate’s responses were vague and peripatetic. And who is Nahdmi Auchi, the Iraqi billionaire who is under investigation for corruption related to the U.N. Oil For Food scandal? Auchi is also the man who loaned Rezko $3.5 million a couple of days before the deal on Obama’s house and Rezko’s lot went to closing on June 2005. Though a witness claims to have seen Obama toasting Nahdmi Auchi at the Rezko residence, Obama claims not to know the man. Well, there is knowing and knowing. Or there is the mesmerized media, unknowing, and not wanting to know.
Certainly one kind of knowing is through the examination of paper records. While Obama provided 94 pages of documents regarding the purchase of his house in Chicago, conspicuously absent was the settlement sheet which shows where the money goes and where it came from. The paper trail that led to Rezko’s conviction on fraud indicated that the Rezkko’s wife got a half-million dollar loan requiring a $125,000 down payment indicated that the Rezko’s were near broke. Mrs. Rezko’s financial records showed savings of $35,000 and a salary of $37,000. What generous bank or banker supported that?
Eventually, Nahdmi Auchi had his visa revoked. But Rezko was able to get two Illinois state government officials to appeal to the state department to restore Auchi’s visa. When a Chicago newspaper asked Obama if anyone from Obama’s office had been involved in assisting Auchi, he responded again vaguely. Not that he knew of. Now there are Freedom of Information Requests to obtain documents related to that, but they, too, are stonewalled.
The candidate Barack Obama appeared unruffled at the ersatz Acropolis created at Invesco Field as he accepted the Democratic Party nomination. Without questions, without answers.
Sources: Wall Street Journal of August 30, 2008.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Bumbling Bill Burton Wants to Bump Sarah Palin
Bumbling Bill Burton, in a figurative Obama “wife-beater” tee-shirt pose, described Sarah Palin as the “former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience (who is) a heartbeat away from the presidency.” Wow, could the Obama camp be more threatened? That’s change you can lose. Instead of lashing out at John McCain’s vice-presidential choice, Obama should be doing an intense self-assessment to ask themselves why, exactly, they rejected the sure-fine winning strategy of a Hillary-Obama ticket and traded it for a business as usual S.O.S litany of bumper-sticker tropes and a thirty year Washington Senator and bureaucrat.
It doesn’t make sense the Obama campaign would ditch Hillary. The excuse of a Bill Clinton looming in the wings was a convenient dodge, but who really believes that? Bill Clinton is sophisticated enough and Hillary is capable enough that the sum total effect would have been positive, had Obama learned how to share. Obama’s behaved like an only child with identify confusion in picking Biden over Clinton. Yes, of course, Biden is chairman of the Foreign Relations committee. Sure, that counts for something, but the fact is that 18 million people pulled the lever for that enduring woman who, whether you agreed with her policy positions or not, was strong enough, capable enough, informed enough, and tough enough to lead the Democrats. Obama didn’t just miss the chance—he intentionally chose to lose because, now with Sarah Palin, John McCain is a sure-fire winner, and the campaign can only unleash hatchet whacks like Burton to demean two true bootstrappers who don’t have to embellish their records of public service.
I know what Obama and his people were thinking. They had wounded the former president by accusing him of racism and now they felt the guilt of oppressors and cheats. They had sought the help of Democrat Party behind-the scenes bosses in undermining Hillary’s achievement and they had relied on the old reflexive knee-jerk reactionism that is best exemplified in their choice of Biden. They suck; they deserve to lose.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Obama Hugs Biden - Will Biden Hug Obama?
The Obama-Biden ticket would be a stronger one if were upside down, but it’s pretty clear, from Biden’s past statements, that Biden wouldn’t have chosen Obama as his vice-president. “Where’s the love? “ Obama may ask. Which is the purpose of the picture. Is a thrill running up Chris Matthews’ leg?
A question voters may ask of Obama is how a candidate whose uses three abstractions in redundant fashion (change, hope, and audacity” chooses such a veteran member of the old guard and tradition. One reason is that Obama is desperate to overcome the echoes of his well-known dictum that Pennsylvanians are “bitter and clinging to guns and religion…etc.”
On the balance scale, Obama is far-left, farther left than his current opportunistic positions, designed to deceive voters. Biden is much closer to the center of Democratic politics and has made some good borrowings, as when he copied a speech some years ago from a British politician.
It’s hilarious that the Obama Lenni Riefenstahl is playing up that Biden lived in Scranton PA up until age 10. The local paper is carrying a story about “what a daring boy” he was before abandoning “the valley” and heading for higher ground. That’s like the brand-new PA congressman Bob Casey telling Pennsylvanians that Obama is “one of us.” If only he had been, he might have learned a few things about Pennsylvania, and so would Biden have also done, had he really lived here. But so it is when you’re in the business of myth creation.
Biden has already overshadowed the presidential candidate, especially in the flights of oratory. Oratory, by itself, is a soporific unless it’s combined with substance and Biden accomplishes both with a facility that sometimes needs restraint. The communicating abilities of the VP candidate will be welcome in the Obama camp but will inevitably lead to jealousies and have to be dumbed down. If a guy knows something, it is more difficult to keep it hidden. Obama, on the other hand, can find plenty of words to fill the hours even while he can scarcely find substance enough to fill a single sound bite.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Hillary Clinton Lets the Dogs Out at the Democrat Convention
I tuned in to the DNC to hear Hillary speak. It’s not a good sign when the true stars of the tepid love-fest are Obama’s two darling little girls, a basketball player, and Hillary Clinton. I’ve grown to appreciate and respect Hillary Clinton a great deal, though her voice grates on me; Hillary has lots of juice, lots of true grit, and she’s relentless. She delivered a solid speech with a stirring ending, mentioning Harriet Tubbman’s admonition that “when you hear the dogs barking behind you, keep running.”
You can imagine she heard the dogs barking behind her as she hit the tag lines, hardly believing herself that Obama could win the election as scarce as experience is on Obama’s side of the ledger. Hillary Clinton was nobody’s stooge--she couldn’t fake any closeness or special fervor for Obama and could only manage a respectful nod to Michelle Obama, the woman. Hillary kept running and why shouldn’t she? She was the fastest horse in the race, but this is progress, and the race no longer goes to the swift; it goes to whomever is anointed by the mainstream media and the ever more anemic apparatchiks who huddled with Howard Dean to produce this thing.
