News Updates **Open Thread**

http://spectator.org/archives/2010/03/31/reflection-on-brains-and-bara
Today’s American Spectator features a reflection on Comrade Soetoro’s intellectual fortitude – real and imagined – which is worth reading, but the best is this readers’s stunning summary:

“This penny-ante thug had his rigid, small, sadistic, doctrinaire mind made up for him by radical, irresponsible and indifferent parents (funny how radicals are always utter messes in their personal lives). Rootless and unloved – or used – by most adults around him, he bounced around absorbing the Tyrant’s lesson that one can slay one’s personal demons by projecting them onto society and then destroying the objects onto which those demons are projected.
He was ushered through the thresholds of successive elite institutions as an affirmative action cracker jack toy for the left without ever being seriously challenged.
(Remember, “President” of the Harvard Law Review is a ceremonial title – not to be confused with the hands-on smarts required to be editor).
And at every stop, the aim was only to burnish his halo, to create an image that would be an effective Trojan horse of the left. Lull the masses to sleep with a gift that will absolve them of the original sin of White Guilt – and once he’s inside the city walls, release the hounds and stick it to the poor schmucks before the intoxication of Being Good wears off.
Why, Obama’s personal traits were always irrelevant to his Great Purpose. Of course it’s personal traits that actually forge the mettle of REAL presidents, but Obama is not a president; he’s a dictator.
Obama is perhaps the most incurious president we’ve had in my lifetime, and I go back pretty far by now. See, his job is to tell you what you’re opinion is and what’s good for you. And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll get your mind right – and right quick.
The guy is facile, in a callow, presumptuous grad student sort of way. I’ll give him that. But he didn’t exactly win MENSA points with that shocking performance in front of Brett Baier, the only journalist to challenge Our Dear Leader (may he live and rule over us with benign wisdom for 1,000 years!). Those watching carefully might have noticed that the emperor wasn’t wearing any clothes at all.
But emotional intelligence? Overall knowledge? Understanding of economics? History? Geography? Philosophy? Religion? Science? Math? Human nature? Compassion? Please.
He can’t even fake decorum. Because he doesn’t give a damn about any of that. He and his administration are too busy engineering the institutional shock collar that will FINALLY bring the people to heel with the push of a button.
The dude’s a ZERO. Less than zero, actually. What he doesn’t know could fill a galaxy, and what he does know is untenable hogwash, populist hokum and long-disproven tenets of a moribund ideology.
But you libs didn’t hire him for his smarts. You hired him to be a mirror to reflect the pleasing image of your own moral vanity, or perhaps because your bank accounts benefit from his breathtaking, blatant corruption. Maybe you really believe that THIS time, unlike throughout the rest of history, Obama will get socialism right. Or corporate cronyism, or fascism, or Marxism, or whatever facet of this tyranny is prettiest to you.
Or maybe you just hate the legions of regular, hardworking people who once made this country great. Yeah, the Trojan horse is now within the city walls. And still, after he wreaks utter havoc and destroys the edifice of this country, smashing institutions and killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, you people look upon the destruction and wonder how it could have happened; it looked so good on paper.
As Forrest Gump (or was it Bill Clinton?) said, “stupid is as stupid does.”ll Clinton?) said, “stupid is as stupid does.”

Drill, baby drill a smokescreen:

http://michellemalkin.com/2010/03/31/of-pipelines-and-pipedreams-obamas-drilling-deception/

I would be all for it, too, but…we’re talking about Obama’s words here.  They are not worth teleprompter they are printed on!

You know why Obama took over the student loans right?  Is this the part where you are required to do his Americorps service for getting your education?  He does keep some promises.  i am just speculating, but that was something that po’d me before the election.  I will not be required to volunteer.  There is no such thing as required volunteerism.  I need to read the bill because I would bet money it’s in there!

Yes, itis all a smokescreen for the EPA change.  More on this later tonight!

Oh. My. GOSH!!!  They printed this???  You have GOT to be kidding me!!  Wowie zowie – abt time someone started calling this BS abt how smart he is supposed to be.  His “achievements” were all superficial.  Even as the head of the Harvard Law Review, he didn’t write articles – how can that BE???  I mean, c’mon.   That is unheard of for a position like that!

Anyway – that was smokin’ – I may have to use that, getfitnow (where DO you find all of these articles!?!  ).

