News of the Day Report

Sometimes, it's better to just let the news speak for itself...

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/30/placing-blame-on-the-gop-obama-looks-back-in-anger/   He began at the top, calling his predecessor, the former head of the Republican Party, a torturer.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090429/D97SCPI00.html   FACT CHECK: Obama disowns deficit he helped shape

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124105303238271343.html  The feds have decided they should own a neat 50% of GM, yet that is not the natural outcome of the $16.2 billion that the Treasury has so far lent to the company. Nor is the 40% ownership of GM that the plan awards to the United Auto Workers a natural result of the company's obligations to the union.  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124104678893870699.html   it's hard to know whether this outcome is perversity or poetic justice. The UAW finally will end up having a direct stake in the survival and prosperity of General Motors and Chrysler

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124105268584271249.html   official 100 days talking points steps he has taken to "deliver on the change he promised." During the campaign, Mr. Obama denounced the $2.3 trillion added to the national debt on Mr. Bush's watch as "deficits as far as the eye can see." But Mr. Obama's budget adds $9.3 trillion to the debt over the next 10 years. What happened to Obama the deficit hawk?   Mr. Obama did not publicly utter the phrase "universal health care." Instead, his campaign ran ads attacking "government-run health care" as "extreme." Now Mr. Obama is asking, as he did at a townhall meeting last month, "Why not do a universal health care system like the European countries?" Maybe because he was elected by intimating that would be "extreme"?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124108888773872763.html Russia signed a deal with Georgia's two breakaway regions Thursday giving Moscow the power to guard their borders.  an apparent attempt to legitimize the presence of thousands of Russian troops in the separatists regions, which were at the center of the war. Russia will guard the borders of both regions including Abkhazia's territorial waters in the Black Sea, according to the agreement

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124105482098871505.html   The Obama administration, which wants to send hundreds of additional civilian personnel into Afghanistan, is looking at the Dutch military's operations there for lessons on how to combat the Taliban.  (What could go wrong?) 

http://www.columbia.edu/itc/journalism/nelson/rohde/p-10131.html  Dutch soldiers stood by as about 800 mostly elderly Muslim civilians were rounded up and later killed, according to witnesses.

. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/04/29/obama_100_days_press_conference_transcript_96261.html

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=7471217&page=1   the secrets about the CIA's interrogation techniques continue to come out, there's new information about the frequency and severity of their use, contradicting an 2007 ABC News report, and a new focus on two private contractors who were apparently directing the brutal sessions that President Obama calls torture.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/cia_secret_prisons/index.html   The CIA's secret prisons for the U.S. "high-value detainee" program existed because of the "secrecy, cover-up and dishonesty" of high-level European officials, Swiss Sen. Dick Marty said today.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gS_wCwVf04MPhiRv1lwDohnZy8gAD97SBFS80  Holder spoke before the announcement that a Spanish magistrate had opened an investigation of Bush officials on harsh interrogation methods. Holder didn't rule out cooperating in such a probe.  "Obviously, we would look at any request that would come from a court in any country and see how and whether we should comply with it," Holder said.  "This is an administration that is determined to conduct itself by the rule of law and to the extent that we receive lawful requests from an appropriately created court, we would obviously respond to it," he said.  Pressed on whether that meant the United States would cooperate with a foreign court prosecuting Bush administration officials, Holder said he was talking about evidentiary requests and would review any such request to see if the U.S. would comply.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/04/30/100-day_lurch_to_the_left_96260.html    The president is seeking to change the whole relationship between the government and the free-enterprise private sector. He is steering the country away from democratic capitalism and toward his big-government command-and-control vision. We are witnessing a triumph of government bureaucrats over entrepreneurs, investors, and small businesses.  This looks very much like a war against investors, businesses, and entrepreneurs. Shareholder rights are being eviscerated. Political decisions are replacing the rule of law, the rule of bankruptcy courts, and free-market principles.  The latest federal budget would double the debt in five years and triple it in ten. For some perspective, that debt level is higher than the combined debt levels generated under every president from George Washington to George W. Bush. According to the CBO, federal debt held by the public as a percentage of GDP under Obama is projected to rise to 82 percent in ten years. The budget deficit itself never drops below $670 billion and closes the period at $1.2 trillion. That's nearly a 6 percent share of the economy.  

http://www.nypost.com/seven/04292009/postopinion/opedcolumnists/the_obama_doctrine_166684.htm   the "Obama Doctrine" for our foreign and security poli cies has emerged. And it's terrifying.  The combination of dizzying naivete, dislike of our allies, disdain for our military, distrust of our intelligence services and distaste for our own country promises the worst foreign policy of our lifetimes.