The DNC has to be experiencing a little buyer’s remorse. At the same time, Republicans had expected Hillary to overshadow the nominee but were still stunned by the strength of Hillary’s capture of the crowd. It was like, wow, we knew we dodged the bullet but we didn’t know the woman was radioactive. Now, the only bomb that will hit the ground is Obama’s enormous ego when he realizes that his fortunes, like his polls, are going down.
Day One Democratic Convention: The Snooze Factor
Day One of the Democratic Convention accomplished ever higher levels of humdrum and boredom. When the height of convention electricity is the moment when Barack Obama’s two adorable children take the stage, you’ve got a problem in Houston. But so it was. The children were adorable, and wife Michelle looked radiant as she delivered a prosaic speech.
The best convention analysis of the evening was provided by the Democratic Party Macho Man, James Carville.
“If there was a message in the party convention last night, they did their best to hide it.”
Carville appeared on the morning news shows the day after to say much the same thing. You’ve got to think that the Obamanites ought to be listening to Carville if they want to win. Passing over Hillary Clinton as the VP choice would indicate that they don’t, at least, not at the expense of Barack Obama’s ego.
The best convention analysis of the evening was provided by the Democratic Party Macho Man, James Carville.
“If there was a message in the party convention last night, they did their best to hide it.”
Carville appeared on the morning news shows the day after to say much the same thing. You’ve got to think that the Obamanites ought to be listening to Carville if they want to win. Passing over Hillary Clinton as the VP choice would indicate that they don’t, at least, not at the expense of Barack Obama’s ego.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Doesn't Everyone on the Left Love Obama? Not!
I wrote a little article one day for an online news/entertainment website. You can read it—it’s called “My Favorite Leftist.” Check it out at :
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/143508/_lynn_samuels_my_favorite_leftist.html?cat=2
The article’s about Lynn Samuels of Sirius Left on the Sirius channel 146. Okay, I don’t like everything Lynn Samuels says but then I never like all of what anyone says. Do you?
Samuels is open-minded, nice to most everyone. Anyone who’s listened knows that many of her callers lean to the left-wing extreme. Samuels curses occasionally but her use of scatology is sparing whereas the pyrotechnics of her listeners is often unrestrained.
Samuels says she likes Biden but she doesn’t like Obama, calling him a phony and worse. It is a sentiment shared by many, but not by all, of Lynn Samuels audience. I’m amazed at the abuse she withstands from the Obama supporters who call in to deride her for not standing by their man. I wouldn’t stand for a tenth as much. I’d go at them with a flamethrower, but then again, I wouldn’t have a show. Now she’s upset with Biden—deprecation by association.
“Biden’s looking at Obama like a besotted lover”, chides Samuels.
A woman calls in and says something I’d said myself a long time ago.
“I was always a Hillary hater until I actually took a look at her and listened to what she has to say,” the woman said.
This woman was from Michigan and she was angry. Just as I did, the woman blamed the mainstream media for the twisted view of the Clintons. I’m not overly fond of the Clinton foreign policy, but next to Obama, the Clintons had obvious substance and policy savvy.
The woman railed at Obama’s “phoniness”. The woman blamed Obama for leaking the story about John Edwards’ infidelities. She was so bitter I wondered if she was from Pennsylvania and was clinging to guns and religion.
“He has to destroy everyone the way he destroyed people when he ran for office in Chicago. I don’t give a ___it what Edwards does in his sex life but Obama’s fucking crazy. I do believe there’s something wrong with him. And do you know why he chose Biden as his running mate?”
“No,” confesses Samuels.
“Because Biden’s son, the attorney general of Delaware, was the one who put Larry Sinclair in jail after he held that news conference (at the National Press Club).)
How was that? And who is Larry Sinclair? Larry Sinclair is a gay man who says that he met with Obama in Chicago in 1999, used cocaine with him, and engaged in a sexual act with him. It is true that, after the press conference, two police departments vied with each other to arrest Sinclair as a fugitive from other charges. According to all reports, the arrest warrant was issued by the state of Delaware, Senator Joe Biden’s home state.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/143508/_lynn_samuels_my_favorite_leftist.html?cat=2
The article’s about Lynn Samuels of Sirius Left on the Sirius channel 146. Okay, I don’t like everything Lynn Samuels says but then I never like all of what anyone says. Do you?
Samuels is open-minded, nice to most everyone. Anyone who’s listened knows that many of her callers lean to the left-wing extreme. Samuels curses occasionally but her use of scatology is sparing whereas the pyrotechnics of her listeners is often unrestrained.
Samuels says she likes Biden but she doesn’t like Obama, calling him a phony and worse. It is a sentiment shared by many, but not by all, of Lynn Samuels audience. I’m amazed at the abuse she withstands from the Obama supporters who call in to deride her for not standing by their man. I wouldn’t stand for a tenth as much. I’d go at them with a flamethrower, but then again, I wouldn’t have a show. Now she’s upset with Biden—deprecation by association.
“Biden’s looking at Obama like a besotted lover”, chides Samuels.
A woman calls in and says something I’d said myself a long time ago.
“I was always a Hillary hater until I actually took a look at her and listened to what she has to say,” the woman said.
This woman was from Michigan and she was angry. Just as I did, the woman blamed the mainstream media for the twisted view of the Clintons. I’m not overly fond of the Clinton foreign policy, but next to Obama, the Clintons had obvious substance and policy savvy.
The woman railed at Obama’s “phoniness”. The woman blamed Obama for leaking the story about John Edwards’ infidelities. She was so bitter I wondered if she was from Pennsylvania and was clinging to guns and religion.
“He has to destroy everyone the way he destroyed people when he ran for office in Chicago. I don’t give a ___it what Edwards does in his sex life but Obama’s fucking crazy. I do believe there’s something wrong with him. And do you know why he chose Biden as his running mate?”
“No,” confesses Samuels.
“Because Biden’s son, the attorney general of Delaware, was the one who put Larry Sinclair in jail after he held that news conference (at the National Press Club).)
How was that? And who is Larry Sinclair? Larry Sinclair is a gay man who says that he met with Obama in Chicago in 1999, used cocaine with him, and engaged in a sexual act with him. It is true that, after the press conference, two police departments vied with each other to arrest Sinclair as a fugitive from other charges. According to all reports, the arrest warrant was issued by the state of Delaware, Senator Joe Biden’s home state.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Joe Biden, the Shadow President.