What just happened?!
RRRA, your comment above just appeared without my refreshing the page–is this normal?  If so, I like it.

I`m eagerly waiting for the lame street media to show this and highlight their precursors to the coffee partiers.

Wow, HARP – that is some video!  Thanks for that!

Nicely said, except for the part he leaves out where all his right-wing friends gleefully paticipated in the destruction of our country (Nixon, Reagan, Bush I & II, Gingrich, Gramm, etc., etc.) in the name of the ‘free market’.

But he’s right on the money so far as BO(zo) is concerned, I’ll give him that.

Harp,

Thanks for posting this–yes, the left is very much more rational, logical, intelligent, ethical—NOT!

No one in my family ever used student aid.  I never filled out a FAFSA form because when I graduated high school I had a full-tuition scholarship for academics.  Through graduate school, I was a TA and got some tuition reimbursement for doing that grunt work.  (I lived at my Dad’s, whose house was in the same town as my university during the week and drove back home to do laundry, housecleaning, grocery shopping, etc. on the weekend when the kids were old enough to be left during the week with their stepdad.)

My older son went through two and a half years of college using the trust fund I had developed for him from my meager child support (which, when he was in need of day care didn’t even cover the day care expenses.)  Then the Navy recruited him (since he was a math major) into the Nuclear Power School (a very difficult program) and paid for his online classes to finish college.

My younger son is another story.  He’s the one with dyscalculia, who earned a GED.  He got out of public school hating the school system so much, it’s not until now that he’s older and coping better with his dyscalculia that he wants to go back to school.  So he’s filling out the FAFSA.  Problem is, he’s caucasion, supporting himself, too old to be on Mom’s “payroll,” doesn’t have a child to support, is not a single mother, is not someone who will need the boost out of the ghetto.  I just wonder now whether he can count on any kind of financial aid since O’s minions will be taking over that decision-making power.

So you don’t have an answer. Got it.

And now from Ohio and our POS Bruner. I so hope this woman gets put out to pasture and doesn’t get elected to even hall monitor.

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2010/03/voters_who_switch_parties_for/3113/comments.html

” I need to read the bill because I would bet money it’s in there!”

Yes, you’re right.  You should probably read the bill before wildly speculating like that.

What on earth could anyone other than the banks who have acted as the middle man until now possibly have against the student loan overhaul?

Um, perhaps the fact that they will be raising rates for future students when students now enjoy rates of 2.4 to 4  %. This will put an unnecessary burden on the backs of our children, for the sake of implementing a leftist agenda, one that isn’t supported by the majority of the country. next.

You should probably read the bill before wildly speculating – That never stopped congress right up until they passed it to be able to read what was in it. They are still talking out their butts about something they don’t understand themselves.

Drilling or look into drilling.

So he was against it before he was for it

I wonder if Obama really wants “change” as much as he needs to be loved by everybody. I am thinking he is going to run to the safety of the center. I think he felt he needed to pass the health bill on us… or rather stand back and let Nanzi force it on us, else he would face Bush style treatment from his own left. Now that this is done, I think he might now steer more to the center because it is less turbulent. Nobody is going to put his face on Mt. Rushmore for inciting a second revolution. I am trying to have hope I guess.

He was and still is campaigning. But if this is what ot takes to get him to do what is right, then so be it. I was always worried about this administration, but long ago I also thought if he actually led from the center that he could do things that nobody has been able to do for decades because he would have absolutely no resistance from the left on anything. Look at this lifting of the oil drilling ban… Bush could never have done this in his wildest power grab. Obama just did it and nobody from the left even noticed. Hmmm.

WOW! we havea long way to go. 

Ferd, the government already was in charge of the program.  They just paid the banks to administer.  It was corporate welfare at its worst.  This is a task well suited for the government.  Ask anyone who has a boatload of student loans who they would prefer to be managing them–private industry or the government.  Ask anyone with a boatload of student loans if they are against the income percentage caps the new bill will put in place, that weren’t there before.

Just shouting and pointing “Government!  Bad!”  doesn’t qualify as an argument.

“Leftist agenda”?  You call ending the unnecessary transfer of $60 billion plus from taxpayers to corporations a “leftist agenda”?

Here is a smal quote from an article written  by Mark Davis today.(the rest is worth the read.