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/ratings/april_ratings_fnc_beats_cnn_and_msnbc_combined_115179.asp?fark  How's this for cable news domination - Fox News beat CNN and MSNBC combined in every hour from 6amET to MidnightET in both Total Viewers and the A25-54 demo for April 2009. FNC had the top 11 cable news programs in Total Viewers and 12 of the top 15 in the demo. FNC is the #2 network in Total Viewers on all of cable.

From 9amET on, every program grew by more than 60% in the demo. The 5pmET hour, now occupied by Glenn Beck, is up 212% in the demo and up 128% in Total Viewers. Your World with Neil Cavuto is up 102% in the demo and up 60% in Total Viewers. On the Record with Greta Van Susteren is up 75% in demo and up 55% in Total Viewers. Also in demo: FOX Report is up 75%, Special Report 70%, The O'Reilly Factor 74% and Hannity 64%.

Fox & Friends has now been #1 for 90 consecutive months, Studio B with Shepard Smith for 80 consecutive months.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Former-Barney-Frank-staffer-now-top-Goldman-Sachs-lobbyist-43914907.html  Goldman Sachs' new top lobbyist was recently the top staffer to Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., on the House Financial Services Committee chaired by Frank. Michael Paese, a registered lobbyist for the Securities Industries and Financial Markets Association since he left Frank's committee in September, will join Goldman as director of government affairs, a role held last year by former Tom Daschle intimate, Mark Patterson, now the chief of staff at the Treasury Department.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/warner-todd-huston/2009/04/28/wapost-shocker-obama-staffers-attend-secret-dinners-lefty-media    The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz has let the cat out of the bag in the Post's April 27 issue about a regularly scheduled  secret media dinner attended by some of the top left-wing journalists in the country. But it isn't just the lefty scribblers that have attended these secret, off-the-record dinners for these gatherings have each featured a guest. Rahm Emanuel, Sec. of the Treasury Tim Geithner, and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke have all recently had their chance to schmooze the press and guide them with the spin desired by the White House.  So, not only does Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel have secret daily phone calls with which to program the media's coverage of the White House, now it is revealed that Emanuel and other Obama staffers have been attending secret dinners to help the press understand what the White House wants reported? As Kurtz says, it all sounds "rather cozy," doesn't it?  What we see from this is more proof of the insular, even incestuous, world the Old Media inhabit. From Emanuel's secret daily phone calls, to the "journolist" -- a secret lefty website message board they all collude on -- now to secret dinners, it all seems "rather cozy," indeed.

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/28/baracks-in-the-basement/  at the 100-day mark of his presidency, Mr. Obama is the second-least-popular president in 40 years.  According to Gallup's April survey, Americans have a lower approval of Mr. Obama at this point than all but one president since Gallup began tracking this in 1969. The only new president less popular was Bill Clinton,

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2009/04/30/seabed-stpierre-430.html  Shades of the Falklands

Obama's 100 Day Press Conference

  View from the Podium

Here's what President Obama saw as he addressed the assembled White House Press Corps:

He was a very happy man.  He knew that there wouldn't be any difficult or "gotcha" questions, just another cake walk with the sheep.

It's amazing!  With the significantly difficult economic environment that currently exists; over a hundred major metropolitan areas experiencing double digit inflation; major banks requiring even more capital; the largest economic stimulus plan ever enacted, and apparently not working yet;  the largest budget ever proposed, $3.5 Trillion, about to be passed and signed; Russia formalizing it's occupation of Georgia's renegade provinces, Abkazia and South Ossetia; even the massive scare that Obama's team dealt New York City; a reasonable person would assume that the Press Corps would play their role in our democracy and ask just a few probing questions.  Instead, we were treated to a fawning and obsequious herd of sheep being lead off to be sheared.....

Here's the questions, if you missed it, or want to review to nonsense that the shepherd sang to the flock, click here for the transcript.

OBAMA: I will start taking some questions.  And I'll start with you, Jennifer.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. With the flu outbreak spreading and worsening, can you talk about whether you think it's time to close the border with Mexico and whether -- under what conditions you might consider quarantining, when that might be appropriate?

OBAMA:  Deb Price of Detroit News. Where's Deb?  Good to see you.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President.