Obama shows his insecurity in picking an old white guy who has been in the Senate since the 1970s. The notion that he’d pick someone like Sibelius was window dressing. Hard-core political analysts have always recognized that Obama has been trolling for suckers in the VP Kabuki theatre. For many Democrats, the “great uneasiness” with Obama is relieved. But the choice of Biden does not represent “change you can believe in.” It represents adherence to the established order of things. This will disenchant the changelings and alienate Hillary supporters.
Obama Text Message Notification Was a Lead Balloon
Forty-two year old presidential candidates should be serious, sober men who are capable of putting aside childish things. Needing the youth vote, Barack Obama couln't resist sucking up to the techie youth crowd by promising to inform them of his VP choice by text message, even before the media should hear of it. The result was a lead balloon.
What is a lead balloon? Well, they don't sail along on the airwaves very well. Lots of people received bogus text messages announcing the selection of the wrong candidate. Others received no text messages at all. The media beat the street and found out Biden was picked even before the text messages were sent out. Worst of all, the kids targeted by the huge Obama PR campaign didn't give a damn, so banal is the entire concept of text messaging. Unless Barack was your bbf...
What is a lead balloon? Well, they don't sail along on the airwaves very well. Lots of people received bogus text messages announcing the selection of the wrong candidate. Others received no text messages at all. The media beat the street and found out Biden was picked even before the text messages were sent out. Worst of all, the kids targeted by the huge Obama PR campaign didn't give a damn, so banal is the entire concept of text messaging. Unless Barack was your bbf...
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
No War for Oil: Russian Invasion of Georgia
It's funny that you hear so much from some people about a "war for oil" and now, when confronted with a real "war for oil", you hear not a peep. Russia has long been threatening Ukraine, Georgia, other independent Republics, and Western Europe with the energy (oil and gas) cudgel. Why else would they have tried to bomb the Baku-Tblisi pipeline during the invasion? Putin and his KGB-FSB gangsters don't like being bypassed as oil moves from the Caspian Sea, through Georgia, and to Turkey and the Black Sea.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Will Hillalry Star at the Democrat Party Convention?
Political Diary - WSJ.comPeople unaccustomed or willfully blind to the sophistry of the Obama campaign are inclined to gush enthusiastically at the "brilliance" of Obama. Obama's pretty bright in the native intelligence category, no doubt, but with about 2 years under his belt, he's not been very adept at converting a customary intelligence into sound political judgement. Witness his flat-footed response when the Russians invaded Georgia. That's what Hillary was referring to her in famous ad about the "3:00 a.m. phone call."
Many people are of the opinion that Hillary Clinton is still the best candidate. Now, with a roll call vote set for the Denver convention, the door is open for an overthrow of the anti-Clinton cabal which wrested control from Hillary through an adroit manipulation of the caucus system in some states.
Here's John Fund's take on what could happen.
Many people are of the opinion that Hillary Clinton is still the best candidate. Now, with a roll call vote set for the Denver convention, the door is open for an overthrow of the anti-Clinton cabal which wrested control from Hillary through an adroit manipulation of the caucus system in some states.
Here's John Fund's take on what could happen.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Obama Cabinet Would Include Grandmom and Wife Michelle
Obama Emphasizes Personal Faith in Forum - WSJ.com: The part of the Q and A which rubbed the wrong way was when Obama was asked for the wisest people he knew, who would guide him as president. He cited his grandmother and his wife, Michelle.
'You need someone who can get into your face and say 'Boy, you really screwed up,'' oBAMA said of Michelle."
It was very odd and sounded like a thing an uncomfortable schoolboy might say. No doubt, Obama is his own most ardent admirer. Couldn't he think of anyone he admired besides himself?
'You need someone who can get into your face and say 'Boy, you really screwed up,'' oBAMA said of Michelle."
It was very odd and sounded like a thing an uncomfortable schoolboy might say. No doubt, Obama is his own most ardent admirer. Couldn't he think of anyone he admired besides himself?
Obama Emphasizes Personal Faith in Forum - WSJ.com
Obama Emphasizes Personal Faith in Forum - WSJ.comIt was a content between the Great Equivocator and the Straight Talk Express. Obama relied heavily on the "vision thing" while McCain seemed comfortable relying on the incredible experiences of his life and other facts.
Pelosi's San Francisco Strategy
The Chambliss Shimmy - WSJ.comDemocrats are digging a bigger hole for the American economy by adhering to Nancy Pelosi's anti-seismic San Francisco strategy. And this from a party which describes itself as "high-tech?"
Democrat Pollster Doug Schoen is Worried
At a time when 80 percent of America, including the mainstream media, is in the bag for B. O. , it must be enervating to hear such comments as come from Democratic Pollster and strategist Dough Schoen:
"A few weeks ago we were up by nine points. Now we're within the margin of error. Things aren't going our way. I need to change something because I don't want to count on youth enthusiasm and new registrants to carry us over the top.”
From a previous CBS interview:
“Doug Schoen: I think the racial component is overstated. I think people have doubts about Barack. I think they have doubts about his program. And I think they have some doubts about people like Reverend Wright. And I don't think that is necessarily racially motivated, though I would suggest that black liberation theology and some of the outrageous things that Reverend Wright has said certainly raise the specter of concern about race--separate and apart from Barack Obama--with working class voters who might be very, very concerned with the message.”
As the French speaking John Kerry would say: “Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.”
Friday, August 15, 2008
Washington Wire - WSJ.com : Gallup Poll Suggests Small Drop in Obama's Support
Washington Wire - WSJ.com : Gallup Poll Suggests Small Drop in Obama's Support: "ncements of running mates and the upcoming nominating conventions less than two weeks away.
Permalink | Trackback URL: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire"
Permalink | Trackback URL: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire"
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Russian Cease-Fire in Georgia: Duck and Cover
B eware a Russian Cease-Fire
With Russian tanks rolling down the roads of the Republic of Georgia, and tepid marks from the vacationing Hawaiian candidate, this would seem to be a bad time for “change you can believe in.” There is something of a yesterday smell to the tactics employed by KGB leader become president become prime minister, Vladimir Putin. Putin is a sophisticated but fiendish character, steeped in KGB intrigues, and he is young enough yet to enjoy his dreams of hegemony.