“Their argument is: (A) This movement is filled with vocal people displeased with the way things are going; (B) I can find examples in history of people whose vocal displeasure was fueled by racism. Hence, (C) these people must be fueled by racism.
OK, boys, let’s see how you like it: (A) You are fans of ObamaCare; (B) Castro is a fan of ObamaCare, so, (C) you are communists.
Logic and basic human decency prevent me from making that connection seriously. I would like to believe that if these craven critics actually attended one of the tea parties, their testimony would change. But I doubt it. Theirs is a screeching born of panic, the need to demonize a movement rather than debate it. ” http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/03/31/the_racism_smear_104995.html

You have to be joking right? I know everyone is up in arms about the banks and want to make it a class warfare. However, when students have their current loans at 2.4% (just got my statement and my son’s) and the government claims that the “banks” were making huge profits, but now the government wants to take them over and charge 8%, you’re fine with that? My God, that is such a huge transfer of wealth to the government and I’m not fine with that at all. The future college students are the ones who will be paying thousands of dollars in extra interest, that they weren’t paying before. School loans for those coming out of college are a huge problem as it is, and now you want to make it even more cumbersome for them? Quit blaming the evil “corporations”. I have NEVER worked for a poor person.

Well, I have a loan, at 2.4% my son has a loan, my daughter and son-in-law have loans at 2.4%, my step son has a loan of 3.5% and I would rather have a private industry servicing them as my interest rate is not bloated with government waste. So your argument is flawed, or at best, insincere. I haven’t seen a government program yet that isn’t filled with waste and abuse, but you want to hand them another one, charge students more interest for the government and we’re suppose to be happy because you say so? Get real.

Thanks for the encouragement!

Ferd, the government already was in charge of the program.
========================
In case you weren’t aware, in charge of a program is not the same as running a program. That is an indisputable fact.

“Just shouting and pointing “Government!  Bad!”  doesn’t qualify as an argument.”

I’m not shouting and pointing, toodles, as I’ve worked for a government contractor for over 20 years and understand all too well how the government manages to mismanage everything in spite of all efforts of non-government entities. You can misdirect, give irrelevant arguments but that does not change the fact that aside from a few programs, the government consistently fails to either keep costs down or perform any function in a timely fashion.

So let me try again, where have you been?

You call ending the unnecessary transfer of $60 billion plus from taxpayers to corporations a “leftist agenda”?
===================================
If the government could actually run something, I might agree. They can’t so I don’t. You’re part of the problem and not the solution, Jackie.

Hell, Doc, every obamabot in the country shold be made to memorize the crap so we could at least get a consistent set of talking points from them. I’ve not read that part of the bill but know the rest to be unadulterated hogwash (or eau de troll).

Not true. Not nice.

Ferd…THEY WERE ALREADY RUNNING IT.  They were just throwing $60 billion at those hard-up banks we know and love to put their name on it.  It’s called PURE CORPORATE WELFARE.

“I’ve not read that part of the bill but know the rest to be unadulterated hogwash (or eau de troll).”

Ah.  So you admit you are speculating wildly on something you have not even read.  Got it.

Explain then Jackie, why students were getting loans at 2.4% and now the government wants to add to the rolls of employment, within the government, set up an infrastructure that is not there, turn around and charge 8% interest on college loans and you are fine with that? You call it “corporate welfare”. Get a grip. We need corporations who actually know how to create jobs, and a product or service. The federal government has never created anything except waste and their own brand of “corporate welfare” to themrselves. You have been brainwashed to see this as a good thing. Yet we already know that the government has exploded in size, government wages are higher than the private sector. That leads me to believe that if you’re claiming $60 billion was being spent at the private sector, it will quadtriple at the government level. Show me a model of any government entity that has handled anything efficiently? Any?

The only thing the government did was set the rates, the banks had the intrastructure to handle the caseload. Now we’re going to take that out of the public sector, with the idea that the government can do it better. Not so, never has been. I feel sorry for future students who will be paying back these high interest loans. All for the government.

Well, I work at a doctors office, so yea, we did read it. We each took parts and read it and then reported it. But since Obama and others didn’t really know what’s in it, such as they didn’t realize (or maybe they did) that children with pre-existing conditions didn’t start this year, but in 2014. That the corporations (who wrote letters stating as such) would probably have to drop their retirees (I’m sure that’s what Obama wanted anyways) because of their subsidies. But hey, just point out that there are some on here that “didn’t read the bill”. I’m sure hell know that you didn’t. You’re talking the “talking points” like a good little foot soldier.