On the domestic auto industry, have you determined that bankruptcy is the only option to restructure Chrysler? And do you believe that the deep cuts in plant closings that were outlined this week by General Motors are sufficient? 

OBAMA:   Jake? Where's Jake? There he is.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. You've said in the past that waterboarding, in your opinion, is torture. Torture is a violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions. Do you believe that the previous administration sanctioned torture?

OBAMA: Mark Knoller?

QUESTION: Thank you, sir. Let me follow up, if I may, on Jake's question. Did you read the documents recently referred to by former Vice President Cheney and others saying that the use of so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" not only protected the nation but saved lives?

And if part of the United States were under imminent threat, could you envision yourself ever authorizing the use of those enhanced interrogation techniques?

OBAMA: Chuck Todd.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. I want to move to Pakistan. Pakistan appears to be at war with the Taliban inside their own country. Can you reassure the American people that if necessary America could secure Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and keep it from getting into the Taliban's hands or, worst case scenario, even al Qaeda's hands?

OBAMA:  OK, Jeff Mason?

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. One of the biggest changes you've made in the first 100 days regarding foreign policy has had to do with Iraq. But do the large-scale -- there's large-scale violence there right now. Does that affect the U.S.'s strategy at all for withdrawal? And could it affect the timetable that you've set out for troops?

OBAMA:  Chip Reid?

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. On Senator Specter's switch to the Democratic Party, you said you were thrilled; I guess nobody should be surprised about that.

But how big a deal is this, really? Some Republicans say it is huge. They believe it's a game-changer. They say that, if you get the 60 votes in the Senate, that you will be able to ride roughshod over any opposition and that we're on the verge of, as one Republican put it, "one-party rule."

Do you see it that way? And, also, what do you think his switch says about the state of the Republican Party?

OBAMA: 

QUESTION: Is the Republican Party in the desperate straits that Arlen Specter seems to think it is? OBAMA:  Ed Henry?

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. In a couple of weeks, you're going to be giving the commencement at Notre Dame. And, as you know, this has caused a lot of controversy among Catholics who are opposed to your position on abortion.

As a candidate, you vowed that one of the very things you wanted to do was sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which, as you know, would eliminate federal, state and local restrictions on abortion. And at one point in the campaign when asked about abortion and life, you said that it was above -- quote, "above my pay grade."

Now that you've been president for 100 days, obviously, your pay grade is a little higher than when you were a senator.

(LAUGHTER) Do you still hope that Congress quickly sends you the Freedom of Choice Act so you can sign it?

OBAMA:  Jeff Zeleny.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President.  During these first 100 days, what has surprised you the most about this office? Enchanted you the most from serving in this office? Humbled you the most? And troubled you the most?

OBAMA: Now let me write this down.

OBAMA:  OK. Lori Montenegro?

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, when you met with the Hispanic Caucus a few weeks ago, reports came out that the White House was planning to have a forum to talk about immigration and bring it to the forefront.

Going forward, my question is, what is your strategy to try to have immigration reform? And are you still on the same timetable to have it accomplished in the first year of your presidency?

And, also, I'd like to know if you're going to reach out to Senator John McCain , who is Republican and in the past has favored immigration reform?

OBAMA: Andre Showell? There you go.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President.  As the entire nation tries to climb out of this deep recession, in communities of color, the circumstances are far worse. The black unemployment rate, as you know, is in the double digits. And in New York City, for example, the black unemployment rate for men is near 50 percent.

My question to you tonight is given this unique and desperate circumstance, what specific policies can you point to that will target these communities and what's the timetable for us to see tangible results?

OBAMA:  Michael Scherer of TIME?

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. During the campaign, you criticized President Bush's use of the state secrets privilege, but U.S. attorneys have continued to argue the Bush position in three cases in court. How exactly does your view of state secrets differ from President Bush's? And do you believe presidents should be able to derail entire lawsuits about warrantless wiretapping or rendition if classified information is involved?

STAFF: Last question.

OBAMA: Jonathan Weisman, you get -- you get the last word. Where are you? There you are.

QUESTION: Thank you, sir. You are currently the chief shareholder of a couple of very large mortgage giants. You're about to become the chief shareholder of a car company, probably two.

And I'm wondering, what kind of shareholder are you going to be? What is the government's role as the keeper of public -- public trust and bonds in -- in soon-to-be public companies again? Thank you.

OBAMA:  Thank you, everybody.