Where once there were whispers and insinutations about Russian motives in the wake of the radioactive murder of Alexander Litvinenko and other convenient sudden deaths (journalist shot at the entrance to her apartment), there is now the roar of jet bombers, the drumming of artillery, the march of Russian troops along the roads of a democratic republic. Vladimir “Raz” Putin has distinguished himself before by strong-arm tactics, threatening oil supply lines in Ukraine, squeezing foreign oil companies, gangland tactics, and a form of diplomacy perfected in Troy.
Surely, Saakashvili miscalculated, the line goes. The U.S. did warn him not to taunt the bear, but the brash Georgian president heeded no one and tried to push the Russian buildup out of South Ossettia.
Yet, I would submit that the Russian former president could well hope for “change you can believe in, especially when it equivocates, as Barack Obama did early on, making invasions of democratic countries equal to resisting one.
It wasn’t only Obama who was caught napping (or golfing in Hawaii). President Bush was sitting on the sidelines of a volleyball match. The amnesiac press was caught off guard, and seemed to be trumpeting the line of Moscow in rationalizing the madness of Russia’s latest violent escapade. Only John McCain understood immediately what was happening. McCain was outspoken and clear in recognizing the Russian play for what it was, and yet restrained, a man much different from the image his liberal opponents have tried to frame in order to defeat him.
Obama and his coterie of sycophants are too feckless to believe that there are countries which tell outright lies. They are accustomed more to fibs, half-truths, partial truths, omissions, slanting, spinning, “interpreting” rather than to outright deceptions. The Pollyannish view prevents them from seeing that Russia baited the Georgians and planned the invasion for months in order to be rid of the despised Saakashvili. The Russians, as McCain said, do not want to restore the old Soviet Union; they wish to restore the Russian Empire, and I would add, with a KGB installed aristocracy.
Thousands of Russia tanks moved into Georgia proper, according to plan, moving well away from the contested South Ossettia area. They occupied Gori; they choked off Tblisi. The meaning is clear: this is what we can do to you if we want. They make no secret of their strong desire to depose Saakashvili, perhaps to kill him. It’s likely that Russian thugs attacked Goergian communications with cyberattacks and, as always, the Russians launched an old Soviet-style propaganda campaign which used words like “genocide” but produced no bodies. It is likely that they will produce bodies, or photos of bodies, but it is also likely that some of the bodies will be staged, that is, the same bodies in different uniforms. Just as Hitler dressed up Polish soldiers in German uniform and shot them as a provocation, it will be impossible to tell who is the victim and who the tyrant. The Russians know more about the American media than the American media does, and they are more perspicacious with regard to American public opinion. They know it to a purpose.
It is unlikely the Russians will be thrilled with an American president who knows as much about Russian tactics as Russian tacticians know about American attention deficit disorder.
With Russian tanks rolling down the roads of the Republic of Georgia, and tepid marks from the vacationing Hawaiian candidate, this would seem to be a bad time for “change you can believe in.” There is something of a yesterday smell to the tactics employed by KGB leader become president become prime minister, Vladimir Putin. Putin is a sophisticated but fiendish character, steeped in KGB intrigues, and he is young enough yet to enjoy his dreams of hegemony.
Where once there were whispers and insinutations about Russian motives in the wake of the radioactive murder of Alexander Litvinenko and other convenient sudden deaths (journalist shot at the entrance to her apartment), there is now the roar of jet bombers, the drumming of artillery, the march of Russian troops along the roads of a democratic republic. Vladimir “Raz” Putin has distinguished himself before by strong-arm tactics, threatening oil supply lines in Ukraine, squeezing foreign oil companies, gangland tactics, and a form of diplomacy perfected in Troy.
Surely, Saakashvili miscalculated, the line goes. The U.S. did warn him not to taunt the bear, but the brash Georgian president heeded no one and tried to push the Russian buildup out of South Ossettia.
Yet, I would submit that the Russian former president could well hope for “change you can believe in, especially when it equivocates, as Barack Obama did early on, making invasions of democratic countries equal to resisting one.
It wasn’t only Obama who was caught napping (or golfing in Hawaii). President Bush was sitting on the sidelines of a volleyball match. The amnesiac press was caught off guard, and seemed to be trumpeting the line of Moscow in rationalizing the madness of Russia’s latest violent escapade. Only John McCain understood immediately what was happening. McCain was outspoken and clear in recognizing the Russian play for what it was, and yet restrained, a man much different from the image his liberal opponents have tried to frame in order to defeat him.
Obama and his coterie of sycophants are too feckless to believe that there are countries which tell outright lies. They are accustomed more to fibs, half-truths, partial truths, omissions, slanting, spinning, “interpreting” rather than to outright deceptions. The Pollyannish view prevents them from seeing that Russia baited the Georgians and planned the invasion for months in order to be rid of the despised Saakashvili. The Russians, as McCain said, do not want to restore the old Soviet Union; they wish to restore the Russian Empire, and I would add, with a KGB installed aristocracy.
Thousands of Russia tanks moved into Georgia proper, according to plan, moving well away from the contested South Ossettia area. They occupied Gori; they choked off Tblisi. The meaning is clear: this is what we can do to you if we want. They make no secret of their strong desire to depose Saakashvili, perhaps to kill him. It’s likely that Russian thugs attacked Goergian communications with cyberattacks and, as always, the Russians launched an old Soviet-style propaganda campaign which used words like “genocide” but produced no bodies. It is likely that they will produce bodies, or photos of bodies, but it is also likely that some of the bodies will be staged, that is, the same bodies in different uniforms. Just as Hitler dressed up Polish soldiers in German uniform and shot them as a provocation, it will be impossible to tell who is the victim and who the tyrant. The Russians know more about the American media than the American media does, and they are more perspicacious with regard to American public opinion. They know it to a purpose.
It is unlikely the Russians will be thrilled with an American president who knows as much about Russian tactics as Russian tacticians know about American attention deficit disorder.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
The Gospel of Barack Obama: Post-Modern Testament
The following was sent to me by a friend:
And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness.
The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow.
When he was twelve years old, they found him in the temple in the City of Chicago, arguing the finer points of community organisation with the Prophet Jeremiah and the Elders. And the Elders were astonished at what they heard and said among themselves: â€Å“Verily, who is this Child that he opens our hearts and minds to the audacity of hope?â€
In the great Battles of Caucus and Primary he smote the conniving Hillary, wife of the deposed King Bill the Priapic and their barbarian hordes of Working Class Whites.
