Greener Grass or Astroturf?

It has been said that all politics is local. So while the writer of this blog is concentrating so hard on the scene here at home, it’s easy to ignore that there’s a big world out there with their own priorities. I asked an old friend of mine who lives in England to commit some of his thoughts to the blog and here they are unedited by me as to content but with a couple of tweaks to spelling and grammar in order to bring it into line for American eyes. Also note that the current exchange rate is about $1.59 to 1 British Pound.

“Everywhere you go in Britain the public are fed up to the back teeth with dishonest politicians. And this is why!

About two years ago I was asked by the local Liberal Democratic Party if I would be willing to assist them in some way with their campaign for the Derbyshire County Council elections. My written reply was as follows – ‘The U.K. currently has the most inept, dishonest and corrupt government in its modern history. Both at national and local level. The opposition parties are doing very little to challenge this. Why then should I offer my support to any party?’ Needless to say I did not receive a reply. Little did I know how right I was but even I did not realize just how bad things were.

Where does one start?

The blatant lying began in the early years of Blair's disastrous premiership. The truth was a complete stranger to Blair and his crew. Rhetoric and spin was the answer to all. If Blair knew that he was going to lose a motion in the house then the answer was quite simple. Don't have a debate and consequently no vote and then slip it through when the headlines were focused on other events

Agree with what happened in Iraq or not. This country was led by Blair and his spin doctors into an illegal war on falsified reports and a tissue of lies. If Blair did not like the truth he changed it. One man, Dr. Kelly, lost his life in very “dodgy” circumstances because he was about to blow Blair's case out of the water. And so it went on. The majority of people in the U.K. did not support this war although they do support our troops. Blair has a lot of blood on his hands.

On the home front, Chancellor Gordon Brown was busy boasting about how good and prudent was his handling of our economic affairs while blithely ignoring the fact that he was presiding over an unprecedented credit-led boom. Financial constraints were abandoned and it was 'hey ho, fill your boots time'. Credit card borrowing went through the roof and some people had over £1000,000 of credit card debt knowing they had no way to pay it back. The banks were falling over themselves to lend money to borrowers knowing well that there was little hope that the debt would ever be repaid. It did not take a genius to work out where it was all going to end. Two years before the American Sub-Prime market crash, I predicted to my golfing friends, over a pint in the club house, that the British economy was about to implode. Boy did it.

Since then we have had one exposure of corruption after another. Most of it against Socialist M.P's. but not all. Hundreds of thousands of pounds in expense scams have been claimed by M.P's. The Speaker of the House, one Michael Martin, a Labour M.P.from Glasgow, who is supposed to control the House of Commons, has become the first Speaker in 300 years to be thrown out of office for dishonesty and incompetence. Many more disturbing events have taken place which would take too long to go into now.

We have more public servants now than at any other time in our history. Many doing non-jobs, on high salaries and gold plated pensions which the private sector has to pay for. Except it is probably not going to be there to do so. The national debt currently stands at over £1.3 TRILLION.

Our education system has been so dumbed down that everyone passes the exams but kids are coming out of education at 17 unable to read, write or do simple maths. What chance do they have of finding meaningful employment? Stay on and go to university our government tell them. What they really mean is, "get into huge debt to pay your tuition fees. Never mind the fact that when you have finished and can't find a job you will be unable to repay it." This is assuming that you can get a place at university. This year there were 30,000 more applicants than places available. The government was so busy watching its back that they forgot to provided the extra places.

Our National Health Service is a public scandal. It would be funny if it were not so tragic. Need an appointment to see your doctor? Two weeks time do? Need an urgent operation, how about this time next year? Public money is being poured into the system but only to provide more management and administration. Not to provide more doctors, nurses and equipment.

I could talk about crime, social services and so on and on, but I won't.

What does the public think of all this?

There is a total loss of faith in the current House of Commons. The general consensus everywhere you go is that it is a pig sty with every member's snout in the trough. This is unfortunate for the many honest members. Never in our history has Parliament been held in such low esteem. M.P's. are being forced to resign daily, including cabinet ministers. Our very system of democratic government is under threat. The only solution is to dissolve parliament and call a general election with new candidates replacing those found to be on the fiddle. Brown will not do this because he knows that the Labour Party will be wiped out. The latest opinion polls put Labour at its lowest ever share of the vote.

After all the lies and deceit the old adage springs to mind ‘You can fool some of the people some of the time but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time’.

COME THE REVOLUTION
(and it might)

P.S. One lesson to be learned from all this is that the one thing a country does not want is a government with a large majority. They say power Corrupts.”

There are some lessons here for us in the US too but I’ll comment on those in a separate post.

Semper Fi!

Not too long after I retired in 2002 I started working at a flight school in Santa Rosa, California. The job didn’t pay worth a damn but I did get to fly a lot. When I wasn’t flying, I ran the desk and all kinds of people would stop by. One of my favorites was a Marine pilot from World War II.

It was only after he died and I saw the decorations atop his casket that I knew his country believed him to be a brave man. I’d always known that he was a wise man ever since I heard him counsel a young flight instructor as he related his domestic issues. The Marine simply asked, “Is this really the hill you want to die on”? How profound a question that really is. In other words, pick your battles!

Moving now, if I may, from the sacred to the profane, that’s kind of the way I felt about Obama’s choice to join the Supremes. Obviously, the Republicans don’t have the votes in the Senate to defeat the nomination nor, I suspect, to filibuster it into oblivion.

And that’s why I felt it to be pointless to comment upon the choice even as bad as it is. But then I began to think a little bit more deeply about it. It may well prove pointless in the end as Democrats control the Senate Judiciary Committee and, to all extents and purposes the full Senate as well. It will be interesting though to see which of the GOP members of the committee vote to confirm because that’s what the rules say.

