Aw, pity the poor, oppressed Republicans who are in high dungeon over the Obama Administration’s “playing politics” with terrorism. Really? As I recall it was not the Obama Administration that jumped on the arrest of Abdulmuttalab-i.e., the failed underwear bomber–to tout their prowess as a fighter of Al Qaeda. Nope. It was the Republicans who insisted that Obama had surrendered to terrorists because the FBI, per standard practice, arrested the suspect because he was on U.S. territory and U.S. law applied.

As I have noted before, the FBI followed the same procedure they employed in previous, similar cases. The arrest of failed shoe bomber, Richard Reid, back in December 2001 is the very same thing. We did not hear from one elected Republican back then accusing Bush of being “soft” on terrorists. Not one insisted that Reid go to Guantanamo.

And don’t give me the bullshit that “this is different.” The only difference here is that Umar Farouk is Nigerian and flew to Detroit. Both men had training from Al Qaeda operatives. Here is what is really galling. Read the rest

Sarah Palin’s effort to protray herself as smart, savvy politician blew up at the Tea Party Convention. I think Sarah is a nice person. I think she is well meaning. But she is not an intelletual powerhouse. Sort of reminds me of someone else who, with the thinnest of resumes, became President of the United States.

If you are going to make fun of Barack Obama needing TOTUS to talk to fifth graders then you better ensure you are not writing answers and notes on your own damn hand:

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Is she? I’ll tell you what I think if you tell me.

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Who would not make an investment that can generate a 20% better return at half the overall cost? The appeal of this investment is that it pays increasing dividends in the future. Are you interested? You should be because your tax dollars are being spent at an ever increasing rate to fund a lower returning investment at a higher cost, without the benefits of future dividends but the reality of higher social costs.

I am referring to my major interest in the use of student vouchers for the funding of secondary education. Time and again I come across stories of urban families who are desperate to get their children well educated in hopes of moving on to a better life. These hopes are evidenced by the overwhelming demand for admission to a charter school or access to a student voucher.

Regrettably, the teachers’ unions in our country maintain a stranglehold on the futures of many of our urban youth. How so? The unions’ support for the Democratic Party comes with the price tag of limiting both charter schools and the use of vouchers. What a shame! Read the rest

The Tea Party Convention has political operatives shaking in their boots.

Astroturf campaigns make money for the consultants and the image managers. Organized political field operations make legends out of the professional organization directors, such Manyon M. Millican who directed the national voter identification and turnout for The Committee to RE-Elect the President (CREEP) for Nixon in 1972.

Until it becomes a formal political party and looses the quaint feel that endears the concept of a “movement” to independent voters, the National Tea Party represents what the political experts hate and fear. Active independents, with a little i.
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This video explains why I haven’t uploaded many videos lately. It is the first in a three-part series that tells of a musical I have been working on, which I hope will at least provide some entertainment for my friends on No Quater and on my Youtube channel. Read the rest

The Atlantic is already debating John Edwards’ comeback chances in politics (one suggestion: wait until Elizabeth passes away from cancer).

Every time John Edwards’ tale of lies and adultery seems to have reached its sordid limit, a newly depraved twist arises. Is Edwards unsalvageable? Could he ever return to any form of public life? We asked a chorus of Dark Arts practitioners.
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Focus on Fatherhood: Edwards has “an opportunity to come across as an outstanding and doting father in a way that most other men who stray don’t. And I do believe the American people like and respect people who are good parents,” said David Heller, president of Main Street Communications.

Outlast Your Ex: One prominent PR consultant voiced what others were too polite to say (but only, of course, on the condition of anonymity): John Edwards will have a hard time venturing back into the public eye as long as his wife is present to remind Americans of the scope of his betrayal. “I honestly don’t believe he can make a true comeback until well after Elizabeth has passed away,” the consultant said. “As long as she is alive, his comeback chances are dead.”

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Glum.

Powerless, lackadaisical, aimless remarks by POTUS re the jobless report Friday 5. What is the “hot air” remark? POTUS tries defensive sarcasm at half-speed. And the claims that losing 22k jobs (January estimate) compares well to the losing of 800k jobs last January 2009 is both cynical and ignorant. The long term jobless stats (below) are discouraging and ominous. The confused media reporting of a jobless rate that appears to improve to 9.7% while the month shows a loss of jobs does not help the day’s summary.  The economy is glum. Read the rest

All major news publications covered Sarah Palin’s speech yesterday, making sure to point out she collected a large fee for her work. She replied she is keeping none of it, but giving it to “the cause.” According to many sources, while she was greeted with cries of “Run, Sarah, Run,” she kept her political intentions to herself. Palin also addressed the importance of keeping the Tea Party Movement a grass roots effort and does not pretend to be its leader. From WaPo:

…the movement shuns any semblance of political elitism. And although many activists here embrace Palin as a spokeswoman, they are deeply divided over whether they want her as their leader — or whether they want any leader at all.
Palin understands this.