And so it was, in the fullness of time, before the harvest month of the appointed year, the Child ventured forth - for the first time - to bring the light unto all the world.
He travelled fleet of foot and light of camel, with a small retinue that consisted only of his loyal disciples from the tribe of the Media. He ventured first to the land of the Hindu Kush, where the Taleban had harboured the viper of al-Qaeda in their bosom, raining terror on all the world.
And the Child spake and the tribes of Nato immediately loosed the Caveats that had previously bound them. And in the great battle that ensued the forces of the light were triumphant. For as long as the Child stood with his arms raised aloft, the enemy suffered great blows and the threat of terror was no more.
From there he went forth to Mesopotamia where he was received by the great ruler al-Maliki, and al-Maliki spake unto him and blessed his Sixteen Month Troop Withdrawal Plan even as the imperial warrior Petraeus tried to destroy it.
And lo, in Mesopotamia, a miracle occurred. Even though the Great Surge of Armour that the evil Bush had ordered had been a terrible mistake, a waste of vital military resources and doomed to end in disaster, the Child’s very presence suddenly brought forth a great victory for the forces of the light.
And the Persians, who saw all this and were greatly fearful, longed to speak with the Child and saw that the Child was the bringer of peace. At the mention of his name they quickly laid aside their intrigues and beat their uranium swords into civil nuclear energy ploughshares.
From there the Child went up to the city of Jerusalem, and entered through the gate seated on an ####. The crowds of network anchors who had followed him from afar cheered â€Å“Hosanna†and waved great palm fronds and strewed them at his feet.
In Jerusalem and in surrounding Palestine, the Child spake to the Hebrews and the Arabs, as the Scripture had foretold. And in an instant, the lion lay down with the lamb, and the Israelites and Ishmaelites ended their long enmity and lived for ever after in peace.
As word spread throughout the land about the Child’s wondrous works, peoples from all over flocked to hear him; Hittites and Abbasids; Obamacons and McCainiacs; Cameroonians and Blairites.
And they told of strange and wondrous things that greeted the news of the Child’s journey. Around the world, global temperatures began to decline, and the ocean levels fell and the great warming was over.
The Great Prophet Algore of Nobel and Oscar, who many had believed was the anointed one, smiled and told his followers that the Child was the one generations had been waiting for.
And there were other wonderful signs. In the city of the Street at the Wall, spreads on interbank interest rates dropped like manna from Heaven and rates on credit default swaps fell to the ground as dead birds from the almond tree, and the people who had lived in foreclosure were able to borrow again.
Black gold gushed from the ground at prices well below $140 per barrel. In hospitals across the land the sick were cured even though they were uninsured. And all because the Child had pronounced it.
And this is the testimony of one who speaks the truth and bears witness to the truth so that you might believe. And he knows it is the truth for he saw it all on CNN and the BBC and in the pages of The New York Times.
And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness.
The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow.
When he was twelve years old, they found him in the temple in the City of Chicago, arguing the finer points of community organisation with the Prophet Jeremiah and the Elders. And the Elders were astonished at what they heard and said among themselves: â€Å“Verily, who is this Child that he opens our hearts and minds to the audacity of hope?â€
In the great Battles of Caucus and Primary he smote the conniving Hillary, wife of the deposed King Bill the Priapic and their barbarian hordes of Working Class Whites.
And so it was, in the fullness of time, before the harvest month of the appointed year, the Child ventured forth - for the first time - to bring the light unto all the world.
He travelled fleet of foot and light of camel, with a small retinue that consisted only of his loyal disciples from the tribe of the Media. He ventured first to the land of the Hindu Kush, where the Taleban had harboured the viper of al-Qaeda in their bosom, raining terror on all the world.
And the Child spake and the tribes of Nato immediately loosed the Caveats that had previously bound them. And in the great battle that ensued the forces of the light were triumphant. For as long as the Child stood with his arms raised aloft, the enemy suffered great blows and the threat of terror was no more.
From there he went forth to Mesopotamia where he was received by the great ruler al-Maliki, and al-Maliki spake unto him and blessed his Sixteen Month Troop Withdrawal Plan even as the imperial warrior Petraeus tried to destroy it.
And lo, in Mesopotamia, a miracle occurred. Even though the Great Surge of Armour that the evil Bush had ordered had been a terrible mistake, a waste of vital military resources and doomed to end in disaster, the Child’s very presence suddenly brought forth a great victory for the forces of the light.
And the Persians, who saw all this and were greatly fearful, longed to speak with the Child and saw that the Child was the bringer of peace. At the mention of his name they quickly laid aside their intrigues and beat their uranium swords into civil nuclear energy ploughshares.
From there the Child went up to the city of Jerusalem, and entered through the gate seated on an ####. The crowds of network anchors who had followed him from afar cheered â€Å“Hosanna†and waved great palm fronds and strewed them at his feet.
In Jerusalem and in surrounding Palestine, the Child spake to the Hebrews and the Arabs, as the Scripture had foretold. And in an instant, the lion lay down with the lamb, and the Israelites and Ishmaelites ended their long enmity and lived for ever after in peace.
As word spread throughout the land about the Child’s wondrous works, peoples from all over flocked to hear him; Hittites and Abbasids; Obamacons and McCainiacs; Cameroonians and Blairites.
And they told of strange and wondrous things that greeted the news of the Child’s journey. Around the world, global temperatures began to decline, and the ocean levels fell and the great warming was over.
The Great Prophet Algore of Nobel and Oscar, who many had believed was the anointed one, smiled and told his followers that the Child was the one generations had been waiting for.
And there were other wonderful signs. In the city of the Street at the Wall, spreads on interbank interest rates dropped like manna from Heaven and rates on credit default swaps fell to the ground as dead birds from the almond tree, and the people who had lived in foreclosure were able to borrow again.
Black gold gushed from the ground at prices well below $140 per barrel. In hospitals across the land the sick were cured even though they were uninsured. And all because the Child had pronounced it.
And this is the testimony of one who speaks the truth and bears witness to the truth so that you might believe. And he knows it is the truth for he saw it all on CNN and the BBC and in the pages of The New York Times.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
President Bush Just Says No to Olympic Invite
Original photo caption: “U.S. President George W. Bush playfully pats the backside of U.S. Women's Beach Volleyball team player Misty May-Treanor (L) at her invitation while visiting the Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Grounds at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China, August 9, 2008. Team mate Kerri Walsh (R) watches.”