However, that aside, close and determined questioning of Sonia Sotomayor may do nothing to derail her nomination but, done correctly, it could reveal an awful lot about Obama himself. That in itself would be healthy as too many people who voted for the man know next to nothing of his beliefs, background, politics and agenda. Or if they do, they have chosen to look the other way.

So with that in mind let’s take a look at Ms. Sotomayor. Imagine the outrage if a White, Republican-nominated male candidate was revealed as a member of an organization called “The Race”. Imagine the outrage if this same man was on tape saying effectively that because of his background, he could do a better job as a Supreme than a Latina.

Now add to that, more taped statements where this “sound and wise” judge declares that “the Appellate System is where policy is made”. And that the Second Amendment does not endow rights to the individual.

All these things are part of Ms. Sotomayor's judicial record!

If this were anything other than a racial and political pick by Obama this candidate would never have been considered. But we know that Obama is racist, (simply look at 20 years of Jeremiah Wright’s sermons) and that he wants to have political activists on the Supreme Bench. We know he’s a socialist and we know he wants gun control.

Now remember the manner in which the backgrounds of Justice Roberts and Justice Alito were scrutinized and how the nomination of Janice Rogers Brown to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals was savaged by the Democrats for, literally years. That is why the Republicans on that committee must develop some backbone and do their job.

I know this; if anyone wants to take my firearm, they’d better bring plenty of help because that is a piece of real estate worth fighting for.

If Comrade Stalin only knew .............

In the darkest days of Stalin’s grip on the Soviet Union, the mind-control mechanisms wielded by the State were so complete that impoverished citizens could be heard to remark that “Comrade Stalin just hasn’t been told how bad things are or he would do something”.

A couple of weeks ago, I heard a similar sentiment from a lady living in South Carolina who when faced with the continuing economic crisis in her state said, “I know he’s busy so President Obama just hasn’t got round to us yet”. All of which reminds me of one of the scariest reactions to Obama’s successful bid for the Oval Office. One demented individual actually proclaimed that her family’s problems were over. When I’ve told others of this woman’s ravings, many doubted it and, just in case you are one such, here’s a link to a video which is self explanatory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg98BvqUvCc

Now consider these facts. It’s been just about a year since President Bush announced the first “stimulus” package. Clearly that did not work. Today marks the 100 day anniversary of Obama’s “stimulus” package. And, as of today, unemployment is at a 25 year high and still rising. Mortgage delinquencies including foreclosures are also at record highs. In other words, 12% of all home loans are in trouble and that number is not expected to drop before the end of 2010.

So we’ve poured billions to rescue the home owner and what have we gained? We’ve poured billions into GM and Chrysler because Obama claimed that “Bankruptcy is not an option”. What have we gained? We poured billions into cities and states to finance “shovel-ready” jobs. And now we learn that unemployment is at its highest and rising..

Here’s a case in point. According to Obama, Cleveland, Ohio was going to be able to increase its police manpower because of his “stimulus’. In fact, Obama went to the Academy’s graduation back at the beginning of March. Earlier this week, 90% of those newly-minted police officers were laid off.

Last night Obama was in Hollywood at a fund raiser and, predictably, the place was packed with limousine liberals. There he announced proudly that “we are back from the brink” and that “We ain’t seen nothing yet”. Really?

Perhaps the secret is that it doesn’t matter what this man says but simply how he says it.

Well, give me a choice between an orator and someone who really cares and I simply don’t care how that person pronounces “nuclear”.

Joshua fit ..........almost ..

I spent last evening at the Phoenix Symphony. Joshua Bell was the soloist who was truly wonderful but there was just one little discord.

That happens quite a lot in politics too. A man or a woman can make a great speech and because of a mistake in the delivery or the content or that indefinable something, it would have been better left undelivered. “I did not have sex with that woman …..” springs to mind.

First there was Joe Biden a few months ago when he declared that paying taxes was an act of patriotism. And now we see the truth of that statement especially when you look at the most recent tax returns of the last two Vice-Presidents.

Biden’s reveals that they earned $3 million last year and gave $2600 to charity.

On the other hand, the Cheneys’ earned $8 million and gave $6 million to charity.

So, the answer is clear. Biden eschews the deduction and chooses to pay income tax instead. What a patriot? What a guy? Surely a model for us all?

Next, came Obama when he declared further last week that he may think yet again about releasing not just the memos but the pictures as well as they relate to Gitmo and Abu Graib.

Obama may pay lip service to our military when he visits Annapolis but, just like Clinton, he detests it. Why else would he, on the one hand, revile the military when he speaks at ASU or Notre Dame and still laud it as John McCain’s son becomes an officer in the United Stated Navy. And please don’t tell me those things didn’t happen. They did. Last Week!

So why would Obama release the Abu Graib stuff etc, whatever it is?

Easy really when you think outside the box of regular human beings and begin to think like a lawyer politician thug. When the next attack happens, and it will, it wouldn’t be his fault. Blame it on Bush!

Again Cheney struck, as he pointed out that half-measures leave you 50% exposed and that the concept of a “middle ground” and that of terrorism are incompatible. A half-successful dirty bomb in Scottsdale, or Chesterfield or Worksop or wherever leaves a legacy of death that will linger for years.

Obama appears to be prepared to take that chance.

Which brings us back to last night?

Joshua Bell, as talented as he is, as charismatic as he is, as vital and as dynamic as he is, lost some of his audience as soon as he entered the stage.

The orchestra was dressed up. The conductor was dressed up. I was dressed up and so was my date as well as most of the audience. Even young people and even little boys were wearing ties. I know this valley is casual and I know that summer is coming but he …………….

For the want of a nail ………

Cheney3, Obama 0

The media wail about "torture," but are noticeably short on facts.

Liberals try to disguise the utter “wussification” of our interrogation techniques by constantly prattling on about "the banality of evil."

Um, no. In this case, it's actually the banality of the banal.