“I caution against allowing this movement to be defined by any one leader or any one politician,” she said Saturday night. “The tea party movement is not a top-down operation. It’s a ground-up call to action. . . . This is about the people, and it’s bigger than any king or queen of the tea party, and it’s a lot bigger than any charismatic guy with a teleprompter.”

Palin, by some accounts the standard-bearer of the Republican Party, in her speech took an unusual step of encouraging competitive party primary campaigns.

“Contested primaries aren’t civil war,” she said. “They’re democracy at work, and that’s beautiful.”

I appreciate her point about contested primaries. It’s time we shake up the political landscape and inject some new blood into the process. Read the rest

Thought some of you might enjoy the morning after shots. There is light after the darkness. I woke early today to put the brisket on the BBQ as part of the prep for tonight’s Super Bowl Party.

Our winter wonderland.

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Whether it’s AIG’s perverse multiple rewarding of the executives who almost brought our economy down or the likes of Bernie Madoff and Ken Lay, we see our country as rife with greed at the expense of weary American taxpayers. The 2009 Global Corruption Report by watchdog group Transparency International has some stunning revelations about us and the rest of the world.

For the United States there is both good news and bad news.
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The First Lady is getting her share of grief for mentioning her daughters while discussing obesity. ABC News reports in their article, Did Michelle Obama Send the Wrong Message With Obesity Comments?:

The first lady made the issue of healthy eating personal last week at an event in Alexandria, Va., where she kicked off a campaign addressing the issue of childhood obesity.

“We went to our pediatrician all the time,” Obama said. “I thought my kids were perfect — they are and always will be — but he [the doctor] warned that he was concerned that something was getting off balance.”

“I didn’t see the changes. And that’s also part of the problem, or part of the challenge. It’s often hard to see changes in your own kids when you’re living with them day in and day out,” she added. “But we often simply don’t realize that those kids are our kids, and our kids could be in danger of becoming obese. We always think that only happens to someone else’s kid — and I was in that position.”

It is my sense that the first lady should not have mentioned her own children in this debate. I don’t think she was trying to shame her kids publically. But by using them as an example to show other families she is in the same position they are, she is being insensitive to the fact that Sasha and Malia live in the worst kind of goldfish bowl — growing up with attention paid to their every move. Young girls are sensitive enough about their appearance without their schoolmates reading on the net that their Mom is worried about the size of their behinds. Read the rest

If one picture is worth a thousand words then I have four thousand for you. We are being hammered with an amazing amount of snow. It is heavy and causing trees to topple and, when they come down, so to do some powerlines. (I installed a 15,000 kw generator five years ago, so I’m not feeling the pain). We have two feet on the ground and it is still snowing.

This a shot of my side porch. You can see the porch railing in the background.

Here’s another angle.
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Promo bumped down. Click on Paulie’s photo to listen to her archived February 8th show.

Editor’s Note: Paulie has just had her power restored, in the nick of time to get us the promo for her regular Monday show tonight. This show sounds special!

Join Sins of Omission Monday, February 08, 2010 at 9pm (ET) as host Paulie Abeles asks award-winning historian and best-selling author John E. Ferling, “Who was the real George Washington?”

Our nation’s first President was famously memorialized as “first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen”. Even in his own lifetime, Washington was mythologized as something above the common herd, disinterested, apolitical—concerned only for the common weal. His contemporaries were in awe of his aloof and regal bearing, military accomplishments, and reputation for integrity—Abigail Adams described his as “terrible as a God.” Historians have blamed Federalism’s partisan excesses on Hamilton, or even Adams—Washington has always been considered above mere politics. But was he? In his new book, award winning, best-selling historian John Ferling traces the evolution of a politically savvy, intensely ambitious man, who may have been the 18th century’s greatest master of public relations.

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The widely anticipated February Unemployment Report covering the month of January was just released. Let’s dive right in and take a look at the numbers . . .

I. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
August: 9.4%
September: 9.7%
October: 9.8%
November: 10.2%…revised to 10.1%
December: 10%
January: 10%
– February Consensus Expectation: 10.1%
- February Actual: 9.7%

>> LD’s comments: A fluke. A drop in the rate would typically be viewed as a positive, but then why didn’t we see job growth? Today’s report indicates that a lot of people have given up looking for work, thus shrinking the overall labor pool. The U-6 (the underemployment rate) is now 16.5%. Better? Don’t be fooled. I think it is again more an indication that people are exiting the labor force overall. Read the rest