Corrected caption, eight minutes later: “ATTENTION EDITORS - CAPTION CLARIFICATION U.S. President George W. Bush playfully pats the back of U.S. Women's Beach Volleyball team player Misty May-Treanor (L) at her invitation while visiting the Chaoyang Park Beach Volleyball Grounds at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China, August 9, 2008. Teammate Kerri Walsh (R) watches.”
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Russian Jets Bomb Georgia and Barack Obama Orders a Pina Colada
With Russian planes bombing Georgian towns, now would be a good time for candidate Obama to “look presidential.” At least, it would be preferable to preening like a rock star before the Brandenburg Gate. It is remarkable, however, how much at a loss for words the “gifted orator” can be when faced with real world challenges.
Reached on his way to a Hawaiian vacation, Democratic candidate Barack Obama seemed a little flat-footed when asked to comment on the Russian invasion of Georgia and the outbreak of violence. He answered with the same equivocal tone he used when asked to comment on the John Edwards’ scandal. I guess he didn’t see the news clips of rockets streaming every second from the ground and civilians fleeing the bombing. The sure-footed McCain, on the other hand, recognized what it all meant and issued a terse and pointed statement reflecting exactly that.
If ever there is a time when America should choose the devil it knows over the devil who assumes all shapes and forms, that time is now.
Reached on his way to a Hawaiian vacation, Democratic candidate Barack Obama seemed a little flat-footed when asked to comment on the Russian invasion of Georgia and the outbreak of violence. He answered with the same equivocal tone he used when asked to comment on the John Edwards’ scandal. I guess he didn’t see the news clips of rockets streaming every second from the ground and civilians fleeing the bombing. The sure-footed McCain, on the other hand, recognized what it all meant and issued a terse and pointed statement reflecting exactly that.
If ever there is a time when America should choose the devil it knows over the devil who assumes all shapes and forms, that time is now.
A Boy and His Bluefish - WSJ.com
A Boy and His Bluefish - WSJ.comWhat's this got to do with politics? Well....very little! Unless I were to call it a "human environmental story."
Edwards: 99 Percent Honest Used to be Enough
I’m not much interested in the sex life of John Edwards. Or rather, any curiosity I would have about it would not be the best thing about my character. My moral indignation is directed against the stupidity of the lies and the horribly squalid image of a man with $500 dollar haircuts visiting a bimbette in a hotel room. The self-delusion is self-evident and, naturally, you worry that the blowback will have some deep impact on the former candidate’s children.
I’m going to follow the most decent example we are likely to see in the current environment, and that is the example set by former Ohio congressman John Kasich. Kasich was interviewed on Fox and, instead of making politics of the opportunity, he expressed obviously sincere empathy for the hurt the spectacle is bound to bring to Edwards’ family.
But I am absolutely amazed at the statement Edwards gave to the press, and in particular, with a single line of it. I could whistle a tune to the general lot of it, all lawyerly stuff, a mix of self-pity, self-condemnation, and rationalization. So I will leave the matter to Hillary Clinton who says she will pray for Edwards, and to John Mcain, who said he’d have “no comment on the matter,” and to the media which failed to march on the story early on but is marching in double-time with it now. But I have to question that line, that one line, the one where Edwards says in his statement that “being 99 percent honest is no longer enough."
It’s that part that gives me the shivers, but it is a pervasive thought these days, that one can be “99 percent honest.” I would submit that 99 percent of honesty is not honesty at all. Because honesty is a whole cloth, an absolute of truth telling, it cannot be fractioned off into some part or measure of itself.
The other question I would have pertains to the “no longer enough” part. I don’t get it, frankly. When ever was 99 percent of honesty “enough?
”
Friday, August 8, 2008
Barack Obama: Wrong on Tire Pressure; Right on the Weak Dollar
Paris Hilton may strengthen the dollar if you keep looking at her long enough but she failed to mention it in her much touted economic plan. Not so with Barack Obama. He mentioned it, and then failed to follow it up with any kind of sensible economic policy.
Hey…Chalk it up as a first! This is the first time I’ve ever agreed with Barack Obama on anything. It makes me feel positively cheery, as if I had suddenly become immune to pejoratives of racism.
Last Tuesday, during a campaign stop, Obama blamed the weak U.S. dollar a significant reason for the high price of oil. That’s a lot better than blaming the air in vehicle tires, especially since Obama has probably never put air into any of his own tires, and especially since most tire gauges are hopelessly inadequate, and especially since most Americans have long since forgotten how to do that simple task properly.
We have yet another reason to admire our forefathers, who could not only put the right amount of air into the tires, but they could also change a tire if they had to.
But this is not to detract from the singular brilliance of the Obama indictment of the weak dollar. Vice Chairman Donald Kohn of the Federal Reserve reflects the denial mode of many administration economic officials in rejecting any strong link between the oil price surge and the weak dollar.
That’s a bunch of crap to anyone with a memory. Everyone knows that the Fed policy support for a weak dollar is a price support for American exports. That’s not all bad, but letting the dollar slide to the degree that they have is loonie. Pun intended. When the dollar is worth less than the Canadian loonie, there is trouble afoot.
Thank you, Oh Great One! Unfortunately, you memorized the line and read it with feeling, but you failed to pound on the only vital statistic of your economic plan worth knowing. The rest of your messianic economic plan spells disaster for America in higher taxes, restrictive economic growth, unrealistic promises, Algorean goals, and a general lack of understanding.
But someone put the right word in your ear, and you should keep saying it. America thanks you, O Great One.
Hey…Chalk it up as a first! This is the first time I’ve ever agreed with Barack Obama on anything. It makes me feel positively cheery, as if I had suddenly become immune to pejoratives of racism.
Last Tuesday, during a campaign stop, Obama blamed the weak U.S. dollar a significant reason for the high price of oil. That’s a lot better than blaming the air in vehicle tires, especially since Obama has probably never put air into any of his own tires, and especially since most tire gauges are hopelessly inadequate, and especially since most Americans have long since forgotten how to do that simple task properly.
We have yet another reason to admire our forefathers, who could not only put the right amount of air into the tires, but they could also change a tire if they had to.