Start with the fact that the average Gitmo detainee has gained 20 pounds in captivity. There's even a medical term for it now: "the Gitmo gut." Some prisoners have been heard whispering, "If you think Allah is great, you should try these dinner rolls."

In terms of "torture," there was "the attention grasp," which you have seen in every department store you have ever been where a mother was trying to get her misbehaving child's attention. If "the attention grasp" doesn't work, the interrogators issue a stern warning: "Don't make me pull this car over."

I know that Obama is a lawyer and a politician. Singly, either occupation has both an ability to mouth a lot of words without actually saying anything and an ability to ignore that which doesn’t fit their view of the real facts. But, combine the two and you have a truly frightening distortion of the actual world that you and I inhabit.

Let’s look at Gitmo and the three ring circus that’s been going on between Obama and Pelosi and Cheney:-

According to the first two, Camp Delta is a recruitment tool for terrorism. How so when the attackers of the USS Cole, the bombers of the World Trade Center, the bombers of the Khobar Towers, the bombers of the African embassies and, most notoriously, the 911 hijackers all came into being before Camp Delta was established. And yet with some of these animals behind bars, there has been no successful attack on these United States.

And, as Vice-President Cheney pointed out, intelligence obtained from there via the so-called “enhanced techniques” enabled our security services to head off an attack on the City of Los Angeles. It’s hard to dispute hard facts just by wishing it so unless you’re a lawyer and a politician.

So there was Obama earlier this week sounding more defensive than I remember. First there was the campaign promises to end the US involvement in the conflicts in the Middle East. Well, we’re still in Iraq, we have more troops than ever in Afghanistan and now we have American boots on the ground in Pakistan.

Then, of course, he confirmed that Military Tribunals are here to stay and also there is the troublesome issue of the fifth category of Gitmo inmates. He left their fate unspecified but if we exclude them as we must from the ones who will be sent here and we exclude them from those who will be sent abroad, what is left? The answer dear reader is that Gitmo stays around for the foreseeable future never mind what Obama says. For another attribute of lawyer politicians is that parsing words is their stock-in-trade.

And it didn’t exactly support Obama’s stated goal when the Senate refused to fund the $80 million to close Guantanamo by a margin of 90 to 6.

Robert Gibbs, in a rare insight into the true situation, said last week that the Administration regretted some of the decisions voiced in their earlier days and dubbed them "hasty". Truly a masterpiece of understatement if ever I heard one.

Cassandra, thy time is nigh ...........

I decided to take a break today from commenting directly on Obama and chose instead to take a look at the state that was my home for so many years.

Not long after I arrived in California a measure known as Proposition 13 was added to an off-year election cycle. It was an attempt to rein in the counties voracious and insatiable addiction to more and more tax revenue. Well, this week something similar happened and this time around it was even more one-sided than in 1978.

One of the ancillary reasons I moved to Arizona was because I was so thoroughly appalled by the senseless waste of resources by the politicians in Sacramento who are liberal to the point of insanity. Both the Assembly and the Senate are dominated by Democrats and even “the Governator” is nothing more than a “RINO”, Republican in Name Only. The state as a whole is massively in debt and yet the spendthrifts in Sacramento keep coming up with one entitlement program after the other. The fiscal situation is so bad that if you were due to receive a refund from the previous year’s tax payment well, tough, because you are not going to get it. Instead you’ll get an IOU which puts you in a similar position to an IRA owner at Enron.

Anyway, in an attempt to rectify this mess, there were five ballot measures on the slate that called for tax increases from one source or another and one proposition to limit legislative pay. Every measure to increase taxes went down to defeat in spite of, or maybe because of, the fact that Arnold lobbied hard for their passage. But what was even more stunning was the extent of the defeat. Proposition 1A was defeated in every single county in the state. The closest it came to passage was in San Francisco County, Nancy Pelosi’s home turf and even in that leftist bastion it only managed to struggle to 46%. The right-hand maidens of liberals everywhere, the media, labeled the voters “selfish” while totally ignoring the reality that California is one of the highest taxed states in the Union.

Nevertheless, the message sent by the voters could not have been clearer. Cut spending or else! But the politicians including the Governor didn’t react that way at all. Their response was that as we can’t raise money via taxes and as we are prohibited from printing it, well then we’ll borrow it. Even the ostriches in Sacramento know that their bond rating is so bad that their chances of raising money in the capital markets is nil so who else is left? Why, the Feds of course and so it seems likely that Washington DC will bail out the Golden State which means in turn that the other 49 states will be on the hook. Too big to fail. Does that ring any bells?

While I am not a Pollyanna by nature, I do see a glimmer of promise here. It’s been said many times about many different topics. “As goes California, so goes the Nation”. I suspect and certainly pray that between now and 2010 we’ll start to see a reaction build against Obama and his ever-bigger government mantra. Let’s first cut Pelosi and Reed down to size and then two years later consign Obama to the trash heap of failed doctrines.

Luke, I am your father!

When you think of “Star Wars”, what is the first character that leaps to mind? For me, and I think for many, it is Darth Vader.

And, for perhaps another many, there is now a Darth Vader redux, namely Vice-President Richard Cheney.

What motivates Dick Cheney?

He does not seek nor has he ever sought a higher office. He certainly doesn’t need the money and as far as I know, he doesn’t hunt out interns.

So why would he subject himself to the predictable abuse from the TV talking heads? The answer isn’t really too hard to figure out if you are willing to reintroduce some old-fashioned ideas back into the American Lexicon. Try these on for size:-

National Interest
Patriotism
Love of Country

No, they are not the same thing once you get past the labels. But there is something else as well. He is speaking from his heart and not from any sense of political ambition. Indeed, Cheney says that he has left the Republican Party. So have I. But, perhaps more accurately, the Republican Party has left me. If you doubt that, my party affiliation is in the public domain via the voting rolls.

I can hear at least one ex-wife yelling, “You see, it’s all about him.”