Obama's 100 Day Full-Court Press

Keep the pressure on......
(Saul Alinsky, "Tactics For Radicals" 1972)


"When seeking office, the aspirant must pretend to be what he is not.  After seizing power, he should impose his agenda quickly and ruthlessly, before his subjects realize what he is doing and have time to react." (Niccolò Machiavelli, 16^th century author of "The Prince" a treatise on the pragmatic use of power)

President Obama, not only a student of Alinsky's tactics, but an accomplished Community Organizer practitioner of his tactics, also seems to effectively channel Machiavelli....

Like the Dark Lord Sauron sending Orcs and Ringwraith's streaming out of Mordor's Mount Doom to lay unremitting siege on Gondor, Obama has closely followed Saul Alinsky's and Machiavelli's tactics by having his operatives open a relentless stream of divergent issues to sap his opposition's resources and obscure the public's attention to what he's really doing.

• Eliminated bi-partisanship by signing a unilateral Democrat $750 Billion "Stimulus Plan" that won't take effect until long after it might have been helpful
• Ditto the above by allowing the Democrats to unilaterally craft a "Sticker shock" $3.5 Trillion budget that will balloon to a $9+ Trillion over the next ten years
• Eliminated eliminating "Earmarks" as one of his campaign promises.
• Saving the Auto Union's contracts by taking over GM & Chrysler, instead of letting them be revitalized by the normal bankruptcy process
• Fanned anti-capitalism by his use of the Alinsky tactic of "Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it" (Alinsky, 1972), ie: Auto exec's use of corp. jets, Bank meeting in Las Vegas, and Wall Street bonuses. Of course by doing so also he helped to cause unemployment in the airplane industry, Las Vegas hotels, and a significant number of NYC businesses.  
• Authorized Federally funded Embryonic Stem Cell research the day before it was announced that more effective capabilities can be created by skin cells.  Further reducing common ground with Pro-Life Americans.
• Announced plans to rescind protection for health workers who refuse to provide care that they find morally objectionable.  Further reducing common ground with even more Americans.
• Proposed changes to tax code to reduce deductions for charities and non-profit's, making them more dependent on, and directed by governmental funding.
• Effectively killed public service and volunteerism while creating another branch of the "Democrat Army" with the signing of the Serve America Act, basically a public jobs program that provides "Progressive" indoctrination to our youth.  
• Politicized the National Census by proposing it be managed under Rahm Emanuel and using ACORN to get out the vote count.
• Proposed the ultimate election rigging and gerrymandering scheme (see item just prior)
• Re-Defined a number of things: War on Terror now "Overseas Contingency Operation", Terrorism now "Man-caused Disasters", and Free-Market Capitalism by saying "when we all work together and look beyond our own short-term interests to a wider set of obligations we have towards each other, that's when we succeed, that's when we prosper".  That last one would make Karl Marx smile.
• Stopped all activity to explore for, and source, new domestic oil to ensure our dependance on foregn oil and help increase fuel prices as a way to make "green" technology cost competitive.
• Offered up Ukraine and our European missile defense capability in a Chamberlain-esque deal with Russia.
• In another look backwards to the '30's, and as a pay-back to the Unions for their support, promoted the Orwellian "Card-Check" legislation that would have strong-armed workers into unions (and still may....Arlen Specter just changed Party labels)
• Payed back the teacher's unions and set back real education reform by killing the Washington D.C. voucher program.
• Has attempted Harry Potter-like economic magic by simultaneously attempting to spur U.S. economic revitilization, while at the same time proposing the largest and most regressive tax legislation ever imposed on the country, Carbon Cap-and-Trade.  If he can't get it legislatively, his EPA has now threatened that it will regulate it in. (Despite the fact that the science ruse it's being promulgated by is rapidly unraveling.  But, then again, science was never really the genesis of this tax concept.) 
• Continues to be unsuccessful in resolving the basic issues underlying the banking industry's capital problem, with TARP and the Geithner's nonsensical PPIP continuing to hinder the market's inherent self-healing capability.  (By the way, the whole sub-prime loan mess is almost completely linked to five States: California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, and Michigan.  It's also not widely known that the Sub-Primes loans are primarily second mortgage equity loans, not initial mortgages. The problem was people biting off more than they could handle, not greedy businesses)
• Rescinded limitations on support for the Castro brother's dictatorship, thus ensuring not only their continuance, but the continued suffering of the Cuban people.
• Traveled the world and apologized for anything that the United States has ever done, since whatever it was that we did, it was bad.
• Not satisfied with creating havoc in the banking industry, Obama has now decided that the credit-card industry needs to be destroyed and has proposed a "Credit Card Bill Of Rights". Quickly and conveniently forgetting the elements of the existing sup-prime loan problems, and overlooking the inherent high risk in these unsecured consumer loans so that he could demagogue another business, Obama's action are guaranteed to invoke the law of unintended consequences. We'll be back to a cash only society and local loan sharks soon.
• Proposed "Cyber Security Act of 2009"  This gives the President the power to shut down the internet traffic in any "critcally" important network, and access all data without regard to any law.  This should get us to "Big Brother" really quickly.
• Obama has reversed other long-standing policies.  We're now dissing the UK and Israel, while hugging all the bad guys.....this should really work well.
•  His Defense Secretary is the only agency head that's proposing cutting spending.  Obama's budget proposes cutting both Defense and Space: cutting F-22's and getting the Navy below 313 ships.  All this while the usual suspects are building up their capabilities.  Seems that he never noticed that when we build they build, and when we cut, they still build....this should really work well too.
• Obama seems determined to emulate Jimmy Carter in taking a strong US ally, Iran, and turning into a virulent anti-American enemy.  Obama's apparent target - Pakistan.
• He's had his Homeland Security Czarina cut back on enforcing immigration regulations, and while doing so she's managed to add Canada to the list of "Best Friends" country's we disrespect.  
• Speaking of Homeland Security, Conservatives, Pro-Life advocates, and Veterans are all suspected terrorists.
• Appointed Harold Koh, an avowed "Trans-Nationalist" to the top State Department legal post.  He'll be able to work hand in hand with the Spanish judge who want's to prosecute our Justice Department lawyers who authored the memos on enhanced interrogation techniques.  His appointment probably presages the type of nominee Obama will present for the Supreme Court when the opportunity occurs.
• But the most egregious action that Obama has taken has been the release of the Justice Department memos on CIA interrogation techniques.  This act has made us less secure as a nation, aided our enemies, demoralized our CIA, will inhibit all future legal advice opined by government lawyers, and significantly politicized our historical transfer of power from one Administration to the next.  This cynical act on Obama's part will have significant consequences for this nation, and not all of them are unintended....