But this is not to detract from the singular brilliance of the Obama indictment of the weak dollar. Vice Chairman Donald Kohn of the Federal Reserve reflects the denial mode of many administration economic officials in rejecting any strong link between the oil price surge and the weak dollar.
That’s a bunch of crap to anyone with a memory. Everyone knows that the Fed policy support for a weak dollar is a price support for American exports. That’s not all bad, but letting the dollar slide to the degree that they have is loonie. Pun intended. When the dollar is worth less than the Canadian loonie, there is trouble afoot.
Thank you, Oh Great One! Unfortunately, you memorized the line and read it with feeling, but you failed to pound on the only vital statistic of your economic plan worth knowing. The rest of your messianic economic plan spells disaster for America in higher taxes, restrictive economic growth, unrealistic promises, Algorean goals, and a general lack of understanding.
But someone put the right word in your ear, and you should keep saying it. America thanks you, O Great One.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Racist Bill Clinton Returns From African Trip
Clinton Urges More AIDS Efforts - WSJ.com Bill Clinton was snidely called a racist when, in the primary campaign, he compared Barack Obama's win in Carolina to that of Jesse Jackson's. It shows the willingness of Obama to play the race card, and we're still waiting for that Hallmark moment of Slow-Motion Public Embrace. But Old Racist Bill just returned from a trip to Africa to see first-hand the activities of his foundation set up to help Africans toward better health care. Click on the headline to read the Wall Street Journal story on the subject.
Is there a faint word of praise for Racist Bill coming from the Obama camp. Not yet--we're too busy checking our tire pressure.
Is there a faint word of praise for Racist Bill coming from the Obama camp. Not yet--we're too busy checking our tire pressure.
Alexander Sozhenitsyn: How America Became a Laughingstock
Notable & Quotable - WSJ.comWhen I was in high school, I liked to read the Russians a great deal. To me, the Russian authors seemed realistic and bleak, just the way the world seemed to be. There was no limit to the depth of poverty, depravity, inspiration, or whatever human experience had to offer. It was just the opposite of "Father Knows Best" and "The Lone Ranger", two shows which I, along with million of other Americans, still revere today. Who could forget a Stavrogin, a Raskalnikov? Who could forget Raskalnikov's landlady? Certainly, those mercurial characters belong in the pantheon of world literature along with the Hamlets and the Macbeths of a reknowned English playwright.
So out of the fuzzy, somewhat romantic world of my youth, comes this truly Russian, bitter, temperamental, and brutally honest character, Alexander Solzehitsyn. I could not say that I liked "The Gulag Archipelago" but it opened my eyes and left an indelible impression.
So here's the Wall Street Journal quote taken from a speech Solzhenitsyn gave at Harvard in 1978. One often hears from Barack Obama and other inveterate pacifists how America is a bad word in foreign capitals like Paris or Berlin, where bureaucracy is valued over character, and moral indictments of Al Quaeda are replaced with relativism and subpoenas and loud but feckless bellowing. Just click on the title link to read the words of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, one of the greats of world literature.
So out of the fuzzy, somewhat romantic world of my youth, comes this truly Russian, bitter, temperamental, and brutally honest character, Alexander Solzehitsyn. I could not say that I liked "The Gulag Archipelago" but it opened my eyes and left an indelible impression.
So here's the Wall Street Journal quote taken from a speech Solzhenitsyn gave at Harvard in 1978. One often hears from Barack Obama and other inveterate pacifists how America is a bad word in foreign capitals like Paris or Berlin, where bureaucracy is valued over character, and moral indictments of Al Quaeda are replaced with relativism and subpoenas and loud but feckless bellowing. Just click on the title link to read the words of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, one of the greats of world literature.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Tears of Shame Tears of Rage: Jose Medellin - Kiss Your Butt Goodbye
Lawyers for Jose Medellin say execution violates treaty | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Latest NewsJose Medellin will be sorely missed but only by his mother. He's scheduled for execution later today and there's no better candidate for that distinction. The Dallas News details the gruesome story of rape and torture of two teenaged girls.
Buh-bye, you horrible miscreant.
Buh-bye, you horrible miscreant.
Obama Attacks McCain with Half-Truths In New Ad
As soon as Barack Obama's new attack ads appeared, the media found numerous inaccuracies and outright untruths in in. Here's a sample from the politician of "change you can believe in.":
Analysis: Some of Obama's claims were debated almost immediately after the ad was made public. The Center for Responsive Politics, one of the sources cited by the ad in its claim that McCain has accepted $2 million in oil contributions, said its data showed McCain receiving about $1.3 million from oil and gas interests from the start of his campaign through June 30. It reported Obama received about $400,000 from those sources in the same period.
The ad, according to the center, seemed to be adding the $1.1 million the Washington Post reported that McCain and the Republican National Committee's Victory Fund had raised in June alone from those sources. The center said that could result in some double counting and that not all the Victory Fund's money ends up in McCain's account, though it's all intended to help him win the election. The center's tally of industry money to McCain in June was $271,265.
As for the $4 billion in tax breaks for oil, that number comes from the left-leaning Center for American Progress and a March report of the effect McCain's plan to cut corporate income taxes from 35% to 25% would have on the five largest American oil companies. This tax cut, however, is intended for American companies as a whole -- not just oil companies -- and is needed to lower one of the highest corporate tax rates in the industrialized world, McCain argues. Doing so, he says, will spark job growth and keep more businesses in the United States. McCain says only Japan has a higher tax rate.
Certainly, McCain's calls for offshore drilling have pleased oil company executives. In recent days, however, Obama has said he could accept some limited offshore drilling as a way to reach a compromise with Republicans on Capitol Hill on an energy plan that could cut gasoline prices quickly.
Budweiser Beer: Victim of Obama's Tax War
In demagoguing the issues of "Big Oil" and blaming the loss of U.S. jobs on free trade between nations, Barack Obama doesn't want you to know a dirty little secret. One of the major reasons that big corporations leave the United States is because of its high corporate tax rates. Tax rates in the United States are second highest in all of the industrialized world, and are a significant factor in the Anheuser-Busch buyout from Belgian beverage giant In-Bev.
Does Obama give a damn if your favorite American beer is brewed in Belgium? Don't worry, the popular beer will not suddenly lose its taste, though about 10,000 U.S. workers will lose their Anheuser-Busch jobs. Obama wants higher corporate tax rates, a view that is hypocritical from a candidate who says he wants the jobs to remain here. McCain wants to lower corporate tax rates. Okay, I'm biased, but let's look at two bottom line facts:
InBev was paying around 20% of its profits in corporate taxes, compared to Anheuser-Busch's rate of 38.4%.