Give me just two wishes about the last four years of President Bush’s administration and the first would be to rein in the profligate spending; except that now with Obama that is small beer indeed. Secondly, I would have put Dick Cheney out there to refute the lies of the liberal Left and their media lackeys every damn day.

Now it seems Colin Powell knows what the Republican Party should be doing as he parrots the same line as Chris Matthews et al.

Let’s take a look shall we. Powell:-

Endorsed and voted for Obama. How much of that decision was racial is anybody’s guess.

Supports amnesty for more than 13 Million “illegals”.

Supports higher spending and the taxes to fund it and insists that is what most Americans want along with bigger government.

Supports abortion-on-demand.

Supports socialized medicine.


As Dick Cheney asked last week. “Is he still a Republican?”

See, the problem is this. The GOP put up a candidate pretty much like Powell’s “straw man” the last time around. And that proposal was applauded by the drive-bys. Guess what? No surprise to me nor to the drive-bys; he lost. And General Powell is promoting a repeat of a losing strategy?

Perhaps he’d like to refight “The Battle of the Bulge” and, if so, which side would he like to be on?

When I was still working, every once in a while an engineer would decide to join sales. It was known as “going over to the Dark Side.”

Bills & Pills!

Back in 2005, just four short years ago, President Bush sounded a warning bell about the financial health of and the outlook for both Social Security and Medicare. Led by Harry Reed, the liberals went into full attack mode and declared that both were doing just fine. Furthermore, they trumpeted that the President’s announcements were nothing more than scare tactics which were motivated purely by political dogma. And, as a result nothing was done!

Really, well now we learn that the health of those two programs has now eroded to such an extent that in eight years time the health insurance program will be unable to pay all its hospital bills. In short Medicare is in imminent danger of fiscal collapse and Social Security is not too far behind.

The recent report revealed that the trust funds from which Social Security payments are made would be unable to pay retirees full benefits by 2037, four years earlier than forecast less than a year ago. A further revelation was that by 2016 this trust fund will begin to spend more money than it takes in and, again, that timeframe is one year earlier than previously predicted.

Now compound this with the news that unemployment numbers are still on the rise and some 560,000 jobs were lost last month alone. As a direct result of this there is an inevitable “double whammy” because more unemployed means more claims and more unemployed means that less people are paying payroll taxes.

Not surprisingly, the liberals’ first answer to everything is to raise taxes for employees from 12.4 to 14.4 percent. The other idea being floated is to reduce benefits by 13 percent or some combination of the two.

A major plank in the Obama platform has been to institute some kind of socialized medical coverage for Americans. Of course he insists that if an individual is happy with their current program they can stay that way. How long do you think it would take for an employer to ditch their private plans and thus boost their bottom line?

It’s also interesting to contemplate how such a scheme would be funded. For a start, it’s a given that an employer’s ability to deduct premiums from their tax liability would be curtailed or abolished. Or, the administration would tax the benefits to the employees. And, looking at the British or Canadian model, it’s a certainty that there would be limits on treatments that could be prescribed.

Welcome to Obama’s Brave New World!

With Love from Grandpa!

When I was at school just about the worst crime you could commit was plagiarism except then it was called “copying”. Not only was it cheating, it was stealing and in my school, it could also earn you a beating.

Then I got into the business world and it seemed as if that was the only mode that made any sense.

But now I’m in the blog world and I can afford to be righteous again. The following letter was sent to me by a liberal nay, a devout Obama disciple. I do not vouch for the letter’s veracity but the message is so clear and so valid ….

Let me set the scene:-

John is 63 years old and owns his own business. He is a life-long Republican and sees that his dream of retiring next year is now all but gone. With the stock market crash and all the new taxes coming his way, John knows he will be working for a good number more years.

John has a grand daughter. Ashley is a recent college grad. She drives a late model car, wears all the latest fashions, and also likes going out and eating out a lot. Ashley campaigned hard for Obama, and after he won the election she made sure her Grandfather (and all other Republican family members) received more than an earful on how the world is going to be a much better place now that Obama won the election. Ashley recently found herself short of cash and cannot pay her bills, again. As she has done many other times in the past, she e-mailed her Grandfather asking for some financial help. Here is his reply:



"Sweetheart, I am replying to your request for more money. Ashley, you know we love you dearly and we are sympathetic to your financial plight. Unfortunately, times have changed.

With the election of President Obama, your Grandmother and I have had to set forth a bold new economic plan of our own....the 'Ashley Economic Plan'. Let me explain.

Your Grandmother and I are highly productive, wage-earning tax payers. As you know, we have lived a comfortable life and in return have forgone many things like fancy vacations, luxury cars, etc. We have worked hard and we were looking forward to retiring soon. But this plan has changed. Your president is significantly raising our personal and business taxes. He says it is so he can give our hard earned money to other people. Do you know what this means, Ashley?

It means less income for us. Less income means we must cut back on many business and personal expenditures. One example is, we were forced to let go of our receptionist today. You know her. She always gave you candy when you visited my office. Did you know she worked for us for the past 18 years? I can't afford her anymore.That is a taste of the business side.

Some personal economic effects of Obama's new taxation policies must include you. You know very well that over the years your Grandmother and I have given you thousands of dollars in cash, tuition assistance, food, housing, clothing, gifts, etc., etc.

By your vote, you have chosen another family over ours for help. Judging by your email requesting more money, I recommend you call 202-456-1111. That is the direct telephone number for the White House. You, yourself, repeatedly told me that I was foolish voting Republican. You said Mr. Obama is going to be the people's president and is going to help every American live a better life. Based upon everything you have told me and things we heard from him as he campaigned, I am sure Mr. Obama will be happy to send a check or transfer money into your checking account.

Have him call me for the transaction and account numbers, which by now I know by heart. Perhaps you now can understand what I have been saying all my life: those who vote for any president should consider what the impact of an election will be on the nation as a whole, and not just be concerned with what they can get for themselves (welfare, etc.).