And it's only been 100 days!

CIA Memo's & Obama's Kangaroo Court

Kangaroo court

"An unfair trial in which the rights of the accused and precepts of justice are ignored and the outcome is usually known beforehand." (Cornell Univ. Law School)

Obama's unnecessary release of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel memo's to the CIA offering legal guidance on harsh interrogation techniques, and his comments that "We have been through a dark and painful chapter in our history. But at a time of great challenges and disturbing disunity, nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past.", are nothing less than a summary judgement of "guilty of torture" on the Bush Administration by the Obama Kangaroo Court.

In addition to Obama's tactic of unilaterally deciding what torture is (face slaps, pushing, sleep deprivation, waterboarding) as yet again, another attempt to disparage George Bush, his action does great harm to his own, and future Administrations.  The revelation of these tactics effectively makes permanent his Executive order suspending them.  As a result we now have the Army Field Manual tactics, intended only to be used by our military as a first line of interrogation on captured uniformed military opponants, as the only source of interrogation tactics available to use with hardened and determined professional terrorists.

Despite his statement that CIA interrogators who followed those guidelines would not be prosecuted, Obama's action will have a chilling and crippling effect on the CIA's effectiveness in extracting critical information from our adversary's, who now know exactly what to expect in their interrogation (they won't even be slapped, pushed, kept awake or waterboarded). What CIA operative in the future would be comfortable following new guidelines that could themselves be easily declared illegal by the next antagonistic Administration, potentially subjecting them to prosecution.  I'm sure the guys who behead, stone, eviscerate, poison and blow people up, will be severely anxiety-ridden and reduced to fingernail biting while in the fetal position, if facing interrogation by our new CIA tickle interrogators, Rocky and Bullwinkle.  

Obama's action in releasing these memos will create the exact same institutional timidity that led up to our inability to secure effective information prior to 9-11-2001.  And unfortunately, probably with the same results.

Some "Tea" ?

   

Jacksonville, Fl. "Tea Party" April 15, 2009

My last post was on April 2^nd.  After 419 continuous Lynch Report Post’s since July 30^th, 2008 (more than one a day), and a similar number on another blog that I started at the same time, I hit the wall…..