InBev was paying around 20% of its profits in corporate taxes, compared to Anheuser-Busch's rate of 38.4%.
Next time you're unemployed and hanging around the local pub nursing a Bud draft because you don't have enough money to gas up the pickup truck, you can thank Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid. They're giving you what they think you should want. Dont' argue--they know better than any of us what's good for America.
Florida Voter Up For Sale?
Sometimes I wonder if all the slogans and positions coming from the political campaigns is nothing more than window dressing for the vast sums of money pouring through the sieve of the national psyche. Is the U.S. electorate up for sale? I have to think so, given the effect of money on the up and down surges of the polls.
Barack Obama made a big deal of campaign reform before he found out that his name and image could earn big dollars. Now that he's changed his mind and opted out of public campaign financing, he can spend all the money he wants. The great shadow world of left-wing billionaires like George Soros dominates the political scene as money pours down into the Obama coffers like manna from heaven.
Case in point: Florida. Until recently, John McCain led in every poll taken in that state. Since June, however, Obama has moved ahead and even tied with McCain depending on whichever poll you look at. It's a moot point whether or not McCain has a slight edge. My point is that the Obama campaign is spending millions in Florida, and the money is having an effect.
Obama spent 5 million bucks on television ads alone during the period between June and late July. The Obama remedy for success in Florida is to just pour in the mnoney. That's a million bucks more than they've spent in any other state but, what the hell, it's only money.
How much did McCain spend in Florida during the same period? Zero, according to the Wall Street Journal.
We're still months away from the November election and both Obama and McCain need Florida's 27 electoral votes. The McCain campaign has to be much more judicious in how it spends its money and will save its efforts and its money for the weeks leading up to the election.
So far, each of the 27 electoral votes in Florida has been bid up to about 200,000 dollars. For the Obama campaign, there is not limit. It's likely that the cost per vote, in television ads alone, could exceed half a million dollars for each electoral vote. McCain cannot possibly hope to compete with those numbers and must rely on the ability of Florida voters to perceive him as the best candidate.
If Florida, or any other states are up for sale, the old-fashioned reliance on integrity, courage, experience, independence, and direct speaking may prove to be a failed strategy.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Obama Bicycles the Low Road to Racial Politics
Candidate Obama continues on the low road with his attempts at race-baiting. Is there some kind of strange psychology going on in the candidate’s head? Or is it a measure of Axelrod’s neurosis that Obama calls attention to skin color on odd days and disparages it on even days. Like WTF is he talking about that he doesn’t look like the faces on our paper currency? Who does? All the faces on the currency are green in any case. Most have hair so John McCain doesn’t look like the currency either. Abe Lincoln was 6 foot four inches tall and McCain’s 5 foot 7 so there’s no resemblance there. In fact, given Lincoln’s height and ruddy complexion, Barry Obama resembles Lincoln far more than pink-hued John McCain.
Is Obama’s post-modern racial schtick some version of the wounded bird routine? Obama says “they’re gonna’ make fun of my name…etc..”
Apparently, Barry O. is suffering from a schoolboy re-genesis wherein he discovered his roots and changed his name from Barry to Barack. Before that, his friends and family called him Barry. Judging from the bicycle picture, with his nerdy helmet and his pants hiked up to his ISOD alligator polo shirt, he looks more like a “Barry” than a “Barack.”
“And did I mention I’m black?” scoffed Obama, in Florida.
Yes, you did. In fact, you mentioned it about a hundred times, and so did your surrogates. And your people also used pigmentation differences to paint Bill and Hillary Clinton as Southern White bigots who felt entitled (because of their Caucasian appearance) to the presidency. The hilarity in that, of course, is that many of Obama’s confreres referred to Bill Clinton as “America’s First Black President.” If that appellation had credibility among some of Barack’s supporters, then it would logically follow that Bill Clinton became “America’s First Black Racist President” during the Democratic primaries. But the notion had no credibility then, and the charge of racism now, against the Clintons, the Republican candidate, and other Americans, has no credibility either. It is race-baiting of the worst sort, and it’s as harmful to those who identify themselves as black Americans as it is to others.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Pelosi, Reid, Obama: Roadblocks to Off-shore Drilling
Barack Obama may be seeing the light on offshore drilling. He now says he’s willing to consider offshore drilling. Having many times criticized McCain for his position on offshore drilling, Obama now compliments the way Republicans and a small contingent of Democrats have crafted an energy bill which includes offshore drilling. So I suspect that Obama’s surrogates have done some research on the topic and decided they don’t want to be on the losing side of a debate in which 74 percent of Americans want to increase supply by off-shore drilling. But that didn’t stop Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats from erecting barriers to common sense. Afflicted with Al Gore style global warming hysteria, Pelosi spent her days herding nervous Democrats about the House wardrooms in fear and trembling of a vote. It was with a great sigh of relief that Pelosi said bye-bye to Congress and Congress said bye-bye to the American people in order to embark on their long August holiday, and the American people said bye-bye to their money as it disappeared into gas tanks and energy bills.
Pelosi and her “progressive” crowd expect that the high energy prices she’s trying to achieve will result in legions of Prius owners driving happily across the horizon but affordable alternative energy vehicles and affordable “renewables” will be out of reach for most people for twenty years or more. Of course, the tyranny of limited economic resources will not apply to America’s elites and the rest of us will have to freeze to death and lose our jobs so that we can then be “saved” by the miracle of income re-distribution. Or not.
If we are not saved and must instead exact retribution from our oppressors, Pelosi and Reid offer the twin happiness of a proposal to drive the futures trading business to other countries or a “windfall profit tax” on “big oil.” Wow, that’ll make us feel lots better while we’re freezing. Maybe a windfall profits tax will stop “big oil” from drilling at any time. Then we can take a flying fuck on Nancy Pelosi’s magic carpet ride of hot air and hope. If Barack Obama could truly believe in the “audacity of hope,” there would be no need for Pelosi to protect Obama from the audacity of a vote on off-shore drilling. Clearly, this is politics of the most banal and partisan variety, and the House Speaker lowers the stature of the Congress by devoting all her energies to obfuscation, obstruction, and disrespect of the democratic process.