What Obama voters don't seem to realize is that all of the "government's" money he is 'redistributing' to illegal aliens and non-taxpaying Americans (deemed "less fortunate") comes from tax money collected from income tax-paying families.

Remember how you told me, "Only the richest of the rich will be affected"? Guess what, honey? Because of our business, your Grandmother and I are now considered to be the richest of the rich. On paper, it might look that way. But in the real world, we are far from it. But, as you said while campaigning for Obama, some people will have to carry more of the burden so all of America can prosper. You understand what that means, right?

It means that raising taxes on productive people results in them having less money. Less money for everything, including grand daughters. Congratulations on your choice for "change". For future reference, I encourage you to attempt to add up the total value of the gifts and money you've received from us over the years, and compare it to what you expect to get over the next four years from Mr. Obama.

Remember, we love you dearly... but from now on you'll need to call the number referenced above when you need help. Good luck, sweetheart.

Love, Grandpa.

PS: How was your recent trip to Jamaica? I have never been there but I hear it is lovely this time of year."

Gaudeamus Igitur

"Our life is brief
It will be finished shortly.
Death comes quickly
Atrociously, it snatches us
Away."

Yesterday, in fact very early yesterday, I drove a friend to the airport. She was going to a grandson’s graduation. I met the young person only once about four years ago and I found him to be a truly delightful young man. He was the sort of young man who restores a cynic's belief in a future for our species. Four years later he is about to move on to the next stage of his life. At many graduations, some variation of “Gaudeamus Igitur” will be played.

Unless all my school Latin has deserted me the third verse of that opus, according to my translation, is the opening paragraph above. Mr. Parsons, (my Classics teacher) I tried!

I also try hard to ignore MSNBC and their numbers say it all; most Americans do the same thing. Sometimes though, stuff arrives which is so outrageous that it cannot be ignored. Yesterday was just such a day..

Norah O’Donnell was conducting an interview and tackled a guy from the "Cardinal Newman Society". The man was a devoted Catholic and deplored Notre Dame’s determined effort to invite Obama to that school for this year’s graduation. In addition, Notre Dame wanted to award a useless president, another meaningless honorary degree to add to his meaningless list of useless degrees.

It seems likely that Ms. O’Donnell is of Irish lineage and, given that, she is most likely Catholic. So, perhaps a little surprisingly considering that, but not so surprisingly considering for whom she works, she went on the attack.

She wanted to know why, according to the "Cardinal Newman Society’s" president Patrick Reilly, Obama should not go to Notre Dame for the commencement and to accept an honorary degree. And he (Mr. Reilly) tried to explain that Notre Dame was a private school founded on Catholic principles and that Catholicism denounces abortion. In contrast to Obama who embraces it, nay enthuses over it.

Now, Ms. Norah really came unglued and demanded to know, “Why was it OK then for Presidents Bush and Reagan to be accorded the same honor while they supported the death penalty”.

Can she not see any dichotomy here? Can no supporter of abortion-on-demand see a paradox?

The difference, Ms. Norah O’Donnell, is that the tiny baby in the womb is absolutely innocent and has hurt no one. While the person strapped to a gurney in San Quentin about to die peacefully via lethal injection, is likely the convicted murderer of innocents just like that poor little soul.

Odd perhaps, a Gallup poll published last week revealed that the American public now opposes abortion by a margin of 51 to 42 percent.

As, I write Obama is in South Bend, Indiana. If he had any semblance of decency he would have declined the invitation and cited theological and personal differences. But he’s a thug, a lawyer, and an opportunist. Any of those alone preclude decency and combined they are lethal.

Especially to unborn babies. Sometimes even the more adept abortionists get it wrong. Sometimes, in spite of their despicable actions, the baby is delivered alive. Twice while in the Illinois Senate, Obama voted to indemnify abortionists who then completed their infanticide.

Which brings us back to the opening paragraph of this post:-

"Our life is brief
It will be finished shortly.
Death comes quickly
Atrociously, it snatches us
Away."

They will never graduate from university or from kindergarten not even from their first diaper.

But, Obama, The Killer in Chief has prevailed.

The Truth my Friend is Twisting in the Wind....

It’s Thursday, May 13th and Nancy Pelosi, known to her “friends” as “MCB (Ms. California Botox), is on Version 5 of “what did she know and when did she know it”.

At the same time, Obama has made a 180 on the torture pictures and on the future of the inmates of Camp Delta. Let’s take ‘em one at a time.

Today, the vociferous Left is up in arms about the pictures because they want them released and Obama campaigned on that very transparency especially if the revelation would hurt this country. The problem is that the AfPak affair is now Obama’s war and he’s probably right that the release would indeed fuel terrorist recruitment in some parts of the demented world.

So his dilemma was how to release the pictures while avoiding any blame down the road? Well, he’s a thug first but he’s a lawyer second and so when the Second Circuit ruled that the release should happen, Obama could have issued an Executive Order and that would have been that. But then he would have been on the Left’s *hit list. Instead, all he has to do is to instruct the DOJ to file a weak appeal with the Circuit. Voila, the appeal is thrown out, the pictures are released and Obama can claim innocence.

The other campaign promise and repeated often later was the closure of Gitmo. Now we learn that Obama’s team has determined that there are some inmates that cannot be released and may never appear in court. We also know that our Allies and countries that hate us don’t want them back either. So we are stuck, which was totally predictable.

And, in the meantime, the wire taps remain. All these were the policies of the previous Administration and all were vilified by the Obama campaign. Then add in the “fiscal irresponsibility” mantra and the promise of “line-by-line scrutiny”.

Where is the “Change"?

Some People I Know Hate Facts but they are what they are. On the Other Hand, you can just feel ..........

Now this post doesn’t mean I’ve relented in my implacable opposition to Obama but I read a Rasmussen poll early this morning and, as I know, that it won’t gain much if any traction on most media outlets, I felt: it necessary to do my little bit.