I started the Lynch Report simply as a way of learning about the medium, attempting to understand the technology and techniques. But, after eight months I came to feel that I was saying the same thing over, and over, again.  And, I virtually was……not because I had run out of ingenuity or creativity (well, then again, maybe I did), but because the stream of political issues simply seems to be a recurring and relentless assault on intellectual honesty, individual freedom and personal responsibility.  Pick up any of Shakespeare’s plays and you could be reading something similar to our daily news leads and feeds.

I must confess that another fatigue also developed; a conclusion that a significant number of our fellow citizens……are apparently ignorant of history (both recent and ancient) and complacent and compliscent in enabling politicians of both Party’s  to ‘hornswaggle’ us.  I know…it’s difficult to believe, but the more you focus on the political news, it becomes an inescapable conclusion –  many voters are ignorant of the basic facts, and incredibly naïve.  It also probably explains why the politicians do what they do….they know that they can get away with it, and the ignorant voter aspect clearly explains how Ted Kennedy and Rod Blagojevich managed to not only get elected in the first place, but re-elected.

Here’s a list of issue that I’ve just watched and not commented on.

-On March 2^nd, Reuters announced that Iran was setting the terms for any discussions with the US.  And, yesterday, the Obama Administration announced that it would meet with Iran without any requirement for them to stop enriching Uranium.  This allows Iran cover while they run out the clock on building a nuclear weapon.  North Korea announced that it was going back to step one, and reactivating it’s reactor, and resuming nuclear development activities.  Why not, it’s obvious that the US under an Obama Administration will only proffer carrots – no sticks.

-On March 22^nd, the Orlando Sentinel reported that 4,000 people attended a “Tea Party” rally expressing discontent with Washington’s "bailouts", spend, and tax policies.  Today, over 700 of those “Tea Parties” were held across the nation, with over a million or more people demonstrating their disapproval of the action coming out of Washington (disclaimer- I attended one today, and more about that later).  Yet the mainstream media either ignored it, or ridiculed it.

-China is building advanced attack jets , an aircraft carrier, and nuclear subs; Russia is planning to build an Arctic military force, while we’re throttling down our military development.  And, if Obama really wanted to stimulate the economy, while employing highly technical and sophisticated workers, not just guys with shovels building roads, this would be the sector to fund.

-Right after Obama announce that he was lifting the ban on Federal funding for new embryonic stem cells, Reuters announced that scientists at the University of Wisconsin had discovered a safer way to coax skin cells into behaving like embryonic stem cells, eliminating the need to destroy embryos.  This had to have been known by Obama, but not lifting the ban would have antagonized his abortion-rights supporters.  So now we have people at “Tea Party’s” because they don’t want their money supporting the death of embryos

-Obama has proposed a 3.5 Trillion Dollar budget that demands the highest tax increase the nation has ever seen.  If allowed to go through, the Cap-and Trade portion will be the most regressive of all taxes ever experienced; will throttle down our economy quickly and disastrously, and will put our nation in a more precarious position regarding foreign energy suppliers.  Even if Obama’s plan to grow “green” and “renewable” energy sources increased the current supply by a hundred-fold, it would still represent less than 5% of our nation’s energy requirements.  But we will have foreclosed our ability to increase our domestic supply of fossil fuels, and artificially increased our total cost for energy significantly.  This would be a disastrous plan in the best of times, but insane when we’re attempting to rebuild our economy.

-Obama’s Health Plan must be noted here, but really demands a separate discussion.  However, here’s proof that when something is free, people will use and abuse it.  “ In the past six years, eight people from Austin and one from Luling racked up 2,678 emergency room visits in Central Texas, costing hospitals, taxpayers and others $3 million”

-The press went wild over the Bush Administration’s firing of ten U.S. Attorney’s (forgetting that Clinton fired ‘em all), but said nothing about Eric Holder’s action regarding the Democrat legislation granting the District of Columbia representation in Congress. “overruling an Office of Legal Counsel opinion that we're told is rooted in Justice Department analysis going back to the JFK-LBJ Administrations. It is also extraordinary for an AG to so blatantly politicize the Solicitor General's office, which is the home of lawyers who argue cases before the Supreme Court. Imagine if Alberto Gonzales had tried that one”.

-The NY Times spiked a story linking ACORN corruption to Obama’s campaign.  “A lawyer involved with legal action against Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) told a House Judiciary subcommittee on March 19 The New York Times had killed a story in October that would have shown a close link between ACORN, Project Vote and the Obama campaign because it would have been a “a game changer.”  So much for their masthead slogan “All the news that fit to print”, but then again, I guess that they didn’t think it was fit to print.  It may have cost Obama the election…..