LOL -funny, Carol.

I hear  you.  And of course, there are lots of people in Hollywood who are hard working, good, decent people.  Initially, I thought the discussion was pretty much abt Jesse James (and really – what kind of idiot cheats on Sandra Bullock – numerous times??).  Anyhow – no disrespect intended toward your son, or for that matter, friends of mine who work out there, too. 

Does the healthcare bill cover mental health services?  Clearly the trollbots are going to need that! 
 
BTW, my comment disappeared, was I not allowed to swat a botfly?

From the movie, Castaway: “Wilson, Wilson.”

From this blog: Freefraker, PrimeObutt, Diadiaper– Drill baby drill

Stop the Obama isn’t Bush II denial!!!!

Hee, hee, hee!

 They just paid the banks to administer. 

That begs the question why? (Oh please take the troll bait)

Where was this in 2008 ….Interesting what is surfacing now…

RRRA may have the data available, but, the new Pell grants are specifically directed to target recipients.  But, I had to revisit this when Jessie Jackson had to gall to say on Greta tonight that students will now be getting ZERO % interest student loans.  I am so over all of this, I am tempted to be a mind-numbed moron that just uses the internet to watch dogs on skateboards.  But, I know I can’t.  And won’t. 

Please do not automatically lump all us Latinos in the same breath.
OK? Gracias

I completely understand your frustration however DO NOT assume all Latinos are illegal or we are not proud Americans as I have been and my family has been for 5 generations.  Just sayin……. not arguing or insinuating that is meant here however I would like to say it for all to read.

Just like ALL whites are not racist

Jon Stewart tonight on Obama signing an arms agreement with the Russians, “Well of course the Russians will agree to sign, now that the U.S. is a Communist nation”.

You know what the problem is Jackie? The 2500 will be replaced by government workers! So now taxpayers get to fund those government workers salaries, benefits and retirement. We also now bear the cost of setting up computer systems, offices, and other administrative costs to administer the program. If a private company looses money, they cut jobs, benefits, etc, and raise prices. They have motivation to earn profits so to stay in business, retain good employees and get future credit as necessary to expand.  When a government agency looses money, NOTHING GETS CUT, because there is no expectation or requirement of meeing financial standards. If they go over budget 10 million, oh well.  Just promise to do better next year.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-03-31-1Apoll_N.htm

The American public seems to be saying ” a  plague on both their houses”

WOMEN WITH INTELLIGENCE AND EXPERIENCE,MEN WHO SUPPORT THEM AND COUNTY BEFORE PARTY ALWAYS

PUMAS,BUBBAS,EQUALISTS AND THOSE PEOPLE RULE

Actually, you should take a break now and then to watch dogs on skateboards.  Nothing lowers blood pressure more than friendly, tongue drooling dogs.

But I understand the wish for a lobotomy every now and then.

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.

You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don’t understand it at its core.

You scare me because you lack humility and ‘class’, always blaming others.

You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail..

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the ‘blame America ‘ crowd and deliver this message abroad.

You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.

You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.

You scare me because you prefer ‘wind mills’ to responsibly
capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.

You scare me because you have begun to use ‘extortion’ tactics against certain banks and corporations.

You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.

You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.

You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaugh’s, Hannitys, O’Reillys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.

You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will
probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

It’s true, Sybill, watching dogs on skateboards has become so boring.  There are indeed much more stimulating activities to consider . . .

Very poignant sowear, and your last declaration makes me cringe,

I wrote a post on this earlier – it will be up later on today.  I could not BELIEVE it when I saw this story!  Holy SMOKES!!!

Would you mind it I linked this at the Confluence and Uppity Woman.
This is one of the best comments I have read and think many should see it.

WOMEN WITH INTELLIGENCE AND EXPERIENCE,MEN WHO SUPPORT THEM AND COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY ALWAYS

PUMAS,BUBBAS,EQUALISTS AND THOSE PEOPLE RULE

There are now 41 states that have enacted, filed, pre-filed or ??? Anti Health Care Bill legislation….That mean that 82% of our states are up in arms about the Health Care Bill….
If said in another way that means only 9 states are left to file. 

How much more of a wake up call does Obama and his elected Democrats need?

http://www.alec.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Press_Releases&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=12885