The Rasmussen Organization revealed these numbers in which a comparison was made between October 2008 and May of 2009. Democrat numbers are shown first followed by the GOP's.

Subject: Trusted to handle the issues of the day:-

October 2008 51 38
May 2009 45 42


Subject: Taxes
October 2008 47 42
May 2009 46 52


Subject: War in Iraq
October 2008 47 42
May 2009 45 47

Subject: Immigration
October 2008 40 38
May 2009 38 43


And, Rasmussen didn’t stop there because here are the latest approval ratings for the branches of our government:

The Supreme Court 34
The Presidency 27
The Legislature 13
Undecided 27

It is clear that in the last few months, the Supreme Court has not changed and neither has the balance in Congress unless you figure in Arlen Specter. Phew, that was a relief!

What has changed is the occupant of the Oval Office? So, surely, the lesson that must be drawn is that Obama is the best recruiting tool we on the Right have.

I can’t wait for 2010.

Airplanes and Hare-Brains

I am not a manager by nature. The worst job I ever held was when somebody thought I’d be good at it. I wasn’t because it required me to lie and I am the worst liar ever. I would make a terrible spy, not because of the torture necessarily but simply because I’m a rotten liar.

Probably, for the same reason, although I’m sure it’s not the only one, I’d make a lousy politician. H.L. Mencken put it best when he wrote, “The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.”

Until the last election campaign I would have said that Clinton was the poster child for this theory. But I’ve since come to believe that he lied simply because he was incapable of telling the truth or because he simply could not tell the difference between belief and reality.

Obama’s lies though are different. They are a cynical and deliberate strategy to distort the truth for his own ends. Here are some examples:-

Throughout the campaign, after election and after his immaculation he has continued to mouth the dogma, oft repeated by the drive-by media, of tax cuts. Yet in the next breath we hear that he plans to raise the cap on pay as far as Social Security taxes are concerned. As a result, millions will see that liability increase dramatically and I, hasten to add, those millions are making a helluva’ lot less than the $250,000 which Obama claims is the portal to “wealth”.

In addition to this, Obama has hinted about the introduction of a “Wealth Tax” just in case other taxes alone won’t allow him to fund his lavish programs. Only one thing perhaps would dissuade him from that because a Wealth Tax, almost by definition, is a one-time opportunity. Once, you’ve hit ‘em that’s pretty much it whereas Income Tax is the “gift that keeps on giving”.

But there’s more! Where are the “shovel-ready” jobs we heard so much about in his sundry stimulus packages?

What about the 30,000 jobs to be lost at Boeing in St Louis because of cuts to the C17 and F118 programs. Swords into plowshares? I think not while at the same time the Pentagon is planning to add 20,000 jobs to oversee acquisitions. Surely even the most dull-witted and indoctrinated liberal can tell the difference between productive and non-productive labor,

And, while we are on things aeronautical, how about the jaunt of Air-Force One causing wide-spread panic in the streets of Manhattan which Obama claimed to know nothing about. It only cost $350,000 for a photo-op which now we are told, won’t be used.

Then, of course, he plans to load up both Air Force Ones plus heaven knows how many other pieces of our hardware and traipse off to Egypt to make his apology again to the Muslim world. Even Obama must have heard of CNN and the World Wide Web.

Or how about Obama’s budget deficit of $1.8 trillion which is four times the 2008 number and how about the promise to go through “line-by-line” and veto earmarks or his pledge to host a website where we the gullible can be the watchdogs? Where is the website? Have you seen it? Has anyone?

And, before we leave the nation’s finances were you aware that he proposes to raise 50 cents of every spending dollar by borrowing or by printing it?

Through all this the news media’s love affair with Obama continues as they keep telling us just how this is the most popular president of all time. Intriguing to some perhaps especially as it isn’t true. Polls taken recently indicate that after 100 days Obama’s popularity rating is lower than Presidents George W Bush, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon.

The major negative influence on Obama’s approval is that on the, campaign trail, he promised, and the media emphasized, his role and beliefs as a centrist. What has emerged though is a hard-line Leftist and an increasing number of people are disturbed by that realization. I wonder why this has not been reported by the MSNBCs and CNNs of this world? Don’t worry, the question is purely rhetorical. I know the answer just as I suspect you do too.

The "primrose path of dalliance"!

Now the hoopla surrounding the “first 100 days” has receded except for those demented souls for whom it never will, I took a wander through my notes. And, as a result of walking that “primrose path of dalliance”, I came up with this.

Obama wants to remake America and he promised just that during the recent campaign. Not "restore," mind you. Not "rebuild." "Remake" -- as in, turning America into something it wasn't before.

And if we allow him and his fellow Democrats to continue along this path, the country I love will simply no longer exist. Everything that patriots have fought to defend and preserve will have been lost. In its place will be a country we scarcely recognize. What will it look like? Let me give you a glimpse...

During his campaign, Obama often spoke of his desire to "remake" America, and to be a "transformational" President. And over the next few months, Obama and the Democrats in Congress plan to deliver on that promise.

Under cover of "solving" an economic crisis that their buddies helped create and their policies will only make worse, they are engineering the most radical change in the relationship between our government and its citizens in America's 233-year history.

This is not "change" as I want it. How about you?

Instead:

IT WILL BE AN AMERICA where a majority of citizens receive government handouts and benefits but pay no federal income taxes, while at the same time they are voting themselves still more benefits from the shrinking minority who do pay taxes -- at ever more "progressive" rates.

IT WILL BE AN AMERICA where "universal health care" means waiting months, even years, for urgently needed treatment -- unless you happen to be politically powerful or connected -- and where all your private medical information is on a government database (don't worry: they promise never to use it against you!).

IT WILL BE AN AMERICA where "green" ideologues and other nanny-staters dictate what we drive, what we eat, home energy usage, the size of our houses, and even how many children we can have.