-Oh, that leads to another, more recent example of the NY Times selectivity in providing the news.  In its coverage of the indictment of Governor Blagojevich, it failed to mention the link between Rod Blagojevich and Obama’s friend and political mentor, Tony Rezko, despite Rezko being named over 100 times in the 75 page indictment.  “ a Chicago Sun-Times article from two years ago  also pointed out that: "Obama, who has worked as a lawyer and a legislator to improve living conditions for the poor, took campaign donations from Rezko even as Rezko's low-income housing empire was collapsing, leaving many African-American families in buildings riddled with problems -- including squalid living conditions, vacant apartments, lack of heat, squatters and drug dealers."  The report noted that "Obama has been friends with Rezko for 17 years"and detailed a relationship in which Obama continued to do legal work for Rezko's various entities even after Obama became a state senator.  It added that, "As a U.S. senator, Obama grew closer to Rezko... Over the years, Rezko, (Rezko partner Daniel) Mahru, their wives and businesses have given more than $50,000 to Obama's campaign funds, records show. And Rezko has helped raise millions more."

Well, a lot's happened in the past two weeks, and we haven’t even gotten to comment on Obama’s European trip, his actions there, and the European’s response to him; the revitalization of the “Comprehensive Immigration Plan” and the problems of Mexico and it’s Drug Baron’s; Iran’s nuclear bomb; Castro, Cuba, the Congressional Black Caucus, and Obama’s executive order to allow more visits and money to flow there; North Korea’s missle launch in violation of the UN accords, and its subsequent repudiation of previously agreed to halt in its nuclear program; Janet Napolitano’s Homeland Security’s report to the nation’s law enforcement agencies indicting Pro-Lifer's, veterans, and sundry other conservatives who don’t believe in the Federal Government as the source of our solutions, as potential radical extremists who pose a potential threat to the country; as well as today’s 700+ “Tea Party” reenactments.   

Wait, I will comment on the Tea Party that I participated in.  I spent a few hours today at the Jacksonville, Florida Tea Party. A lot of people were there. There were two aspects of the group that made an impression on me: There were a couple of thousand normal and normally non-demonstrative people there attempting to demonstrate – an interesting group dynamic to observe; they were rather quiet, very orderly, but very serious in their opposition to the both the bail-outs and the spending bills that have been passed, as well as those that are in the process of being passed. The second aspect that struck me was that it appeared that most of  the people who were demonstrating, normally wouldn’t even think about doing anything like that. Aside from couples standing together, this group appeared to just be thousands of individuals who were upset and angry with their government, not clubs, or people affiliated with some group – political or otherwise. No Republican or Democrat politicians were present either. In fact, the people who spoke were critical of both of the Party's.

The 2010 election is going to be very interesting….

Thanks for your continued interest, and they’ll be more to come soon….


NOTE:  My apologies for the awkward structure  of this post.  I can't seem to get the editor function to work the way it should.

Obama Bows To Saudi King

Obeisance....
- acknowledgment of another's superiority or importance

Along with faulting the United States for the current world's economic recession, and conceding American economic superiority, it appears that President Obama, as the most senior representative of the United States also appears to have assumed a subservient position to the Saudi King.

The bow begins at around measure 50 on the video.....if it does not play properly, it can be viewed here....

NPR - National Partisan Radio

Why I listen, but don't contribute....

NPR has been going through one of it's annual fund raising events, alternating between touting the high value of NPR programs to the listeners, and attempts at engendering guilt in people who listen but don't "invest" in supporting the station.  I am one of those people who listen but don't "invest" in NPR.  I feel no guilt, and unfortunately, would even support the elimination of NPR in it's current state.  Here's my tale:

Although an occasional listener years ago to classical music on NPR station WNYC when I lived in NY, I only really began to listen to Public Radio in 1993 when I moved my family to Belgium.  Being an English speaker in a French and Dutch language country, you eventually tire of translating (in my case) the French language news broadcasts, and hunger for news and discussion in English.  We were lucky; the BBC and the Armed Forces Radio Network were both available, and AFRN carried programs from Public Radio International, which I equate to NPR.  Listening to AFRN and the PRI shows that it carried, including Bill Moyers, I stumbled upon the Rush Limbaugh show and was very surprised; here was a guy saying many of the very same things about politics and American culture issues that mirrored many of my own thoughts.  I enjoyed his broadcast, and listened to it occasionally.