IT WILL BE AN AMERICA where our major industries, crippled by government mandates, taxes, and regulations, end up becoming taxpayer-supported dinosaurs that can no longer compete in the global marketplace.

IT WILL BE AN AMERICA where all employers will be forced to hire and promote not according to ability but according to race, gender, and ethnicity -- all in the name of "diversity".

IT WILL BE AN AMERICA where our once-great centers of finance, industry, culture, and innovation -- from New York to Silicon Valley -- will have gone to seed, while only Washington, D.C., and its environs prosper.

IT WILL BE AN AMERICA, in short, where only politicians, government bureaucrats, and their favored constituencies are able to thrive -- and where the only "liberty" that remains is the government's unlimited freedom to control every aspect of your life.

The reason I chose the title I did for this post was because it’s a quotation from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”.

"Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,
Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven,
Whiles, like a puff'd and reckless libertine,
Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads
And recks not his own rede."

Wow! The stuff you learn in school, convinced that you're never going to use it. Good for doing crosswords and writing blogs, I guess!

But the major point is that it is from his most famous tragedy!

Baruch Hashem Adonai ..........

In the US today it is “National Prayer Day”. In previous years, both under President Bush and his predecessor, this day was recognized at the highest level of our Republic. But not this year, well not in the usual way.

Obama declared that he was going to celebrate it privately. His plan was to go down to the Press Room at the White House to a packed audience. Upon a signal from the teleprompter, he would enter with a halo superimposed above his head.

It would be a fake one, courtesy of MSNBC Special Effects but what the heck. Obama would assume the mantle and think it was real and so would a huge proportion of his voters who would be sitting on their La-Z.-Boy recliners, popping a cold one as they glanced out of the trailer window on the lookout for the mailman carrying this month’s welfare check or, better yet, the Publisher’s Clearing House” team announcing that they’d won.

Anyway, at the point that the “Great Leader” entered, every member of that audience would drop to their knees and sing, “O Come let us adore him”.

I, on the other hand have a real prayer backed up by a real hope.

The prayer is that there is a limit to the extent that this government will be allowed to own and control every aspect of American life. First it was the banks, then it was insurance. But let’s not leave the banks just yet. Today was the day that their “stress” test results were published. Apparently Wells Fargo flunked but ironically they didn’t want to ask for TARP money in the first place but Obama is going to insist. How else to enforce control? Hard on those heels came the automobile industry. When they emerge from bankruptcy it looks like Chrysler will be followed by GM.

Now, I hear that Obama wants a cabinet level post to govern sports in this country. Never mind that the US kicks butt in the vast majority of Olympic sports. Except for gymnastics; since Mary Lou Retton at least. Maybe one of the first daughters would like to try out? That would explain a lot.

Finally, for now at least, here’s a graphic example of the Democrat’s imperative to control everything.

The senior Senator from New York, Chuck Schumer, wants to introduce legislation to force IHOP and other breakfast restaurants to serve only maple syrup from that state. And, rumor has it that that in a similar vein, Al Sharpton only wants white eggs be fried.

My hope is that in 2010 these clowns will be gone.

We’ll deal with Obama in 2012 unless in the meantime he destroys himself.

After that, a sledge hammer will take care of the teleprompter.

You Can Take a Chicago Thug out of Chicago,...

In his harsh attack on hedge funds, Obama blamed them for forcing Chrysler into bankruptcy. Quite rightly as it turned out they, the funds, protested. Then he, BO, characterized them as “speculators” who were “refusing to sacrifice like everyone else” and who wanted “to hold out for the prospect of an unjustified taxpayer-funded bailout.”

But, as usual, any politician’s words aren’t worth much and this occupant of the Oval Office proves it every day. George Schultze, managing member of the hedge fund Schultze Asset Management, a Chrysler bondholder, said, “We are simply seeking to enforce our bargained-for rights under well-settled law. Hopefully, the bankruptcy process will help refocus on this issue rather than on pointing fingers at lenders.”

The president’s harsh criticism may play well on Main Street, but it flopped on Wall Street where some privately run funds that invest in an unlimited variety of securities and which theoretically balance different kinds of risks — are part of the landscape.

“It sounds like people are being bullied right now,” said Ron Geffner, a partner at the law firm Sadis and Goldberg, which represents hedge funds. “To play the ‘I stand with Chrysler, I stand with families, I stand with the dealers, I stand with the consumers’ — that’s great conceptually, but … I stand with the fact that we live in a capitalist society where companies who don’t modify their business plans and stay current die and go by the wayside.”

Geffner then added that Obama’s remarks made it difficult for the lenders that rejected the offer to speak publicly for fear of appearing “anti-American.” Indeed, a group of lenders issued a statement — but did not identify its members. The group said it included “20 relatively small organizations” that represented “teachers unions, major pension and retirement plans and school endowments who have invested through us in … loans to Chrysler.”

The funds hold about $1 billion in Chrysler bonds and have turned down the government’s terms. The government would have paid under a third of the value of those bonds. However, many funds bought the bonds at discounts from other investors who feared the bonds might ultimately be worthless.

Now, you can do your own research on all of this and, if you do, I’m sure you’ll find pretty much the same stuff that I found. Obama is a bully. That should not be so surprising considering his background and also considering his “cohurts”. No, I spelled it right.

Consider his threat when the bank CEO’s went to the White House where he told them, “I’m all that stands between you and the pitchforks”. Or when his goons in ACORN sent death threats to the AIG board or when the same private army organized bus tours of AIG executive homes.

There is a lawyer called Tom Lauria who acts for some of these hedge fund clients and I’ll let you follow that little trail of breadcrumbs but he tells a chilling story.

There were only two winners to emerge. The UAW which in a masterly coup gained 55% of Chrysler assets via presidential decree and Obama who was one step closer to a destruction of this country's private sector.