When I left Europe and returned to the US in the summer of 1998, my wife and I moved to Florida, set up a wholesale distribution business, and I found myself driving 45 thousand miles a year to work with our customers - a lot of windshield and radio time. Being an information junkie, I soon found the local NPR station, WJCT, and also quickly learned that Rush Limbaugh, was not an NPR featured voice. It quickly became apparent that unlike the AFRN, NPR was a subtly partisan Democrat / Liberal broadcast channel.

So, I became a schizophrenic radio listener; NPR in the morning - initially Bob Edwards, later Steve Inskeep and Renee Montage on Morning Edition, followed by the Diane Rehm show, then switching to FOX and the Rush Limbaugh show in the afternoon.  During the election of George Bush in 2000, the subtlety disappeared. The NPR hosts became overt in their political comments and positions; anti-Bush, anti-Pro-Life, anti-gun, anti-military, anti-school choice, pro-Gore, pro- Democrat, pro-Choice, pro-affirmative action, pro-illegal immigration, pro-higher taxes, pro-bigger government, and eventually evangelizing Global Warming and the view that CO2's is a pollutant and causal element of it.

My current home town, Jacksonville, Florida, hosts a significant military population: Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Mayport Naval Station, Blount Island Marine Terminal, and nearby in Georgia, Kings Bay Submarine Base.  Despite that, I have never heard one story about the heroics of the troops; a positive view of any aspect of their actions on Iraq, its people, the region; or our effective efforts against radical Islam and al Qaeda.  During the war in Iraq, the only stories aired about the military were about the hardships of being in the military, the number of troops who were killed, horrifically wounded, or their suffering families.  It appeared to be a concerted effort to negatively impact enlistments while encouraging opposition to the war. Once the surge was apparently turning the tide to victory, all stories about the troops ended.

I've listened to "Weekend Edition" on Saturday morning virtually every weekend for the last ten years, and every Saturday, Daniel Schoor, a justly esteemed, but extremely Liberal, political journalist opines on the major political issue of the week. During this entire time, I have never heard him say one positive comment about President Bush, Republicans, or Conservatives.  His only comments on those subjects were, and still are, negative.  Not surprisingly, he has only voiced highly positive opinions about President Obama and the current Democrat Congress.

My wife asked me, "Why do you listen to NPR?  All you ever do is yell at the radio."  Her question caused me to stop and think about how to answer her reasonable question.  After thinking about it, I realized that the real attraction is the discussion format and style of the NPR talk shows, as well as the time allocated to discuss substantive issues.  Unfortunately, what significantly subtracts from those positive attributes, is that the programs are so steeply skewed towards the left politically that even when they have Conservative guests, they are usually outnumbered on the panel with the deck stacked against them, even down to the call-in listeners who are selected to present questions.

The two NPR journalists that Fox News employs to present the Liberal view on issues, Juan Williams and Mara Liason, have recently been under fire by NPR listeners for being too extreme politically......to the Right!  In the past, NPR's sister organization PBS, provided it's "member" list to the Democrat Party.  Since most NPR stations are co-joined with its local PBS station, it's probably reasonable to assume that NPR member lists have been provided as well.

Even the entertainment shows such as "Fresh Air", "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell me", and "Prairie Home Companion", skew left.  In fact, the only personalities that haven't evidenced any political views are Ray and Tom Magliozzi, the irripressable hosts of "Car Talk", and Marian McPartland, the amazingly ageless and outstanding jazz pianist host of "Piano Jazz".   Even Ira Flatow on "Science Friday" actively supports the concept of Anthropogenic (human caused) Global Warming and the need for government funded embryonic stem cell research.

So, why don't I contribute (I refuse to use the euphemism of the Left -" invest") to NPR?  Because doing so would be the same as if I were contributing to organizations that are in direct opposition to my personal beliefs and political views.  It would be as if I was contributing directly to the Democrat National Party and their constituency: Planned Parenthood, UAW, NEA, NOW, and ACORN.

As a recipient of government funding, NPR should be neutral and balanced in its presentation of issues. If NPR were to maintain its format and style, yet provide actual balance in presenting political and social values in its news and commentary, I would be its loudest advocate and would gladly contribute to, and support its operation.  In its' current mode of operation, providing a megaphone for the DNC's positions, unfortunately I can only support NPR's demise.