The bottom line on all of this is that the habits engrained in early training whether it’s via a Jesuit elementary school or via the streets of a brutal political and criminal environment die hard, if ever.

But at the end of the day, Chicago thugs do what they've always done. The weapons may change but the brutality doesn't and nor does the intent.

The Dog Days of Spring!

Doing the research for this Blog takes work and time and above all a determination to check and recheck the “facts" and the rumors and, to do all that, while trying to retain some level of objectivity. Yes, I’m an unashamed conservative but objectivity is not reserved unto the strident Left. So I decided to have a rest and to take the weekend off and I almost made it.

Perhaps the rot started to set in when I began to watch the news channels’ “talking head” shows on cable and elsewhere on Sunday. On every one there was a learned discussion about the likely nominee to replace Justice Souter of the “Supremes”.

Personally, I’d like to see Judge Judy but I doubt that will come to pass. Anyway the nodding “bobble-heads” on TV and radio surmised and they scratched chins in deep and profound thought.

OK, they assure me they are smarter because they’re inside the Beltway and they have their ear to the ground. On the prairies that maneuver would guarantee an ear filled with “ruminant ordure”. But in Barnsley, the initials would be “BS”.

Here are my predictions for Souter’s replacement.

Minority
Female
Socialist, either declared or implicit
The Hague is more important than our Constitution
Anti-American
Maybe racist, maybe even anti-Semitic

Hey, Obama, I have the perfect candidate for you. Choose your wife.

She fits every one of those and she’s a lawyer. And her paycheck would go into the family checking account. And, when it comes to it, she’d may be able to save your desolate presidency as it crumbles.

But, there is just one snag. She’d never go for it. See, the $540 Lanvin sneakers she wore to the DC food bank just wouldn’t go with those ugly robes. Never mind, perhaps she could persuade some other high-end designer to submit their ideas. I’m sure we could bury it in some stimulus earmark or other.

Then, the rest of the weekend really went to hell.

A good friend of mine is now no more. She wasn’t very tall and her breath wasn’t the best and she had a soggy beard for most of each day.

However, she did not have an ounce of malice in her body. She was the only dog I ever really liked. Perhaps because she was the only dog that ever liked me. She never bit me, never even growled at me. She did piss on my feet once but that’s a whole other story.

So, prance on little dog, prance on into eternity and beyond just as you did on so many of our walks. Be careful to avoid getting your paws wet and I'll splash through the puddles in your wake. I'll let you off your leash right now because you want to run and I want to watch you do it but remember to wait for me at the next corner. I'll be there soon. I promise. ......

Then we'll decide which way to go ...........

Anyway, this little remembrance has for a while, at least, kept me “Busy”.

Here Comes the Judge!

Hooray, Hooray, It’s the first of May! In some parts of the USA, the second line is a little bawdy and I would hate to be the first one to be thrown off this hosting site, especially as it’s my darned Blog.

In other parts of the world it’s just Mayday where it’s a time to celebrate and consolidate worker unity. I regret it’s not a time anymore for rosy-cheeked, comely maidens to dress in their best frocks and dance around a beribboned pole. Ever the cynic, and speaking personally because I like to see maidens in frocks, I always thought the Pole had the best job.

Today, so far though, has been a good Blog day. Because I get to combine two topics.

Arlen Specter switched to the Dark Side on Tuesday. His own statement said it all; he knew he could not prevail in Pennsylvania through the next primary. And since a politician’s first duty after election is to be reelected, where else is a man to go?

Naturally the Libs including Obama hailed the defection as a triumph for their side but I looked at it a little differently. George Patton put it as well as anyone in 1944 when he declared that he was more comfortable with 3 German divisions in front of him than he did with 1 French division behind him.

So now Specter is the problem for Obama and Harry Reid and it didn’t take long. The sole Democratic vote against the Obama budget was Arlen Specter. But, the implications go beyond parliamentary posturing because, enter stage left, Justice David Souter who announced his retirement today.

Sometimes, and this is one, I need 2 Blogs because perhaps some transatlantic readers cannot know how key the Supreme Court is to this Republic. But I don’t have time to write two and so let me try this.

The American Constitution was deliberately set up to have 3 branches. The executive was/is the Presidency, the legislative was/is Congress and the third is the Judiciary. At the top of that latter pile sits the Supreme Court of the United States. On that court are 9 justices who are seated for life or until they retire or they are impeached. Their job is to resolve those cases which cannot be resolved according to states’ or federal law in the lower courts. The Constitution was constructed to be their sole guide. In other words, is what some “suit” arguing in front of this Bench supported by the many provisions of the Constitution or isn’t it? In other words, is it our business or not?

But, that’s not the way Obama or his lawyer friends see it. In 2001, Obama declared that the Supreme Court had provided adequate provisions to endow him with the right to vote and to order lunch at a diner in Selma, Alabama. But, he went on. He wanted that same Court to “spread the wealth”.

And we know he still does.

Who will be his nominee? Well here’s a list he’s used in the past as qualifications for this appointment:-

Black
Hispanic
Female
Single Mother
Uneducated
Lesbian

The White House must be scouring the wards of the South Side of Chicago in search of that special person. A bit like looking for a new Dalai Lama really.

Oh, and it would really help their nomination if the candidate had, an as yet unrevealed and unpaid, tax bill.

An unworthy thought flashed across my brain. When it comes to law enforcement, profiling is bad but, when it’s a Supreme Court nominee, it’s a must.

Never mind that the nominee knows nothing of the law and, actually the Constitution allows that and I’m sure that would not conflict with Obama’s plans.

It’s going to be fun to watch the Left lobbying for their choice.

And, here comes Arlen Specter again because who ever Obama puts up, the nomination has to be approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee or it doesn’t even go to the floor. Their rules state that they cannot recommend a nominee for confirmation without at least 1 vote from the minority. In other times, that vote would have been Specter. But now, who knows?

Be careful what you wish for I guess ………